December Entry

Merry Christmas and Winter Wonderland. What better way to get in spirit of Christmas than a good hard winter storm. November may have been fall, but December sure blew in with a winter storm. Yesterday was December 1st and it snowed most of the day. We probably got 5-6 inches of snow. The kids couldn't wait to get outside and play in the snow. They built, while it was still snowing, an 8 foot snowman in the back yard. Definitely the largest snowman I have ever seen. The bottom ball had to be at least 4 feet in diameter. I don't know how long it will stay standing, when we got home from church today, it was leaning at about a 20% angle.



Last night, the whole family, we rarely do anything as a whole family, went to the BYU folkdancers Christmas Around the World. It was very well done. Boy, there are some very talented kids down at the Y. We went because Laurie's nephew and the kid's cousin, Collin Slade, was one of the dancers in it. It was a lot of fun and it was a great way to get in the spirit of Christmas. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We enjoyed it at home with Laurie's sister, Lani, and her family joining us from Sheridan, Wyoming. It was fun to see them and spend some time together. Bethany came down from Logan and Laralyn was back and forth all weekend from Provo. Laralyn has a new job working for a telephone surveying company. It seems like in all her jobs she winds up on the phone a lot. We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Darrell, Laurie and kids

November Newsletter

I hope everyone got through October ok. We did, Halloween and all. We had a chance to attend the Regional Conference a few weeks ago down at the conference center and enjoyed the spirit of being in the same room as the prophet. His council to couples to have a successful marriage was wonderful. His 4 points, for those that weren't there, were 1) Mutual Respect, 2) Soft Answer, 3) Financial Honesty, and 4) Family Prayer.
For an update of things around here, there isn't anything of tremendous note that I can think of. Four of the kids started back taking piano lessons and they have a recital this next week for which they have been preparing. Macall enjoys playing beautiful music, and Shane has really picked up playing the piano very quickly. They all enjoy their new teacher who they say if very nice.
I was reminded this past week of how very little many people know of what LDS people really believe. We have a new sales person working for my company who lives in the Denver area. Since joining our company she has expressed a great deal of interest in learning about the "Mormons". She often asks us various questions about our church. She even asked for a Book of Mormon to read. Well, this past week as I was in Denver working with her, she was reluctant to ask a question, but she finally got it out. She had heard about polygamy and the church and wanted to know what the truth was. Of course it gave me the opportunity to let her know that we no longer practice polygamy. I am sure that there are a lot of people around the world who think we still do.
A few weeks ago, we had Sarah take some picture of our family. They turned out very well and I must say I was very impressed. If anyone in the family is looking to have their family portraits taken we have a very talented photographer right here in the family. Thanks Sarah for doing such a great job.
We love you all and wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving.
Darrell, Laurie and the kids.

October Newsletter Entry

I felt bad after reminding everyone last night at the talent show to write their monthly newsletter knowing that I had not written mine either. So I guess I had better write something before any grass grows under me. We send our congratulations and love to Denise and Jonathan on their new little Elizabeth. After a very rocky start to life, we were glad to hear last night that she would be coming home soon. We took our whole family to the park and Sarah took pictures of everyone. It doesn’t seem that long ago when we did the same thing up the canyon in the fall amongst all the fall colors. But wow, have they all grown up in last 4 years. Bethany is now taller than Laralyn, Macall has almost passed up Bethany and Austin has passed up them all, and will probably soon be taller than me. Of course they all passed up their mom a long time ago. Soon she will be the shortest one in the family. But of course that is only in height. She has us all beat in spiritual height. The other day, our home teacher, who was recently called as our Bishop, Bishop Dave Davis, came over to home teach us. He took a moment to complement and thank Laurie for a very impactful visit she had recently made to a past member of our ward, Donna. He had recently gone to visit her and she commented to him about Laurie’s visit to her a few days earlier. Although our ward recently spent thousands of hours helping her move, she has been very bitter about some things, both towards the church (she is a recent convert), and the ward members. She was expressing her regrets for the way she had been so awful towards Laurie during her visit to her, and yet Laurie responded in a very Christ like loving way, and because of her response to her awfulness her heart was touched and she realized how unkind she had been and what Christianity is all about. The Bishop took the time to thank Laurie for her kindness towards Donna. Now Laurie isn’t going to like that I wrote this in the newsletter, but oh well, call it payback for the Donna story she wrote about me a couple months ago. We look forward to the upcoming holidays and wish you all a wonderful October.
Love Darrell, Laurie and the kids.

Darrell's September newsletter entry

Dear Family,
August was a rather unusual month for our family. Laurie started it off by taking off to see her sister who just moved to Wyoming. She was gone for a few days. That is the first time she has ever taken off on her own like that. When she got back, she and Laralyn flew to southern California to take care of Laurie’s mother. Laurie was gone for about a week and a half. Laralyn came home a little sooner than that. I took those days off work and we had a family vacation with those who stayed home. We just made small trips to fun places here in the Salt Lake area. That is the first time we have done that. We also spent a lot of time replacing the back patio during that week and a half. As soon as Laurie got back we took Bethany up to Logan to go to school at Utah State. That was Bethany’s first time to move out of the home, and our first to go to school at Utah State. Then Laralyn moved back down to Provo to go to BYU. That wasn’t a first. The kids all started school and for the kids in elementary school they are going to the school near our home which is a first in about 10 years. Laurie doesn’t have to drive kids back and forth to Willow Creek every day. That is a very welcome first. The local school finally changed to a traditional schedule. This is Austin’s first year in High School. This is Bryce’s first year in Middle School. He has decided to play the tuba. What a monster of an instrument. I just opened up a new office outside of Utah. That is a first for my company. We are expanding into the Denver, Colorado area. So as you can see we have had a lot of first this past month. Definitely, it was not a usual month at our home. We are all doing pretty well and everyone seems pretty healthy. We send our love to all of you and hope you can enjoy the beautiful fall colors soon to be upon us.

Laurie's September Newsletter

Click here!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anSpBUxsgAU

Darrell's September Newsletter

Darrell headed off to Denver just as this newsletter was due (BIG mistake), now it is left to me to update ya'all on the happenings around here--for good, for bad or otherwise.

The end of August brought the beginning of school (yepee!).

We took Bethany up to Logan on the 21st, and her first Connections class started on the 22nd. It took her a couple of days to adjust to college life (she wanted to come home when she found out that her text books were going to cost her $400--welcome to reality), but she is now enjoying herself (who needs money for food when you have text books to read?). She seems to have some fun roommates, so we are hoping for a fun and growing year up there.

Bryce had his first half-day of school on the 23rd (the seventh graders go for half a day to get oriented before they unleashed the older mob in the halls). He came home just a little intimidated, but he has adjusted fine--just fine. He is taking beginning band and is learning to play the tuba (joy), which came home today. This should be an interesting year.

Laralyn moved back down to BYU on Friday the 24th (I got to help her with that project, it also got me out of attending the work Luau--thankfully). She wanted to be moved in before all of her roommates got there. We went "shopping" at Donna's during her garage sale this summer and Laralyn got some nice things to decorate her apartment. She was afraid that her roommates would come in and plaster the walls with football posters. Plus that, I think she was tired to living at home and anxious to be out on her own again (that is until she wanted me to pay for her bus pass and load her fridge with food).

Austin, Macall, Shane and Miranda all started back to school on the 27th. This is Austin's first year at Alta ("How was your first day, Austin?" "Huh? Boring.") Apparently it is not an adjustment for him.

Macall is the "big man" on campus now that she is in 9th grade. We are hoping that 9th grade will bring more responsibility in turning in her homework. We made her freedom directly proportional to her grades. Hopefully that will get her attention. I truly don't understand doing homework and just not turning it in ("She didn't ask for it!" "And? You didn't know it was due?" "Yes, but she didn't tell us to turn it in." "Arrrrrrrrg!")

Shane and Miranda started a new elementary school this year. After 10 years of driving across town to Brookwood, my kids are now attending our neighborhood school (Draper Elementary). Draper went back to a traditional calendar this year (I feel that it was an answer to prayers--the way everything just fell into place. Someday that will have to be another story.) So, with a heavy heart and many mixed feelings I pulled them out of the only school they have known and threw them to the wolves (it develops character!). Now after two weeks, they are adjusting. They still say they like Brookwood better, but I'm sure that will change with time. They do have friends at Draper--I'm not THAT mean.

Mollie and I are adjusting back to being the only ones at home during the day. She really is ready for more structure. After the kids leave at 8, she starts in with, "Mom, will you play a game with me?" "Mom, will you read me a story?" I need to get my act together and have some fun activities ready for her, BUT that'll have to wait until tomorrow--heeheehee!

Darrell was just called as the second counselor in the YM's presidency/Scoutmaster (they are combining the two positions in our ward). I think he would be excited if he didn't feel that it is such an uphill battle (lots of retraining other leaders--the boys are fine). Things have been such a mess in our ward over the past several years, but we just got a new bishopric (Dave Davis-Bishop, Kevin Cox-2nd counselor, Bruce Gwilliam-ex. sec. . . .that's for Denise and Jonathan--they used to live in the Brinley's ward), and we can see some really good and needed changes on the wall. We are excited!

Darrell also remains busy at work. He is in Denver trying to "build business" in a new area. When Mom and Dad came for Mollie's birthday, Darrell caught Dad's ear and talked and talked about his work. Dad is a good sport--no one around here wants to listen to "work talk" anymore. It really is the only thing that makes Darrell truly happy (well, besides me--of course!)

Well, I guess I should probably stop here. . . .my next stories should probably be kept quiet . . . .so until next time. . . .

Zack's Story

Just a little over a week before his 7^th birthday Steve and I had made Zack an appointment with his pediatrician. Something had been just a little off with him in the prior month so we just wanted to take him in to make sure everything was all right. It started to snow pretty heavy that day. Driving in the snow still terrified me, and it was really coming down hard, so I called the Dr’s office and rescheduled Zack’s appointment. Dr. Elliott was going on vacation so the next appointment date was 3 weeks out. We set the date for 3 weeks. Not even 10 minutes after I got off the phone with the appointment line the snow completely stopped, so…I called the Dr’s office again and said that I would just go ahead and bring him in. After Dr. Elliott examined Zack he said everything looked normal. He had lost about 4 pounds from his last visit, so that concerned him. We discussed his recent behavioral issues, but there was one thing that really bothered me. Zack was using the restroom sometimes 4-5 times an hour. He said they would do a quick test; maybe he had an infection of some kind. 10 minutes later Dr. Elliott came back and pulled his chair right in front of me. He patted my hand and said, “I’m glad you brought Zack in today, his body is dumping ketones, we are going to need to admit him right away” I still did not understand what he was saying, I knew it had to be bad, as he was still patting my hand.

Then he said the words I had hoped I would never hear, Type 1 Diabetes. How could that be? He was so little, and has always been so healthy. Of course I was familiar with the term, Type 1 Diabetes. My mom had been diagnosed as an adult, and Sean, my oldest brother had been diagnosed with it his senior year of High school. Although I was familiar with the “term” Type 1 Diabetes, I was more than familiar with the possible fatal outcome of having Diabetes. My life had already been devastated by the word Diabetes almost 7 years prior when my mom passed away unexpectedly from complications with her Diabetes. She passed away only two days after Zack was born, and there it was a week before his birthday and once again the “D” word had somehow snuck into my life again.

After 3 days in the hospital we were able to finally go home. It felt very similar to when we took Zack home from the hospital right after he was born. At the hospital you have the nurses helping you, monitoring the newborn, and then you leave after a few days to face the challenges of raising and caring for this little person on your own. Instead of being overloaded with diapers, feeding times, and figuring out how exactly to use that carseat, we were bogged down with diabetic terminology, syringes, testing kits, needles, log books, insulin, and many follow up appointments.

Our first night home Steve and I looked at each other and literally said, “What do we feed him?” All of a sudden we had this carb to insulin ration we had to figure out. Even worse than figuring out what he could eat, he wanted to sleep! We laugh at it now, looking back, but those first two months were full of worry and fear, but just like having that newborn you figure out your routine and life goes on.

Here it is six months later and we have indeed settled into a routine. Zack needs 4 shots of insulin a day, and has to prick his little fingers to monitor his sugar levels even more frequently. In addition to his rigorous blood testing and insulin shots, everything he consumes must be counted and measured, and his blood levels need to be checked while he sleeps and plays. Zack has been a trooper from day one and rarely complains. As some of you have seen, he is still full of never-ending energy, questions, smiles, laughs, and seven-year-old mischief. Steve and I are so grateful to have him in our lives a constant reminder of spirit, humility, and positive attitude.

We have networked with the local Diabetic center to find events for kids with Juvenile Diabetes. This summer Zack went to Camp Sweat Pea. It was a wonderful experience for him. When I picked him up he told me, “ Mom, can you believe that ALL of those kids have diabetes?” Although he never complained or felt sorry for himself, he beamed with the knowledge that there were other kids just like him.

And the following is why I have decided to share Zack’s story with all of you:

One day out of the blue, Zack came out of his room and asked me what “Cure” meant. I asked him where he had heard that word. He said it was on a commercial; they were talking about finding a “cure for diabetes”. We talked about what cure meant, and being 7 and in typical Zack fashion that one word brought on more questions. Who will find the cure? Where do they go to look for it? How long will I have diabetes? What does a cure look like? It was hard to look into his excited eyes and not have the answers.

Then a little over a week ago we were invited to a JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) family night. We had heard about the JDRF before, through our Diabetic education classes. At Family Night we learned that The JDRF is the #1 non-profit funder of diabetes research worldwide. One of JDRF’s largest fundraising events is the “Walk to Cure Diabetes. This year will be our first year to participate in this wonderful event. We have named Zack’s team name “Zack’s Pack” and have set a goal to raise $1000.00. The walk will take place Sunday September 16^th at Elitch Gardens in Denver.

We are sending out Zack’s story as one of hope. Hope to find a cure. If you would like to help with donations to this cause, or see how close we are to reaching our goal please visit the following links:

http://walk.jdrf.org/walker.cfm?id=86742468

http://walk.jdrf.org/support.cfm?id=86742468

Thanks for taking the time to read Zack’s story!

We send our love to all,

Tiffany, Steve and Zack

Darrell's August Newsletter Entry

First of all, let me thank Laurie for the hours she has put into getting this blog newsletter put together. Even though it is a little different from a standard newsletter, it creates the opportunity for even more communication for those who want. For those who are used to the traditional, it can be the same. If anyone wants the entries printed out and snail mailed to them, so that it feels like the old newsletter, just let me know and I will do that for you.
For an update on how the Draper Moons are doing, Laurie has worked her fingers to the bone for a month getting Donna moved out of her house. Inspite of finding dead mice and getting ring worm, she was there almost every day for about a month.
Laralyn enjoys her love life here and writing to her missionaries out there. She is a little worried about what is going to happen when her missionaries get home and she has to manage them all being here at the same time. Bethany is having fun getting or having her mom buy for her all her fun things she will need when she is on her own at Utah State, like her own toaster, which by the way can also cook an egg.
Austin, can't stand the fact that I won't take him driving. School starts soon and he will be taking drivers education. He is old enough to have a permit, but I won't take him down to get one until I see some changes in his behavior. He is having a hard time making the changes (like arguing about everything, typical teenager). I'm in no hurry to pay for auto insurance on a teenage boy.
Macall has been the most active this summer with Oakcrest Girls Camp, Youth Conference, Girls Camp, and now this next week she is going to EFY. She has been pretty moody lately, maybe it is all the instability this summer. Oh well, I hope she has a good experience at EFY, I know it has been good for her older brother and sisters.
Bryce gets to go to boy scout camp this week and he is very excited about it. He is planning to learn how to drive an airplane and swim in a cold lake. Those represent the high and the low of his upcomming week, no pun intended but accurate just the same.
Shane got to go to cub scout camp this past month and had a great time. Miranda and Mollie just love to play. I am tearing out my cement in the backyard, and Miranda has been a great help. She is not afraid of hard work. She likes to be with her Dad and I don't mind the support. Mollie just likes being her own person. You will usually find her in her swimming suit running from one neighbor's pool to another, usually without permission. Laurie spends a lot of her time just trying to keep track of Mollie.
For me, I don't know if you read Laurie's last entry where she tried to embarass me, and yes I probably did blush a little. But I was just glad to know that Laurie thinks I'm hot, or at least she inferred that she did. Love ya, Laurie. I think you are HOT too!
I hope everyone has a great August and enjoys getting ready to go back to school.

Welcome!

Welcome to our new blog.

Darrell will be doing most of the posting as this is his family's newsletter, but since he has no idea of what I am doing, I'm going to steal his thunder for a moment (I really embarrass him by the things that I say--oh well).

I have to tell you this funny story--mostly because it will embarrass Darrell. . . .We have been helping pack up this lady, Donna. Darrell has been a trooper. He really has because he has stepped in and picked up a lot of slack around the house while I have been gone. And even when I am home he is still doing my chores, since I'm usually "wiped out!" Darrell has even come over to help carry boxes out of the silo and just plain be a "muscle man" at Donna's as well. So, the other night Darrell came over rather late to take some paintings out of the rafters in the garage. He was very sweet to come and do it (none of us wanted to climb up there with all the spiders. Believe me, there were plenty of those--and mice--where we were cleaning and packing!).

The next day Donna proceeds to tell me what an attractive husband I have. She says that he is not only handsome and physically "hot," but that he is also so kind and gracious and that is an extremely attractive combination. She wanted me to know how lucky I am! Of course I already know that, but isn't it nice to know that even at 47 he's still "got it!"

Donna makes me smile, and yes, Darrell is blushing!