The days are very busy here - keep thinking I am going to get it all together - but alas, that hasn't happened yet! LOL I am so far behind in blogging and every day I think I'll get to it - and then I don't. It is amazing how much more active I am with the kids here! LOL

I was thinking this morning how grateful I am for my children, their spouses (my other children), and my grandchildren. I don't know why I was so lucky to have them - but I am certainly glad that I do. I am so grateful for the plan of salvation, the gospel, the priesthood, and temple covenants that make it all possible to be together forever. I was thinking about Cherstin and Dan's wedding and being in the sealing room and having each of my children there and knowing that Felicia would also have been there if she had been endowed. That is joy...not just happiness...but the intangible and indescribeable feeling of joy. There is nothing better that I know of.

Speaking of Cherstin - I think it is time that I share a few things about her in memory of her 25th birthday on April 11th.

In 1984 we were living in Siegelbach, Germany. And, what was extraordinarily unusual was that my parents, my brothers Brad, Mike, and Jim and their wives and families were also living in the villages near Siegelbach and we all lived in the same ward too. If that were the case in Salt Lake no one would think a thing of it - but to have us there in Germany was absoluterly wonderful and a little odd at the same time! It isn't everyday that happens.

We really enjoyed having family there and we took the opportunity to travel and do things together on occasion which really created wonderful memories for all of us. One of those memories was going to The Passion Play in Omeramergau.

The Passion Play is world renowned. It tells the story of the Messiah - starting in Old
Testament times all the way through his life - from birth to resurrection. People come from all over the world to see it - usually about 500,000 people come for it when it is being performed. The villagers of Omeramergau. some 2000 of them, are the performers - the actors, musicians, chorale, make-up, costumers.... And this isn't just a small production lasting an hour or so - no! It is a huge production and lasts about 7 hours, not including a small lunch break. The play began in 1634 and continues to this day, with performances every 10 years on the decade - i.e. 1990, 2000, 2010, etc. However, in 1984 there was a special 350th anniversary performance - and it couldn't be more perfect - we lived in Germany and we probably wouldn't have this opportunity again so we talked to our family about going. Mom and Dad, Brad and Lexie, and Chad (who was visiting from the States prior to going on his mission) decided to join us. We were able to get tickets and hotel reservations in a military hotel - truly a miracle! LOL

We had a great time. In fact, that trip spawned some of our family's favorite memories about my Mom. When we went down to the hotel dining room for the breakfast buffet we knew that we would be gone all day to the play...and so Mom evidently decided to stock up. She had always carried a large purse that had always had a treasure trove of unusual things in it - i.e. screw driver, flashlight, sewing kit, glue - you name it! - but none of us had a clue that she had added things to it that she thought we might need over the course of the day. She was true to one of her mottos, "you never know when you might need it." When we went to a local restaurant for lunch the place was crammed with people - as it was for every restaurant, store, and hotel. The poor people at the restaurant were trying with all their might to keep up - but there was no way that was going to happen with the throngs of people. While we were waiting in line someone mentioned how hungry they were and how much they wish they had a roll. Mom promptly produced a "broetchen" much to our amazement. But when the individual took the roll he immediately started to long for some butter and jelly - and Mom quickly produced them. But then the individual started to lament that they didn't have a knife - but Mom did! LOL This continued for boiled egg, fruit, yogurt, spoon, crackers, cookies, candy, gum, even a drink...it seemed that she was a magician! We each were the benefactor of her "preparedness" but we have laughed about this repeatedly throughout the years.

Anyway - Rich and I and Brad and Lexie needed to find people to leave our children with while we were gone. We made arrangements with members of the ward that had children our kids' ages and we left knowing that the kids would enjoy themselves and be safe at the same time. It had been a long time since we had ever been gone from them and we teased about it being a 2nd honeymoon.

A couple of months later we learned that both Lexie and I were pregnant. It really didn't fit the time line of Omeramergau - but Rich always used to say that Cherstin was "our Passion Play baby." To this day he likes to think of her like that.

There were some pregnancies that were really bad for me - and Cherstin's was one of them. I was so sick I could hardly hold my head up for most of the time. Desi was just little then but once the kids left the house for school she would climb into the bed with me and just lay very still while I tried to maintain...she wouldn't leave my side until Phil would come home at lunch time, then she would go sit with him quietly while he played his video games. Then when the other kids got home she would follow them around - I shudder to think what it would have been like if she hadn't been so good. Even as late a Valentine's Day when we went to a dinner theater for a High Priest activity, I was having difficulty - I couldn't make it through the play - had to leave early and threw my insides up leaving the parking lot.

Another thing that proved to be unsettling for me was the thought that this birth could be like Desi's. Desi had been very difficult and I was extremely anxious about a repeat performance. Fear and dread about it plagued me throughout the pregnancy - I kept telling Rich that I wasn't going to "do this" and he would look at me like I was totally irrational (could it be because I was???) and tell me that there really wasn't a way out of this but to go through it. That didn't help!

I don't really remember the actual due date - I believe it was for the 4th or so of April - but Lexie and I were both due together. That was pretty neat. Because Brad and Lexie were civilian they went to a German doctor and to a German hospital. But, because we were military we were to go to Landstuhl Army Medical Center for prenatal care and delivery. However, I wasn't impressed. I felt like I was just one of the herd of cattle that they were putting through the corral. I came home from my second visit and told Rich that I really didn't want to have a baby there...they treated everyone the same...talked down to those of us that had children - as if we had never had a baby before...and it took hours to go through their clinic for check-ups. Rich listened and said if I could find a doctor at another facility that would agree to take us then he would support me. I found just such a doctor at Hahn Air Force Base - over an hour a way - but I loved the small clinic, the staff, and my doctor. It really made my care enjoyable and I was grateful that they would accept me as a patient.

As my due date came and went, and Lexie had Arianne, I started to have contractions - not Braxton Hicks - but real contractions that just didn't seem to produce much progression. Finally the doctor ordered a series of stress tests to determine how the baby was holding up and whether or not they needed to take her by c-section. She was fine and so day after day we waited.

Finally in the wee hours of April 11th I could feel the contractions getting harder and longer. I told Rich and it was decided that he would go ahead and go in to work but he would keep tabs on me throughout the morning. By lunchtime he was home and anxious to go to the hospital - he was glad that I liked the doctor and hospital - but he wasn't looking forward to the hour+ trip there over twisting and turning roads. As the kids came home we got things prepared to drop them off at my folks on our way to the hospital and I wanted my Dad to assist in giving me a blessing. When we got there my Dad was nearly as bad as Rich, nearly shoving me out the door! LOL

Rich drove fast and cautiously over the winding roads that he so dreaded - and I was becoming increasingly more uncomfortable. About 20 minutes away from the base my water broke - the car was completely soaked - as was I. By this time Rich was really frustrated and chiding me for not leaving sooner...he knew that when my water breaks we have a baby pretty quickly.

As we went through the gate of the base Taps began to play and the entire base stopped where they were...except us. Neither Rich nor I wanted to have the baby in the car! Rich stopped at the entrance of the hospital and let me out - I thought I was okay - and he would park and get things out for me. I waddled down the corridor in squishy shoes and soaked clothes - dripping a path all along the way. When I got to the triage center it was 5:10 p.m. I gave them the specifics and they checked me and said that I was 3-4 cm dilated - it would probably be a few hours by their estimation. They started to get me admitted, to place the I.V., but I was really having difficulty. Rich came through the door and I was never so glad to see him as I was at that moment. One of the nurses could see that I was struggling and so she decided that she would just check me again - I was 10 cm! She started to go get a wheel chair or a guerney but I told her I wanted to walk and walk I did - straight to the delivery room a couple of doors down the corridor - until I felt Cherstin's head - medics and nurses appeared out of nowhere to assist me to the delivery table. The doctor had been in the scrub room and when he saw what was happening he just left the water running (it over flowed the basin and created a little flood) and came to my rescue. Cherstin was born at 5:24 p.m. - just 14 minutes after arriving at the hospital.

The care at the hospital was wonderful. The staff were in awe of how quickly things had gone and seemed just as in awe that she was #5 for us. They used Cherstin to demonstrate baby care to other new moms but didn't make me attend the classes because I "was the pro!" LOL Rich brought the kids to the hospital, and mom and dad came too, to see our newest little one. Our stay was relaxing and enjoyable - but that wouldn't last.