The Fleeting Moments

Sunday was an incredibly emotional day for me. Most of you know, I don't cry very easily, but Sunday I cried several times. We had a wonderful lesson in Relief Society about being daughters of God. I was asked to read a quote by author Anna Quindlen. This is the quote:
"The biggest mistake I made as a parent is the one that most of us make... I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of my three children sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less."

How ashamed I felt of myself sitting in that room, knowing I was making those same mistakes. Knowing that I could never get those fleeting moments back.

Now, why this lesson hit home so hard:

Saturday morning we received heartbreaking news. A family in our ward lost their oldest son due to a drunk driver. This was doubly hard for us, as he was a police officer for the city of Phoenix. Shane Figueroa was responding to a shots fired call when a drunk driver ran a red light and struck the drivers side of Shane's patrol car. He is survived by his wife and 3 month old daughter as well as numerous extended family and friends.

As the wife of a police officer I have lived this in my mind wondering how I would cope if Jeff never came home from his shift. My only consolation would be my knowledge of the plan of salvation and how it works and my Savior's love for me and my family. I know his family is close to the Savior and that this is a comfort to them. I hope his wife finds peace with her Savior and comfort in his love for her and their family as well as forgiveness for the man who took her husbands life.

Please keep this family in your prayers and remember the fleeting moments of life, they are the most precious and often the ones we remember the least.

Flashback

Oh my goodness. I can't believe I nearly forgot to post about this concert I went to. NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK! That's right and I'm not ashamed to say it. I had so much fun, I loved every minute and sang every song! Hehehe! I went with my friend Meghan. Her husband's company has box seats at Jobing.com arena. We screamed ourselves hoarse and my hearing was a little off for a day, but it was worth it. I forgot my camera so the only semi-decent picture I have is this one of Joey. He was my favorite and mmmmmmMM is he delicious! Hahaha. Anyway, click on the title of the post and it will take you to their website. Take a walk down memory lane. I had a great time when I did.

Twilight Trailer!!!

This is a link to the new and apparently final Twilight trailer. I could pee my pants in excitement!! Hehehe. Just click on the title of the post and it will take you to Twilight paradise. Haha!

We've Got an Alien.

Well, we are going to have a new baby! Yea! We are very excited. Emily asks nearly every day if the baby is coming out tomorrow. She is going to be a great big sister and can hardly wait to help. Ethan has always loved babies, even when he was still a baby himself. We are due March 20th. (I'm hoping for the 22nd or 23rd so I can finish my last week of work.) We are NOT going to find out what the baby is. Don't start your whining. It's our last one, as far as we're concerned. We, meaning I, think it would be fun to find out what the sex is the day the baby pops out. Haha. So there it is. One more of the cutest babies that ever graced the earth will soon be part of our family. I think the picture looks like an alien...haha! I kept having dreams about twins so I made the doctor look. Just one. :)

Howard Stern Interviews smart Obama supporters In Harlem

I'm going Bananas!!!

We are proud to say that Ethan was drawn out of a box for good behaivor this week at school. He came home with his reward, the class "pet", George Bananas. The monkey had to go everywhere Ethan did, and let me tell you, the boy took it seriously. George went everywhere! The mall, the movies, out to dinner, to McDonalds (where I might add, he was almost forgotten!). There was even a campout in the living room on Friday night. By the time Monday morning rolled around I was VERY happy to see George get on the bus and go back to school! Oh by the way, there was also a journal that had to be complete with pictures all about George's weekend! Buh-Bye George.

Her own sense of style....

The picture says it all.....Emily loves to dress herself and as you can see the results are sometimes VERY entertaining! I can only hope as time goes by, that she will learn to match ALL of the clothes. Most days, the shirt matches the socks and shoes or the shirt and skirt match, but this was too much to pass up! Normally the results are not this funny, but today was picture worthy! I'll draw your attention to the green socks with hot pink, black and purple shoes....this was Emily's favorite part of the outfit....

Incoming!!!!!

During fall break we went to a fun park called Cracker Jax. It has minature golf, go carts, batting cages, arcades, bumper boats, and........WATER BALLOON fighting stations! Hahaha! I have to say, this is the most fun a kid can have. Having a water balloon come hurtling through the air and smacking you somewhere on the body! They had so much fun. We decided that it would be fun to go on a date with our husbands and pit them against each other while we laughed on the sidelines. Aahh, to be a kid... or a grown man. :)

Farewell Jake and Daisy!

Well we had to say goodbye to our dogs, Jake and Daisy. It was a hard decision to make, but it has worked out for the best. Jake has been sick with valley fever and it was costing us an absolute fortune!! I'm telling you, if you want to be a doctor and make money, become a VETERINARIAN! So we contacted a group that rescues golden retrievers. They found a home for them both together so that made us feel better about our decision. Apparently the people are screened more closely then those who are adopting a child! Holy cow. We miss them but are happy to say that our house has remained hairball free!

The boy loves football!

Well we know my husband is an absolute nut for football, and apparently, our son has inherited the gene! In August he started football practice and LOVED it! Jeff was able to be an assistant coach and enjoyed it (for the most part :). Ethan was a natural for center and I'm told is going to be really good at defensive stuff. (I'm not familiar with the terms yet.) Jeff is threatening to make me read football for dummies....shoot me now! Hahaha. It was such fun going to all the games and watching the boys improve. Finally by the last game they had learned to stay to the middle of the field and go for the flags! Cute Cute Cute! Ethan is already asking to be signed up for tackle, which they will be allowed to do next year.