First...

...time feeding himself. I'd say he looks pretty darn proud of himself.

And Another Talent Emerges

On the same day that Courtney gave her talk, which she read all by herself, she also demonstrated what I think is pretty amazing artistic skills. She definitely gets that from Devin. Here is a playdoh version of herself. She is such a ham :)

First Primary Talk

Courtney gave her first talk in primary today! She did a great job reading mostly by herself. I didn't have success uploading the video here, but you can check it out on my facebook page.

Stop and Smell the Roses

Heavenly Father told us our life would be full of joy and sadness, because there is "opposition in all things". Heather Von St. James was diagnosed with mesothelioma just after giving birth to her first daughter. Her story is a story of hope, not despair. She has asked me to share it with you. She is a beautiful woman with a beautiful story. Enjoy!

My battle with cancer No matter who you are, there was at least one time in your life when you depended on someone else. Part of growing up means going through hard times. Your friends and loved ones should be there to help you get through those difficult days. I've been through those hard times as well. I was 36 years old when it all began. I had just given birth to our beautiful baby, Lily, on August 4th, 2005 -- three and ½ months prior to finding out. When I returned to work, things were normal at first. But then, I started noticing that I was losing a lot of weight. I also had little to no energy. I thought it was just because I was a new mom, but my friends told me I should get checked out in case. On November 21, 2005, my doctor told me that I had mesothelioma, a cancer that attacks the pleural lining of the lungs. It comes from asbestos exposure, which had happened to me unknowingly as a child. The mesothelioma prognosis is grim. My doctor told me that I only had 15 months to live if I didn't do something soon. As any mother would, the first thing I thought about was Lily and my husband. I didn't want to leave them so soon. My life felt like it was just starting before I found out I had mesothelioma cancer. The prognosis is so grim, I didn't have much hope to hold on to, but this is where my loved ones took over and stepped in. I had to choose the most extreme option to help my chances, so we flew out to Boston. On February 2nd, 2006, I underwent surgery to remove my left lung. I had to spend 18 days recovering in the hospital and then another two months of recovery before I could start chemotherapy and radiation treatments. When we flew out to Boston, my mother flew back with Lily to my childhood home in South Dakota. My parents had little time enjoying being grandparents. All of a sudden, they were full time ‘parents’ again. The town came together to help support my parents. Kids that I used to babysit who were all grown up with families of their own were babysitting Lily while my parents worked. During my time in Boston, I also made friends, people who were going through the exact same thing as me. We bonded, shared our fears, shared our hopes, and shared our stories. We helped each other get through this. Unfortunately, I missed out on so much of Lily's childhood. During her time with my parents, she changed so much. She was scooting around, eating real foods, all firsts that a new mother never wants to miss. I had to watch her grow up thousands of miles away, through grainy black and white scanned pictures. The nurses would always love it when I got updates about Lily, they would ask me what's new with her. I'd laugh, as I would tell them, all the while trying not to cry. The visits with her grandparents are sometimes far and few between now, but I'm so thankful for the bond they share with Lily and love and support we all have for each other. We've learned to appreciate life, no matter how terrible it can be at times. We have to learn to live with hope and happiness. Cancer is a terrible thing, but I have learned to see the good amidst all that I went through. We are a different family now, and we don’t take a single day for granted.