We REALLY need human children!

He actually feel asleep like this this morning. I love my dog!

Happy 2nd Birthday Chonkiri!

Yesterday was Chonkiri's second birthday. For his cake, he had a can of tuna with a candle. He didn't like the candle, but he loved the tuna. He made sure he got every last flake of tuna.

Here is Chonkiri jumping for his new squeeky toy.

Death and dying

Yesterday I had the experience of literally saving someone's life, part of my job as a nurse, but this experience was far different than others. I don't really know how to describe it. It was the first time in my life that I could feel someone's spirit leaving his body. I wasn't the only one who felt it. There were two other nurses in the room at the time and they both felt it also. I felt his spirit leaving his body and then through what we were doing to him, I felt his spirit go back into his body and watched him breath again and his color return. It was a strangely sorrowful experience. I almost feel guilty from stopping him from going home. But, that is my job. How strange it is that we rejoice when I baby is born and mourn when a person dies. In the grand picture, it should be the opposite. We leave God's presence when we are born and return to his presence when we die. God is the one being who loves us more than we can imagine and will only allow the best for us. What a strange web we weave in believing death is bad. Sorry for being deep, but I had to release these thoughts from my mind.

Running (sort of)

I have been really focused on trying to improve my health and such. As a part of health improvement, I have been walking with Lindy and Lisa weekly. Before the walk, I get to the park early and I run. Today was one of the hardest runs. I haven't run for two weeks (I slacked last week and didn't do my run) and my body did not want to make it around the track. I thought I was going to fall over and die (after only half a lap). But, horray for me, I finished the lap. Although it may not seem like a lot to you, it was so hard not to give up. Mind over matter. So I am taking a verbal victory lap. Hip-hip-horray! Okay, now I going to go plop down and rest. Oh, after the run, Lisa and I walked at a good pace (thanks for keeping me going Lisa) for about an hour. If anyone wants to join us, you are welcome. My day off next week is Wednesday the 28th. We usually start walking anywhere from 6:30am (cooler) to 8am and we are done between 7:45am and 10am. Let me know if you want to join and we can choose a time. As for now, it is chow time.

Across the Universe

I finally got the cd I have been wanting for a while now. It is the soundtrack to Across the Universe. I liked the movie, but I love the music on the movie, thus I wanted the cd more than the movie. Many of the songs are re-recorded Beatles songs. So awesome!

No Sleep Update

The uninvited visitors got into the house by chewing a hole through the back wall into the house. Dirty little buggers! All holes are closed up. We set traps everwhere and thus far we have caught 3 mice, 2 in live catch traps and 1 on a glue pad. We have strerilized the house more times than I can keep track of. Hopefully we are close to being done with mice. We are going to leave the traps out for a week or two after the last mouse is caught (to make sure it is actually the last mouse). This has been an experience that will help me to remember to be thankful for the times that mice are not invading our home.

Caught 'em

Just for the numbers:
MICE CAUGHT: 3
MICE RELEASED IN THE DESERT: 2
MICE RELEASED TO THE GARBAGE CAN: 1
TRAPS SET: 14
NUMBER OF RESTLESS NIGHTS WORRYING ABOUT MICE: too many!

Dancing Roadrunner

We went to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum and we got to see the keep feed the roadrunner. He said it was mating season and that a roadrunner will dance around and carry its food in order to show off for a mate. I guess the roadrunner really liked the keeper. I will try to post the video later, it just won't load right now. But here are a few pictures...

Pictures of said road runner hold his mouse (yeah death to mice)

Randy with Daniel and Lisa Anderson's daughter Kyana (sp? sorry Lisa). Randy someday will be a great daddy.
Randy with Caleb Anderson.
A mommy hummingbird
Her babies
Tucson looking beautiful for our drive home.

No Sleep

We did not sleep very well last night. Here is the reason.

To solve this problem we got a bunch of traps (the humane kind that catch but don't kill) in the middle of the night and set them up. We have caught zero so far. Hopefully we chased it away. We found out how it had got into the house and we sealed it off very well (hopefully). The little bugger had chewed a hole in a corner in our back wall and snuck in. Good thing I am a freezer-a-holic and I put almost everything in the freezer. It only got into two pretzel bags (both where new but now are garbage) and a mostly empty bag of potatoes (also garbage). I freaked out over the whole incident. I spent multiple hours purging and bleaching our house today. I really hope this whole mouse in house incident is over. Yuck!

Duckling and Big Winner

We went goofy golfing this afternoon at Golf-N-Stuff. As we were walking in, I said to Randy "it is baby duck season, I wonder if theyhad had any babies yet." Just at that moment, a mommy and baby duck come running past us. It was the cutest thing. It looked like it was only a couple of days old. We golfed a good round. I got a HOLE IN ONE!!! Which never happens and we didn't cheat (a first for us). We then went to in and played arcade games. We played this game "Deal or No Deal" were the highes ticket value is 200. Randy won the 200 tickets!!! It was so much fun.

Happy Mother's Day

Randy is the Sunday School President at church and one of his responsibilities is to "do something special for the moms" as Randy puts it. Usually the moms get a carnation (which is often in pieces before they get home from church). This year Randy came up with this...

Two potted flowers and a poem about moms. I helped tie the ribbons. "Aren't they beautiful?!" "The ribbons." That was my darling Randy talking, so I had to quote him. His councilor, Bro. Gibson, (and his wife), put together the poem. I was very impressed with how nice and longer lasting this year's gift to the moms was. This is the poem... "I'd rather be a mother than anyone on earth, Bringing up a child or two of unpretentious birth... I'd rather tuck a little child all safe and sound in bed, Than twine a chain of diamonds about my carefree head. I'd rather wash a smudgy face with round, bright, baby eyes, Than paint the pageantry of fame or walk among the wise."

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! I love you mommy! Thank-you for raising me and helping me to be the person I am today. I love you Mom Swann! Thank-you so much for helping my husband to be the kind, loving, and righteous person that he is.

Tale of Sorrow

For all of those who could add an extra family to their prayers, this one is for you. I found out some pretty terrible news this afternoon. My neighbor's son was killed in a motorcycle accident yesterday. He had recently celebrated the birth of his first child. I know that my neighbor and her family are going to go through some very difficult times, especially with Mother's Day being on Sunday. Please pray for them. For their privacy, I won't state names, but God will know who you are praying for.

Answers to Poll Questions

Of the following options, who should be our next president?
B. Obama
0 (0%)
H. Clinton
0 (0%)
J. McCain
2 (100%)
Correct answer: We have no idea. Honestly, none of the above seems like the best answer to me.

What instrument does Randy play?
piano
0 (0%)
sax
0 (0%)
tuba
0 (0%)
flute
4 (80%)
guitar
1 (20%)
drums
0 (0%)
Correct answer: The flute. Sarah is learning to play the guitar.

What profession does Randy want to enter?
Special Education Teacher
2 (66%)
Speech Therapist
0 (0%)
Anything that makes enough money
0 (0%)
Chef/Baker
0 (0%)
Sign Language Interpreter
3 (100%)
Correct answer: Special Education Teacher and Sign Language Interpreter. These two professions play well together.

What is Sarah’s least favorite holiday?
4th of July
0 (0%)
Birthday
1 (33%)
Halloween
1 (33%)
Christmas
0 (0%)
Thanksgiving
0 (0%)
New Years
1 (33%)

Correct answer: Birthday. Birthdays are full of expectations and often lead to disappointment.

Sarah's day off

We had so much fun bowling on my birthday that we decided to go bowling more often. This month Tucson bowl has discounted bowling prices 99 cents a game. Once again Randy was beaten by a girl!

Game One:
Randy 54 Sarah 112

Game Two:
Randy 96 (with a turkey in the 10th frame) Sarah 111

Game Three:
Randy 78 Sarah 128

Game Four:
This was practice for learning to pick up spares, I bowled first for Randy and then he had to pick up, then he bowled first for me and I had to pick up. So no competition this round.

Game Five:
Randy 68 Sarah 103

If anyone wants to go bowling with us, let us know. The next time we are planning to go bowling is in two weeks. My schedule is all screwy next week, so we don't get any days off together. Randy is gone all day Tuesday and Thursday for school and, of course, those are my days off. Next week will be love note week.