Tuesday, March 17, 2009

My little Ammon is 10 years old!

Ammon Joshua Service was born on March 17, 1999 in Goldendale, Washington.



Ammon meets his big brother Anson Jr. for the very first time.


Ammon just a couple of months old.


Ammon about 8 months old.


My boys chillin'.


Ammon LOVED playing in the dirt!


Ammon at 2 years old at Multnomah Falls.


Ammon in the town of Ammon, Idaho. We went to Idaho for
a family reunion a couple of years ago and had to make a special
trip to the small town of Ammon to get this picture.


Ammon is very quiet. Most people dont know how intelligent and funny he is!
He was always dressing up in weird things. I have so many cute pictures of
him wearing crazy things! Now he just sits around the house in his robe
and undies. Uncle Ryan calls him Hef.


We are so glad he is a part of this family. He is a GREAT kid!
We love you Ammon! Happy Birthday!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Crazy morning!

Anson Jr. was home sick ALL last week and Ammon and Ashton have been home sick from school all this week. It's been nice because Anson has been home watching them while I went to school. Anson goes to school on Thursdays and Fridays, so I had to miss my 2 classes today. I did however, go to my class this morning and turn in my homework. After I got home from doing that, Anson took off. He had to drop a box off at UPS and then head to Seattle. That was the plan anyway...

I get a call around 9:45am and Anson needed me to bring the jumper cables to him because his battery was dead. (The day before, he had left his lights on while at Wal-Mart and had to call AAA.) So I grab the rusty old cables from the garage and run out the door with just a t-shirt, yoga pants and my flips flops. I figured it would be quick, and wouldn't have to get out of the car. Otherwise I would have put some jeans on and grabbed a hoodie.

The UPS place is not far from our house so I made it there fairly quickly. Anson attaches the cables and nothing happens. He did a few minor adjustments and tries again. Nothing. This went on for awhile so when I saw that nothing was happening, I got out of my car and into his and after he would adjust things, I would turn the key. Anson even tried to scrape the rust off by scratching it on the curb. Still nothing. By this time, even if Anson got the car started, he would either barely make it to class on time, or be a little late.

Since there was no progress, we thought the cables were bad and took the trusty old Volvo to Wal-Mart and bought new cables. He raced back to the car and attached the cables again. I thought it would go pretty quickly, but nothing, nothing, nothing until FINALLY, the engine starts! We close the hoods and get in our cars, BUT as Anson is leaving the parking lot, the car dies. He pushed it across the street and we get the car started...again. This time, he decided that we'll take it to Les Scwaab and he'll take the Volvo to school. I drove the Saturn, so that if it died on the way, he'd bump the car and push it along, but we made it there just fine. Anson transfers all his stuff into the Volvo and I went and stood in line. SO much for not getting out of the car! I was SO aware of what I was wearing...it was sad. Anson told me that nobody cares... He gives me some cash and takes off.

I sat down and it seemed like forever until they called my name. They said they tested the battery and there was nothing wrong with it. They tested the alternator and that was fine too, so that they'll charge the battery for 30 minutes and and test it again. They came back and said it failed and they would have to replace the battery. This guy gave me a few quotes, but they were all more money than I had. (I would have used my debit card, but our bank sent us new ones because they thought there was some sort of security issue, and I forgot where I put my new card. OOPS!) Anyway, I did a little sweet talking and I told him that I only had $90 and if there was some sort of way to put the remaining balance on the account, that I would be able to do that. This guy was SO nice, I guess he adjusted my payment somehow and I got money back! He left again to go put the battery in, came back and I FINALLY got to leave.

Anson was really late to class and my hair smells like tires now....

Monday, March 2, 2009

Meditation

Anson meditates. He does it every day. He is even writing a book about meditation. I can see a difference in him when he does it. He just seems to be more relaxed, less stressed, happier, and just....at peace. If he forgets to do it for one reason or another, I notice it.

About a year ago, we went to Jantzen Beach to one of our favorite stores, called "Knotty Wood". Anson fell in love with a "Gong" that they had there. I'm not talking about a tabletop
gong, but a good sized, piece of furniture sized gong. It's about 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide. It's pretty cool.

That store gets everything from Indonesia and we've bought a lot of things there over the years. When we brought it home Anson wanted to put it in our bedroom. I thought it was a little weird but let it go. As he has gotten deeper and deeper into meditation, things have been accumulating in front of this gong. A few months ago he got a Crystal Singing Bowl. "The vibrations of the Singing Bowl open and activate the Chakra energy and centers of the body and balance and harmonize the surrounding environment."



He also uses a fountain,



candles, incense


and
a Falling Rain Chime. A Falling Rain Chime is a "wooden maple box that produces sounds
reminiscent of gentle falling rain to promote sleep, reduce stress and help in meditation and relaxation. The box is filled with hundreds of tiny steel beads that are slowly released down onto metal chimes for 15 to 35 minutes and the beads never fall in the same pattern twice."




When he first got that rain chime, it would wake me up in the middle of the night! I got so annoyed. So now Anson has to tip it upside down so no more beads drop in the middle of the night.

This stuff takes up a good sized area in our bedroom, but I'm okay with it.
Just thought I'd share! :)