Time to count the little miracles!!!

So everyone goes through the thoughts of wondering who sits in a room to discuss of ways to get more money out of a car that is barely holding on, that you can't sell and you can't afford a new one.

OOOHHH yeah lets make sure that every year on the cars BIRTHDAY you not only get to pay out money to drive it, you also get to pay out a little more because they need to stick an oxygen monitor in the tail pipe to make sure that it doesn't pollute our CLEAN air. And then they check the wipers. Like we wouldn't know if the wipers didn't work. Although we do know that our windows roll down but they don't roll back up. This is a major problem.

Well we held off trying to register again like every year. Remember, the Birthday party we get to have for our non breathing, thing that you can't live without which receives more money on it's birthday than our breathing children that we can live without some days.

On with the story.... Our back tail light had a big hole in it which looked about the size of a 8 year old bike handle, not blaming anyone, but it wouldn't be so bad except this is the second time in two years that the same size hole in the same EXACT spot keeps appearing. I don't understand why no one will step to the plate and admitt that they have a problem turning into the driveway....

John orders the part. By now we are 2 weeks ahead of the birthday party and were doing good. It sits on the floor until about 2 days before the Party and then we realize the wrong part was ordered and it does'nt fit. I go to the place and explain that it doesn't fit.... He looks at me like why did your husband send you in here to do a mans job? I'm thinking it's a big PLASTIC dome light.. It fits or it doesn't. He asks me if I have the vehicle with me. "Yes, I reply, but my husband really does know how to put one on. Don't you remember us paying you out $100.00 bucks last year.?" The Expertise goes out and works on the thing for 20 minutes until he gives up and says "I've just never seen this before". WOW, did he borrow that line from my kids?

We are now 1 week over the due date of the party and the invitation is still stareing at me and I'm at the point of dodging all of the police cars that even come 1 mile away from me. I even carried the receipt of the plastic dome light so if I did by mistake get pulled over I had my whole story with tears ready to go....

Right part comes in and I set an appointment for the actual Party!!! Only no one is excited and there are black balloons hanging everywhere. Because of course you never have any money just sitting in the account for this one. I Get in there and everything seems to be going well and then it happens.... "M'am you have a burned out tail light, would you like me to put in a new one and put it on your tab". "As a matter of fact I would mind. I just bought that stupid thing. You think they put dead light bulbs in just because they looked stupid because they ordered the wrong part". What the heck!!! The young man was afraid of me by the end of the party. I put out another .83cents for a light bulb for that non breathing object. I could tell it was coming to an end when the windshield wipers worked and he decided to pull it out of the stall.

Now you remember me telling you that our windows roll down but they don't roll up.. He comes in and says okay your ready to go, but have you had any problems with your windows rolling down and up? I am now climbing over the counter and sucking all of his blood out of him.... and thinking to myself " OH Please Oh please tell me you didn't roll them down?

As calmly as possible I said, "No, we've NEVER had a problem rolling them down. They ALWAYS roll down but they NEVER go back up!!! By now I'm sure he was wondering if by chance his manager put his lunch break that day at 9:30a.m.

Looking back If I didn't have my head connected to my feelers I could have played stupid and said, "NO, but you better fix that, My husband is not gonna like that."

Needless to say I drove home with a pass on my paper in the RAIN with now another problem to face. To make a long story short. I slammed the door about 20 times. Brought my blow dryer out and tried to heat the door, for some reason in the hot weather it works fine. I'm a women and that was the next heat source... Could've used the blow torche but was afraid I would make the exterior a step worse. Ha Ha now that's funny. See how crazy we are sometimes. Of course I only had to resolve to those resources because it was raining and there was no other heat to be found. I then cussed in mormon language with only 1 bleep, and then realized this was out of my hands and I couldn't drive to pick the kids up in the rain so, I prayed.....

It was one of those prayers that you come in shame but full of faith that he can reach his almighty powerful finger down on that button and make it go up. For some reason he was mercifull and realized that the birthday party was short of anything but fun and decided that looking upon our checking account and seeing there was a shortage to cover another non human medical expense he would save us.

So there is my little miracle, I literally jumped into the air with glee with happiness. I Gave my thanks and now have Duct tape covering the window switches. Because I know those windows aren't getting another miracle.

And you can count on me back here in another year with another eventfull birthday story, and with our luck another new tail light.

Tribute

Every so often I am pleasantly surprised to find my world is a little more connected than it was the day before, and I am reminded that it is truly remarkable people in my life that make it that way. I write now about three of the most incredible women that I have ever known, women who have touched the hearts of countless individuals and have helped me reflect on how blessed I am to have known them - my sisters.
Heidi, Heather, and Stephanie live near Portland, Oregon, all within minutes of each other but hundreds of miles from me. I rarely have the opportunity to see them but lately some unique circumstances have caused them to occupy my thought ceaselessly. This past summer Heather and Heidi went to Africa with the humanitarian organization Mothers Without Borders. While there they met my next door neighbor and a young woman (now married) I taught in Sunday School many years ago. Both of these individuals went on and on about how much they loved and admired my sisters. They couldn't believe how enthusiastic my sisters were, how their smiles and laughs lifted the spirits of so many people surrounded by despair and gave them hope to go on. It's amazing to me that something that took place so many thousands of miles away could find its way home to me.
Stephanie has had the opportunity to perform with a group in the musical production Light of the World. Recently they came to B.Y.U. to finish the show at Education Week. Again my world grew smaller. Again my life was blessed. I nearly burst with pride the night I went to see her performance. Her voice was angelic, her spirit radiant. And around me hundreds listened, as hundreds had before, and were touched by the talent she shared.
My mother passed away over 15 years ago. My children will have to wait for another time to know her the way I often wish they could know her now. But in my sisters her spirit lives and is magnified in so many ways. And even though they live such incredible lives and have so many life altering experiences, I think the thing that pleases Mom the most, at what I hope my children gain from their knowing Aunt Heidi, Aunt Heather, and Aunt Stephanie, is the relationship they have with each other. In a world where family unity is becoming more and more passe, they remain one in heart, one in spirit, and one in purpose. They love each other, they love their less than perfect brothers, they care for their father, and they are their own best friends. I love you all so very much. I am honored and humbled to be your brother and I pray my actions, however insignificant they may be, reflect the deep admiration and respect I have for each of you. Thank you for everything.
John

Finally they are here!!!

Okay so they aren't freshly hatched. They are now 5 weeks old but this is how long it has taken me to get them blogged. We welcomed Max and Camri into our crazy world on June 30th. Max weighing in at 7lbs 60z. and Camri weighing in at 7lbs. Both 18inches long. If your thinking wow those are not tiny twins, imagine what my sister Becky was feeling. Our hearts broke for her every day. When she came out from the c-section the first question I asked her was how are you feeling? She said oh I feel GREAT!!!! So sometimes I guess major surgery is a walk in the park compared to the pain you were feeling before.

They are blessing them on Sunday because Max already can't fit into his shoes.... Healthy little turkeys. Love them so much!!!

If you see me walking around like a zombie. This would be ONE of the reasons. I could pull out a whole other book for my other reasons but that would have to be another blog... And so far I have way out done myself with 2 blogs already in a month. Kee Kee kee....

Johns forehead surgery!!

Okay Okay I know I am so far behind in posting that I don't even know if I can catch up. We are going to give it a try and start up again. So sorry for making every one wait for so long but it has been a very very busy month. I know, along with everyone else. Sleep deprivation and lack of time to wait for my computer to upload pictures put a delay in the enthusiasm of posting. So here goes.

John had forehead surgery a month ago and so I went into their surgical room with him and took pictures of everything. Zach was with us because it was supposed to be a quick surgery which ended up taking longer because the doctor cut a vein and had a hard time getting it to stop bleeding. ENJOY!!!!

Zach kept asking through the whole procedure "Is Daddy Dead?" They draped his head with a cloth and Zach couldn't see his face or anything so after they took the shield off John thought it would be funny to act as if he really was dead. Zach DID NOT appreciate this. We laughed though!!

John Loves that he has another battle scar wound to name. I will work hard to keep my posts forthcoming from here on out....

Mini vacation #1 - Carnival of Terror!

Since my conception 37 years (+9 months) ago I cannot remeber a year when I have not gone to San Diego, Oregon, Hawaii, Yellowstone - SOMEWHERE - for a summer vacation.  Well, thanks to OPEC and one terrific president, this summer will be a first!  That's right, no grand vacation plans for the Raddatz's this year.  We sat down with the kids about a month back (when gas was, gasp, $3.00/gallon) and let them know we just could not afford to take a big vacation anywhere it required us to drive.  So we decided to take several mini vacations instead.  Camping, fishing, carnivals, water parks - things close by that we could do in a day or two.  Fit enough of these activities in the next few months and I think the kids will have something to write about in their "What I did this Summer" essays at the beginning of school.

Today was the first of our mini vacations - the Orem City Summerfest.  Miriam is at Youth Conference and it was my job to keep the kids entertained so I decided this would be fun for all of us.  There was a carnival, helicopter, firetruck and ambulance we could get into, and of course all the over price food and garbage booths we could hope for.  I bought  $30.00 worth of tickets and set out for a good time.  As you can see from the attached pictures everyone was having a good time.

Well, things were going so smooth until the ferris wheel.  I will let the following pictures tell the story.

ugh! I don't know if you can tell, it's pretty subtle, but one of these kids was not having a good time.  The last picture was not color enhanced, Zach really was turning green!  His knuckles were white in a grip of death, and his little heart was racing. The party was over!  I guess I can count myself lucky that Zach won't be required to write one of those school essays.  I think it would become evidence against me of child abuse if he did. Our next mini vacation will be a bit easier on the stomach, I hope.  And I think I can scratch Lagoon off my to-do list.  Megan and I seem to be the only members of the family interested in anything that goes faster or higher than the Merry-go-round.  Pity...

Josh's encounter

For a fun family night, we decided to hit the wilderness and see what we could find. The picture shows the wolf that Josh encountered. It's a good thing I always carry my camera with me or I wouldn't have been able to capture the picture. Let's just say the night ended up with many tears....

Okay, so it's a good thing that Cabelas had already stuffed the poor animal. If I would have let Josh he would've been over the railing and riding the thing. As soon as we got home his older brother thought it would be a hoot to see how high he could jump the two little ones together on the tramp. They gingerly collided and Josh got the brunt of the whole chaos. Nothin like ending the night with ziplock bags of ice and a good ole trusty bottle of Motrin. Now that's quality family time. Thanks Grandpa Raddatz for coming along.