I am Grateful.

I was listening to National Public Radio (NPR) on the way into work this morning and heard a sad and disheartening story about the drug addiction and misery in Afghanistan. The story focused on an Afghan woman named Karima, an opium addict, who shares her home with her addicted parents. She has six children that live with her that suffer the ill effects of being bathed by opium and heroin smoke since birth. The children don't attend school. The oldest daughter (12), a girl who is small for her age and is losing her hair, is sent to buy drugs for her mother. The mother actually tried to sell her 5 year old daughter in the market last month because she was desperate for the cash, but she was unable to find a buyer. The oldest daughter has also started to take "drags" of her mother's opium. NPR goes on to discuss why there is such a drug problem in Afghanistan.

If you want to read the story in it's entirety and view pictures you can click here http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102984398.

Why do I share such a sad story? It made me think how fortunate we are to live in a country that is free from the ravaging effects of war. It made me appreciate what I have and has prompted me to make a list of what I am grateful for.

I am Grateful for..

I am grateful that I live in a country that is free from war and terror.

I am grateful that I live in a warm, sheltered home.

I am grateful to be married to a wonderful man.

I am grateful for two beautiful children that are healthy and generally happy.

I am grateful that I am able to feed my children.

I am grateful that they can attend school have opportunities to become whatever they want to be.

I am grateful that I have a job that supports my family.

I am grateful we have cars to take us where we need each day.

I am grateful that I am generally healthy and free of disease.

I am grateful that I am surrounded by people who love and respect me.

I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father.

I am grateful for Jesus Christ and his Atonement.

I am grateful for the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints.

I am grateful for the Temple and the covenants I have made.

I am grateful for loving Parents, natural and "adopted".

I am grateful that I grew up in a loving, caring environment.

I am grateful for the technology which connects us and helps us understand our environment.

I am grateful for my trials because they have made me what I am today.

I am grateful that I am alive to experience life to its fullest, to learn, to make mistakes, and to try to become better each day.

My car is BETTER!

Well the only problem with my car was the radiator cap. It would have been a very simple and inexpensive fix for us. Getting it done at the dealership ended up costing $108. Oh well! They tested it and checked it so now I have the peace of mind that it is fixed. If we were to fix the problem ourselves It probably just would have been a guessing game. At least the problem is fixed and it wasn't too bad.

On the other hand, I appear to be sick! Dumb colds! Hopefully I'll be over it soon. Until then my poor family has had to endure my sniffles and coughs. I hope I don't pass it around!

My Car is SICK!

Remember that I skipped out on work yesterday? So I totally packed my day with stuff. The girls and I planted the garden, we walked to the library and back, and I even did some laundry. Well I decided to do a few more things. I decided that Adelle and I would go to a bookstore in Jordan Commons. I put a book on hold at the library and have really been wanting to read it, but I think it is going to be weeks before it will be my turn to get it. I was tired of waiting and decided I would go buy it.

Adelle and I, armed with birthday money drove down to the bookstore. Everything was going well until I turned into the parking lot. There was a small amount of steam or smoke. I turned of the car and my car gushed all of its coolant out of the bottom of the car. I swear it just vomited it out! I calmly called Wes and well, he was less than happy, to his credit though when he arrived he was calm as well. He drives out with Lydia and we decide to take it to the dealership repair shop on 106th south and State. It didn't overheat at all at first, but then sure enough the little meter hand moves into the red. I pull over and Wes pulls over in his car. I jump into his car and we drive around trying to find an place that carries red antifreeze. That is right boys and girls, my car only takes Red antifreeze.

We can't find a place so we head back to my car and turn it back on. It has cooled down a bit so we decide to start heading to the dealership. We make it a little ways and then it starts overheating again. I park it and we again drive around in Wes' car trying to find a store that sells Red antifreeze. No luck. We decide to eat dinner at Wendy's instead. Can I tell you...I have never seen my girls eat so much in such a small amount of time. Myself and the girls were starving after working in the garden and walking to the library. We had eaten lunch earlier, but will all the extra physical exertion we are just famished.

We head back to my car and start the journey again. Sure enough it goes into the red, but I am two minutes away. I make it to the dealership and drop off the car. They said that they will look at it today. I really hope that it isn't anything major. It appears that it leaked right by the coolant tank and not the engine, but we'll see. Cars are never fun!

Gardening Time!

I am sluffing from work today. Don't worry my boss knows. I decided to use my get out of jail free card to spend the last day of spring break home with my girls. Wes hinted several times before he went to meet with a client that it would be a great idea for the girls and I to plant seeds in the garden. Wes already worked yesterday to till the garden with manure. We decided this year to plant Spinach, Peas, Bell Peppers and Asparagus. Spinach thrives in our garden every year. The peas almost took over my tomatoes last year because Wes planted them in between the tomato plants. Silly guy! He stated that the peppers were starting to come up last year, but that they were planted too late. The asparagus is going to be planted in a wild strip next to our driveway.

On Saturday we bought a blackberry bush, a raspberry bush, and a grape vine. I am SO EXCITED about these!! Here is the problem though. I had this great place picked out in my mind, right next to the chain link fence. Wes has pointed out several problems with my location. He is determined that they will be planted in raised planter beds, which will probably cost a bit of money. Probably not too much, but still extra money. I would love to say that I have expertise to build my own planter beds, but I don't. Hopefully I will be able to convince Wes to help me soon. I did find a wonderful blog that gives step by step instructions so hopefully that will help us along.

So anyway, the girls and I ventured outside to make rows in the dirt and the plant our little seeds. Lydia complained quite a bit. I love my girl, but she complained she was hungry, and that she didn't like her hand feeling dry, and she was bored. She still was a big help though. Thanks Lydia!! Adelle helped with the seed planting and she was the photographer.

I think Lydia and I were really getting good at making our rows by the end. My legs ended up feeling like jelly by the time we were done. We didn't use any gloves because we only have one pair, and besides who needs gloves! A little dirt never hurt anyone!

In the far left row we planted peas. In the next row we planted spinach and the row to the right of that we planted a variety of bell peppers. The last row is reserved for a later planting of spinach. The spinach will go to seed after a couple of months and isn't usable anymore, so we figured it would be a good idea to plant one row later. The square in the far right of the picture is reserved for tomato plants, my favorite part of the garden. I really, really hope Costco gets tomato plants again this year. They were so hardy and did so well. I had buckets and buckets of tomatoes!

Our peach tree is looking really healthy this year. I hope we get a lot of yummy, sweet peaches this summer!

Got Candy?

This isn't good for a girl who is trying to eat healthy! There are a lot of people who love my girls. Lydia came home with oodles of candy from her dad's family, of course the Easter Bunny left some candy and other relatives have generously given to my girls. Need sugar? You are welcome to come to my house and consume large quantities of candy from our personal candy store. Really....come over!

Is the Easter Bunny Fair?

The Easter Bunny has always been very "fair" in my opinion. He always leaves the same amount of eggs for the girls, the same chocolate bunny for each of them and similar added items. Since Lydia wasn't going to come home until Sunday night the Easter Bunny decided to put Lydia's eggs straight into her basket instead of hiding them. Adelle's were hidden around the living room by a taller than usual Easter Bunny. It was his first year hiding the eggs, and lets just say he hid them in harder to find spots.

Adelle always seems to wake up earlier than everyone else in the family. Sunday was no exception. I came out groggy eyed into the living room to find that Lydia's eggs where missing. I asked Adelle what had happened to the eggs in Lydia's basket. Adelle suddenly bursts into tears and explains that Lydia had more eggs than her. She said that there were hardly any hidden for her at all, so she decided to hide all the eggs! *Sigh* I then explain that I am sure the Easter Bunny gave each of them the same amount of eggs. I kindly ask her to find all of Lydia's eggs and to put them back in her basket. You've got to love her! Once that was accomplished Adelle woke up Wes so he could watch her find the eggs. I thought it might be a good idea since I knew he would have a better idea where they were all hidden.

She did manage to find all 16 of her eggs. She counted just to make sure. She was soothed to know that the Easter Bunny is fair after all.

The girls also got other goodies. Adelle got a Curious George "easy to read" book. Her reading is coming right along recently. She got a very large, crispy, chocolate bunny. She also got Easter puzzles, which by the way don't like to lay very flat and don't go together well. Adelle asked why the Easter Bunny would give her puzzles that don't go together well. Perhaps the Easter Bunny was trying to save money and didn't realize that the puzzles would be so defective!

Lydia got the second book in the Fablehaven series, which she was super excited about, a crispy, chocolate bunny as well, and a word search book which she was less than thrilled about. The tall Easter Bunny thought Lydia might be offended to receive 24 piece Easter Puzzles. Oh well!

Colored Eggs

Before I get into this post I have to share with you this cartoon. My step-mother sent Wes and I this humorous card. It made me laugh! Saturday night Adelle and I decided to dye some eggs. We only dyed 8 since Lydia wasn't there to share in the fun. She was with her father this weekend. After the long process of boiling the eggs we covered the table in paper towels and got our dyes ready. By the way, did you know that the pink tablet isn't supposed to be combined with vinegar, or in our case lemon juice. It separates out all funny. Just and FYI in case you are dying eggs any time soon. I can't imagine you would be since Easter is over.
Adelle didn't want much help at all this year. She was determined to do it by herself. She did a pretty good job. We had one mishap when I was trying to get the egg out of the blue dye for her. Suddenly the egg fell of the egg holder and dropped quickly back into the blue dye splattering it all over Adelle. That reminds me, I haven't stain treated her shirt yet. Drat!

Here is our egg line up, well a few of them anyway. Do you see the speckled one? That was made thanks to our separated pink tablet. It did create a nice effect. Our egg dying kit came with stickers and Adelle decided to use every last one on the 8 eggs! It was a sticker wonderland. Grandma Ellen was visiting and Adelle even shared one of her eggs with her. The funny thing is we have eaten all but one of them already! Maybe we will have to make some more hard boiled eggs. What can I say, the girls in the family LOVE eggs!