Umi, the Van, VS. THIS...

So this is the pile of old roofing that Teagan put Umi into early Monday morning. And here is Umi going away on Tuesday morning to have a long visit with the auto body shop.
Here's what roofing does to a windshield - note the little pieces of glass on the dashboard.
And damage to the bumper -- I still can't figure out what did this (the dent). In the picture of the stack, the white thingy in the pile is an old feed sack, so that didn't do it. And the 4x4 pieces of wood are really too low to the ground, I think. You can't see the white scrapes on the headlight, but they are there.
Lots of white streaks on the side and note the missing antenna and side mirror. Oooh, the fun.
So looking at the estimate, here's what Umi gets to have all new: windshield, bumper, headlamp, fender with antenna, mirror, and various pieces of molding and trim. Hopefully they can buff out the scratches to the windows on the sliding door and passenger door.

Moral of the story? Don't underestimate the damage aluminum can do. (Shan will have other lessons he thinks we learn from all this. They may follow!)

What a Monday. . .So Far...

We are having a Monday. That word should describe it fairly well.

At 5:30 this morning, the alarm went off. As I got up to deal with it, I could see lights and hear that Teagan was up and getting ready for seminary. Good. I listened to him drive away.

At 5:40, Teagan was back. On his way down the farm's hill, he hit a pile of aluminum roofing that was stacked on the side of the drive. He was distracted at the time, it was dark, and he was going too quickly on the turn. The van, Umi, now has gashes sliced into the passenger front side. The bumper scraped and the under-bumper-guard is dragging. The windshield is gouged and has left glass dust on the dashboard. The passenger-side mirror is on the stool in my kitchen, as are two pieces that came off the bumper. Also in my kitchen is the antenna. By 6:00am I was on the phone with the insurance company working up the claim. Teagan and Shan were down making sure that nothing was poking out from the pile to damage some other unsuspecting farm-dweller.

Shan took the boys to school early and headed down to work to do the usual Monday things. Once the necessities were done, he was on his way back to get me so that we can pick up the rental car (which I'm certain will NOT replace an 8 passenger van!), when the middle school called to let us know that Talmage is sick -- cold, pale, with a little bit of a stomach ache. They are on their way home now.

On the bright side: Teagan is okay. Nobody else was in the van at the time. Somehow the passenger front tire didn't get damaged.

On the NOT bright side: it's only 9:50 am on a MONDAY!

More info later. . .and maybe a picture or two. If Monday can stop being so Monday-ish!

A Special Anniversary

Today is the 9th Anniversary of the dedication of the Kona Temple! This past Tuesday, I attended the temple session that our ward was assigned to and was reminded of our experiences 9 years ago. Allow me to ramble a bit!

The temple had an open house for several days prior to the dedication. We had a baby due Feb 1st, so Shan and I had little to no assignments for the festivities. January 12th was the first day of the open house - a day for the VIPs (mayor, county council, local doctors and attorneys) to walk through the building. We took Teagan and Talmage for this first chance to see inside, and on the way out, a friend asked when our baby was due and if it was soon. With 3 weeks to go, I jumped up and down in the parking lot, saying, "This baby's not coming!" We all laughed.

The next morning, about 10am, my water broke. But I didn't really go into labor - I think I was telling my body that I had to wait and for once, it was obedient! 18 hours later, after getting really mad that I wasn't progressing as quickly as I had for Talmage (2 hours, start to finish!), Taggart was finally born! After no sleep and no eating for so long, I was completely wiped out. But the adventure was just beginning. Taggart was safe, but the placenta would not detach, so I was losing blood too quickly. The doctor tried 2 medications and tried to pull it out, but to no avail. She outlined for Shan (and a really dopey me) the 6 steps she would use, the first two already utilized.

Through sleep deprivation and drugs, I remember a couple of things clearly -- if the 6 things were tried and didn't work, then I would die; and second, I told Shan that his blessing didn't work. (Please don't EVER give me demerol again!) With that, they wheeled me off for emergency surgery and left Shan (also sleep deprived) holding an hour-old baby, wondering if I would ever return. I know he had the hard part, worrying and wondering what was next as I fell blissfully asleep. After an hour, I was back in recovery, with step #3 having worked. I was really pale with a low crit for weeks, but I was alive!

The doctor wanted to keep me in the hospital after all the trauma, but allowed me to go home after I promised that I really would stay home and not do anything. I was so glad to get home where Shan pampered me and his mom fed me really well! Taggart was a dream baby, quiet and a pretty good sleeper! I think I gave prayers of thanks every hour for weeks, that I had been allowed to stay and be the mom to Teag, Talm and Tag and the wife to Shan. I knew that if my time on earth was finished, the Lord had had the opportunity to take me home, so He must not have been through with me! I also apologized to Shan for showing a lack of faith under the influence of drugs -- the blessing he had given me HAD worked -- I WAS just fine.

Nine days after Taggart' entry to the world was the temple dedication. I still had not left my house, but there was NOTHING that was going to keep me from being there outside the temple for the cornerstone ceremony. We arrived early and brought a blanket for me to sit on. I may have walked slowly, with Shan carrying Taggart and holding on to me, but I was there. I found a spot at the base of a palm tree and just sat there, holding Taggart, while Shan kept up with Teagan and Talmage (age 7 and nearly 5).

President Hinckley, Elder Packer, and Elder Hallstrom were the dignitaries of the day. They came out from the temple to lay the cornerstone shortly after the dedication session had begun. President Hinckley asked for a couple of young children to come help him put mortar in at the cornerstone. Teagan was summoned to be one of the children, and Talmage did what little brothers do: he followed his big brother! They each got a moment to talk to the prophet:

GBH: What's your name?

TKJN: Teagan.

GBH: Teagan? Well, who took your teeth?! (Teagan had his front teeth missing for 3 years!)

Then Talmage had his turn:

GBH: What's your name?

TISN: Talmage.

GBH: Talmage? That's quite a distinguished name!

Shan's sister Jill was in a perfect spot to capture the moment with Teagan and Talmage being helped by President Boyd K. Packer and Elder Donald Hallstrom as they placed mortar there. Then, Teag and Talm triumphantly returned to me and Shan.

The crowd outside the temple took quite a while to disperse. No one wanted to leave! They just wanted to soak in the Spirit.

We have so many cherished pictures of that day. I will post a couple of them once I can find the software to install our scanner on this computer. My gratitude was augmented the next day when we got to attend the 2nd dedication session. Shan was in the bishopric at the time, so Shan and I got to be in the celestial room, just 20 feet away from President Hinckley. WOW. That's the only way to describe it!

So this week always reminds me of how blessed I am: I get to be the mom to 6 great kids, the wife to a wonderful man, and we have a temple of the Lord just 8 miles away! Not many people are here who were there for the temple groundbreaking, or there the day that the Angel Moroni went up on top, or there for the cornerstone and dedication, but we have been here for it all! What a blessing!

The Judo Rainbow

We had judo promotion last week and here are the results: Teagan is a green belt, Talmage and blue, and Taggart is orange! There was such a large group of students that they did not each get the chance to show their skills on the individual basis that they did last year. Teagan, though, got to be a villain, trying to attack two of the young ladies. They each tossed him and showed how they could have debilitated him long term. Sensei said of Teagan, "Hey, he looks like a criminal." I have to differ -- even when he tries to look a bit scary, you just can't keep that smile from his face and the light from his eyes.

Sydni, sitting on my lap, commented, "Mommy, look at the rainbow belts!" And she was right -- we were only missing the purple belt among our boys, at least from the colors awarded that night.

We are proud of our boys! And they LOVE this sport!

Teagan Plays With Fire

New Year's Eve means fireworks and staying up really late. Teagan watched some fire dancers in early December and was so inspired by them that he had to try doing some of their routine. Last year, he did this some, but this year, he brought it all to a whole new level. He wished for some kevlar and white gas, but Mom just can't seem to find any (wink wink --how hard would YOU try to find those for a 16 year old?

He really does love to practice with his staff and is gaining some skills. Here's a glimpse of his talent:



I didn't want to post the one where the fireworks strapped to one end goes flying off and burns quietly on the grass for a full minute - I guess I'm losing my sense of fun! Teagan always seems to have a few friends (aged 16 to 40ish) willing to help him prepare. One way to never quite grow up: playing with fire!

Bishop Shan!

Yesterday, Shan was sustained as our ward's Bishop! Our previous bishop moved to the mainland four weeks ago, so the ward has been speculation central, with many people declaring Shan to be the bishop for all these weeks. Now he has officially been sustained -- without that scene from 'Mobsters and Mormons' where the ward doesn't sustain the new bishop! The funniest thing was that there was a storm outside, so when the stake president announced Shan's name and asked for the sustaining vote, there was a ROLL OF THUNDER!!! What do you think that means?!?!?!? Laugh or panic?!

Shan will do a great job. He kept the two counselors from the previous bishopric, hoping to get a good running start and not upheave the ward too much. He has long thought that our ward has great people in key positions and that just a tweak here and there could make things even better. I know that he really loves the youth and greatly desires being familiar with them and their lives.

Shan's setting apart was so wonderful and emotional for me. I knew someday this would come and that this has been part of why we are supposed to be in Hawaii. Now the adventure begins!

And it's nice to not have to redirect conversations anymore!

Just a Quick Note

I just had to quickly let y'all know that we hope to get back to the blog again soon. We are recovering from The Great Computer Crash of December 13th! After 10 days, our friend determined that we were better off putting $ into a new computer rather than trying to fix our old one. So, we have a new computer, but still have lots to do to re-install programs and documents and data and all. The Christmas letter will hopefully get done during this next week and we will get a little more normal again.

But we ARE still here! Aloha!!