Sugar, We're Goin' Down Swingin'

The game is over. My Jazz lost . . . as predicted. It was unfortunate that we were matched up against the Lakers in the first round of the Playoffs. Even though our only win (we lost the series 4-1) was when Kobe was having an off-day, they still played their hearts out. We didn't go down easily--Coach Sloan was thrown out in the final minutes for a technical, and we rallied back from a 22-point deficit up to within 6 points. In the end, we just didn't have the time to dig ourselves all the way out. Oh well. Life goes on. We have had a pretty rough season, with lots of injuries, the loss of Larry H. Miller, and now Hot Rod Hundley retiring . . . it certainly has been memorable. Kobe is just unstoppable. Not only does he know how to draw fouls that the refs wouldn't give to anyone else, but he just knows how to shoot. Every shot, even the difficult ones, are right on. He is incredible and undeniable. Sure, he may be cocky, but he seems like he's a decent guy. During the Olympics, he was so friendly and just happy to be there. And tonight, he went up to Hot Rod (it was Hot Rod's final radio broadcast) and shook his hand and gave him a big thumbs up and a huge smile. After the clock ran out and the players were congratulating each other, he and Kirilenko were smiling like old friends, even though just minutes before, AK was all over him! Anyway, I know I should be bitter against L.A., but I do have to say that they earned it. They are a great team. Anyway, I'm sad our season is over. It was fun to watch. C'est la vie. :o)

It's A New Day

Since I have become a bit of a photo fanatic, I decided to start a new blog. I'll keep this one for family and people stuff, and the other for pictures. Visit my new site (if you want to)! ***Note: I'm sorry. I tried to make this picture a link, but I'm not that smart. The small picture on the right is a link, though. Love ya!

All Is Well

I finally received my new adapter today (all the way from Hong Kong . . . nowhere on the website did it say they would be shipping from China! Grrr!). At least I can blog again! Yay! Here are some random thoughts for the past week or so. Last week was BUSY. I'm glad we made it through. My Mom had surgery last Wednesday, and it went really well. She liked Dr. MacDonald well enough; I'm glad he was on-call for Neurosurgery the whole time, so that he could check in on her often. I'm glad Dr. Cowley was available for anesthesia that day--he was great. The O.R. nurses who took care of her were awesome, and I truly believe she had the A-Team in there. I'm so grateful to my Heavenly Father for bringing her through safely. I'll admit I was a bit worried, but after she received a priesthood blessing on Easter, I was definitely comforted. All is well. I'm loving Spring! I didn't take pictures early enough to get some really good ones, but I did okay. Voilà. I took a few of Benji as well. They aren't great, but he's so flippin' cute! I loved Elder Hale's Talk in General Conference; very applicable to daily life. I have been trying to follow his advice: "All of us are responsible to provide for ourselves and our families in both temporal and spiritual ways. To provide providently, we must practice the principles of provident living: joyfully living within our means, being content with what we have, avoiding excessive debt, and diligently saving and preparing for rainy-day emergencies. When we live providently, we can provide for ourselves and our families and also follow the Savior’s example to serve and bless others." I'm not very good at it, but I am trying. Even so, I think I will have to purchase the Nikon D5000 when it comes out. I know I shouldn't covet, but man. That's all for now. I really should go to bed; I'm just so happy to have use of the laptop back! Okay. Good night.

Pictures Of You & Muskrat Love

Here are a few more pictures from Easter. Poor Mia ended up stripped again . . . ah, memories of reunion. She ended up in just the hoodie and a diaper. "Now that's classy!"

 

This is a really good one of Mach and Tessa, even though Tessarooney has a messy face. Still cute!

 

The marmot/woodchuck/muskrat. He's as big as a cat! I don't know why he makes me nervous, but he does. He wedged himself between the shed and the garage, staring at us defiantly. Blech.

 

I haven't posted many Benji pictures lately, so here are some Easter pics. This is how he really felt about the hat and bunny ears: I tried to take some frame-worthy pictures in his cute suit today. Not too shabby! I'm grateful for this Easter season. I haven't been as focused on Christ as I'd like to be, but I did try to incorporate Jesus into our celebrations. I love Spring and the celebration of new life, especially the new life of our Savior. I know that He was crucified, and I know He was resurrected--He lives! He lives, who once was dead. He lives, my Savior still the same. It is because of Him that we can all live again too, together as eternal families. He is my Rock and my Salvation, and I know that only by Him, through Him, and of Him can all mankind be saved--especially me. I need Him, and I love Him with all my heart. I hope you have felt the love of Christ in your lives--let Him fill you with light.

Hopping Down The Bunny Trail

Here's an Easter preview. We had a little Easter egg "hunt" for the kidlets today. Noah was the only one who really got it; Lily just wanted to eat the goodies, Benji wanted to eat the plastic eggs, and Mia just wanted to walk everywhere. I'll add more later. Enjoy!

Gimme A Break

I haven't posted in a while, so here's a quick update. I'd like it if our family could catch a break sometime soon. Remember the drama about my cell phone? Well, here's part B. I haven't written about it yet, in the hopes that Allen would be able to resurrect the new phone; he hasn't. I was doing laundry, and my (second) brand-new BlackBerry slipped out of my pocket and into the wash. I took it apart pretty fast, but once again, the screen doesn't work. I'll take it to a repair shop and see what they can do . . . I just haven't had the time or motivation to do it. As if that's not enough, I managed to break the a/c adapter for my laptop. I ordered another one ($45 dollars later!); I hope it comes soon, because my battery is pretty much dead. I took out another loan from my measly 401k to pay some medical bills, but they are still taking money out of my paycheck to repay flex-spending stuff. I did get a reimbursement--we'll see if they take any more. Unfortunately, I can't do much except pay more bills with it. Such is life. I have also been dropped to part-time status, meaning that I accrue less PTO and pay more for insurance. It should resolve itself pretty soon, but it still sucks. The next drama: Allen got in a car accident. It still runs, but it looks pretty mashed up. He's going to try to fix it himself; I don't know if that's a great idea or not, but he seems to think he can do it. Yeah, good luck with that. You know that Allen had pneumonia and Benji has RSV. I had been pretty lucky to not get the brunt of it, until now. It really sucks when you are stuck in surgery with snot running down your face and no way to wipe it! Grrr! Why couldn't we all get sick at the same time and be done with it? Enough with the ranting. That's the gist of it for now . . . I'll try to be more positive with my next post. Happy Easter, everyone!