Where We Have Been: Robertson Family Reunion 2012

Jay and Emily's BBQ Wedding Open House

With me 8 months prego and John's broken leg no one cares if we just sit and do nothing :)

The Happy Couple

The Genius Behind the Beautiful Open House

The Amazing Chefs

This doesn't do much justice,but this reception was beautiful

The pretty cake servers

 

The cute photo shoot

Where We Have Been: Robertson Family Reunion 2012

The Fourth of July

Every year around the Fourth of July, we get together with all of John's siblings, parents, some cousins and uncles for a big Robertson family reunion. I even invite  my Utah siblings too. We just have sooooo much fun. I know that my kids really love hanging out with all of their many Robertson side cousins. Currently, John's parents have, I think, 33 grandchildren. They had 9 children and all are married now. This year we had all but two of John's siblings make it at some point to the reunion. We had a blast! 

I have to note that John's parents put sooooooo much into this reunion every year. They always spend around $5,000 for food, fireworks, activities, pine wood derby accessories and travel help for those who need it. Then they spend all day and all night preparing all of these wonderful activities so that their children and grandchildren can be close. All of their effort in this matter definitely works. John's family is a very close partying clan. I am very grateful to John's parents for the time, effort, and money they put into their family. My own children benefit greatly from the love they share with their aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. I hope John and I can do the same for our children when they are adults.

Being rough in the pool is a Robertson tradition that began with John's Dad's family.

These two always hang out and have since Josh could crawl.

We did fireworks a different day, so all of the kids enjoyed glow sticks on the tramp.

At the Freedom Festival. The morning of the fourth.

Happy Independence Day

Remember Liberty

In Democracy, Religious Freedom on July 3, 2012 at 10:49 pm Diane Robertson
On the fourth of July, I always like to ponder the founding of our great nation, read the Declaration of Independence, and sing some of the great songs about our freedom, liberty, and the sacrifices that so many men and women made to make our nation the place of freedom and refuge it has been.

The fourth verse of the patriotic song, My Country ‘tis of Thee, says:

Our fathers’ God, to thee,

author of liberty, to thee we sing;

long may our land be bright

with freedom’s holy light;

protect us by thy might, great God, our King.

This was written in contrast to England’s national anthem, “God Save the King”. Instead of asking God to save the king, Samuel F.Smith, the author of this poem declares God to be the author of our liberty and then declares God to be our king and our protector.
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” “Our Creator” is God. Jefferson and all of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence, like Smith, declare God to be the author of our liberty.

The first of amendment of our Constitution, written by James Madison, states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
Samuel Adams, another of our founding fathers declared, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Clearly, the men who fought for liberty and established our great Nation believed God to be the giver and protector of liberty. These men did not want a state religion to limit the worship of the people. They understood that freedom of Religion isn’t about taking God away from the people. It is about allowing the people to worship God according to their consciences.

In our day, many are trying to remove religion completely from the public square. The word “God” has in many instances become offensive. Many people are being denied the right to act on their conscience. This clearly is against the founding principles and ideologies of our nation. This July Fourth, as we think back to and remember the beginning of our great nation, let us remember what these men fought to establish, and like them, protect it for the future liberty of our children.

I Shudder to Think...

Years and Years ago, when I was planning for life, career, and college, I was planning on becoming a doctor. I got accepted to a University in California with a good pre-med program. Everyone I knew felt like I was on the right path and making the right decisions. But, then came the issue of finances. I couldn't see how it would be possible to pay for housing and tuition and books. I asked my parents how much money they could give to help me in school. My mom said maybe $75 total. I got down on my knees and prayed to ask for help in funding my education.

For the first time in my life, I received a very clear answer to my prayers, and it wasn't at all what I expected. My answer was that I was not to go to the big school and major in pre-med. I was to attend Ricks College and not to worry about my major because it didn't matter. My mission in life was to become a mother, not a doctor.

To the disappointment of my parents, church leaders, and many friends. I listened to the whisperings of the Spirit. I decided to go to Ricks College and instead of $40,000 in debt for 2 years of college, I gained $5,000 student debt.

Two years later, and wanting to be closer to home, I chose to go to the University of Michigan. It may have seemed like an odd choice, but it was easy. The University of Michigan was a good school and I had an Uncle in the same city that would let me live with him for $50 a month.

A semester before I prayed about funding college and beginning the path to medical school, John was deciding which graduate school to attend. He had an NSF Fellowship and could go wherever he chose. John was accepted into every University he applied to. John was going to Princeton University-- the best math graduate program in the nation. But, the Spirit told John to make another choice. After some struggles and questioning, John decided that he should attend his second choice university-- The University of Michigan.

I could have ignored the counsel the Lord gave to me and gone off to become a doctor. I suspect, I would have succeeded and would have paid off the debt by now. John could have gone to Princeton and probably had better mentors there. But, these decisions weren't about our careers. They were about the rest of our lives and the mission that God wanted us to fulfill.

I shudder to think what if. What if I did not listen? What if I chose the career? I certainly woudn't have this:

And neither would John. What a loss that would have been. No career and no amount of money could make up for the eternal loss of  my beloved family. I know without a doubt that Heavenly Father in all of His majesty brought John and I together so that we could have these children. Raising a big family is not easy and it is certainly not on the list of good choices for men and women to make these days, but I know for sure that I made the choice God wanted me to make and because of it, I am happy in a way I never could have been with any other choices.

What Greeted me Saturday Morning

Before I woke up, Saturday morning John took Adam and Johnny and went off with a bunch of neighbors to play soccer. While, I was sitting in bed chatting with my girls and having Josh cling to me, the door opened and Johnny yelled in, "Dad sprained his ankle!" Ruth, Kate, and Johnny dragged John into the house and laid him on the couch with some ice.

I came downstairs to this. He said that his ankle folded right under him and he felt a pop. We looked up some information about sprains on the internet and decided to take him to the doctor. Since John couldn't walk at all, I was really wondering if it was a sprain. I have had bad sprains, and I could still get around.

The doctor looked at his ankle for about 10 seconds and said it was really swollen and bruising already, so she thought he needed an X-ray.

 About 20 minutes later, the doctor and x-ray tech greeted us with this photo. John's fibula is completely broken and a little displaced. They wrapped his ankle, gave him a boot, and told us to buy some crutches. They also  gave us a number for orthopedic doctors and said John is to remain completely down to keep the swelling down or the orthopedic doctors would not be able to do much. They were not sure if the bone can be realigned or if he will have to have surgery. We will call the orthopedic doctors tomorrow morning and probably get in some time after the holiday.

Until then, John will remain down with his foot up. Fortunately, he can work from home, so he will not need to miss any work at all.

As I am entering my 8th month of pregnancy, I am both extremely emotional ( I am reminding myself of my mom , blah) and very nervous. I feel like I have barely been getting the essentials done and I am so tired. John has been such a huge help to me this pregnancy. Now, I have to do it alone. I am scared about these next two months. A family this size is not a one person job. A family of this size and being 8 months pregnant is much harder. So, I am emotional and scared of having the baby with John not available and left with an enormous amount of work.

I feel bad too. I am trying so hard to be brave and nice and strong for John but these darn pregnancy hormones tear up my eyes way too easily. The problem is, they don't necesarrily express how I really feel, and I am sure they worry John. I have basically been avoiding him so that he doesn't have to feel bad for me as well as being in a lot of pain. Though, avoidance probably isn't working well anyway.

That is where we are at. I have no idea what it will be like having a baby with a broken husband. I hope everything-- surgery or realignment or whatever-- will be done in time for the baby to be born. Does life ever slow down? If not, I want a vacation.

Fussy and Clingy

After spending an entire day being babysat, by his sisters and brothers, Joshua has been fussy and clingy. But he isn't just clinging and fussing at me. He is clinging and fussing at whatever bigger person is available.

Little Kids Lagoon Trip

 I promised all of my children that if we didn't go on a vacation this summer, I would take them all to Lagoon, the local amusement park. Because John is not a fan of amusements parks, and because I am very pregnant, we decided to do it in two trips. The plan became for me to take Rachel, Anya, and Joseph in June. That happened on Friday. After the baby comes, I will take, Ruth, Kate, Johnny, and Adam.

 I invited my fun sister-in-law, Rosanne to come along. She brought only her oldest child, Ada. I am so glad Rosanne could come. We had so much more fun because Rosanne and Ada spent the day with us.

 We started out the day in the kitty section. Anya, especially LOVED the Merry-Go-Round because she loves horses so much.  Rosanne and I  mostly watched the kids on these rides.

 After and hour or so on the kiddie rides, it was getting very HOT! Rosanne and I knew we needed to get the kids (and ourselves) wet and comfortable again. Fortunately, Lagoon has a mini water park that is included in the days pass. After some kiddie rides, we went swimming for a bit. I had Rachel, Anya, and Joseph wear their swimsuits mostly because I knew they would be upset if they got wet without a swimsuit. But, Rosanne, Ada, and I went swimming in our clothes. It felt sooooooo good. I am so glad Lagoon has that part. It made the rest of the day much nicer.

 Next, Rosanne and I switched off taking individual kids on faster rides that required an adult while entertaining the rest of the kids on some more kiddie rides. Ada was by far the most adventurous of the group.

 After that, we decided to stay together. We went on a couple of rides that all 6 of us could go on together and then spent just a few minutes getting wet again. (Did I say that I was glad they had things to wet you thoroughly ?)

 There was just so much to do there. We looked at the map about this time, and plotted what we would do. We stayed together and tried a whole bunch of medium (parents can take two little kids each on rides).

The train ride mini zoo was particularly neat. The big ship that always makes me feel nauseaus, was a hit with the girls, but it terrified Joseph.

 The girls went on again with Rosanne and I took a little sitting break with Joseph.

 There were a couple of fun, fast, spinning rides that the kids really enjoyed, and we went on them a couple of time. The rides that all 6 of us could go on together were the nicest just for that reason.

 Lagoon has this River Rapids ride that gets you really wet. I thought the kids would really like that one a lot. But it was a much longer walk to get to that one ride.

 On the way to the river rapids, ride, Ada said she felt sick. We stopped for dinner at a nice shady picnic area. The girls ate and ate and I managed to save a half sandwich for Joseph who had fallen completely asleep.

 After eating and drinking plenty, Ada felt better and we made it to the river rapids ride. I think Rosanne and I enjoyed that a lot more than the kids did. Rachel said that it hurt her bottom. (Silly girl).

After that was the tilt-a-whirl. Ada kept telling Rosanne to make it go faster and Joseph cried and repeated  over and over, "I hate this ride, I hate this ride." So when it came to the 150 foot ferris wheel only, Rosanne, Ada, and Rachel went on it. I didn't mind. I was feeling pretty tired and pretty done with rides at that point.  But the kiddos wanted just a few more before we left. So we redid a couple of rides and bought enough cotton candy for all the kids and all of their siblings. In the end,  we spent a fun packed 8.5 hours at Lagoon. I think Ada, Rachel, and Anya could have stayed longer. But Joseph and I were done and Rosanne and I both needed to get back to our other children.

I look forward to going with my big kids and riding the fun roller coasters without a big baby belly.