Rashes and the Atonement

On Halloween night I ate way to much candy and so when I ended up having heartburn I figured it was because of that.  It was still weird to me though, because I don't deal with heartburn.  Sure I felt it a few times while pregnant but it was mild.  This was very uncomfortable though.  So much so that I not only felt that acid stuff coming up my throat but I also felt pressure on my chest.  This went on for a few days.  The heartburn, however was quickly forgotten as I broke out in a rash.  This itchy rash was all over my hands, arms, and legs.

It was frustrating me after a few days because, well, being itchy all the time is just frustrating!  I really thought it was the candy and so I cut out sugar.  But it wasn't making a difference.  In fact it was getting worse.  So eventually I went to the doctor.  He thought it was a bad case of eczema and gave me some oral steroids for it.  I always deal with eczema but I have never had it bad enough to have to take oral steroids.  

   

 I did notice a difference but by the time I finished the medicine it wasn't completely gone.  A few days went by and it came back but this time it was everywhere on my body except for the bottom of my feet and hands.  Luckily the only thing that creeped up on my face was this weird patch under my left eye.

At this point it had been past 2 weeks of having this rash and it finally dawned on me that it might be this pill I was taking before working out.  It coincided with this rash so I looked up the side effects and sure enough there were people on the internet complaining about heartburn and rash!  

So I went back to the doctor, showed him my new level of rash awesomeness, and told him about the CLA I was taking.  He thought I was probably right and gave me a prescription for more steroids.  He was surprised that I asked if I could please have a shot as well.  It's hard to explain how irritable one gets when they itch all the time.  I just wanted it gone.

As of now, I'm still on the steroids and I'm watching it slowly disappear.  The shot did wonders because even with my first round of steroids, the itching part never went away.  This time, it was significantly reduced by the next day after receiving the shot.

Well, I was thinking the other day about this whole thing.  It's almost been a month now of dealing with it.  I've tried my hardest not to let it get to me but wasn't always successful.  Obviously trying to fix it on my own (many lavender bath to soothe the itching, bandaging up the tips of my fingers because they eventually got so bad that they just cracked open and bled, ointments, and pretty much anything you can think of) wasn't working.  I finally "gave in" and went to the doctor who gave me medicine to help heal me.  But unfortunately, I went back to taking those pills unknowingly,  making it worse. 

Isn't sin like this?

Sometimes we do things that we think are ok.  We don't really think hard about it.  It just sounds like a good idea.  Not really thinking there would be consequences.  

Sometimes sin is like that.  Maybe we aren't close enough to the Spirit because of things we are or are not doing in our lives.  It's hard to hear the Spirit try to direct us in a certain way if we aren't really paying attention.  Sometimes sin can come in forms that we didn't necessarily realize we were heading toward.  But we do recognize that something is wrong in our lives.  It just doesn't feel right.  And before we know it, we are hurting.  And we just want it to stop.

So we seek out a healer.  Physically or Spiritually we turn to something or someone that will ease the pain. 

Just before going to the doctor, the second time, I received a Priesthood blessing.  The most important thing to me that I was told was that I would learn from this and would be compassionate to others dealing with similar things.  That night is when I realized the timing of the CLA pill I was taking.  A few days later is when I was able to realize, in a new way, just how important the Atonement truly is.

So I want to bear my testimony that I believe Jesus Christ is a healer.  He heals our wounds.  He and the Father want us to be close enough to the Spirit so that we can have happy lives!  Listening and doing as the Spirit directs can truly lead to joy. 

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you" (John 14:27)

My Hyrum

Hyrum is obviously cute.  Just look at that face!

And I've spoken of his tender heart many times.  This heart of his isn't just good on Sundays after church.  He amazes me (like this pumpkin that he carved a CTR in, for halloween) with his ability to want to be good just about all the time.  

I want to share a few experiences so that I don't forget in the future.  

A few weeks ago his class in 4th grade was encouraged to bring books to school on a specific day.  On this day, they would be spending hours reading.  Do you know which book he decided to bring?  His Bible and only his Bible!  When I told him that I was impressed that he would choose to bring his Bible his response was, "I just want to be blessed."  

Ruger gets real excited when his brother's come home from school.  All the boys are so good to him in giving him attention when they get home.  There is no way that this child couldn't feel loved, thats for sure!  But something that Hyrum lets Ruger do always makes me smile.  Almost the second Hyrum walks through the door, Ruger takes Hyrum's shirt (or jacket, if that is what he is wearing), grabs it and drags Hyrum to Ruger's room.  Ruger is ready to play with Hyrum!  And Hyrum lets him do it every time.  Instead of getting on electronics, like I'm sure Hyrum would really like to be doing, he lets his little brother drag him into his room full of toddler toys.

Hyrum is sensitive to my emotions and can often tell when I am stressed.  When he notices it, sometimes he will ask me about it.  Sometimes he will just start tickling my back.  And sometimes he will just ask me if I'm hot.  Hahahahaha!  Because he knows that if I'm hot, I don't want to be touched.

Our Primary Program is next week.  Our Primary President asked each child about a certain subject.  Hyrum's class was asked about the temple and which one was their favorite.  This is what he said, "My name is Hyrum and we go to the temple to welcome Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost to Earth.  We can prepare to be in Christ's house by helping others and not saying bad words.  I like the Ogden Temple because I got to go through it and be sealed to my baby brother."  These were his words.  How wise this little 9 year old is in essentially saying that we are ushering Christ's return by going to the temple.  And I love how he spoke of the Holy Ghost too.  To often I fear that I don't give enough credit to that great being.  The Holy Ghost.

I love my tender Hyrum.  I love how close to the Spirit he is on a daily bases.  I love that he is teaching me to think of others before myself.

I'm truly grateful that Heavenly Father sent Hyrum David Adams to me.

Update 11/25/2016:

The other day I was in my bedroom reading the Ensign when Hyrum came in and asked what I was reading.  I told him it was an article about preparing for Christ's return.  He said to me, "I wonder if Jesus is going to have a surprised look on His face when He comes back because of all the temples and churches that are here now?"  Besides that just being cute and sensitive of him, it was also interesting to me.  It was interesting because I had just finished the paragraph that talked about preparing us to receive Jesus Christ by going to the temple.
"Preparing A Place For The Lord by Bishop Gerald Causse"

Halloween 2016

This year our family really laid low on the social gatherings for Halloween.  It truly is so hard to do things, outside our house, with Ruger.  Doing things with any toddler adds "excitement" but Ruger brings things to a whole new level.  I'm truly so grateful for David and that we are raising Ruger together.  I may have Ruger by myself during the day but David always runs after him when he is home.  I don't know how single parents do it.  I really don't.  And I especially don't know how they do it with a very, very active child.

So yeah, we just went to our ward/church trunk or treat and then walking around house to house on Halloween night.  We had invites to community and business activities but seriously....no thank you.  I'm sure we'll get back in the habit when Ruger gets bigger and is a little less likely to run off with a stranger, walk into traffic, or nose dive into the pavement.  

Ruger was a Daddy monkey.  Levi was, well, he was Levi.  He just wanted to wear as much "Levi's" product as possible.  So we went with Levi's shoes, pants, and shirt.  Brigham was a banana.  Which was hilarious because when he was a toddler he used to say, "I wanna banana, I wanna banana, I wanna banana!" over and over again, as fast as he possibly could.  Hyrum was Pikachu which turned out adorable because his cousin Spencer, in Oklahoma, was one as well.  And it was the exact same pajamas costume too!

Here we have Baby Monkey, Daddy Monkey, and Grandpa Monkey!

Ruger's babysitter and girlfriend ;) Maddie, gave Ruger this monkey a month or so ago.  When she brought it over to him, she had it around her neck like this picture (it has velcro on it's hands).  Ruger is incredibly smart.  And I'm telling you, it's not just the mommy in me saying this.  He knows exactly what we are talking about almost all the time.  And he catches on fast.  All it took was for him to see his Maddie (or "Ah Ma" as he says it) wearing the monkey like this and he immediately believed that is how you always use it. 

So I build his costume around his personality, me always saying that his Dad is a monkey, Maddie's gift and then Brigham wanting to be a banana.  Wa-lah!

Ruger was super cute when we put on his costume.  He didn't care too much for it and really didn't like us to put the hat part on.  But then I brought out the monkey and put it around his neck and told him that we were going to see Maddie that night at the trunk or treat, he immediately stopped pulling at this hat.  Sad thing, though, is that when got to the trunk or treat and she wasn't there :(

I found a shirt with a girl and 4 monkeys on it...so that was my costume.  If it only would have had a Daddy Monkey on it, my costume would have been complete!

These pumpkins were what was left over from Hyrum's garden this year.  It worked out perfectly with 6 left.  As I was setting up our van for the trunk or treat Brigham said that the blanket behind the pumpkins looked like there was a body under it.  Fitting, I guess :)

Something to add to the significance of Ruger's costume is that while he was running around at the trunk or treat, Brother Bitter said that he looked like a little spider monkey.  I just laughed and told him that it was funny that he said that because during the summer was when I first called Ruger a spider monkey.  David was gone night and day during the weekdays all during the summer for work.  He came home on the weekends and Ruger would not leave his side.  Especially during the first day home.  When David would have Ruger on his hip and would need to put him down, Ruger would wrap his legs around David's waist as tight as he possibly could and hang on for dear life with his arms.  David would bend over and let go of Ruger but Ruger refused to let go.  It was so adorable!

Refugees and Temple Square

With the Church encouraging its members to help the Refugees, well, it has been on my mind the last 6 or so months.  A lot.  Should we foster another child?  Do we physically go down to Salt Lake and help with some of the organizations there?  Do we just give money?  

Like many things in life, it wasn't an easy answer for me.  But then I got our Cub Scout budget.  Well, what was left over for the year.  We had quite a bit left over, with only a few months left to go.  I made sure that the leaders wouldn't need the money for something else first and then went and got lots of hygiene items for the boys to make kits that they could give to the refugees in Salt Lake. 

All the the Cub Scouts helped with this but I forgot to take pictures the night we put them together.  But since Hyrum and Urban went with us to deliver the hygiene kits later, they got to be in the picture.  

They were able to tour the building and see the classrooms where these refugees were learning the English language.  They got to hear of the many ways that this organization (Refugee and Immigrant Center, Asian Association of Utah) is helping the refugees.  I had already done my research before choosing this organization but coming here and talking to the staff (and actually seeing some of the refugees) really opened my eyes to the MANY ways they help.  It's not just about sheltering them or helping them to stay clean.  They also offer training in so many areas.  And think about all that they have seen.  Mental health needs to be addressed.  There are just so many aspects to the lives of refugees.  I am so grateful that this organization is doing what it is. 

As you can see from this picture, the refugees are coming from many places.  They said that right now, they have most coming from Somalia.  Both Levi and Hyrum were actively asking questions.  Such a simple thing, yet it made me proud.

Afterwards, I though I would take them to Temple Square.

The temperature was mild and was not crowded so I enjoyed it very much.

There were times that Levi wanted to go home, Ruger wanted out of that stroller, Brigham was teasing a brother, and Hyrum was zoning out but all in all, it was good.  It was a real good day.

Feeling Content

(Alisa and David at the Rush Funplex over the weekend...and yes, we brought the boys too:)

Last night David and I were laying in bed and I told him that I felt content.

He told me that I deserved that and that he felt that I didn't feel that often enough.

He's right.  And I want to work on that.

Feeling that satisfaction of peacefulness.  Of joy.

Francis Peak

Last Saturday David drove us up to Francis Peak.  The very winding, and at times steep, road up there was a little uncomfortable for Levi and I in the front seat of the truck but it was worth it.  Well, maybe not for Levi but it was for the rest of us.  I just had to make myself look the other way when we were driving on certain parts of the road....you know....the parts where if you look you can see straight down the mountain!  

 But look at this.  So beautiful.  And it was fun to get high enough to play in the snow a bit.

 The domes behind Brigham look like little specks down here in civilization.   So it was fun to come up here and learn that they were ran and operated by the Federation Aviation Administration and The Air National Guard.  It's good to feel protected :)

 Not everything was covered in snow, though so of course there was some climbing.

 The boys immediately started to throw snowballs and rocks down the mountain and so Ruger had to join in.

So, cute Hyrum was not happy when he first learned we were going up to Francis Peak.  We had this hornet nest and its occupants, right outside the front of our house that no matter how many times David sprayed it down they just kept coming back.  None of us ever got stung but by the end of the summer Hyrum was pretty freaked out by them...as well as bees.  

So when we told him we were going up a mountain he started to freak out a bit because he didn't want to run into bees.  So I told him that I had just read that for the first time some bees were now on the endangered list.  I reminded him about how very important bees are for our survival.  He then wanted to know all about why they were endangered and was happy to know that I never use chemicals in our garden for that exact reason (plus, I don't want us eating that poison.  But I did tell him that there were some places in the world where insects were so bad that it was really hard for people not to use pesticides).   

And guess what?  Before we left, he was telling me about how he really wishes that the bees would be safe now.  I sure do love this sensitive boy of mine.

Conference Weekend

David served in the Tulsa, Oklahoma mission for 2 years.  One of the states that he served in was Missouri.  He had the wonderful opportunity of serving in Lebanon where he met Susan.  I should have David get on here and write his own experience because I could never get it quite right.  Getting it into words that would describe how much he loved his experience there and especially Susan, just wouldn't turn out the way he truly feels.

 Susan and her husband, John, drove out to Utah to be able to attend one of the sessions for General Conference.  But before going to conference, some missionaries that they had grown close to (that have now left their missions and moved back home/college) over the years met up with them at In-N-Out Burger in Draper.  

The drive to Draper was nice, as David and I were able to just talk.  I love these simple things...especially when I notice that they are indeed special.

But seeing David and Susan together was so very special to watch.  It's not like I haven't known how close these 2 are.  David has spoken of her many times throughout our marriage.  When someone is able to teach about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then is able to baptise you in Jesus' name, well, I can only imagine.  Knowing Jesus the way that he did at this time in his life was rather new to himself.  I'm sure it was very personal to him to be able to share it with her at that time in his life.  And then to think of Susan's side of it.  How do you not have a special love and bond with someone who shares with you something so life altering as this? 

It has been years since she was baptized.  We have seen her here and there throughout the years and their bond just doesn't change.  It really is a sweet thing to witness.

It was also fun for me to hear John's accent.  It made me miss home!  And my dad...  I loved listening to him talk about the Church and how he saw things.  Reminded me so much of my own father.

And then there is conference weekend.  I look forward to it.  I need it every time it rolls around.

But I forgot just how hard it is to actually get things out of it with a toddler!  And sadly, the older boys just feed off of it.  As you can see, it wasn't long before they were rolling up in blankets and trying to smash into each other.  I also witnessed pushups, paper airplanes running into the ceiling fan, and food being thrown on the floor in different directions.  

Ok, so maybe the last one was me.  Hahahaha!  I have freeze dried corn that Ruger loves.  The other day I was so tired and he was sooooooo not!  I got desperate and was sitting on the ground feeding him by throwing the corn, one by one, in different directions to get him to run some of his energy off.  Yep, mother of the year here!  So I tried it again during conference and it worked like a charm!  He was finally quiet as he was running from corn piece to corn piece.  At one point, he got down on his hands and knees and picked up a piece of corn by his mouth.  We just giggled and giggled as he looked like a little chick pecking at his food!  

Interesting enough, the talk that spoke the most to my soul was the one about the difficult child.  Elder Nattress' talk couldn't have been more of what I needed for raising Ruger!  I told David that I was going to print out his talk and read it daily!  Ha!  But in all seriousness, I definitely walked away with the assurance that Ruger can have a great future.  

I am so tired all of the time.  He is so very active and there is not a day that goes by that he has not done SEVERAL things to danger his life.  There are days that I just don't understand how he doesn't learn to stop doing dangerous things when he knows he gets hurt.  But I also know that he doesn't feel things the same as everyone else.  But just to try to get whoever reads this to understand, that first conference session that lasted only 2 hours, yeah....  In that amount of time he bit into his tongue twice (once by falling on his own and the other as he had snuck down stairs.  Hyrum was trying to get him back up and unfortunately when Hyrum did that, he didn't have the strength to pick him up completely so he decided to just push him up the stairs.  Yeah, that lead to Ruger's head hitting one of the stairs as he was being pushed up which lead to Ruger biting into his tongue) and fell down the stairs!  We have a gate but he has figured out that if he pushes it hard enough, he can open it by himself.  He rarely can get enough strength to do it, but as you can see he was able to do it twice in 2 hours!

I'm getting off track but I did come away from that talk knowing that if I just keep on going...If I just try my hardest and if I can push a few words of wisdom in there here and there, he is going to make it.   He can not only reach adulthood but he can be a great leader too!