Fixed a few broken photo links

I noticed that some of my pix went missing - please visit my last three posts again... you may have missed something.

All hallows eve

(I was reminded by a young man in our neighborhood that the Prophet told us only ONE piercing. I responded by telling him that I comply: ONE piercing in the nose, ONE piercing in the lip and ONE piercing in each ear.)

What I've learned today

1. Chesters coat is a canvas of ink spots. (Can you see it too?)]

Early Halloween visitors

What I've learned today

1. Evan arrived in Vegas safely. This type of news is always a relief. He was supposed to call me when he did arrive. I had to prompt that call with a quick text to his phone: "Are you dead?"

2. Stephanie (Clark) Nielsen is out of the woods, as declared by her doctor. Updates from the family will not be as frequent as they request their privacy during the difficult healing period (physically and emotionally).

3. Autumn is busy... Costumes, decorations (or lack thereof this year), haunted houses, candy shopping, friendly phantoms (neighbor treat ditching), parties, Thanksgiving dinner planning, Christmas gift lists, midnight showings (Twilight) ... and so forth.

My Thanksgiving wish

I have been blessed for many years to have the Rossiter's and a fragment of the Rowley's join us in our home for Thanksgiving. I am even more blessed to have both sides of my family get along so well with each other. (Extended in-laws included.) My Thanksgiving wish is to have my home filled with complete family units. Neale and his family will be heading south this year, and as mentioned in a previous post, the Chadwick's will stay in Star Valley... so I am crossing my fingers for next year... (but I'm not sure when the Rossiter's Idaho rotation will take them.) Eventually the rotations should land everyone here!!

Ever changing Thanksgiving plans...

 My beautiful sister-in-law and her family will not be joining us for thanksgiving dinner after all. Sad for us, but fortunate for some wonderful families in Star Valley. Denise has been blessed with an opportunity to serve others as they have no place to go for the holiday... she will be able to continue the Rowley tradition of inviting dear friends and neighbors into her home to share a delicious holiday meal.

Ever since Evan and I have been married and attending BYU, we have had this wonderful opportunity of inviting friends and acquaintances over for the holiday's. Many of these guests were students who did not have the means to travel home. We have been blessed with some wonderful friends through this tradition. One most memorable is George Woolfolk. This dear friend of ours passed away in 2005 at the age of 47, in an unfortunate accident but we remember him and his appetite with great fondness.

I hope that Alan, Denise and the family will be blessed with some wonderful new friends as they serve through this great family tradition.

Guest Blogger...my husband

Heather as asked that I finally make a contribution to her blog, so here goes.  Our family has been blessed by attending Stake Conference this weekend! It is always a busy time for me with my calling as the Stake Executive Secretary however, the blessings far outweigh any effort that is required from me.  Our Stake was blessed to have Elder Renlund of the Seventy and his wife Ruth preside on Saturday.  Elder Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve accompanied Elder Renlund on Sunday and attended our final general session.  While Elder Wirthlin is aging (91) his intellect, sense of humor, humility are all intact.  The unique spirit that attends one of The Lords anointed servants is real and tangible!  He spoke briefly at the end of the meeting and in his simple, direct yet powerful way reminded us of the importance of staying focused on The Lord in all that we do!  All the speakers, music, and prayers added to the spiritual nature of the meeting.  I am grateful for my association with such great people in this Stake.  The opportunity to serve with the other members of the Stake Presidency is rich with blessings and opportunities to learn the ways of The Lord and His Church.  It is remarkable to consider I had the opportunity to sit with and shake the hand of an Apostle that as a young boy shook the hand of an elderly woman, that had previously shook the hand of The Prophet Joseph!  We really are all  connected much more than we realize.  The Church is true! I am most grateful for my membership in it and my testimony of Jesus Christ!  He lives and loves us!  God bless all of us in our daily lives and in our efforts to keep His commandments.

A touching newspaper article

From the Arizona Republic. A wonderful love story about Christian and Stephanie (Clark) Nielsen... here

I do get a brief moment of p&q

 

The family is still watching Alta beat JHS and I am home alone with Chester trying to catch my breath from my evening at the ward Halloween party. I set up and ran the ball toss game I created, after that, I danced the hokey pokey and bunny hop with the kids. The bunny hop nearly killed me. Later, I converted one of the sticks from my game into a limbo stick and continued to play with the kids. And now I sit and rest.  

What I've learned today

1. Pineapples grow in Utah. At least I hope so. The pineapple that I brought home from Hawaii last year is close to six months away from bearing fruit. (It takes a pineapple 18 months.) I just repotted it today so it is growing!

Going solo...

Due to the football season - I will be attending our Ward Halloween party solo. Normally, I would take advantage of an empty house, but the primary was asked to prepare and run a beanbag or ring toss game for the evening. So I will be at the church while the rest of the family cheers for JHS while they face off with Alta for the division championship game.

Dull women have immaculate homes.

Blue tape is coming down, small touch ups are being made, tools, ladders, and supplies are being put away.

I can finally reclaim my home and try to get some rooms back in order. We have a few new light fixtures to hang and then I can get rid of the large boxes in my living room. The guest room is half cleared out and I can soon prepare it for guests!. (Expecting company for Thanksgiving!! YEAH!) Wishing I had a larger laundry room so the ironing board could stand there permanently. It's current residence is the guest room. It previously occupied the master bedroom, but I got very tired of tripping over it and knocking the iron to the floor, nearly missing my foot (sometimes not). Putting it away is a concept we have not quite mastered. Come to think of it, putting anything away falls into that category.

The girls are still hanging on to some swelling, but are very close to being back to 100%. Here is a snap of Taylor about 12 hours after surgery.

Whew!

The painting job is complete!

My girls have big heads.

Still sore, swollen faces, glad to eat. Both girls are relatively pain free but have stiff jaws. It is difficult for them to eat much but they managed to eat a bit. The morning started with German Pancakes, pills, then ice cream. Mac N Cheese, pills and ice cream for lunch. I cooked a turkey breast for dinner because there was a request for mashed potatoes (accompanied by pills and ice cream).

By the way... Happy Birthday Evan!! I love you sweetie. Sorry we couldn't celebrate in style - but as much as you have been traveling - I guess eating in was better anyway. (Sorry your Cougs lost.)

"Sticky Note Boy" meets the family

His real name is Nate, but I still like "Sticky Note Boy". (I did not call him that to his face.)

He came over to the house for a while to sit with Kylee and watch a movie. He was very patient while I asked him a few questions about himself as I was folding laundry.

He turns 19 in February and is planning on serving a mission. He is knocking out some generals at the U in the mean time. He thinks he might study business, but wants to wait until after his mission to decide.  He was a nice boy.

Two brave girls

Our morning started at 5:30 am.

I showered and woke the girls up a little after 6am.

Walked through the doors of the dental office in American Fork at 7:00 am.

A few more instructions from the doctor, forms to sign, and off to the waiting room for Taylor and I. Kylee was sedated and teeth were extracted.

I was waiting with Kylee in the recovery room while it was Taylor's turn when one of the dental assistants came out to get me. When I arrived in Taylor's room, I was informed that after many, many pokes they could not find a vein for the IV. Taylor was given the choice of rescheduling another day or extracting the teeth under local anesthesia. I told her that it was up to her, she was old enough to decide.

My brave baby girl (the one that HATES needles) decided to stay and finish what she set out to do. I retrieved her IPOD so she could block out the sounds of the drills, etc. and I sat at her feet and tickled her ankles while the doctor took care of her.

The doctor then proceeded to administer multiple shots all over her mouth. He was so smooth - not a flinch from Taylor. A little gag reflex as her mouth began to numb up toward the end of the shot series. A short wait for it to take effect and then out came the teeth and in went a stitch or two.

Kylee was wheeled into Taylor's room and then we were homeward bound with 6 prescriptions. Kylee's nausea started to kick in on the way home and now I am nursing the two. Gauze, nausea pills, pain pills, antibotics, ice cream, more gauze, ice, more pills. I think I might loose a pound or two running up and down the stairs.

 

The concert was a hit!

And for advanced notice: the next one is December 17th.

The talents that surround us are amazing. What wonderful gifts these young men and women have.

Concert Announcement (better late than never)

Taylor has a concert tonight at the High School @ 7pm.(I'm a bit scatter brained)

Still not caught up

...on sleep from my Friday adventure. I am gearing up for another early morning on Wednesday as both girls loose their wisdom teeth. What a great way for them so spend their fall break. I took the majority of the week off since they will both be down for the count and will not be able to care for each other, let alone, themselves. I will work from home as much as possible and check in at the office in the evenings.

It is nice having Evan around again. He is always missed when he is gone. I had to steal his car this morning - the Durango would not start. The tow truck just arrived to take it back to the shop. (This happened a month or two ago.) Thank goodness for today's bounce back on Wall Street. Between this and Christmas, we need the recovery!

This snowy Sunday morning...

Taylor and I got up and headed downtown to the Tabernacle to see "Music and the Spoken Word". Mostly, to fulfil a school assignment to see a live musical performance... it ended up as the perfect start for the Sabbath.

 

Feeling better

I stopped by Connie's today to fix her TV for the umpteenth time. She is off of the oxygen and pain free. She said she is feeling MUCH better. I am in bed early tonight and up VERY early in the morning to go to work. I will be taking most of the day off to take her to her Doctor in Provo.

and an update...

Steph's skin graft surgery went well yesterday. She is a bit more responsive which is the natural progression at this point. Christian continues to rehabilitate.

Kylee's first day...

@ PCH. She enjoyed her first day as a volunteer at the hospital. She cleaned toys and wheelchairs and played with some of the kids. She met another volunteer who is also Pre-Nursing and went to Skyline. Kylee asked her if she knew "sticky note boy"  (another story to ask Kylee about) and she did. Kylee shared the sticky note story with her and received some reassurances that he was a decent guy. Kylee felt relieved, especially since she has a date next weekend with this mystery man.

Homecoming

Connie came home from the hospital today. She is on oxygen, but feeling stronger. Her bruising is still painful and uncomfortable. Denise will be staying with her until friday, then it is off to her regular doctor (also on friday) and a stress test next week.

The family football star:

The classics:

Evan and I get a giggle every time we watch this clip from South Park.

The Final Exam

What I've learned today

1. We are a messy people.

The family spent time over at the church for our annual cleaning assignment. My greatest observation: the most sacred room in the building (the chapel) was the messiest.

The Sound of Music

I have learned that all of the music that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang during Sunday mornings session of Conference was dedicated to Christian and Stephanie Nielsen and their family. Courtney says that their girls intently listened to every song.

I heart you

All hooked up to a heart monitor now @ the hospital. Connie then had to go through sitting, standing, need to get a reading drill. Still waiting for Denise as I count down the hours till a new work week.

Conference intermission phone call

Evan jumped into the car after receiving a phone call at 1:00 this afternoon. His mother was on her way to the hospital. She had passed out (for an undetermined length of time) and she had fallen and hit her chest on a piece of furniture.  Sandy Fire Department was taking her to the hospital when he got the call. He dashed out the door without hesitation. It is now 2:00 and I just received his phone call that she is being admitted. After dinner this evening we will head up to the hospital together and should be able to get more details as to what may have caused this accident, as they are just starting their tests.

What beautiful children...

While the men-folk went to the Priesthood session of conference, Emily and the kids joined us for an evening of burgers and movies. I spent most of the evening snapping photos.

What I've learned today

1. I love my trials.

As I am surrounded by people that I know and care about and as I learn about their trials and struggles I am so grateful for mine. I know that I can handle them.

I am in awe of the strength of those around me and how well they are dealing with their personal trials. I think about the Clark family as they have rallied together to care for Christian and Stephanie's children as they recover. I think about the accident and recovery itself. I think about my friend, a young mother of three and a widow. Another friend and her young children and their horrific past that wouldn't  go away because of court trials. (They finally received some closure.) Some that are struggling with their testimonies, others with marital, legal, or health problems and some with wayward or ill children.

I am blessed with trials that meant for just me. I've had it easy.