I Am Amazed

Hi all! I must share my experience that I had the past several days. I was online and I was looking up our last name, dad's last name and some of you, my brother's last name. I came to Geneology.com where people were informing about this last name and one reply was of a man who had a familiar last name on my database for that side of the family's geneology and he knew our line, one that I had information on too. Well I decided even though his response was back in 2002 I'd e-mail him-give it a shot-unsure if he'd respond at all or an answer to a question I had for him. In 24 hours he responded and told me he had gotten some information from the LDS genealogy library. I was thinking, well that's nice he's taken advantage of our church's genealogy services and in my next response I told him he could just guide me into the direction and I could be on my way cause I am LDS. IN THE same email I told him that I had a picture of a headstone with someone with the same last name as his. I didn't know what to expect but I eagerly awaited his e-mail on the topic. His response was, 1. he was LDS too and 2. the name of the headstone was his grandfather!!! I didn't expect those two responses jaw0: dropping! I did a little research and found out that he's related as our 3rdCousin once removed!! That really is a fancy way of saying 4th cousins, dad and this man are 3rd cousins. So good news we have members of the church on dad's side! Small world!!!! He is living in Colorado and has 7 kids( homemade), and two adopted kids. He graduated from West High School in 1966 and grew up in Bedford. WOW I thought! That wasn't all! He lived just houses away from my best friend Amy Nelson! He said his mother lived in the house until her death 25yrs ago. I was blown away from the connections and how close to home it hit! He's a convert to the church and he said I"m his first extended family member he's met that is LDS, also, even his wife is a convert and is looking forward to receiving the couple stories we have on the mormon Pioneers that you and I are related to! We talked briefly on the phone last night and he's sending me some genealogy information with all the temple work the church already did on Dad's side. He even told me that he and his wife were going to do our great-great-great grandfather the end of this year but then I e-mailed him about Camille and Mary. So he's stopped his plans on that so we could do this line. He is Camille's sister's descendant. I really would like to share some of the temple work if any of you are interested once I get the info templeready! One of his callings is working in the genealogy library in Colorado!

I'm still amazed that I've met someone related to us and mormon I just can't believe it! Families are forever and I can see that now more ways than one with all the blessings that have come and will come with meeting Tom just by mere chance--or was it not, was the spirit guiding me to him, my testimony has increased, something is happening on the other side, I know that for sure. I've been sitting on this genealogy now for 7 or 8 years and now the fire is burning. I have my temple recommend and rearing to do the work, our family on the other side are ready for their work to be done!
*I didn't put last names on here for privacy reasons*

Some recent happenings

So I didn't quite fix the picture's rotation but here is Mertz in the splint soon after his mishap.

Here is a picture of Mertz (oh please don't choke yourself boy with your sling!!) and Alina. We are at Kimballs Ice Cream (park?) where they have mini golfing and bumper boats and a whole lot of ice cream yum yum! We were actually in mid way thru the golf course here in this shot believe it or not we went on the course that wrapped around a waterfall as you see part of it here in the background. It was by far one of the most challenging mini golf courses I've been on with uphills and water hazards and More Water hazards, like playing real golf well, sort of. We were very hot and mom forgot to buy water while doing the long 18 holes and lo and behold there was and I checked it real good, an unopened sealed water bottle at the 14th hole! Free water kids! They were pretty thankful and so wasn't I, it was in the shady part so it was cool enough still. After the golf course we ventured off to the bumper boats and was that a ball!! Mertz and Alina braved their own boat and me I was like a little kid again tooting around busting into other boats and making a splash. Mertz and Alina were also enjoying it since they had never before seen this kind of thing nor been a part of it. Mertz had to be careful not to get his cast wet and successfully even after all the water dumped his way he came out dry on the arm there. Meanwhile during the kids and my playing around, Logan was having a field day taking on a pitch and putt golf course that also was at the Ice Cream park. He played 9 holes of golf with his golf clubs. It took some arm bending for him to want to go to the Ice Cream place and once we found out it had golfing he was cool with the idea. It sounds a bit selfish on his part, but he really wasnt going to go on the bumper boats cause of his big-ness and he didn't want to play mini golf if he knew he could practice the big boy's golf, a sport he recently got back into again he's working on his handicap score. Then after all that, we met up for some awesome Kimballs Ice Cream and headed back home.

Music Day Camp=My Blessing!

I have a few minuets away from cleaning while eating my lunch so I thought I'd write. I'm taking a week and working every day11pm-7am from tonight, Monday , till next Monday morning at 7am to work--its crazy but have to save some money for my upcoming trip!! I was only to work 4 shifts in 4 days in and have Friday off and work the weekend. As it turned out I've offered to help one of my colleagues and work for her on that Friday I had off. Logan heard this and said what are you nuts?? Well I'm just feeling the crunch time...But as it turns out, I won't have to worry so much about not getting any sleep cause this is the first day for the kids to be away at Music Day Camp! So the kids will be gone M-F from 8-4ish pm and Logan too! There may be a couple days I have to go to Manchester with them seeing we only have one car and Logan still has to teach after those hours...I'm not sure, we still have to work out the kinks in the plans but for just 2 weeks they will have some away from home fun! So me working=need of more sleep+kids leaving for the day=me actually getting some sleep=happy gal and blessed!! Okay my 20 min. lunch break at home is over and back to cleaning, put laundry away, and cleaning the bathroom and doing the tail end of my dishes ready, set, bye!

In one month and a few days...

So Logan and I recieved an invitation from a guy in London, England!! It was a combination of my "kind face" as he put it and Logan's playing ability on the classical guitar. Matt is the president of the Classical Guitar Society in London and found us on MySpace.com! He found Logan and asked to be his friend and saw me on Logan's page and asked to be my friend too. At some point I mentioned about Logan being my husband and he said that he didn't even know I was in any way related to Logan and was taken by as I said before, my "kind face". We all have kind faces don't we?? That was around ten months ago that we were invited and everything is falling into place, the dates were perfect, (Matt doesn't know it yet but the trip lands on our 10th wedding anniversary!!) purchased the plane tickets for Logan and I, got passports (mine is still in the process) but Logan got his yesterday, now I'm just making the last arragements for the kids and soon we'll be off onto a land I've never stepped foot on! I'm so excited most definately, staying at their place hanging out with the locals cool, I think. My one fear since hearing him on the phone, I hope I can understand his strong accent and lingo, I'm such a nimrod when it comes to british slang, maybe I need to go study it some. I know about a fag being a cigarette, a story told by my english teacher in high school Mrs Vanderbeken she learned the hard way!LOL. That's just one that stuck in my mind all these years.
Without the kids even for 10 days can Logan and I survive?? OH you bet I can! And time away from work that's even better, I've been so burnt out lately. The longest I've had a vacation for in my 3yrs of nursing was for 4days which is nothing. This will be Logan's first time in the air! I'm still pinching myself not believing its really going to happen. Logan and I have not had a vacation together like this since our honeymoon. In fact this is also work for Logan not just a getaway cause he's got two gigs lined up in London-so much time will be dedicated to practice for him and Matt and I'll probably go out with his wife or something like that at those times. A dream come true!

No Swimming No Gamecube! No Bike riding!

These were the top things on Mertz' list to do this weekend, swimming, play gamecube and bike riding none of which he'll be doing for heaven only knows how long. Mertz had a fall at the park this evening. Logan took him for a walk and usually that walk always ends with playtime at the park near our home. Mertz had his bike so he also was able to get some bike riding in. He is always glad to spend time with Pa 1:1 and do boy things like playing golf, roughhousing, playing guitar, just to name a few things. It had rained this afternoon around 3pm so the park I'm sure was still damp and it was around the time Alina and I headed out to the mall for a girls night out around 5pm we departed. We looked around in some different stores but her main goal was to make it into the toy store-what a shocker! She was really tickled by a toy near the doorway called something like the Repeat Pete. A parrot decked out to be a pirate's best sidekick and when you said something it recorded it and said it back two times with the wings flapping and the mouth moving. We had some funny things to say and make it repeat at a bit of a chipmunk speed so it didn't really sound exactly like our own voices. She and I had a good laugh, and to think if I bought that thing what a trouble it would cause. I know this because at her age and Mertz's age they tend to copy each other and that really gets the other one mad so this toy is the kind of toy that truly belongs in the toy store forever!!! Of all things she ended up buying something in the bookstore, they had Harry Potter stuff everywhere and she wanted the ty beanie white owl that stands about 7in tall (Harry's owl) cute. She loves her stuffed animals, when we agree on buying her a toy she's always picking out a stuffed animal but none will ever be as special as her gray kitty ,"Girl" as she calls her. So that brings us to when we left the mall and headed home. Alina was eager to show Mertz her newfound treasure. We were home about 7pm when we discovered the boys had gone somewhere, we only have one car and knew they must not have gone far. Well just about ten min. later Pa and Mertz come home, Mertz with a long face not looking so happy, Logan out of breath and sweaty having carried Mertz's bike all the way home, the news came that Mertz had a big fall from the twirly monkey bars. A twirly monkey bar is shaped like a circle and you stand on the platform hold on and the bar gives you a twirl and sometimes there is another twirly one and you grab onto that one and twirl again. Well apparently the bar must have still been wet and Mertz went on and fell and in doing so he put his hand down over his bum and landed in a sitting position on the left hand. Yeah, wanna say OUCH! His hand was limp and it hurt for him to make a fist and do other motions. I called the after hour urgent care office to see if he could be seen by a Doctor. We went in for 8pm and had some x-rays done ohh that woman loved Mertz and how good he was behaving she couldn't stop complementing him. He really made her night, she said. He wasn't in so much pain or maybe he was and didn't complain, he was really good and did everything she asked. [I'm so proud in times like these cause there are DAYS when I wonder if I'm doing a good job mothering. And only a few times do I feel that yes I am! Its days like when people I don't know complement my kids on their manners or quick obedience, those are the days I know I'm doing a good job and let me tell you I cherish it! ] Well after seeing the doctor we were told that he had a bone piece somewhere in between his two bones in his wrist so there is a fracture. They put his hand/wrist in a splint which is a step away from having a cast but the radiologist has to look at the x-rays and give us more details on Monday to see if in fact he needs a full blown cast which means NO SWIMMING NO GAME CUBE NO BIKE RIDING and whatever we can think of that commands the use of two hands or water activities. What a way to begin the summer! My poor little man!

What a week

Beginning on Saturday the kids and I went to Scott and Angel's house for a visit and a much appreciated swim! Scott, Angel and I had a very nice visit and of course the kids were having quite a grand time visiting with each other. Mertz, Alina and Hunter were wearing goggles that just about covered their whole face-they all were little divers. One set of goggles had a breathing tube so you could go a bit under and still breathe. Mertz tried that out but I'm not sure if he mastered the whole technique of staying close to the surface, I think he sucked in a bit of water more than his liking; even at my age I was having a bad time with it! The slide was recently washed and put up so the kids enjoyed going down the slide with a splash into the pool. I distinctly recall Alina telling me on the way to their house how she was determined she was going to go down the slide (without being afraid) and she did many times! All the kids enjoyed the slide, the diving board and a new feat for Mertz was touching the bottom with his hand at the deep end and coming back up(that's the best part)! As a mother I do worry about the dangers that water brings, what else DON'T I worry about?! So Scott tells me that my grandmother's house is still on the market and was offered to buy it. I thought it wasn't supposed to be purchased by family?? I wish I could live there, anything is better than where we are now and we really want to live in a house. Unfortunately, Scott said that our aunt who lives out back purchased much of the land out back so here lies the pathetic result no backyard!! A house needs some kind of yard with kids.
We returned home later on and the next day I woke up with a horrible cold! Sunday has come and gone Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday I've been feeling so foggy and sinus pressure has been unbearable. I don't have a fever and so I decided to get some non-drowsy dayquil to relieve my aches in my head. I've been going to work feeling this way (I hate to call out 11-7 is a hard shift to replace if someone calls out) and I notice everyone is got something, coughing, sniffling, and such I think I may have gotten sick from them at some point but you never can tell. Yesterday being the 4th it was a day of rest for me while everyone went partying at Logan's brother's house. The weather wasn't very accommodating but the kids still went swimming in their pool, and the fireworks in our city were canceled!! Sometimes I believe it is good to let Logan go to his family outing alone with the kids and me the other way, sometimes it is what it is, our families are so different and thats okay. My own dad rarely came when mom went to visit her parents and she would take us kids alone and that fun anyways. So I don't condemn the practice.