#1 Daughter-In-Law

Today is Alana Marie Salisbury Moore's birthday.  She is the first person to make me a mother-in-law.  She is the first person to make one of my sons the happiest guy alive.  She is the first person to make me a grandma.  She is also the first person to make me completely forget about all the horror stories of being a mother-in-law.  I LOVE this girl.  We are different in so many ways but we are alike in all the ways that are important to me.  She loves my son with all of her heart.  She loves the gospel of Jesus Christ the same way and wants to live its principles and teachings with exactness.  She is willing to bring children into this world despite her husband being in medical school and despite the fact that they have chosen to have her not work outside the home.  She is committed to loving her husband and raising her children the best way that she knows how.  She is fun, creative, beautiful in so many ways, funny, humble, teachable, sweet yet fierce when she needs to be, kind, happy and the love of my son's life.  What's not to love?  Happy Birthday, Flan.  I love you.

Let the Tributes Begin!

From now until May 12th there are multitudes of birthdays in my family so I will be spotlighting each person as their birthday comes.  Today my chubby bunny, Sienna Marie, is one year old.  This little girl has a smile that lights up her face and she smiles a lot.  She also cries a lot.  She is one of our more emotional and energetic grandchildren. She and Landon must have been great buddies in the pre-existence.  She is the opposite of her big sister, Ava, who is very quiet and calm and independent.  Ava and Sienna remind me of me and my sister, Cathy.  I was the Ava and Cathy was the Sienna.  It's nice to have a balance.  Too much of either one would be either boring or manic.  I'm very sad that my sweet birthday girl is so far away from me but I love the times I get to see her and watch her face light up with that beautiful smile.  She still has no hair but we expected that.  She was walking at 9 months where her sister calmly waited until her first birthday to take her first steps.  I think Sienna has

a personality that will be on full throttle most of the time.  Hang on, Grandma Moores, this is going to be a wild ride.  I love you Sienna!  Happy Birthday:)

A Little Unnerving

As I was delivering my Meals on Wheels today I had to go into 2 different senior centers or, as I've called them all my life, "old folks' homes".  The thought occurred to me that I can now legally live in those centers.  What???  Who is this person and what has she done with my youthful life?  I still have a high schooler at home.  My mom is still alive and healthy and living on her own in her own home.  How the heck can I legally live in one of these babies?  I can't possibly be old enough for this.  Sadly, it's true.  So, even though I still have all my teeth, can walk unaided and feel like I'm about 25, if Pat ever decides to dump me, I know where I can go:(

Stand Up, Walk Away!

Sometimes things happen to you when you hear a certain song.  You are transported back in time and everything seems so real.  In my new calling as stake primary music specialist I need to teach a song and dance to the 10 and 11 year old girls in our stake.  I thought of the Janice Kapp Perry song "Stand Up, Walk Away" written when dinosaurs roamed the earth.  I have a wonderful history with this song and while walking today I decided I'd better brush up on the moves before I taught them to the girls.  When I played it in my ear things (I know, Aleigh, I have no idea what they are called) I started crying and laughing and dancing down the street remembering when I first taught this song and dance.  It was 18 years ago at my first stake girl's camp where I was the camp director.  I was already petrified of being in charge of over a hundred girls for 4 days and I wanted them to like camp and like me and I was so scared.  In trying to come up with fun things for them to do I thought about what I love to do most, which is dance, and wondered if I would have the guts to get up in front of teenagers who might think this is the dumbest idea ever and teach them this song.  I remember it started out a little slow.  I got up on the table in the lunch room and showed them the dance and played the song.  I was so nervous.  A couple of the more adventurous ones started joining in by the third time the chorus played and they had figured out some of the moves.  We practiced every meal after that and by the next day girls were jumping up on the table with me and dancing their hearts out.  By the time we performed it for our bishops on the last night I was euphoric!  They loved it and I loved them! That camp was one of the crowning glories of my life.  I have never had something I was so afraid of doing turn out so well.  Now my camp girls are wives and moms and some even have girls going to camp this year (which I am in charge of, again.).  One of my girls is even the ward camp director in my ward and taught the girls of our ward this same dance last year at ward camp.  I'm too scared to resurrect it for this camp so I will content myself in teaching the younger girls in a couple of weeks.  I was just amazed at the very real memories and feelings that washed over me when I heard this song this morning.  18 years ago I was pregnant with my only girl, I had my best friend in the world up at camp with me and life was amazingly good (especially on the last day when I realized that our camp had been a resounding success:) Whew!) My life is still amazingly good but it was wonderful to walk down memory lane.

One More Miracle

I had a slightly less exciting miracle this week also.  I contracted shingles on my face probably because of the stress of my head infection and I was a little nervous because shingles are supposed to be extremely painful and can last a really long time.  Well, being true to my weirdness concerning most diseases, mine didn't hurt at all and they are now scabbed over and almost gone after a week and a half..  The doctors couldn't explain it because I had all the symptoms, the chicken pox like blisters and scabs and it looked yucky on my eye and forehead but it never hurt.  It felt like really mild poison oak.  A little itchy and uncomfortable.  So weird and so blessed.  If I was suffering physical pain as well as the mental pain I ended up with I would have just jumped off a bridge.  The Lord takes care of me and I am so grateful. 

Miracle

We were able to witness a modern day miracle this weekend.  On Thursday afternoon my son, Kyle, called to tell me that his wife, Aubrie, was in the hospital trying not to have their baby, Rylie Ann, at 21 1/2 weeks.  I had a minor breakdown.  He told me that she had an incompetent cervix and that it wasn't staying shut to hold Rylie in.  To further complicate things, the membrane holding the baby in had started to slip out of her cervix so the doctors couldn't just sew her shut like they wanted to.  So, they waited overnight to see if the membrane would go back in by itself after tilting her back all night.  On Friday morning the news was wayyy worse.  Now not only was the membrane not back in but Rylie had turned around and was trying to come out.  Her head was pressed right up against the cervix and Aubrie was dilated to a 4.  Major breakdown.  Very little chance of saving this baby.  I fasted all day and prayed and cried myself sick.  I begged my little granddaughter all day to go back up inside her mommy.  Friday night Kyle and Logan graduated from physical therapy school and despite my anxiety and sorrow over Rylie I was bursting with pride for my two new doctors.  We spent Friday night worrying and praying and crying.  On Saturday morning we got the first part of our miracle.  Rylie had decided to listen to her grandmother and, I'm sure, her heavenly father and she had snuggled back up where she belonged.  The doctor decided to take a chance on trying to get the membrane back in without breaking it and sew Aubrie shut and aftering standing her practically on her head and using his little "tricks" he was successful!  Miracle complete!  Now we are continuing to pray that there is no infection and that her contractions will stop completely but for now, mommy and baby are resting and growing together.  After 5 months on her back Aubrie got about a week of normal life before she is now back down for the rest of her pregnancy which will hopefully be quite awhile longer.  I have the utmost respect for this little waif of a daughter-in-law.  She's probably barely 100 lbs. now but I've never seen a tougher girl.  I thank my heavenly father with all my heart for hearing our prayers and sparing our baby girl.  Now that the doctors know about Aubrie's cervix they can sew her up much earlier in her pregnancies and we shouldn't have anymore of these scares.  Thank the Lord!!

Happy Children

After Chloe's blessing Landon and Emmerson

 got a little restless while their parents were playing games, sooo... they made up their own:)

I Will Save You, Cwoee!

What girl wouldn't want Superman for her big brother?  Bubs loves his Cwo,Cwo.  He always wants to hold her and speaks so sweetly to her.  He's going to make a great big brother:)

Single Digits!!

My sweet missionary comes home in 9 months!! If I'm a really good girl this year then maybe I will get a really great Christmas present and he will be home in a little over 8 months:)  I can't believe it's down to single digits in months.  So excited!

Do I Know My Headaches or What?

The last three weeks have been a health nightmare for me.  I got a bad cold and laryngitis and then got a really bad headache that I knew was sphenoid sinusitis because I've had it before.  Unfortunately, it's very rare and most doctors don't think of it or believe me when I say that I have it.  It got so bad after my vacation that I went to urgent care and told the doctor that I was pretty sure I knew what it was.  He didn't hear a word I said and diagnosed it as a "cough" headache.  He gave me some really good cough medicine and when I say "gave" I really mean charged me $50.00 for it.  Worth it though because it worked like a charm.  I didn't cough again after taking it for a couple of days.  However,  long after the cough was gone, the headache was still there and growing stronger.  Pain had even moved down into my back and my face and head broke out in bubbly blisters that itch and sting a little.  So, today I finally broke down, since I was rotting from the inside out, and went to the emergency room at the hospital.  The new one is really nice, by the way.  I got there at about 11:30 and was the only one in the waiting room.  What??? In the emergency room??? They got me in in five minutes and I spent the day racking up a huge bill, I'm sure, by getting blood tests, a CT scan and an MRI just so that they could tell me that I have....wait for it....SPHENOID SINUSITIS!!!  I already knew that!!  The head and face stuff has all the symptons of shingles but without the pain so they don't really know what that is.  I think they kind of left it at shingles because they didn't know what else it could be so maybe I will have this horrible disease without the horrible pain.  I sure hope so.  And I sure hope it goes away fast because it looks kind of like leoprosy and isn't very comfortable.  Hopefully if I ever get the headache again I can convince the doctors that I know what I'm talking about since it's happened twice now.  Nah, what am I thinking?

They Did It!!

Kyle and Logan passed their final practical and have now graduated from the St. Augustine school of physical therapy!!  They will have the official ceremony next week but this morning they both passed their last test and I couldn't be prouder.  They have to take their state board exam but I have full confidence that they will pass with flying colors.  They are probably moving to Arizona or even North Carolina and though I am sad about that, it doesn't dampen the pride I have in their accomplishments.  Dr. Moore and Dr. Moore, you have one very proud mama:)  Pictures of their graduation will be forthcoming.

Happy Birthday to Me

I had a birthday a few days ago and I got a really cool present.  My daughter-in-law, Michelle, made a video for me of pictures and taped messages from all of my daughter-in-laws telling me what they appreciate about me and thanking me for raising their husbands.  I LOVE IT!  I cry every time I watch it.  She has pictures on there that I haven't even seen before and has music in the background that fits the pictures perfectly.  She even has a segment with my daughter-in-law to be, Aleigh.  Since she will be in our family around this time next year it made the whole thing complete.  Very creative and very appreciated.  Thanks, Shell, Flan, Stacy, Bree and Leg.  I love you all so much:)

Spring Break Finale

We continued our trip with a visit to Linn's Cafe in Cambria where we were introduced to Olallieberry pie.  Sooo yummy.  Cute little cafe with great food.  We then headed to Solvang where we ate wayyyy too many great pastries from the bakeries that were located between every other shop in the city.  We visited the miniature horse farm and the Santa Ynes Mission, ate some more pastries and some German food at a little restaurant and then headed to the Santa Monica Pier.  We walked up the pier and had dinner at the Mexican restaurant at the end of the pier and then came home, much fatter, but very happy.  Great trip.  I love my family!

Spring Break Part 2

While we were in San Luis Obispo we went to San Simeon to see Hearst Castle.  Pat and I have been there before and loved it but it was even more fun to see our kids' heads explode from the sight of all that opulence.  They were very impressed, to say the least.  We took two tours so Pat and I got to see the things we hadn't seen before and Beer and Van got to see stuff that they will never forget.  It was a wonderful day:)

Spring Break Part 1

For Spring Break this year me, Pat, Brandon and Savannah went to San Luis Obispo and Solvang.  Sooo fun.  We stayed at the Madonna Inn in SLO and it was so over the top that it was amazing.  We stayed in the Italy Room.  It was pretty cool but the main dining hall and restaurant and bathrooms were so amazing that we were walking around with our eyes bugging out of our heads and our jaws on the floor.  Everything is decorated to the max and is so tacky that it looks cool.  The ladies bathroom was so beautiful that we couldn't imagine what the men's bathroom would look like so we had Beer stand lookout and we went in and took pictures.  It was even cooler than the ladies'! I have spent most of my adult life taking vacations only to where my family was so it was really fun to just do something totally out of the ordinary and explore someplace new.  We had a great time. 

I'm Gonna Be O.K:)

I think I've turned a corner.  With the Lord's help I'm pretty sure I'm going to be allright.  It's been a few weeks now that I haven't woken up with a depressed feeling.  I've moved on to my new role in life and it doesn't feel bad at all.  A couple more of my sons are moving in the next few weeks and I'm not suicidal about it.  I will miss my grandchildren terribly but I will live.  I realize that this is just what I did as a young mother was move away from my family and we all lived through it just fine.  I'm so relieved to feel this way after many many prayers.  I love my Heavenly Father and I know that He loves me.  I'm throwing myself into my callings, appreciating my beautiful daughter and wonderful husband and life is good:) 

Potty Trained!!

I can't believe it but my little Bubs is potty trained!  Already!  He's only 2 1/2!  None of my kids did it this young.  I'm so amazed and so happy for his parents.  It was super easy and I have no idea why.  Maybe it's because he's a brilliant, wonderful, adorable child who loves his "Money" and she loves him.  Yeah, that's it:)