Blood

On Donating Blood:  Our church has a blood drive every year and I have never gone.  Wes always goes, but I don't. 

Here is the reason: I donated blood once fourteen years ago.  I am not afraid of needles or blood.  I love biology stuff . . . . I thought donating blood would be cool.  So I donated.  I fainted right before my bag of blood was full.  They had to throw it all away.  I so bummed to see my lovely blood go in the trash.  Sigh.  What a waste! 

Well, Wes and I celebrated our thirteenth anniversary this month.  The church was having it's annual blood drive and Wes was recruited to donate.  They asked me to go to, and I said, "Sure! It seems a fitting thing to do on a thirteenth anniversary!"

So we went, Wes with gusto and I with trepidation.  I drank plenty of water and ate well before going.  We donated blood on tables in the cultural hall of the church.  I did it!  I made it through the bag and felt great!  It was a lovely success and I was quite pleased with myself. 

We had the kids with us because we were leaving from there to go on a family outing.  So the kids and I went to the table for cookies and juice while we waited for Wes to finish up.  I sat down and then wham--I fainted.  A lady grabbed me so I didn't flop onto the floor. 

Passing out is a funny sensation.  I felt all tingly and then all warm, and then dizzy and then I was having the most fascinating dream.  I really didn't want to wake up.  But I did after about forty seconds.
Waking up after a faint is scary and disorienting.  I couldn't remember where I was or why I was there or what had happened to the lovely dream I was enjoying.  Then they were trying to get me to talk and answer questions and I wanted to speak but my mouth wouldn't work.  It felt like everything was in slow motion!

I ended up being very sick, almost throwing up twice, and not being able to get up for forty minutes.  It was awful.  I was sick, weak and tired for the rest of the day. 

But the best part of the story is this: the kids said, "Mom you fainted and then you were snoring!  Yeah, you were snoring soooo loud we could hear you out in the hallway!  Heee-hee-heee" 

Oh dear!  What a funny way to celebrate an anniversary!

Nauvoo

We will be in Nauvoo for four days.  We are driving--stopping first in Independence, Mo.  After a day at the water park (to let the kids recuperate from the drive), we will see Liberty Jail and the Temple Block.  Also Adam-Ondi-Ahmen and a few other spots around there.  Then on to Nauvoo and Carthage Jail.  After Nauvoo we will head to winter Quarters, then on to Mt. Rushmore.  Past there we will go to Wyoming to Martin's Cove and then back down to visit my brothers in Utah.  It will be a long but exciting adventure.  We are really looking forward to it! 
All comments and advice welcome from those who have been before and have good advice to give or want to share their favorite part! 

Ta-Dum!

I have officially caught up on my blogging.  Phew!  I really had to finish  because we are going on vacation at the end of this month and I know I am going to have a million pictures to post when we get back from  . . . .
Nauvoo! 

Ryanne's Birthday-Slumber-Shopping-Party

Ryanne wanted to have a party with some of her school friends for her birthday. She invited three girls over to spend a Friday night and go shopping with her on Saturday. Three came. Two spent the night and one went shopping with us. It was perfect! They had a great time. The party was kind of last-minute because Ryanne had waffled on what she wanted to do for her B-day. I had not planned anything for the girls, which turned out to be the best thing. They talked, walked, explored, giggled, looked at photos, ate food, ate junk, teased and painted ceramics. The funniest thing was that they spent the most of their time playing hide-and-go-seek in the house!

 The boys and Dad were gone camping and Leah was spending the night at her friends' home. So, it was just me and Ryanne and her girlfriends. They had the whole house to themsleves and they had a blast. At bedtime we pulled out three mattresses and laid them on the livingroom floor where they watched a movie and giggled until they felll asleep. The next morning we went shopping with Aunt Christy. Ryanne's friend Adrian came with us. We got Ryanne's ears pierced; she picked little emerald studs for her first pair. Then we looked at shoes and swimming suits. We had mall pretzels and slushies. Ryanne and her freind loved it. It was a very fun birthday!

Here they are:

Pearla, Adrian, Kayla and Ryanne.

Ryanne wanted BBQ Smoked sausages,

 corn on the cob, chips, baked beans,

and pickles for dinner.

Don't you just love letting go all pretenses

and just being goofy?!

They decide to move their dinner party to the fort. 

It's a good little spot to hang out. 

And this is the frosting from the cupcake fight they had. 

I think Adrian started it!

Here she goes again. 

And all of them join in.

Smash the birthday girl!

I made them take the fight outside. 

They bet Ryanne that she wouldn't eat the frosting

 off the ground. 

But she did.

It did not look like frosting!

Yummy.

Lets get her again!

Don't we look gorgeous?

A great Family Party for Ryanne

Ryanne turned twelve May 13th.  She has been very excited for her birthday this year.  In our Mormon culture, twelve is the "coming of age" year.  This is the year young boys get the priesthood and girls leave primary behind and advance to the young women's classes.  They get to start attending youth activities at church, which is fun and exciting for them.  In our family, it means a later bedtime (hooray!) and it means Ryanne gets her ears pierced! 

We had a family birthday dinner for Ryanne.  She picked her favorite meal and we dished it up on Grammy's fancy dishes complete with flowers and candles on the table.  For dessert Ryanne picked a molten lava cake with strawberry sauce on top.  Yum! 

I love this series of pictures because it shows what a happy, silly, light-hearted evening we had as a family.  We really like to spend time together.  Ryanne has become quite the comedian, complete with jokes, movie one-liners, and austentacious voices she mimics from others.  If you are one of those she has fooled into believing that she is a shy, reserved, quiet girl, take a good look at these pictures! She was her own spotlight this night and we loved it!

Cheese?  Can I eat it now? 

I am wishing

Something.

But I won't tell you what because

If I did

I'd have to kill you.

Notice how Leah is laughing? 

 Ryanne has the gift to really get her siblings

 rolling on the floor in hysterics.

O Yeah! Candles!

Happy Birthday to me!

So sweet!

My presents.  I love them. 

If I close my eyes and chant,

I will be able to foretell what is in this present.

Her true laughter face.

Getting her ears pierced brings a new line of gifts--

jewelry!

Picture of Leah with her hair-band

bracelets that she wore to school. 

He's always like this. 

He's always like this!

What's in here?

She got a purse from Mimi.  It had five dollars in it

Some of these pictures, I just don't even know what to say---

I will let you imagine your own captions!

Mckay felt bad that he didn't get Ryanne a present.  He and Ryanne have become very close friends over the last two months.  So he whipped out some paper and started folding.  Then he presented Ryanne with her own special origami: A Lollipop. 

I was worried that Ryanne would think it was stupid and that she would let him know that. 

Tact isn't always her forte. 

But she was so sweet-- and the best thing was, she loved it!  She and the kids got the biggest kick out of playing with the lollipop (later it became a microphone).  Who would have ever guessed?! 

"Oh yeah!  Yum!

Slurp!

Look Mom, I'm eating it! It's dissapearing down my throat!

(I love Mckay's pleased little grin in this picture). 

Happy Birthday Ryanne-Girl!

Ryanne the Green Alian

Our Church has a day each year called Mormon Helping Hands. 

We get to wear these cute vests and go out in our community and do service.  It is really fun.  We get big groups together and work on city projects.  Members from all over the state of California meet on the same day in various locations to work tp improve and beautify their communities. 

 Last year our group weeded, painted curbs, cleaned up parks, painted to cover graffiti on walls, and cleaned along roadsides.  Some members worked to improve the park bathrooms. 

This year our group was assigned to use wire brushes to scrape old paint off of an iron fence at a nearby park.  After the fence was sanded down and cleaned up, we painted it.  It was a fun morning. 

All the kids helped some, but Ryanne was an especially diligent worker.  Part way through the morning she began complaining that her nose itched.  Then her eyes swelled and got watery and soon she was in a full-blown hay-fever-allergy attack.  She was scrubbing the fence with an iron brush and the green paint left powder on her hands. 

We all had green hands.  But Ryanne was the only one who had a green face!  She was so itchy that she kept rubbing her nose and cheeks with her green hands.  She didn't know for a long time that she was green and I debated if I should tell her.  But she is twelve.  And there were cute boys there.  So I took her home for an allergy tablet and let her look in the mirror.  Boy was she surprised!  She opted to go back to work at the park . . .  without washing her face!  She was quite proud of her alien features.  Maybe twelve-year-old boys dig that!  

  

"Whoa!  I am so green!"

"Hey! Look at me"

"Cheese, I'm an alien!"

I graduated . . . .

I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Biology and Secondary Education . . . .

In the year 2002!

We moved to California for Wes' job when I was finishing up my degree.  In order to graduate, I had to go back up to Provo for eight weeks all by myself to take three classes over summer semester.  They were classes I couldn't take at Cal State and then transfer the credit.  I was required to take these specific classes at BYU.   I left Wes and the two babies (Ryanne was 2 and Mckay was 6-months-old) at home alone.  Wes was on summer break (he was teaching high school).  It was the longest, lonliest 8 weeks of my life.  I lived with a house full of single gals, which was really weird after being married two and a half years.  Fortunately, after a few weeks, I was able to move in with one of my married freinds (thank heavens)! 

Wes was never the same after the "Mr. Mom" adventure--he has always appreciated me as a mom much, much more!

When I returned from Utah, I immediatley began my student teaching at Sultana High in Hesperia.  My Dad helped me get a spot there (he's a teacher too).  That was long and grueling and I have William and Angel to thank for watching Mckay and Ryanne day-in and day-out.  Thank you for helping me graduate!

After finishing That Ordeal, I still had to tackle three classes at Cal-State San Bernardino. Two of them were the physics classes I had been dreading.  I managed them just fine--the last one I finished the ninth month of my pregnancy with Leah.  My classmates at Cal State were betting I'd "Pop" before the quarter was over, but Leah stayed put and I finished finals one week before she was born. 

I was finished!  But Utah was far away, I'd just had a baby.  We were poor.  It just wasn't practical for me to drive or fly up to Utah for Commencement.  I never had a party, got a present, or enjoyed a feast with my family for graduating.  That was fine.  I had pleasure in the fact that I did it.  However, I really wanted pictures of me graduating for my kids; I wanted them to know that I went to college, put myslef through it, payed most of my own way and finished it!

So now, 8 years later, I had a chance to steal some shots in Brice's cap and gown.  I know it wasn't my graduation, and that's okay.  But I did graduate!  And this is the same cap and gown I would have worn if I hadn't been a Mamma to three small kids! 

So, here's for posterities sake:

 

Graduated April 2002

from Brigham Young University

with a

Bachelors in Biology Education

Yeah Me!

"Huh?"

Does this mean I have to get a job now?

I take after my Dad.  He teaches biology too. 

I couldn't have graduated without his help in my student teaching.

Not to metion that he drove me to work every day during that time!

 It was because of his and my Grampy's love for sciences

 that I grew up with a passion for life sciences.

Hugs Graduate!

A trip to Utah

My Brother Brice just finished his bachelors degree in Civil Engineering.  He graduated this April from Brigham Young University.  My Dad was going to drive up to Provo for the graduation and invited Aurora and I to hitch a ride with him.  We did.  We had a fantastic trip.  I enjoyed all of it, but especially the nine hour drive up and back-- I had so much fun having uninterupted time to talk with my Dad and Sister.  I love my family so much!  I took a lot of photos, so here they are!  Hope you get  a good laugh out of some of them.  We Somers people have fun together! 

The morning of Brice's graduation.  Aurora is doing up Raelin's hair. 

Raelin holds very still for Aunty Raroo.

In the other bathroom, Morgan is fixing up Alaina's hair. 

Alaina is brushing her teeth.

 

Pappa and Ryker are ready to go.

Alaina-pie is ready to go.

 

Now we are all waiting for graduation to start. 

What could be more entertaining than taking silly pictures?

We met William and Angel at BYU.  Liam was at preschool. 

Raelin has a mouse that Ryanne sent to her.

Pappa is helping Raelin find her Daddy's name in the program. 

Aurora is still obssessed with Raelin's pretty hair. 

 

Awww, she likes this sweet girl. 

 

Doesn't Raelin have a lovely face?! 

I love her eyes.  I love her nose! I love her chin!

She looks like a Somers.

Grandmother, Mother, two daughters: 

Dee Lawler, Morgan, Raelin and Alaina.

Pappa is taking pictures.

Lucky Angel--she gets a back massage while we are waiting! 

 

Grandfather Lawler and sweet baby Alaina.

William's normal face. 

Also known as the Joker!

 

What devious plan are they crafting?

What knowing look is this? 

 

He really does have a large smile. 

 

Sister snuggles.

Angel is taking some good photos.

Raelin almost has the same grin as William!

 

But not Alaina.  She's serious-faced. 

Oh dear, what have we here? 

 Two dead possums in the road. 

 

You know, that camera is as big as her head. 

 

Finally, the long wait is over and the graduate

 is here to get his congratulations!

Yeah Brice! 

We screamed and cheered loud for him. 

I call this picture "Looking up to Daddy";

Some day Alaina wants to wear a

cap and gown.

Hugga-sister

Hugga-brother. 

Hey look!  I really was there! 

I was so proud of Brice. 

Family hugs, minus Ryker who was wiggly

and had gone off for a walk with his Grandpa.

 

Daddy and Alaina.

I really like this picture.

Dad is full of love and pride for his son.

All of his children and their spouses are

 graduates from college now! 

Hugs from Angel.

There's Ryker!  Silly Boys!

Dad with his four kids and two of his granddaughters. 

Raelin is going to grow up and get a master's degree

in three subjects.

Sweet family.

Ryker!--Get that tongue in!

Now Raelin is looking up to Daddy.

Ryker!  There's that tongue again!

Ryker still has his tongue out!

(Reminds me of us trying to get a family picture).

Smooches from the happy wife

(how much longer 'till you graduate with your Master's degree she asks?)!

Alaina thinks mommy ought to be giving daddy a better kiss. 

 

There we go--now Alaina's kissing Daddy.

 

And kissing him some more. 

Cute grin. 

Peeking back over his shoulder.

 

 Where will their future lead them?

Alaina up close. 

 She had scraped her nose a few days before this.

 

I like her little hands. 

 

Raelin is happy because Pappa found the mousey she lost.

Going.

Going.

Gone!

Morgan has put a white board and markers

at kid level in her house.

All the kids and some of us adults like to draw on it. 

Even the neighbor kids would

randomly walk in the house to doodle on it. 

If you don't know who this picture is,

it is a younger version of someone with

a scar right on thier lip. 

 

Charicatures of the kids.

Ryker and I had fun playing ball with some toys Mimi sent them. 

Aurora turning Brice's garden for him. 

At William's house.  William is building a marble tower for the kids. 

I think they knocked it down faster than he could build it.

Don't ask me what Angel is doing. 

Is she swatting invisible flies?

Maybe it's a meditation pose.

Once the tower was up,

they had a lot of fun rolling the marbles down.

Aurora snuggling Alaina.

 

Brice snuggling Alaina. 

Do you think she gets enough snuggles?

Alaina was dancing.

She's really getting into it!

Don't you love her grin?

She is turning circles and wiggling like crazy.

She wiggled her pants right off!

William's cat Motors is trying to ignore me.

Is this the "Time-Out" chair?

What did she do?

 

Okay, now she's just plain sour at me. 

When all else fails, lick your fur. 

"No-no, I'm so ashamed! Don't look at me!"

"Back off or I'll give yeh' the ol'one-two --

POW! Right in the kisser!