One of the things I love most about the East Coast is that so many states are so close together... we spent a lovely day in Rhode Island. Ryan's parents had four adult bikes and a trailer and (after some trouble finding a place that had bikes available) rented two smaller bikes for Olivia and Coleman.
It's hard to believe that summer has come to an end! As I've been looking through photos from this summer I decided to condense a whole bunch of activities into one post, lest you get bored.
Here goes...
Yesterday Olivia's fourth grade participated in the best activity of the year.
They dressed up as pioneers (Olivia chose her clothes and was convinced that this sweater was "in-style" back then... good thing we had the bonnet to make it a little more official, no?)...
There are definite perks to having Ryan be both computer savvy AND employed by a publishing company--and of course the fact that he is generous with his time and talents helps as well. My Mother's Day gift (volume I) is a reality...
Dear Sophia Madelynn,
We are so glad you have arrived safely to our family. We had a long hard night before you were born, but you were so good and waited until the 18th of March to come (I knew that you didn't want to share your birthday with the leprechauns!). They started Pitocin the night before around 7 pm and by 3 the next morning I was still only dilated to a 3! I was very frustrated and felt like I wasn't going to make it. Dad kept encouraging me though and told me he knew that I could do it, that I was strong and was doing a great job. The monitors didn't work when we got up to walk around or when I wanted to get in the tub or sit on the ball... I was sure that would help so the contractions didn't hurt so much. The doctor and nurses needed to make sure your heartbeat was good, so I stayed in bed all night. By 4 in the morning I started having my own contractions and they finally turned off the Pitocin... then I started to dilate more quickly which was a good thing... I was pretty sure we were headed for a Cesarean birth... so I was very grateful that my body was getting ready for you to come. By 8 in the morning I had a really strong desire to push and even though I wasn't quite dilated to a 10, the doctor came in and got everything ready. You were anxious to come, and it didn't take many contractions of pushing to get you out, even though your head was turned the wrong way. When they gave you to me, I was so grateful to see that you were healthy. Dad and I were thrilled that you were finally here!
Olivia and Coleman came to visit you soon after you were born... they were so excited to finally meet you. They have been praying for you since they found out we were going to have another baby. Even before then, they prayed that Heavenly Father would send another baby to our family.... so you are an answer to their prayers (and ours!).
You are now a week old, and I am still in awe at the journey that it took for you to get here. Many years ago Dad and I went on a Pioneer Trek with the youth in our ward. We went to Martin's Cove and pulled handcarts, and each of us got to learn about someone in one of the handcart companies. I learned about my grandmother, six generations back, named Sophia Mason Crook who crossed the plains with the Willie Handcart company. She was 65 years old when she crossed--her husband had died before she left England so she went alone with one of her children. Her toes were frozen and had to be amputated... but she made it to the Salt Lake Valley. She was strong and faithful and committed to the gospel. I felt such a strong connection to Sophia during that Trek and I knew that if we were able to ever have another baby, we would name her Sophia or him Mason after her. After four years of trying to have a baby, it looked like we weren't going to be able to have any more. There were times that I was devastated and heartbroken about it, but I had finally come to feel peace with the way our family was. We had been blessed with two wonderful children and it felt like we were going to be okay the way we were.
In July of 2009 we held a reunion for the Crook family. Again I felt a strong connection to Sophia Mason Crook and was so grateful for the chance that I'd had to "get to know" her during the Trek. I felt a little sick that day, but didn't think much of it until a couple of weeks later, on July 24th--Pioneer Day--when I took a pregnancy test and found out that I was pregnant with you! It seemed so fitting to find out on Pioneer Day. I felt that you were going to be a girl and that your name would be Sophia... even though Dad wasn't sure he was ready to commit to anything until he met you.
When I was only 11 weeks along I had a pulmonary embolism and it was such a scary experience, mostly because we weren't sure how it would affect you. I took two shots of medicine each day so I wouldn't have another clot. They weren't fun, but it was worth it. Because of the high risk, we got to see a perinatologist every 6-8 weeks to make sure that you were growing and developing, which was a good comfort.
I was surprised when I went for an ultrasound at 12 weeks and they told me you were going to be a boy! It didn't feel right, but the perinatologist was certain she could see boy parts. I thought it was too early to tell, and she said that there was a chance she was wrong, but she was pretty sure. I spent the next 8 weeks getting used to the idea that you would be Mason instead of Sophia. Coleman was so excited to have a little brother--he knew you would be a great video game partner. When we had an ultrasound at 20 weeks though the nurse and perinatologist were very apologetic and explained that they had been wrong, and now they were absolutely certain that you were a girl. It was such a relief to me and just felt right. Coleman got used to the idea of having a sister (who still might be a great video-game partner) and Olivia was thrilled at the idea of having a baby sister.
After you were born they asked us what your name was... I looked at Dad and he nodded and answered "Sophia" which has been your name all along! We decided to give you the middle name of Madelynn after both of your grandmothers... my mom was named Madeline after her grandmother and Dad's mom's middle name is Lynn, so we combined the two for your middle name. I love that you are named after three women that are strong, determined, and faithful. They are great examples to me and I hope that you will learn from them as well.
In the last seven days I have learned that you are persistent, trusting, patient, vocal, peaceful, and determined. I know that in the next days, weeks, months, and years we will learn a lot more about each other. I am so glad that you came to our family... we love you!
Love,
Mom
A couple of years ago, I somehow agreed (willingly, I might add) to co-chair a family reunion for five generations of the Crook family in 2009. 2009 came all too quickly and we found ourselves with a whole lot of work to do. Luckily I got to work with a few of my favorite people...
The Reunion Queens: Lisa, Grandma Cole, and Aunt Channa
My great-uncle Lynn shared an interesting story about his father who contracted the Spanish Flu during the epidemic... he was thought to be dead and put with a bunch of dead bodies, but an elderly saw a small movement, realized he was still alive, and worked to revive him. At the time, Lynn was the only child. Great-grandpa and his wife went on to have 11 more children.
Behind Lynn there is a list of words that were the answers to our family crossword puzzle... an activity that helped us get to know more about our heritage.
I loved this map... we used colored pins to show where people have served throughout the world, either in the military, as missionaries, or in civic positions. As a family we've been all over the world (except Africa and Antarctica... there's still time, right?).
Ryan ran the raffle which helped pay for the food and all the activities. His temple print was one of the most popular items.
We made coloring books using bits of information about the lives of our ancestors... I didn't get a picture of the books, but they turned out great.
I liked the visual image of the poster above listing the children of Oscar and Fay and all of their children. In all, there are 439 descendants from these two people.
My aunt Dianne ran Grandma Fay's Juice Stand... my great-grandma was well known for her home-bottled grape juice goodness. We thought a little cup of juice would be a good reminder of one of her many talents.
My cousin and his wife did the face painting... which was a big hit with the kids. We also had "Lucky Suckers" and because we had SO many prizes, every sucker was a lucky sucker.
My (second?) cousin Kari ran Grandpa Oscar's Baseball corner--the kids had to try to throw some soft baseballs onto the bases and they got bubble gum for a prize. My great-grandpa loved baseball!
We even had a baseball pinata that I filled way too full... when it finally got knocked down the whole thing dropped like the New Year's Eve ball on Times Square... straight down, without breaking or spilling any candy goodness. We are just lucky it didn't hit the child who was strong enough to knock it down! The kids didn't mind that Ryan had to lift it up and break it to spread the candy around.
We also had Uncle Jim's Fishing Pond. My cute nephew Evan has his pole in the water getting some fun treats.
All in all the reunion was a huge success! It was great to learn more about my heritage and contribute to an event that helped bring our family together.
That doesn't mean I'm ready to do it again anytime soon... or ever... but I'm glad we did it this time around.
**Been to any great family reunions lately?
For the last several months I've been working on an extended family newsletter. Several of my many cousins and I felt like it was an important way for us to stay in touch and also learn more about our heritage so we've joined efforts to collect information on our family members. For this edition, we focused on our great-grandmother Madeline (whom my mom is named after). A few weeks before my granddad passed away, I got to interview him about his mother so we could include his memories and recollections. It was so wonderful to learn about such an incredible, strong, and faithful woman.
One of the main reasons I love learning about my ancestors is because I feel like it helps me sort out who I am and who I can become. I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting several weeks ago about the talk, "Come What May, and Love It" which included some information from our interview about Madeline.
I think that this was one of his best talks. It seems that in his later years, my granddad spoke form his heart and shared personal experiences and insights that touched many people.
As he did with so many of his talks, he referred to his mother and football in this talk. Football was one of the great loves of his life. Ryan and I chuckled during our interview with him before we were married, because he drew us a football type diagram of where we should park, how we should enter the temple, and even our placement in the sealing room. Football was a part of him, and that was in large part due to the support that his mother gave him. His father was a businessman and felt that the children should spend their time working in the family business. My granddad's mother made sure that he had time for football and other sports because she saw their value.
A few weeks before my granddad passed away, I had the chance to interview him about his mother. She was a remarkable woman. In his words she was: "perfect, genuine, aggressive, positive, Mrs. Republican. She had a lot of zip in life, she was always busy, and she was just not a mediocre person, she was an achiever. She was the most organized person I know." I asked him if they had any family traditions while he was growing up. He said, "Yes! WORK!" He said his mother was a model housekeeper and kept her gardens manicured to perfection. She was a state champion runner when she was young in the 100 yard dash and always lovedx sports. She insisted on good language and would correct them if they made mistakes. As I talked with him more, I realized that she was a person I would love to know and be like. He said she belonged to to women's groups and a "contemporary readers' club" which her husband called the "Contemptable Women's Club." At this point, Ryan thought that maybe I already was a little like her.
She encouraged prayer, 100% attendance at meetings, and didn't accept any excuses from anyone. She told her children often that she didn't want any "scrubs." I asked my granddad if there was anything his mother had done to help her children become the extraordinary people that they are. He responded, "I don't know that we're all that great, but she never let us sit down much and rest. She always had a page of assignments to perform." When he was seven, she spoke with him about his older cousin Gordon. She said, "Now you watch Gordon. He'll amount to something." She was right about that and she was right about so many other things.
I love the advice that she gave to her son after a hard and disappointing day at football. She said, "Joseph, come what may, and love it."
"She taught her children to trust in themselves and each other, not blame others for their misfortunes, and give their best efforts in everything. When [they] felt down, she expected [them] to pick themselves up and get going again... I think she may have meant that every life has peaks and shadows and times when it seems that the birds don't sing and bells don't ring, yet in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger wiser, and happier as a result." ("Come What May, and Love It," Ensign, November 2008).
I have a lot of growing and progressing to do (gardening, housekeeping, always having my hair perfect, organization, general perfection--just a few small things to work on, right?), but I hope I can be like her.
**Have you caught the family history bug?
