My First White Christmas

Well, I just had my first white Christmas ever. I hve never been someone dreaming of a white Christmas - I prefer it when the weatehr is in the 60s and sunny and you can spend a lot of time outside. But, since it was cold anyway, I really did like the snow. Ryan and I went out in the morning, had a snowball fight, made snow angels, and a snow man. Making the snow man was just as easy as they make it look in the movies, make a ball and then roll it around in the snow until it gets to the desired size. It was a lot of fun, I fully enjoyed my first white Christmas.

Confused

Anyone who has lived in Texas knows that the weather here is kind of crazy, rather unpredictable. This year has been especially crazy, and I think it has confused my plants a bit. We had a a freezing day I think in October, I know it snowed in either October or November (I can't remember any more). Since I have lived here (6 1/2 years) it has snowed once a year - usually around February. Well, not only did it snow early, but it has gotten warm and then cold and then warm and then cold, several times. All of this has been too much for my daffodils, they started coming up in October.

On December 23 it got to 75 degrees!

My daffodils on the 23rd.

What I wore on my feet on the 23rd.

But less any of you should be envious of our warm temperatures, on December 24 it got down to below freezing - and we got a blizzard - at least to us in Texas it was a blizzard. We got covered in snow and the roads all iced over so people were slipping every where. It was crazy! I am not sure what will happen with my daffodils - I hope they make it!

The snow just starting in my back yard.

We had to leave Burleson to go to Grapevine so we could be there to do Christmas Eve stuff with Ryan's family before the snow really started sticking much - so we never got to see our yard covered in snow - but this was the result of the storm in Ryan's parent's backyard.

Eagles

My oldest sister, Missy, will turn 40 on Christmas Eve. Tonight my family celebrated her birthday by having a dinner, opening presents, and then putting all the kids to bed and the adults played games. I didn’t get to be there, which was sad, but such is life. Well, in order to commemorate her 40 incredible years my mom, my sisters, and her husband have been working on a project for her since Thanksgiving. I guess for my sister Emily’s baby shower Missy made her a bag with several “merit badges” on it. She said that as a mother you rarely get recognized for your efforts or achievement. For example, your son can get a badge for practically anything, like threading a needle, but you are the one who sews the badge on for him, and yet you don’t get anything for that, or the countless other things you do. So my mom thought Missy could use some recognition for some her accomplishments – our goal was to come up with and make 40 badges. Along with the badges we compiled a notebook of what she has done to earn each badge. For example, one of the badges was Scriptorian - For extensive personal study, wide knowledge of scriptural themes and passages, ability to apply principles learned to life’s challenges, special ability to apply gospel principles to raising children and other interpersonal relationships, and using knowledge to bless the lives of others by teaching and counseling. We ended up overshooting our goal a bit and made more than 40, but that is okay. Although I didn’t get to be there with them my family did a video chat with us so I could watch her open it and go through them and the notebook – I love some things about technology. Anyway, she liked it which made the hours of putting it together worth it. So, the reason I write this is because even though I am not a mom yet, I realize that it can be discouraging sometimes. I did teach seminary and know that despite all your efforts and sacrifices, kids rarely express let alone feel gratitude, which can be a challenge. So if you are feeling discouraged or like your efforts and sacrifices are not noticed, or like you haven't achieved much or that no one notices your achievements, let me know and I will point out what I love and admire in you, so you can know that there are people that think you deserve an "eagle".

A Nice Day - Including a First

Yesterday I went with my friend and her 7 kids to see “Polar Express” at the Omni, and then to Mc Donald’s for her kids to play. It was fun to spend time with their family. I am impressed with the obedience of her kids and how willing they are to accept disappointment and change and just go with the flow. I hope I can cultivate the same characteristics in my children. And then last night my visiting teachers (who are some of my good friends) and another friend came and caroled to me. This was a first for me and I really enjoyed it. They also brought me some yummy treats – so nice.

Sara Poyfair, Shadi Smith (my VT), and Leanne Bell (my other VT)

Our First Ginger Bread Houses - We Are Proud

Well, they never cease to amaze us – our activities committee, with the help of our Stake Activities chair, Sister Beezley, provided us with a fantastic evening of ginger bread house decorating for FHE. Ryan and I have never decorated ginger bread houses together, and Ryan doesn’t think he has ever decorated an actual ginger bread house (just graham cracker ones) and I think I have only assisted my nieces and nephews in making them. But we had so much fun this may be a new tradition for us. Not only did we get make houses and eat more candy than we should have, but we got to know some of the members of our ward better, and that is always fun.

Don't you love the creativity in our ward - the Elders and one of our other friends took off before this picture was taken, but we were impressed with everyone and had a great time.

Fabulous Activities - and a Funny Story

Our Single’s Ward has a fantastic activities committee. Every activity we have ever been to, including every FHE, have been super fun, super creative, and we have just enjoyed ourselves. For example, last Monday we attended FHE and it was “human bowling”. They often do “human” versions of games such as “human Battleship”, and it is just fun. Well this bowling was hilarious. Pins were made from 3 cardboard boxes taped together. The “ball” was a person sitting on a trash can dolly who was then pushed into the pins by his/her partner. So funny, and so fun. Ryan and I didn’t actually get to participate on account of his shoulder, but we still enjoyed watching.

I stole these pictures from this girl's Facebook since I didn't take my camera that day, but I wanted you to get the picture of what it was like.

Well, our activities committee continues to impress us. Tonight was our ward Christmas Party. We had a great dinner, and then had a gift exchange. We laughed a lot, and had a great time. In anticipation of this night Ryan and I picked out some gifts that we really liked. The first was a signed picture of us – last year we gave it for a white elephant gift exchange at a party for the high priests in the Burleson Ward. It went over super well – I think it was traded the maximum number of times and the couple that ended up with it still have it on their fridge. While it didn’t go over quite as well with the singles, everyone got a good laugh from it, and the owner claims he is either going to frame it or sell it on eBay.
Our other present I thought was equally funny, and now has a funny story to go with it – at least I think so. A few weeks ago Ryan had a doctor’s appointment to get his ankle checked out. This doctor was located in a hospital – we arrived 15-30 minutes early for the appointment, so walked around the hospital a little while as no one was in the office yet. We found this convenience store so went in. While there I saw this little puck shaped thing that said Oops on it, and so I read it. They were disposable panties! When I first saw them, since they were in such a tightly packaged form. They reminded me of those little sponges that you have to put in water and then they expand – and I just thought that was funny – although now I don’t think that is how they work. There were several things about them that I found amusing – they were called “Oops”, the fact that there was such a thing as disposable panties, that it said on the package that they were perfect for camping and I don’t remember what else, and that they were packaged as they were. We decided they would be perfect for this gift exchange. The night after we bought them I happened to still have them in my pocket when I went to the Burleson Ward Relief Society Christmas Party – and I ended up showing them to 3 of my friends, who thought they were equally hilarious and would like some themselves. So, I was all excited to take them to this party because I thought everyone would find them as funny as I did. I am not a person who likes bathroom humor at all, but I didn’t think of these underwear in that way, it was just the idea of them that I thought was funny, and still do. Okay, so someone finally picks up the bag they were in and I was all excited and had my camera ready to take a picture, and did as our Relief Society president pulls them out of the bag. Now realize that she is this very quiet spoken, soft hearted, sweet girl. When she pulls them out there was some confusion about what they were and the wife of our first counselor said “I could use that” and Summer, our RS president, said she could too. They thought it was ribbon. Then Summer sits down and starts reading it, and so I took a picture then also. Well, she was not amused. She didn’t read it all out loud, but after a second she say “That is inappropriate, who brought this?” She sounded mad, and at the moment she said it Ryan and I felt like we had done something really inappropriate, we were ashamed, and we were afraid to admit that we had brought them because we didn’t know how people would react to the bishopric counselor and his wife for doing something so horrible, and so we didn’t admit, we just sat there as quietly as everyone else. Our elder’s quorum president said something like “Yeah, like anyone is going to admit to it now that you are going to get them in trouble”, and we felt the same way. Later our EQ president did consider taking them from her, and so read the whole package out loud, at which everyone laughed quite a bit, which made us feel better, but since they said panties on the package he decided against them. Since then I have thought about the whole experience and am disappointed for several reasons. First, that Summer didn’t see the humor in them that I did, and was instead upset by them. That we ever felt ashamed, because I still contest that they are hilarious. And third, that we didn’t confess, because it also would have been funny if we had. Oh well, live and learn right. But if you are interested in obtaining some disposable panties for yourself, you can find them here http://www.shopinprivate.com/oodipa2pk.html. On a side note, we did come away with a Rubik’s cube for Ryan and a talking brain for me, which is awesome!

Starting in the upper left hand corner and then moving clockwise, and ending in the center - Ryan opening his Rubik's cube, members of our ward right before we ate dinner, Sumer (the RS president) opening the panties, Skylar (the EQ president) with his first present - a fish he was excited about but didn't get to keep, Joey opening our picture, some more members of the ward right before dinner, Joey showing off our picture, and Skylar reading the info on the panties.

Happy Thanksgiving!

When my oldest sister got married almost 20 years ago our family started the tradition of every year switching of Thanksgiving and Christmas between our family and in-laws (Thanksgiving with one family and Christmas with the other, and then switch the next year). Somehow it worked at that even though we are now all married, we are all on the same schedule, either because our husbands were the first to get married in their families so they built their schedule around ours, or because their in-laws don't necessarily have a schedule and just feel grateful to get the families whenever they can. Well, on odd numbered years like this we have Thanksgiving with our family and Christmas with in-laws. So...I went to Las Vegas for a FOURTH time this year, and loved it. And, quite unusual for us, Ryan and I actually traveled together both directions, which was nice. We left Friday after work and got to be there for ten days. While we were there we spent a lot of time doing stuff with my family (of course). We went to the Bellagio and saw the arboretum and a pretty amazing sculpture display. We attended birthday dinners for our brother-in-law Bruce and our niece Michaelanne, went to dinner with some of our family, saw "New Moon" (not our favorite - the book is just so much better), went on hikes to various places (Springs Preserve, the Wetlands, Mt. Charleston, and Red Rock - I recommend them all!), visited with my good friend Steve and his family, went to Rebel games (go Rebels – we loved watching them beat Louisville), watched some football, played some games, celebrated the birthdays of all the brothers-in-law in our family (all but one of them have birthdays within 2.5 months of each other), and of course ate a ton! Oh, and Ryan and I braved our first Black Friday, came out victorious with a $150 video camera and a $25 8 GB micro SD card, and will consider doing Black Friday again. It was all fantastic and it was hard to say good-bye.

My dad, my niece Miachealanne, Ryan, and I really enjoyed hte Wetlands - did you know there was a place with this much water and this green right in the middle of Las Vegas?

A few years ago my family started the tradition of starting our Thanksgiving feasting the day before Thanksgiving. We really like appetizers, which we have always eaten the morning of Thanksgiving. But we realized that we like them so much that we sometimes eat too many to have room for dinner, or we don't get all that we would like. So we have started a tradition of eating appetizers for dinner the Wednesday befor Thanksgiving - and then we make more and eat left-overs before dinner on Thanksgiving. We combined our appetizer night this year with our brother-in-law birthday party (as well as a celbration of Mike who's birthday it actually was) and made the things they requested - it was excellent!

For the last 15+ years we have always had people visit us for Thanksgiving - whether extended family or friends. Every year I was at BYU I brought at least one friend home with me. We had thought this year was going to be the same, but for some reason everyone that was invited ended up flaking, and it was only my "immediate" family. And not even all of them since my sister Mindy and her family decided to go to their family cabin instead (which was very sad for all of us). Anyway, this is what our Thanksgiving looked like - not as much food as we normally have, but still more than enough. Luckily it was a nice day so we were able to eat outside - even though my parents' house is large, it is hard to fit my whole family (or even those that were there) inside one house for long periods of time.

After getting ourselves nice and full my sisters and I decided it would be a good idea to all jump on the trampoline together. It started with me jumping with just two of my sisters (Molly - 5 years older, and Maggi - 5 years younger). We then convinced Missy, our oldest sister to join us. Then Jenny (in between Maggi and me). We never did get the other two (Mindy was out of town actually) which is too bad because I really had a lot of fun. I am not sure if you can see the love from these pictures - but not only can I see it, I feel it. This is a happy memory for me. When I talk to people about my family and end up telling them I have SIX sisters there always comes a period of surprise, the repeating back to me of how many sisters I have (Six sisters?) and then the question - All girls - what was that like? (Or - What did your dad think about it?) My answer about what it was like has always been the same - It was awesome-I loved it! Having sisters is the best - thanks Mom and Dad.

We loved our hikes to Red Rock and Mt. Charleston - don't you love how Ryan and I are always pretending we are dog owners - we just want to be and will be some day. We would love to own this dog, Bella. She is my sisters dog and one of the best trained and most obedient dogs ever - we love taking her with us on hikes and walks.

Don't I have the cutest nieces and nephews ever! I think so. In the center is my mom with 17 of her 24 grandchildren.

Surgery - Ugh!

When Ryan and I were dating he hurt his shoulder. We are not sure how he did it exactly, but he thinks it was his swimming class, his weight lifting class, or the combination of doing them in the same semester, one right after the other. He went to talk to a doctor about it right before he graduated and was given a series of physical therapy exercises to do. He did them somewhat faithfully up until we got married 6 weeks later. He acknowledged that they helped some, but he still couldn’t do his favorite exercises, so he gave up. That was over 6 years ago. Since then his arm gets sore from doing various swinging motions – throwing a ball, playing tennis, etc. He sometimes has a hard time sleeping on it as well, and he still can’t do the exercises he likes. We put a lot of money in our flexible spending account this year in anticipation that we may have a baby, but we haven’t. So we decided to have his shoulder looked at. He did some physical therapy again, but again, even though it improved slightly, he and the doctor concluded that the only way to really fix it would be surgery.
So, Ryan had shoulder surgery. It was a long ordeal, at least for me. We got there two hours before the surgery was scheduled – they took some blood, asked him a lot of questions, and prepped him for surgery. Then I just had to wait, and wait, and wait. After about an hour and half the doctor came and told me the surgery went well, and that he did have a labrum tear (so he wasn’t crazy) which they repaired. I was glad things went well. And then I waited for another couple hours until he started to wake up and they took him to recovery. But he had started waking up during the surgery so they gave him additional anesthesia, and then when he was waking up he was in pain so they gave him more stuff, so I waited another few hours before he was finally awake enough to get to the car.
Before the surgery he had been told he would be in a sling for three weeks. We weren’t anticipating it being a big deal, he even thought he would get back to work after a day or two. We were wrong. He doesn’t have just a sling, but a “pillow” to prop his arm up. For the first two days he had to take pain pills every 4 hours, even during the night. He also had this sophisticated ice pack called an “ice man” where you have this ice chest thing with a hose that pumps ice water into the pack. So he was attached to this thing for a few days, even while sleeping – good thing we have a king sized bed. He can’t really lie down very well because of his pillow. He was quite helpless at first, but has started to use his left hand to do some things. But still he requires a lot of taking care of – I tie his shoes, help him get dressed, do his hair. Between helping him with these things and having to getup in the night to get him his pills I feel I have had a little bit of preparation for a baby. Bring it on.

Ryan two days after surgery with his pillow and ice man - and after a shower.

I'm married to an old man - not really

Ryan has just turned 33 - weird. We don't feel like we are in our 30s, but I guess we are. We celebrated his birthday last night after our adoption conference with his family - we had pizza and carrot cake and played some games. As today is Sunday we couldn't do any too extravagant celebrating, but I made him an omlet for breakfast and beef stroganoff and pumpkin bars for dinner (his requests). And we have mostly taken it pretty easy all day. I hope he enjoyed his birthday.
I am so grateful to be married to the best person in this world - I feel truly blessed. A few of the things I love about him are:
-His personality
-His sense of humor
-His service
-His work ethic
-His intelligence
-His kindness
-His spirituality
-His love for me
-His love for God
Yep, I'm the luckiest person alive.

It's About Love

One of the requirements to be able to adopt through LDS Family Services is to get these education credits. You used to have to attend I think three or four 2 hour classes, I guess on parenting. Well now, twice a year they have conferences for the organization Families Supporting Adoption, and you get your credits by attending. It was about six hours long this past Saturday. We weren’t super excited about it because of how long it was going to be, and we didn’t really know what it was going to be like. But I really did enjoy it and am glad we went. They had two couples speak who have adopted all their children. They also had two adoptive moms speak. One was adopted herself and has adopted two sons. It was interesting to hear her feelings about her parents, her birth parents, her children, and their birth moms. What I gained most from her was that her mom, from the time she was young, told her their “family story”, telling her about how she came into their family. She said she has carried this on with her sons, telling them their family story from when they are a week old. I think this is a great way to let your children know they are adopted, even before they can understand what it means. The other adoptive mom has three half black/half white kids and two Chinese kids and it was super interesting learning what a multiracial family is like. But I think what I gained most from was the panel of birth mothers that were there. Three birth moms and one birth grandmother were there (we wished there were some birth dads as well) and they shared with us their experiences. All three of them placed there babies 2.5-3 years ago. It helped me to understand much better what the experience is like for them. One of my sisters got pregnant while we were in high school, so I already had a pretty good idea of the struggles that an unwed mother faces. But my sister kept my nephew (which I am very happy about – I can’t imagine my family without him), so I haven’t known anyone close to me that was a birth mom. I was crying pretty hard as they told their stories, as my heart broke for them. I am amazed by how selfless they are, and inspired by them. And I loved hearing about their different relationships with their babies. Ryan and I have been unsure how open we would want our adoption to be, but after meeting these girls I feel totally comfortable with an open adoption. Another interesting thing at the conference was there was a birth mom, an adoptive mom, and their son there. The two women sang together, and the three of them sat at our table for lunch. It was intriguing watching the three of them interact. The love between the two women was very obvious. And watching the birth mom interact with the son was like an aunt or older sister with a nephew or brother. I’m grateful I was able to experience that. I was grateful to see and feel how much love surrounds the entire adoption process and experience.

Four Countries in Twelve Days

October was an outrageously busy month for me. I had to write and submit two grant proposals and prepare two posters for presentation at conferences. I worked like crazy the first half of the month, and then got to enjoy the second half. I first had a conference, Society for Neuroscience, to present at in Chicago. Having just been to Chicago in August it wasn't quite as exciting as it might have been otherwise, especially since Ryan didn't come this time, but last time I had almost no time for site seeing, so I spent some time this trip getting to see some stuff I missed out on. My favorites were the FREE Lincoln Park Zoo - which is really quite incredible, especially considering it is free, and I highly recommend any one going to Chicago to go there - and the Science and Industry Museum. So, my first night there I learned that you can google free things to do in Chicago and there is a whole list of things, including many days that their various incredible museums are free. One of those days was while I was there, so I went - and it was fantastic. I also ate some good food, although I don't think I am quite as big of a fan of Chicago food as some people. Oh, and I also attended my conference and learned some good things.

I went straight from Chicago to Berlin for another conference - I know, hard life right. I got there two days before Ryan joined me, and only did minimal sight seeing during that time, but I did have some good food, and I did diligently attend my conference.
But once he joined me things were much more fun. We did a walking tour of Berlin, which was fantastic, we learned a lot about the rise of Hitler, and Communism, and about how the Berlin Wall finally fell, and about life now. We saw all the main sites of Berlin, though didn't have time to travel to any of the more residential areas - but we liked Berlin. We found the German people to be super nice. We went to church and they even translated for us. I think in our time in Germany about 5 people went out of their way to help us. I like Germans!

From Berlin we went to Prague. As we were planning our trip and deciding where we should go several people told us how much they loved Prague, how beautiful it is, how it wasn't damaged much by the war and how incredible it is to see all the old buildings and such. Well, we were not disappointed - Prague is amazing. Our first night there we were amazed when we were out walking and saw how well they lit everything up, how beautiful it was. We spent another two full days there - and loved it. The old buildings really are amazing. We went through Jewish Quarter, saw the astronomical clock and all of Old Quarter Square, visited New Quarter, went to the castle and saw everything there, walked the famous bridge several times, and walked through Little Quarter. A tip from what we learned in Prague - if you are cheap like us and don't feel like you should have to pay to use a bathroom, try one of the big crystal shops or a hotel lobby.

We next went to Vienna, also beautiful. While we were there we went to the treasury, the art museum, both palaces, and the opera. We learned all about the Royal Hapsburg family. Our tip for Vienna - if you want to go to all these places and don't already know about the Hapsburgs, first go to the museum, then the palace, then the treasury - things will be much more meaningful to you then - we did it in the reverse order so the treasury was a bit of a let down because we didn't understand its significance. Oh, and even if you are not an opera fan, go. You don't need to spend money on the tour, get standing room tickets (only about $10) - you can sit on the steps, they translate the opera for you so you can read what they are singing about, and it is amazing. We saw Fidelio - by Beethoven, which was fantastic.

Next we went back into Germany, but into the south this time, to the Fussen area. On our way we had a train stop in Munich, so we decided to spend a little time there. We actually only spent a couple of hours in Munich, but about an hour from Munich is Dachua, the first Nazi concentration camp. Since learning about the Holocaust when I was in 7th grade I have been fascinated by it. I guess that may sound a bit morbid, but I was amazed that anything so horrible could happen, that people could be filled with so much hate. I have read tons of books about it and it remains one of my favorite subjects to study. I ache for those people, but learn from their courage. I have visited the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C., but have always wanted to visit a concentration camp - I can't really explain why. So we went to Dachau, and I am so glad we did. It doesn't have piles of hair or shoes or anything like that. There is a museum that contains pictures of the camp while it was being used. But I learned a lot from being there. For some reason I have always held the belief that concentration camps were pretty much all about holding the prisoners, and that almost all the prisoners were Jews. Being there I learned that only about 10% of the land of Dachau held prisoners, the rest was occupied by officer housing and building of machinery and weapons. Dachau was built I think to hold 3,000 prisoners. When the US got there they found 6 times that number. Every morning and evening the prisoners had to line up for role call, so there was a big open area for that. There were either 30 or 40 barracks, I can't remember now how many. The ones closest to the role call area were the infirmary (where the sick were held but also where experimentation occured), as well as ones where new inmates came and were cleaned and held until they were assigned to barracks. The barracks that housed prisoners that were closest to the role call area were for those individuals they held in higher regard, such as Germans. The ones farthest away were for those considered least worthy - Jews, Poles, Gypsies, etc. We learned about secret societies prisoners would form, about attempts individuals fighting in the war made to penetrate the camp and save the people, and about the electric fence surrounding the prisoner area where several committed suicide and others were shot for getting too close. We saw the crematoriums where not only were bodies disposed of, but where there were gas chambers and people were hanged. And we also saw mass graves. We also learned that very few Jews were kept at any camps other than Auschwitz, most were eventually sent there. So why would I be glad to go to such a sad place? I am grateful for the opportunity I had to experience it in the tiniest degree. Being there and hearing their stories and seeing their pictures has made the Holocaust even more real to me. I am still amazed that such a thing could ever have happened, but it did, and I hope everyone will remember it and never let it happen again. In Berlin they have a parliamentary building, on the top of which is a glass dome that you can walk around in. When you are up at the dome you can look down in to parliament. Anyone can go there when they are in session even. It is to represent that the government is being watched by the people, so nothing like the Holocaust can ever happen again. I hope it never will.

We actually stayed in Schwangau instead of Fussen, which we liked. In this area are two of the Bavarian Castles that were Mad King Ludwig’s, and the Bavarian Alps. We were there in the fall and their fall colors (throughout all of Europe really) were so beautiful. We had a lot of fun going through the two castles, and after we went on this slide thing, kind of like a luge, which was also super fun. Tip for the Schwangau area - when you buy your tickets to the castles you buy them both at the same time (they're really close together), make sure you actually look at your tickets to see what time you are supposed to be at each castle and don't just believe what the ticket seller tells you. Our ticket guy mixed our times up and we didn't think to look at our tickets. We got it all worked out, but it was a bit of a hassle. And you will likely want to do Hohenschwangau before Neuschwanstein so when you get up to Neuschwanstein you will have time to hike around.

After that we went to Switzerland to see the Swiss Alps at Interlachen. But we had major bad luck. The day we got there had been a beautiful day, super sunny and nice, but we didn't get there until after dark so we couldn't really see anything. When we were checking in we asked the receptionist what the forecast for the next day would be - it was supposed to rain, and it did, all day, the first time in 60 days. It rained so hard we couldn't even see the Alps, not the tall ones. Although it was still pretty, it was not worth the whole day of travel it took us to get there - oh well, what can you do. We spent half our day there, then went to Zurich, where it was still raining heavily, but we did walk around a bit, and got wet.

And then the next morning we had to leave. But it was a great trip, we really enjoyed it.

Our Big Decision

Ryan and I have been trying to have a baby for about two years now. We've been to more doctors than we care to remember trying to figure out why we haven't had kids yet and to increase our chances at having a baby. It has been emotional, but also a spiritual journey for us. We have received answers to prayers throughout this journey. At first we explored all our options, including fertility treatments as well as adoption. We have always been open to everything, and just wanted to know what we needed to do to receive the baby that is meant for us. After we first met with a counselor at LDS Family Services (the adoption agency we thought we would likely use) even though we were impressed with them, we didn't feel like it was right for us to adopt at that time. Through a series of priesthood blessings and answers to prayers I have felt strongly, and still do, that we will conceive children some time. At first I thought maybe we should try in vitro, but later felt that we would conceive on our own, but it just wasn't time yet and we just needed to wait patiently - and we have been. We have been enjoying our time together, we've been learning a lot through work and our church callings, and we've been on some pretty amazing trips. Our loving Heavenly Father has helped carry our burden of infertility so we have been spending the majority of our waiting time at peace, though still hoping for a baby. Then a few months ago we were at our preparation meeting before our shift at the temple started and we watched this video on sealings of families. One of the sealings was of a baby being sealed to her parents. As I watched it I felt that we would adopt. I told Ryan about that as we drove home that evening, hoping he had had the same feeling, but he hadn't. We decided to pray about it. Not too long after that Ryan received the answer that we should try to adopt, but by that time my feeling had faded and I hadn't gotten an answer to a prayer that we should adopt, and was confused by my previous answers that we would conceive and that it would just take time. But I continued to pray about it, and Ryan waited patiently for me. At the beginning of last month I again fasted about it, and during this fast, as I was praying, I did receive the answer that we should try to adopt. So that is what we are going to try to do! We started the process that next week. We had no idea it would be so much work, there is a lot required of adoptive parents. We have been working hard at getting all the paper work filled out and are almost done with it, but there are a lot of things we are required to do, like get finger printed and CPR certified, and such, that will take longer to get completed. Once we have completed all this preliminary stuff we can have a profile on the adoption web site so birth mothers can view us. Hopefully we'll get picked soon after that. But if any of you know of a sweet baby that needs a good home, please let us know, we are ready!

My Parents come for a Visit

Yes, we did just go to Las Vegas two weeks ago, but my parents wanted to come visit anyway. Actually, they planned their trip before they knew we would be there. They were only here for a long weekend, but we had a good time. We went to the Amon Carter art museum, to dinner, to the temple (they accompanied us on our shift), to the Texas State Fair (my favorite part was the petting zoo where they had a kangaroo with a baby in its pouch - so adorable, a giant tortoise, a baby giraffe, and tons of baby goats that were super cute and super soft, plus lots of other fun animals), and down to Waco where we met my dad's brother Randy's family for a picnic. It was fun having them here - I'm so lucky to have the best parents in the world.

Amazing Weekend - Over 1500 Young Single Adults in Ft. Worth

When Ryan and I were first asked to serve in the Single's Ward we were told about the upcoming Young Singe Adult (YSA) conference that would be in September, and which we would be helping with. Our Stake President (who had asked us to serve in the YSA Ward) told us he was going to ask someone pretty high up in the line of authority in the church to some speak at the fireside for it, although at the time he didn't tell us who. A few months after being in the ward we learned he had asked President Dieter Uchtdorf(the second counselor in the first presidency) to come speak with us, and he had accepted. Before President Uchtdorf was called to be a general authority for the church he had been a pilot, one of the most respected pilots in Germany. Our stake president, President Jon Beesley, is the chief test pilot for Lockheed Martin - I think this connection helped. Well, the word got out the President Uchtrdorf would be coming, and the around 300 that we had been expecting would come grew to over 1500. It was amazing - our whole stake helped to get things ready for this, our ward was especially involved, and our stake president’s wife and two members of our ward worked on it as though it were a full time job. We found housing for all the people that came from out of town - which was well over half. We had 5 girls stay with us. It started Friday night with activities, Saturday were workshops, activities, and a dance, and Sunday there was church, and a little later the fireside. The theme of the conference was iServe, so throughout it all there were tons of service projects going on. President Uchtdorf also spoke on service. It was amazing seeing so many young people together - we heard over and over that is was the best YSA conference ever. I would have to agree - thanks to all who made it happen.

Las Vegas - Take 3

Yes, that's right - I went to Las Vegas again - the third time this year. Since I was last there both Luke and Daniel had been born so I needed to go meet them. My sister Molly had given me two Southwest passes when I took care of her kids in April. So I had another nice trip, and this time Ryan came and met me over the weekend. We pretty much just spent time hanging out with my family –which is what I love. When I am there my family makes a special effort to have Taco Tuesday. It was fun hanging out with my mom and sisters – unfortunately Jenny wasn’t there. I found this especially unfortunate because her son Jesse wasn’t there – I have had 5 nephews born in just over a year and I would have liked to get a picture of them all together. But that will have to wait. I did get to hold Daniel and Luke quite a bit, so that was good. I also got to spend time with 2 of my very best friends – Wendi Burnson Stewart (who I have known since before I can remember – she grew up across the street from me) and Steve Roberts (we met the second day of our freshman year – 13 years ago – and have been good friends ever since). Also, our brother-in-law, David, who is a first year dental student, cleaned Ryan’s teeth, so that was good. I also had my teeth cleaned, but by our hygienist Sue, who is awesome. Anyway, it was a good trip – I am so lucky to have grown up in Las Vegas and to have the greatest family and friends.

Me holding Luke (Emily was busy talking to one of her kiddos), Molly with Timmy, Maggi with Jack, Mindy with Daniel)

My cute nieces and nephews

Awesomeness

Ryan and I attended the BYU vs. OU game at the new Cowboy stadium. Ryan wanted to go super badly but tickets were kind of expensive and I’m always reluctant to spend money. I think the tickets went on sale the end of March or beginning of April, I decided to get Ryan tickets, but by then the tickets allocated to BYU were already sold out and they had a waiting list. I kept checking TicketMaster and eventually tickets went on sale to the public. That day, the instant they became available Ryan and I both tried to get tickets. We got in the system and both of us were in the process of buying some – we decided to go with Ryan’s tickets but then there was technical glitch – an error page popped up. I tried to get more but they were sold out, just a minute or two after they had gone on sale. Ryan did a back page and had to re-enter information, he got it all entered the exact second his tickets would expire, but we got the tickets. So, we got to go to the game, our friends the Palmers also went and sat by us. We fully expected BYU to lose, but when half time came, even though BYU wasn’t ahead, they weren’t getting killed. As the end neared and BYU pulled ahead and kept it we were still skeptical but they did end up winning – which was just amazing! We were so happy to have been there to experience it, and it was fun to see the new stadium.

Aunt to number 24!

I have a new nephew - Daniel Kent Ashton (Kent is the name of his paternal grandfather). I now have 18 nephews and 6 nieces, and love them all. I love being an aunt. Daniel is my second sister, Mindy's, 6th kids (she has 5 boys and one girl). I am hoping to have lucky number 25 for our family. Since the time Ryan and I started trying we have had 5 nephews born, all my sisters got pregnant after we started trying - had we been able to get pregnant right away we could have had number 20 - or any of the numbers since then. But we are now hoping to have number 25 - but if one of my sisters beats me to it again, that will be okay too. I am just happy to have a new nephew for now. Welcome to the world, and our family, Daniel.

Army of Angels

We just had an amazing day at the temple. In October the Dallas Temple will celebrate its 25th anniversary. To celebrate this occasion, a stake from a few hours away had a temple day. They came on buses, and in cars. We had to secure parking at the Health Center close to the temple to accommodate everyone that came today. Also to accommodate everyone, we had tons of temple workers volunteer to help us out. It was amazing, like an army of angels, all in white. I would say there were around 30 sisters and 30 brothers working. They had packed sessions every 20 minutes. And it all went surprisingly smoothly. What a blessing to be part of that.

3 Down - 10/11 Left to Go - States That Is

I had a training to attend in Chicago for the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R). So I left for Chicago on the 9th in the evening. Monday was my first day of training, and I learned a lot. After we were done training I walked over to Lincoln Park. It is a really nice park, quite large, but everything contained in the park was closed, including the free zoo that I really wanted to see, so that was a disappointment. I got my first view of a great lake (Lake Michigan), and even walked on the beach. Tuesday I had training again – again I learned a lot. After that I went with a couple of the girls from my training to the downtown area. We went on the Magnificent Mile – went in a couple stores, and then out to dinner. We didn’t have a whole lot of time so didn’t get to see much of it, but I guess it is good to say I have been to the Magnificent Mile, even though I’m not much of a shopper. A little after I got back to the hotel Ryan arrived, so that was nice. Wednesday morning Ryan and I went out to breakfast, then he walked me to training. While I was in training, again learning a lot, he went to The Museum of Science and Industry, then to Wrigley Field to walk around the outside, then to the Lincoln Park Zoo. He got there just a half hour before it closed so many of them animals had already been put away – but he did get to see the lions and the tigers, so that was nice for him. I think he really enjoyed all that. We then met up and went to downtown to get some pizza (which wasn’t quite as good as we expected because we made a poor ordering choice, but still good), and then to Navy Pier to look around, get some fantastic popcorn, and watch fire works. It was a good time. Thursday we packed up our room and then started heading out to go on an architectural boat tour. I don’t know that I would ever go on it again, or strongly recommend it, but I did enjoy it. After the tour we went out to pizza again, but at a different place, and we really enjoyed it. Then we went and picked up our rental car, got our luggage from the hotel, and headed out of Chicago.

We headed to Green Bay, Wisconsin. Other than my ADI-R, the purpose of this trip was to work towards our goal of getting to all 50 states. Neither Ryan or I had been to Wisconins, Michigan, or Minnesota, so we went to each. (I now have 10 states I haven't been to, Ryan has 11). Our friends, the Gunnels, (Brian Gunnel moved into my BYU ward my 4th year at BYU and was there still when I left on my mission. He and Ryan had lived together at the Riviera before Brian moved into my ward and were still good friends. That next school year while I was on my mission Ryan moved into the ward to live with Brian, which is when he got to know Maggi and Jenny, my sisters. When I came home sick from my mission I went to visit Maggi and she told me about Ryan – she had a crush on him – and introduced us. I was still set apart as a missionary at the time so I wasn’t thinking about Ryan as someone I could date – but was super impressed with Ryan even just from the few minutes we talked, knew I wanted him in our family, and told Maggi she should marry him. She said he was too old for her. When I came home from my mission and decided to do another year at BYU I remembered Ryan and Maggi and I talked about him on our way back to school. We tried to visit him the second day of school but he wasn’t there. He came the next day to visit us and we have been together ever since. Why do I write this story now – because it is because of Brian and Maggi that Ryan and I finally found it each other. So we owe a lot to them – but why Brain didn’t introduce us as soon as he got to know me is still a mystery, as we are clearly perfect together,) live in Green Bay now. On our way there we stopped a couple places for cheese – yum – the best string cheese ever, plus some delicious curds. Then we had a fun evening with Brian, Mel, and their boys. Brian and Mel are the kind of friends that no matter how long it has been since you have seen them, once you are with them you are immediately at ease and feel you could talk about anything. I’m grateful for those kinds of friends.

We left Green Bay the next day and headed to Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore in the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. So, we had seen Lake Michigan in Chicago, and it was impressive just by its size. But Lake Superior was incredible. If you did not know better you would have sworn you were at the ocean – turquoise blue water (like the Caribbean), sandy beaches, and amazing cliffs. It was just so beautiful. We did an amazing hike as soon as we got there, walking along the cliffs, but mostly through this incredibly gorgeous forest, and to a waterfall. It was shaded the whole way and temperatures were in the 70s – just much more pleasant than hiking in Texas.

The next morning we went scuba diving in Lake Superior. There have been tons of ship wrecks in the Great Lakes we learned. We have never done a wreck dive, and have never been that interested in it, but that is pretty much the only kind of dive you can do in the great lakes. Despite the water being super clear, the Lakes are too acidic to support much animal life. But we figured it would be kind of cool to dive a Great Lake, and that it would be neat to have the new experience of a wreck dive, and since it had been more than a year since our last dives, it was time to get some in. So we did a two tank dive at two different wrecks. We learned we really aren’t big fans of wreck diving. Maybe in the ocean where wrecks attract animal life it would be exciting, but in the Lakes you see the wreck and it is cool for about 5 minutes as you explore (they are well preserved because the coldness of the water and lack of animals), and then you have seen all you care to see – but you still have about 45 minutes of bottom time left. Our first dive we figured since we still had air we should swim around and see what else we could find. I guess that is not what most people do because we scared our boat captain and he was about to call the coast guard. We still had half tanks left when we got to the boat, but he insulted Ryan’s navigation abilities thinking we had gotten lost and that is why we took so long to get back. Why do a two tank dive if you are only going to stay down 5 minutes at each place? At our next wreck we just came up after we were done exploring, we had 2/3 – ¾ of our tanks left. The captain was happier with us.

Later that day we did another hike along Pictured Rocks – it was about 10 miles so it took us a few hours, but it was an ideal hike – shady most of the time with tons of amazing view points. Ryan and I hike together very well. I never feel like either of us is slowing the other down or that one of us is more daring or desiring to do more strenuous hikes than the other – we are just evenly matched.

The next day we left Michigan and headed back for Wisconsin to the Apostle Islands National Lake shore, also along Lake Superior. It was fairly similar to Pictured Rocks, though the water was a little rougher. We did a hike that evening after we got there, also very pretty.
We had planned the next day to kayak out to the islands, but the water was just too rough, so we considered taking a boat ride, but the only seats they had available were on the inside. We didn’t feel like it would be worth the cost to not even be able to see very well. So instead we went to various farms to look for jams and berries. We had bought some blueberries at one farm, some jam at another, then we came to a farm where you could pick your own berries – so we picked raspberries – so fun and so delicious. At one of the farms we stopped at we met the coolest dog in the world - a black lab. As we were pulling up he ran to the car and just was wagging his tail so hard his body was shaking. As soon as Ryan opened the door he took off running. We thought it was odd since he had been so excited. A few seconds later he comes back with this rag in his mouth which he drops right at Ryan's feet, ran a little ways off, then looked back at Ryan expectantly. So Ryan threw it up in the air, and the dog jumped up and caught it right out of the air, brought it back and dropped it right at Ryan's feet. This went on and on. When Ryan delayed picking it up one time he nudged it on to his feet. Every time he would catch it in the air. He never played tug of war, just dropped it and waited. It was so hard to leave him, we wanted to take him with us. Do you think his owners would have minded?

We headed on our way to Taylors Falls, Minnesota. Along the way we stopped at some more cheese places, and also at a National Parks information station. While there the ranger lady suggested kayaking along the St. Croix River – and so we did. I’m so glad we stopped there – it was amazing. I could kayak like that every day. There were cliffs on both sides with trees all along so you were always in the shade, it was cool out, the water was crystal clear so you could even see the fish swimming along side you, and there was enough current that you didn’t even have to paddle if you didn’t want to. The only thing disappointing about it was that the ranger made it sound like you were guaranteed to see a bald eagle as you went down, and we didn’t, although we did see a really cool falcon.

Once we got to Taylors Falls we did a little hiking, which was fun.

The next day we had to fly out of Minneapolis/St. Paul - so we headed that way. We stopped to see the temple, but it was closed so we couldn’t go in. We went to the state capitol and were quite impressed. Then we went to Mall of America just to experience it – and it was amazing. Our trip then had to come to an end- too bad, it was a great trip.

Happy Birthday America!

To celebrate our countries birthday, Ryan and I went down to West with our friends Jesse and Leanne Bell and went canoeing and kayaking (we got one of each and switched off). Although I left the experience fairly sunburned, we had a really good time, and despite what I anticipated, my arms never got sore. It was just nice on the river, very pretty with limestone cliffs, and plants, and it wasn’t as hot as we thought it would be. The only negative (other than the sunburn) was for some stupid reason, we decided to switch boats in some super nasty, stagnant water and we all ended up with leaches on our feet. Well, Jesse was the only one who actually had them on his feet since he didn’t have shoes on, we had them on our shoes. It was a first experience for all but Jesse, and they were rather nasty, but tiny and you couldn’t really feel them. It was more the idea of them that grossed you out then the actual leeches. But we really did have a great time. After the river and on our way out of West we stopped at The Czech Stop were I used to sometimes stop on my way from school and got some kolaches. We had all been hungry and they were very enjoyable. When we got back to Burleson we were all exhausted and ready for showers. We had planned earlier to get together later for fireworks and dinner, but that never happened. Ryan and I took showers, had some left-overs, went to the grocery store to get some ice cream, and then just watched fireworks outside our house, which was nice. It was a good 4th – and I am very grateful to be an American and for the rights and freedoms I have as one.


I'm not sure why there are dates on these pictures as we don't have any on any other pictures we have taken. And I think it is funny how clearly wrong the date is since I didn't even get the camera until last year. But whatever, I don't know how to get rid of it.

My First Train Ride

BNSF has a few passenger trains. Every year around this time they go to different cities and give rides to employees, their families, and some community groups. This is the first year they did it here since Ryan has been with the company. He wasn’t sure it was something we would want to do and so didn’t’ get tickets right away. By the time he had talked to me and tried to get tickets all the ones for Ft. Worth were gone. But we found out they were doing some out of Temple (just a little past Waco) so we got tickets for that. We got four tickets and so invited our friend Zane. Zane is the son of our good friends David and Billie – and he LOVES trains. Billie came too, so that was fun. We enjoyed having Zane along, first because he is just a pleasant and funny person to have along, but also because of his enthusiasm. They gave us snacks and drinks and stuff to entertain Zane. We had a good time and got to see little nice scenery as well.

We Love Our Garden

Every spring since we have been in our house we have planted our garden. We pretty much always plant tomatoes, zucchini, and cucumber, and then we fill the rest of our garden with whatever we feel like trying that year. This year we decided to try onions, broccoli, and purple cabbage - and they have all been very successful, which is amazing because we are not generally successful at our first tries. I have loved eating from our garden this year. But what I didn't know was how pretty these plants would be. I think our cabbage plants are especially pretty, but I also love the flowers that have grown from a couple of our onions.

Six Years and Counting

Ryan and I have now been married six years. Luckily for us, our anniversary fell on a Saturday. We went a little early to the temple, before our shift started, and did some sealings. I couldn’t say for certain, but I am pretty sure that every year around the time of our anniversary, if not the day of, we have done sealings. It is a nice way to remember our wedding day and the covenants we made. Doing them actually on our anniversary made them even more special for me. And it was a nice way to start our anniversary, and our day at the temple. After the temple we went to Blue Mesa Grill, one of our favorite restaurants, for dinner. Then we headed to the Omni Theater in the Ft. Worth Science and History museum to see the second Night at the Museum movie.

It may not be the way that everyone would choose to spend their anniversary, but it worked for us. We had a good time and have decided we will stick together for another year.

The roses Ryan gave me for our anniversary.

New Ward - New Callings

Ryan and I moved to Texas, to Burleson, two days after we got back from our honeymoon. That was in June of 2003. Although a year later we moved from our apartment to our house, we have been in the same ward the whole time. We love the Burleson Ward, it feels like family to us.

A few weeks ago when we were at church we were asked by the stake executive secretary to meet with the stake president later that day. We weren't terribly surprised since a couple people in our ward had made comments to Ryan about his "new calling" thinking he had already been called - but he hadn't and they weren't telling what the calling was. We had a couple guesses, but we were definitely wrong. When we went to talk to President Beesley that evening we were both stunned when he asked Ryan to be the second counselor in the bishopric of the singles ward. I was not surprised that Ryan would be considered for such a calling - he is worthy and very capable - I just hadn't ever thought about being in a singles ward again. President Beesley also asked if I would attend with him, so I said yes.

I have had mixed feelings about this. Ryan and I have loved being temple workers together, but as a bishopric member you are not allowed to be a temple worker, though you can still volunteer. Also, I love working in the nursery and will really miss my little kids. Finally, I we will miss the Burleson Ward. I love the people there and will miss seeing them weekly. But we are excited to work with the Singles. If I were single I am still young enough to be in the ward, and Ryan is just barely too old - so we feel like we will be able to connect with them pretty well. And singles wards always have a lot of activities so that will be fun.

Last Sunday, (a week after we received the call), Ryan's dad ordained him to be a high priest (kind of weird since we both still feel so young and don't even have kids yet). And then today was our first day in the single's ward. Ryan was sustained and went to sit on the stand, and I started my I don't know how long stretch of sitting by myself. After church President Beesley set Ryan apart. So now it is official. I think we will like being in the single's ward, a couple people have already introduced themselves to us and welcomed us to the ward, and even though it is a small ward, they all seem to really enjoy it. So, we have begun a new adventure.

Luke is home!

I just wanted to let everyone know that Luke was able to go home today! His heart seems to have healed and has been doing well. Thank you to everyone for all your prayers. We are especially grateful to our Heavenly Father for helping us find the problem in time, for the great doctors and nurses that helped Luke, and that he seems to be doing well. Thanks everyone!

Happy Memorial Day!

Ryan and I got up early and went down to Meridian State Park to go "hiking". Hiking in Texas is very different than hiking in the west, because it so flat. There are very few places in Texas that you can go that I would consider to really be a hike, and they are many hours from here. But still, the parks call their trails hiking trails. Meridian is at the top of the hill country – neither of us had ever been there so we figured if it was hilly it would seem to be more like hiking. Well, it wasn't too hilly, but there was a ton of vegetation, you were almost always in the shade, so you felt more like you were in a foresty mountain wilderness than just walking through the desert like it has felt at other state parks here. I really liked it actually. We saw some wildflowers we have never seen before (I should have taken pictures of all of them – but unfortunately didn’t). We also had several fun animal encounters. We saw a tree full of vultures, a mosquito hawk bouncing in mid-air (we couldn’t figure out what it was doing or how it was doing it, but then we saw another one doing the same things so maybe it is normal behavior for them – my best guess is that it is some kind of mating act), we saw a big bunny, a turtle crossing our trail, and a long black snake with yellow strips down its length.

Luke Update

A couple days ago my brother in-law Mark sent out the following email expalining Luke's story:

Luke David Earl Nelson has arrived.
He weighed in at 7 pounds 7 ounces and 20 inches long.

He came early. Not that Emily went into labor, but we had to have an emergency C section yesterday.
I am keeping this as the short version of the story. It is one that is a miracle though.

Emily had an ultra sound yesterday and the tech saw something in the heart that she did not think looked right. So the doctor came in and looked. Then an hour later a pediatric cardiologists came to look at the heart. He saw something right away. We went from that office to Summerlin hospital at about 1 pm. We were then put in for a C section at 6:30. They would have done it sooner but Em had eaten some lunch.

Luke was born and looking pretty good. They took him immediately from the OR to the NICU. They did some tests and we now know he is a problem called pulmonary hypertension disorder. Basically there is to much pressure coming from the lungs and not getting enough blood to flow from the heart to get oxygen and then spread it to the rest of the body. The lungs were put under distress when Luke was still inside of Emily. So the lungs are staying constricted which is making it so there is to much pressure. We need Luke to have the lungs relax so the heart.

Luke is sedated. He is on a ventilator with a treatment that is designed for this exact case. He is going to have a couple of hard days. We are hoping that all will go well and he will recover.
We are not sure of when or how long. It will be a bit of roller coaster. 2 steps forward 1 step back.
You can see in the pictures he is so cute. Two of the pictures are from last night at about 11 pm. This was before he started going down hill and was put on all the machines.
He is really sick.

Emily is recuperating well. So that is good. We just need our little baby Luke to get better.

We feel that we have had the best team of doctors and nurses that we needed so far at each stage. They have been really good.

The huge miracle is that Em had an ultra sound and the tech saw something and said something. Our first nurse last night named Jill has been an NICU nurse for 21 years and has never had a case like this one. The reason why is that the baby would have died inside the mother at the end. Or been born and then have lots of problems and it would be to late to do anything about it.
It all had to do with the little flap in the heart that usually closes up as soon as the baby is born was closing up or was closed up before he came out. This is what caused a problem with some other duct and the tricuspid valve in the heart.

So Luke is here. Please pray for him to recover quickly.
We are at Summerlin Hospital. We had to go to a level 3 NICU center and a hospital that Emily's OB delivered at.


Here are 2 of the pictures of him that Mark sent.




As of today, Luke is doing much better than he was before. He is down to being on only one ventilator (he was on 2 before). He is no longer in a state of induced paralysis, he is on a decreased level of medications, they can touch him a tiny bit, his lungs are healing and his heart is doing quite well. Emily has to leave the hospital tomorrow, so this will be quite difficult for both her and Mark as they live at least a half hours drive fro the hospital and the very soonest Luke could get out would be Wednesday. We are all praying that he will be well enough by Wednesday that htey can take him home, that he will be free of all machines, eating on his own, and all that good stuff. Thanks for all your prayers!

Aunt Again!

Yep, that's right, #23 arrived last night. Luke David Earl Nelson arrived last night, weighing in around 7 1/2 pounds. But even though he is a good-sized boy, he is almost a month ahead of schedule. My sister had just gone in for a regularly scheduled appointment and because of his size the doctor decided to do an ultrasound. While doing so he found that Luke had a heart problem and ordered an emergency c-section. A few hours later he was born. He is still in the NICU. We would be so appreciative of any prayers on his behalf. His heart is not doing great, and neither are his lungs so he is not getting enough oxygen. Prayers for his parents, Mark and Emily, would be great too. Thanks so much. As soon as I get pictures of my newest nephew I will post them!

To Las Vegas Again

My sister Molly and her husband Bruce went on a 2 week cruise and left their kids with my mom to take care of. Molly was worried that Lissa and Timmy wouldn’t get enough attention and that my mom may get a bit overwhelemed and behind in all she always has to do. So I went there for a week to help with the kids. I had a good time, but it was a lot of work and was tiring. But they are cute kids so it was okay. I didn’t see any of my friends while I was there, and really didn’t spend that much time with most of my family. I really mostly just stayed at my parent’s house and took care of kids – which was what I went there for. But my first day there Mindy’s daughter and son, Ellie and Ethan, were over and Lissa and they had a “birthday party” for me, which was so cute and sweet. The next day all my sisters in town came over for Taco Thursday, which is always fun – I love just hanging out with my family, I wish I could do it more often. Another day I went with Mindy’s family, my dad, and Molly’s son Adam to a cub scout picnic where they did an egg drop (my dad and Adam had built an egg drop contraption together). One night I went with my parent’s to a movie. Jenny and Cam and their kids came on Friday – and it was fun to have them. Once they were there Lissa had play-mates, so she took a little less time. Saturday was Michaelanne’s senior prom so we all went over to help/watch her get ready. It was fun to be there for that – she looked really pretty. Monday we went to CJ and Mike’s track meet – which was fun. They did great. My mom made me rolled tacos for a birthday dinner for me (my favorite) and my dad got Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes (cheesecake is my favorite) and Emily’s and Mindy’s families came over to celebrate my birthday – which made me happy. It is the first time that my family has celebrated my birthday in about 10 years – so that was fun. And then the next day I flew out.

The birthday party Ellie, Ethan, and Lissa had for me - too cute.

When Jesse first came to visit Timmy was very curious so he had to take a look.

Lissa, already to go to her princess party.

Okay, look at that smile and tell me you are not completely in-love with him, so adorable!

The tasty cheesecake my dad got me for my birthday - yum!