The I Love Lucy Project

For all you Eyrealmers...Shawni has just created a new blog for the I Love Lucy Project. If you could all put the link Ilovelucyproject.blogspot.com on your own blogs with a little explanation to your friends and family members, it would be terrific. Saren has approved matching funds from The Eyrealm Foundation for any donations that come to The Foundation Fighting Blindness. This is the first step and then we'll go from there. Anyone with ideas would be welcome. We're sending the information below to all our email lists today. If you could post something ASAP that would be great! This one if obviously from us but if you have your friends lick to Lucy's blog it will work for you. Take a look at Shawni's post this morning and you'll see how she did it.

We all sure love this little girl and I think we can really make a difference:

Three years ago, when our daughter Shawni delivered her fifth child, a new and very different chapter opened in her life and ours. Little Lucy was born with a sixth toe on one of her chubby little feet, and additional research led to the diagnosis of a very rare genetic syndrome called Bardet-Biedl which, unless remedies and treatments are found, is almost certain to cause blindness, obesity, and other issues for this sweet little girl.

A whole new world of gratitude has opened up for our family this year as the Thanksgiving season rolls by and the Christmas season comes on. Because of Lucy, we have realized what an incredibly amazing, intricate, astounding creation our bodies are! As we spoke to the world’s most knowledgeable Doctor on this Syndrome, Dr. Philip Beales at the University College Hospital in London, we discovered the amazing fact that on the 9^th day of conception, the little hair-like strands attached to Lucy’s cells (and all our cells) called cilia, uniformly started waving like octopus tentacles to the left. Most of us have cilia that wave to the right at nine days, but for some reason her genetically generated messages directed hers to start waving to the left…which means that her internal organs are all place perfectly on the opposite side of where they normally would be.

There were other incredible manifestations of this rare genetic disease which required a mutant gene on both sides of the family…so rare that we would have to go back many generations on each side of the family to find it! But there it was…that rare genetic combination…telling Lucy’s body to make an extra toe, telling her optic nerves that they would degenerate and create something called retinitis pigmentosa which would render these gorgeous blue eyes legally blind sometime between the ages of 9 and 15. Not only that her genes have registered an order to slow down her metabolism and to turn most of her “fuel” into fat.

As devastating as Lucy’s diagnosis is, we are so grateful for and greatly encouraged by ongoing research for Lucy’s issues. The Foundation Fighting Blindness has had a recent breakthrough in their research and through innovative gene therapy has been able to partially restore sight to a nine year old and has given some sight to those born virtually blind. However they are in desperate need of funding.

Therefore Shawni and her mom Linda are launching the I Love Lucy Project to raise money for this and other foundations working directly on Lucy’s issues. This year they wrote a book together for mothers which was published just as Lucy was diagnosed. It is called A Mother’s Book of Secrets and features loveable Lucy on the cover. As part of the I Love Lucy Project, they are donating all royalties for the book to research for Lucy’s issues. Hopefully this will provide a win/win way to help mothers and help Lucy at the same time. Shawni and Linda are both miserable with promotion but we have the “Mother Lion” genes and are shamelessly asking for help!

Many have already contributed to Lucy’s cause by buying books for which we are forever grateful. However, if you are looking for a Christmas gift that will last for your mother, sister, daughter (or daughters) or friends, or if you need an idea for a for a great stimulating Book Club book in the coming year, purchasing this book will be so appreciated and make you part of the I LOVE LUCY PROJECT!

In the book readers will enjoy Shawni’s spectacular family photography as they learn how to make motherhood more meaningful, manageable and even magnificent, with 40 little secrets from a seasoned mother of 9 grown children and a mother in the thick of things with five young kids. Mothers will find “light in the trenches” as they learn the importance of taking care of themselves, finding balance and getting rid of the guilt. Moms of all ages will be tutored in how to give their family a sense of purpose through creating a short Family Mission Statement and how to generate great memories through traditions. They’ll find myriads of helpful ideas that include how to establish family laws, the secrets of getting kids to work hard and deal with money as well as the joy of service. There are also methods for teaching kids to work out their arguments without parental intervention, how to have fun with the BIG TALK about sex at age 8 and how to help children make good choices in advance.

Our publisher has joined our cause and is offering a 20% discount for online orders. You can order immediately by clicking here.

Or you can simply learn more and donate to the Foundation Fighting Blindness by clicking here. All donations will go directly to research for retinosis pigmentosa. Any funds received in Lucy's name will be matched 100% by The Eyrealm Foundation, a public charity and is tax deductible.

We are ever more grateful for this adorable little individual who is such a joy to her parents, siblings, grandparents and to her enormous gaggle of cousins. Life just wouldn’t be as rich…or as difficult (which is what we need to grow) without Lucy. She accelerates the things we need to learn on this earth…love, compassion, getting out of our comfort zone, patience, empathy and problem-solving techniques. we all join in faith and hope that this little girl can be helped in her life journey through research!

During this joyous holiday season, we are especially grateful for our own genes and cilia that somehow worked as they should. Perhaps our greatest gratitude should go to those whose genetic organization has enabled them to serve in the one of the world’s greatest causes… Motherhood!

Thanksgiving!

What fun we had yesterday on Thanksgiving!  We had a wonderful eclectic and International group which made it so fun!

It was so fun to have the Minorites (sp) from Ghana, the Edlers from Layton, the Lopez family, Rawlin and Karen and their kids plus Lonna, Kevan and Grandma and Josh and Charity! 

Looks as though Grandma is really concentrating on what to have below!

Here are Rennie, Charity, Elizabeth, Brady and Howie.

Leo and sweet Michelle…our only child!

Eric saves our lives weekly! 

We love this great Edler Family! 

We had some fun with music…yes that’s Howie on the Cello.  He’s really good!

 

Rapt audience!

After that we went into Park City for a perfect Thanksgiving movie “The Blind Side”  Everyone should see this movie.  Great story! 

On the way back to Kimball Junction as we were taking the Edlers home we had quite an exciting night. First there were fireworks over by McDonalds. Don’t know why! Then we got pulled over by a really nice little policeman for expired license plates on the Land Rover and after our struggle to find the necessary papers, he went back to his car, waited for five minutes and came back to give us a warning!  Happy Thanksgiving! 

Hope everyone had a great one!  We love the blogs. Send more!  We are so grateful for our bounteous blessings!  Our list this year was over 1100….thanks to Charity’s gathering ability!

USU and Arella

This week we had so much fun visiting our alma mater Utah State University!  Dad and I (I have had a very small part in it) have started an initiative up there with the Family Life Department that has become a dream come true!  Last year, with some funding from us, they started a class called Work/Family Balance that teaches students when they are most impressionable the importance of balancing their work with their families.  They are given full credit for a undergrad requirements and this year they have 250 really bright students ready to learn. There are three teachers who are just finishing a textbook for the class based on our books and of course their own expertise, which is extensive. One teaches family relations, one teaches balance and one teaches finance.  The dean and the head of the department have been a delight to work with. Anyway we had the lovely opportunity of speaking to that class as well as a large finance class of about 500 about “the family band”. FUN! Charity, Grandma and Sheri came along and it was great to have them as well. 

I can’t believe that in all that the only thing I thought to take a picture of was a tree and a long distance blurry picture of the temple on a simply spectacular frigid day with lots of gorgeous clouds in Logan.

 

On Tuesday night we went to a lovely dinner at the Lowe’s (our darling new ward members who own the entire penthouse at 910 Donner Way.  So many interesting people there including the wonderful man who started the Sundance Film Festival, Sheri Dew and Whitney Johnson, whose blog Saydi and Saren have written for….Dare to Dream…I think.  It was really an interesting evening where we learned that 400,000 people have logged on to BYUTV online in China.  No advertising…just word of mouth. It’s quite an amazing unthreatening way to show people “the good in the world” right in the comfort of their own homes.  Forgot to take pictures there too. 

Today I spent the afternoon with the great Carver Family.  First we ate at Tonyburgers when they had just aired a great review on that fun new place Channel 4 at noon.  I don’t know if it was that or not, but by 12:30 there were people in line all the way out the door!  It was soooo good. They are doing great.  Nick, not so good!  Poor guys is really being yanked around. More on that later. 

Then we went over to the great Arella Pizzeria…due to open next week.  As usual, the Carvers have pulled together (most especially Lindsay and Clark, Brad and Jessica) with a cheering squad by Chris and Nickie and the rest of the gang.  It is going to be spectacular!  Here is a peek:

  

Gorgeous windows!  And how they’re going to finish this in a week is beyond me…but you know the Carvers!   The wood is ready…and these great light fixtures are going to be fabulous!

Finished pictures coming soon!  What a great accomplishment!

Last night I got a new calling but you’ll have to tune into the next blog entry for more info on that!

The Bermuda Triangle!

What fun we had with the Shumways in Boston…then the YPOers in Bermuda and then the Eyres in NYC!  You’ve seen our fun with Shumways but here is a glimpse of our good time in Bermuda.  We did two workshops…one called “Love More” and another one on “Empty Nest Parenting” because so many of the YPOers are getting older.  Of course we had a fabulous 5 star hotel called Tucker’s Point Hotel and Spa.  Pretty nice digs I must say!

 

This was the view from our balcony:

They had huge feather beds with four giant feather pillows under these Shams. That was a LOT of feathers…poor geese! 

The only bad part was that we never saw the sun!  Well we sort of saw it a couple of days like this:

One day we went to a deep sea laboratory where they took us scuba diving to see the coral…except that it was pretty cold and blustery and murky because of the clouds, but it was worth the ride because one of the cute girl guides actually lent me her wet suit and because I got talk to a wonderful woman who looked to be about 45 and had one fourteen year old boy and 8 miscarriages!  She said that after trying absolutely everything else, she had gone to a class with 14 other infertile women who had also tried everything and after four months of sort of “relaxation therapy” 10 of the 14 got pregnant.  Interesting! What a valiant woman!

We met lots of interesting people and learned some fun and fascinating things!  We had a delightful gourmet dinner one night with a group of eight at the home of one of the Bermudian YPOers.  Always such interesting stories! 

This was Dad’s favorite event as he got to sail this 110 foot yacht that they have recreated for school kids who get to go out on it for five days at a time to learn about the history of Bermuda and how to sail a ship with teamwork. 

Here’s the big man  at the wheel!

and his “mama”

as you can see by our coats tightly wrapped around us, it was NOT warm but very fun!

We left blustery Bermuda at 68 degrees and landed in NYC where it was a warm, sunny 68 degrees for two days running. Absolutely fabulous weather!  We had SO much fun with Noah and Kristi and those adorable kids! 

We were so fortunate to get there on a Sunday night when Noah had been asked to speak at the Priesthood Preview for the stake.  He had a fabulous talk prepared and got there about ten minutes to seven only to find out that it had been announced wrong in church and it actually started at 6!  Just as Dad and I got there at 7:05, they were having what we thought was the opening song and prayer but after the prayer, everybody got up and left.  Poor Noah was red as a beet and sweating like a pig!   Laughing afterwards, President Buchner promised Noah that he would have a chance to give that talk in the future…not to worry!  Today they called Noah to the High Council.  I guess he’ll be able to give LOTS of talks from now on.  Kristi….hang in there you great one!  We’ll be cheering you on and remembering you both in our prayers!   

Kristi taught Joy School on Monday morning.  What an absolutely amazing mother that Kristi is!  There was a little worry about having it at the church so she entertains and teaches joy to five little kids for three hours in the ten square feet of their living room.  The living room is totally transformed into a learning center with something new and fun every few minutes! 

This day was complete with an obstacle course and making granola!

Keep in mind this is four VERY active boys (a new one just started that day) and one strong-willed little girl. Kristi is magic with them with her very calm demeanor and great ideas like playing the memory game during “free play time” when it turns out to be a little too “free”!  She is amazing!

While Kristi was teaching I had the great opportunity to go on a little nature walk with Lyla!  What a totally adorable child! She was soooo interested in everything on East 89th street in NYC!  From the grates…

to the dogs…

to the flowers….

to the leaves in the dirt!

McKay absolutely “owns” the neighborhood!  He whisks into the dry cleaning shop a few doors down from their apartment where he finds the lady who he has trained to promptly give him rice crackers. He loves the park down the street, knows how to negotiate deals with a kids who has a big wheel which he wants to trade for his scooter for a spin around the park and loves playing in the leaves…(already dark at 5:30):

and thinks the restaurants in the neighborhood are like his back yard as he races around on his little scooter:

 

On Monday night I got to go to Madison Square Garden for the first time in my life!  The Jazz were playing the Knicks:

I must say that the score was pretty wild…as usual:

BUT we DID win!

After two fun-filled days in the great Big Apple with the Eyre family, we completed the Bermuda triangle and headed for home.  How we love visiting these great families on our way to and from a really tough assignment…somebody’s got to do it!  We are truly blessed! 

An Afternoon with Eva

What fun we had on Monday afternoon in Newburyport with Eva and her darling kids.  They have a fabulous new house, which Lubo and Adam have painstakingly painted beautifully!

  

The neighbors are so appreciative of the Timothy’s because you can see a little of what they have done by looking at the back of the house which remains to be done! It continues to be a huge job!

Lubo and Stephka (whom we didn’t get to see because they were both working) live in separate quarters in the back. Everyone is so happy!  Though Eva, London and Skye aren’t in this picture, it’s part of the happy group who spent the afternoon together!

Literally across the street was a gorgeous and delightful farm which has become a historical site.  It is full of lovely green fields, knee deep piles of autumn leaves, a spunky horse without an eye, goats, chickens  and beautifully cared for alpacas!  What an afternoon we had soaking in the autumn sun and the sights and smells of New England in the fall. The kids had a ball!

 

A birthday leaf for Dadley!

What a place on a perfect autumn day.

These two great moms are also great friends who love to “talk photography”! I am shamelessly putting these unedited pictures on this site, despite the fact that I know our plethora of fabulous photographers are going to be looking in. It’s just the best I can do! 

This property is on 2 1/2 acres and is simply spectacular!  What a great thing you’ve done Adam and Eva (so sorry we didn’t get to see Adam who was working)! Here we are in their back yard (above and below).

These two are pretty great friends too and that cute London in the background takes good care of Charlie too! 

What a great day!  At the end, Eva handed me a CD full of wedding pictures. I got one from Saydi too!  Can’t wait to start on that when we get home.