Catching Up

So.. it's been awhile since I've really updated our blog as to what we've been up to! We've been so busy so far this year... it's hard to believe it's MARCH!!

I'm posted a short picture video. In February, Ethan had the Blue and Gold Banquet. We made a Nevada cake. The theme for the banquet was patriotism or something like that. Ethan loves Nevada because that's where his grandparents live and we have tons of fun when we go down there. Garrett and Chase were introduced at the banquet this year because they will be turning 8 in July and will finally be scouts. I got to get up and say a few things about them.

Also in February, we attended the wedding of my cousin, Makai. The pictures didn't turn out so good because the lighting was dim but I got some cute pics of the kids in their new church clothes!

The last pics are of Mckenzie and her BFF, Jasmine. They call themselves heaven sisters. Cute, huh? Anyway, they got to have a late over/girls night where we did makeovers and watched girl movies. It was way fun!!

Perfect Pixie Piper

Pixie Piper
Mckenzie and Piper

I have a brand new neice! I am so excited. My sister gave birth to Piper Allsup on Thursday, March 5th. Piper weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces and has lots of dark curly hair. This is my sister's second baby girl! Eve is the proud big sister. Eve calls her new sister her "Baby Popper." It's too cute!

I LOVE my neices and nephew. Who knew I would feel so attached to them?

No More SNOW

Desert or the beach? At this point, either will make me happy! I am so sick of waking up to gray mornings and freezing temps. I'm ready for sun and flips flops and lemonade. Does anyone know if the groundhog saw his shadow? I can't take anymore SNOW!!!

Another Student of the Week

Carter is our newest Student of the Week! He was so excited when he found out. He had to call his dad and our friend Kim as soon as we got home. He says he will keep his certificate forever. He's a smart kid and we're so proud of him. He got to have ice cream last night for his celebration.

I finally had a chance to post our Disneyland pictures. We went with my parents and grandma and we had so much fun! We spent 3 days in the park and partied hard! The boys got to do a Jedi training, they even got to fight Darth Vader and Darth Mal. Mckenzie got to meet Tinker Bell and some of the Disney princesses. Here are some of our pics:


We

Hope

Today is Sunday. I woke up with a headache which is a result of stress, major stress and grief. Three weeks ago we suffered a major loss in our family.

When I was growing up, we lived in Jackson Hole on a small ranch. My grandparents lived in the big house on the property. My family lived in a small house just a few yards away. My cousins, Josh, Scott and Nick lived across the creek. My aunt and cousin Jennifer lived in Utah, but Jennifer spent her summers in Jackson with us. We were more or less raised as siblings. Jennifer is 6 years older than me. Josh is a year old, Scott a year younger, James (my brother) is two years younger and Nick and Shay are 5 years younger. We were each other's best friends and playmates.

Jennifer is my idol. She is beautiful and strong and intelligent. She has suffered through a lot in her life and one day, she met her prince charming. They were kinda like a PG-13 version of the Brady Bunch. He had 2 boys, she had 2 girls. They lived happily ever after for 8 years.

Five days after Christmas, Matt died suddenly of a pulmonary embolism. He collapsed in his living room as he was getting ready to leave for work. Jennifer found him there. He was 40.

The last few weeks have been a blur of grief and anger. None of which I care to get into. So today, I woke up with a headache after dreaming of Matt. I don't really want to go to church. But as my wonderful husband was telling me that we could stay home I realized I want to go. But not for the reasons you'd think. I'm very angry right now, so I have yet to find comfort in the gospel. The comfort I'm seeking is in a small, autistic nine year old boy whom I teach in primary.

Over the last few weeks I have completely fallen in love with this kid. He will sit beside me, his legs crossed Indian style on his chair, with his little hand in mine. Or he will sit on my lap, usually with a hand in my hair. Every once in a while he'll briefly look at me, I don't know if he is seeing me but I see him and I can't help but kiss his little cheeks. I can't even explain how much this has helped in the way of healing. It's like somehow he has offered me hope. And I realized that I need it today.

New Year

Well, it's 2009! Christmas break is over and the kids are back in school and we're back at the grind. Doug and I have both been busy with end of year "stuff" at work. (I have another name for the "stuff" but I'll try to keep this PG)

We're all extremely excited about going to Disney Land in a little less than 2 weeks! Our trip is our Christmas gift from my parents. I'd say they gave us the best present ever!

Until vacation, Doug and I will be working ourselves silly. But it'll so be worth it!

Happy New Year to everyone!