Experimental Eye Surgery and other great deals.

Sounds like fun huh? Tim jumped on the chance to get Lasik for cheaper because he agreed to be part of a study at the Moran Eye Center (Highly Reputable Eye clinic, part of Uof U) . OK. . . so "Jump" may be the wrong word. He actually went into it quite cautiously. . . if it is possible to be part of a research study and be cautious at the same time. Anyway, he got half off for being in the study and the study is to have one eye corrected with Lasik and the other with PRK. The doctors wanted to see how the healing differs etc.

He had the surgery on Monday afternoon. He has interesting stories about suction cups on his Lasik eye and ice water being poured into the other. The PRK is described as getting a "really nasty rug burn on your eye" That is the one that is causing him more discomfort in his recovery. The upside of the PRK is that it is supposed to produce more satisfactory results. . . in about 5 weeks. Right now his PRK eye is sore and blurry.

He is being a good sport and I am having fun nursing him to health. He isn't one of those husbands that whines and complains a lot thankfully. If anyone wants to know what it is like to have either surgery and what the pros and cons are be sure to ask Tim. He is one of the few who can give you a first hand description of both kinds of surgery. You might want to wait five weeks if you want to get a report of his satisfaction.

Spring Break! (not what it is for some but nice none the less)

I had a great weekend! Beautiful weather first and most of all. My family and I could not get enough of the sunshine. We finished the square foot garden preperations on Thursday night. Tim made a box that gives us 4 x 10 square feet. Filled it with fertilizer and top soil and marked each square foot off with string. We bought and planted our first crop of strawberries and rhubarb friday night. This year for the first time I am very interested in being involved in the garden project. In the past I just let Tim do it. I don't know if it is just that our youngest is now almost preschool age so I feel more free to persue hobbies like gardening or if it is I am SO SICK of being inside and am looking for excuses to be outside these days. I might also be tired of having to answer the question of "What are you planting this year?" with "You will have to ask Tim."

Saturday we went to Lowes and Walmart and bought some more vegetables and herbs for our garden. I surprised myself with how excited I was to see all the different choices and how excited I was to make them. Even better than that, the kids are excited too. We are involving them in the garden as well. They were almost as excited as me. We bought grape tomatos (my favorite), roma tomatos, basil, green bell peppers, carrot seeds, corn seeds, lemon balm, peppermint, rosemary, acorn squash seeds, and maybe an herb or more I can't remember at the moment. (You will have to ask Tim :) )

After gorging ourselves on Red Robin burgers and bottomless fries we came home and planted our new harvest. We also enjoyed our new sunburns. I do this every year. I embrace the first signs of sun and then I remember, oops...the sun is not as friendly as I remembered it andI need to protect myself and my family.

Sunday we had Family Home Evening in the back yard. We made 72 hourkits last year and so we went thorugh our inventory and got rid of the old food and made sure we had all the non food stuff in our bags.. We plan on repacking everyones bags with new food and inventoried supplies next Sunday. I really hope we don't have need for our 72 hour kits between now and then or are we going to be an unhappy family. The one week we decide we can risk being without. My kids are gorging themselves on granola bars, fruit snacks and trail mix. If anyone has a good menu for a 72 hour kit please let me know. Fruit snacks get really gross after a year just as a warning. I am looking for ideas. So far we have not been pleased by the ones we have seen. After FHE the kids played for hours on the hammock and the new tree swing that Tim made at Joes insistance.

I love Spring. Too bad we wont be able to enjoy it all week. It is supposed to be 40 degrees the next two days and rainy. YUCK! It is spring break for the kids this week too so if it is icky I can't send kids out to play. My older kids are home to help entertain and watch my younger kids. What a nice break for me that is. I slept in until 10 a. m. today! I love spring break!

Lessons from my Mom

Today is the anniversary of my mothers passing. She died a year ago today from cancer. Interesting that she died so close to the same day as my father. My mom taught me a lot of important things, and blessed my life in so many ways.

1. Service- My mom magnified her callings. She made lots of meals for a lot of people (much to my chagrin as a kid). She was a great seminary teacher, Relief Socieity and Primary president. She served as nursery leader, Temple worker and Geneology librarian as well as other things before I was born. Whatever she did she put her all into it.

She was also just a great support to those around her. I will never forget the time she took me along with her to the children's hospital when a couple in our ward was dealing with their daughter's cancer. I thought we might just be in the way and she taught me that people need support in times like these. I don't even think she was their visiting teacher and wasn't a close friend. I believe she was the Primary President at the time. The father attended her funeral last year and he reminded me of my mom's service to them. He was still noticably touched by her thoughtfulness.

2. Love of Nature- As a family we did a lot of camping, hiking and just going on walks out in nature. My mom and I did a lot of this together when I was older too. Rose gardens are a special memory I share with her. When I was going to BYU she would often come all that way from Califonria to Utah just to go on weekend trips with me to Zions and Arches National Parks. She taught me to appreciate the therapeutic qualities of nature.

3. Passion for scriptures and gospel knowledge-I saw my Mom studying the scriptures A LOT my whole life. She learned a lot from them and seemed to know so much about the gospel. She taught us the gospel in a way we learned to love it ourselves.

4. The Joys of Motherhood-My Mom was a great mother, despite all the hard times I gave her. She taught us with love and patience. She wasn't one of those mom's who yelled at her kids all the time and I strive to be the same way as a mother. She used reasoning and love and was always there to listen and give good advice. She was also a lot of fun. She was often doing fun activities with us. She taught me what a good mother is. She was a great grandmother too.

5. How to be tough-My mom was no wimp. She always stuck up for herself. This bugged me a lot as a kid but now I appreciate it deeply. She was a mentally, phycially and emotionally strong person. She suffered through a lot in her life but kept on pushing until she was done, right up until the day she died. She makes me proud to be a woman and be her daughter.

One of my favorite stories my mom told was about a hike she went on as a scout leader. She was the only woman with a bunch of male scout leaders on some kind of training outing. They kept mockingly asking her if she was doing ok and encouraging her. By the time they reached their destination the guys were all worn out but she was fine. She was also the only one who thought to bring along food and drink, and enough to share with all the guys. Right on Mom!

6. A house of order and a life of simplicity- I would be lying to say if I said our house was always clean growing up. She did however believe in getting everything spruced up whenever we had company. The order she taught me was how to organize my life. She taught me also to chose my priorities and cut myself some slack in areas that aren't all that important. Cleanliness and order were important but not as important as other things, like having fun with your family. When she organized she did it with great skill. One of her last visits with me in my home was spent teaching me how to do some serious deep cleaning. You know, the kind young mothers have no time to do much less learn. These things were very handy to know when we sold our house last year.

7. Music- Any musical talent I have I inherited from my mom. She could play the piano and clarinet and taught us to enjoy good music. We loved appreciating nature while listening to beautiful music, whether driving through mountains or lying on the beach.


8. Passion for life and learning- My mom seemed to go through phases of diferent things she liked to do. I think one of my favorites was her baking phase. She also loved to ski, travel, bicycle, hike, camp, and do jigsaw puzzles. There were many other activities she enjoyed and she loved to laugh and have fun. Like her callings, when she had things she enjoyed, she put her all into them. She was always learning new things and went to college while we were going to junior college. It was fun taking classes with her. I was too shy at the time and that drove her nuts. I think I would make her proud today now that I speak out more in my classes.



I miss my mom most when I have a fun experience I know she would love to hear about or when I want advice on how to raise my kids. I often get ideas in my head that I don't think I could have come up with on my own. My Mom's visiting teacher shared with me something interesting. My mom had told her one of her favorite talks at a conference was about how a parent has as much if not even more influence on their loved ones after they pass on. My Mom was always involved in our lives when she was alive and I believe she still exerts her influence in our lives today from the other side. Her example alone still influences me on a daily basis.

Lessons from my Dad

This is kind of a sad week for me. In the last 7 years both of my parents have passed away and it just so happned that they died within two days (and 6 years) of each other. My father passed away 7 years ago today and I celebrate his life and his contribution to mine. My Dad taught me a lot of important things. Here are some of the most important. Needless to say you will be hearing about my Mom in a few days.

1. To love books and knowledge. My dad treasured books and seemed to have loads of them. If I wanted to buy a book, I would ask my Dad because he would never say no. My dad encouraged us to learn and do well in school.

2. To laugh- My Dad had a great sense of humor. We had a lot of good times as a family and laughing was a priority. For example, it was a family tradition to copy Saturday Night Live on Saturday night and watch it after church on Sunday. This was especially true of the good seasons with Martin Short, Billy Crystal and Christopher Guest. He didn't appreciate the crass stuff. He also played great pranks. He would move the wall to his cubicle over just a little bit every day making his cubicle a litte bigger and his neighbors smaller until his coworker noticed.

3. Men can be good. The example of a Dad can't be overestimated when it comes to a girl's attitude towards men in general. He was a gentle, mild mannered father who never raised his hand and rarely raised his voice. He was faithful in his callings and was a reliable and dependable provider. A loyal husband as well. My parents had a lot of fun together. I credit him for helping me to chose a husband who is so much like him, in all the important ways.

4. How to deal with Weaknesses- My Dad was painfully shy as a kid but he worked hard at changing that as a grown up. He joined Toast Masters and became a great public speaker and as long as I knew him he seemed to easily converse with strangers and friends. He is quite the example to me of making strengths out of weaknesses

5. Love of History- Of all the people in my family, other than myself, my Dad was the most sentimental. He loved history, both of the world in general and family. I grew up with my Dad being the recorder of our family memories . This explains why Scrapbooking with all its girliness seems so silly to me. It's a guy thing! Because of his love of history we grew up knowing a lot about the world. He made sure we knew. With all the traveling we did plus his knowledge I learned a lot about the world as a kid and I appreciate that. I still love anything history.

6. Seeing the good in others. My Dad was a worrier, but he always seemed to have a positive attitude about others. He always tried to see the good in others and tended to give them the benefit of the doubt.

7. Art talent- What little art talent I have I owe to my Dad's side of the family. He and my Grandpa where great artists. My dad drew endless cartoonitures of people and events in our lives. He also won the contest for designing the Mascot for his division when he worked as a government worker. It does me proud to see my kids wearing their t-shirts with "Otto" on them.

8. Staying Healthy- My dad was always exercising. He wasn't the type to hit the gym but would often walk and do sit ups in our living room. He also gave me a healthy amount of guilt when we would eat junk food. His voice is still in my head, especially whenever I buy my kids (and me) sugar cereal. That is why I don't buy it more often I think. Not that desserts were banned in our house, he was usually the one making us chocolate shakes or popcorn.

A good example of something my Dad would do is the following story. When Tim and I were visiting with my parents in California we stopped at In and Out burger. My Dad was getting a shake and asked Tim if he wanted one, Tim said

"No thanks" but then my Dad asked again a few times. "Are you SURE you don't want one?" Finally Tim gave in. As my Dad passed him his shake he warned,
'These things will kill you ya know"

I often miss my Dad, especially when I see how much Joseph is turning out like him and think of how much fun they (and all my kids) would have had together. But I am grateful for the opportunity to have had him as my Dad and know that my kids are who they are in part because of how my Dad raised me. I am grateful for the Gospel in my life, another thing he taught me. That is probably the most important thing he passed on to me. With my knowledge of it, I know how to be happy in this life even when my parents have passed on. I also know I can see him again some day and he will always be my Dad.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood!

Today is looking like the beginnning of the end of a long cold winter. I imagine we have more snow ahead but there is a HUGE patch of brownish green grass on my lawn. Good enough for me for now. Hooray!

I also realized the other day that it was 6:00pm and it was still light. Another sign that there is warmth and light ahead. Today is a sunny day and a bit warmer than it has been too. Sam has been sick all weekend but appears to be back to his smiley fun self today so I think I will take my kids out and get us all some much needed vitamin D, fresh air and exercise. I don't think I have ever been so excited to see the the coming of spring.

Later same day.

Ok...so it isn't spring yet. I took my kids out to walk and ride their bikes around the path at the park behind our house. They wanted to go back within 10 minutes. Actually I will be honest...I wanted to go back in 10 minutes. My kids were crawling along on the bikes they insisted on bringing and everyone was freezing. When Lincoln refused to ride his big wheel anymore I knew that was the end of it. But all in all I think I got more sunshine and fresh air in that 20 minutes than I have in the last 3 months total so it is a good thing we went. Next time no bikes though.

(picture was taken by my brother David Sandberg)

10 Things I love about You: Part 2

As I was looking through some of my old blogs I noticed I did a blog about why I love each of my kids. I realized I need to add to that. I need to add why I love Tim. Here we go...and in no specific order

1. He is so creative. He makes me proud and blows me away with the great ideas he has. What is even better is he is creative about so many things, from his art work, to how to motivate our kids to do chores, from decorating the house to our Christmas cards. From how to chose names for our kids to what to have for dinner.

2. He puts up with my many "crushes" . Tim is either totally patient or very secure of how deserving he is of my love and knows that he is at the top of my crush list no matter who else may be on it. He not only puts up with my crushes he humors me about them. For Christmas he got me autographed pictures of three of my favorite actors. This is not uncommon behavior for him. What a stud!

3. He thinks like I do. Not always but in so many ways we think alike. Especially in the things that matter most. I knew it the day I read his article and didn't even know I would meet much less marry the guy. After 10 years I still say we think alike. How can you not help but love someone who agrees with you in so many ways. Sometimes it seems like he is reading my mind and it freaks me out!

4. He makes me laugh. Tim has said many times that one of the reasons he loves me is because I laugh at all his jokes. He has the ability to say something that I know I should be mad about but says it in a way that just cracks me up. We also seem to have the same sense of humor so he doesn't have a hard time guessing what will make me laugh.

5. He is a great dad. Tim has undying patience. He loves to be with the kids and to do fun stuff with them. I love that when I leave the kids with him, I know they are in good hands. Perhaps better hands than mime. He has the same philosophies of parenting as I do so we are almost always in agreement when it comes to how kids are corrected.

6. Tim is a responsible income earner. Tim works hard, he is responsible and I know I can count on him to do whatever he needs to do to take care of us. He is wise about the things he needs to be and is emotionally mature. He is cooperative and considerate so he doesn't tick off his coworkers. He is humble enough that if he ever lost his present job he wouldn't be holding out for a managerial position, although he would probably get one.

7. Tim is a righteous priesthood holder. I won’t say he is perfect because if I did you would know I was lying, no one is, but he sure tries. He knows what is important. He encourages me to choose the right and is always trying to himself. He works hard at his callings and respects his priesthood leaders. He blesses our home with his humble leadership style and honors his Priesthood.

8. He is a Romantic spouse. Tim makes me feel loved and appreciated. He does it in a personal way too. He doesn't just give me flowers and jewelry, THANK GOODNESS! (He knows me well enough to know I don't like that cliché stuff). On my first birthday together he gave me a bouquet of flowers and he gave me a poem explaining the meaning of each flower's color and he tied my engagement ring into that poem when he gave me that. Usually he gives me other things though. He gives me the book I have been wanting or makes me a dress, plans surprises, but most of all he lets me know that he would rather be with me than anyone else.

9. He is always excited about learning something new. He loves to learn new things, and try new things. He is always taking new classes or trying a new hobby. I tease him about his many kits...first aid, photography, art, 72 hour, but wow...how handy is THAT? He knows how to do SO MUCH stuff and he knows so many interesting things. If he doesn't know how to do something, he will learn. He is a jack of many trades and he is one fascinating man. The boy sews and cooks. . . VERY WELL, what more need I say?

10. Ummmm how do I put this...lets just say "I know what he can do with his little finger" (and so much more), and I am impressed.

My mother's pearls

Today I received a great surprise. For Christmas Tim bought me a Jewelry chest. I have a dresser but I always use the master bath instead to do my hair and everything because of better lighting and access to plugs for curling irons and blowdryers. We gave that to Elisabeth. TIm thought a jewelry chest would fit in our closet better and fit my needs more approriately. I finally put this jewelry chest together today. I thought to myself...I really have no jewelry to put in this thing and I am not the type to buy jewelry or really want most of it. It will serve my purpose for other stuff. It has two of those doors, one on each side, that you put necklaces in. I definitely don't have enought of those to fill two. I couldn't even fill the one on my dresser.
I started putting the few items I have into the chest. I then decided to see what was in a bag of my mom's jewelry she had when she was alive. It appeared to have one or two fancy pearl necklaces...not quite my style. I was wrong however. It had 6. Most of them are very simple which is the rare sort of jewelry that I alwasy thought I would like to have. I was touched. It feels good to have something of hers, that reminded me so much of her. Jewelry with sentimental value is far more valuable than jewelry that I just buy to wear. I now have many pearl necklaces in my jewelry chest, more than fits in one side of the necklace hooks. I couldn't have discovered these at a better moment. Thanks Mom. I love them.

Lucia Morning

I apologize for the long pause in my blogs...to those few loyal readers. On December 13th we celebrated St. Lucia Day for the second year in a row. This is a Swedish tradition we celebrate because although my parents were both born in the U.S. all 4 of my grandparents immigrated from Sweden when they were young adults and met and married in the states . On Sancta Lucia Day the oldest daughter dresses in a white gown, red sash and a crown of candles (ours were battery operated) and lingonberry leaves(ours were plastic). She brings Lussekater buns (we just used cinnamon rolls), pepperkauker (ginger snaps) and drink to those in the house early in the morning. There is a legend about Sancta Lucia who brought food to the starving and it celebrates that the days will soon start to grow longer instead of shorter...a celebration of light.
We added a few special touches of our own. We decided to make it the day we put lights on our christmas tree and decorate it. It helped celebrate the light theme even more. Lastly we tried this special drink that is part of the tradition...Glogg. I wasn't terribly impressed. Tim said it tasted like grape juice. with a kick. I disagreed. I like grape juice.
Elisabeth loves being our Santa Lucia and she makes a beautiful Saint.