Who let the dogs out??

"Faith"

Well, it's a surprise but we are now officially a "dog" family. Yes, I'm shocked too. Last Friday we became the new owners of a little girl dog part "Cocker" and part "The Dog Next Door." I could make a list about a mile long of why "I" DIDN'T want to get a dog right now, while the rest of the family could have written a list just as long as to why they want one. The short of the long story is that besides that fact that Daria has wanted a dog for many years and can often be found walking neighbors dogs or tending them, or the fact that she has a gift with all animals, but she really needed a dog. Being a almost 12 year old girl trying to stay on the right path during that ever so difficult self esteem growth stage can be tough these days. I'd rather her have a dog to fill some needs as opposed to the risk of leaning towards difficult teenage social norms. I woke up last Monday and realized that regardless of my apprehension, we needed to get a dog for Daria. I believe dogs can be healers as they love you no matter what. Regardless if you don't have a cell phone and it seems like everyone else does, or whether you wear name brand clothes or not, regardless of your grades or the cliques, being popular or different. The dog will still love you. With the hectic nature of life, maybe we all need a dog in this house! Ha! You may think getting a dog for a pre-teen is crazy, but Daria is an animal lover and prides herself on being super responsible (as long as it's an animal, plants do not count in this category).

The decision was pretty easy. My friend Megan got a cute dog. His name is Harry. Harry is soft, Harry is cute, and Harry is a super pleasant calm 5 month old puppy. Can't beat that. Harry had quite a few siblings who happened to be available. Never in her wildest dreams would Daria ever think we would let her get a dog. So she was highly shocked when we told her to pick one out. The fun didn't end there when Daria's dear friend Alise ended up getting one of the brothers. Three friends, three puppies.

So here is our new dog. Daria wanted the family to come up with names and then we would vote on it. I made a list of about 20 names but by the time I was done Daria had already named her "Faith". Well, after all, it is her dog.

I had to put this shot up. Faith has one black leg and one white leg. Dog friend down the street Elizabeth said it looks like a fashion statement.

For those of you who know Daria you will understand this picture. While most parents try to get their kids to clean their rooms, I'm on the other end trying to get Daria NOT to clean all the time. Once she got Faith she didn't make her bed for two days. Success! It was a picture moment.

So now I'm adjusting to life with a dog. Just for the record, she is cute. She is soft, she is very well behaved and she won't get much bigger. It feels like having a new baby at home because you have to keep an eye on a puppy all the time. I've got issues with four legged friends chewing on my house or not using the bathroom. So far so good but it's a lot of work. I'm not a fan of a "dog smelling" house, so there will be pet free rooms in our home including mine and the guest bedroom. Sorry, but I need a pet free zone. Doggie freshner, check. She really is calm, sits really well and is quiet, all but the other night when she howled, but it hasn't happened since. She loves the bean bag. So I put the bean bag up by my desk while I worked. She fell asleep and snored. Yes, the puppy snores. She laid on her tummy and snored. She slept on her back and snored, she slept on her side and snored. The snoring reminded me of Ken. So I called Ken to tell him he had something in common with the pup. and there it is, a day in the life of us.

The apple doesn't fall very far from the tree....

See this picture?

The man standing up to the left would be George Hemingway, December 7, 1944. We met him this fall at the air show. Here we are with George.

Today, while thumbing through one of his multiple World War II history books, Dustin paused as he looked at the December 7th photo above and said "Mom! I just can't believe that we met this guy, he's like, in a famous Pearl Harbor picture and we met him .... it's like History right here ... it doesn't get any better than that!"

I completely understand what he means and I had to laugh to myself, well, the apple really doesn't fall that far from the tree does it ?!

Traditions

I never set out to make a tradition of having our family picture taken each year at the ward Christmas party but it turned out just that way. Now each year I make sure that we get our picture taken ... no matter what.

As I was looking through the past 9 family Christmas photos I realized that some things don't change ... like the horrible lighting in the cultural hall, or my hair, or the fact that apparently we never miss a ward Christmas party. Some things do change, like the back drop gets better each year, our red shirts change and sometimes get reused and the kids get older. This year when we realized that Dustin didn't even own a red shirt to add to the Christmas theme so he settled for a 4th of July t-shirt. Until next year!

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

The GIFT ...... a long post but WORTH the read

Isaiah 41:17

"When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not a forsake them. "

As parents we spend a lot of time teaching our children correct principles but inevitably, there comes a point as they enter adolescence that you hope they will have experiences with others that reinforce those principles and make a difference in their life. You never know who that person will be.

Mrs. S. & Daria

When I first met Mrs. S. Daria's pre-AP language arts teacher during parent teacher orientation I wasn't sure what to think. This woman was spicy, direct, and passionate, which I liked. Passionate is probably an understatement. I sat in orientation with my head swimming hearing words like - ultimate gifts, impoverished people, gangs, violence, gardens, ministry, and callings. I didn't really hear anything related to language arts, yet, it sounded so awesome and over the top all at once. Was this even real or should I be worried? Parents whose older kids had Mrs. S. in previous years repeatedly said how her class changed their child's life. Quite frankly at first it scared the dickens out of me... but I knew this would be something good for Daria.

Let me tell you about Mrs. S. She had a rough childhood, lived through the darkest aspects of humanity and in her own words, "through the grace of God was given the chance to make it through it and has dedicated herself to making a difference." She feels that this is her ministry, to make a difference through teaching her students. I would come to find that ultimately she is 100% genuinely passionate about each individual student, she's been known during difficult situations to stand outside her room and say a prayer for a student who is struggling, or stand down the toughest parent who is not willing to teach his child responsibility. This woman really should have been on the CNN heroes of the year. While she makes no bones about the fact that she is Christian and that what she does is because of Jesus Christ, her ministry is to help her kids understand that there are those out there with greater needs and that they can do something about it not to glorify themselves but to glorify God. Thus every book this year that they will read will focus on people who face challenges such as poverty, gangs, bullying and violence (all age appropriate of course).

Daria & her cousin work at clearing underneath the Pecan trees.

Mrs. S. tackles it by incorporating the book "The Ultimate Gift" into her curriculum, with the support of the school Principal. There are 12 gifts from the book that the students will do/learn. The first was the gift of work ... 6 hours of back breaking labor ... for free, and it can't be something they normally do as their regular chores at home.

the dreaded cattle trailer

Daria goes to work

That's when Daria spent 3 hours power washing the cow pooh off of her grandpa's cattle trailer, clearing leaves and branches underneath the Pecan trees and spent a day loading up wood. It was not a pretty sight. There were tears and tantrums and to say Daria learned a lesson about hard work and service would be an understatement.

Load her up!

The second gift which is what this post is really about was the gift of money. Each student was given a 5 dollar bill and they were required to make that 5 dollars grow. How much it grew and how they made it grow was up to them. Daria chose to cook dinners, clean, or organize, for our neighbors for a fee.

Mrs. S. looks on as her students listen to the Living Water presentation.

On Tuesday of this week parents were invited to the school to celebrate the "Gift of Money" with Mrs. S.'s three classes. How much money do you think sixty 11 and 12 year old students in the "it's all about me stage" earned? Take a wild guess .... a whopping $11,507.00! they cleaned, baked, road bikes for pledges, made jewelry, raked lawns and the list goes on.

The students chose two organizations to send the money to. The first being "Living Water International" http://www.water.cc a Christian based ministry that over the past 20 years has completed over 9,000 water projects in 26 countries. Daria's 6th grade class earned enough money to have one well drilled and built in Ethiopia by the end of 2011. The second organization was AIM, another Christian ministry which provides sports equipment and sports camps to impoverished children in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. These kids are amazing.

Daria helps carry water that equals the weight a woman will carry walking up to 7 miles a day to get dirty water to drink.

As I stood there in the school library already amazed at the amount of money that was earned I realized that maybe we have already received the "ultimate gift". A teacher who is making a difference in Daria's life. But Daria isn't the only one who's received a gift. This Tuesday during the celebration I received a gift. I experienced something real, something rare and something worthwhile and yes something that has to do with God and in a very very cool way.... at school. Something that would probably spark debate, but if debated, miss the pure awesomeness of the magnitude of the situation.

There are politics and opinions that we swim in the murky disagreement of on a daily basis and in so doing often miss poignant real moments that transcend beyond the political correctness of our time .... the poignant moments that just for a second allows us to enjoy how simple things really can be, that every good thing doesn't have to be complicated and up for debate. Read on.

One student spoke about her experience earning money and expressed how when she became discouraged she prayed to the Lord for help. (this girl raised $2000.00 on her own). You don't usually hear that in school. The representative for Living Water spoke about the dire need for water and clean water in other countries. She explained how they are a "water ministry" providing water for life and also the living water of the gospel of Jesus Christ, serving those who are thirsty. Just for a moment I held my breath when I heard her say that and anxiously looked around the room for the politically correct police to burst through the doors. You know the ones who have made it so just joining a team at the YMCA guarantees you a trophy without winning because heaven forbid someone get their feelings hurt if they lose and don't get a trophy. Or the ones who took competition out of track and field day for the same reason. Or footballs off the recess playground because someone might get hurt. Or not allowing shirts with a cross or American flag on it because it might offend someone. Now don't get me wrong, I understand the constitutional issues of separation of church and state, but just for the record, I'm Christian and American. I don't see any reason to be ashamed of either and I don't see how any of that should offend someone. No matter what religion or country you live in, you should be proud of it. I'm lucky to be in a community surrounded by other religions, Sikh's, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish etc. and it doesn't offend me to see a turban or kara or any other religious wear. I think our society has become ultra sensitive. We want to celebrate our individualism but if we do we risk offending someone else. If it were up to the media and the PC police, they wouldn't allow that name of Christ to be mentioned in a school. In fact I'm almost positive that if the media got wind of what transpired in the school library on Tuesday they would make a bigger deal about the Christian aspect of this experience and totally ignore the fact that 60 kids just saved a community of people by providing clean water.

Examples of water that impoverished countries often drink from. Daria held up the Cyclosporiasis sample.

The representative for A.I.M. reminded the kids not to believe the myth that teenagers are lazy and can't make a difference. Here was proof. Three classes out of 32 made a huge difference. He reminded them that they were born to change the world. He used a basketball to remind them that they were created in the image of God, he fills you with the air, you were made to bounce, you were made to make a difference.

The assistant principle Mr. M. (who I swear only looks about 18) spoke about a mission trip he went on to Uganda during the summer and reminded the students to "let their light shine", that even the smallest, tiniest light can overpower darkness.

There was not a dry eye in the crowd. I almost could not believe I was standing in a school. I felt grateful, I felt empowered, and I felt uplifted, and for the first time this season I felt the true Christmas spirit. But most of all, it felt so good to hear people be able to express their beliefs without some political correctness hanging over our heads. It was simple, it was real. No matter what the debate, no matter what the religion, these kids chose these two Christian organizations, and that is ok. It doesn't mean that other non-Christian organizations aren't as important or don't do as great of service. Just for the record, in a school filled with students of various relgions, she has never received a complaint.

Thank you Mrs. S. for making a difference, for shining your light and sharing the "Living Water".

Who Knew ?

Have you ever played the game "Whoonu?" you know the one where you ask questions and find out all sorts of things about the person you are playing with.

As a parent it seems that we are frequently in the real life game of "Whoonu" as our children grow, change and become more of their own individual.

For instance, Daria has never been a team oriented sports person and has never been interested much in athletics. As a young girl she enjoyed dance until her interest turned almost totally toward piano. No need to be physical there. You will almost never find her near a ball unless it's 4-square or a short game of around the world with the basketball. As a parent there were times when I wondered if this was ok as I watched other little boys and girls go off to play t-ball, soft ball, or soccer. Isn't that what all kids do? Of course I know they don't but when your children are little you always wonder what they will end up liking or wanting to do.

This past year I've started to see where Daria's interests and strengths are when it comes to sports or athletics and sometimes it surprises me but always it impresses me. For the record, Daria is more athletic then I thought she was, just in a different way. She was extremely natural and good at Tae Kwon Do, mastered the rip stick within moments, and excels as a swimmer. In fact she is a fast quiet swimmer.

Lately she ventured into three other sports that I never would have guessed her for. The first was jogging around the block with me. I was impressed. Second, after volunteering at Cub Scout Day camp she was able to shoot BB guns and Archery. She was good at both but was very natural at archery and she liked it a lot. So much so that she said she might be interested in getting a bow. During the Boy Scouts 100th anniversary celebration, Daria made sure she had a chance to shoot some arrows. Lastly, on a whim, she had the opportunity to go rock climbing with her grandpa during our summer vacation. Grandpa (my dad) is an experienced rock climber and has taught others including children before. My gut response is that rock climbing would be in Daria's category of "FEAR." However, surprisingly she trusted Grandpa and amazingly did quite well considering it was her first time climbing and using tennis shoes instead of climbing shoes.

Who knows where these interests will take her or which ones she will continue to do. During the summer she conquered a 20 mile bike ride from 9100 ft to 9700 ft and some of it in freezing rain. Maybe bicycling will be on her list but as for now she did say she would like to take dance again.....

This was the "beginner" rock my dad wanted to take the kids on. Ok, ok, so it's not a beginner rock. The beginner rock already had people on it and my dad felt the kids would still do fine on this one so they went for it. Talk about trial by fire!

Grandpa belaying Daria

I love my camera and lens. Oh wait, this isn't about my lens, uhm great shot Daria, straight up!

Did I say I love my camera lens? I was down on the ground. Daria was not. Thank you 70-200!

When I looked up at her I wondered what her other grandparents would think of their granddaughter doing this .... I think they would think it was cool.

Coming down

Monday, July 26, 2010

I ran for the first time today. I've never considered myself a runner. I've never even considered running. In fact for most of my life I've thought that running was about the most ridiculous form of enjoyment or exercise. I mean, who in their right mind would want to run and run and run?

Funny how we change. Maybe it's my age. I don't know. I do know that my dad started running in his 30's, and many of my friends began to be interested in their 30's. Of course, I'm only in my 20's (LOL) So it is with me, a handful of years ago I had shallow thoughts of thinking that, well, running just might be sort of fun. Hhmmmm. I put that thought off for awhile. Until just a few months ago. Some friends invited me to participate in the summer SEALs competition. Uh, did I say competition? yeah right. I'm still not sure if I am capable of that. Crunches, I can do, pull ups, well I might be able to do that, push-ups no problem, running, well I'm willing to try, swimming, hhmmm, that one will need a lot of work. Either way if I participate or not, I'll get conditioned and will for sure participate next year.

Good friend Melanie meets me at the track. It's 7:30am and over cast, YES! for a first day running, I'm glad it's not sunny. Even though I exercise 5 days a week, that doesn't make me a good runner. For the record, I exercise in a nice air conditioned room with a fan. Further more I've never been much of a team sports athlete (although I learned to overcome my fear of getting hit by balls a few years ago and played volleyball with the ladies at church. It was actually fun) and the joke in our home is that I probably couldn't even run to the mailbox.

Well, I'm here to say, I ran about 3/4 of a mile this morning. At first I would run and just walk one of the turns, later I walked both turns, but for the most part I ran, and I surprised myself. Who would have ever thought? I felt good and I'm ready to try again.

Update September 26, 2010

Ok, yes this post is extremely overdue. I thought I might give an update on my running. I've learned as all of my friend's have told me that if you run, get good shoes and comfortable clothes. I agree, it works. The picture on this page is of my wild running shoes. Buying those was a story in itself. Long story short, I LOVE my running shoes ... they were worth the cost.

I never thought I would look forward to running .... but I do. I can do a consistent mile without stopping and will continue to get past the beginner stage and push to go further.

Sometimes when I run I feel like I'm cruising, sometimes my legs can go further but my lungs can't and sometimes my lungs can go further but my legs can't.

I didn't participate in the summer SEALs but my goal is to participate next year. Melanie and Nicole finished with super great times. I came on board too late in the prep which would have set myself up for a less than stellar result. I figured if I'm going to do it I'm going to be prepared. I know what is required now and at least I've got most of it down. Now I just need to lower my running time and work on the swimming .... until next year GO SEALs!

I still can't believe I enjoy running.

I've never met a veteran I didn't like, and I've never met a veteran whose story wasn't amazing. Personal pages of living history. Our history. Every human life is an important story that needs to be told, and everyone is a hero to someone. However, my passion, and photography focuses primarily on the military, veterans, and WWII historical preservation.. the stories, faces and heroes of the "greatest generation."

One such story is that of Jake McNiece, a name that may sound unfamiliar to most of you, but not to the halls of history and the great Second World War.
I had the great honor of meeting Jake this week when Ken, the kids, and I visited Martha and Jake in their home for about an hour, which in my mind was absolutely too short. I am forever grateful for their willingness to let complete strangers into their home as they greeted us at the door with hugs and handshakes.

So who is Jake and what did he do that was so important? According to Jake he did the same thing every other soldier did. Fought a war. Like many, Jake was just a young man from a small town, lived through the depression and dust bowl, and in his own words "joined the military only to help fight the war, and do his part and put an end to it."

But something interesting happened. Jake made history, in some unimaginable and legendary ways. Let me backtrack a bit. Jake McNiece was a paratrooper in the 506th, 101st Airborne division. He is the founder of the legendary "Filthy Thirteen". The picture above shows Jake (on the right) the day before they made their jump into Normandy on D-Day. That picture immortalized Jake and his unit and spawned inacurate stories from "a band of dirty Indians", "convicts", and even as far as a movie being made titled "Dirty Dozen." For the record, none of that information is correct. The only one who was close to Indian was Jake who has Indian ancestry, and none were convicts. The movie was highly inaccurate mostly because Jake refused to endorse the movie as he didn't want to earn blood money on his dead comrades. Hollywood in its usual manner created an outlandish war story sprinkled with a few facts.

I'll be honest, while reading Jakes book on the Filthy Thirteen, I initially wasn't sold on Jake as a person. He was as rough and tough as they come and unfortunately as many young men do, behaved and did things that any mother would not want her son doing. Yet as I turned the pages into Jake's life and experiences in WWII, I came to find that beneath his wild ways, Jake possessed those great qualities and characteristics typical of that generation, and ultimately Jake was a natural born leader. By the end of the book I found that Jake McNiece was a great man.

A paratrooper (demolition/saboteur) had one of the most dangerous jobs in the Army, in fact so dangerous that initially it was all voluntary. The Army estimated that the average life span of a paratrooper was one and a half jumps, or 50% casualties. That's because for the most part when they were jumping out of those planes, they were being shot at from the ground. Sounds a bit like a demented form of target practice to me. Jake said their unit actually experienced up to 70% casualties. When he was in the Pathfinders they had a casualty rate of 80%. The Army would put ten men in a "stick" as Jake liked to call it, because they figured they would lose 8 of the men which would leave 2 to do the job efficiently. On his first jump over Normandy for D-day, the pilot in his friend Jack's plane had already been shot in the head and killed. Not a great way to start your mission. If you made the jump then you had to stay alive long enough to fight the enemy face to face, all while trying to blow up enemy bridges or targets with only the explosives that you brought along with you.

Without recounting the whole book, Jake made an unheard of 4 combat jumps in 4 major campaigns. During his Army career he was constantly in trouble, so much so that regardless of the fact that he was in charge of men on the ground and technically an acting Sergeant, was pivotal in these campaigns, and earned numerous awards and medals, never made it past Buck Private, something he is actually very proud of. (To understand that you have to understand that Jake believed that a man should earn respect and never joined the Army to salute some higher up, stand in formation or all those intricacies of Army life, he joined to get the job done. The Army was in constant turmoil with Jake but in all reality knew they could not let him go. There wasn't a General out there that could get rid of Jake. In fact, when he volunteered for the Pathfinders he said (with a laugh) "it was about the only place the Army could kill you legally if they had no other way to do it."

We talked candidly and one learns quickly that Jake honors and reveres all those who fought and died in the war. He said plainly "War is hell, there were over 400 thousand who lost their lives and over 80 thousand still missing... when I visit the VA and walk the halls and see all the young vets from Iraq and Afghanistan missing limbs, it's hell, most of the public doesn't see that."

I wondered as I often do, how so many WWII veterans, who saw and experienced such horrible things, were able within reason to live productive successful lives, yet we see soaring numbers of PTSD cases affecting our troops today. Jake agreed and didn't hesitate to answer when he said "I believe that the Great Depression and Dust Bowl was ultimately a gift from God that prepared us and our nation to fight the war that we would be faced with. We learned some hard lessons. The current generation has not lived through extreme rough times which prepare you to face challenges." Martha also reminded us that the whole nation participated whether at home or abroad. Jake makes no excuses though and admits that he still has nightmares, but then again he said that every combat veteran has nightmares, but it doesn't deter him from enjoying life.

In the end Jake McNiece really isn’t about what he did, but stands as a witness of the 1000’s of stories that have gone untold from the war. When I asked Jake to sign my copy of his book, he asked if I had anyone in my family who has served. I explained that my grandfather served in WWII and my dad served in the 60’s. With that, Jake’s signature in the book was simple “Thank you for the service of your family.” That in itself lands Jake in my book of “ultimately cool hero.”

But let me clear something up. Here was a man who despite his wild ways as a young man (he gave that all up shortly after the war) led a successful, happy productive life, is quite soft spoken yet still has that witty blunt sense of humor that I believe helped him face insurmountable odds during the war and who at the young age of 91 devotes much of his time traveling to speak to groups about the paratroopers of the 101st Airborne.

In Jake's book he jokingly says that he survived because he was a trouble maker and the Lord didn't want him causing trouble in Heaven or Hell. As we wrapped up our conversation Martha mentioned that Jake has been living on borrowed time since 1945. I turned to Jake and said "well, maybe the Lord still can't figure out where to put you!" which made all of us laugh.

Jake, who during the war didn’t adhere to really anything, later embraced Christianity, stood as we were about to leave, asked for a word of prayer. There standing in his small simple living room, clasping hands together almost as a family with his wife Martha, Jake offered up one of the most simple humble but powerful prayers I have heard, asking for a blessing on us as we traveled and thanking the Lord Jesus Christ for all that we had. His hands still feel strong.

To end let me tell a bit about the photograph. The Filthy Thirteen photograph above shows Jake on the right, putting paint on one of the men's faces. I think his name was Manie. He never made the Normandy jump but died later in the war. True to Jake's antics and constant wild ideas and behavior, the reason for the Mohawk was simple. If Jake was going to fight in this war he was going to make the best of it, and decided that since he was from Oklahoma and that Indians would paint their faces before going into battle, he shaved his head and put on war paint. This must have also helped with the anxiety of the men who within hours may or may not be alive. It was this shot that immortalized the "Filthy Thirteen."

Thank you Jake for telling your story. Our generation needs to hear it.

Finally, thank you to my husband and children who support me as I chase down these 80+ year old men (and sometimes women) of the greatest generation to capture their faces and stories. I love doing what I do and like Hugh Nibley once said of those who love history "I love to learn something old everyday."

I think that one day Daria and Dustin will be able to look back and realize that they had a front row seat to learn history from those who lived it.