Three year sabbatical

Aaaaand I'm back.

Can you believe it? I last posted on this blog three years ago, almost to the exact day. THREE YEARS! Life has a way of becoming a run away train and I was no longer the conductor driving. Three years of following something or someone elses's lead has helped me flow with the guidance of the Divine hand in my life yet it has created space for me to come back to the driver's seat as well. Allow me to explain.

Three years ago I was in the throes of juvenile autoimmunity hell. Our daughter Elsa had been diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis when she was 22 months old, after she had completely stopped walking. Her physical pain and emotional anxiety overrode everything else in the house and I jumped into problem solving mode. These three years have been both a black hole of never-ending problem solving and deep light-giving learning. At times I feel anxiety and PTSD swelling up inside at the thought that our baby G is now the same age Elsa was when she stopped walking. So much has transpired in a short period of time that feels like an eternity behind us. I thank God for carrying us all through the darkest years of parenting thus far, and for putting the right people and services in our path. He took the wheel these last 3 years and I lost myself in the service of my daughter.

Yes, she's wearing make-up. A rare treat from her older cousin. 

Our baby G

Facing a illness that could possibly leave our daughter crippled and in pain every day, I did my best to put my ego and fears aside. 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." I battled between fear and love/power. The fear took over when I felt like I was the only one responsible for making things right in her world. If I ever felt alone in solving this medical enigma then I would collapse. I found a lot of strength and comfort in these verses: 

 Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion [or Team Ondricek]; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God. (Doctrine & Covenants 101:16)

 He that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that abaseth himself shall be exalted. (Doctrine and Covenants 101:42) [translation - don't get prideful, thinking you can fix this Amanda...]

 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. (Ether 12:27)

And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order. (Mosiah 4:27)

As I diligently spent a lot of time researching and learning about autoimmunity, holistic healing, emotional healing, whole food diets, cooking, advocating and personal revelation some order returned to our lives. This journey has not only been about L's healing, but also our entire family's healing. 

We give thanks to God in Heaven that she is doing well and rarely experiences physical pain. She has no permanent joint damage and very little inflammation. We manage the autoimmune condition through diet, energy medicine (more on that later), supplements and one biologic drug.

Now that the run away train has slowed down a bit the new year brings with it big goals to write and CREATE more often. All the kids are home this year for home school and writing on this blog will help school me as well. 

Welcome back --- to you, to me, our health, and to a year of more writing. :) 

My Mister's Master's Graduation

Can I just brag for a moment about my man? I am so proud of him! He graduated last month with is master's in computer science from George Washington University. Yay! "Let's here for the boy!" 

This alone would be so praise worthy. But he received this master's degree while working full time, going from 1 to 2 kids, raising those kids with me, teaching several sections of an online CS class, using public transit over hundreds of hours, preparing and teaching a couple classes at his employer, serving at church each week, and putting up with my constant home improvement projects. Some semester he was stretched thinner than others, but he never ceased to amaze me with his balance and prioritizing. Congratulations, my love!!!

my (mildly crazy) hero!

The first day of GWU graduation celebrations, included a detour to the white house with an out-of-town visitor. Lucky us, we arrived in time to enjoy the protest again President Obama. I'm grateful we live in a country with freedom of speech, assembly, protest and reform. On this particular day, a group of what looked like mostly military veterans protested Obama's leadership. 

 These two cuties were not protesting, but were just happy to be in the Nation's Capital.

When S asked what the crowd was doing there, I tried my best to explain. It was NOT an easy task for me. He had some extremely tough and good questions about these folks we saw.

 Then the next day was the big commencement on the NATIONAL MALL. How cool is that? Who else gets to graduate on the National Mall?

We took the Metro in to DC with Nate and Sara, and were inexplicably grateful to have Jared's siblings' support that day. They came from not-so-close locales, and I was extremely thankful for their sacrifice and support on this very important day.

Didn't I marry into a good-looking family? THANK YOU FOR COMING, NATE AND SARA!!

"Yay for daddy!"

 Behind the stage was the Washington Monument, although no visible in the bright morning sunshine here. 

And behind us was the Lincoln Memorial. 

our excellent view of the goings-on

I am so proud of my mister. He has worked hard and made his whole family proud. I'm sure his mom would have loved to be there to see her oldest son earn the first Master's degree in the family. I like to think she was there in spirit, looking down and cheering him from Heaven. But we were definitely there to cheer him in person. I love you, Jared. I'm grateful you're on my team. 

Easter celebrations

Easter is my favorite holiday. I love it most. More than Christmas, Halloween, New Year's or Independence day. I love that I get to celebrate the death and resurrection of my Savior with the rest of the Christian world. 

However, I know not all people who are Christians celebrate Easter like this. Recently Jared and I spend an entire evening discussing with our neighbors who are Jehovah's witnesses. I know they don't call their celebration "Easter" and neither do some of our other nondenominational Christian neighbors. Since the holiday has no origin in the Bible and has "pagan origins" instead, they celebrate Christ's resurrection differently. 

Personally, I'm more of a purist in this way also. I love Easter, not for the celebration of Spring solstice but for the symbolism of rebirth that is offered through Christ's atonement. The egg hunts are fun, but I'd rather find fruit in my eggs than candy. Actually, we filled our eggs with prunes and small toys this year. Jared and I had a good laugh at ourselves for being the weirdos that filled their eggs with individually wrapped prunes! Who thought of that anyway!? "I'm going to make a fortune selling individually wrapped prunes!" What? I thought it was hilarious. I had to support the person who made that possible. 

Anyway, back to the point. I love Easter and really appreciate when time is set aside to celebrate resurrection, rebirth, and renewal. I may start a family tradition of celebrating our rebirth through Christ's resurrection on the day of His birth. Joint (re)birthday celebrations!

This year we enjoyed lots of different festivities. First we went to a community egg hunt and brunch with lots of church friends. That's where we contributed plastic toys and individually wrapped prunes. ;) Next we enjoyed a family egg hunt and lunch with family and friends. Thank you to the Watson's for hosting and always sharing their fun traditions with us. 

We also celebrated using a week-long activity from the Friend magazine, remember events from the life of Christ leading to his resurrection on Easter day. Lastly, on Easter day my little guy and I delivered a single carnation flower to about a dozen friends, teachers, and neighbors to wish them Happy Easter. S picked which flower they received and then told them the good news: "Jesus was resurrected and lives again!" That was my favorite part of all our Easter rejoicings. 

Check out S's shinner. He had a bad slip and fall at home where he hit his face on the corner of our fireplace tile. Yikes. It bled a bit but mostly bruised all around his eye. He was brave and was confused was it was called a "black eye" when it was never really the color black. 

Family egg hunt

our Sunday morning gifts to the kids

They received face stickers for the eggs

S's on the left. L's on the right. So appropriate for their personalities. 

 Easter dinner was lamb chops, deviled eggs and a green salad. We tried explaining to the kids why we picked lamb. (Well, really Jared picked it but I rather like making a tradition out of eating our Pascal Lamb each year). It wasn't easy to explain that Jesus is the Lamb of God that was sacrificed for our sins. But He is also the Good Shepard whom we follow like obedient, trusting sheep...... And then we eat the lamb. Maybe one day it will make sense to them. 

This is her sign for water but she also says "wawa." Her Jersey daddy should be proud. :) 

I'll never be able to say Thank you Lord enough for His making the sacrifice for me and for the whole world. A sacrifice that not only do I not want to suffer through, but that is not even possible for me to offer. He gave to us what we could never have given ourselves. He deserves at least this one week a year to honor His sacrifice and His resurrection. 

Happy belated Easter everyone!

What family traditions do you observe for Easter? I'm always open to new ideas to help us celebrate!

double date night

My Christmas present to my brother and sister-in-law was a double date night to a painting class. It is the more the kind of gift that I would like to receive, but they said they like our company, so it all worked out. I had a lot of fun. 

Jared was a really good sport, and supportive of my interests. He did hate his painting in the end. I liked it, though! It represents patience and love for ME!

I loved J's spin on the scene. She changed her monument at the Tidal Basin and it looks fabulous. 

I love these people. 

My final product. Happy Cherry Blossom festival this week! 

I certainly had fun, but I am kind of scared of painting with acrylic, oil or water color. I really just wanted to take my hands and blend the colors the way I use charcoal and oil pastels. I like getting my hands dirty. It was challenging. But not too bad for my first try. Thanks to my mister, bro and sis for making it an fun night! And to the lady next to us for moving so we could all sit together. Ahh, there are kind and helpful people in the world still. <Sigh of relief> Just in case we forgot...

Who's your hero? Ammon.

A couple weeks ago, the kids and I made puppets of characters from the Book of Mormon scripture story of Ammon. In the account, this loving and loyal missionary goes to a new land to serve the king there. He is tasked to guard and protect the king's sheep. The king's sheep have been shattered and stolen repeatedly by troublemakers. Ammon protects the sheep and defends the kings lands to the point that he has to fight the troublemakers and cut off their arms. Jared joined the fun by recreating the scene with our Lego guys. Dads are so much cooler with this kind of stuff than moms. At least in our house. 

The king's servants presenting the cut-off arms to the king, while recounting what they saw Ammon do to protect the King's possessions

The arms in a white basket

The white sheep

The trouble-making thieves without their arms

We didn't reenact this part, but because Ammon showed power and loyalty to the King, without expecting much in return, King Lamoni trusted Ammon, much like the relationship between Joseph of Egypt and Potipher. Ammon taught the gospel of Jesus Christ to King Lamoni and he was reborn. He caused that the truth and light be taught to all his people. Many were converted and found happiness and success.

It's important we share success stories with our kids, so they can find patterns and models to follow in their lives. Hopefully our kids won't get in a fight over something and chose to cut off arms though. ;)