Jones Family Portrait 2009
(maybe if we are pathetic enough, somebody will give us a real camera?)
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
5 years ago today
Rychen here again...
Occasionally people ask random questions, probably for the sake of conversation. For instance: where were you and what were you doing 5 years ago. More than likely I could answer this question with a location and maybe a few other details. But October 17th is different.
On October 16th, 2004, friends of ours got married in Las Vegas. We feel at least a little bit responsible for this happy union, as the bride is one of A's best friends growing up and the groom, one of my mission buddies. In our short time living in Las Vegas, we made sure to have a get together at A's friend's house and invited my buddy.
We were back in Provo when the wedding took place, so of course we made the drive down. The problems started when we decided to begin our return home at 3am the next morning.
Long story short: we were both too tired to drive 5+ hours safely. We pulled off in St. George and tried to get a quick nap in the parking lot of a hotel, and then continued on. I don't remember all the details, but I think my dad was in town on a layover on his way to Denver or something, so we were hustling to get back in time for him to see us.
Sometime after leaving St. George, I fell asleep in the passenger seat. I was awakened by two sounds: 1) The grating on the side of the road and 2) Annalise screaming. She had apparently dozed also and had started to veer left out of the lefthand lane. The grating had apparently awaken her also, and caused an overcorrection in steering, followed by an overcorrection of the overcorrection. This sent our car spinning multiple times as it slid off the highway, through a barbed-wire fence and into the Utah desert.
I struggled with the experience for a little while. I would keep reliving it in my dreams, seeing the car spin from different angles, hearing the sounds, etc. And 5 years later and I still bristle at the sound of the grating on the side of the highway. But thinking of this experience, as still-newlyweds ourselves (5 months or so), I realize I'm also grateful for a lot of things. For instance:
- The nearest car to us when we went spinning was a half-mile or more away (we know this b/c he pulled over to help us and commented how surprised he was how empty the freeway was that morning)
- From St. George to about 5 miles south of Provo (250 miles or so) there's a 2-mile stretch where the freeway transitions smoothly into the desert. The rest of the trip there's a huge ditch separating the two. We went off the road in the middle of this 2-mile stretch.
- Aside from a dented front fender and some scratches, the car was completely intact. This was a good thing, because he had exactly $0 to put towards car repairs (in fact, to this day we don't know how we paid the $600 to fix what we did).
- Generally, we were fine. I had a concussion, and was a little bit out of it for a few days, but generally fine. We didn't know it at the time, but A was about 4 weeks pregnant with Bub and she was fine also.
We still own the car. It's still got the scars (as do I to some degree). We'll probably drive it into the ground (it's paid off and it's a Honda-many years left in it). But when I see the dents and scratches I often think of how much we've been blessed and watched over. It just makes me grateful.
Occasionally people ask random questions, probably for the sake of conversation. For instance: where were you and what were you doing 5 years ago. More than likely I could answer this question with a location and maybe a few other details. But October 17th is different.
On October 16th, 2004, friends of ours got married in Las Vegas. We feel at least a little bit responsible for this happy union, as the bride is one of A's best friends growing up and the groom, one of my mission buddies. In our short time living in Las Vegas, we made sure to have a get together at A's friend's house and invited my buddy.
We were back in Provo when the wedding took place, so of course we made the drive down. The problems started when we decided to begin our return home at 3am the next morning.
Long story short: we were both too tired to drive 5+ hours safely. We pulled off in St. George and tried to get a quick nap in the parking lot of a hotel, and then continued on. I don't remember all the details, but I think my dad was in town on a layover on his way to Denver or something, so we were hustling to get back in time for him to see us.
Sometime after leaving St. George, I fell asleep in the passenger seat. I was awakened by two sounds: 1) The grating on the side of the road and 2) Annalise screaming. She had apparently dozed also and had started to veer left out of the lefthand lane. The grating had apparently awaken her also, and caused an overcorrection in steering, followed by an overcorrection of the overcorrection. This sent our car spinning multiple times as it slid off the highway, through a barbed-wire fence and into the Utah desert.
I struggled with the experience for a little while. I would keep reliving it in my dreams, seeing the car spin from different angles, hearing the sounds, etc. And 5 years later and I still bristle at the sound of the grating on the side of the highway. But thinking of this experience, as still-newlyweds ourselves (5 months or so), I realize I'm also grateful for a lot of things. For instance:
- The nearest car to us when we went spinning was a half-mile or more away (we know this b/c he pulled over to help us and commented how surprised he was how empty the freeway was that morning)
- From St. George to about 5 miles south of Provo (250 miles or so) there's a 2-mile stretch where the freeway transitions smoothly into the desert. The rest of the trip there's a huge ditch separating the two. We went off the road in the middle of this 2-mile stretch.
- Aside from a dented front fender and some scratches, the car was completely intact. This was a good thing, because he had exactly $0 to put towards car repairs (in fact, to this day we don't know how we paid the $600 to fix what we did).
- Generally, we were fine. I had a concussion, and was a little bit out of it for a few days, but generally fine. We didn't know it at the time, but A was about 4 weeks pregnant with Bub and she was fine also.
We still own the car. It's still got the scars (as do I to some degree). We'll probably drive it into the ground (it's paid off and it's a Honda-many years left in it). But when I see the dents and scratches I often think of how much we've been blessed and watched over. It just makes me grateful.
Sigh.....
Rychen here...Bub did a great job of crashing his scooter today. Broke his fall with his forehead (and yes, he was wearing a helmet). He crashes just about everyday. He gets bored just riding the darn things and tries to get cute on them, doing "tricks." Too bad the ward primary program is next week and not tomorrow. I'd love for him to be able to show off the knot in his noggin to the entire ward.
In a related story, I know the fastest routes to the Salem Hospital. This knowledge will come in handy one of these days, I'm sure.
In a related story, I know the fastest routes to the Salem Hospital. This knowledge will come in handy one of these days, I'm sure.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
more random shots
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Gentle persuasion, or not so gentle
Rychen shys away from big group activities but it's time for a gentle PUSH!!!! After our attempt at Storytime today, he got a bit of a lecture. I'm so weary of seeking out fun activities for him to do, only to have him GLUED to me the whole time, with me egging him on to go be a normal kid and PLAY WITH THE KIDS! Storytime is a basic outing that thousands of moms do, every week, all over hte United States. And yet, my child resists. He sits right next to me, by the parents, and complains that he is bored and hungry. So today I told him "I am getting up with Elisabeth so she can dance and have fun. You do what you want." Of course he stayed right by me. Nope, didn't do the song and dance.
Anyway now our ward is doing weekly playgroups. We tried it, but he just played alone. When I talked to him about it, he told me he just has "to get used to the other kids." Okay fine. We will keep trying. The problem is, it's during Elisabeth's nap time. So I told him Becca will take him (or stay with him when I leave). I actually think this is brilliant because he can't stick to me like glue, if I am not there. He plays much more readily when I a not around!
So we'll see how it goes tomorrow.
In the meantime, he is now scared of the dark and won't go to sleep unless somebody is laying with him. In our bed. Wah Wah. This kid has been in and out of our bed more times than I can count. He is satisfied with sleeping on a mattress on our floor, but then I have to get out of bed every time he wakes up to whine "I need blankets!" (apparently he can't bend down and get them himself) or "Where's Lion?" Grrr. Okay so I would rather he slept in my bed with me. Meanwhile Dad is remarking on how comfortable Rychen P's bed is.... and so the family musical beds continues!!
Rychen reading
Rychen is now reading! Really reading! It is way fun. For a while he has been sounding out the easy 3-letter words, when I initiate it and ask him what it says. But now he is finding words out in public places and telling me what they say! He totally caught me by surprise one day last week in the car. He was holding a frisbee that had some words on it, and suddenly said "Mom, this says FREEDOM!" Wow, I said, "That's a seven-letter word! I can't believe it!" But that's a great phonetic 7-letter word. He is doing mostly easy words (phonetic), but we are also focusing on the concept of the silent "e" at the end, making the vowel long sound. He can recognize those words now without me reminding him about the silent "e."
I have a friend who used to teach reading to elementary school kids, and she is lending us some books. They have basic sentences that repeat on every page, with one word changing, so the child practices those words over and over. It also helps them guess the difficult words by looking at the pictures.
We've been doing reading and other phonics games every day when Elisabeth takes her nap. For literature we've been focusing on Nursery Rhymes and classic tales, like Hans Christian Anderson, fairy tales, etc. Here are some games we do. With the nursery rhymes, I say a line except for the last word and he fills it in (from memory). And with phonics, we do "I spy...something that starts with the letter P" and then he finds that object in the room. Or the rhyming game, that is easy. You can also start with a word and then they say a word starting with the same sound, etc.
But Rychen's favorite game is guessing numbers. Just guessing the number they're thinking of, and saying "higher" or "lower." He asks me to play this game several times a day! I think of numbers as we go, so I can manipulate the game and alternate my higher's and lower's, getting him to think of his number sequence (i.e. it's bigger than 26 but less than 47). His are easy - he likes to do 1,000 or 1 million. The "cool" numbers, you know :)
Saturday, October 10, 2009
On a more personal note
Since I have been weaker these past few days I have been inside the house more, and so less active, more emotional, and more introspective.
Today I took Rychen P. to play tennis. Afterward I found myself laying on the court, in the sun, watching leaves fall from the trees. I had been in a bummer mood, so the leaves taught me something. I want to be like that tree, and just shed my layers, or everything about me that I don't want to keep. I want to get rid of it all, be bare for a time, and then grow some new, fresh, better traits.
I read an article that made me feel so meloncholy. Why? I didn't know. I was engrossed in this interview with a raw athlete, she is so awesome! But all while reading it, I was frantically chewing and chewing away at my nails. Something about this was really bothering me. After some reflection, I decided what it was. She was such a spiritual person, so at-peace, forgiving, accepting. I know I can be that person but I have not been living up to my potential.
My friend was telling me about a class she is taking about overcoming our self-defeating behaviors. It made me realize how FULL I am of self-defeating behaviors. Mostly the thoughts I think, which in turn lead to the mood I am in and how I treat other people. I can be a very energetic, positive person...as long as things are going well for me. But throw me a hurdle, and I fall all over myself. I don't handle challenges well. It doesn't take much to give me anxiety, get me complaining, get me blaming... Always complaining about the deck of cards I have, wishing I had it better.
I am gradually improving. Yes I must be kind to myself and say this. Especially this summer I've made some great progress, as far as exercising, and other routine things. I would say I am a happier person than I was a couple years ago. I appreciate people more now, I can't say there is anybody I dislike. When I was pregnant with Elisabeth and all those emotions were on the surface, it was so easy to do journaling and other therapeutic things that really made me feel like I was growing and changing into a better person. So I guess that's what I lack lately - growth. I see myself still getting irritable, still avoiding things, still blaming, instead of being a go-getter! Instead of being that positive, pro-active person I know I can be.
I have focused a lot on physical goals (diet, exercise, preschool with Rychen) and that is great of course. But I've totally neglected my spiritual goals. Still struggling with basic scriptures and prayers. Why do I get so busy, so distracted? Or do I just find excuses in some sub-conscious attempt to avoid God?
It's autumn now. I gotta shed my leaves.
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