To My Brother

Today marks the third "anniversary" of the day that shook my world. January 9th 2008 I received a phone call from my dad. He started out telling me to sit down. It was one of those calls you see on TV and think they are being overly dramatic. But no actor can begin to express the pain that one phone call can bring... the phone call telling me my healthy, happy, 37 year old brother was gone. This is in remembrance not of the sadness that still consumes me but of my brother, Luke. Luke was truly one of the greatest men I knew. Not just because he was my brother but because he was truly great.

What made him great?
His sense of humor

His love of family

His love of the Lord

His never ending service

His hands that could make anything

His bountiful garden

His perpetual singing

His perpetual teasing

I could keep going and I could give many, many, many examples. Remembering Luke makes me rethink my life and wonder if I am living my life in a way that would make him proud. I hope so because he made me proud.

Luke Tener Short

October 28, 1970
January 9, 2008

Sand Dunes

We spent the week after Christmas at the Sand Dunes and had a GREAT time. I think this was the best Dunes trip ever. What made it so great? Going on family rides. This was the first year Harrison and Jackson have been old enough to go on rides on their quads, and they were awesome. Jackson even jumped his (accidentally) and got mad air. He said, "when I went over that little hill I was flying!" He fell forward onto the handle bars but righted himself and kept riding. He was so proud of himself. It was freezing cold but we had so much fun watching movies, drinking hot chocolate, and riding.

Family Photos

For Christmas Damon's brother, Brandon, put together a slideshow with pictures he took of all Damon's family. We took them at Grandma and Grandpa Richardson's house. They turned out great and we had fun doing it, as you can see by the last picture. Thanks Brandon, they turned out great!

Lessons learned

Two weeks ago Jackson started feeling sick. He woke up in the middle of the night coughing and wheezing. Although he was begging to go we kept him home from church that Sunday. By Monday there was really nothing wrong with him. I debated all day if I should take him in to the doctor. I finally decided to because Harrison and Lucy were starting to cough also. I felt silly making a doctors appointment for my kids when their only symptom was a very slight cough. Every time my kids get sick that's how it starts and pretty soon they are wheezing and we are doing breathing treatments and it's no good. So I just made the appointments to be safe.
They could only see one of my kids on Monday so I took Jackson in and made an appointment for Lucy and Harrison for Tuesday. The Dr. treated his respiratory problems and I felt confident that I could still hold preschool the next day. So on Tuesday we went on our field trip to the Science Center for preschool. That afternoon I took Harrison and Lucy to the doctor. He immediately put Harrison on a breathing treatment just like he had done with Jackson. Then he looked at Lucy...she had STEP. He then realized it was strep that was causing the respiratory problems. He misdiagnosed Jackson and I subsequently infected all of Phoenix by taking my strep-ridden children to the Science Center! I'm so grateful I took them to the doctor especially because their symptoms were so slight I almsot disregarded them.
First lesson learned; to trust my mommy instincts.

On Thursday I went to Tucson with my mother and sisters in law to see Fiddler on the Roof. I was feeling very anxious about going and leaving 3 sick children. Not only were they sick but they were sick with strep. It was Lucy's first time getting sick and each kid needed medicines and breathing treatments. To top it off Harrison gets super whiny when he is sick, Jackson gets naughty, and my sweet, happy Lucy was clingy and fussy. I did not feel right about leaving them for someone else to deal with. I did leave them and went to Tucson and had a fabulous time. My children were happy with Grandma Nonna, Grammy and their Dad and they were happy to be with my children.
Second lesson learned; trust the people I love, including my children.

Friday night after my trip to Tucson and the kids were in bed Damon held me and told me he loved me and was glad to have me "back". It was a stressful week for me and I got into a funk where I didn't act like myself and I wasn't really "there". I realized how hard it is on Damon when I get like that because he doesn't know what's wrong or how to help.
Third lesson learned; my husband loves me and wants me to be happy.

What a busy life!

I realized that I have started 5 posts since November and haven't finished one of them. My goal is to get on the ball and get those posts published!

These last few months have flown by. We enjoyed our holidays and are looking forward to spring. The boys are spending more and more time outside riding bikes and playing. My goal for them is to teach them to ride bikes without training wheels and to sign them up for a sport.

Harrison is growing so tall and can write his name really well. He is anxiously awaiting his fifth birthday in March. He is already planning his party. We had to stop and look at the birthday cakes while at Sam's Club today.

Jackson is so excited to be a Sunbeam. He loves his teacher, and friends and going to church. He had a cough the other Sunday and I was debating leaving him home with Dad, who was sick. Jackson would not hear of staying home because his teacher would miss him.

Lucy is 7 months old, sitting up by herlself, has a tooth and is almost crawling. Today she went from a crawling position to sitting all by herself. What a big girl! She is such a happy baby, we are all in love with her.

Jackson- the big 3!

Jackson turned 3 on September 8 (I know I'm a little behind). He was so excited for his birthday, he talked about it and planned his party for months. He had a fun party. We had family and a few friends over for dinner, cake and icecream, and of course a pinata. Jackson chose a Dora the Explorer cake and a Batman pinata. One of his favorite things about his birthday was going to lunch with just Dad.

Bike Ride

The weather had been absolutely beautiful this week. Damon and I have been wanting to exercise more so we took the whole family on a walk. It was quite the entourage. Damon pushed Lucy in the stroller, Harrison and Jackson rode their bikes, and I walked our dog Penelope. We live on a dirt road so getting the boys and their bikes from our house to the paved street was a work out in itself. We all enjoyed being outside together. The boys were happy to ride their bikes, even when they got stuck in the dirt or when the had to get off and push their bikes because of all the rocks.