The Secret Of Life

Whew, with a title like that, this aught to be a doozy of a post, right?

Without further ado, I will now tell you "The Secret Of Life"...

Naw, not really. I was just hoping to attract more people to this post and my blog and to re-vamp things a little bit around here. Since the dawn of facebook, it's just way too easy to ignore this blog (I hate it when people talk about their blogs) and just spew whatever and post whatever on facebook and occasionally link to some profound thing here at my blog where the crickets are singing and the wind blows, unobstructed, through the lonely plains of my long forgotten worrrrrrrrds of posts past.

Kids, screwing around while Trina tries out her new backgrounds in her "photo session"



The photographer, trying not to laugh her pants off at how ridiculous it is to have a photo session in the playroom.




The pictures turned out so cute, good thing you can't really see the room and the mess in the finished product!




They get their flexibility from me.




My dumb camera captures Mari's funny face. Trina's shots turned out way better, of course!

 "The Secret Of Life" was inspired by the fact that we are not going to find out the sex of this baby in my tummeh. We didn't know what Katrina was going to be but we knew for all the other 6, so this is the first time in a long time that we DON'T know this basic thing about the baby we can't see on a daily basis while s/he is cooking.

I went to the doctor for the first time yesterday and I am 17 weeks along. I had no excuse for waiting so long, other than "I was busy." The doctor bought it. He knows I'm a 'frequent flyer' so he also knows I have healthy pregnancies and that I don't like to come in to the doc office every 4 weeks. I was so worried though, when he couldn't really feel where the edges of my uterus were for the measure tape and suggested we do an ultrasound (another reason I love my doctor: at the very first sign of ANYTHING, he whips you into the ultrasound room!). I think that they forgot about me for a second though and I sat and stressed out, thinking back to how I don't really feel this baby moving yet and how early I've felt my babies in the past. I sat in front of the empty ultrasound screen, imagining the worst. An undeveloped baby, all kinds of deformities, a baby missing limbs (so it couldn't kick), or any other manner of horrors before the doctor and nurse came in. I have to say that I was actually kind of surprised to see a normal, moving, heart-beating BABY right there on the screen! Yup. Everything is fine. It's just that the placenta is right underneath my bellybutton and it makes it that much harder for me to feel any movement right away. WHEW!

So, the "Secret of Life" here could easily be figured out if the doctor just moved the ultrasound probe around a little and checked around (kind of snoopy, isn't it?) but we are content to not find out this secret until June 16thish or whenever I get restless enough to induce labor and have this baby.

Oh, the kids already know he's a boy, anyway. They shouted to my tummy, "Hey, Baby! WHAT ARE YOU?" then they listened, very carefully, and the baby told them that he was a boy. Why waste time and money on an ultrasound scan when you can just ask a sibling? I should add that they have always been right in the past. Hmmmmm.

Trina's new website is here: http://www.photobykatrina.com/ I think there are some pics from that photo session in her gallery, so you can see how a pro does it ;)

April Showers Bring May Showers Etc. Etc. Etc.

But they also bring new and wonderful changes this year to the Nielsen household! Trina got confirmed in the OLD RITE at the Church of St. Agnes in St. Paul, MN last week! It was sort of a surprise to us that she'd get the opportunity but we got a letter of permission from our parish priest (Thank you, Fr. Richards!) and Trina picked a wonderful sponsor (Thank you, Jodi!) and a handful of our friends and family went to the city with us to witness the HISTORIC (I found out at Mass) occasion.

Apparently, it's been something like 40 years since any one's been confirmed in the old rite in the archdiocese! Trina was SO honored to be a part of it but she was mostly giddy that she'd get the "slap" on the face that she'd read/heard about! She posted more about the feelings she experienced on her blog.

Here is a video of the "girl's side". Trina and Jodi are on the far right. You can hear the men's group chanting in the background. It was beautiful to listen to live! If you drag the dot to around 1min 30 or so, you'll see me pan to the group that was in our pew. Weazy mouths to me "You can't take photographs!" but I was taking video so PPPPTTHHTTT on you, Weazy. Also, if you forward again to around 2 min 30 you'll see Trina get confirmed a little closer because I zoomed. So, I won't win any awards for videography, but it was pretty cool to have it recorded like that, seeing as how it WAS "an historic occasion" and all. :)



It was nice to don the good old veil again. I'd love to veil at my church but I still have the problem where nobody else really does it so would I be drawing attention to myself? It's a touchy subject. I've stressed about it for years. I feel drawn to veil but I don't want to make other people think that I think I'm "oh so pious" or "better than you". Then, I run into the thought "Oh, well, wouldn't it be a sacrifice if you KNEW you'd be drawing attention to yourself and that people would think you're trying to look holier than them?" It's convoluted, I know, but these are the things that run through my head...I let them do that and don't bother too much about anything but this one's got me stumped. I think people must already think I have issues because I like to receive on the tongue. I HAVE started to receive in the hand when it's an extraordinary minister. I figure then that way I don't have to crouch down to receive from a short person or (God please forbid) have the EMHC stick his whole hand in my mouth looking for a place to "land". I SHOULD solve that problem by kneeling or just going to the priest but crying kids don't always allow for that possibility.

Anyway, I'll post again later this week on the birth of my new niece or nephew on Thursday! I'm so excited to find out if it's a boy or a girl and to SEE who s/he looks like!

P.S. I fell asleep while composing this post. Let me know if I have any mistakes. Thanks, editors! ;)

Babies Don't Keep

I took this picture of Evangeline last night. I was reading a story to Tommy in his bed. I had my phone with me and Tommy was playing solitaire on it (to tire him out and entertain him a little before I had to go into my room and plug it in). To my surprise, Butch CALLED me from our bedroom. He said Evangeline had fallen asleep after squirming and playing around on our bed (pretty much her favorite thing to do in life) but that he couldn't move and if I just came in there, I'd find out why...

(Don't worry, I'm pretty sure she was just REALLY tired and hadn't actually passed out from the stink.)

I was cleaning out my game/craft cupboard today. For some reason, this one verse was going through my head all day as I watched the kids mill around, and play, and generally make extra messes because it was too cold and windy to go outside, and it's been that way for days and days...a lot of the time, I find myself turning away from the computer, which gets boring after a while, stopping all frantic cleaning activities, and grabbing some books to read with the kids in the rocking chair...

"Cleaning and scrubbing can wait 'til tomorrow..."

It was a "crosstitch poem" on a plaque at my neighbor's house from when I was a teenager. I pretty much LIVED at that house because they had four little girls that I and my sister babysat a LOT. Someday, I'll talk about the adventures we got up at that house but today, I am just reminded of that plaque. I know the whole thing by heart, even after all these years because I'd read it every time I went over there. I never really understood it until I had children of my own:

"Cleaning and scrubbing can wait 'till tomorrow.
For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and
babies don't keep!"

It's the "Quiet down cobwebs" part that always confused me. I never realized that the poet was TELLING the cobwebs and the dust to be quiet and go to sleep...I wondered "what the heck are 'down cobwebs' and how can dust 'go to sleep'?" Heehee!

So, I looked it up and found that no one knows where the poem came from but the best guess is it might have been part of a longer poem that I've found and absolutely LOVE:


Babies Don’t Keep
By Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due,
Lullabye, rockaby, lullabye loo.
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo,
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo,
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs;
Dust go to sleep!
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

I especially identify with the line:
"And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo"

My Funny Valentines

I thought it would be special to get some pretty pictures of just the girls for St. Valentine's Day. A friend of mine, Jo Girtz took these at her home studio. She just used the natural light coming through her walk-out sliding door. I thought they turned out so pretty. I got some of all of the girls together, but I have to figure out which one they want posted (and maybe do some edits!), first.

I'll have to get the boys together for an outdoor shot or something. They're WAY to active and impatient to sit pretty like the girls!

Nice Ice For Sale, Ten Cents A Pail

Analise and Niklaus, making the best of the dome-crushing 2010 blizzard.

Ahhhhhoooooooommmmmmm

We were just wrapping up the day and Trina and Matty were working on new voicemail greetings on their phones. It was a pretty noisy environment (when is it NOT???) but I heard Mari repeating, in her teeny voice, an odd sound.

She often does repeating sounds or sings little songs to just herself. It's usually very funny but this one took the cake.

The kids have been watching The Fantastic Mr. Fox all week (which reminds me, I gotta bring that thing back to the video store). It's a VERY weird movie but in one part, the cool cousin that comes to live with Mr. Fox tries to calm himself with some Yoga that he presumably learned in his somewhat Bohemian upbringing. It's a way that the author illustrates how kind of naturally cool he is.

I saw Mari, earlier, playing with this mat thing that has bamboo across it. I think Anna used it to decorate in her dorm and the girls inherited it. I thought I had thrown them away but good thing I didn't because then, Mari wouldn't have been able to turn it into the PERFECT "yoga mat". I grabbed the camera before she had a chance to realize what I was doing:














Then I tried to get a better picture by using the flash and she did this:

...and told me "Mom! That noise is ruining 'my thing'!"

Yoga girl with pizza face should know she will NEVER achieve total peace and tranquility as long as she lives in THIS family. I think that she will still try, though. She's a very persistent little mouse.

Not ANOTHER Baby Picture!!!!???

OH YES, it is. Evangeline fell asleep on the porch swing. Trina had been reading on the swing just a few minutes earlier and it was such a cute scene, I snapped it:


We've been busy this summer! Babysitting, baseball, family camp weekend, splashing in the little pools in the front yard, 4th of July celebration prep and party, and Weazy's birthday this week have all taken up all of our time. Most of that is over (except the babysitting!) so I WAS going to take the time to do some posting but the stuff hit the fan in the middle of the night last night and we've been infected by the bubonic plague or something and everyone is sick. Butch has been out of town so I'm on my own for this one. I need a nap but I have a whole bunch of little kids who want to go outside now. Buh-bye.

Marierola

I have to get Tommy on video saying Mariela's name. It's really worth hearing and hard to write out to perfectly describe how it sounds.

My friend, Michelle is SUCH a great photographer that she even got Mari to pose for a bunch of pictures while I was upstairs getting the baby to sleep for the sleepy shots. I'm interrupting my baby pics to show you some of these 5th baby pics. I just love how she batted her eyes for Michelle and vamped all over the place. I blame the sudden change from camera doubtful to camera ready on the show "Toddlers & Tiaras" which I watch with much disgust yet can't look away. Mari's seen it with us and she just loves the sparkly dresses and practices her stage walk in the living room. NO, she will NOT be one of those insane freaks but she DOES say that she wants to be a "makeup girl" when she grows up.

First, here's Mari in a typical family shot where she's required to smile (Evangeline's baptism day May 16th 2010, edited by Trina):


And here's what she can do when Michelle says, "Hey, Mari? Why don't you sit there and I'll take a picture of you?":

One Month Old Evangeline

I'm going to call Michelle to do some special Fall pictures of our family and maybe get some nice pictures of Trina for her sweet 16 birthday this Fall. She took these amazingly juicy pictures of Evangeline a couple of weeks ago. I just wanted to capture EVERY little beautiful thing that I saw in her, since I never know if the baby in my arms will be the last baby born of this jiggly belly. Michelle really knows how to "grab" those incidental shots when most people would be busy fixing the camera or changing the lighting and all that other stuff that doesn't matter much. That's how she managed to get a shot like this:

In that half-second, gassy moment, she spied the smile and snatched it!

I normally don't like over edited pictures but this one is just breathtaking. She looks like a china doll:


I didn't know when Michelle would snap a picture so I just pretended that she wasn't taking any at all and then she took this shot as I was trying to position sleeping Evangeline. E fell asleep so easily, upstairs in Michelle's daughter's room, in the rocker while nursing, so we were able to get the sleeping and awake shots even though Michelle likes to get the infant/newbie shots when they are 10 days or less. I'm so glad she agreed to do it and took a chance on E!

I also don't normally like a lot of gaudy props but I trusted Michelle and we got many great shots like these (I brought some cute outfits but I'm SUPER happy we didn't get a chance to change baby into any of them because 1. It would have made her cranky, she loves so much to be nekkid and 2. she looks extra cute nekkid) :


Trina and Mari were there with me to help and play with Michelle's youngest. I'm so glad they were with me because we used Trina for a hand model since my hands are stumpy and U.G.L.Y. and hers are perfectly proportioned and pretty. She didn't come prepared for pictures but Michelle took this one, sorta sneaky-like and it turned out very sweet:

Notice the difference between long, graceful Trina fingers and short, squatty, man-hand, chewy-nailed mama fingers?


More pictures and comments to come...be sure to visit Michelle's site! I link to it up there on my sidebar (you can't miss it! Thanks, Regina!)...

Promise...Just ONE More Thing...(UPDATE*)

*THERE! It's perfect now! I guess in between her breaks for tea and scones and all manner of decadent treats, she's managed to wave her magic wand and alakazam my blog to beautifulness! Thanks, Regina!

...Before I post those pictures, could you email me with a screen capture of what you see when you go to my blog? Here's what I see on my screen:


Regina is helping me and made this supercool new header (using a picture that my other supercool friend, Michelle took, along with all of the other pics of the baby that I'll be posting soon) and background in her tons of spare time. Gosh, I wish I had that kind of life with the bon bons and massages...anyway, she sent me a pic of what it looks like to her and the words are perfectly in between those two light blue lines on the sides. I'm just wondering what it looks like to everyone else.

Meanwhile...just to give you some eye candy to chew on (since we can't all be gorging ourselves with bon bons, toffee, and truffles like SOME people)...

Mmmhmmmm, I KNOW! Super yummy, right?

Hang On!

I've got a billion things to do today (apx. 1.3 million more than USUAL) and a headache, to boot...(here's one more just to tease you)

Sneaky Peek...

More jaw-droppingly stunning photos to come soon. For now, here's just a taste (don't want to make you faint from too much cuteness all at once!)...

Dr. Bocker

All of the kids are kind of past the "oh my gosh, I can't WAIT for the new baby to come!" stage. All except Bocker (Niklaus).

Bocker has always been the one child in the family to ask "Are you okay?" if you sneezed, coughed, made a noise of pain, etc.. I didn't really notice that fact for a long time. He seems to be ultra empathetic, which is a rare thing for children. He asks me questions about the baby all of the time and is the only one patient enough to really feel the baby when she's moving around. He loves it when she wiggles and his eyes get HUGE and he says "WHOA, that was a GOOD one!" then he laughs with pure joy.

I wonder why? I didn't treat him any different than any of the other kids. I didn't overly coddle him, or overly punish him. I think it's just really, truly his nature! It's so funny how he walks past me and puts his hand on my belly, then walks away as if nothing's happened. He's the ONLY one who will ask, "How are you doing, Mom?" in the middle of the day, out of the blue. He's the only one who LOVES being snuggled and holding on to another person. If he could be physically attached to someone all day (a la' conjoined twins), he'd probably be a happy camper!

He loves those medical shows and baby story shows and never even says "EWWWW" on the gross parts. During those survivor shows the family likes to watch, he'll say, "Don't worry, Mom, I'll tell you when the yucky parts come and you can cover your eyes!". He watches them, and doesn't even really cringe. If someone is bleeding or in any kind of pain, he IMMEDIATELY asks if you need anything and won't hesitate to get it for you. He's like our own personal triage nurse.

He's an unusual duck, but I sure like him. Oh, and I think I might want him in the delivery room with me. If it's not too dramatic (i.e. I've had an early epidural that works perfectly), I think he'd really get a kick out of the whole thing. He's really more suited to that than any of the other kids. The bigger girls were at the last delivery and they did really well. My sistahs did a good job of ushering them out of the room during sensitive times and keeping them in a "can see the baby coming out" only position in the room. It worked out nicely so I really can't see a problem for Bocker being there when this little girl is born.

He will probably be right next to me in the bed saying, "It's okay, Mom, there's just a little blood, it's going to be okay. WHOA, did you SEE that? That was COOL! Do you need another pillow?" the whole time. Am I messing him up for life? Or, will he end up being a really good OB/GYN some day?

I Apolergize

I meant to do that thing on the sidebar where it shows the latest postings of all of my peeps. So, I went ahead and deleted all of my links first, then got distracted...of course. I'll get to it sometime soon so all the newbies can see all of the oldies/goodies that have been my blogfriends/family/realpals for years. The world awaits my procrastinating but well-intentioned duties. Meanwhile, I'll post a few pictures and wait for the calls and emails to come in with more offers of housekeeping, billpaying, childcare, hair-highlighting to get on my highly sought after blogroll spot HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!


Mari and cousin, Sofia

Tommy lovin' on Cousin Vinny

How to keep track of the quiet ones outside, at night, before bed, in their cut-off-footie jammies

My Achin' Everything

I get tired putting my hair in a pony-tail. I'm really really really DONE with this pregnancy.
If this weren't Holy Week, I couldn't really go to church any more (last Sunday about did me in) but I'm going to try to gut through singing in the choir Thurs., Fri, and for Easter Vigil. After that, church will probably have to wait until after the baby is born.

I have a HUGE bunch of scheduling conflicts this time.

1. I had Mari a week early (induced) and I still don't think she was "ready", so I'm reluctant to induce more than 4 days early.

2. My doctor will be out of town after this weekend until the 15th

3. I'm due the 18th (Sunday) but want to be induced on Friday, the 16th.

4. I'm not sure if the baby's head is even down, which will affect everything.

5. My youngest sister will be out of town over the due time.

6. If I went over, my other sisters won't be around (vacations).

7. I don't want to go over.

8. I am seeing the doctor this Friday and I'll know more...but I REALLY want HIM to be there for the birth, since I've witnessed my sisters' deliveries (via that same doctor) for 7 babies and I just KNOW that I'd have a great experience with him and all of my sistahs present.

9. I need to have this baby soon because I'm very quickly running out of things to wear and pretty soon all that will fit is my mom's size 3 muu muus. (No, they don't fit her...she just buys things WAY too big for her.).

I know a lot of people would read this and think: Yeah, the baby will come when she comes and what's the big deal with having all of those people there? Haven't you done this 6 times before???

It's just that I've had so many not-so-great birth experiences, I don't know if this is my last, and I've had this doctor before but he was gone when I went into labor with Bocker and the doctor on call was the devil's minion (I think) and it was a HORRIBLE experience that I don't want to repeat. Also, the worst experience was only two years ago with Thomas so I'm still suffering PTSD about that. I know it can be GREAT, but I also know that most of my deliveries are really not great-truly awful. The only "perfect" situation would be:
1. To have my kids all in a good place and comfortable where they are during the delivery so I don't have to worry about them at all.

2. To have Butch be there.

3. To have all my sistahs be there.

4. To have MY doctor be there.

5. (maybe this one should have been number ONE) to have the anesthesiologist be standing right outside my room, needle in hand, ready for me the minute I have a contraction and long before I'm in actual labor/I get pitocin.

I just don't think, after all of these babies, that's asking too much.

Do you?

We went on "vacation" last week. From Tuesday night thru Saturday afternoon, we had the pool at Breezy Point resort all to ourselves. The stay was free from an angel that works with Butch. It was so great for the kids to have this adventure. Butch actually had some work, so he missed out but got to sleep in his own bed!

Here's a picture of all of the kids in the pool. They were so wonderfully behaved and helpful. Matthew cheerfully helped Tommy nearly the whole time and most of the time, he had two kids within reach for whom to be responsible. Trina was my other eyeballs and helped me with everything as well. They were both not feeling so great, so I really have to give them credit for all of the hauling and watching that they did last week.


Here is the baby. She's swimming, but this is as close as she got to the chlorine pool! (Don't worry, I watched her very closely.)
P.S. If Tommy stands directly under my belly, he disappears completely.

Sick Days, Birthdays, Happy Days, Sad Days

After our Crazy Dance Party a few Friday nights ago, we got strep in the house. The whole works (except for Trina and I) had to go to the doctor and get meds. THEN, Tommy couldn't breathe one night, so we went to the ER with him and he got a steroid shot, with the lovely info that the doctor thought he must have croup. Really? Croup (virus) AND strep (bacteria)? How lucky can one family get? Everyone else got the virus too, including Trina.

It took three weeks and finally, today, everyone sounds and feels a whole lot better.

On Wed. we celebrated Tommy's 2nd birthday (he was sick and miserable, I don't have any pictures of that day, but here's a shot of him at that dance party the Friday before. He danced so much he collapsed on the floor...several times...especially when he saw the camera was on!)
We then celebrated Mari's 4th birthday on Friday. She went to a pre-school screening (I don't intend to send her to school, but I just like the screening and the people who do it in this town. They're very supportive of homeschoolers in this district.)
She wanted to wear her crown and bring her purse along for the screening. It was pretty obvious that it was her birthday, since she wore this special collar that said "Happy Birthday" that she'd been saving ALL year, just for the occasion. They sung "Happy Birthday" to her at the school. She was so pleased. She also said goodbye to the neighbor as he took his kids (that we babysit) off to see their grandma. Mari hollered across the street, "Bye! Hey, did you know today's my birthday?" The neighbor said, "Oh yeah! That's right!". Mari hollered again, "You forgot to say 'happy birthday'!". He thought it was funny...I thought she was getting a little to into the princess thing.
That girl's got some MAJOR sass going for her. I have a feeling she's going to work it until she figures out some other thing that will work for her to get out of doing chores and taking naps.

Saturday morning, Butch's parents took the birthday kids (including Butch) out to their breakfast/shopping for birthday gift/shopping for cake, tradition that we started a few years ago. It makes the birthday kid feel really special but we figured three birds with one stone was the way to go this year! Butch reported that this exchange happened at Perkin's:
Server: Do you want pie, or ice cream?
(she got a choice for her birthday)
Mari: Ummm, I think because I'm FOUR, I should have cake and ice cream.

She got ice cream. Butch put the brakes on the princess complex there, but she handled it just fine!
Saturday night, we had my side of the family over to celebrate the birthdays in our house (Butch's was Sunday!) and my twin niece and nephew (birthday today) and my other nephew who will be 4 this Saturday. It was super funny to sing happy birthday for 3 cakes (two names on each) and it ended up being a total blast. We had a couple other people over, too. Our neighbors (who are like family since we have their children over every week for babysitting)and Tommy's godparents, Rachie and Billy. Even Matt and Anna got to come from Menomonie with their dog, Jake. A good time was had by all!

The "sad days" in the title only refers to the illnesses...but there is some sadness in that the worry of an unstable economy is threatening Butch's job. He has been laid off (this will be the third week) for the first time in years and years. His company is very stable, one of the only companies that does what they do, and THEY are feeling the pinch...I can't imagine how the rest of the construction/industrial world is doing right now and for the past two years. I don't know how people live on just unemployment, but I know we can't. We can NOT sustain this for very long. I don't know what we would do if he were laid off for more than 5 or 6 weeks. We have to make some tough choices, I know that, but with 7 kids, there are certain things that pass the "want" category and really are the NEEDS. We need a roof over our heads, clothing on our bodies, food in our bellies, and transportation. What can we let go? Not much. We have come to depend on the internet for communication, education, and bill paying...although, the thought just occurred to me that if I can't pay bills, what's the point of paying them online? Just (mostly) kidding! I'm cracking up a bit here. This is all a lot of worry that a LOT of people are going through, I know that. It does make things a little easier, knowing that there are a whole lot of people in this sinking boat with us. Misery loves company, right? Ugh. How about misery can take a hike. I wish misery would leave people alone once in a dang while. Misery stinks on ice.

Well, the ONE good thing that comes from having Butch here is that he is helping with school. Math is hard (said in my best Barbie voice) and Butch does it so much better than I do! He gets to see how schooling works for each child, which is something he misses out on while he's working. He has also gotten to take them ice fishing a few times (something he's never really done before) with one of his retired co-workers (a great friend of the family). That's been great bonding time with the kids, too. Butch and the kids also primed and painted the entire basement. We had all of the equipment and paint but hadn't had the time to finish that job until now. If we only had money, as well as time, we could put in carpet and trim things up...but that might have to wait for a while. We haven't driven each other crazy quite yet, but I'm sure that day is coming.

Oh well, I guess we'll just have to gear up...

Find the strength to push each other to not give up...

Remember to lean on God, who will help us when we feel like falling...

And when we fall...

And get discouraged...

We can know that all of that prayer and love will carry us through...

And help us (however shakily) get to our feet...

Until we rise again!

Triumphantly calling from the highest mountaintop!

"Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. For in his hand are all the ends of the earth: and the heights of the mountains are his. For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.

Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us. For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts..."