Pike Family Recipe for a Memorable 2012

Please ignore the formatting (or lack thereof). I'm tired of fighting that battle! I figured since I hadn't posted in a long time, I would catch the world up on what's happening! Life is good and 2013 is buzzing by.

The Pike Family Recipe For A Memorable 2012

Ingredients: Douglas, Kari, Amy (Sean), Kenny (Aprilynne), Kati (Chris), Jared (Christin), Elizabeth (Daryn), Ammon (and soon-to-be, Cambrai), Brittany, Micaela, Levi, the dog (Gentry), the cat (Jules), and the birds (Stevie, and Sky) and 18 (as of January 23, 2013) grandchildren.

1.      Begin the year by seasoning Doug with a rub of unemployment. Leave in Highland,Utah the rest of winter and let marinate. Check frequently for signs of a job.

2.      Pour Kari, Micaela, Levi, the two birds, the cat and the dog into a house. Stir in school, work, laundry, cello lessons, soccer, friends, Gilmore Girls’ marathons, church activities, Scouts, gardening, baking, reading, writing, and packing boxes.  

3.      Sprinkle with visits from Amy, Kenny, Kati, Jared, Elizabeth,,, (and their spouses and children), Ammon (so he can do his laundry), and Brittany. Oh…add a pinch of Grandma Pike, Grandpa and Grandma Collamer, and Grandpa and Grandma Newcomb and various other Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. 

4.      As the temperatures rise, remove from Highland, Utah house and stuff Douglas, Kari, Brittany, Micaela, Levi, Sky, Jules, and Gentry into a tent trailer in David and Becky Brooke’s driveway in Alpine (well, Levi, and Gentry slept in the house).  Baste with summer rain showers. Smoke with nearby forest fire. Let stew for 8 weeks.

5.      Fold in job offers from California, Idaho, and Oregon. Sprinkle on some magnificent chaos.

6.      Dunk Doug into Coos Bay, Oregon for three days. Quickly remove and set in Arizona’s July heat and leave to dry.  Baste with a new job in Mesa, Arizona and set to rise.

7.      Pour Doug, Kari, Micaela, Levi, and Brittany into Kenny’s house in Glendale, Arizona. Set oven to bake.

8.      Remove Brittany to Northern Arizona University and then to Brigham Young University.

9.      Increase temperatures with a couple of car accidents, and scares with Grandma and Grandpa Collamer’s health.

    As temperatures cool, frost with more soccer, piano lessons, choir, church activities and grandchildren (We have three new ones in that past 13 months – MaesonAnne Rose Anderson – January 12^th, Emali Anne Carbonneau – April 4^th, and Franklin Jerome Wright – January 23^rd, 2013), and Ammon’s engagement to Cambrai Loftus. 

    Top with generous amounts of good health, daily miracles and tender mercies, heaps of friendship and hugs, and buckets of love.

   Serve over best wishes for your 2013 and a solid layer of hope in Christ and His Atoning sacrifice.

We hope you know how much we love and care about you. As crazy as this recipe has been, we think of you often and hope that life is treating you well. We would love to hear about what you’ve been up to!  Come visit, call, write, text, or… come visit!

Dogs, Friends, and Humility

Lesson of the week:

1 Dog + 1 open box of mouse poison = attempted doggie suicide.

I left the house just before 8:00 am to take the kids to school and head off to yoga. I returned home about 9:15am. Gentry greeted me with his usual doggie "Hi, I'm so glad you're home, something happened while you were gone" routine. Usually this means someone called and left a message, or someone came to the door, but he didn't let them in. There were no messages on the answering machine. We have had a number of burglaries in the neighborhood, so I began looking around the house to make sure doors were locked and everything was in place. When I got to the top of the stairs, I spotted a glue trap, upside down, in the middle of the hallway. When I picked the trap up and inspected it, I found white doggie hair on it; evidence that Gentry had been in forbidden territory--the master bedroom. I entered my room to replace the glue trap--we caught a mouse in there just the night before--and to my horror, discovered an empty container of mouse poison. Bits of the deadly stuff were scattered here and there around the chair, and I knew immediately that our mischievous pup had helped himself to a ride to doggie heaven. I ran down the stairs and looked him over. He seemed fine. He looked back at me with his usual doggie grin, lolling tongue, drool and all. I called my husband and asked him what he thought I should do. I knew I needed to call the vet, but I didn't know if we had the funds needed to pay for said vet. Doug told me to go ahead and take Gentry to the animal hospital to see what they could do.

At the animal hospital, Gentry took one step inside the doors and put on the brakes. The floor was slippery so I literally dragged the poor dog to the front desk. He was admitted immediately and the vet explained the entire procedure. One shot to make Gentry throw up anything left in his stomach. It was a good thing to take him in less than two hours after ingestion. It looked like most of the stuff he ate was still in his stomach. Another shot to give him Vitamin K. Another shot to bind up anything left in the intestinal tract. IV therapy to flush out his kidneys. Pick him up at 5:30pm and give him Vit. K tablets for the next three weeks. One trip to the vet, $350.00. Bringing home a healthy, living pet, priceless.

Today after yoga, I stopped to visit with a couple of other ladies in the class. I knew one gal from working out at Curves. She asked about the house situation in Phoenix. The other lady mentioned that her husband is a contractor and has been out of work for a year. Then she broke down and said that things have been so bad that her worst fear is that they will go through all of this and then her husband will die from all the stress. She stated that she is at the point that she would just rather die than have to endure any more. The three of us talked about personal experiences with challenges and depression. We shared ideas about how to cope and how we get through the toughest times. She mentioned her desire to write a book. I told her that I belong to a writer's group and we talked about that for a bit. She expressed and interest in ANWA and I told her I was trying to get a chapter started up here. She said she wants to come...then she said with excitement, "Finally, I have something to live for!"

Yep, it has been an interesting week. I wonder what -ity word I would apply to this week...definitely humility would be one of them. I do truly feel humbled that something I said or did could serve as a light for someone else in need. Serving others is the best pick-me-up of all. I love witnessing how when you share your light with others, your own light doesn't diminish, it gets brighter. What a miracle!