Message from Elder Busche

I hope this touches you and makes your day...like it made mine!

The show that wasn't meant to be

Rich and I have a handful of shows that we want to see before we leave Vegas.

Danny Gans is one of the shows on the list. In fact, Danny Gans just got bumped to the front of our list, as his show is ending it's run in November.

Imagine my excitement when I was able to secure (comped) tickets for tonights show!

With our anniversary just next week, I figured I'd call it our anniversary present to each other.

Rich came home early to accomodate the show. Tanner was requested to stay home tonight to watch Conner, Cason and Jake while I packed the baby and bottle and paci (just in case) to go with Rich and myself.

We drove to the mirage, stood in line, secured our tickets and made it as far as the theatre when we were told "no children under the age of 5". I guess I should have looked into that small detail.

So, as of this evening, Danny Gans remains at the top of our list of shows we want to see before we leave Vegas.

Little shoes to fill....

Tanner asked me tonight why I don't do more posts about him on the blog.

My only answer was that "you don't do as many cute things as Jake... like wear big people's shoes". Tanner had a solution to that.... if Jake is cute wearing big people shoes... Tanner can be equally cute wearing little people shoes, right? or so he thought.... What do you think?

Ty's Blessing Day

Yesterday was a perfect day.

Our sweet Tyler was blessed by his daddy, with two grandpa's and six uncles present to assist.

I can't express what a sweet spirit our little Ty has and what a joy it is to have him as a member of our family.

I know that he is a gift, straight from our Heavenly Father.

I'm so grateful for him and for the opportunity to hear Rich give him a beautiful father's blessing.

Yes, it was a perfect day.

One month old...

Last Tuesday our Ty celebrated his one month birthday. Maybe "celebrate" is the wrong word - in truth it kind of came and went, lost in the busyness of our other commitments. Nonetheless, I can't believe it's been a month. He has already grown so much since he was born. Just this past week he:

slept from 9:30 p.m. until 4:30 a.m. That's 7 hours for those counting (me!)

smiled - I thought it was gas, but he smiled again and again leading me to believe it was a genuine smile

continues to have more "wake time" for us to enjoy his beautiful eyes and spirit

has developed a very strong neck so he doesn't seem to mind his "tummy time"

(Tyler at 1 week - the bear is bigger than Ty)

(Tyler at one month - Ty is bigger than the bear)

We're the John B. Dougall Family...

This past week was the family reunion for Rich's family. As part of the festivities, we held a family talent show. One of the talents of the Dougall's is the ability to laugh at themselves. My husband capitalized on that ability in what is sure to become an infamous list of Dougall traits. Here is just a sampling.

• If you’ve ever had family photos while wearing matching pajamas and/or sweatshirts, you might be a Dougall.
• If growing up as a child you thought that 5 star travel meant you had grass and shade in the same campground, you might be a Dougall.
• If you’ve ever sat at Thanksgiving dinner and not known the names of all the extra people your mom invited to join your family, you might be a Dougall.
• If you ever thought that King’s Table Buffet was part of every families Fast Sunday, you might be a Dougall.
• If you can define the word “Balderdash” and use it as a profanity in a sentence, you might be a Dougall.
• If you’ve ever received a cowboy shirt from uncle Gary as a Christmas gift and a note pad from Aunt Jeanette, you might be a Dougall.
• If you’ve ever received an injury from “riding on” the lazy susan dining room table, you might be a Dougall.
• If December 24th always included a trip to Mt Hood for snow and cold, you might be a Dougall
• If your childhood family vacations required packing three car top carriers, you might be a Dougall.
• If your mom was pregnant at your Eagle Court of Honor… and again at your High School Graduation… and again at your Missionary Farewell…, you might be a Dougall.
• If you tend to have an opinion.... about everything, you might be a Dougall.
• If you consider sleep just a necessary inconvenience, you might be a Dougall.
• If you’ve ever received a 24 page email from Laurel, you might be a Dougall.
• If your dad’s wife and secretary share the same name, and you’re not always sure which “Marilyn” he is referring to, you might be a Dougall.
• If you grew up believing that you would surely go to hell for drinking caffeine, you might be a Dougall.
• If you feel a genetic predisposition to have your Christmas letters rhyme, you might be a Dougall.
• If you consider your backup religion is Kindermusic, you might be a Dougall.
• If you’ve ever received a three ring binder as a birthday gift … and that binder included a copy of your patriarchal blessing, you might be a Dougall.
• If you’ve ever been willing to drive 12 miles out of your way to save 36 cents on gas – not 36 cents/gallon, 36 cents total - you might be a Dougall.

Thanks to all for a great week!

52 Blessing Project Week 30 ~ PRIESTHOOD

Yesterday we blessed Tyler while Rich's family was all still in town for their reunion.
Along with blessing Ty, Rich's brother, Rob, blessed his son Aidan, Rich was ordained a High Priest, and Rich's brother, Dave, received a blessing of health from his father.
As you can imagine, it was a very memorable and special morning.
To see the power of the PRIESTHOOD used in so many ways was very touching. I feel very fortunate to have a husband who holds, and worthily uses, the PRIESTHOOD. I also feel fortunate to have a father and father-in-law and brothers and brothers-in-law who also hold, and worthily use, the PRIESTHOOD.
Throughout my life I have been blessed by the PRIESTHOOD and I will continue to call upon that power in the future. I'm grateful that our loving Heavenly Father has restored that power on the earth for the blessing of each of us, if we will only ask.

52 Blessing Project Week 29 ~ RICH'S FAMILY

You may not know this little bit of trivia, but my husband comes from a family of 11 (eleven!)children. Add to that 7 spouses and 26 grandchildren and we are talking about a LARGE FAMILY. We had the opportunity to gather this past week for a FAMILY reunion and I was reminded of how much I love all of RICH'S FAMILY and how fortunate I feel to be a part of this amazing FAMILY. One of Rich's brother's put together a slide show about the DOUGALL FAMILY for the reunion and it was while I watched these photos of Rich and his siblings being "musicians" and "scouts" and "scholars" and "athletes" and "missionaries", that I was so touched by what two people (my wonderful in-laws) have accomplished. I not only have a greater respect for how my husband was raised, but a greater goal of how I want to raise my own family. I'm not very eloquent and a bit frustrated with my inability to communicate the emotions I felt that evening. Needless to say, I feel that RICH'S FAMILY is a huge blessing in my life and I want to thank them each individually for being a part of my life.

Big shoes to fill....

Every child goes through the stage of INSISTING on wearing other people's shoes.

Jake is no exception.

Most evenings it's his dad's shoes as Rich kicks them off when he walks in the door from work. But frequently he will even wear my shoes - even those with heels.

I laugh everytime and always wish my camera was nearby, but it never is....until yesterday.

Jake found Cason's soccer cleats and my camera was within reach, so I took photos of the whole process.

The discovery...

One foot in....

Other foot in...

Success!

Not bad Naker Boy!

The better to see you with.....

I have not posted much about anybody but Ty lately. So I thought I would share what some of my other kids are up to. This photo was taken a couple of weeks before the baby was born. Cason was going through a "do you know what I want for my birthday?" stage (his birthday is in December!) Somehow he decided he wanted glasses for his birthday and I was telling him how lucky he is to have strong eyes. With his typical "Cason Creativity", he came up with his own solution. He took a pair of toy glasses, removed the attached nose and mustache and proceeded to wear the glasses for 2-3 days straight, even when we were out in public. This photo makes me laugh because it looks like those glasses with the cardboard psychedelic eyes, but they are only glasses - the eyes are Cason's. He is so funny! And definitely not camera shy!

The women in Ty's life

I had some photos of myself taken with Ty on July 2nd...something I haven't done with the other kids that I wish I had. I picked them up today and love them!

That inspired me to take some sweet photos of Kaitlyn and Ty together this afternoon. Not professional, but I love them just as well.

52 Blessing Project Week 28 ~ TESTIMONY of OTHERS

I had an interesting experience yesterday. I was reading Gardenview Cottage's blog and she referenced A Daily Scoop ~ who just happens to live here in Las Vegas and who has suffered the loss of her baby just last month in an accidental drowning. I began reading A Daily Scoop's blog, but, between the length and the emotion, couldn't finish it. Last night as I was going to bed I began to tell Rich about this family and their tragedy only to have Rich begin asking me all kinds of details - come to find out, during priesthood somebody in our ward, who knows this family, had brought them up during the lesson. What a small world, and isn't in interesting that both Rich and I were touched by this family, in very different ways, on the same day.

I have finished reading the blog now and had to post an appreciation to this dear sister who has expressed herself and her TESTIMONY so eloquently for all to read and for all to learn from. Her posts are beautifully written - though the subject matter is so achingly painful.

She has shared how difficult it had been for her to be the mother of 4, yet how much more difficult it is to be the mother of 3 again.

She has shared her testimony of not only the gospel, but of families, the temple, afterlife and so much more.

She has shared how differently she looks at her remaining children and how the challenges that used to be struggles, are no longer challenges when viewed eternally.

She has shared how she has battled with the human heart and her mind, trying not to place blame, and how she has overcome that battle.

She has shared her love for her family and the amazing support they have been able to offer one another.

She has shared how she has been able to find peace for herself through all of this.

and She has shared so much more....

Really, you have to visit her blog and read her words. But be prepared to spend some time, and shed some tears. I share this only because each of her posts caused me to pause and think "how would I handle that" or "do I have that same strength/faith/endurance". I have been so touched and I want to remember how I have felt as I have read her words.

Her TESTIMONY is beautiful. I'm so grateful for OTHER people who are willing to be so open and share beautiful TESTIMONIES that help my own to grow. I think that that is what the Lord wants us to be doing ~ sharing and helping one another grow. I know that that is what this sweet sister has done.

Week in review

I'm slacking.

I'm not only not blogging well since Ty's birth, I'm not even taking photos with which to blog.

I know....not taking photos is a cardinal sin with a newborn, but I have only taken maybe 4-5 photos this entire week.

My mom was here for 2 weeks following Ty's birth and she left last weekend - so I'm now in survival mode and really missing her (huge THANKS mom for those two weeks & to dad for letting me have her).

But if I were taking photos, this is what our past week would look like:

• one visit to the lab and two doctor visits for Ty
• three wonderful meals brought in by ward members
• four mornings that Rich stayed home late so that I could rest
• endless kisses for Ty from Jake - if Jake catches a glimpse of Ty, he insists on kissing him
• even more endless games of CLUE - my kids newest favorite game that they play all day long
• zero chores being done by me (we did do laundry) and the world doesn't end....

All in all a very good week. We survived anyway. Some weeks you just can't ask for more than that!

Going to the Doctor

Jake turned 18 months old on Ty's birthday which, any mom will tell you, means a doctor's visit. I thought that I would just schedule Jake's 18 month visit at the same time as Ty's 2 week visit. It seemed like a good idea - let's just say that anything involving a newborn in conjunction with a clinging 18 month old is seldom going to be a good idea. Add 115 degree weather and the a/c being broken at the doctor's office and you can begin to imagine my afternoon yesterday - but that is not the reason for my post. I wanted to share this picture of my cute little boys, both down to their diapers waiting for their check ups. My baby Jake is so big now that Ty is around to compare him to. Ty's check-up came back perfect - and he slept through it all, which made all the nurses just coo over him. He weighed in at 9 pounds 6 ounces - nearly one whole pound more than his birth weight. Not bad! Especially considering he is puking like crazy (5 of the 7 previous feedings) and I was wondering if he was getting anything. Jake continues to grow, with a huge leap in both his height and weight percentages since his 12 month visit. He measured in at 100% for height and 60% for weight. Jake also got two shots and he didn't even cry. He stuck his bottom lip out in the biggest pout I've ever witnessed, but not a single tear! I guess now that he is a big brother he has to be tough!

Ten Tiny Toes

I LOVE little baby toes.

They are so round and squashed there on the end of cute little baby feet....on the bottom of cute baby legs. Oh, I just love to play with them!

I wanted to capture Ty's sweet little feet before he got any older, so I pulled out the paint and put footprints into his baby book. Then I remembered the cute canvas hand print that I did of Jake on his 1st birthday and decided to capture Ty's little feet on canvas. It turned out so cute and now I will have his little feet forever.

Believe it or not, these little feet measure just barely over 3 inches! So precious!

52 Blessing Project Week 27 ~ FREEDOM & INDEPENDENCE

With the 4th of July just past, I have to recognize our FREEDOM & INDEPENDENCE as an unbelievable blessing in my life.

I'm grateful for not only our country, but for all those who have sacrificed before me, are sacrificing now, and will sacrifice in the future to maintain the very FREEDOM & INDEPENDENCE that we take for granted on most days.

I love Lee Greenwood's song "Proud to be an American". It touches me every time I hear it. I think it sums up my emotions about our amazing nation, where we enjoy FREEDOM & INDEPENDENCE above any other nation.

Stop for just a mintue to to think about all that we have and then make sure you pause to give thanks for it!

God Bless America!