Gotta Breathe!

Man are things hectic today. I guess it's from daylight savings time switching this past weekend. I just wasn't ready to spring forward quite yet and I'm really feeling that hour we lost. Alie's feeling a little bit better. She slept better last night anyway. She has her appointments with the Occupational Therapist and the Physical Therapist today so I'm really glad she's feeling better. I'm sure Amy is too! It's hard on her to be home alone all day and when Alie's not feeling well, it's even worse. Cyndi went out to spend the day with them today and Camryn always plays so good with Alie, she's really gentle with her and treats her like a little sister. I really appreciate her for that. She's such a sweetie! She's into everything but still, she's a sweetie. She reminds me sometimes of Cherri, my youngest sister. Camryn is so sure of herself and has all the self confidence in the world. She doesn't have a problem telling you that your wrong and you need to get a grip. She's been talking since she was a year old and I don't mean little words or phrases but big, long sentences. She will tell you so matter of factly and she can't possible be wrong. You know, a little like Cherri was in her younger years.

Being the youngest, Cherri was spoiled just a little bit. Though she will never admit to it. She was only about six or seven when I left for college so I don't remember alot about her childhood. What I do remember was her cheerleading and being tossed in the air like she was a feather. She weighed about the same. I loved going home during Christmas break and going to the Raymond Holiday Basketball Tournament and watching their cheer squad. She definately's got talent. I think Apryl and I were the only girls that didn't cheerlead. I don't know about Apryl but I lacked the courage and the self esteem to ever perform in front of a croud of people let alone a croud of my peers. When Cherri was in elementary school I was home from college for the summer and was offered a job student teaching at the elementary school. The class I was assigned to just happened to be Cherri's second grade class. I remember the day I had to teach liquid measurement and Canada had just converted to the metric system. Holy crap! was I ever lost. It's pretty bad when the kids are teaching the teacher a new (or supposedly new) concept. Those kids knew their stuff. I loved having Cherri in my classes. It gave me a chance to get to know her better seeing that I left for college when she was only six years old. Boy does that make me feel really old!

Years later after I was married and had a kid or two of my own I remember being home for a visit. Cherri was in High School, I don't remember which grade but one morning while we were there she came saundering upstairs at about 9:30, well past the time school started. I asked her why she was still home and she just said that she hadn't got her homework done the night before so she was going to stay home to get it done and go turn it in sometime that afternoon. I looked at my mother and said, "What the hey?" and she just simply shrugged her shoulders. When I stated that I would never have got away with that when I was in high school she just said, "What can I say, you mellow with age." What? I couldn't believe it. She had actually given her permission to skip school because her homework wasn't done. I would never do that for my kids, well at the time I didn't think I would, but guess what?

Cherri did a lot of great things after she graduated from high school. She went to BYU and spent a semester in Isreal studying not only her major courses but also about the life of our savior. She actually walked where he walked and sat where he taught his sermons. What an awesome opportunity. I remember her telling the story of getting lost after they had been given permission to wonder alittle on the Hill of Calvary. At the time there was alot of unrest in Isreal and many soldiers lined the borders with large guns and ammunition. She tells about the day coming to a close and knowing that they were to meet again before it started to get dark. They had to be back within the walls of their compound before dark or they were not let back in until morning. She started to panick when she realized how lost she was and how far she had wondered away from the others. She knelt down to offer a little prayer and then quietly listened for the help she so badly needed. Off in the distance she could hear the popping of guns and the blazing of explosions but as she listened more closely she could hear singing. She hurried to the sound of the voices and as she rounded the top of a little hill she could see a line of students hand in hand walking towards her. They were singing primary songs and she says the tears flowed freely as she joined with them and lent her voice to the chorus. She had been lost, but they came for her. I'm so glad that she is my sister. We tease her a lot about being somewhat of an airhead, she is blond you know, but she is an awesome mom and an amazing young woman. She has taught me many things over the years and I thank her for that.