And the winner is….

Have you ever heard the saying, “I need a vacation from my vacation?”  Well that never happens for the Swenson Family.  With four kids there is always something going on.

In fact, while we were on vacation, Jonathan was building Jex’s very first pinewood derby car.

This was not Jonathan’s first rodeo.  He was once a cub scout, so he knew exactly what to do.

I was so impressed as I watched him cut a shape that was so sleek and fast looking.  Then he sanded for days, prepped the wheels, and added some weight.  It took a lot of work but he got it just right.  Jex’s car came in weighing 4.9 ounces.  Just under the 5 ounce limit.

I have never been to a derby before.  I grew up with all sisters so scouts is a new road for me.  I tried to help in any way that I could.  I put in a good effort and offered to help paint it.

I spent the day painting it.  I painted it silver with an orange V down the center top.  The sides had these great bright yellow racing stripes.  It was awesome.

Jonathan came home from work and finished while I was out playing chauffer. (Wedednesday’s are so busy for us.  Stella has dance right after school, and then we head straight to boy scouts.)  While he was finishing up the car, he used some graphite that messed up the paint completely.  He called me in a panic and was just sick to his stomach.  I told him not to worry and just hurry and paint it with some spray paint. I knew that the paint wasn’t going to matter so much.  It was all the neat things Jonathan had done that was really going to make the car go.

In the meantime, It dawned on me that they may have changed the time of the race.  I don’t know why this came to my mind, other than I am sure Heavenly Father planted a little seed.  I quick told Jonathan to call Jex’s leader.  YES!! They were having the derby at 6:00, instead of 7:00 like normal weeks.  That means it starts in 20 minutes.  I was still at dance with Stella so I would have to meet him there with Jex.  The wheels still were not on, and the new paint still had to dry.

AHHH!!!

Jonathan worked really quickly and was so worried because he felt like it wasn’t just how he wanted it.

….but guess what.  Jex had a blast.  Jonathan loved putting it together and….

Jex still won.  #13 could not be beat.

 

We had a great night. 

Jex got a really neat award that his leader, Brother Friend pinned to his scout shirt.

Have I mentioned how much Jex loves scouts?  I am grateful he has a great program to be a part of.

Vacation.

This year Santa left our kids a really great gift.

Instead of more stuff for mom and dad to put away, Santa gave us time.

Time instead of Stuff; what a great gift.  I wish I would have thought of that.  That Santa is so smart.

We were finally able to take our TIME and go.

Santa gave our family a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge.

We decided to go to the one in Kansas City.  It saved Santa some money, and we could visit our old stomping grounds.

We left late on Friday night.  I was so happy to see that Jonathan had gotten a room at a great hotel in Overland Park so we could spend a few nights there visiting with people that we love.

 

It was so nice the kids space and our space was partitioned off.

After our short night, we spent some time visiting the good old Kansas City Days.

Of course it was snowing there so we did what we always did when it was snowing in KC.  We went to the Mall.  Along with every other family in Overland Park.  The kids enjoyed playing in the indoor playground.  Isaac really wanted to ride the Double Decker Carousel.  Stella wanted to check out the American Girl store, and Jex enjoyed walking around the Disney store.

After the mall, we dropped our kids off at a friends house.  She had arranged for a baby sitter, and then we went to dinner with some of our good friends.  Many of our friends have moved on, some just had babies, but we were able to get a good group together. (Man I miss you guys)

Our original plan was to eat at Cheddar’s, but an hour wait swayed our decision and we went across the street to the less busy Mongolian BBQ.

I wasn’t there for the food.  I was there for the company.

{Boys}

{Girls}

It was so much fun to reconnect with our friends.

We stayed one more night in our SWEET hotel, and then went to church in ZION.  I call it Zion because it is such an awesome ward.  It was so much fun to be back in Overland Park 1st ward and see our ward family.  We love them all so much.  It is amazing how no matter where you go, your ward is always your family and they always will be.

The kids were excited to head out of Overland Park and go to the Great Wolf Lodge.

 

The hotel is so much fun.  It has an indoor water park, arcade, games and activities going on all the time.

 

We spent most of our time in the water park.

It was great to watch Jex enjoy just taking off and riding all the rides.  Nothing seemed to worry him.

Stella was a little more cautious, but she did ride every slide.  We even got Isaac to ride all the slides as well.  It was such a family friendly place.

  

Tess was content climbing the stairs.  Up and Down that is her favorite thing to do.

 

We were so sad to leave the hotel, and the kids are already talking about our next trip there.

I might have to include that idea for Santa next year when I send him my thank you note.

Thanks Santa!! We had a great time, and loved spending the week with one another.

Happenings {Spring Break}

We have had a lot going on since Spring Break.  I am just getting around to sharing a few pictures and recording a few of our memories.

We started out our Spring Break by feeding the calves.

My good friend Tracy had a set of twins that the mother never took too.  She has been bottle feeding them for a few months.  She invited the kids out to give it a try.  They all thought it was pretty neat.

  

Notice Isaac’s boots.  I can’t get them off of him.  He wears them with everything; except socks.  If he wears socks they don’t fit.  I think it is time for new boots.

Jex was surprised that the calf kept following him around when the bottle ran out.  She was still hungry.

The beginning of the week, I took the kids to Garvin Gardens with a few friends.  Garvin Gardens is a beautiful botanical garden in Hot Springs.  Pam and Marji grew up in Hot Springs; so we met up with their mom.  I was so thankful to have an extra set of hands.  It was also nice to get to know her a little more.

We took the kids to a park to play and eat lunch, and then off to Garvin Gardens.

The tulips were in full bloom so I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures.

Did you notice who lost a tooth?

What a beautiful day to capture God’s beauty.

The kids enjoyed playing in the out door playground built out of rocks and water.  It is a natural playground, and I was positive one of the kids would come rolling down a rock, but they all survived.

We were all surprised when the peacock decided to show us his colors.  I think this was by far my favorite part.

Later on in the week, we did the dumbest thing ever and took 18 kids to see the ducks march at the Peabody Hotel.  Once we were in the hotel it was fine.   The kids loved watching the ducks and riding the elevator. 

 

I was so glad we brought Spencer along.  He is my friend Stephanie’s son.  She had to go out of town for a funeral so we brought him along.  I think he had a nice time, but I was grateful for his extra set of hands that kept track of Isaac and Matthew.

The Peabody is downtown, so naturally after we saw the ducks the kids were hungry.  It was crazy when we decided to eat with all of them downtown.   18 kids downtown in the River Market having lunch.  Are we crazy?

I was ready for a big long nap after that adventure.  Too bad I had too much to do.  It was time to pack for our vacation to….

THE GREAT WOLF LODGE in Kansas City!!!

More on that to come.

P.S.  Spring break made me ready for summer vacation.  How about you?  I miss my kids.

Update

I thought I would take a minute and update Ya’ll on Isaac.

This last Sunday, the kids were outside playing when Stella ran in the house to tell us that Isaac had fallen.  Jonathan and I both went outside to check on him.  I found it very strange to find him still laying on the ground.  I scooped him up and carried him inside.  He was crying, and began to tell me that he had jumped off the stool that they use to climb on the trampoline.  It took a lot of work just getting that out.  He then told me that he couldn’t move his arm.  I knew  by the way that he was acting that there was something wrong. Jonathan did his doctor inspection.  He asked him to move his fingers, and kept feeling around.  Jonathan began to pull up his sleeve and we knew immediately that he had broken his arm.

I called a friend and left the 3 other kids with her while we went to children’s hospital.  It didn’t take long to get us back in the ER.  The ER was packed, but I guess his injury was sufficient enough to be seen quickly. 

After a very painful x-ray, Jonathan was able to look at them.  He brought along his badge so that the employees knew he was a physician there.  He immediately saw the break, and pointed it out to me.  He broke the humerus bone right above the elbow. I could tell by the look on his face that he was worried about the break.

All the while, Isaac is being very brave.  He only cries if we have to move his arm.  He was so kind to all the doctors, and very polite despite how terrible he must have felt.

Once we got back to the room, I asked him what his concern was.  Jonathan began to tell me that sometimes that fracture needs surgery, and Isaac's looks like it might.  Surgery for my little guy never crossed my mind. 

We waited for the news, and I knew it wasn’t good when the orthopedic resident came in.  Jonathan was right.  Isaac would need surgery. 

Jonathan stayed the night with Isaac in the hospital, while I went home to help the kids get off to school the next morning.  While he was there with Jonathan, he got an IV put in his hand.  He only made one small whimper. Later that night he told Jonathan, “I like it here dad.”

I stopped off and picked him up a happy meal.  It had a Batman toy in it.  He took that toy, and never let it go.

I joined them both the next morning just as Isaac was coming out of surgery.  He did really well, and slept most of the day on Monday.   The only time he got upset was when he woke up and he noticed he didn’t have his Batman toy.

They put a couple of pins in his arm to hold it in place.  He will wear the splint that they put him in until Tuesday, then will go in for the hard cast.  Isaac is hoping for a red one.

All in all he has done well.  He is a little grumpier than normal, and with is spirited personality he seems to be really grumpy.  He shows all his moods with great intensity.  That includes happiness, which I am grateful for.

I feel the sun coming up over the clouds today, as we have had mostly smiles.

Thank you to all who have been concerned and checked in on him. 

We are truly blessed.  I have visited Jonathan at Children’s Hospital many times.  Every time I have reminded myself that I am thankful we have never had to stay there with a child.  It never crossed my mind that a broken arm would cause us to do so. I never thought I would see Jonathan pulling our child in the wagon.

Today, I am thankful for the talented doctors, and the technology that could fix Isaac’s arm.

P.S.  I have updated “some” of my 365.  I will do more later today.

Defined

This post has been sitting on my computer for two weeks.  It has been ready to go, but I just have not gotten it posted for several reasons:

1.  Our modem crashed and we were without internet for ten or so days. I was so thankful when the man from AT&T finally showed up on my doorstep yesterday.

2.  We went on vacation.

3.  Isaac broke his arm, and had to have surgery.

Needless to say this took a while to get up.  I am finally ready to dive back in to blogging and catching up on  my 365 blog.  Lets hope nothing else happens.

So here is the  post that I intended to share  almost 2 weeks ago.

Defined

written on March 25, 2011

I have been thinking a lot lately.  I’ve had several occasions in the last few weeks that have made me pause and think about who I am, and what makes me….. me.

I think too much sometimes.  Often times when I am talking to Jonathan about what I have been thinking about I have an “ah-ha” moment.

The other night, we were talking about our life and how the road we’ve traveled has not always been easy.  It has not…. believe me. 

Those 2 years in the Caribbean were amongst our hardest, but I would never ever trade them.  As we were talking about those days, I teased him that there should be a lot less complaining here in the States.  Times were hard on the island of Saba.  I basically washed laundry in a stream by banging them against rocks.  Well… not that bad, but laundry was not easy.  Most everything we had to do over there took more effort than it did here.  

I remember the day our microwave broke down, and I had to wait until I found the fix-it man walking along the side the road.  I flagged him down and asked him to come and fix my microwave.  There were no stores to go out and buy a new one.  There was not a warranty to call upon.  You had to wait until Hodge came from the neighboring island of St. Eustatius to fix things, and hope that you just happened to pass him on the street.

I’m sure Hodge’s family missed him when he was away, but he had mouths to feed.  This was how he provided for them.  I was always thankful to see Hodge.  It was comforting to know he was around just in case you needed his help. 

Along with waiting several days or weeks for your appliances to be fixed, there were times when you had no gas to use your oven.  Gas came in tall propane canisters like what you use for grilling outdoors.  We had a large canister that would sit outside and was hooked up to our stove and oven.  If you ran out of propane, it could take a few weeks before you were delivered a new one.  It was never fun when you were in the middle of making Thanksgiving dinner and your propane ran out.

I guess what I am saying is I think we forget just how good we actually have it…. until we realize that each culture has different trials.  I was privileged to live and grow in another culture.  When I say grow what I mean to say is grow-up.

You see when I was discussing those days with Jonathan, I realized that there was a moment in the Caribbean that defined me.  There was a moment that made me who I am today.  I can never trade it.  I would never want to.  That moment taught me something.  It is something that I will never forget.

You see when we moved to the small island of Saba, I was 6 months pregnant.  I was beginning to be miserably pregnant.  After I saw what our new house looked like, I was even more miserable.  After I had my first lesson in laundry, I literally cried myself to sleep.  The first time I woke up to several cockroaches on the floor, I wanted to go back to sleep and never wake up.  And then I was expected to drive on these narrow crazy roads and learn to drive a stick shift on some of the steepest hills I have ever seen.  I knew I had to learn.  If I didn’t, I would be stuck at home doing laundry with my lizard friends.

Each day the tasks set before me seemed daunting.  The shopping alone was enough to kill me.  Each time I went to the market, I had to push little 18 month old Jex up the steepest hill you can imagine… just to get home.  I would push him in our double jogging stroller.  The second seat next to Jex was meant for the new little one I was carrying in my tummy.  For now, while little Stella took a ride in my belly, our groceries would go for a ride in her seat. 

In the nine weeks that I was there before Stella was born, I didn’t gain a pound. I was getting in shape walking all those hills, and pushing double strollers.   After nine long weeks, I couldn’t wait to go back to the States.  I was headed back to Utah to have our baby girl.  I was leaving Jonathan there.  I was sad that he had to stay, but so relieved to not have to deal with the horrible tasks and unfamiliar life I had been living the last nine weeks. 

Stella was due to be born during Jonathan’s semester break, and he would join me and Jex then.  Everything would be wonderful.  I would have 4 months in the states to prepare, give birth, and recover from having a baby.  Jonathan would be there when Stella was born, we would share a few weeks together, and then he would go back to begin another semester of school.  Jex, Stella and I would join him soon after. 

I wasn’t too sad to leave him.  I was so selfish in all my thoughts.  I thought all would be well, as long as I was off this island.  All I could think about was getting off the island.  Jonathan’s face when I took off on the airplane was a painful reminder that all wouldn’t be well.  He wasn’t being selfish, he was thinking about us, and how much he would miss us.  He worried that Stella would come before he could arrive.  He was afraid that Jex would forget about him.  I thought of none of those things.  I thought only about going home. We were both scared, but my thoughts of just getting back to the States overtook all the other worries I really should have been having.

I remember when my parents picked me up from the airport.  I went on and on about how dreadful and hard it is to live in the Caribbean.  Can you even imagine saying that? “It is hard to live on an island in the Caribbean?” It did however, just take some adjusting.  Looking back, I realize how immature I was.  My parents needed comfort that I was happy, and able to handle all that our life would endure over the next two years, but I was not comforting them at all. 

I soon realized that I was wrong.  It was not easy…. being apart was terrible.  Yes, there were no cockroaches and I could put my laundry in a real washer and dryer, but I was missing my other half.  We spent many nights talking and crying over the phone.  Then, Stella came much too early and Jonathan was not home yet. 

How did this happen?  It wasn’t time!  She was healthy and beautiful, but we had to rejoice together over the telephone.  Jonathan came for a 2 week visit when Stella was one week old.  He saw her for the first time in an airport terminal.

 

After his visit, we said our goodbyes for another six weeks when afterward I would join him back on that dreadful island.  Yes, even though I missed him dearly I was not looking forward to moving back there.

However, I did it.  I went back, and when I did I thought everything would be so great between Jonathan and I.  Yes, we still loved each other very much, but there was this distance.  We had to bridge the distance somehow.  There were four months of our life that we had not shared.  The birth of our beautiful baby girl happened thousands of miles apart.

After a lot of soul searching, I had my moment.  The moment that defined me.  The moment that helped me grow-up.  I realized that it didn’t matter how hard things were on the island.  What mattered was that I was doing them my husband and children.  I realized that life was good when we were together, and it was hard when we were apart.  I COULD DO ANYTHING, IF WE DID IT TOGETHER.  Even bang rocks together to clean my laundry, and I was going to do it without complaining.  I was going to look for the good in every situation.  I would enjoy my journey.  Do you know what happened?

I grew to absolutely LOVE that island.  Jonathan and I cried and cried in the backseat of the tiny 19 seat airplane the day we had to leave…. because we didn’t want to go.  Our life was so simple, yet so full.  We grew in ways that I could have never imagined.  Our marriage became so strong as we learned to rely only on one another.  I learned to find the good in everything, including the four months we spent apart.  It was hard, but I have lots of good things to say about it.  For instance…. my relationship with my mother grew as I had to rely on her so much.  After a very difficult birth, Stella was born healthy but probably would not have been had I stayed on Saba to give birth.  Had she waited to come on her due date when her daddy would have been there, she may not have made it.  I tried to learn something from every situation we faced while living outside the U.S.A.

Finding the good in situations has since become habitual.  I do it without even realizing it at times.  I still ask myself, “What can I learn from this?”

I am so glad I let that moment define me.  I am so grateful that I learned something from such a trying situation.  I am happy that Jonathan and I pulled together and made our marriage and family what it is today by defining those moments that seemed so hard over six years ago.

When you think back on your life, I am sure you find moments in your life that helped to shape you.  I have four other moments that easily come to mind….

Use those moments.  Be who you are supposed to be.  Don’t let any one change what those moments have given you, no matter how hard or trying the lesson was.

My BFF recently read me a quote that went something like this:

“It is better to be the best first-rate version of yourself, than a second-rate version of someone else.”

That is what is on my mind these days.