everyday JOY

A few small simple seemingly miracle less little things that have brought me lots of joy in that last few days! my little miracles that bring much needed happiness to my little heart.

Besides my wedding ring ... no other piece of jewlery has brought me more joy than this spider! thank you nate! thanks for loving your eccentric wife. i love this thing!


Finding a surprise in my little brothers room. he is single, messy, and we havent always gotten a long so well. i find in his room on his night stand a framed picture ... a surprise in and of it self but not only that ... its of me and my kids! that made my day!!!!!

the Wii - the first gaming system to bring my little family together and not apart, clean fun! so much JOY


Boarding the 90 & 9 with my bro in law aaron and my hub. Knowing that "i might die" still doing it, loving it too! first real back country experience in years. cant wait to do it again. also finding out from my very experienced boarder brother that people die on that run all of the time. oops! I DID IT! not well but i did it!


studio stems gellies ... they bring joy to those that dont have sensory issues! these little things are balls of moisture and decor for floral design but they are so much more than that .... little balls of sensory fun!


My darling sister in law, who has been a sister to me in every sense of the word! posts this darling story on her blog .... it brings me to tears ... and brings me joy

Recently I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. They had announced the departure.
Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said, 'I love you and I wish you enough'.
The daughter replied, 'Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom'.
They kissed and the daughter left. The mother walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see she wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by asking, 'Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?'.
Yes, I have,' I replied.
'Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?'.
'I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is - the next trip back will be for my funeral,' she said.
'When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, 'I wish you enough'. May I ask what that means?'.
She began to smile. 'That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone'. She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and she smiled even more. 'When we said , ' I wish you enough', we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them'. Then turning toward me, she shared the following as if she were reciting it from memory.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.
I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.
She then began to cry and walked away.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them but then an entire life to forget them.

and last but not least ALL THE SNOW! means great boarding! the joy of going a few times a week is my high that keeps my happy and ME!

i am joy tagging .... those that bring me joy, heather, susan, sara, angie, darla, jolynn, ashley and anyone else that blogs! CAUSE BLOGS BRING ME JOY!

Saylor Ski's !!!!!!

So long awaited ski pics. some of you have heard that saylor is skiing. how did this come about you say? well we have heard of the National Ability Ski program but have always been told that she is too small for their equipment, meaning chair skiing equipment. Nate and i really want to pursue this snow venture simply because its where i love to be in the winter! nate enjoys boarding and i intend on teaching the other two kids and we have always concerned over that this might leave saylor out and how that hurts us and is not what we wanted. saylor has this great physical therapist, mind you he is pricey and no insurance coverage here, mike workman, and he works her hard! he suggested that saylor ski, like any kid would and felt she was capable. he started putting her in boots and skiis and pulling her around at therapy on carpet. so i started looking into some places he recommended and found WAS wasatch adaptive sports at snowbird. To make a long story short she is now in that program with a full scholarship given to her by the director of the program peter mandler and funded by steve young. gratefully cause we wanted this but could not afford its steep fees. she will go every week for the remainder of the winter, granted good health.

as you can imagine this was an emotional step for everyone in our little fam. especially nate and i as we watch our miraculous lifes happen before us. our gratitude has been immensly deep as of late, as well as our wonder as to how we are so blessed to have this angel in our lives so closely. there was our twisted little girl that supposidly would never even walk, skiing, like any kid would learn to ski. my heart is full!

Almost ready! having a talk with dad before she heads up the lift with brian and peter.


Proof that saylor can do it, standing on her own in this whole getup! so much layers and stuff and helmet and goggles and all that junk and there she is on her own in skis


Riding the lift. A hard thing for me as a parent to let happen! i think the lift is a scary thing! getting on and off requires so much coordination and its hard to trust someone else i hardly know with her safety! another reminder that its my calling to share her and not hord her!


Look at her, would you even know that she is anything more than just a kid skiing for the very first time? i wouldnt! maybe though thats because i dont ski!

COSMO

COSMO! The long awaited pictures of this amazing personal visit to our home are finally being posted. sorry it has taken soooo long! All that comes with christmas and nate being home makes for little productivity on my end. I first want to say a big THANK YOU to the HOLKER FAMILY and of course COSMO for making this happen! What an awesome thing for saylor, she feels so special and she is still on cloud nine! she loves the cougs and she loves cosmo not a game passes by that she doesnt ask about him! we will never ever forget this experience. we have video and some day i will have the time to figure out You tube and how to post our videos or just how to post them on the blog in general!

we have been so blessed this past few months with amazing experiences and so many milestones for everyone in our family! look forward to seeing posts on saylors recent skiing experiences, my out of boundry back country boarding with nate and aaron, maybe some wrestling stuff and horsebackriding updates.

Christmas rush

December is full of so much stuff that its hard to stay on top of blogging. i have collected mounds of pictures from all different things over the last few days .... i am tad overhwelmed .... i will start with the O'Brien/Eakins Christmas party which also included the most fabulous ever family skit that i recorded and somehow will figure out how to post the video on her someday! anyone know how, please tell!

Aaron Fotheringham ... proof nothing is disabling

Click here

our family christmas miracle ...

well here it is ... our christmas miracle and its not just saylor and its not just saylor looking so cute in ski goggles she wont take off its saylor STANDING ... ON HER OWN without any help or walker or anything to hold on! something very unexpected for this year and so beautiful! we are so grateful for the blessings that continue to pour out on us from a loving and wise Heavnely Father and his Son and our brother Jesus christ!





Finally got drilled with some snow, it didnt stop for 2.5 days! so fun! this is our never plowed dangerous street out in front of our house, most of the neighborhood sleds down the actual street including my kids! I also enjoyed the benefits of this freshly fallen powder at sundance this morning with my fun bro - in law aaron ... it was a great day!

Merry Christmas!

From the O'Brien Elfs ... click here

thanks kate!