6/27/2013

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart


Thirty-eight years ago today I was married and sealed to the man I love in the Salt Lake Temple. It was a bright and early 8 a.m. wedding on a beautiful summer day much like today. We had nothing in the way of worldly goods, but we had each other.

The first years were lean and busy with mice infested apartments, tuition and doctors to pay and the first of our ten children quickly filling our home and hearts . We had three dreams . . . to serve God, each other and our family. Today we are seeing the fulfillment of those dreams in ways we could not have imagined when we were so young and naive.

Last night I saw my sweetheart speaking to hundreds of young women and their leaders at a church sponsored Girl's Camp in the Rocky Mountains at dusk. I was moved to tears by the gentle giant of a man he has become. How I respect, trust and adore him. My decision to marry Ross Baadsgaard has filled my life with incredible joy. All that is most meaningful to me has flowed from our union.

Happy anniversary sweetheart. You are the love of my life.

      

6/19/2013

Ross and Janene Baadsgaard Reunion 2013

All the people I love the most minus one family in Florida.
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6/17/2013

THE QUALITY OF LIFE




My grandson Caleb lived for seven years.
He taught us all what quality of life really means.
April and Dallan Moody are pictured here next to their son Caleb's grave.
They lovingly cared for him with joy and gratitude.

THE QUALITY OF LIFE
Years ago my obstetrician called me at home to educate me on the laboratory results of a blood test he’d ordered earlier.
“At your age, your chances of having a baby with severe genetic defects are one in twenty-two,” the doctor said. “After the blood test, your chances are one in two. You have a fifty-fifty chance of having a child with serious problems. Do you still want to continue this pregnancy?”
“Of course,” I answered.
“I can order an amniocentesis to confirm,” he offered.
“No,” I answered. “The results won’t change my choice to have this child.”
“Well, it’s your decision,” the doctor answered. “But remember this choice will negatively affect the quality of life not just for you - but your whole family.”
After I hung up, I felt stunned, unsure how to feel. So I cried. My two-year-old saw my tears and asked me why. It was difficult to find words to explain.
“The baby inside Mommy might be different, I finally answered.
“What’s different?” he asked.
“Different means the baby might not be the same as you and me.”
“Different isn’t sad Mommy,” my young son said.
He was right. I stopped crying.
When I told my husband about the doctor’s report he said, “What ever shape our baby’s in, she’ll still be our little girl and we’ll love her and take good care of her.”
My daughter Alisa was born a few months after my doctor’s phone call . . . perfectly healthy. Will she have challenges during her life time? Yes - we all do.
 

A few years later, the doctors kept urging my daughter April to consider her son Caleb’s quality of life and her own and to reconsider her decision to actively pursue urgent medical care because her son was born without a brain.
“They are not able to grasp what a privilege Caleb is and how immensely he is loved and adored,” my daughter said to me after one long tiring day in the hospital. “Today I met with several doctors and told them our family story. When I finished, they were all in tears. I explained how Caleb is surrounded by love and how our family’s quality of life has been richly blessed by his presence."
 

Every parent takes a life-altering chance each time they conceive a child; but the chance is not between having a “normal” child and one with “problems”. Every child will have challenges - be they physical, emotional, social, mental or spiritual. Each parent is given the soul altering privilege to learn the true meaning of devotion in the midst of those challenges. That deeply personal choice is what creates quality of life. The chance is really a choice - to love - whatever the chances.

My daughter Alisa is now 13 years old and such a blessing to our family.

 
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6/11/2013

The Holiness of Everyday Life

There is a holiness in everyday life. Sometimes we think that we can't enjoy our days until everything is running smoothly  . . . no problems or cares. Yet it is in those very daily challenges that we become more than we were . . . where our spirits are stretched or deepened by a loving God. The problems we face every day don't get in the way - they are the way. How do we learn patience without life experiences that try our souls? How do we develop empathy until our hearts have been broken?  

6/07/2013

New Cooking Book For Kids

Christina Dymock recently sent me a PDF copy of her new book titled Young Chefs . . . Cooking skills and recipes for kids. I usually don't review cook books but I really liked this one.Why? This book has recipes so simple even I might try them. While most of my children are grown, I usually have a lot of grandchildren running around the house looking for something to do. Cooking together is a great way to link the generations.
My favorite quote from the author is, "I like to think of a new recipe as a science experiment. Not all experiments work the first time. (She must have been peeking in my windows.)Sometimes cakes fall flat and eggs get burned. When that happens, don't get discouraged. Figure out what went wrong and try again."

The book has clear simple directions and pictures of the recipe when it is finished. I also like the tool box where it shows everything you need to assemble before you begin.

This is what the author said about her new book:
"You know those papers they make you write in elementary school that start with: When I grow up I want to be a ______ ? Well, I can’t ever remember what I wrote in that little blank. I have friends that knew they wanted to be writers the first time they held a pen in their hand. I guess the closest thing I came to that was the first time I licked the frosting off a beater. (Hmmmm frosting)

 Now I pass those beaters to one of my four lucky children. (Usually the one who has all their chores done. J) My kids were the inspiration for this book. I wanted to write something that adults could use to teach kids different cooking skills. Young Chefs was a whole family effort as I observed my kids in the kitchen, gauged my stress level while handing over the oven mitts, and baked to the oldies." 
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6/06/2013

Solitude

There is no clear distinction between mind and spirit, but there is a quality of mind that is more than thought and the process of thought;  this quality involves feelings and the wholeness in which the life of man has its being . . .There is the rest of detachment and withdrawal when the spirit moves into the depths of the region of the Great Silence, where world weariness is washed away and blurred vision is once again prepared for the focus of the long view. . .Here God speaks without words and the self listens without ears. Here at last, glimpses of the meaning . . . of one's own life are seen with all their striving. (Howard Thurman)Pin It

6/03/2013

Three Generations of Scouters!


Here are three generations of scouters! This is my husband Ross, my son John and my grandson Joshua at scout camp.

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