Happy Birthday, Taiger!!!!!

Today was Taiger's birthday! What a happy and exciting day!!!!!

Last night, he was so excited, he couldn't sleep...in fact, he started crying! Not crying because he was tantruming, or being rude...just because he really was THAT excited. So cute!

So, I lay down beside him on his bed and told him about what I was doing 4 years ago last night. I was laying in bed, thinking it was time for my little guy to be born. Then, I told him about the next day, his birthday, and the (edited) details of his birth (meaning, I went to the hospital, they gave me medicine, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Bryndon, Aunt Bryttan and Aunt BeQin came, and a while later you were born!). I told him about how as soon as he was born, the doctors layed him on me and he reached RIGHT up and held my finger (of course, he thought that was so cute!). I told him about how, when I couldn't hold him any more in the night (because I was in pain, sick, blah blah blah...but I didn't tell him that part!) that NaiNai held him all night and slept with him. I told him about getting his picture taken by the hospital photographer the next day. I told him about how he and I lay in the bed and watched his first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and how that evening everyone came over for "Thanksgiving Diner" hospital-food-style. I told him how much I loved him the moment I saw him.

What I did not tell him was how his birth changed my life. How I never, ever could have imagined how fiercly and deeply I would love him. I didn't tell him how I dream of his future, or that I love to guess what he will be like as he grows older. I didn't tell him how the moment he was born I started worrying about him, and that that worry will never stop. I didn't tell him what it is like to see me, my soul, my skin, my blood, outside of me in him. I didn't tell him how proud I am of the littlest things he does, how his accomplishments bring me so much joy, how his every triumph leaves me bursting with pride. I didn't tell him how I worry about his testimony, how I pray for it and yearn for him to always grow in faith, and remain close to God. I didn't tell him how I miss him when we are apart. I didn't tell him any of that. Because I am a Mom, and things like that would be lost on his four year old mind.

But I DID tell him I love him.

And that sums it all up. That is enough.

Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?....

....To go to the celebration for William and Sarah, of course!

And that is where Taiger and I were trying to get to as well.

Unfortunately, we became very, very, very lost.

Late Friday night, I received notice from sweet Lois that there would be a celebration Saturday morning at 11:00 in Lehi with ALL of the families in the area who had adopted or were adopting from Lucky Hill gathering to celebrate the baptism of William and Sarah (Patience). I was so excited I almost couldn't sleep! Really. I stayed up and arranged work schedule and did laundry so we could get out of the house early and to the celebration by 11:00am.

The next morning, I told Taiger where we were going and why. Boy, was he excited! So much so, in fact, that he brushed his own teeth and fixed his own hair and got himself ready to go, wanting to look nice and to prove his maturity to go to such an exciting party.

On the drive there, we laughed and sang and talked about how much fun we would have!

We took the exit, and immediately we were lost.

We pulled into Lehi at 11:00, which was when the celebration was set to begin. I figured we would probably be there in 5-10 mins, so a little late, but not too bad. I was actually really impressed, seeing as how we are USUALLY late for EVERYTHING!!

First, we went up to Sun Crest (or something like that). What a beautiful drive! I kept wanting to snap some pictures, but at this point I still held out hope we would get to the celebration without being terribly late, so I was not willing to waste time with picture taking.

Then, we drove all the way south, into another town. There, we stopped at a gas station to ask directions. Neither person behind the counter, nor any of the customers, knew how to find where we were heading. In the end, the man behind the counter became rude and we left, embarrassed and still very lost.

We headed north again and after a long while, stopped to ask directions.

These people also had NO CLUE where it was we were trying to find, but looked up directions on google. They were so kind and helpful...but it took them a LONG time to get the directions.

Back outside, it had started to snow. My Mom had called many times to ask if we had found the gathering yet and to tell us to get on the road soon so we didn't get caught in the blizzard heading our way.

Taiger ate the falling snow...

Then, drew us a map on the etch-a-sketch, sure that would help us find our way.

Unfortunately, his map was also wrong, and we wandered lost some more.

By now, we were so late, I wasn't sure the celebration would still be taking place. I told Taiger we may have to give up. Choking back tears, he told me we couldn't give up yet, and begged for us to keep looking so he could see William.

It broke my heart, so I did what any Mom would do in that heart-strings-pulling situation...

I kept driving.

And as we drove, I snapped pictures of some of the things we saw....an old truck with Santa as the passanger....

A cool house that looked like a church...

Some odd looking people waiting to cross the street...

And a chicken crossing the road (nothing strange in that, people) (REALLY...a CHICKEN, well, rooster, CROSSING THE ROAD! Where WERE we? The TWILIGHT ZONE?!?!??!)

But, I kept driving...

In circles.

Looking for the right place...

that I am SURE didn't exist (at least NOT in The Twilight Zone, where we now were).

Finally, we said a prayer and I asked Heavenly Father to help Taiger not be too disappointed and to help him know that Mommy really wanted him to go to the party, we just could NOT find it.

The snow was getting worse, and after two hours of hunting, I gave up. Taiger tried to be brave and not cry as we entered the freeway, but from the back seat he asked in a voice soft with emotion if maybe we could have our own party and invite William and Adjoa (the only two names he could remember).

As we got on the freeway the blizzard was in full swing. Visibility was low, the roads were slick and the ice was heavy on the window wipers.

I was glad we left when we did, but poor Taiger was so disappointed.

Two Dollars

RIGHT NOW, I want you to go get the two dollars you were going to spend today on soda pop. Go get it RIGHT NOW! And while you are up, grab a stamp, envelope and a pen/pencil. GO NOW...I will wait ;).......
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Did you get them? If not, I'll keep waiting...........
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Okay, now, on the envelope write this:
Sixteen Small Stones
C/O Breclyn Everett
1811 South 1800 East
Sugarhouse, Utah 84108
Put the two dollars in the envelope, lick the edge and seal it. Stick the stamp on. Now, walk it to your mail box....Now, don't start thinking of excuses! Your shoes aren't on? That's your best excuse? Grab them and put them on! No, don't stop to wash the dishes, or to brush your teeth...just run the envelope to the mail box and flip the little red flag up...........
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YOU'RE BACK! That two dollars is on it's way to Africa (well, to me first, but then STRAIGHT to Africa). Yup, you did it! You helped someone in Africa! Was that so hard? And I promise you, you will NOT miss your two dollars.

That money is going to buy church supplies for a primary in Ghana (read my previous post entitled something like "Service Project for Primary in Ghana" for more info on that). What a great cause! Helping children learn about God? Bringing them closer to Heaven? I can think of nothing greater in the world. Think of the peace YOU feel because you know of Heavenly Father. Think of the joy you feel because you know of life after death. Think of the comfort you have felt when reading the Scriptures. Now look! You just gave that to someone else! Aren't you so, so happy?

So often, we say we want to do this service or that one. But we think we will do it "in a sec" or "later", and really we DO have EVERY intent to do it!!!!! Then, things come up...crying baby, dishes, dirty clothes, boiling water...and before you know it, it is two weeks later and you are thinking, "I really would have liked to have done that service. Darn it!" Well, congratulations, you did this one!I wish I could express how thankful I am. I wish I could tell you how appreciated your two dollars will be. I guess all I can do is say, "THANK YOU" and hope that will suffice.

Here is the list of things the primary really needs. (You will probably be surprised with how little they are willing to get by. Our primaries here are so well equipped!) It may also help you see just what is needed and why. THANK YOU!

This is a post from a sweet Mom who is adopting a little boy from Luckyhill Orphan Home. She is organizing the donations for the primary.
Childrens Songbook ($18.25, hardcover)
CDs of hymns and primary songs so teachers learn new ones (Children's hymns CDs: $650, Standard hymns: $11.50)
Cd player (no idea how much that costs in Ghana....ballpark $50?)
Starter library package. (They already have empty cabinets with locks. I'm waiting to find out if this means that they want, say, a Primary manual for each class for each year of curriculum, or what, so that I can post prices.)
Teaching aids like picture kit (simplified Gospel Art Book is $3.25; can't find the Gospel Art Kit listed - anyone have one to donate?)
3 sets scriptures for primary classes to read together. Triple plus bible. (1 regular quad is $35; a triple + Bible is $20 + $25)
*All of this is at the Accra temple bookstore if money can be wired or brought by one of the adopting families).I should have plenty of room in my suitcases when I go, so if anyone wants to donate those things, they can - or if anyone wants to donate $ for buying those things at the distribution center at the temple in Accra, that's good as well! :) (And if anyone has gently used items from that list, I'm sure they would be very happy to have them.)At this point my very tentative departure date is November 16th, so donations would need to get to me by then - or I could send them with the next person going over there. :)Isn't it kind of weird and amazing to think of a Primary without any of those things? (Well,maybe it won't be that way for long. :) :) )

Chelsea

On of my best friends died several years ago. She died the end of October. Each year, as the end of the month draws near, I feel this deep sadness. I miss her so much, and it is often hard to think I will never again see her IN THIS LIFE. I often think about the things we would have done TOGETHER. When I went away to college the first time (to Southern Virginia College) I thought of how MAYBE she would have come with me, and I wouldn't have been so lonely there. When I went to China, I thought of how I would have made Chelsea come with me, and how much FUN we would have had. (While I was in China, I took one month and went backpacking. I was all alone, and although it was fun and a great adventure, I still, once in a while on the lonely, all night bus trips, or while sitting alone on the train, wondered if she would have been with me, and how we would have been having so much fun.)

Usually, the end of October hits me like a brick, and then the sorrow lifts with the coming of November. I usually can shake the sorrow. This year has been different.

Last year, I thought of Chelsea, but didn't feel that deep hurt when I thought of her. I thought that maybe, FINALLY, after so many years, the mourning was over. This year, I made up for last year's peace.

I wish I could tell all about Chelsea. Sometimes, I want to talk about her. Sometimes, I want to talk about her death. The day she died, I was so in shock. When I found out she had passed away, I fell to the ground and sobbed. Then, I bottled it all up and went on. I cried a little after that, but no one comforted me. Oh, I am sure my Mom did all she could. I remember her asking me if I was okay, and telling me it was going to be okay. But to me, it felt like no one hugged me. No one told me that I would see her again. No one put their arm around me and listened to me talk about my best friend and how much I missed her. I guess, in some ways, I wanted that. I wanted to share my pain with someone to make it more bearable. But there was no one. I had no one to talk to about my hurt.

So now, each year, it seeps out, a trickle at a time. A drop of sorrow each year. Sometimes, I want to just scream and cry and let out the pain and loss I feel in my heart.

I miss Chelsea so much.

No More Mute

Much to everyone's relief, my instant playing music on here is GONE. So, go ahead. Un-mute your computer. The music is gone. No more obnoxious-ness. Okay, I always muted it when I was coming to this blog because it is just so sudden and loud! I realized, if I don't like it, probably no one else does, either.

My Great Eight

THIS IS SOOOO EXCITING! Big secret? I have been WANTING (yes, wanting) to be tagged in something like this! So, leave it to one of my BEST FRIENDS IN THE WORLD to fulfill one of my deepest dreams! THANK YOU, MEGAN for tagging be in this!

Okay, really, I would rather do this on a day when I have done something great and wonderful and exciting...but for the sake of the rules, I will post it today...and you will all see how boring my Saturdays are! LOL!

8 things I did today (not in order)

1. WORKED
2. Got all worked up by an evil customer
3. Did laundry
4. Wrote my resume for ShangHai internship
5. Wrote letter of intent for ShangHai internship
6. Hugged my Dad, who is here visiting from Idaho...WOO HOO!
7. Snuggled Taiger. (Okay, so this HAS to be my favorite pass-time! My son is SO SNUGGLY! He LOVES to be held and huged and snuggled. I LOVE it!)
8. Sang to Taiger (more than once...LOVE singing to my son!)

Eight Things I am Looking Forward To:

1. Taiger's birthday (I have some AWESOME gifts picked out for him! I think he will LOVE them!)
2. Being DONE with my test on Wednesday
3. Opening my food program (Okay, so it isn't until a while in the future, but Megan wrote something that is for "in the future", so I figured I could, too! Besides, I think about it and get excited for it ALL THE TIME! LOL!)
4. The end of this semester! Not only will my Chinese be better...I will also be done with this semester! And that always feels SOOOOO great!!!!!!!!!!!!
5. Christmas for Taiger (he is going to LOVE it! I love it when he is happy and when he smiles and when he laughs and when he gets excited and...okay, everything about the combination of Christmas and Taiger I LOVE!)
6. Finding out if I get the internship job (ShangHai World Expo...would be AMAZING!)
7. Moving to Europe for a year or two to sing opera (SO EXCITED! Again...a couple of years from now, but I can get excited, can't I?!)
8. This is so pathetic. I have so little about which to be excited!

Eight Favorite Shows
Okay, so I rarely watch adult TV...my tv time envolves Super Why and Dino Squad...Neither of which is my "favorite" (although Dino Squad is on "instant play" on Net Flix and has SAVED my life...or at least my sleep...more than once when Taiger has awaken in the night and refused to go back to sleep! And Super Why is just plain amazing for kids. I love it! Really, only because Taiger loves it. Besides, it teaches reading, it teaches good morals...I do like it!). SO...I am going to write my favorite MOVIES. Here goes (in no order, okay?!)
1.) A Little Princess
2.) Pheobe in Wonderland
3.) The Lord Of The Rings (ALL THREE, but do I count them as three different movies?)
4.) (Do I admit this online, for the WORLD to see? Yes. Yes, I do) Twilight (Don't judge me)
5.) Garfield's Halloween ("Halloween is my middle name! Gar-Halloween-field!" Don't get better than that right there!)
6.) Just Married (OH MY HECK! SO FUNNY!)
7.) The Best Two Years (NEVER gets old. Seriously heartwarming!)
8.) The Power Of One (Everyone should see this movie! Even though it isn't the greatest movie I have ever seen, it carries a powerful punch and has a great message!)

Eight Favorite Restaurants
1.) Olive Garden (come on, was ANYONE surprised?? Anyone? No? Didn't think so! Can I just say I LOVE Zuppa Tuscana...even though I cannot spell it?!)
2.) Texas Roadhouse (YUM!)
3.) PeiWei (Ate there once and life will never be the same...mostly because I can't afford to ever go back, and I will always want to! LOL!)
4.) Subway (I said it, I can't UN-say it!)
5.) Mama Inez (even though they went out of business. That was a sad, sad day!)
6.) Tepinyaki's (HOW ON EARTH DO YOU SPELL THAT?! Again, CHANGED MY LIFE, not only because the food was SO GOOD, but because I will never again walk in that restaurant! TOO expensive! I can't even afford to say the name out loud!)
7.) Uhhhhh....hmmmmm....I don't usually eat out at restaurants. SO this is all I have! LOL!

Service Project for a Primary in Ghana!!

Okay, so EVERYONE check out sixteensmallstones.blogspot.com or 16smallstones.com. We are doing a cool service project for the church primary attended by the orphans at Luckyhill Orphan Home in Ghana, Africa! Let me know if you want to donate! It will be such a great way to serve kids who really (really) need it! (If this sounds confusing, just go to sixteensmallstones.blogspot.com and it will all be made clear! LOL!)

THANK YOU ALL! :D :D