b-24

this post deserves more energy than i have. but then again, it isn't really my story to tell....

on tuesday jayson had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; the collings foundation came to utah. they tour the country bringing the old "war birds" to local airports and offer rides on them. it isn't cheap to ride on their planes, but considering this is the only b-24j still flying you can understand the price.

about five years ago, jayson bought his dad a ride on the b-24. scott's been waiting a long time to be able to take this flight, and it turned out that this week would work. we were so excited to watch him fly on this plane, because we knew it would mean a lot to him. as time got closer, we all saw what it would mean to jayson too, so we decided that they should fly together.

from wikipedia:

the b-24 was produced in greater numbers than any other American combat aircraft of World War II and still holds the record as the most produced U.S. military aircraft. It was used by many Allied air forces and every U.S. branch of service during the war, attaining a distinguished war record.

jayson and i have both been fascinated with WWII for a couple months now, so this was really exciting to see this part of history so up close and personal.

here are a couple pictures from the day:









(all these pictures were taken with film, which jayson has fallen in love with (again) since the film is not dead workshop with the crazy talented jon canlas).

i heard the flight was unbelievable. we've been watching band of brothers lately, so jayson really tried to envision what it must have been like for the soldiers to ride on these planes.

we met lots of fantastic people that day--a gentleman whose brother flew a b-24 on d-day and didn't make it home from the war alive. also, a sweet sweet lady and her daughter who flew with jayson. we were talking to them a little bit when they got back, and noticed the lady was pretty emotional and the daughter was holding some old dog tags. as we started to listen to her story, we heard that she met a man before the war and was engaged to him when he left to fight. he flew a b-24 on d-day and survived, and went on to fly 30 something more missions. he made it home safely from the war to marry this lady and they had 7 children together. they lived a happy life for the last 60 or so years, until he passed away last month. this flight meant a lot to her and to her daughter, and it was so wonderful to hear how special this experience was to her.

i'm so grateful to those who sacrificed so much to give us the freedoms we have. this experience was something i don't think jayson or scott will forget any time soon.

see scott's pictures and recap here.

on their way home...

my parents finished their mission today. i'm sure it was an incredibly bittersweet moment for them. they've been busy for the last two years serving the people in five African nations.

they are taking a week to relax a bit before they head home. they'll arrive next tuesday to a house full of excited livingstones.

we are so proud of them, and so happy we could share them for the last two years.

as always, you can read more about their adventures on congochatter.blogspot.com. stories of these young missionaries will melt your heart.

reprise

so i hate to go on and on about potty training, but i am in love with this method so i just want to say a word about it.

the guiding principles of this method are love and consistency. but i might also add that there is no fighting (not because it's a principle not to fight, but because it is not possible), coercion, or bribing (that doesn't mean no rewards). accidents are important as they are how a child understands what is happening in their body. you are to remain positive at all times and there is to be no reprimanding or punishing.

as of 5:30 today, we've had one accident. it was at about 4:00. she hadn't gone to the bathroom since around 11:30, so i was waiting and waiting for her to yell "mommy, i'm peeing." that's what she says when she has to go--one in four times she probably already is going. but most of the time, it means she needs to go.

from about 2:00 on, i was anxious. i knew she had to go and i just kept reminding her, "let me know when you need to go potty." i knew her little bladder could only hold so much and that sooner or later she was going to need to let it go. in the afternoon she has a tendancy to hang on to it.

it would have been really easy for me to make her sit on the potty and tell her she needed to go. i could have told her it was time, because it was. i know there are a lot of methods out there that encourage that. the truth is i'm and adult and i understand the body and i know that she probably needed to go. but that wasn't what was important.

mae is the one who has to learn when it's time to go. she's the one who needs to understand the signals her body is giving her; what it feels like to be full. and the only way she's going to understand that is if she has accidents.

i think life is sometimes like that. at least parenthood is like that. God trusted me enough to throw me into something TOTALLY new and said, "have at it. you're in this for good; i've thrown away any crutch you might have. so here's what you should do, but you're in charge. and you're going to have accidents, lots of them. but we celebrate the accidents because that's how you'll learn."

i have a whole new outlook on accidents. they're all part of the learning process. of course we can prevent accidents, but doesn't that just dely the learning process? when accidents happen in potty training, i'm not frustrated at all. i think that has helped my whole outlook on this process. i dreaded the thought of potty training, and maybe i'm just really really lucky--but so far this has been one of the most enjoyable weeks of motherhood for me.

big girl

i'm out of interesting things to blog about, so here's this post while i think of anything better to write:

yesterday at 2:00 we dumped all of mae's pullups and diapers in the trash. we've been at it for 30 hours, and so far:

success: 9
accidents: 3
false alarms: 2

she's doing great. i'm using the 3 day method because i've heard so many great things about it, and because it really makes sense to me. it has been a really positive experience for us so far. mae's been really happy and so have i. she had one pretty huge accident yesterday and two smaller accidents today. after each accident today she has had three perfect potty moments--tells me she needs to go and does it all perfectly, including compulsively washing her hands while singing her abc's.

i waited a bit longer to start training than some others, but i really believe she is ready for this now. this week turned out to be the perfect time to go at it--which is fantastic because i think if i didn't do it this week, i'd be doing this in december. which would have been fine too. but whatever...6 less months of diapers is a good thing.

i know i'm not out of the woods yet; we still need to address wearing shorts/pants/skirts, going on the go, relapses, etc. but i'm so happy with the progress we've made so far.

we've got a big girl in the house now!

moose loves corndogs

mae wanted to make sure her moose got a nutritious dinner. like a corndog.

ode to summer, 2009 edition

it was really helpful to have a list of things i wanted to do last summer. i did most things on my list, resulting in a fantastic summer. those that i didn't do will appear on my list again this year, along with many new additions. this summer is going to be busy since my parents get home, but i hope to make time for a few other adventures.

here's my 2009 ode to summer:
*walk a 5k
*not cut my hair
*watch hot air balloons
*ride the heber creeper
*sit on my new flagstone patio (this would require making the flagstone patio)
*go fishing
*demolition derby
*play kickball
*make a new summer playlist
*paint my toenails every week
*outdoor concert
*squeeze lemons to make lemonade
*go to cove fort
*drive alpine loop in the BMW
*go to moab
*ride ski lift at sundance
*go golfing with jayson
*can peaches
*outdoor movie
*ride bike from bridal vail to utah lake
*batting cages
*go on lots of walks
*make ice cream in a hand crank bucket

michigan

i loved college. i really really loved it, and i could list lots of reasons why. but the number one reason is the people i met there. they are my best friends (for life) and no matter how long it's been since we've seen each other, we pick up right where we left off.

so when kimberly called me and told me she was getting married, i told her i'd be there. and then i found out that three other of my roommates were going to be there too, without husbands. uhhh...party, anyone?

we kicked off the festivities with a bachelorette party for kimmie. here she is...doesn't she look fantastic?

we had manicures and pedicures. here are the five of us that lived together at one point or another--kim, becky, ruth, me, harmony.


me, ruth, harmony, and becky. i love these girls.

after we were pampered and feeling relaxed, we went to dinner and gave kim some "gifts."


then we had a few days to relax, shop, eat, shop, stay up way too late, etc before the wedding. i didn't get too many pictures, because i was way too busy enjoying myself. thankfully, becky did!

here we are before the sealing (without the bride).


after the sealing...

since i really love these girls (becky, kim, and harmony are all from the same hometown), i went out to visit them in michigan in 2001. i stayed with kimberly's family, and fell in love with them. they're fantastic. i also stayed with the jensens for a day after jayson and i went to toronto two years ago. here i am with kim's sister, becca.

and her brother michael. i had to take this picture because a couple weeks ago we catered michael's wedding lunch. while i was busy cooking, mae was outside playing. she came running inside and said "mom, uncle drew is here!" i was pretty confused, until i saw michael. turns out he does look like my handsome brother, drew.


here are the girls again. me, becky, ruth, and harmony.


this time with kimmie.

and fine, i guess ben can be in the picture too.


harms and me.

and the sexy roommates again.


i had such a good time in michigan. congratulations kimberly and ben! have fun in mexico, and don't get sick.