Grateful

Bradford Johnson Murdock

1Year Old

Dave & Jo Anne Murdock

Jill Anne Murdock

6weeks old

Quantico, Virginia

Jill and Sydney Today
Brad......Today

I haven't posted for a while. Life has been busy. There are so many things to catch up on that I don't know where to start. I've decided to copy a friends blog and just write about all the things I'm thankful for that have happened in the last three months.

I'm grateful for Bradford J.....he celebrated his 31st birthday on March 30. I love thinking about the kids when they were small on their birthdays. Brad came into the world on a day that was very frightening for us all. It was the day I was due and I was on my way to the Dr. for a checkup. I had just turned off Beck St. onto Victory Road and was starting up the hill when I could see this car barreling down the road....fast and swerving into the oncoming traffic lane. I didn't have a lot of time to think but knew I was going to be hit if I zigged or zagged at the wrong time or in the wrong direction. Things literally went into slow motion as I was thinking through the situation. I was hit head on by a drunk driver who was going 75 mph in the middle of the day!!! I was driving a Ford LTD which I know saved both of our lives. While I was in the emergency room, the investigating police officer came into my exam room and closed the door. He asked Dave and I if we were LDS. We replied yes. He said to us both, "Well, just between you and me, someone was watching out for you today. You should not have survived that crash. You didn't have a seatbelt on and should have been ejected from the vehicle." It truly was a miracle that I walked away with a fuzzy head from being knocked unconscious, a very sore and bruised body along with some stitches in my head from hitting the window. Brad was merely bounced around in the waves! Brad still has many of his characteristics that he had when he was a little guy.....tender hearted, loving, compassionate, athletic, anxious, handsome, smart, giving and so much more. He's our get-to guy...the one everyone calls when they need help and he's there without hesitation to lend a hand. You're a wonderful son, Brad! So glad you're an important part of OUR family!!!

I'm equally grateful for our firstborn...Jill Anne who celebrated her ???? birthday on May 30th (you're welcome that I didn't post your "real" age). We were so excited to become parents all those years ago. I'm amazed at how much I remember about that day.....it was the Monday of Memorial Day Weekend in Washington DC. It was hot and muggy. David was in Basic School Training at Quantico, Virgina. You were three weeks overdue!! Your actual due date was May 9. I was miserable and had been for quite a few months....for some reason my back always hurt and nothing seemed to relieve it. A condition I never had with my other pregnancies. I went to the hospital at abot 11:00 at night. My blood pressure was high and the Dr. on call started injecting me with some meds to bring it down......by 6:30 in the morning I had had 12 injections in my thighs!!! Dr. Olson who came on duty at that time hit the roof! He couldn't believe it! No more shots that day for blood pressure issues. Jill wasn't born until 4:57 pm. The nurse in charge was a battleax....no compassion whatsoever. Very little anesthesia to numb my pain.....no such thing as epidurals then.....you would have thought we lived in the dark ages the way I was treated! In hindsight, we felt very grateful that both Jill and I came through the birth without any side effects. It wasn't a very clean hospital, there were mosquitos everywhere. No air conditioning. Gnats in the sitz baths. I'd have to brush the bugs off the bottoms of my feet before getting into bed. Anyway, in that particular hospital, (Quantico Naval Hospital), the husbands were not allowed in the delivery room. However, Dr. Olson saw what a close and wonderful bond that Dave and I had so he bent the rule and told him to scrub in and get some surgical garb on....he was coming in!! I was so happy and relieved. When Jill was born we were elated to see such a beautiful and healthy 8 lb 2 oz, 21 inch long baby girl. We named her Jill after Dave's first love way back in kindergarten....her name was Jill and he always loved the name after that. So sweet! Jill was a very fast developer. She walked at 9 months. Barely crawled before that and was always on a dead run. She had us wrapped around her little finger from the minute we saw her. Jill, you are a joy and a blessing to our family. We're so grateful you chose to come to our family, too. Love you!!

I'm grateful to have the opportunity to remember all of our fallen soldiers and loved ones on Memorial day. Our little Olive wanted to go to the cemetery so Papa, me, Erin and Ollie went to Redwood Memorial Estates to put flowers on the graves of baby Julia, Grandma & Grandpa Murdock, and Uncle Tim. We've never been good at visiting the grave sites, but I'm really glad we went. It was a good day.

I'm grateful for good times with family. Took the kids to see Thomas the Train in Heber City. What a great time we had.....Thomas, train ride, games, tattoos, balloons, cotton candy, meltdowns!!! HaHa! It doesn't get any better than this!

I love summer! I'm so grateful for this beautiful season of the year. Without it, I would be insane! Literally! No, really, I would. Insane!! Warm days, sunshine, laying in the hammock, gardening, watching flowers grow, digging in the dirt, tomatoes....mmmm, delicious! Birds chirping, summer thunderstorms, cumulus clouds, starry skies, picnics, BBQ's, corn on the cob, the most beautiful sunsets on the planet, lazy days, the color green, longer days, baseball, hot dogs....these are a few of my favorite things!!!

I didn't realize I have so many things to be grateful for.....will finsih later!! Too much on this post already!