"In their last hour, they gave a {lifetime}"

This morning Hannah & I drove with Ian and my mom to an event that Life Sharing puts on twice a year to honor families who decided to donate the organs of loved ones who were passing on. I was hoping to meet some of the recipients of Charish's organs, but this event was only for the families who suffered the loss. It was held in a little chapel in San Diego and there were probably 30 other families there. It was a nice feeling to be amongst so many people who "get it." It's sometimes hard (annoying might be a better word) to hear, "I understand what you're going through" when the person saying it really has no clue. So to be surrounded by people who understand the pain and emptiness of losing someone was comforting . . . even though there were barely any words spoken between us.

I was doing well . . . not many tears . . . until they started a slideshow of everyone's loved ones. It started out with pictures of people laughing, an infant holding someone's finger, people jumping in the air, a couple getting married . . . people enjoying life, and then there was a quote . . . "In their last hour they gave a lifetime." That got me. Throughout this whole process the only thing that has shed any light on this crappy situation that we've been forced to "live with" is the fact that through Charish passing away there were at least 6 people (and a LOT more if you include all of the people who were able to get skin grafts) who will live a much better life because of her. In fact the night that we decided to let her go (the night before we actually gathered around her bed and let her go) we were driving away and talking about how cool it would be to see the Facebook pages of the people who FINALLY found a match and would be going in to get their transplants the next day. It really, truly has been such a great thing to think about when I'm missing her. I can't wait to finally get the chance to meet the recipients. Hopefully soon . . .

I used my cell phone to take pictures at the event . . . so we're going Polaroid style today . . .

Hannah smelling her rose. (We all put roses by a memorial stone after the ceremony). This poor thing misses her aunt so bad. She's actually the only one of my kids that came. Reha didn't want to go. She's still having a really hard time and didn't "want people to see her cry."

Hannah & Jake after the ceremony.

Mom's in {Training}

For the past couple of weeks I've been reading Merrilee Boyack's book, "The Parenting Breakthrough" A Real-Life Plan to Teach Your Kids to Work, Save Money, and be Truly Independent. I heard about this book years ago {she lives here in San Diego and spoke at a women's conference . . . or something}. A few of my friends read it and raved about it, so when I saw it at Deseret Book {for the gazillionth time} I decided to finally get it. I must say that it has completely opened my eyes to how UNprepared my kids will be when it's time for them to leave their cozy little nest at the rate of "training" them to be independent I am doing! I barely make them do anything beyond making their beds and picking up their rooms. They {up until a couple weeks ago} had no idea how to scrub a toilet, read a recipe, vacuum . . . all kinds of things that they are perfectly capable of doing. I'm telling you, teaching them new "grown up" things has made a huge difference in the way that our family has run. They do a lot and have learned a ton in two weeks, and they actually love the new chores they're being given . . . so far. I know it wont last!

After school I had the older girls make rice crispy treats . . . and of course they "fancied" things up a bit and made them purple {or pink . . . depending on who you ask}.

Hannah has been asking me for the last three years AT LEAST to teach her how to sew, and I finally figured that it was a good time to sit down and teach them both how to sew a straight line. We decided to start a simple {but super cute} quilt, and so far they are absolutely loving it. And after sewing together 14 pieces we haven't had to take out any of it. They're doing great . . . I'm actually quite proud of them.

Hannah's first piece . . . don't pay any attention to her nasty nails. The "nail grooming" lesson hasn't come yet!

Reha's first piece.

I'm excited to see how it turns out. If they keep it up and keep doing as well as they did today I'm sure it will be really cute. I'm thankful to have had my eyes open to how "able" they are to do so much. It's been fun seeing them learn so much new stuff . . . I have such good girls.

After School {Play} Time

{Thursday} September 2, 2010

I spent most of the day today trying to figure out our cell phone's . . . long, very boring story . . . but I was at T-Mobile for a couple hours in the morning, thought I got it "figured out" and needed Wade's debit card {because they're L.A.M.E}. SO I drove to Wade's work and ended up hanging out with him while he ate lunch and then met Bob Baker {his boss} and some other people he works with. Charlise was a big hit with all of the women . . . but that doesn't surprise me. Bring a little girl into an office and she's sure to grasp the hearts of every female in the building. So silly. ;) Anyway, I got his card and went back to T-Mobile to finish off what I started . . . took back our retarded Blackberry's and got our even more retarded old phones back. We're hoping to get iPhones in the next couple of months when our contract is up . . . crossing my fingers!!

When I picked up the girls from school we decided to spend the afternoon at Sea World. We love that we can do that again now that we're back in San Diego. The girls absolutely love it there . . . even if it's only for a couple of hours.

Hannah & Reha at the Shamu show. We were only there for a couple of hours so they had to pick one show, and they haven't seen this one yet . . .

Charlise doing the "splash the audience" signal . . . she LOVES the shows at Sea World. She's my first child to sit all the way through a show with no problem. {That is from the time it starts until it ends . . . waiting for it to start is a totally different story}.

Waiting patiently for a dolphin to get close enough to touch.

Watching the killer whales down below the tank . . . I love how much these two girls love each other. Now only if they showed it all the time. THAT would be awesome! ;)

Reha's budding photography skills . . . she loves taking pictures.

Tonight I was able to go and have dinner with my sister in-law, Becky, at our favorite restaurant, Stir Fresh. I love her. She has been the one person who has "checked up" on me consistently since Charish passed away. I truly feel like she is another sister and I couldn't be more grateful for her. It's hard for me to be stuck in this sadness while the world has totally moved on. For the first month or so I had people calling daily, and sending stuff, and stopping by with flowers or dinner, or just to say they were thinking of me . . . and then almost like a light switch was hit . . . it stopped. I completely understand that people have their own lives with their own trials . . . I guess I just secretly wish that I could have moved on with them. It has been really nice to have Becky "remember," and it's so great that she's not afraid to bring it up. I feel like people are afraid to talk about it . . . but it helps me to talk about it . . . again, I understand. We of course {like every other time} shut the place down. It gets to the point where the people cleaning up will sit down and wait for us to leave. Totally funny and it's almost turning into a tradition that we're going to have to uphold. ;)