Friday, January 11, 2013

My Dad


Steven Curtis 1948-2013

Our wonderful husband, father, Papa, and hero passed away on January 5, 2013 after a courageous eight-year battle with cancer.  He valiantly inspired others and proved that this is still a day of miracles.  Steve was born in Salt Lake City on March 16, 1948 to Emerson and Alice Curtis.  He graduated from Highland High School and served an LDS mission to Northern Germany. He married his eternal sweetheart, Janice, in the Salt Lake Temple. He graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in electrical engineering and received a master's degree from Santa Clara University in California.  He spent the majority of his career designing medical imaging equipment and managing research and development departments.  He loved solving mathematical engineering problems and was granted many patents.

Steve was a man of absolute integrity.  He had sound judgment and great wisdom. He possessed charity for all and so appreciated the love and prayers offered for him during his health struggles.  He left a legacy of love, service, humor, and devotion to his family. He endured to the end with steadfast faith in the Savior and a testimony of the gospel. He was without guile and was a true disciple of Christ.

Steve loved gardening and his beautiful flowers were legendary. He passed on his love of camping and hiking in the mountains and national parks to his family. He loved music and sang every chance he had in choirs, quartets, and duets with Jani and was an excellent choir director. He enjoyed traveling and saw much of the world.

He delighted in the scriptures and was continually immersed in them. He had an extensive knowledge of the gospel and lived its principles with exactness. He served faithfully in many callings, but his favorite was teaching, where he constantly bore his testimony of the love, kindness, and mercy of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

He will be deeply missed by his wife Jani and their children and 14 grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, January 9th at 11:00 a.m.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Potty Training Advice

I have a lot to catch up on with this blog, but I haven't felt much like blogging lately (life pretty much stinks right now).

However, I did want to ask, "What is your favorite potty training method?"  I am going to start potty training the Magpie sometime in February (she will not quite be 3 years old yet), so I want some time to read up on good potty books.  When I potty trained Jared I used this book:

I felt like it was moderately successful, but (of course) it still took months for me to not always be stressed about Jared peeing his pants.  This method used a doll that peed to demonstrate what happens when the dolly pees in the potty and what happens when the dolly has an accident (the child will practice running to the toilet lots of times from the site of the accident and from other areas of the house.)  I liked how it focused on giving treats when the child's pants were dry, NOT when the child performed on the potty.  I will probably incorporate elements of this method again, but I am also up for other ideas.  So, let me know what YOU like to use!