Wordless Wednesday

Thoughtful Thursday er Friday

My thoughtful Thursday post ended up on my quotes blog. Check it out here. Please read it!

Wordless Wednesday

Thoughtful Thursday

Since yesterday was Wordless Wednesday today has to be Thoughtful Thursday, right? I have had lots of random thoughts going on in this brain of mine today but one of them has been about change. I hate change!

I could just tell you about all of the changes that have happened / will be happing / hope to have happen but that would totally bore you. Instead I decided to share with you a few quotes about change. Speaking of quotes I started a new blog dedicated solely to just quotes. Please check it out here - http://karensfavoritequotes.blogspot.com/

I believe that we have all heard the quote by François de la Rochefoucauld who said
“The only thing constant in life is change.” But there are several other quote that maybe you have not heard.

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
Fredrick Douglass

“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.”
Maya Angelou

“If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living.”
Gail Sheehyc

And finally one of my favorites out of those that I read that is by C.S. Lewis who I absolutely love. I love this quote for many reasons but mostly because it shows that there is a choice. You can choose to be A or B. Where your life is at right now, it can change. I met many people as a missionary and so many of them did not think that change was A) Possible and B) Worth it. Change is possible and positive changes are always worth it! Now for the quote –

“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.”
C.S. Lewis

Just one last quote (I told you I like quotes) from President Thomas S. Monson, the prophet. He said this at last general conference.
“I begin by mentioning one of the most inevitable aspects of our lives here upon the earth, and that is change. At one time or another we’ve all heard some form of the familiar adage: “Nothing is as constant as change.” Throughout our lives, we must deal with change. Some changes are welcome, some are not. There are changes in our lives which are sudden, such as the unexpected passing of a loved one, an unforeseen illness, the loss of a possession we treasure. But most of the changes take place subtly and slowly.”

I love how President Monson says that most changes take place slowly, hmmm, interesting. I think back and I would have to say that I agree. I think that this is true of my life and the changes that have happened to make me into the person that I am. I am thankful for those changes and look forward to more positive changes. It is OK with me if the not-so-positive changes stay away, just kidding (kinda)

Wordless Wednesday

I love the Zoo!

My mon being the excellent mon that she is bought a seasons pass "Grandma Pass" to the zoo this year. I had not been during the summer so we decided to go on Labor Day weekend. My brother Sterling and his family met my mom and dad at the Utah Hogle Zoo. My nephews Miles, Parker, and Jonah came along for the fun.



Sorry that my pictures are out of order - I wish blogging were more like Microsoft Word... oh well. We went on the train at the end of our trip. It was super fun, and super fast. We did see a few cool animals though.

Miles and Parker had to have their picture taken by the Gorilla.

Miles getting an Icee - that cost $5.00 and was gone in minutes... what a rip off, but we were so thirtsy becuase it was SO hot. The bad thing was that a refill was $2.50. Should have bought just one and drank it, refilled it, and so on. :)

The darn gorilla kept hiding from us. Other people would say oh he is back and then he would run away. I wonder what those animals think sometimes. :)

I am happy to report that my hand is not bigger than a gorillas. haha

Parker is the size of the Juvenile Gorilla. Miles is the size of an adult female gorilla. Karen is the size of the adult male gorilla. I had to get my picture taken by this becuase I do it every year. Don't make fun of how stupid I look.

THE CAROUSEL was one of my favorite parts of the zoo. We were the second group waiting in line and I was talking about how I wanted to get the elephant. My mom heard these teenage girls behind us saying that they were going to run as fast as they could to get the elephant. Well I was in front of them and ... needless to say I got to the elephant first {without even pushing anybody over like Sterling told me not to do} and enjoyed the ride. I love carousels! I collected them. I love them.

Now back to our zoo day {sorry that everything is out of order GRRRH!}

Here are some of the fun funky animals at the zoo - Tina the Turtle (who was very large and cute) Sammy the Snow Leopard (who was also hiding, it was a hot day I do not blame him to want to be in the shade) Molly the Monkey (Kinda looks like she is sticking her tounge out at you!) And of course Casey the Camel (Who looks so very uncomfortable, but such is the life of a camel) What do you think is the weirdest looking animal? I think that camels are very weird/different/kinda cute in a weird way animal.

Jonah decided not to smile but he really was happy Did I tell you it was hot? It was. Nice picture huh. haha

Giraffes!

Here is a cute little baby giraffe. Babies are so cute, even at the zoo. Abby loved the giraffes. She kept turning around to look at them. We watched the zookeeper feed the giraffes some food. WARNING: THE GIRAFFE HOUSE STINKS! They are cute {kinda weird looking} but man does their house stink! ;)

Zebras

another animal that all we saw was their bums. Here is my Mon with my nephews. oh the kid to the left is not my nephew, sorry.

here is a picture fo Abby and the cute little monkey. SO cute! Abby is such a cute girl!

What would a trip to the zoo be without a picture of the kiddos with the Lion drinking fountain. {I never realized as kid that there are two of these, I think I saw two Anywho}

Miles {silly smile} and the turkey. I hope you are on my plate at Thanksgiving Mr. Turkey.

Now... I must write the sad story of the elephant at the zoo. Can I first tell you a few things.

1. I LOVE ELPHANTS!

2. I went to the zoo mainly to see the baby elephant that was born a few weeks ago.

3. My idea of a perfect zoo is a place with tosn of elephants! I would be perfectly happy with seeing elephants, and only elephants. I had planned on spending hours looking at and talking to the wonderful animal.

4. I LOVE ELPHANTS

Well I totally thought that the baby {no name yet but you can vote on it until Sunday} would be out for me to see but I was very saddened when I found out that both baby and mom were still not out. :( Of course they have to make their debute but I wanted it to be when I was there SO SAD! Anyways, we got to see one elephant. She is super cute and we did get to see her but she had her bum facing us, which is cute but I wanted to see her face too. I am sure she was just as sad as me :( funny.

The group picture! Yeah Marx Family!

Hope that you enjoyed a relaxing Labor Day.

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Every year, about 12,400 children and teens under the age of 20 are diagnosed with cancer - that is one in every 330 children. The average age of diagnosis is 5. Although cure rates are steadily increasing, 35% of children will die from a diagnosis of cancer.

Cancer remains the number one disease killer of children; more than genetic anomalies, cystic fibrosis, and AIDS combined.

This month is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month! I did not know this until I read this blog
http://littlewonders-heather.blogspot.com/ (which by the way I love) You just have to go and read about this family's fight. I was especially impressed with her words about childhood cancer. PLEASE CLICK ON THE LINK AND READ THE POST!


If you know me very well at all you know that I am CANCER SURVIVOR! I was diagnosed with brain cancer when I was 10. I am so happy to be a survivor but can I tell you that not a day goes by that I do not think about cancer. Everytime I take my medicine (not every day mon, I will be better), everytime I see a bald child, everytime I hear the word "cancer" I think about my struggle with cancer. I am so grateful to be a survivor. I am thankful to the people, namely my family, which includes grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles, cousins, siblings, and my wonderful parents who assisted me down my "cancer chapter" of my life.

I am feeling much like Zoey's mother who wants to make a difference! I wish I knew the best way to do that I would love to volunteer and help kids going through cancer, work at a cancer facility, or something cool like that. This year I donated some $$$ to the Children’s Miracle Network Telethon but it does not seem like enough. I need to think of a great idea of something to do to help. If you have any ideas please let me know. :) I know that there are children suffering as I did, many who lose their very lives to this fight. Please stand with me and make a difference! :)

Because we have all been touched by cancer - if not personally then through family or friends here is a reminder of

What Cancer Cannot Do

by: Unknown

Cancer is so limited...

It cannot cripple love.

It cannot shatter hope.

It cannot corrode faith.

It cannot eat away peace.

It cannot destroy confidence.

It cannot kill friendship.

It cannot shut out memories.

It cannot silence courage.

It cannot reduce eternal life.

It cannot quench the Spirit.

BECAUSE KIDS CAN'T FIGHT CANCER ALONE!

I thought these 2 videos were great if you have a minute - watch them :)

Shoe Drama

I have been wanting to get some brown work shoes for quite a while. Can I tell you about my shoe drama? Oh thanks! I HATE shopping for shoes. I wear a size 12 Wide sheos. Let me tell you that I love shoes, but because I have big feet I do not enjoy shopping for shoes. If you do not have Wide feet I doubt that you understand the frustration that comes with having wide feet. It is so much harder to find shoes. There are many shoe stores that do not have any wide shoes with is a huge bummer. Another frustration with shoe shopping is that I am 5'11". I do not need 2 inch heels - they hurt. I usually try to wear flats because they are more comfortable and if I wear heels people ask me "are you trying to make yourself taller?" I HATE IT! I usually respond with something like "No, just trying to find shoes that fit my big fat feet!"

I see cute shoes in the store that look like this in size 7 8 9 10 11 but when you get to size 12 the shoes are huge!

[ Sorry I did not take time to crop the picture! I was lazy. ]

I usually shop for shoes at Payless but lately I had not been having luck. I looked online and saw cute things like this:



Each of these shoes is about $26.00, which is a great price for shoes. I like shopping online with Payless because they ship them to the store for free, and you can return anything that once you try on and you do not like. The only problem with this is the waiting.

So here is my story - I tried to order these three pair of shoes in my size to have them shipped to my local friendly Payless Shoe Source Store. I got an e-mail the next day saying that my order had an error and I would have to replace the order. I was so mad!

When I placed the order I threw away my old brown shoes, which were cute in their day but had been way overworn and smelt... badly. So during this time I was wearing brown skirts and black shoes - a big no no, right? Don't even try to tell me that it is okay to wear brown and black together.

Anyways -the story continues - I went to Provo last weekend to meet up with my Mon and we went shoe shopping for her. She needed some cute little size 10 shoes to wear to school. We went to the mall and had no luck so we arrived at the Sister Missionary Mall in search of shoes. We walked in the door and there was a shoe display of Propet shoes that were on Sale for $20 My Mon started looking through the shoes and found a few pairs (3) that worked for what she was wanting. My sister Melissa was also with us and she looked for shoes in her little size 9 - and there were no size 9 that worked. HAHA! {Love you sister but I thought that was funny.} Here is the good part - keep reading - On this table display there was one pair of size 12 shoes and they were brown! I tried them on, they fit, we fell in love and now I have a pair of brown work shoes. I WAS SO HAPPY!

I am glad that my order did not go trough with Payless becuase now I have a pair of brown, beautiful shoes for only $20 - well Mon bought them for me so they were free but I will pay her back. :)

If the shoe fits, it must be a size 12 wide.

The Tale of the Wooden Bowl

I read this story on my friend's blog and loved it. You have to read it. It is great!

"I guarantee you will remember the tale of the Wooden Bowl tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now, a year from now.


A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson.

The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. 'We must do something about father,' said the son. 'I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.'



So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl. When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone.


Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food. The four-year-old watched it all in silence.


One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, 'What are you making?' Just as sweetly, the boy responded, 'Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up. ' The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

On a positive note, I've learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles four things: a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as making a 'life..' I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.


I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands.You need to be able to throw something back sometimes.

I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you But, if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others, your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.

I've learned that every day, you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch -- holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I've learned that I still have a lot to learn."

My thoughts - I loved this story. I think that it is so true that we show so much by how we handle the elderly. I have learned so much from my mama as she loves and cares for her mother with such love.
Its intersting how much our behavior would change if we just took time to imagine someone else treating us the way we are treating others. Would we be living in a different world? I believe so. Have a great week!

My friend Megan posted this video on her blog and I thought it was Amazing!

This reminded me of my rainstick that I made at Camp Hobe (camp for kids going through cancer) I love the sound of rain. I thought these people were super talented.

Miller Family Reunion

My extended family on my mom's side had a family reunion on the 17th (I am catching up). I love family reunions because it is so great to see family and get to visit and catch up. It is amazing how fast kids grow when you only see them every other year.

My mom is the second to youngest in a family of seven children. I seriously do not know how my grandma handled seven kids. My Grandma Miller (pictured above) is the most wonderful woman ever! i so admire her. She is 87 years old and doing great! She is smart, funny, loving and giving. I have such special memoriest of my Grandma from my childhood. She has always been there for me. She is the only Grandma I have ever known. We are super close (I am her favorite grandchild) I think it is so important to the family to get together while Grandma is still around. I love her so much and don't know that i will ever be able to handle loosing her. (kinda funny story - my mission president called to tell me that my Grandpa Marx had died while I was on the mish, but he mistankingly said my grandma died. I was so heartbroken, not that I was not sad because my grandpa had died but I knew he had been in bad health. I am so happy to have my grandma around!) She is so amazing! Her husband, my grandpa Miller died in 1998. She has been a widow for 11 years. She wrote me faithfully while I served on my mission. When I would write to her I ALWAYS ended by saying "Hope you are happy and healthy." - because my worst fear of leaving on a mission was that my grandma would pass away while i was gone.

Back to the reunion - sorry for the detour, just wanted you to know how fabulous my grandma is. I was asked by the planner of the reunion (my cousin Jeremy and his wife Melanie) to do a game for the reunion on Saturday while we were at the Newton Park. I decided that instead of doing just another silly game I would do a game that would be fun and meaningful. I made sheets for people to record their memories of grandma. On it I had questions like -

What is your favorite food that Grandma Miller makes?
Alot of people said Thanksgiving stuffing and fudge cake - both excellent when made my Grandma.

Grandma Miller is always so supportive of all of her children and grandchildren; in what ways has she supported you in your life?
Everyone put how Grandma Miller has been there for every major event in their lives; which she has, she is amazing!

We also had a game where we (my sister, mom and I) came up with questions to ask people about Grandma to see how well they know her. Some of the questions were -

Q - What was Grandma Miller's first car?
A - 36 Ford

Q - What are Grandma Miller's Sister's names?
A - Muriell, Arva Lue, Ona (Grandma's name is Lael)

The games were lots of fun!

After getting the memory sheets from those who completed them (I tried to bribe people by saying they could have an airhead if they completed it, but some adults still would not do it, but some kids tried to do two.) I started compiling them into a book for my Grandma to keep and be able to read when she is lonely. I really hope she likes it! I also included the pictures of each of the families that we took at the reunion. All of her children and their spouses were there, 20/30 of her grandchildren came and 12/24 of the grandchildren-in-laws came. I am unsure of the exact number but about 44/69 of her great grandchildren came.

Here is Grandma with her children in order (oldest to youngest) L 2 R - Gma, Pam, Brent, Shari, Debra, Layne, Anita (my mon), David

Here are her children and their spouses.

Here are 20 of my Grandma's grandchildren.

This is a picture showing Grandma Miller with Pamela's family - only person missing is Tawna and her family (she passed away)

Brent and Lynne with Grandma - Their 6 children and 12? grandchildren were not able to come.

Shari's family with Grandma. (Except for Chad and Meladie and their children and Scott)

Debra's family with Grandma. Everyone was there except for Kirstyn.

Layne's family with Grandma Miller. Adrianne's husband Jared, and Mike's wife Jayna were not able to come

The Marx bunch! 2 of my brothers (Craig and Preston) were unable to attend, as well as Melissa's husband Malik. (and my husband) :)


David's family with Grandma. They get the award for having 100% of their family there!

As the primary song says, "When it's reunion time, no matter what the weather, it is such a happy day when the family gets together."

I love my family! I love coming from a big family. My dad comes from a family of 8 children so I have 20+ (I don't know all of them really well.) cousins on the Marx side and 26 on the Miller side. I cannot imagine growing up in a family without lots of cousins, aunts and uncles.

Family is such a wonderful thing!