Reminiscing

 Last weekend I had a "heavenly" early Mother's Day Retreat.  I went to visit my parents while Jared stayed home and watched all of our kids.  It was so nice to go shopping and out to lunch with my mom and do a little family history too.  I enjoyed scanning in a bunch of photos from my childhood and reminiscing.

 

Shortly after this family picture was taken, I was diagnosed with scalded staph skin syndrome.  It started with a small red sore above my lip, but later I looked like I had been submersed in a pot of boiling water as my skin was bright red, painful and peeling.  I had to be hospitalized for a few days and my mom related how hard it was to go home at night and leave me at the hospital.

 I imagine I was around this age when my dad was rocking me to sleep  late one night when I was being stubborn about going to bed.  He was frustrated, but I looked up and sweetly said, "I look like baby Jesus."

 I was probably my mom's most difficult toddler.  I think I was about this age when I flushed her contacts down the sink.  And although I think I look adorable, I was not being too cooperative for family pictures on this day as you can see in my mom's expression.

 

On this family vacation I nearly gave my parents a heart attack when I decided to climb up to the top of the fence overlooking the Royal Gorge.

The Not so Perfect Family Picture :)

 

  
I loved my Elementary School years.  I love learning and had a competitive mindset in school from the start.  Back then, we received a letter grade for our work and for our effort.  I remember the bitterness I felt in first grade when I got the lowest grade on my report card ever.  My teacher gave me a "C" in effort for spelling because I didn't bring back my parent's signature saying I had practiced the words.  Ironically, I got an "A" for my spelling work, because I didn't need to practice spelling the words that I already knew!

I took ballet lessons for a few years and my girls still enjoy using some of my costumes for dress-up.  But I especially loved piano lessons, which I started when I older sister was sick of practicing, so went in her place.  I am so grateful that my mom sacrificed to drive me across town each week even though she detests driving, so that I could have this opportunity.

 This picture taken in our backyard when I was about 13 shows my dad on steroids... literally.  When he was diagnosed with polymyositis, a rare muscle disease, he had to take prednisone to build up his muscles which his immune system was eating away.  A few nicknames he had during this time were the "stay-puffed marshmallow man" or the "pillsbury dough boy gone bad."   It was a difficult time for our family, but I am so grateful for the lessons that we learned through the trials of financial struggles.





 

When I look through old pictures, it reminds me of how quickly this life passes by.  I see the frustration, the fatigue and the satisfaction and happiness in my mother's eyes and think of how grateful I am for her and for my opportunity to be a mother too.  Before I am ready, my  family pictures will look like this and I won't have a little one to rock to sleep in my arms anymore, so I am grateful for this phase even though it includes cleaning up after potty accidents, large piles of laundry and late night school projects, because I'll never get to have it again.