Family Pictures 2013

Here they are. I love them. Enjoy. It's all thanks to my dear friend, Nicole!

Kaylee's celebration of learning

Today it was Kaylee's 'Celebration of Learning' program at her school. My brain was still swollen, so Nate and Brenna went. 

Kaylee sang a song from the 50's, hence the adorable costume that you see here.

Here is Kaylee showing off her hard work.

Best friend at school!

Nate took the girls on a date afterward to have ice cream. Apparently, Brenna busted out the Cheeseburger song in the middle of the restaurant...at the top of her lungs!

Afterward, we worked on some Father's Day cards. I thought it was so cute how Brenna's little lips poke out when she's concentrating. :)

We love finding these little notes from Kaylee.

Here's Ammon proud of making his 3rd sandwich at lunch...a raisin sandwich of course (crazy kid)!

Nate was working and Ammon came up to him with these shoes and said, "Here you go, Dad!" As proud as ever. Nate was so grateful for the help. ;)

Brenna's "real" birthday

These first photos are actually from last week.

As I was cleaning out the extra room for Heather to stay in, I brought the kitchen toy downstairs...and this is how Captain A plays with it.

His diaper became his tool belt.

On one of the days I was at work, Brenna made breakfast for daddy. Microwave muffins! Nate says they turned out pretty well other than the fact that she microwaved them for 7 minutes instead of 3.

 Monday was Brenna's actual birthday. We had a just a small celebration because her birthday party wasn't until the upcoming Saturday. She was able to eat some cereal she picked out from the store and opened presents from Grandmas/Grandpas/Aunts.

Cute birthday girl...with her new haircut! Her bangs were getting in her face, so she cut them off. Mommy tried to even them out a bit. :)

 Ammon got in on the sugar breakfast, too.

In anticipation of her 'Under the Sea' party coming up, she decided to dress like water.

Ups and downs, and all arounds.

 
Kid stuff

Monday night we played 'Scriptionary' for FHE. It is a big favorite at our house! I highly recommend it. Ammon couldn't understand the game, but he drew a picture of himself and one of daddy, which looked like a bunch of scribbles. :)

Brenna had her Kindergarten screening on Wednesday! She was SO excited. It was great for me to be able to meet the Kindergarten teachers and see how the classrooms are set up. Both the Principal and Assistant Principal were there the entire time. I was so impressed with the staff and how they ran things. Brenna was brave and came out smiling. She is ready! All week she has been planning her outfits for school.

 The Rogers, a family in our ward, have been swapping with us about every other weekend for date night. This week was our turn with all the kids! We played on scooters and watched movies! We are getting in as much play time as possible before they move in July. :(

We found out that the kids will only have 6 weeks of summer before they start up again! We better party hard!

Sarah's life

To say I'm excited for Heather to come stay with us this upcoming week is an understatement! I spent an entire day boxing up toys and clearing out some space for a bed for her. She will be with us for a couple of weeks, she needs a little sanctuary from the madness!

I was in a small motor vehicle accident on Friday. I was on my way to work when I was rear-ended. The woman hit me twice. The back of my head whip-lashed into the seat. I drove myself to work (the rehab clinic where we see patients post-concussion...ironically enough) although I was a little shaken. Once I got there, however, my head was getting worse and I began to feel foggy, dizzy, and nauseous (a little concussed!). I had to leave work. I became upset and very emotional and my eyes couldn't focus. I came home and put a big bag of frozen strawberries on my head and slept several hours. Chalk this up to number 5 million of the car problems we've had this year!

Me with my frozen strawberries in a Christmas pillow case. :) Nate took such good care of me.

On Sunday, I was still foggy. After sacrament, I laid down on the bench and slept all through 2nd and 3rd hour! I felt so much better after that. For some reason, the music and the bright lights were just auditory overload.

Before church, I was called to help a ward member who had a surgical procedure last week. I changed his wound dressing 3 times before he had to fly to Arizona for a job interview. While there, he began hemorrhaging and had to go to the ER. He got back Sat. night and asked me to come change the dressing before church. I was a little nervous since the prior dressing was a pressure dressing to stop bleeding. As I took it down, I was relieved to find that the bleeding has stopped. But BOY did I put that man through a lot of pain changing it! I felt terrible! I went over again that evening and went through the same process. I dislike inflicting torture on people, but I am willing when it is for their benefit. :( Not fun!

Nate's life

Nate's last day of research assistant at CMU was this week. Yay! On to bigger and better!

General

 On Thursday night we had some friends over for a BBQ. It was cloudy and a little misty all day, but when they arrived to cook the meat, it started pouring buckets! For about 30-45 minutes the rain did not stop. Ammon was of course out playing in it and was sopping wet. There was a large muddy puddle in the kitchen from everyone coming in and out with the meat. As soon as the last hot dog was cooked, what do you know! The rain stopped. The food was awesome though!

On Sunday, we were invited to a friend's home for dinner. Dutch oven! It was so nice. However, our car was dead. Can you imagine?
Our friend recharged the battery and we made it over to our next stop so I could do the dressing change. When we left, we made it about a block before the car died again. It was about 9:30PM. I held up the hood so Nate could try to recharge the battery with a jump-start machine someone had let us borrow...to no avail. When I got back in the car to ask the kids to pray with me, they informed me that they had already prayed. Then they fell asleep.

We were grateful we had AAA. We called them, and called another ward member for a ride home. We rely so much upon our ward family! We were feeling pretty hopeless. I was supposed to work the next day, and it seemed like I was going to have to call in. 
Nate stayed with the car until AAA came, which wasn't until 1:30 AM. I felt so bad. I tried to wait up for him, but my head was pounding and I was nauseous so I crashed. When I got home, I checked my email and ANOTHER ward member had sent me a message, saying she heard we needed a car and that her hubby was gone until Tues, so we can use theirs. What a load off!

 

Miracle of the week

When I was hit in the car accident, it was so hard that I thought the car must be totalled...at least needing a new back bumper. However, the only 'injury' to the car was to the license plate and a minor scratch...not even a dent! Better yet, I was wearing my seat belt and was not ejected from the car, thus my life was spared. I'm alive! It's a miracle!

Also, as previously mentioned, all the help we received on Sunday because of our car issues. I'm just trying to figure out what we are supposed to learn from this experience that we didn't learn the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh time around...?

Scripture of the week

 I was so touched by this article called Dear are the Sheep That Have Wandered. It was from a conference talk given by James E. Faust. It was such a great read, and gave me so much hope. I was overwhelmed at the idea of how the atonement allows repentance for sin even AFTER death. Other religions teach that if a person dies in his sins, he is damned forever to endless hell. I am grateful for the true doctrine that teaches that a person can be saved on the condition of repentance, whether in this life or the next. 

{Quoting from the article below}

 

“The dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God,

“And after they have paid the penalty of their transgressions, and are washed clean, shall receive a reward according to their works, for they are heirs of salvation.”

We should not judge others, even and perhaps ESPECIALLY in our own families. That job lies in the hands of the Lord!

 "There are very few whose rebellion and evil deeds are so great that they have “sinned away the power to repent.” That judgment must also be left up to the Lord. He tells us, “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.”

"President Howard W. Hunter [1907–95] observed that “repentance is but the homesickness of the soul, and the uninterrupted and watchful care of the parent is the fairest earthly type of the unfailing forgiveness of God.”

I am truly thankful for the discipline provided to me by my own parents when I was a child.

An important element of doing the best we can as parents is to provide loving but firm discipline. If we do not discipline our children, society may do it in a way that is not to our liking or our children’s. Part of disciplining children is to teach them to work. President Gordon B. Hinckley [1910–2008] said: “One of the greatest values … is the virtue of honest work. Knowledge without labor is profitless. Knowledge with labor is genius.”

We need to be kind and forgiving to our parents. No one is perfect! It is all I would hope from my own children.

Children who are critical of their parents might well remember the wise counsel of Moroni when he said, “Condemn me not because of mine imperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him; but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been.”

Brenna's preschool graduation and Ammon's birthday!

Busy week!

Kid stuff 

Sunday after church, we baked the cakes for the upcoming birthdays and put them in the freezer. We LOVE baking together!

 

Brenna's preschool graduation party was on Monday. It was Memorial day, so Kaylee was off school. most parents prefer their children in school because of the extra chaos that comes when they are home, but with Kaylee, it's a totally different story. She is my extra set of hands. She gathers in Brenna and Ammon and reads to them. She takes the lead with clean up. she can make breakfast and lunch for all 3 of them. I LOVE having Kaylee home!

Back to Brenna. She wore the new dress from Cami, and we spent a good 45 minutes curling her hair just right. She looked adorable, as always. She kept saying, "I am so excited for my party!" There were 4 families total. We had a little commencement ceremony where the children sang some songs and tossed their caps. It was adorable.

On a side note, Brenna has become quite the fashionista. At the beginning of the week, I went into her room to find that she had meticulously laid out about 6-7 outfits that were "for the rest of the week." These outfits had tops, bottoms, vests/sweaters/jackets, belts, and other coordinating accessories. What was impressive to me was that these outfits had contrasting and complimentary coordinating colors instead of matches (ex: tan, purple, and blue vs purple with purple, blue with blue, etc.) She had even picked out her Sunday dresses for the next 7 weeks. Her outfit was SO cute yesterday, and she had matching jewelry on. I grabbed the camera to take a picture, but unfortunately she had already changed into her next masterpiece. Yes, she changes at LEAST 3 times a day, sometimes 4 or 5. 

On Friday, Kaylee had her big school field trip to the zoo! She was SO excited! The night before, she was bouncing around like a bunny. I made her a special sack lunch. The morning of, she woke up spontaneously at 5:30 AM (and woke me up to, making sure we weren't going to be late). She was giggly and silly all morning, and was so excited she couldn't eat her breakfast!

Today, Sunday, we decided to celebrate Ammon's birthday, even though it is really June 3rd. Nate and I have to work tomorrow, also it is convenient for skype with family, etc. We made Ammon a 'Thomas' cake and he ate cocoa pebbles for breakfast (he picked it out at the store). We decorated with orange crepe paper. 
 
He got some (used) CARS toys, which he was of course thrilled about. He also got 3 puzzles. He works on puzzles every single day, so this was a must. One of the presents he generously gave to daddy, saying, "Here's your present, Dad." After opening all the other presents, he said, "Here Dad, let me open your present." So cute.

He was up early because he was so excited for his party.

 

 

 Here's the cake that was really fun to make.

 Ammon also got SEVERAL packages in the mail from his adoring fans. He opened those after church and then we had cake and ice cream! He got very spoiled. Lots of toys, PJs, clothes, and more! His mommy really really appreciated all the size 3 clothes! It was so fun to Skype with Grandmas and Grandpas!

He got to blow out the candles 3 times!


He was up very late with his Daddy partying. They watched Cars, ate popcorn, and wore matching shorts. He sure loves his Daddy!

Sarah's life

I worked an 11 hour shift on Tuesday. I work 3 different departments, this week was PACU and pain clinic. One of my patients was a retired Steeler! He is still buff and he is like 60.

On Friday I completed my recertify cation for basic life support. I already completed advanced two weeks ago. The hospital is in downtown Pittsburgh and is a very old Catholic hospital, but it's all brand new on the inside. It reminds me a lot of IHC.

They were great about having us practice a lot, which they haven't always done in the past. I went away thinking that I really need to check the defibrillator in the church to make sure the batteries are working, and that I really need some sort of face mask I can carry with me in case I have to do CPR in the community. I have only done CPR in the comfort of the hospital.

Nate's life

Our car now has a new ignition thingy, a new radiator, new fan thingy, and oil is changed, all by Nate. However, he has more to deal with now that I (accidentally) ran over a HUGE pot hole (that I am telling you was NOT visible at all) and the car now makes a really bad noise when turning left. Also, I got pulled over because our registration was expired (neither of us were even aware) and now we have a big ticket. UGH. He claims he still loves me though, which is good.

Miracle of the week:

On Tuesday night we got our family pictures taken professionally for FREE! I won a free photo shoot at our relief society auction with a sister in our ward. I had no idea she had her own business and everything. Such a fun, unexpected blessing! She did such an amazing job...I have only seen a handful of the pictures, but they were incredible. Her name is Nicole and her business is called A Dash of Sass (for those of you who want to hire her for your next family photo shoot.

Scripture of the week:

There were LOTS of favorites this week. I posted this talk by Elder Holland already on Facebook. I was SO inspired by it! Also 3 Nephi is just like the best ever, so it's hard to pinpoint one favorite.

But one of my favorites was 3 Nephi 18: 12-25:

"And I give unto you a commandment that ye shall do these things. And if ye shall always do these things blessed are ye, for ye are built upon my rock.

 But whoso among you shall do more or less than these are not built upon my rock, but are built upon a sandy foundation; and when the rain descends, and the floods come, and the winds blow, and beat upon them, they shall fall, and the gates of hell are ready open to receive them.

 Therefore blessed are ye if ye shall keep my commandments, which the Father hath commanded me that I should give unto you.

 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted by the devil, and ye be led away captive by him.

And as I have prayed among you even so shall ye pray in my church, among my people who do repent and are baptized in my name. Behold I am the light; I have set an example for you...

Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for  

Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.

 Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name;

 And  whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.

Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed.

 And behold, ye shall meet together oft; and ye shall not forbid any man from coming unto you when ye shall meet together, but suffer them that they may come unto you and forbid them not;

But ye shall pray for them, and shall not cast them out; and if it so be that they come unto you oft ye shall pray for them unto the Father, in my name.

Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed.

 And ye see that I have commanded  that none of you should go away, but rather have commanded that ye should come unto me, that ye might feel and see; even so shall ye do unto the world; and whosoever breaketh this commandment suffereth himself to be led into temptation."