Porky Pig

Our boy is just coming off his week of Steroids and 

my, oh my is he into power eating.

No exaggeration here... he is eating all of us under the table.

Let's see, today alone he had two large pancakes, a full glass

of juice, 9 fish sticks, a bowl of mashed potatoes, a large bowl

of fruit, a mango and yogurt smoothie, a bowl of vanilla yogurt,

a piece of bacon, four pieces of pizza, a bunch of grapes, a slice

of mango, a bowl of cantaloupe, several strawberries

and some watermelon.

My stomach hurts just watching him pound that down!

Oh and we finally caught his latest trick on camera-

even though this isn't his best.

But at meal time when we go to pray, he typically says "prayers"

with as much gusto as Jesse Jackson at a Saturday night revival.

Say Cheese

Sir Grouchola had a photo shoot today.

Not the best day to have it scheduled.

He was unhappy from the minute he woke up until bedtime.



 He had an appointment to get his picture taken for the 2014 Down syndrome calendar.

It really could have gone better.

The poor photographer told me he got 4 pictures-- 5 max.

But he thinks at least a few of them will work.

 After the quasi photo shoot, we stopped by the park to meet Greer and Reese

who had gone earlier with friends.

Our visit didn't last too long before it was time for Keanut to

get home for a nap.

When the girls got home, we realized Greer had left her bag and

her special water bottle she had bought on her trip to Texas.

She sobbed through dinner... and so we promised we'd

go back after we ate.

She and Reese both said a prayer hoping they'd find the lost items.

Byron and I "prepped"them for failure... telling the girls

that sometimes the Lord doesn't answer our prayers so we can

learn a lesson -- like being more careful with our belongings.

Silly parents-- oh ye of such little faith!!!

Hours after leaving the park, we went back and found the items

in the exact spot where they had been left.

Which is amazing-- in that this park is slated to have a massive

free movie night tonight.

It was packed.

 It was quite the sweet experience.

That, and the time as a family we got to play on the giant musical

instruments in the park.

Some Closure

My parents just called.  A search and rescue team took a helicopter up in the mountains above Salt Lake a short while ago.  The body of my cousin, Lance has been spotted.  They are starting the recovery process now.  It's terribly sad news but we are also relieved that the agony of not knowing has come to an end.
I think we all knew in our hearts he was gone.  It's been over a week and it was my Aunt Pat's (his mom's) birthday yesterday.  If he could have, he would have called.
Thank you so much for all of your prayers! 

Agonizing

We still have no word about my missing cousin, Lance.  Today the family held a special day of fasting and prayer to petition the Lord for comfort and direction for Lance's wife and for his mother and sisters.
Today marks one week that he has been missing-- a pretty grim anniversary.

Prayer Request

Since I have been the recipient of many of your prayers (and I personally know the power of prayer), I could sure use them on behalf of my cousin.  Lance Leavitt left my Aunt Pat's home at about 3pm on Thanksgiving Day for a hike.  My Aunt lives in the foothills above Salt Lake City-- the hills that lead up to the imposing Wasatch Front.  Lance never returned.  He has Epilepsy and while he has only had four seizures in the past 9 or so years, we are worried sick for him.  As you know, the weather has been just awful up there and this not knowing what happened to him is eating his family alive.  I'd love for his wife Casey, son and two daughters (one is only 10 months old), to feel the comfort and power of your prayers.
Thanks---
L

Prayers

Today turned out to be a rough one for little Reese. We got up this morning and her brand new goldfish (we just bought it 3 days ago) was floating in the bowl. So we had an impromptu funeral around the bigger bowl (the toilet) before school. After each of us talked about what a good fish Sparkle was, Reese said a very sweet little prayer. She asked Heavenly Father to be nice to Sparkle and to have fun with him.
Dinnertime turned out to be another memorable prayer time. Greer volunteered to give the blessing on the food because she was starving. She quickly launched into the prayer-- talking soo fast it was next to impossible to understand her. So we stopped her and had her start over--reminding her that she was talking to her Heavenly Father.
Well, lets just say, she took our words to heart. She prayed and prayed and prayed. She thanked the Lord for-- I think, just about everything. For the fish, for the applesauce my parents and I bottled this week, for the apples we got to pick, on and on and on-- she even thanked him for the pumpkin seeds we roasted. Holland started sighing. I started biting my cheeks, my tongue, my lips to keep from giggling out loud. It was priceless. Thankfully it ended before everything was completely cold or we had all passed away from hunger.
Sure wish you could've been there. Especially for part two of the dinner.
First, I must make this disclaimer. The picture following is not from tonight!!! The first clue should be that Reese is smiling.
Tonight we had squash for dinner. You know, that orange, butternut yummy kind? I even cooked it with butter and brown sugar. Byron liked it. I liked it. Greer liked it. But Holland didn't like it. And since Holland didn't like it, Reese decided she didn't like it either, before she even tasted it! I told her she had to have two bites before leaving the table.
Let's just say, I left the house an hour and a half later (and lots of crying and gnashing of teeth later) to go somewhere with my mom-- and Reese was still sitting at the table with her squash on her plate.
My sources tell me, she finally ate the squash.
Parents 1
Reese 0

A little irreverence

I blew it tonight. I totally lost it and laughed throughout family prayers. I was biting my tongue, my cheeks, my lips and shaking uncontrollably. Greer was giving the prayer and she is in this phase where she goes on and on and on and on. Tonight was no exception. Her voice gets all earnest -- and in her most heartfelt way, she thanks Heavenly Father for just about everything you can imagine. Tonight's highlights were the chairs we sit on, the table we eat at, the toys we play with, the grass we walk on, the flowers we smell etc, etc, etc. I lost it when she thanked the Lord for the cleaning supplies we have in our house.
I think I'm in good company. God must be up there giggling too!