Horror turned to gratitude

Tonight was the biggest scare of our whole life. Every parent's nightmare.

JJ got out of his ART seminar early today and we thought we would go to the fair down in Ballwin and check out the fireworks later that night. Despite the extremely hot/humid Missouri weather we were having a good time and let Dominic ride one of the motorcycle rides. We went and got a bite to eat, sat down and shared a sandwich. We get up to go and get something to drink and JJ and I turned away for ONLY 1 SECOND!!! and Dominic was GONE. No where to be found among so many crowds of people. I didn't quite go into panic mode yet thinking he would be just a few feet away as I circled around. JJ and I both began circling, and calling his name and he was still no where to be found. We both started running around like crazy asking everyone if they had seen a little blond boy about the age of three wearing a blue and orange shirt. No one had seen him.

JJ and I split up searching everywhere and meeting up every minute or so. I wanted so badly for JJ to come back with him in his arms, but he only came back with a more frightened look on his face. I really started panicking at this point and was starting to hyperventilate asking everyone I saw just sitting around the area, if they had seen him. Everything was racing through my mind, someone took him, maybe he's drowning in the lake nearby, what if he is long gone by now and I will never see my boy again. I started praying asking Heavenly Father to just please bring our little boy back to us, please, please, please.

JJ then told me that I needed to go to the police, while he kept looking. I was freaking out on the utter verge of tears and went to the police booth. I approached the police booth and said in a pretty loud alarming voice that I had lost my son, and NO ONE even paid attention to me! I started snapping my fingers and yelling a little louder that I HAD LOST MY SON!!! and finally they pointed to this other little boy about the age of five who had lost his parents and said, "Is that him?" I said, "NO!! That is not him, please go out and find him!!" All the police guys were just standing around me, not even seeming to budge, looking at me as though I was some psychopath! It seriously was like one of those nightmares where you are falling and you can't scream or do anything, because I felt completely helpless and out of control.

So then I started insulting them hoping that then they might do something. I said, "would you guys go out there and do your job! because if you don't then I need to leave and find him myself" The police officer gave me this look like I was the rudest lady on the planet and insulted him personally. Meanwhile the officer kept telling me that I had to stay there to keep giving them information about what my son looked like and was wearing, and assured me that the officers located around the area are now looking for him. I felt like I had told them his description for the hundredth time, and I wanted them to start looking too!

Finally I just said, "Look, would you guys just go out there and start looking?" Just as the guys left to find him, JJ came approaching the booth with Dominic in his arms. Panic soon turned to pure gratitude that me boy was safe and back with us again. 10 whole minutes, felt like an eternity.

JJ said he found Dominic a few yards away down this path where we had lost him just lying on the grass by himself. JJ grabbed him in his arms and told him to never leave mom and dad again. JJ said he was lying on the grass very melancholy, like he was scared but was not crying.

Together again, I grabbed him, squeezed him tight and we went up the hill to watch the fireworks. The whole time he sat in my lap squeezing my arms tight which were wrapped around him. I don't know if he felt the fear and gratitude from me and was reassuring me, or if he was scared of the loud fireworks.

Tonight I sit in such gratitude to my Heavenly Father for answering my plea and bringing my son safely back to us.

Challenge went belly up

I just can't believe what people will do for money some times! Just a little side note about JJ. When he was 13 years old he got dared to swim across a pool that haden't been cleaned in 6 months filled with frogs, snakes, and mud all for $16!! Of course he did it and few of his friends actually paid up. Then he was dared to eat half an onion for $5, and of course did that too!!!You would think that he had learned. All these crazy stories you hear after you marry the guy ;)

So when JJ heard about this Pointers Pizza challenge in St. Louis he was all for it! JJ found another crazy friend like himself to do this thing! The deal is, you and one other person have to eat a 28" pizza in an hour and if you do, you get $500. JJ researched and researched and had been preparing for it as well as his friend Steve. He would eat one big meal around 3:00 each day and lots and lots of water. Unfortunatly he got a little sick the week of and couldn't quite train like he wanted, anyways with hesitation, he decided to give it a go anyway.

The funny thing is, he called the whole family to have them pray for him that he will win the money. I told him that if he won, that would be awesome because it could go toward his lasik eye surgery that he had been wanted since forever. Right before we left to go to the resturant, he was gettin' himself all pumped up watching Rocky and listening to "eye of tiger" swinging punches in our living room (I should have taken some photos of that cause that was hilarious).

So we get there and the pizza comes out lookin like this:

Talk about flippin HUGE!!!

The boys are lookin pretty confident kinda like this:


Timer starts and they start chowin kind of like this:


Their stratigies were set and their confidence was high. Five minutes later, they were already like this:


Steve started complaining that his jaw was hurting, and JJ was on the floor doing push ups to try and create more of an appitite. 40 minutes in, they surrendered with this much left to go:


Their surrendering attitudes with sickness starting to set in:



Dominic finishing up the aftermath:


The funniest thing about it was, we thought that there had been 17 people who finished the contest just since this year, but turns out its only been 17 people since they started the compitition 10 years ago. Needless to say JJ was sick the whole rest of the evening, but fortunately for me, you are only given one shot at this contest in your whole life. So Pointers Pizza wont be seeing us again, that is unless JJ gets another bee in his bonnet to do the milkshake contest which is 16, 16oz milkshakes in an hour! Ha, yeah right!

He's our little champ

Today they called me out of a very intense cardio kick-boxing workout to tell me that my little crazy boy had somehow managed to take a huge chunck of skin out of his eyebrow. He was crying for a little bit but didn't seem to be in extreme pain or anything. I personally have never had anything like this happen to myself nor have I ever had to have stiches so I didn't know what kind of wounds require stiches. I got a few opinions from some of the girls there at the Y and they said that it looked too deep to heal on its own. After finally tracking down the hubby at school, we headed off to the ER.

This was JJ's idea to take off the bandage to show the puncture wound.

Poor little guy had to recieve two whole stiches. The only thing gettin him through this part was the "pink" (actually red) popsicle promised at the end of the procedure.

Overall he was a real champ through it all. The doc said that he will probably have a "V" shaped scar on his eyebrow from now on. JJ said we can't count on Dom making us any money now with stunning looks.... there went that dream ;)

A "high-class" time

When you have "high-class" friends, you get to do "high-class" things. Everyone like myself who is not "high-class," needs a high class friend. My high class friend is Maria. She's sweet, talented, beautiful, and "high-class." Everything about her is put together, orderly, and sophisticated. Qualities, I only dream about, but have eternity to perfect, right?

I felt very honored a few weeks back, when she called me up and asked me if I wanted to go have breakfast with her at Tiffany's. Yes, you heard that right, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" Uh-Humm, how could I pass that up?

Despite the accidental sipping of alcohol, the breakfast was lovely and I got to look at jewelry that I will never have, and mistake cuff lings for belly button rings! Shows you how "high-class" I am :)
Thanks Maria for a fun, "high-class" morning. You are so much fun!

Can't leave him alone for ONE second!

The other day, JJ had mentioned that he was going to cut his hair as he usually does because it was getting a tad scruffy. I step outside for ONE second, come back in, and I find, to my astonishment and dismay, this!....

I don't know what bee got in his little bonnet, call it male bonding, I have no idea. But I am NOT a fan of his new look, because there is nothing left for me to grab. My little boy is now a little man!

I guess one good thing is its more economical.

Four years ago....

Four years ago today, I knelt across the beautiful temple alter with this handsome hunk, the love of my life....

and proclaimed our undying love, commitment and dedication to each other.

walking out of that Holy place, making a sacred covenant to each other, an eternal covenant....

I knew our journey was just beginning and we weren't going to look back....

You smiled at me when the lyrics to the song sung at our wedding said the verse, "Lets go make a family"


and that's just what we did! Two kids and four years later, I am more in love with you now, although I thought it was impossible at the time. You are my everything, my "one and and only." As I gaze into our future....

I see us growing together as we teach our children to love the Lord. I see us leaning more and more on each other as times get tough. I see us old and grey not ever wanting to have to leave the other behind. And ultimately I see us being that eternal family that both of us desire. I am grateful to have such an amazing angel truly sent from heaven, that loves me too much more than I will ever know. I am grateful for the many ways daily that you show me this and the simple ways you let me know that you care.
Happy Anniversary Babe, I love you.