Thursday, February 26, 2009

Sweet, Little Grandma Jennie

Jesse's grandma went home to be with the Lord on Sunday. What a blessing she was to so many people. She was very influential in Jesse's life, especially when he was younger and was babysat by her. He has wonderful memories of her and his grandpa. My memories of Jennie were from before I even knew Jesse. She was the sweet, little lady I would see in church all the time. Who knew that one day I would be a part of her family? Its amazing how God works. I can only imagine what she is seeing and experiencing at this moment. We will miss you but we will see you again, Grandma Jennie! Give Jesus and Max a hug for us.

Juanita "Jennie" Sandoval

12/12/1924 ~ 2/22/2009

Grandma Jennie - "mother extraordinaire", beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother, aunt, and friend went to join her Lord and Savior and her beloved husband Max on Sunday, February 22, 2009. Born to Jesus M. and Jose O. Sanchez in Castlegate, Utah. She was blessed with a loving step-father, Louis Canchola whom she cherished as DAD. She inherited a strong work ethic from her mother which served her well later on in life. She married Max Sandoval on October 21, 1942 and they started their life together in Price, Utah, later moving to Salt Lake City in 1951. God blessed them with 21 children and she never tired of having a child around the house, even if they weren't her own. She worked endlessly, making sure her family (and anyone else who was lucky enough to be there) was well fed and taken care of. Everyone loved her hand-made tortillas and wonderful Mexican food! She spent countless hours cooking, cleaning, sewing, babysitting for others and still made time for her family. Flats of eggs, garbage cans full of flour, rice and beans were the norm - all of this without Costco! She played a big part in the upbringing of many of her grandchildren by babysitting them, as well as raising her beloved grandson Jeremy, until she suffered a stroke in 1989. Throughout her remaining years, her grandchildren continued to be the light of her life. Her Christian faith was her life and she used that influence to raise her children. She and Max were founding members of the Salt Lake Christian and Missionary Alliance Church where she selflessly served in various positions and made many long lasting friendships. It was her faith that gave her the endurance, energy and amazing strength to accomplish such a remarkable life. She was truly loved and admired by many! Survived by children: Ernestine, Gilbert (Becky), Carl, Max (Brenda), Anita (Mike), Peter (Phyllis), Jennie-Lee, Elaine, Duane (Lauri), Samuel, Nathan, Patsy (Elgin), Jacob (Julie), Andrew (Cynthea), Daniel (Karen), Becky (Paul), Jennifer (Stewart), Rosellen, 46 grandchildren, 41 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Preceded in death by her loving husband Max, twin infants, Mary and Joseph, son Jerry, mother Jesus Canchola, step-father Luis Canchola and brother Fidel Sanchez. A viewing will be held on Friday, Feb. 27th from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at Redwood Memorial, 6500 So. Redwood Rd. Services will be held on Saturday, Feb. 28th at 2:00 p.m. at the Discovery Christian Community Church at 5929 So. 900 E., Murray. Viewing one hour prior to services. We'd like to extend a special thank you to our sister, Ernestine for the loving care she gave our mother during her final years of life. We are forever grateful to her for that!

Friday, February 20, 2009

For Your Viewing Pleasure

I have two movie recommendations for you all. They are both very family friendly and you can watch them with the kids in the room. When Jesse and I watch movies with the little guy around the biggest thing we have to worry about is language because he’s a Say It/Play It. You don’t have to worry about that with these two movies.

The first one is Fireproof. This is a movie about a fireman, played by Kirk Cameron, who is struggling with his marriage and on the verge of divorce. Jesse and I watched it together and I thought it was a wonderful movie. It’s a different kind of love story than what you usually get. Most love stories end with the couple getting married and living happily ever after. This movie is different in that it is about a couple who is already past that point and still trying to love one another. In real life, marriage is hardly the end of the story. It’s only the beginning. If you have a spouse or soon-to-be-spouse I recommend watching it together.

My second recommendation is Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. This is a documentary by Ben Stein, the teacher in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off¸ about the treatment of people promoting Intelligent Design. This movie is not about trying to convince you to believe one way or the other but simply shows the way those that dare question the mainstream are dealt with. It’s very interesting and concerning and shows a side of the story that you don’t get to hear very often.

Let me know what you think of my movie picks.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Matter of Time

When I arrived home from work last night I found Jesse sitting on the couch in a blood stained shirt holding a wet cloth over a whimpering child's lip. I learned that Marshall had fallen off the stool in the kitchen and hit his face on the side of the bar resulting in a pretty deep cut. We debated over whether or not he needed stitches and decided that we should at least take him in to get checked out. Jesse was worried about it scarring. I told him not to worry, scars are cool for boys.

It turns out we weren't overreacting and he did need stitches. The nurse told us if they weren't able to hold him still for the stitches we would have to take him to Primary Children's so he could be sedated. The idea of sedating my little boy didn't sound good to me at all. We decided it would be a good idea to pray to the Only One who could actually keep our son calm.

They started by putting some numbing ointment on his lip which he surprisingly never tried to remove. It made his lip turn white which was a good thing because it meant that it had worked and his lip was numb. The nurse had to wash it out with water and that was the part Marshall hated. Go figure! It wasn't the needle he hated, it was the water. When the doctor came in to do the stitches Marshall tattled on the nurse and told the doctor, "She put water on it!" while glaring at the sweet nurse.

They laid him down and he hardly put up any fuss. The numbing solution (and the prayer) had worked. I was singing songs to him to keep him calm when suddenly on the fourth and final stitch I started to feel sick and a little light headed. I asked Jesse to take over for me while I sat down. I thought, "Oh no! I'm like one of those men that passes out when their wife is in labor!" I think watching a needle get shoved through my baby boy's lip one too many times had finally gotten to me.

Four stitches and a popsicle later everyone was fine. I knew it was just a matter of time before we had to take him in for something like this and praise Jesus that it turned out as well as it did. His shirt on the other hand, I think is a goner.