May's Mayhem

Normally May is a month I look forward to.  Spring is finally in the air, flowers bloom, it's getting warmer, it's crazy busy, school gets out, and I look forward to spending my birthday with my best friend who is also my sister, Lorinda.

This year, May has been TOTAL MAYHEM!!!  It started off with doing our fundraising dinner for Girls Camp on May 6th.  I am one of the Girls Camp assistants this year.  We sold chocolate covered strawberries and pretzels, then had a baked potato bar dinner.  The girls went around and sold tickets on Tuesday, then had the dinner on Friday.  I think we had a very good turnout.  Alexia played "A Few of My Favorite Things" on her viola for the talent portion.  She did awesome! 

On Saturday, Alexia got to go to Lagoon with the school orchestra.  She didn't expect it to be too nice since it had been raining and cold here so she wore a sweatshirt.  She roasted in her sweatshirt and sunburned her face.  She is our daring, adventurous one, and went on all the extreme rides, mainly with the boys since most girls didn't want to go on any of them.

Mother's Day started out just like any other day, but turned out to be a day I will never forget.  Kelly worked Saturday night so he stayed home and slept while the kids and I went to church.  Kelly took the kids over to visit his mom while I took a nap.  We planned on going to Mom and Dad's and to Grandma Madsen's house when he got back.  At around 4:00 Danielle called me and was frantic.  We had gotten a call telling us that Lorinda's husband, Ezra had committed suicide.  I had to call Kelly to tell him to get home soon so I could go be with the rest of my family.  It seemed like it took forever for him to get home.  I swear I could have walked there faster than it took him to get home.  Once we got to Mom and Dad's we all just sat there in a somber mood and waited to hear more.  Dennis and Kim (my little brother and his wife) drove Mom down to American Fork as soon as we got the news.  It is hard to explain the way you feel when you know someone you love is in pain and you want to be there to comfort them, but you just can't.  Serena and Danielle (my older and youngest sisters) drove down on Monday to help too. We were finally able to drive down on Thursday.  The funeral home let Lorinda and the kids come to see Ezra and say their goodbyes alone, before they had to face everyone at the funeral.  Kelly was able to be there to help the boys and try to talk to them.  To them, it still wasn't real and they wanted to know "who killed my dad".  The funeral was on Friday the 13th.  It was a beautiful service.  Lorinda's former bishop gave the most wonderful talk about being concerned for others and a friend in her ward sang "We Can Be Together Forever Someday".

Here is the Obituary

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Ezra Milton Loveridge
(April 4, 1977 - May 8, 2011)

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Ezra Milton Loveridge 1977 to 2011

Ezra Milton Loveridge; 34, of American Fork, Utah passed away, Sunday, May 8, 2011. He was born on April 4, 1977 in Murray, Utah the son of Kent Harvey Loveridge and Vicky Gentry Loveridge. Ezra attended schools in Lehi, Utah and graduated from Lehi High School. He attended Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah and a secondary college for Computer Tech Education. Ezra earned his Eagle Scout Award while in High School. He later served an LDS Mission to Mexico. He was introduced to Lorinda Madsen in September of 1998 in Salt Lake City, Utah. By February they were engaged and on July 10, 1999, they were married in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple. They made their home in American Fork and together have four children; Lance, Logan, Emmie and Ella. Ezra worked for Triumph Gear Systems in Park City, Utah as a machinist. This was a trade that he learned from his family business, Loveridge Machinery. He was a huge Jazz fan. He loved sports and he loved to collect sports trading cards to which he had plenty from the Jazz. He also enjoyed simpler things like shooting hoops with his sons and metal detecting.
Ezra is survived by his wife; Lorinda Loveridge, his children; Lance, Logan, Emmie and Ella, and his parents; Kent and Vicky Loveridge. His brothers and sisters; Jake (Jenny) Loveridge, Saundra (Dave) Darby, Debbie Loveridge, Jared (Jacqueline) Loveridge, Betty (Reily) Foster, Carolyn (Brandon) Kidd and Lanae (Rocky) Munian.

Next came the flood....On Sunday, May 22, I had started a load of laundry before I went to church.  When we came home, this is what we found............

Don't you just love this wallpaper--it will be hard to replace it. HA, HA, HA

I had a front load washing machine and apparently either the door lock or the water shut off valve failed.  The door had popped open and the water continued to run for three hours.  Who knew a washing machine put out that much water.  We had to tear up carpet, laminate flooring, and ceiling.  We are almost all put back together, just waiting for the carpet now.  We have all had to be extremely careful on our oh so dangerous and treacherous stairs.  I ended up having to go get a tetanus shot because I ended up stepping on the carpet tack strip that they left on the stairs.  One of the things that Kelly has taught me is that there is a silver lining in all things.  He has always said the for everything bad that happens, there is always something good that comes from it too.  Because of the flood, we got a new washer and dryer, a new furnace, and nicer carpet.  Luckily, the insurance covered it.  They were going to investigate the washing machine to see what was wrong with it because it was only 3-4 years old.  When the freight company came to pick it up, they ended up dropping it off the dolly and breaking the door.

It has definitely been a trying month, but it has been a month of learning some very important lessons about life and what is most important in life.  Our faith, our families, and keeping a close personal relationship with our Father in Heaven.  He may be the only one that knows all of our thoughts and most intimate feelings, but he sends angels to help us.  You never know when you will be placed in the pathway of someone who is needing your help.  Be Kind--Everyone you meet is facing a hard battle!

Happy Heart Month

February was a busy month!  It was also heart awareness month.  Kelly has still been having a lot of shoulder pain along with a few other new symptoms.  He was complaining of fatigue, chest pain, left shoulder pain, back pain and edginess.  I have been trying to get him to see get checked again and finally succeeded after finding an obituary for a 37 year old male who was born on October 19, 1973 (one year younger than Kelly--has same birthday) died from heart failure.  He went to the doctor that day and was set up to have a Thalium Treadmill test the next day.  His blood pressure was also found to be high so he was started on medication for that.  He took Tyler fishing on Saturday and had a hard time climbing with out getting shortness of breath.  The treadmill test can back with some abnormality on it and so they scheduled him for an Angiogram on Monday, February 14--Valentine's Day.  He does have a lot of family history with heart problems.  His Grandpa was scheduled to have a shoulder operation several years ago and ended up have heart bypass instead.  They found out is was his heart that was causing the shoulder pain.  Our appointment was at 9:00 a.m.  We waited until 2:30 p.m. for them to actually get him in because the doctor had an emergency.  After the procedure, he had to lay with his leg straight for four hours because they went in through one of the main arteries near his groin to do the exam.  We were finally able to go home around 6:30 p.m.  The angiogram came back normal and no blockage was found.  It was a relief, but a long, Valentine's Day spent sitting in the hospital.  He was given a priesthood blessing the day before his angiogram and he feels like that blessing did more than settle his nerves.  It wouldn't be the first time that he was healed from a priesthood blessing.  He said it was like a light switch was flipped and everything was fine.  I guess there is no greater gift he could have given me than to know that his heart was ok.

Tyler turned 15 on February 16.  We got him is own cell phone since he is now taking driver's ed and we felt like if he was going to be driving we wanted him to be able to reach us if there was ever an emergency.  Of course, we got him just a plain phone and blocked the ability to text and use the Internet.  I also got him a 2 litter bottle of Pepsi and some Butterfingers.  I felt bad only giving him the cell phone, but I think he thought it was worth it.  Of course, the girls are already asking when they will get one too.

February being heart health month, Lacey had several discussions about this at school and brought home a challenge for the American Heart Association.  They asked for pledges and she jumped rope.  One day, she was running all around the house and told me that she had to exercise for 60 minutes every day because she didn't want to get any fat on her heart.  If only we could be that determined and have that much energy!

I was asked to be an assistant Activity Day Leader for the girls that are 10-11; Lacey and her friends.  We have activities twice a month.  I was also just asked to be an assistant Girls Camp Director in our ward.  I will be over the certification.  I LOVE Girls Camp and think it is the absolute best place to be.  It is ward camp this year and it is looking like we will have just as many, if not more, leaders than girls.  That's ok though...girls camp it the best place to really bond with others and the ladies I am going with are absolutely the best!

Alexia has been most involved with cheer leading this month--finally able to cheer at ball games which were two nights a week.  She LOVED this and has already talked about being a cheerleader again next year.  She has also had a couple of orchestra concerts.

Our oldest nephew, Mitch, will be leaving on his mission to Berlin, Germany, on March 2.  He has such a fun spirit about him and I know he will do wonders on his mission.  They lived in Germany for a while when they were in the Air Force so he kind of knows what it will be like.  We had his mission farewell and had a family get together.

As you can see, we have had a lot going on and it has been a struggle to keep us straight on picking up and transporting the kids around.  Most nights, we barely have time to grab a quick bite to eat or didn't eat until around 8:00 p.m.  Our kids love being so active and as long as we can keep schedules figured out, I guess that is better than having them sit at home doing other non-productive things.

Oh how time flies!

On Thursday, January 20, Kelly and I will be celebrating 16 years together! WOW!! I was talking to a co-worker this week who is celebrating their 5 year anniversary. I had to think hard to remember what life was like at our fifth year. We were living at our first home in Labelle. Tyler would have been 4 and Alexia would have been 2. I loved that house, even though it was a small 3 bedroom manufactured home. I was working for a law firm in Idaho Falls and Kelly was working for Marshall's Tile. A lot has changed since then! We are now living in our third home and have moved three more times. We also have our third and last child, Lacey, who is now 10. We no longer have the same jobs, the same cars, or the same challenges in life.
At church on Sunday I was watching a young mother with her toddler as she tried to keep her entertained, keep her out of other people's bags, keep her from unplugging the microphone. My daughter was sitting next to me singing the opening hymn; she is almost all grown up. AND OH HOW I MISS IT!
Life has a way of making us always wanting what comes next--we can't wait until they sleep through the night, are out of diapers, can walk on their own, can feed themselves, can go to school, can do their homework on their own, can drive themselves to their activities, are out of the house.  Somedays, I WISH I could go back and live it all over again so I could cherish the moments a little longer before they are gone.
I hope and pray that I can take the time to enjoy the little moments in life while I still have my kids at home.

Best Day Ever

So what constitutes your Best Day Ever? I was a little surprised to hear from my daughter tonight that today was her Best Day Ever! Really?? She stayed home from school--sick, she threw up once; watched "The Proposal" and learned about sting rays; went to the parents meeting about the musical she is in at school; went and waited at the doctor's office while I was in with Lacey; went to Wal-mart; then came home. So what made this day her Best Day Ever!?? She got a message from her cheer coach that the school board has decided they WILL be allowed to travel and cheer at away games.
Her other Best Days Ever were when she made the cheerleader; when she made the school musical; when she got elected School President; and, of course, whenever she breaks me down and I end up buying her more of what she wants. If only we could all have our Best Days Ever with these simple things in life.

Changing blogs

I am trying to change our blog. Right now both of them will still work until I figure out how to combine them into one that I like.
Check out camillenkelly.wordpress.com

Christmas Festivities

There are several things we enjoyed this year during the month of December. It started off with Lacey performing at several events with the Ucon Elementary School choir. They performed at Snake River Landing, a live Ucon Community Nativity at Giles & Johnson’s car lot and did a performance for family and friends. It is always cold standing out there waiting for them to perform, but they put on a pretty good show for being elementary kids. These kids voluntarily get up early twice a week to be at the school at 7:15 am to practice for a month! There was about 90 kids who performed this year.

Kelly got to play Santa this year! A neighbor called at the last minute and asked him if he would be willing to do it for a family party. I told her he would. I just didn’t tell him that it wasn’t for kids, but adults, until he was ready to go. The suit was a little snug so I had to drive him. I sat in the driveway and watched as flash after flash went off. How I wished I could have been a fly on the wall! He had a good time joking with them. I knew he would have fun.

Next, was Alexia’s orchestra concert. She was advanced enough that her teacher asked her to perform with the 8th grade kids. She was only given three days to practice the pieces. She did pretty awesome! She is looking forward to their Spring concert where they get to perform movie based songs.

We went to Utah for Jenson’s baptism (my nephew) and while we were there we went to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. We try to go every year if we can since this is where Kelly and I got engaged and it is such an awesome sight to see! We were told not to even try to drive downtown because the Elizabeth Smart trial had just ended and there was still a lot of national press in town and there was a BYU ballgame that night. We drove anyway and were still able to park right by Temple Square. It was still early though and the lights were due to be turned on for an hour and a half. We walked around and went to see the new Deseret Book and other new buildings around Temple Square. It has changed SOOOOO much since I went to college. It doesn’t even feel like the same place. The kids really wanted to go on top of the highest building, so we asked to be taken to the top of the Conference Center. They were kind enough to let us stay on top to see the lights turn on. I guess it was the first time they have ever allowed people up there that late. It was pretty amazing being able to look down onto Temple Square. We were so lucky to be able to see the lights from this advantage point.

This year we decided to hold off and not have our usual Christmas Eve family party so that Lorinda and Brandon could stay at their own homes for Christmas. They will join us on New Year’s Eve and we will have our party then. I decided it was time to start our own little family traditions. We took the kids sledding to the Sand Dunes in St. Anthony. Kelly and I haven’t been sledding there since we were engaged. It was perfect weather…not too cold and not windy! So unusual for Idaho. We got some great pictures of the kids.

I hope you enjoy this slideshow!

24 Hour Holiday Blitz

This Thanksgiving weekend was the best ever!  It was the first time in over 20 years that I had been together with all three of my sisters for Thanksgiving.  We had dinner at mom and dad's house as soon as Lorinda and Ezra arrived from Utah.  Last week we got pounded with snow and wind and so it was not the best traveling weather.  We normally have a nice sit down meal, but due to there being 28 of us, there weren't enough chairs for everyone to sit down and eat so we had it buffet style and on paper plates--less dishes to wash!  After dinner, we all sat down and scoured the ads for Black Friday.  At about 10:30 p.m. Thursday, we started our shopping spree....I can't believe it, but we shopped for over 12 hours!  If I had been by myself, there is no way I would have stayed up all night and stood in lines for an hour.  But, it was fun being together with Serena, Lorinda and Danielle.  Plus, I got all my Christmas shopping done in ONE NIGHT.  How awesome is that?!  I got home around 11:30 a.m., did a few things, and went to sleep until 4:00 p.m.  I stayed locked in my bedroom and got most all the gifts wrapped.  Now, I don't have to worry about getting anything other than stocking stuffers.  On Saturday, we got together and had our own Sister's Super Saturday.  We made Christmas Countdown blocks.  THANKS SERENA, LORINDA AND DANIELLE!!  Love ya