Is there a doctor in the house? Oh, no there's not.

So.....this is Reed's new hobby. Thanks to Mike Neilson or should I say no thanks to Mike.

Mike, our brother in law who is also going to oral surgery school, sent us a suture kit for Reed's birthday. I don't think I have EVER seen Reed so excited for any gift and that's saying alot. (It's not like I don't give nice gifts. No, you don't detect any bitterness there. No, none at all.) Anyways, for quite some time now Reed has been wishing he could do stitches himself. I don't know where this dream came from - maybe it is because he has had stitches so many times that he feels it would be a useful skill. I, on the other hand, think that if you get stitches you go to the doctor, urgent care center, emergency room, etc. It's not a do-it-yourself project. Oh, but it is to Reed. So in addition to the suture kit. Mike sent along a 4x6 card of information. Is it unnerving to anyone else that all the info on how to stitch somebody up fit on both sides of this 4x6 card???

Anyways, along with Mike's information and the tutorials that are plentiful on the internet Reed attempted to stitch up this orange. I was not impressed, this orange definately would have bled to death. About half way through the experience Reed mumbled, "This is harder than it looks." But he is not discouraged. He insists that he will master this in his free time. (Luckily he has very little of that right now.)

I asked him later why he didn't go to med school if he was so interested in this. His reply was, "I don't want to be a doctor, I just want to be able to do stitches." Wierd. So visit the Bell house with care.... if you happen to cut something open here DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT let Reed get near you.

P.S. Mike: What in the world is the scalpel for? I thought we were stitching people up not cutting them open.

P.P.S. Just for the record- Reed is very aware that the only chance he ever has of stitching up me or our children is if there has been some huge catastrophe and there isn't any remote possible chance that any qualified medical person is anywhere near and without Reed's stitching abilities someone might die. With those odds, pretty much the only thing he will be saving is an orange.

Mother Nature... are you serious?!

Really I can't believe it.

I'm completely dumbfounded.

It's SNOWING.

I don't live in any mountain range or area where you would ever think this could possibly happen. I tried to remember if I had ever seen anything like this before. But since my memory is terrible, I really couldn't come up with anything. But my brother, Ryan, who remembers every minute detail of our childhood assured me he couldn't remember a time that something like this had ever happened either. So there you go. I think Mother Nature went on strike and her replacement is having some troubles. Last weekend it was 83 degrees and this weekend we had snow. Could Mother Nature please come back and give me a normal northwest spring?

Bath Baby

Elayna LOVES the bath. I mean, she really loves it. She loves everything about it... and it has always been that way. My other two, we've had to acclimate them to the wonders and excitement of the bath, but not Laynie. She has always loved being in the water. I wonder what that means... maybe we've got an Olympic swimmer on our hands, or a deep sea diver, or maybe she's just inherited her mother's love of long luxurious baths. :) Dou you think that is genetic??? It must be.

Sweet

I was reminded of this today when a good friend of mine, who is getting ready to have a baby, asked me what kind of soap I use with my babies. It made me smile because it reminded me of how sweet my husband is. We had Nate in the American Fork Utah hospital and while we were there the nurses introduced us to pHisoderm and we used it through most of his infancy. You used to be able to buy it in select stores but now you can't. Anyways, the cute part of this story is the fact that my husband all on his own searched the internet for this soap, found it, and had a box sent to us right before Laynie was born. I didn't have a clue that he had done any of this until I received 10 bottles of it in the mail. (He wanted the free shipping. :)) Anyways, I was reminded as I was telling my friend this story- what a sweet husband I have and how much he loves and wants to protect his children. How lucky we are to have him. Love you Reed.

President Monson

How blessed we are to enjoy hearing from a prophet twice a year at conference! It was such an uplifting weekend. I have to admit that prior to this weekend, I was a little unsure about how I would feel. It was the first time that President Hinckley would not be speaking to us. I loved President Hinckley and honestly he is the only prophet I truly remember. President Hunter was the prophet for such a short time and then before him President Benson was quite ill for much of the time I remember him. I came to love and revere President Hinckley in a way I hadn't ever experienced in my life before. The few times in my life, when I was able to be in the same room as him, I was overwhelmed with such love for him. When he died and President Monson was called to fill that position, I knew I would always honor President Monson as our new prophet and always follow his counsel. But a bit of me felt that I would never love another prophet the way I loved President Hinckley. And yet as President Monson gave his concluding remarks today I was overwhelmed with a feeling of love and the same devotion to follow him and do all I could to head his counsel. As tears fell, I was amazed at the power of my emotions for our new prophet. Although President Hinckley and President Monson are different men my love for them and my desire to follow them is the same. My powerful emotions come from the fact that my spirit recognizes that they are servants our Savior, Jesus Christ, called at their particular time to be His mouthpiece and prophet to His people. I am filled with gratitude that I am to live at a time when prophets and apostles are able to lead and guide our lives. How grateful I am for President Monson, his life has certainly prepared him for the calling he now has. I love him and am anxious to follow his counsel.

North & South

So I found this FABULOUS movie last night. Reed was at work and so I found myself with some time to kill (Really there are bathrooms to clean and laundry to do but who wants to do that when they have a quite house all to themselves?). We have a netflix membership and so I am able to view some movies instantly via the internet. I'm sure most video stores carry it and possibly even the library. Anyways, can I tell you how much I loved it? It is based on a book by Elizabeth Gaskell and it is a BBC production. If you are a Jane Austen fan you just have to watch it. And even if you aren't one, who doesn't love a good love story? Just make sure you have some time on your hands... it's 3 1/2 hours long. But believe me, I couldn't help myself and watched the whole thing last night. It might possibly be my favorite movie. Anyways, I'm always looking for a good clean movie- thought I'd pass this one along.