As I promised......

The story behind the picture as promised.

It all started with Elder Nerent deciding he needed to bungee jump over the Royal Gorge.

He didn't just want to, he needed to.

It was the summer before his ninth grade year.

The beginning of that awkward transformation from boy to man.

Even his hair turned curly that summer as if to remind his mom that there would be big changes underfoot.

As soon as we entered the park he declared that he needed to do it.

(This is the bungee jump he is pointing to as seen from the other side..... the safe side of the gorge.)

For those of you not familiar with Royal Gorge in Colorado. Here is what it looks like.

The bungee jump flung you right over this!
But whatever.....he HAD too.
Problem was that he didn't HAVE to do it alone.
In fact he made it known to everyone that he would like one of us to join him.
It was after all a death sling built for two.
Mr. T was not an option from the get go on account of his major dislike of heights.
(You notice I didn't say the work "fear". Mr. T. does NOT have fears.)
Peanut was just out of elementary school and wasn't really a viable victim, I mean candidate.
I actually love rides that plummet (weird I know) but I am extremely prone to motion sickness particularly when I have to go backwards and when you are riding on a giant rubber band....well let's just say it can be unpredictable.
That left Raar.
(Insert laughter here)
Raar was the person least likely to try anything that could be construed as dangerous. She didn't learn to ride a bike until she was almost 9. She didn't climb anything or make any sudden movements. She was a thinker and a talker....not a risk taker.
So for sure that was not an option.
For the next two hours Elder Nerent asked and begged and wheedled and whined.
I even told him that he could go alone as long as he paid for it with his own money.
I thought that the money thing would stop him.
But no,
After a couple of hours he decided he would go it alone.
Man/boy versus gorge.
As we arrived at the jump and out of the blue. Raar says that she will do it.
I have had many twists and turns and surprises as a mother but this was one of the biggest.
I was in such shock that I didn't even have the wind to ask her,
WHY?
before she was whisked off to get in her harness gear.
They took my two children who started to appear younger and more fragile to me by the second to a board to go over the directions for the jump.

They explained all of the procedures and gave all the warnings. I think that possible death was one of them.
The picture I posted....my favorite and one of the ones I might rescue if in a burning building...
Was taken right after their instructions as they are waiting for their turn.

Here it is again
This is what fear and love look like side by side.
Note the look of terror on Raar's face.
Note the protective arm around her shoulder. (This was NOT a common occurrence for Elder Nerent since he is a sweet kind young man but not real touchy feely.)
I cannot look at this photo without a smile and sometimes a tear or two.
Because that is what every mother hopes for in their children.
Love and overcoming fear.
I will now post the pictures of the actual bungee jump.
But I am saving the best for last.
I will tell you what Raar said when she got off.
The reason why she did what she did.

Look at the fear in her fake smile

Being harnessed in. (I am a little nervous at this point and wondering what kind of mother lets her kids do this)
Raar is starting to cry enough that the employees are asking her if she is alright.

I love this picture too.
Raar's smile.
It could not be more real.
And the reason why she did it?
She would whisper it in my ear a little later,
after the congratulatory high fives, smiles and adrenalin died down.
"Do you know why I did it?"
she whispered.
"Why", I eagerly responded.
"Because I didn't want my brother to die alone."
(Insert tears here)

Tell Me A Story

I have taken tens of thousands of pictures.
I think you know by now how much I enjoy taking pictures.
Like some compulsive hoarder of images they ALL seem important to me.
That deleting any one of them would be like taking a memory to the trash heap.
Thanks to technology they take the space of something that can fit in the palm of my hand.
WHEW!
And yet if I had to narrow them down
(and I do mean HAD TO in the truest sense)
There would be some that I would not want to live without.
This is one of them.
Like all meaningful photos
It has a beautiful story to go with it.
Too tired tonight but I decided that if I posted the image....
I would be commited to the putting down on paper
the story.
Until we meet again for story time...
All my best to you and yours.
and for the love of mike...
take pictures that tell your story.

Precious

This is me and my big sister.
I call her Precious.
It isn't just a silly bloggy alias that I use for her...
It is what I actually call her....
On the phone or the rare times I get to see her in person.
I have been calling her that since we were in our late teens
When people hear me call her that I know they think that it is sweet nickname.
But that is not exactly accurate.
It started out differently....
But first a little background
Precious and I are the only two girls in our family.
Two middle children sandwiched between two bookend boys.
We had a very typical sisterly love/hate relationship.
At times we were buddies
At times mortal enemies.
We are two very different people, my Precious and I.
I often tell people who don't know her that they should just think about my personality and then whatever is the opposite of that (both good and bad) is Precious.
At times that was a really good thing....and other times just as annoying as all get out.
As small children we played together pretty well and with the exception of having to share a bed
(She is a blanket hog and I am a kicker) we enjoyed being sisters.
Until the dreaded teen years.
Then I was the bratty little sister...
who kept staring at her.
"Mom she is staring at me!!"
I don't remember staring at her but if it bothered her that much I probably did it. Just to make her crazy.
Those were the years when we were not too close.
Then I grew up a little and she went to BYU for her freshman year and we began to see that maybe we really DID like each other.
I started jokingly calling her "Precious Pup" after the cartoon about the old granny who drove a motorcycle with a side car where her big dog would sit with a leather cap and goggles.
It was a little bit of a good natured dig. A inside tease that made us feel close without being sappy.
It eventually became just, "Precious" for short and it
stuck.
But after 48 years of having her for a sister it means exactly what it sounds like.
To me...
She is precious.
My only sister.
She possesses amazing capacity for love and generosity.
She is a loyal and true friend.
She is a protective ally.
She is an talented artist.
She is Precious.
And with every year that passes I understand that just a little bit more.
So on this her birthday, I just want to say,
I love you precious pup
And I always will.
(P.S. See the rabbit ears in the background? Those belong to my little baby brother. Always looking to squeeze into the party. But his post will be for another day.)

Unexpected Pleasure

With every road trip comes unexpected pleasures.
Pinkberrys yogurt
everyday.
Mango yogurt and Pomegranate yogurt with unlimited toppings;
Kiwi
Strawberries
Fresh Coconut
Raspberries
Mango
Honey roasted sunflower seeds
Dark Chocolate crunchies

 It is a very good thing that there is no Pinkberrys in my town.
A VERY good thing.

How to Eat a Mudbug!

Today while I was picking out flowers to plant around my yard
so that I can watch them wither and die..
As I do every spring.
(I swear that I can hear the plants whisper to each other...
"Here she comes, the angel of death"
as I walk down the each row.)
It was then that...
...I was met with a familiar smell.
A most delicious and enticing aroma.
Outside my local grocery store were huge metal pots
of rolling, boiling, spicy beautiful crawfish.
I might have a brown thumb and know nothing about keeping plants alive
But I do know how to eat a crawfish.
Beautiful, big, burgundy red.
So that is what I am going to show you how to do today
In hopes that one of you will be able to trade your knowledge of plants
For my ability to eat.
Deal?

This is a crawfish/shrimp boil. It is a pretty simple concept actually. A big pot of spicy boiling water where you throw in crawfish, shrimp, new potatoes and corn on the cob. After it is cooked to perfection (definitely not overcooked) you put down newspaper and dump. Then everyone just comes running.

My daughter Peanut is my model and champion crawfish eater. (she is such a southern belle)

1. Pick the biggest one you can find in the pile.

2. Next you shake it's hand..er..claw and say hello. (Peanuts idea)

3. You pull it's head off.

4. Next you suck on the head...(completely optional..only hardcore crawfish eaters do this)

5. This is what's left...the edible part. Turn it to it's belly side and crack it in half like a lobster tail.

6. Slowly pull the meat out of the tail. If you are good at it you can pull it out completely leaving only the digestive tract inside the shell.

 7. This is what it looks like all cleaned up. A lot of work for a small piece of meat but......

                         IT IS DELISH!....
(After a while your lips kinda sting from the spices so you eat then with your teeth)And you know what one of the best parts of a crawfish boil is???

THE CLEAN UP!!
You just wrap all of the remains up in the newspaper and throw it in the trash.
No dishes or forks.....
Nothing.
Just a walk outside to the trash can
where I pass by the newly planted moss rose
who have looks of fear on their little petal faces.
I think I can hear them whisper to each other...
"See I told you she was a monster"

Photo Fever...

Is it an illness...
Or a passion?
Do you think that 1231 pictures for a week in L.A. is over the top?
Do I need to start looking into 12 step programs?
Or am I only considered sick if I try to show you all 1231?

There are very few things that give me an adrenaline rush like taking pictures

So I guess I will admit it. I am hooked. There is very little that I DON"T want to capture on film or SD card more exactly. When I don't have my camera I settle for mental snapshots that leave me feeling a little empty, I have started carrying my small camera in my purse....just so I don't go through image withdrawals.

I guess it might be true then.
I am one sick chick
But there are worse addictions.........right?

Too late?

I will strive to work on both habits...
But until there is cure.....
Just one more
photo

THE END.....
(or is it?)

MIA....but here's the weird part...

Dear Readers both friends and family,
I have been missing in action for over a month now......MIA
The funny thing is that I have written a blog entry almost every night..
Funny ones,
Sad ones,
Thought provoking ones,
and probably a few boring ones.
the only problem is......
they were written in my mind while I lay in bed hoping for sleep.
And I had every intention of writing them all down the next day,
But like a petulant child who says they will clean their room in a little bit,
I did not deliver.
So in hopes of getting back in your good graces and to prove to myself that when you fall off of your horse you still need to get back on and ride...
Here is what happened to me last month
(In case you wanted to know)

I sent a package to Elder Nerent who received it just in time for his week spent in bed with Dengue Fever. That post probably would have made you sad because it made me cry, but alls well that ends well and he had plenty of Gushers to get him through the crisis.

I was in charge of sharing time all month in Primary at church and we made valentines to send to children in Guatemala. I tried to talk the presidency into letting me deliver them in person and just write it off to the primary budget but they seemed disinterested in the offer. I was only trying to be a good humanitarian....we are the world after all. That would have been one of my spiritual blogs entries.

I lent Peanut my camera to go to the zoo and she came back with some great pictures including this one of two lions holding hands...er paws. Can everybody say, Awwwwwww. This would have been one of my precious blog entries.

I checked the computer 1,238 million times to see if Peanut received her acceptance to BYU. I mean it...over a million times, muttering under my breath about how lame it is to make people wait this long and what kind of university tortures people like this....... (angry blog entry of course)

 only to recant my position (repentant blog entry) after the long awaited acceptance was received proclaiming it the finest collegiate institution in the America perhaps the world at which point I threw a party for Peanut and her cousin Kavica. (celebratory blog dancing of course)

It was my final waiting for the BYU acceptance game and I was relieved for it to be over, so we partied BIG TIME!

I redecorated my family room

I signed up for a subscription to the photo editing site Picnik and played around a lot with that.

What informative blog entries those would have been......
And oh in the middle of all of those activities I had surgery.
Not a big one but an annoying little one
That I would like to tell you about.
Except that in polite society no one is suppose to say the word
Uterus
And I would need to say the word
Uterus
a lot.
So we will just leave that one alone except to say that it was one of the best and most eloquent and passionate of my "mind blogs"
So there..
That is what you missed.
Maybe you should be grateful
Oh and one more thing....
Uterus.

The Most Dangerous Country or so says the Bear.

So I try not to be the mom who only blogs about her children

(Not that there is ANYTHING wrong with that)
But I got some pictures of my favorite Elder in the world
and
I just wanted to show and tell.
They come at a good time.
It's Monday
I feel kinda sick
and I am trying to motivate myself to clean clean clean...
Plus last week I watched Man Vs Wild.
It used to be Elder Nerents favorite show before he gave up TV for two years
(which wasn't too hard for him....he doesn't really like TV but he did like watching Bear Grylls try to push the danger envelope)
Anyway
Guess where Bear parachuted into last week on TV
Guess!!
You got it....Guatemala.
And do you know what his first sentence was??
"I am going to Guatemala....THE MOST DANGEROUS COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!!"
(he said it three times throughout the hour)
Really Bear??
THE most dangerous...
Cmon and give a missionary mom a break.
I am writing a letter and asking for a retraction.
Do you know what Elder Nerent wrote when I told him?
That is so cool that I am serving in the most dangerous country in the world!
Gotta love these young men.
They are on the adventure of their lives.
So in honor of this auspicious Monday of pictures from my son
I post these.
Is it me or does that cow look like one of the MOST DANGEROUS COWS IN THE WORLD?

 

This is a funny picture. It looks like he is preaching to the dog and what is up with the kid crawling into the window. Perhaps escaping a discussion? lol

P.S. I am going to take on 2 projects that I really want to try but I am afraid to tell you because then if I don't do them no one will know. But you know as well as I do accountability is EVERYTHING....so I will share my secret goals with you and only you........ tomorrow...so shhh don't tell anyone.