All Is Full Of Love

Again, this is a few weeks late - oh well. :)

The night before we went to Longhorn's Steak House for dinner - soooo yummy!

Daniel got me a beautiful orchid, made me breakfast in bed and cooked dinner. And the best part was not having to change a diaper all day!

From the time I was little, I always loved babies and wanted to be a mom. I would tote around my dolls, push them around in their stroller, and even pretend to nurse them.

This is me with Baby Sarah (my favorite doll).

This is me, Kirsten, Baby Erik (and above Erik, you can see another one of my dolls).

Again with Baby Sarah (my favorite doll).

I remember when this one was taken -

my Mom was watching a friend's baby and I sat with the baby on the back deck and tried to sketch him sleeping.

This is me and Kirsten holding Baby Jonathan.

Here I am holding Baby Jacob.

I am blessed to have an amazing mom who showed me what a joy motherhood can be.

I have wonderful grandma's who were also an example to me of motherhood and womanhood. I feel so blessed to have these outstanding women in my life.

This is my Grandma Bodil bathing my mother when she was a baby.

This is MY mother bathing me when I was a baby!

Grandma Darlene holding me as a baby.

Grandma Bodil holding me.

Grandma Bodil holding Charlotte, my Mom, and Kirsten.

I LOVE being a mom. No other job or responsibility that I have had comes close to the meaningful work of motherhood. I LOVE this job! I LOVE my dear little Charlotte who made me a mother. She brings such joy and entertainment into my life, it is hard to imagine what life was like before she came into this world.

On Wednesday, April 27th TORNADOES swept across Alabama and Georgia and 5 other southern states killing at least 337.

Early reports estimate that "there were more tornadoes in a single day during the outbreak than ever recorded in history. Of the 312 twisters that were spawned, 226 occurred within a 24-hour period."

Here are some news articles on the storms:

This is a video of the tornado that hit Tuscaloosa, AL. And here is another one.

In Huntsville, we were lucky to not receive these huge tornadoes, but there was still some wind damage and the surrounding towns in our county were hit pretty hard and included some fatalities. Huntsville (along with much of north eastern Alabama) remained without power from Wednesday until Monday. Some neighborhoods took even longer to restore power.

At the time of these storms, we were all in Atlanta so Daniel could do some business with the Ron Clark Academy. When we heard about the power outage we decided to extend our trip to Atlanta until power returned. Every day we would receive random updates from friends and family about long lines at the gas station, not enough food at the grocery store, having to throw away the contents of fridges and freezers, and cold showers. But those inconveniences paled in comparison to the devastation others in surrounding areas experienced.

One particularly devastating story came from a co-worker of Daniel's. Her childhood home is about an hour outside of Huntsville and that is where her Mom lived. It was a 2,000 sq/ft brick home that was completely leveled. Some of the surrounding homes were damaged by the tornado in the form of a wall collapsed here or a roof blown off over there; but there was not a brick in place that remains of what was once her home. In its place is a pile of rubble and the foundation.

This is where her childhood house once was.

This is her boat wrapped around the tree.

Miraculously her mother was not in the house at the time of the storm. If she had been, there would have been no way she could have possibly survived. Earlier that day, her brother, who lives about a 1/4 mile down the road, called and invited her to come to his house to ride out the storm together. She was reluctant, but eventually she went to his place. What are the chances, right? They could have just as easily decided to stay at her home, but for some reason they were in the right place at the right time.

When Daniel went to help her clean up the property he said that you could see the path of the tornado by the damage that was left behind. It first hit her mother's house and then it was heading straight for her brother's home when the tornado split and went to either side of his house sparing them the most devastating damage. Still, portions of the roof were destroyed, but they were fortunate to not have any loss of life.

A few days later, they began receiving in the mail things like bank statements and other documents sent from people 3 hours away in Tennessee who had discovered items of theirs that had blown in from the storms.

I cannot begin to imagine what they and others are going through right now. It is unbelievable to me how long it takes to first - build a house and then - what it takes to make that house into your HOME and then - just how QUICKLY it can all be destroyed.

May we all pull together to help those who have been affected by the storms in whatever way we can. Charitable donations of goods, clothing, and time are all needed. May God give strength and peace to those who have lost so much and let US be His helping hands.

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Other historic events that same week:

Friday, April 29th - A Royal Wedding! For Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton. A modern fairytale full of beauty, pomp and circumstance, and elegance.

Sunday, May 1st - Osama Bin Laden, the world terrorist is dead. Ten years after the 9/11 attacks, Osama Bin Laden is found and killed by U.S. CIA officers and Navy SEALs. People across the world rejoice.

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Local historic event that same week:

Sunday, May 1st - Atlanta, Georgia temple is rededicated by President Monson. Daniel and I attended the 2nd dedication broadcast to the local stake center.