Walking With Angels

Utah county has an incredible organization called United Angels Foundation that gives support to children of all disabilities and their families. We were able to attend their "Walk with Angels" fundraiser today and are so glad that we could. Some of our extended family members were able to come do it with us which made it even more special. Before the actual walk began the announcer said, "we call this our walk with angels because we truly believe that all these children with different disabilities are angels." I had just been begging and pleading and dragging my very stubborn Nash man to get off the bouncy house and come join the walk. I looked around and saw several parents dealing with the same thing. Kids not wanting to comply or be interrupted in their fun. Some parents were struggling to push wheelchairs through the grass. Others were trying to keep all of their other children from running off. Some of the kids had to be carried, pulled in wagons or pushed in strollers. Everyone started lining up behind the start line but not us because Nash wanted to be up by all of the cool characters. So we sat in the shade and watched the parade of "angels" and their families walk by. At first appearance they didn't look like angels, at least not the cherubic, glowing, always pleasant, well behaved kind of angels. But they are angels. They are angels because they come here in imperfect bodies (which can't be an easy thing) to teach us, their families and friends how to give and how we need to live. These kids have a way of reminding us who we really are, what is truly important and who we have the potential to become. Raising children, even if they don't have "special needs" is a challenging and life changing experience. (In my mind everyone has "special needs" or ways they could use a little extra love. Some needs are just more apparent than others.) I am amazed at what my kids have taught me about myself. Nash is an especially great teacher, he knows just how to get me outside of my comfort zone. Some days he can really push me to my limit but as I look back on struggles we've had and continue to have I can actually see the growth and feel the joy and satisfaction that come with that growth. It is true, they are angels. We really walked with a lot of angels today and it was awesome!

 Nash meet his dream girl..."Snowflake" a.k.a. SnowWhite

Hamster Tragedy

Once there was a little girl who had two hamsters, Tootsie and Sucker.  Her parents told her she could have her hamsters as long as she took care of them. She did a great job playing with them, feeding them, making sure they had water and cleaning out their cage. Sadly one day about a year later one of the hamsters passed away after eating some play dough. Shortly after that the little girl got busy with school, piano and friends. Her mom started having to feed the remaining hamster, clean out its cage and talk to it so it wouldn't be lonely. One day while cleaning out the hamster cage the kind mother remembered the deal and told the little girl that if she didn't start taking care of the hamster again it would be gone. Apparently the little girl didn't think the mom was serious. After all everyone loved the hamster even if was starving and stinky. Well one day the mom got brave and sold the hamster to a little boy who was excited to take care of it. Several days went by when suddenly the moment the mother had been dreading came. The little girl asked where her hamster was. The kind mother told her the truth, but suddenly the mother was not kind anymore.  Now she was the meanest most cold hearted mother in the world. The little girl cried a lot and moped around missing her hamster for days. The mother cried too and had some sleepless nights. The mother felt really horrible especially when the girls teacher called to see why the girl had been so sad at school. Just when the mother was about to call the boy who now owned the hamster to see if she could buy it back, the handsome dad came to the rescue.  He stepped into the middle of the drama promising both the mother and the girl  that this was a good learning experience. He explained once again why the hamster was gone and what we could do to learn from it. He also promised the girl that if she kept up on her other responsibilities during the winter she could try again with a new pet in the spring. It still hurt for awhile but the little girl started looking forward the getting a bunny in the spring. Then one day the girl said "Mom I can't believe you gave my hamster away!" The mom said, "Neither can I!" Then they both laughed.

Oh the hard lessons we learn!