While I cook up an actual blog post...

"God has promised forgiveness to your repentance,

but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination."

~Augustine of Hippo

So, I've not been intentionally procrastinating all the posts I want to share with you... it just has happened that way. So, during this "down time" here are a few things you can think about, laugh at, roll yours eyes at, or whatever it is you choose to do while I'm procrastinating posting pictures of my new house. Yes, I said, my new house. :)

My cousin Lindsay sent me me this link a long time ago and I just found it again. Enjoy.

I've made this recipe twice since I found it nearly two weeks ago. If you're ever looking for a pretty yummy, quick, and easy recipe when you're wanting something sweet fast and you don't want to have to work very hard for it, try this. :) Like that ever happens. What? :) Now go ahead and click on it and make it. You'll thank me.

Oh, and this one. This one you don't want to miss. I've been meaning to post it for some time, but keep forgetting. I've been reading this girl's Name updates for a couple of years now. Hilarious. Seriously, I can't make this stuff up. Ha...but people do! People MAKE UP THESE NAMES AND GIVE THEM TO THEIR CHILDREN FOR THE REST OF TIME! Gosh. I won't pretend to say that I understand the heavy weight parents must feel as they choose a word (a name) by which this new human being will be known for the rest of eternity. Heavy stuff. But with that weight on your shoulders, you went ahead and chose Reggie Tayzlie? Seriously? Or Razdyn? Gosh. I know I may have unusual ideas for names (maybe it's good I don't have children), but at least they aren't a combination of letters arbitrarily put together. I LIKE unusual names, people. Trust me. My name is Emery, for heaven's sake. I LIKE having a fairly unique name. Trust me. I'm all about being the only "Emery" around (had a near identity crisis when I read that in 2005 "Emery" entered the top 1000 names for baby girls receiving SSNs in the U.S.--about near died.) But my name isn't made up. It's a name. It's spelled correctly. But Arkadian? I looked it up--it's an Xbox game. Seriously people? And Kasten? Sure as heck you won't catch me castin' my vote for Kasten. Heh. I'm funny. Anyway, enough. Check out the link here.

Speaking of babies, my friends D&S are having one, so I've had them on the mind. I saw this supercool airplane contraption. SO cool. I like it. But they're sold out. Put myself on the waiting list in case they get more in stock. Maybe by that time, I'll have a baby to put in it. :) Here's hoping.

And lastly, my love for the Royal Family (okay, my love for the Duchess of Cambridge) has not waned and I   often go to this website to see her latest sartorial picks or this website. Both are good. I mean anywhere you can see this Kaleidoscope Kate is worth visiting regularly. :)

Well, that's it for now. More later. Lots more hopefully. Pray that procrastination doesn't get the best of me.
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Happy Christmas Eve!

"Even as an adult I find it difficult to sleep on Christmas Eve.
Yuletide excitement is a potent caffeine, no matter your age."
~Carrie Latet

Photo found here.

Happy Christmas Eve! We aren't going to have a white Christmas. I'm kind of sad about that. I like when Mother Nature dumps a ton of snow when I can just stay cozy and snuggled up inside. Oh well. I think some might be coming on Sunday. Fifty percent chance, they say. But really... are they ever right? Remember how a blizzard was coming? And then remember how it never came? Yeah...

I've spent the day sleeping in (until 8:15am), picking up a few last minute gifts before the crowds, getting my car washed (wahoo!), wrapping, and watching Anne of Green Gables (actually, Anne of Avonlea, since I finshed Anne of Green Gables yesterday). I can't believe how much time I have on my hands not worrying about writing any papers. I may even get to read a book or three in the next week or so. :)

When I got home from work yesterday, I was just wiped out, so I took a shower and put my hair back in braids. Maybe it was because of Anne, or maybe it was because I'd gotten used to my hair out of my eyes when I was sick (braids are a must when you're stuck in bed sick), or maybe it's just that I wanted to take advantage of the fact that my hair is getting really long, longer than its been in awhile. Whatever the reason, those braids have stayed with me today, even on my shopping trips. Christmas braids.

Not much of an appetite has returned yet. Still staying alive on chicken broth and saltines, with a few added things here and there. I'm a little nervous to reintroduce foods, since when I did earlier this week my system was definitely not happy with me. Hopefully, I'll be ready to eat some ham tomorrow night because that's what Mom's making. I requested it. Merry Christmas ham to me.

I love you all and hope you are having a pleasant Christmas Eve and that tomorrow will be even more relaxing. Take time to just sit and read, recline, and relax. I will be! And if you're feeling not so merry, try out some of my Operation Christmas Cheer tricks. And if that doesn't work, watch this kid (all the way to the end):

Merry Christmas!

Love,
me
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Babies. The Movie. Recommended.

"I restore myself when I'm alone."
~Marilyn Monroe

A few weeks ago, I had simply had a enough of people. You know those days (weeks)? When everybody seems to need a piece of you, or a moment of your time, or advice on a decision (that they don't even end up taking). I'd been working several late nights and just wanted to do something alone. Something where I didn't have to talk to anyone. I wasn't in a bad mood, just tired of talking to people. :)

So I left work at 7:00pm in time to drive to the movie theater and see a film called Babies. Interestingly, the film doesn't have a lot talking (just what I was looking for), since the main characters aren't old enough to speak. It was very much a visually moving experience.

The film follows four babies from birth through their first birthday. Ponijao from Namibia. Mari from Tokyo. Bayar from Mongolia. And Hattie from San Francisco.

The babies and their day-to-day experiences were actually really delightful to watch. I found myself laughing out loud at points and really enjoying the journey of human development on screen. Watching the babies discover their world around them and grow in their capacity to express themselves was really satisfying. Also, I think I re-learned the importance of voiding my life of excess and doing away with a focus on material things. Babies don't need tons of toys. They were most content playing with dirt, sticks, and the occasional goat.

Great film. Liked the music. The film served my intended purpose of getting away from my own life, not talking to anyone, and through delightful humor, lightening up my mood. I went home happy. The babies were just beautiful and irresistible to watch.

I definitely recommend the film. You'll learn something. You'll laugh. And you'll walk away pleasantly smiling.

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Bronson Staker on NBC's Today Show.

"Our loving Heavenly Father divinely intervened with the course of nature and allowed our son to be healed. Not only to survive, but to be restored. Fully. He allowed Bronson to be brought back under the worthy hands of his father's Priesthood blessing and then repaired by the capable hands of doctors and nurses who saw unprecedented and expedited results to their procedures. We could not be more grateful. We stand as fervent witnesses that He is a God of miracles. We do not wish to overstate, but we know that a true and utter miracle was certainly granted in Bronson's life and in behalf of our family. We know that miracles are given as a benefit to all mankind. This is much, much bigger than we are. We feel the weight of this solemn responsibility. An obligation coupled with a true and heartfelt desire to share his story in hopes of strengthening the faith of others and cementing our own."
~Sara Staker

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Whatever.

Funny "Whatever" Baby @ Yahoo! Video

Baby Bronson: Truly a Miracle.

Main Entry: mir·a·cle
Pronunciation: \ˈmir-i-kəl\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin miraculum, from Latin, a wonder, marvel, from mirari to wonder at
Date: 12th century
1 : an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs

Welcome home, Bronson! Watch this video. It's long, but the last few minutes are worth it. I can't explain it, but watching that little boy walk out of the hospital, just two weeks after he was pronounced dead on arrival, brings a lump to my throat. Our Father in Heaven is a God of miracles. That, I know. And I know that our faith and our prayers can call upon God to bring about a miracle, even change the course of an event entirely. And bring about a miracle, He did. Prayer is powerful. Just take a look.

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Baby Bronson Update: Awake, Alert, Moving, and Smiling!

"The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him."
~Pablo Casals

I've been following Sara Staker's blog updates on her baby boy Bronson since his drowning and near death on January 30th. (Story here.) A current resident of the PICU, he's been up and down over the last week and a half, but today, TODAY, he is back! Just thought you'd like an update. Though we have mutual friends, I don't know the Stakers personally, but I was so drawn to their story and have been sending my positive energy, thoughts, and prayers their way ever since I heard of the accident. Bronson now seems to be on the upswing! I'm thrilled. I started smiling, laughing, and crying all at once when I read today's first update. You can read Sara's updates and see new pictures here. So good to see that little boy smiling again!

Sara: Bronson, you, and your family are still in my prayers! Thanks for sharing the good news today!
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Baby Bronson: Prayers Needed.

"Take heart, be filled with faith, and remember the Lord has said He 'would fight [our] battles, [our] children's battles, and [the battles of our] children's children' (Doctrine and Covenants 98:37)."
~Jeffrey R. Holland, "The Ministry of Angels, Ensign," Nov. 2008, 30

On Thursday, on Facebook, a friend tipped me off to a family desperately in need of prayers and good thoughts being sent their way. On Saturday January 30th, their 16-month-old baby boy Bronson, youngest of four boys, drowned in the master bathtub. Sara, the mom, performed CPR until the paramedics arrived, but by the time he arrived at the ER, he was in full cardiac arrest. He was intubated en route to the hospital, but it was entirely ineffective because the tube was mistakenly placed in his esophagus instead of his trachea. All resuscitation efforts were futile up to that point. He was DOA. But miraculously he was revived when his heart started beating spontaneously in the ER. He is alive. In the PICU, but alive.

Sara started blogging again, after a 16-month hiatus to keep family and friends apprised of their situation. Her last blog post had been the day after Bronson's birth. Ironic, she said, that her very next one was the day after they nearly lost him. Whether she intended it or not, the link to her blog has been forwarded to thousands, like me, who now are aware of their immediate need for prayers on behalf of their son and family. You can find her blog here. Sara very openly and candidly is sharing what happened and giving an update each day. In reading her initial post after the accident, I cried and cried. I'm not a mother, but I could so easily relate to her feelings and anguish. Her words are powerful and helped me to remember how fragile life is. She urged us to focus on what's most important and leave other things to be done later. This is what's most important to her right now:

Please take a look at her blog. If you don't have time to read, please say a prayer. I know I don't know this family personally. We have mutual friends, but I don't know the Stakers. But a prayer said is a prayer heard, in my book. And baby Bronson needs a miracle. If not just for him, for his mom. She needs a miracle.

Photo of Bronson borrowed from Sara Staker's blog.

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Thankful for My Calling. And a New Blog.

"Gratitude helps you to grow and expand; gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and into the lives of all those around you."
~Eileen Caddy

In June 2009, I transitioned from a Young Single Adult ward to a traditional ("family") ward. Certain that I'd be called to teach Gospel Doctrine (my favorite calling, despite the fact that I never thought I'd be a teacher) or work with the Single Adults, I was quite surprised when my Bishop asked me if I was ready for a challenge...

He called me to be the Ward Primary Music Leader. Wow. That's not at all what I had in mind. I knew I should be excited, but I admit I was rather hesitant. How would I ever get to know anyone in the ward? I'd be tucked away in Primary and never get to go to Relief Society or Gospel Doctrine, let alone ever teach!

Little did I know...

"The music leader is the gospel doctrine teacher for the Primary."
~President Hinckley

I was called to be Gospel Doctrine teacher!

Not only that, but how many teachers can say, "My students still know the lessons I gave them... word for word!" Nothing beats hearing "my lessons" as I walk down the hallway, or out to my car at the end of the day, or even in the middle of Sacrament Meeting.



And remember how I thought I wouldn't meet anyone in the ward? Well, you might be surprised how well I know adults in the ward, through their children. And on top of that, I have 40 new little friends! Nothing warms the heart quite like the look on a child's face when they see me in Sacrament Meeting, and they turn and poke their mom, pointing and saying, "Mom, look! That's my friend over there."

So in the spirit of preparation, organization, appreciation, and of course sharing of ideas, I have started a new blog to house all my lesson plans and ideas.

ldsprimarysingingandsharing

Can you believe it wasn't taken?! Feel free to check it out and link to it, especially if you, yourself, are working in the Primary at church.

And please, if you have any ideas... share them!

Photo found here.

Berlin: A Restful Sunday with an Unexpected Delicious Dessert.

Sunday before we left for Church, Ellie looked like this. Mom's boots are far too alluring not to try on!

After Church, we came home and relaxed (and of course, played a little) before Adam (Casey's best friend on the team) came over for dinner.

Britt made delicious flautas. Quite filling and tasty. Just as we were starting to sit down to dinner, the Mathias family from their ward, came over to visit. They are British, but have been living in Germany for the last nine or ten years. They have four girls who are just delightful! They brought waffles batter and made us one after another. It was a scrumptious dessert and extremely generous of them. We had a really fun time talking with them for a few hours! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures. :(

Berlin: Saturday started at Starbucks.

Saturday morning we met Meera, an old college friend of Casey and Brittney's, at Starbucks just inside the Brandenburg Gate. Meera was in town for just a few days to make a presentation at a conference. She's just finishing up medical school and starting her residency in the fall. We're glad she planned an extra day into her trip to come and hang out with us!

After introducing Meera to Ellie and Peyton (it'd been a long time since Meera had seen Casey and Britt), we got drinks and breakfast and enjoyed talking and laughing at Ellie. Seriously she was a riot that morning!

We took some obligatory Brandenburg Gate pictures, before walking Britt, Ellie, and Peyton back to the car to head home for naps.

Meera, Katie, and I continued on with our sightseeing tour. We walked through a tip of the Tiergarten, over to the Reichstag, the German Parliament Building. It's a very popular tourist site, so we got in line and geared up for a long wait.

The 360 degree view of Berlin at the top of the Reichstag was certainly worth the nearly two hour wait. Okay, so maybe it was only an hour... I can't recall since we were engaged in fulfilling, intense conversation with Meera. (Meera, by the way, is fabulous! She's a great person, whom I'm now happy to count as a friend.)

After the Reichstag, we walked over to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, also known as the Berlin Holocaust Memorial.

We'd been there with Casey, but the underground museum was closed. So this time, we took the opportunity to walk around. Seriously, once again, you'd think we would have had enough hearing of all the horror stories regarding the holocaust, but one room in the museum was particularly interesting to me. As my heartstrings were pulled, and tears surfaced easily, I read heart-wrenching letters between family members that were somehow recovered and preserved. Letters documenting the horror and bringing to life the pains and emotional suffering that they endured. It was nearly too much for me to bear. I strolled through the remaining rooms, only glancing at pictures, hardly reading anything more. Too painful.

We were hungry and decided to introduce Meera to the wonderful world of döner kebabs.

Needless to say, she's a fan! Who wouldn't be. Seriously. Come on now. They're delish!

We headed home, and once again found a very excited Ellie, ready to play! She decided to eat her dinner with tongs.

Katie and I walked the Ku'Damm one final time to Karstadt to do some grocery shopping for dinner the next day and pick up a few last "souvenirs" -- you know, the edible kind. I was extremely excited to find Texicana (a German salsa I learned to love while living in Lithuania) and Finn Crisps (a product of Finland, these crackers became a favorite while in Lithuania). -- More on these delicious finds in a future post.

We ended the night just talking away. Meera, Britt, Katie, and I. Girl talk. That's always fun!

Berlin: Birthday, Breakfast, and Basketball.

Thursday was Casey's birthday. We started the day going out to breakfast at a cute little café called Schwartz's. Ellie was a riot! She was absolutely insistent that she have a tea party!

One of the highlights of the morning was when we were singing a little kiddie song where we had to say each person's name and how old they were. We went around the table and sang the song for each person until we got to Katie. Ellie calls Katie "Aunt Kat." So when we started to sing the song we said, "Katie" and then Britt explained to Ellie that Aunt Kat's name was Katie. I wish I had had my camera ready to snap a picture of Ellie's face. She was so incredibly confused! We all had a good laugh.

I had eggs with tomatoes, feta cheese, onions. The meal was just about the best scrambled egg mixture on toast that I have ever had in my life! Katie had to take a picture because she said it just looked like "something Emery would eat." I think it was the feta. SO delish!

Later that day we went to KaDeWe, which is widely accepted as the largest department store in all of continental Europe. It is really quite amazing. A bit of sensory overload. It's seven floors with boutique stores on the ground floor like Gucci, Cartier, Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, and the like. We rode the elevator to the sixth floor, where there is a full grocery store, and the equivalent of a food court, although it looks like nothing like a food court you'd find in a regular American mall. It's very high end, more gourmet foods. We all got crepes. I ordered mine with strawberries and vanilla cream. Yum!

That night we went to Casey's game at the O2 World Arena. At the very beginning the announcer wished Casey "Happy Birsday!" It was great. Although they won, the game itself was pretty intense.

After the game, we celebrated Casey's birthday with Adam and Tori and the rest of the team and their families. Brittney had made a delicious vanilla cake with fresh strawberries. We had balloons, which we'd purchased at KaDeWe earlier in the day. And then of course the buffet (provided by the arena in the VIP lounge).

As we left, there were a few fans waiting to wish Casey a Happy Birsday with flowers, cards, and a song!

Once again, another fun day!

Time flies.

I've been thinking about time a lot yesterday and today. Time in terms of speed. You know ... the rate at which children grow and mature, the rate at which a heart can be broken, the rate at which it heals, the rate at which it learns to love, the rate at which you travel to across oceans and continents, the rate at which one loses weight, the rate at which one gains it, the rate at which you earn money, the rate at which it can be spent...

Isn't it funny that the older you get, the faster life seems to go. Time really does seem to fly by. How flabbergasted one might be when they realize how much a child has grown in the last year, both physically and developmentally. But to that child, time seems to drone on and on. Is it because there is less in their brains to remember? Fewer memories to recall and process?

Lately, I've been playing the "one year ago today" game and realizing how drastically (yet simply) my life has changed. Mostly, the change is in my attitude toward life. A year ago today, I hated my job. I was working the same job I am today, but at different customer location, and thus it really was entirely different than it is for me today. I dreaded going to work. I literally cried some days on my way to work. I recall barely being able to get out of bed, I hated the idea of going to work so much. A year ago today, I had long become used to the "permanent" twitch in my right eye. What a difference a year can make. Today, - well, today I'm not at work.. - but today, I have a completely different feeling every day when I wake up. Work doesn't do me in. I enjoy going to work. I enjoy the people with whom I work. I love our front desk receptionist, Carolyn. She brightens my day. My co-worker is great to work with. It's just the two of us in this office, which could make for a hard working situation if we didn't get along, but we work really well together, complimenting each other's working styles well, picking up where the other one isn't as strong, etc. What a difference a year makes.

A year ago today, I wasn't dating M. A year ago today, I wasn't in Berlin. A year ago today, I was 15 pounds thinner than I am now. A year ago today, I was sitting in my music class with M, whom I'd never spoken to at that point. A year ago today, I was working out (haven't done that for a few weeks now). Wow. What a difference a year makes.

Just this evening, Katie and I were talking about how quickly Ellie has changed. She's almost two and a half years old. The last time I saw her she was not yet two. Definitely intelligent and advanced for an almost two year old. But today... just six months later, she is more verbal and emotionally grown up than most two years olds I've come into contact with. Today, she was jumping on the couch, trying to make Katie and me laugh. The second time she jumped and fell back, she hit her head squarely on the hard arm of the couch. She looked stunned, and started to cry a little. Katie tried to comfort her, but she wouldn't have it. Asking Katie to "leave me alone please," she found her "blankie" and covered her head for a few minutes. She wanted to experience her pain in peace. In many ways that's how a lot of adults are. We hurt or cry, and we want to be private about it. Ellie took about three or four minutes, then turned to Katie to say she was sorry (for crying?) and then she was fine. She was still holding her blankie and now sucking on her "bink", but she has learned how to comfort herself and move on. A fine lesson for me to remember when I'm wallowing in some sort of pain. :)

I also mentioned to Katie something about M, and then surprised myself halfway through my thought, "We've been dating for ... nearly seven months." Seven months! That's a long time. It's a short period of time, and a long period of time. But a significant period of time. It's funny how we look at it. And this thought was the catalyst for this post. Time is relative. Seven months could feel like an eternity, and in many cases is a long period of time. In seven months, a child changes drastically. In seven months, one could experience new blossoms, blazing heat, and a new-fallen snow. But how can seven months seem like such a long time and yet so short at the same time?!? I suppose for the same reasons that three days in Berlin already feels like a week and yet only 3 hours at the same time. Funny how that works.

Berlin

We're here! After nearly 20 hours of traveling, we made it! Casey picked us up at the Berlin (TGL) airport shortly after 2pm local time and drove us home to their place in the Charlottenberg district of Berlin. Ellie had just woken up from her nap and was thrilled that we were arriving. Peyton woke up shortly after we got here and was not so thrilled. Apparently, she's rather fussy a lot of the time. But she's super cute, so it makes up for it. Britt said she likes to be held a lot, so I think we'll get along fine. :)

So going back to the start of our trip...

M kept me company as I packed and helped me rip a lot of my CDs into my iTunes, so that my iPod could be fully loaded for the journey. He kept teasing me that I had days and days worth of music, but he still very patiently and kindly plugged away at the stack.

Katie and I stayed up until about 2:00 am on Thursday night, in part because I felt like I'd have a better time sleeping on the flights if I was tired, but also we were finishing packing. M drove us to the airport on Friday at 10:30 am and by noon, we were off. As I wrote earlier, we had a layover in Dallas before our long trans-Atlantic haul. Boarding the plane in Dallas, I pulled out a Ziploc snack bag of goldfish for Katie... only the bags were mutilated. To say they were faulty or damaged was an understatement. It was as if a cat had clawed across the plastic bag. Needless to say, the goldfish started spilling in my backpack. So, Katie then pulled her blanket and pillow out of the plastic and held open the bag for me to pour the goldfish in, so that they wouldn't spill everywhere... only this plastic bag apparently didn't have a bottom and the fish spilled all over my chair and the floor! Ugh. Nice start to our flight. Haha. Actually the flight wasn't that bad at all. Rather uneventful, which is always good.

Once we arrived in London (Heathrow), it was about 7:00 am local time. We ate at a the Giraffe World Cafe (or something like that). After our layover, we boarded a very hot plane to Berlin. No, not a good looking plane, but a temperature-hot plane. I ended up sleeping that whole 2 hour flight to ward off feeling sick because it was so hot in there.

Casey was waiting for us outside of customs. He parked really close, so we were on the road almost immediately. Back at the house, unloaded all of the American treats and treasures we brought over for them. Ellie was especially excited about her new ballet leotards with attached skirts. She put on the blue one right away!

And Casey was especially excited about his Cap'n Crunch. He made himself a bowl straightway. :) Brittney, Ellie, Katie, and I took a walk up the street (Kurfurstendamm, colloquially abbreviated to the Ku-damm) to grab a Berliner Currywurst, which is a curry flavored hot-dog and a cinnamon and sugar crepe. Delish!

Ellie is hilariously entertaining. Brittney emailed Katie yesterday to let us know that Ellie was just as excited about our arrival as we were. She said, "Went to Subway for lunch today and Ellis INSISTED on buying an extra bag of chips that she kept saying were for Emery. She also told her teachers at school today that "Aunt Kat" is on an airplane today, coming to see her. :) Needless to say, she is VERY excited that you guys are coming." She is two and a half and about as tall as a four year old. About as smart as one, too. She goes to kindergarten (preschool) here and so she speaks German pretty well, evidently more than Britt and Casey. Every time she counts anything, it's in German. Apparently when she gets really upset at Brittney, Ellie "yells" at her in German! How can you stay upset for long if a two year old is yelling, "Nein, momm. Nein." I would just start laughing. One of her teachers at kindergarten is British, so she speaks to her in English... but that also results in Ellie learning and repeating some interesting phrases like, "Mom, I need a nappy change." or "Oh that's lovely." :)

Well, I'm doing my best to stay up until bedtime. It's now about 8:30 pm local time. I'm doing pretty well, actually. ...Crossing my fingers..., I think I won't have jet lag too bad at all.

Well that's it for now. Tomorrow we'll be going to church and then to one of Casey's games tomorrow night.

Ridiculously charming! Can I have one of her?

Isn't she delightful!


Once upon a time... from Capucha on Vimeo.

The Nile: The Life-Blood of Egypt.

One year ago, Katie was teaching a unit to her 6th graders about ancient Egypt. She enlisted me to help grade their end-of-unit tests. So late one night, we sat on the couch, reading the answers aloud to keep from falling asleep. The whole experience was quite entertaining for us and has proven to be a source of many laughs since.

The test question that yielded the most amusing responses was: "In at least one paragraph, explain why the Nile river is often called the "life-blood of Egypt."

The answers below are real answers from 6th graders, grammar errors and all. Enjoy!

• It could be because it meant every thing to them. It would give them water. I gave them water for there plants. It gave them the ability to travel faster and cary hever things that they would trade. It expeshally helped them for wars and other things like that.
• They used it to live, for irrigation, and for their cows. They drank the water, grew crops. And fed their cows who gave milk. Which left them with strong bones to get more water from the Nile.
• The Nile river is called the life-blood of Egypt because it provides water. A nother reason why is it grows plants like the reed plant other nowen as papyrus. And it helps grows food. the farmers use it to grow there crops. It helps ceep animals and the Egyptians alive and usually fish live in water.
• The Nile was how the Egyptians survived, it was used for irrigation, building, water, the animals needwater so the Egyptians could have bacon ect.