Happenings in March!

I was supposed to have surgery after I came home from Turkey, but at the last minute I decided not to have it. A few days after I was scheduled to have surgery Spencer came home from work extremely sick and in pain.   Long story short he ended up having his appendix out.   I was able to stay home and be with him for a few days as was Matt and it made me very grateful that I didn't have my intended surgery after all.    I am very grateful for modern medicine and the how blessed we are to live close to hospitals.

I have had a few kids with really bad health problems and I am grateful there is medicine to help them.

March was a whirlwind month and so busy.  Colton struggled a lot and he was having a very hard time with his medication dosage.  I had two complete strangers notify me that his facebook posts were very alarming and wanted to make sure I was aware of what he was saying. Colton and I are friends on facebook, but he has blocked all family members from seeing his posts after I got upset by some of his post.   It was very scary and we are still not out of the thick of things, but I am grateful for complete strangers bringing this to my attention. I definitely feel the love of the Savior through the kindness of others.

Kara was so busy in March.  She had her state science fair at BYU.  She received a partial scholarship to Westminster for her entry.  There were some amazing displays done by some of the high school students throughout Utah.

Kara also competed in the Regional Drama/Music contest.  She scored 2nd place out of the Region and qualified to go to the state competition.   She did a great job!  Kara dated a ton last month.  She got her 3rd quarter report care and got another 4.0.  I was proud of her after missing 6 days of school because we were in Turkey that she could make up all the work and still finish with such awesome grades.   I am so amazed that she does so well with mostly A.P. classes.  Just looking at her homework makes me confused.

The end of March is always hard for me.  I keep thinking that each year it will get better, but I still struggle.  On March 25th it is my dad's birthday and March 26th  is the day my mom died.  This year it was 29 years since my mom died.  Such a long time and I miss her terribly.    I feel sadness that my children don't know her and I also feel sadness when I think about what might have been.

In March I celebrated working 1 year at IDS. I got an excellent raise and I can honestly say about 90% of the time I know what I am doing.  There are just so many compliance laws that I don't know and a lot of coding I struggle with. I never thought that after working somewhere after a year that I would still struggle, but I have learned this is normal.    I do love my job and the people I work with, but I will say there is way too much DRAMA there.  Sometimes it exhausts me and I try to stay out of it.  The team I am on actually had to move our location because there was so much contention among certain people.   Kind of crazy, but at least now I have a bigger desk!

Kara and I went to the first combined Women's meeting together.  It was a great meeting.  I love that I belong to the gospel and it brings light and meaning into my life.   I am so grateful for my membership. 

Kara did two improv shows within one week of each other. Her improv show is generally the last Friday of the month.  It just so happens that it is always on the week of our emergency preparedness evening in our ward.  So Matt goes to that and I go and see Kara perform.  She always does such a nice job.  One of her young women leaders came to her show and I thought it was so nice of her and her daughter to be so supportive.

On the last Sunday in March we went to a Turkish fireside in Orem.  Kara was asked to sing the song she sand in church when we were in Turkey.  Coby's branch president comes to Utah every 6 months for conference so he can translate conference into Turkish.   Anyways, at the fireside there was a HUGE attendance.  It was fun because so many people knew Coby and were telling us how awesome he was and what a difference he has made in the lives of the people in Turkey!  It was a pay day for being a mom!

Day 4 in Turkey

 We got up early in the morning and headed out for another exciting day in Istanbul.  I wore a little more color on this day and a more fitted shirt.  Most of the women are completely covered in Turkey so wearing something more fitted is not a good idea.  I felt stared at all day until I put on a scarf.   It was warm when we first left the apartment but it got much colder as the day continued.  

We went on the boat and then walked and walked with the intention of walking to a certain area where we could see a spectacular view of Turkey.  We rode a tram up in the air (it was really fun).  Once we got there we walked up a ton of stairs to get an even better view.

 What the trams looked like

 The view from the top--it was breath taking.

 Some of our groupie pictures

 More pictures of the view

 After enjoying the view we stopped and got some ice cream.  This ice cream tasted totally different than anything I had ever tasted.  

 Once finished with the ice cream we decided to walk to see the wall. It was a long walk.   I think we got a little lost, but I could be wrong.  While looking at the wall we saw a horse that was dying slowly. It really upset Kara and I.  We tried to tell some of the workers about it, but since there are so many animals that roam the streets without an owner Coby thought it was fruitless.   I hate seeing sad things and seeing anything suffer.

 After leaving this area we headed for a museum, the only problem was that we weren't sure where to find it.  This is the only day that I ever felt a little scared.  I felt like we were walking aimlessly around  and I just wanted to ask someone for directions to get to the museum.  We walked awhile and as we walked we went through neighbors where the owners were on their decks staring at us.  I still didn't realize how much we stood out.  I kept thinking we were blending in, but Americans look very different and Turkish people are fascinated with Americans.  They think American women are very beautiful since they don't have dark hair, dark eyes, and their features are shaped very differently. If you don't think you are very attractive, then go to Turkey and you will feel much more beautiful (I am not kidding). :)

 Anyways we kept walking and most of the apartments looked deserted or like the slums.  Finally we saw some other tourists walking around and I felt much better.  Then we came to a building that looked like it was completely run down.  Coby and Kara wanted to walk up the stairs (they really couldn't be called stairs). I didn't mention that we had been walking up the hill for over an hour and the thought of walking up another 60 broken stairs didn't sound appealing.  But I didn't want to be the party pooper so we walked up the stairs and the above and the ones below are of the view.  Honestly, I just sat down as I felt like my life had been spared.  I just wasn't sure how we would get down the stairs.

 We left the area a little prematurely as I wanted to get down the scary stairs and there were people watching us the whole time we were up there.  Then we were able to continue going up the hill to look for the museum  (I seriously thought when I got home I would have lost 10 pounds with all the walking we did, but I found I had gained a pound.  I can't lose weight to save my life).

 Once we found the museum we had to get some water. We were so thirsty.   We went thought the museum, but I didn't' take any pictures; I think I was too tired.

Later that day we took a scary taxi ride. I think Coby thought I was too tired to walk for another hour to our next destination.   I honestly can say that this was the scariest taxi ride I have EVER taken.  There were two times I thought for sure I was going to die.  They put so many people on the taxi that you can't even wear a seat belt.