Now I lay me down to sleep

This weekend while watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition because there wasn't much else to watch I saw something that inspired me. The family lost their home in a flood. But what really got me was the volunteer work that the mother of the family did. She ran a service called Tiny Works of Heart. She took photographs of babies who were not going to live.

I wanted to research this further. I was able to find out she is part of a non profit organization called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep .

Here is there About section-

Pregnancy and birth are miraculous journeys. This amazing time of life is full of mystery, anticipation, joy, hope, and wonder. Feeling the powerful energy of birth and new life, watching as a new family is born unto each other. These things humble and amaze. These are the things that we celebrate when a baby is born.

But there is another aspect of pregnancy and birth. There is an unexpected place in this journey where some families may find themselves. When a baby dies, a world is turned upside down.

There is confusion, sadness, fear, and uncertainty that cannot be explained. There is sorrow where there should have been joy. During this time, it might be impossible for families to know what they might need in order to heal in the future.

This is the place where the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation gently provides a helping hand and a healing heart. For families overcome by grief and pain, the idea of photographing their baby may not immediately occur to them. Offering gentle and beautiful photography services in a compassionate and sensitive manner is the heart of this organization. The soft, gentle heirloom photographs of these beautiful babies are an important part of the healing process. They allow families to honor and cherish their babies, and share the spirits of their lives.

The Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation (NILMDTS) administers a network of almost 6,000 volunteer photographers in the United States and twenty-five international countries. At a family's request, a NILMDTS Affiliated Photographer will come to your hospital or hospice location and conduct a sensitive and private portrait session. The portraits are then professionally retouched and presented to the families on an archival DVD or CD that can be used to print portraits of their cherished baby.

Our entire network of affiliated photographers graciously donate their time and talents to our families and we are proud to be able to offer our services at no cost.Your Donations are greatly needed and greatly appreciated.

I want to somehow do something in my life that is meaningful as this. WOW. As a mother I cannot thing of something more precious in such a difficult time. I think this is such a wonderful organization and I hope that with my little blog maybe someone who loses their sweet angel can have this opportunity. I also hope that those who know photographers can pass on this information because they are always taking volunteers. I tell you what if I had the equipment and the time I would most definitely be participating.

Jolly Roger Chic

Here is my newest for anyone to use. Follow the directions on the side under trouble shooting. If you have any problems let me know.

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk262/webby31/jollyrogerbackground.jpg

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk262/webby31/jollyrogerheader.jpg

A Blog for Lindsey

Okay Lindsey you asked for one...here is your very own custom made blog.

Here is your Header. Click on the image and save to your computer or you can copy the Direct Link in the header section. Remember to select Reduce Image at the bottom before choosing the image.

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk262/webby31/McDowellPlaid.jpg

Now for the Background. It works the same way as most of the other Blog Background sites.

1-In the 'Pick New Template' tab, you must change your template to 'minima' (not minima ochre or others, just plain white minima)

2-Log into to your blog and click on 'customize'

3-Click on 'edit html' on the far right

4- In thecode, scroll to where you see this: body {background:$bgcolor;margin:0; color:$textcolor; font:x-small Georgia Serif; font-size/* */:/**/small; font-size: /**/small; text-align: center;}

5-Change that part of the code to say this: body {background:$bgcolor;background-image:url(direct link);background-position: center; background-repeat:no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed;margin:0; color:$textcolor; font:x-small Georgia Serif; font-size/* */:/**/small; font-size: /**/small; text-align: center;}

6-Copy and paste the link below the background and paste it between the parenthesis where it says '(direct link)'

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk262/webby31/PlaidRocker01.jpg

So there it is folks. If anyone else is interested give me an idea of what your looking for and what you want in the header and I will make it. Soon I will just add a bunch of back grounds, but I like to customize the blog header.

Blog Design

If there is any of you who care enough to look at my blog daily. You might have noticed I've changed my background numerous times. I am dabbling with Blog design but I haven't figured out the right dimensions yet. So when I do I plan on wasting all of my time making lots of back grounds and I will post them so that others can use them.

Webster FAMILY Blog

It would be grossly unfair for me to call this a Webster Family Blog when the majority of it is a Tiffani & Michaella Blog. So to be completely fair here is a blog about the Male in our house hold. That's right not many of you know to much about him (because he is a hermit) he is my Husband and Michaella's Daddy... Michael John Webster.

Michael's favorite thing in the world is Duck Hunting. This lasts from Mid-October to Mid- January. This year he bagged over 100 ducks and he ate most all of those. Some he jerkied some he cooked up. I'm not a big fan of the stuff but this blog isn't about me. His duck jerky is a big hit at both his place of employment and mine. One day maybe if any of you are extra lucky you will get to try it.

Not only does Mike love hunting but Lucy loves hunting. And Michael loves Lucy. She is 7 years old and Michael is already stressing over what he will do when she dies. He loves that dog. And he swears she is the best hunting dog ever. I weeded through all the hunting pictures this year and 95% of them were all Lucy.







Since Duck hunting is now over he will move on to his next hobby. Michael does the best at everything he puts his mind to. He loves astrology (I'll have to post pictures when he gets out this summer). He loves fishing which as soon as spring comes around we will do plenty of. But right now he has found a new hobby...Genealogy. He has been working on his Grandpa Webster's side and has already found 700 relatives going back as far as 1532. And this is just stemming from his Great Grandpa Golden "J" Webster. Mike is a 5th generation John. His Dad is Jeffrey John his Grandfather John Elliot, Golden "J" and then John Alfred. But with all this work he has found that his name John goes back even further back centuries and generations. He is really loving it. I will have to do a post just on some of the stuff he has found like original pictures, passports and census reports.

Anyway. Michael is a great and wonderful Daddy and Husband and this blog is about what he likes.

Spoiler Alert: Political Views

ROSA SAT
so that Martin could walk
MARTIN WALKED
so that Obama could run
OBAMA RAN
so that children could fly

I saw this saying on a t-shirt and it hit me as to how far this country has come in the last 53 years since Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus. Although discrimination still exists it really is awe inspiring as to the fact that we just elected our first African-American president.

Yesterday while reviewing her day as we usually do once I get home from work I took the opportunity to have open dialogue with Michaella regarding Martin Luther King Jr. and the importance of this inauguration. It is really quite difficult to explain discrimination to a 4 year old. They can’t comprehend the reality of hate in the way it has been exercised in the past by human beings.
Our children don’t understand why a person with dark skin could be treated cruelly. In fact I went further to discuss the Holocaust a little with Michaella. I spoke of the Hitlers desire to rid the world of people who were not White with certain religious views and the horror of concentration camps. Michaella decided she wanted to go camping because she had never been before... Our children are so innocent.

I’m sure Rosa Parks had no inclination as to how much an impact she would have on the American Race, nor did Martin Luther King Jr. know how he would change the face of the future. We can only imagine how Barack Obama will change the outcome of our children. Let us pray that one day the discrimination will vanish. We still have so far to go. That is why I am so excited by this new Presidency.

Now I’m going to surprise many of you with my political opinions but... I am not a steadfast republican. In fact I think I sit right in the middle. I try my hardest to be unbiased and nonpartisan but, I’m actually little too left winged to be comfortable in a strongly right-winged community.

I actually didn’t Vote for Obama and not just because his political party nor his race, but at the time I didn’t agree with his economic platform. Being that this was my main concern it was something I paid strong attention to. I felt John McCain was the lesser of 2 evils on economic issues. But now I am very glad Barack Obama is going to be our Commander and Chief. #1 he has retracted his proposal to increase taxes based on the facts he has been given and #2 we need someone like him.

A tired John McCain could have never rallied America like Barack Obama has. Obama’s youth and enthusiasm is our spark. He has the motivation to reenergize this tiring nation. We all need to remember our freedoms and how lucky we are to be Americans. And seeing a black man in the White House has helped me realize my fortune to be in this Great Nation. Let us hope for continued progress and change. “Yes we can!”

A novel of a Webster Family Christmasish period of time

A long time ago in a far away place in the year Two Thousand and Eight there was such a thing as Christmas time in the Michael Websters Household.

Michaella's Dance recital was December 12th. I love sharing this experience with Michaella as it was something I also enjoyed as a child.

Christmas Eve of course we had to make cookies for Santa. So we suited up with the lovely matching Mommy-Daughter aprons that Dal's wife handed down to us. (I work with Dal he is the Company Truck Driver and his wife is awesome!)


I won't bore you with the 1 million pictures of Michaella opening presents. Because really they all look the same. Flying wrapping paper all kind of looking the same and Michaella with her hair in front of her face because it was of course Christmas morning. Okay fine here's one. The smile is extra big because it's Hannah Montana! (Thanks cousin Jett!)
We left for Utah the day after Christmas because the weather was so yucky. It still took us 7 1/2 hrs to get there because there was still snow on the roads and we had to detour through Pocatello. Once there we were able to do Christmas with my family.

Michaella & Kairi being ROCK STARS at Lucky China
(yes Kairi is doing Rock Star Horns and headbanging)

Opening Presents with Aunty Jess

Pleased as pie because she is spoiled

Winston's Idea of fun

Eating Ice cream with Kairi
I can't believe how much they downed. (Check out that scoop by Kairi... she was a picky eater, that is until the ice cream!)

Then back to work and back to life for a bit. I used some gift card money to buy a new vacuum. Thank you Jeff & Lynda and Debbie

Right soon after this picture was taken she fell straight back and bonked her head a good one.

Meg and Steven came up for New Years and we had an awesome time. It was SO wonderful having them here. On New Years day Mike & Steve went hunting and we girls went sledding! We had a BLAST. Thanks Megan for coming with us!

Michaella was SO brave and went all by herself!

When I drove home from Utah I thought that it would be awhile before I came back. Well little didn't I know that I would be back that next week. Nor Did I know that I would win tickets to Walking with Dinosaurs. It was very exciting because I had wanted to take Michaella badly and I didn't want to pay the at least 30 dollar a ticket price so I entered every contest I could to win tickets and we did! So the night before we headed back to Utah we took Olivia & Amber and we went and saw Dinosaurs!

The Girls' Favorite was T-Rex of Course!

The reason we drove back was so that Michaella & I could attend my Grandfathers funeral. It was truly a great experience. We were able to see people we hadn't seen in 10 years (well Michaella got to meet them). I have a wonderful family and I had forget how much fun it is to be around them.

The day we got To Vernal we had a chance to go to the Dinosaur Museum with my Cousins Allise & Angie (John) and their kids. It was a perfect addition to the Walking with Dinosaurs show. Now this museum has changed A LOT since I was a kid and not just the location. We really had a great time. If you ever are going through Vernal (I know chances are slim) you should all stop in.

Digging for fossils

From L-R Cole, Logan, Skylar, Bo, Michaella, Jake & Hunter

Tiffani (yay me) and Allise BFFs or BCFs you could say!

Angie John Tiffani (yay me!) and Allise

Bo-tatoe and Michaella and T REX! ROAR

And I don't know if this is weird or not but I'll post a few pictures from my Grandfathers Funeral. (I'll spare everyone his picture in the casket) It was a cold day but it was so bright and shiny. And my cousins all looked so handsome and strong. They had to split up the group of pallbearers because there are so many Grandsons.My Grandparents left such a legacy of 6 Children 25 Grandchildren, 38 Great grandchildren and 4 more on the way. Our family took up half the chapel! All but 3 Grandchildren were able to make it to the funeral. All 38 Grandchildren have been born since my Grandmothers passing just short of 10 years ago. Her first Great Grandchild, Cole, was born 2 days after she died. And the Youngest Great grandchild Katie was just a couple month old. It is a true example of the circle of life.

Now Grandpa O'Neil is with his sweetheart whom he was without for a period of time.

His casket was so beautiful. To those of you reading this last line. WHOA I can't believe you read this whole thing! I even left out a couple small events!

THE END for now