So Far So Good... and Not So Good

Well we made it to Utah last Sunday (Mother's Day). We had to leave the house by 5:30 in the morning to make it to the aiport two hours away, all on about 3 hours of sleep. I was so relieved that the boys did relatively well on the plane without carseats since I was traveling alone with them. The only hitch was once we arrived in Salt Lake, we discovered the airline had lost one of our carseats. Thankfully they have loaners to give out, and delivered ours later that evening when they found it. We had a nice Mother's Day dinner at my in-laws (though it was sad not having Brad here!). We met Sky and Ashley's new baby Jace, who is a total doll! On Tuesday I took the boys to see my sister in Spanish Fork, and her new baby Christopher, who is also completely adorable! We spent most of the day tearing up her apartment - I mean visiting =) and had a good time.

Here's where it gets not so good...

On the drive back to my in-laws' in Morgan (about 1 1/2 hours from Aubrey), Eli threw up all over himself and the backseat. Thankfully we were only about ten minutes from home. What a mess.... We got home to find out that Grandma was getting sick too! Eli's sickness continued until around 2am.... just as I cleaned up the last of Eli's throw up, Owen started in. It was a looooong night, and day, and another night. Finally on Thursday afternoon Owen was still throwing up, refusing to drink anything, and really looking yucky so I had to take him to the ER. Thankfully I was able to leave Eli home with Grandma, and he ended up having some fun playing with his cousin.

Once at the hospital, Owen needed fluids and sugar, but his veins were really hard to get into because #1 he's a baby and #2 he was dehydrated. After 3 tries in his hands the NICU nurses came down and put one in his head. It was pretty traumatic, but thankfully I was able to lay with him in the little bed and snuggle him to sleep after that. He also got some anti-nausea meds and we came home.

By the time we got home, I was feeling sick, and spent the rest of the night throwing up! A couple of times Owen woke up as I was running to the bathroom, and let me tell you, throwing up is so much worse when your sick one year old is following you and sobbing. Ugh. Thankfully I felt better yesterday, but Owen is still dragging two days later. We've done a lot of sitting on the couch watching tv and reading books. I'm a little stir crazy, and Eli definitely is! What a vacation huh?! I'm just hoping little O-man perks up soon... it is so hard to see your baby not feeling well, and unable to tell you exactly what is bothering him. Hopefully we have a little more fun next week.

=)

Moving and Michael Jackson

I couldn't take being without internet anymore, so I'm on a brief escape ALONE to the local library.... I wanted to at least make it known that we arrived here in Missouri safely. It was a SWELTERING day to unload the truck, but since then, the weather has been nice. We're still unpacking and cleaning and organizing, getting used to bugs (and giant hairy spiders that attack you in the laundry room - more to come on that), and just trying to get settled. We've been here two Sundays and haven't even made it to church - the first week because the kids were exhausted, and this past one because we had to take Eli to urgent care for a high fever (his ear tubes got infected!!! grrr!). So it's been a little crazy. I have lots of pics I'm of course dieing to post, but will have to wait til we've got things hooked up at home.

And as for Michael Jackson, it was on our drive out here that we heard of his passing on the radio. Is anyone else saddened by this? Of course I watched the funeral today and actually found myself tearing up a few times. I guess it's because I can relate to families who are grieving a sudden loss, and I can't help but feel for them - especially his kids. I didn't realize I had been such a big MJ fan until I found that I could sing along with just about any of the popular songs they played of his on the radio this past week. My mom had a bunch of his cd's, and she and my sister and I used to rock out to them! Some of my fav's are Man in the Mirror, Heal the World, Bad, and Dangerous. So what about you??? What are your MJ favorites? Come on, I KNOW you all must have at least one....

My Seminary Teacher

Dear Brother Howells,

My heart was saddened to learn that you were taken from this earth so unexpectedly. It weighed even heavier knowing that I missed the chance to thank you in this life for the lasting impact you made on mine. I last saw you at my wedding reception 6 ½ years ago, and I should have thanked you then. I can only hope to have the chance one day to tell you, but for now I thank your family for sharing you with so many of us.

I was a sophomore at CDO during your first year of teaching seminary there (1996). I think all of us were a little unsure about getting a new teacher, but you won everyone over pretty quickly. Your enthusiasm for the Gospel was contagious, and your ability to make studying it fun was just what we all needed. It was through studying the Book of Mormon in seminary that year that I first really gained a testimony of the Gospel. Your own personal example of kindness has stayed with me through the years. You had an ability to show genuine interest in each of us as individuals, which for me personally made me feel important during a time when I was struggling and really needed a boost. You were like an extra father figure to me, and to many of us.

Your dedication to and love for your family is also something I will always remember. You couldn’t talk about your wife without completely lighting up, and you kept a framed poem she had written to you in your office. Surely your children have grown up a lot in the past ten years, but I remember your two darling little girls coming to visit you at Seminary, and how you and they both would light up every single time. I knew that I wanted to live my life in such a way that I could have a family like that someday.

All I have left to say is thank you. Thank you for giving of yourself, for living in an exemplary way, for loving those around you, for changing lives. I thank your family for sharing your light with us, and my heart goes out to them as I know they will be sorely missing you along with the rest of us.

Til we meet again,

Jeanine Kramer Benson

Obituary

My Dotty

In early October 2004, my sister Aubrey and I made a "girls only" road trip to Utah to see my friend Julie's first baby. It was the first time I'd ever driven the entire 12 hours by myself. While up there, we stayed with my in-laws in Morgan. Their Shi-tzu Lizzie had just had her second litter of puppies (Shi-Poms because they were mixed with a pomeranian). Brad and I had just moved to Surprise, AZ in August, he had started medical school, we had two cats, and weren't in the market for a dog... but I fell in love with this little dark brindled pup named Dotty. Brad's sister Heidi had named her for the white dot on the tip of her dark tail. She was so sweet and cuddly already, even though only a few weeks old. Too young for me to take home, we waited a few more weeks for her to wean. Then we drove all the way to ST. George, UT (about 8 hours) to pick her up from Brad's grandparents who drove her down there to his aunt and uncle's home. She was my 24th birthday gift...

Dotty immediately became our "baby." From cute t-shirts, to designer puppy diapers that my mom sewed, we adored her. She slept in our bed and we learned patience in potty training. I think she literally paved the way for us as parents, lol. She was super smart, and stubborn at the same time. She learned to sit, roll over and dance. She got to the point that she would roll and roll and roll if she even thought you would give her a treat or a handout. She loved us so much that she had terrible seperation anxiety and would chew up carpet, baseboards and furniture while we were gone. She even had the odd habit of dunking her face in her food and her water bowl over and over when she'd hear us come up the drive. When she was six months old, we brought home her blonde sister Daisy (full sister but from the next litter) for Brad's 26th birthday. She and Daisy were inseperable, which really helped her anxiety. Dotty and Daisy made countless trips to Tucson and Utah with us... Daisy always got nervous and threw up but Dotty was a natural traveler.

When Eli was born, of course the poor babies got kicked out of our bed and took a step down on the priority list. But Dotty especially never let got of being "the baby." She would inevitably end up on our laps if we were holding or rocking Eli, and often even when I was nursing him. She thought the nursing pillow was her bed. She and Daisy both were often found by his side. One of the toughest things though was the barking - Dotty liked to bark at anyone or anything that might go by our window. She and Daisy would sit on the chair and watch out the window for anything that moved. It was frutrating because she always seemed to find something to bark at as soon as I got Eli down for a nap.

We had Dotty for nearly 4 years and Daisy for 3 1/2 when we found out we'd be moving to Pittsfield. It was difficult to find housing that took pets, and with two moves coming up in a year and another baby on the way we thought it would be best to find the dogs a new home. We gave them to a wonderful family we'd known since living in Surprise who went to church with us and the husband to school with Brad (he was doing residency in Phoenix so they didn't have to move). The dogs fit in well there and loved their kids..... I know they had a good home with them but I have missed them (mostly my Dotty) still the same.

Sadly, this weekend while visiting Surprise, we found out from our friends that Dotty was killed a few months ago. She had a bad habit of racing out the front door whenever she got the chance (she did this at our house too) and one unfortunate day she was hit by a car after escaping. Their hearts were broken having to go through that, and I have to say so was mine when I heard. I cried halfway back to Tucson. I had been dreaming of Dotty and fantasizing that I could have her back, and now she's really gone...and I'm just now starting to grieve. It makes me feel really bad that she was probably so confused about why I suddenly gave her away one day. At least it is comforting to know she was so loved in her new home. Thankfully my parents saved all the old pictures I had emailed over time so I was able to find a few pics of her to post, though I wish I had some of her as a puppy. It makes me bawl again just looking at them.... I Love you and miss you Dotty Dots!!!!







**These are all baby pictures of Eli, since Owen never met the dogs.