Skittles

My parents sweet dog Skittles passed away this past year. He had lung cancer. We knew that he would pass so we took some picture with him before he passed away. He was the best dog and we really miss him. Every morning we would drive over to my parent's house to pick up Skittles. He loved to take rides in cars. We would then drive to school. After dropping the kids we would drive back to my parent's house. It was our little way of spending as much time with Skittles as possible. Love you, Skittles!!

A Beautiful Mind

This past semester was crazy hard! I had to find different ways to make sure that I could remember all the information. I went to the teaching store and bought a bunch of butcher paper. I had paper all over walls with all sorts of symptoms of diseases, what labs we would see, what to do and what recovery looks like. It was sooo much stuff! Tom said that our house looked like a scene from "A Beautiful Mind" movie. I asked if he thought I had schizophrenia like the main character in the movie. For a while there he wondered if our house would ever get back to normal.

Anyway, it worked out and I am starting block 4 in one day!

2008 Christmas

Yes, I am really posting about our 2008 Christmas. I am pretty sure that I have never put this story on the blog and I felt that is was time to put it out there. On December 17th, 2008, I actually had some time to myself one evening to go shopping for Christmas. I had already purchased most of the presents for the kids but had not purchased anything for Tom or myself (yes, I buy most of my own presents...I get what I want this way). That night I sat in front of the tree in my warm house and wrapped each present and put it under the tree. The next day I called Tom at work only to find out that he had been laid off, for the second time that year. It was devastating and a tough pill to swallow. I hung up the phone and then went straight to the Christmas tree. I got down on my knees and with tears in my eyes unwrapped all of the presents that I had purchased the night before and took each present back to the store to be returned. I was not crying about the presents having to be returned but rather facing more time being unemployed. I was already tired from the first experience, I was not ready for another one. Even with the sadness I was feeling I was reminded of something far more important....the birth of our Savior. Christmas is not about the presents that are under the tree but rather the love and gratitude we feel toward our Father in Heaven for sending His only begotten son to the earth. The Christmas season is also about remembering the Savior and His life. Looking back on the experience, Christmas 2008 was my favorite Christmas. I will never forget the amount snow that fell that day! The beautiful white blanket of snow that softly covered all of Utah. We were all by ourselves that Christmas. It was just our family and we had a really low key day. I loved that the kids were so happy to play with their new toys and I was grateful that I was with them and able to play with them. I was grateful that we were in a cozy, warm home that protected us from the cold. I was also grateful for our Bishop who came by on December 22nd and dropped off $400 in Walmart gift cards so we could buy food. It was a very, very humbling experience for me but one I will always remember with great fondness and gratitude.

President Monson said it best in his 2009 Christmas devotional talk when he said this, "Brothers and sisters, this joyful season brings to all of us a measure of happiness that corresponds to the degree to which we have turned our minds, feelings, and actions to the Savior, whose birth we celebrate.

There is no better time than now, this very Christmas season, for all of us to rededicate ourselves to the principles taught by Jesus the Christ. Let it be a time that lights the eyes of children and puts laughter on their lips. Let it be a time for lifting the lives of those who live in loneliness. Let it be a time for calling our families together, for feeling a closeness to those who are near to us and a closeness also to those who are absent.  Let it be a time for discarding the meaningless and for stressing the true values. Let it be a time of peace because we have found peace in His teachings. Most of all, let it be a time to remember the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and the worship of the Wise Men.

My brothers and sisters, may the spirit of love which comes at Christmas time fill our homes and our lives and linger there long after the tree is down and the lights are put away for another year."

Kellen's make shift underwear

On days that I have clinicals at 6:30 in the morning, Katie and Kellen spend the night at my mom's. The night before I prepare their lunches and their clothes so that they are ready for the school the next day. Today was a little different. Apparently, I forgot Kellen's underwear. My mom told him to go "commando"(no underwear underneath his pants). He didn't like that idea and created some underwear of his very own. It was very creative I must say. He took the shirt he was suppose to wear and put his legs through the sleeves. He then put his pants over the shirt. I guess it worked because no one could tell. He wore his pajama shirt to school with his sweatshirt zipped up. I commend his creativity today and vow to always remember his underwear from now on. Oops! I guess later that day, Scott (my brother) found some clean underwear in his laundry. I think Kellen left them there on accident one day and the underwear eventually found its way down to the laundry. Good times!

Little tid bit about Katie

I post a lot of stories on Kellen because he has a few good one-liners every now and then. So Katie needs some attention too!

Katie  has not been blessed with the math gene. She has a million other wonderful qualities and talents, math gives her a hard time. She sits for hours at the table pretty much hating life when she is doing math. She has been working really hard to improve and has done a really great job. She wakes up every morning at 6am to do math worksheets before she gets ready for school. In her nightly prayers she always asks for help on math. I know that she may not be a straight A math student but she gets an A+ for her efforts on improving her math skills! Love her!!!!

Kellen's proposal

I know I post a lot of stories about Kellen. Truth is, he is a little out of control with his funniness. He proposed today to a girl in his class. Here is the story:

Kellen looked at Addie, Addie looked back.

Kellen took out his CTR and asked her if she would marry him. She then looked at her friends and was thinking for a bit. Then she said, "Why is he doing this, this is weird!"

Kellen then sat there. I asked him what he did after that. He said, "Nothing. I was dead".

So there you go, Kellen has his first proposal under his belt. Hopefully he waits until after his mission to do it again!

Kellen & his love of girls

For a couple weeks Kellen has been expressing great interest in girls. About two weeks ago we went to Iceberg to get the kids some ice cream. While Katie was waiting for her turn to sing Karaoke (something I would never do and I commend her for having the guts to do it), Kellen was talking to Tom about good places to meet girls. Tom of course had to be funny and tell him that the girls bathroom was a great place to meet girls. Kellen loved that! Tom then taught Kellen a little pick up line...I wonder if he uses this to pick up girls at the lunch table in first grade. Here it is...."Hey girls, you like Tacos? I like Tacos." Or "Hey girls, you like hamburgers? I like hamburgers." Kellen has been perfecting that line at home for a while now.

Today Kellen asked his friend, who happens to be a girl, the best way to get girls to pay attention to him. She told him to chase them. He told her that he had tried and it wasn't working as planned. Reese then told him that she always chases the boys that she likes. Anyway, I listening to this conversation while driving and was quietly cracking up! I never thought my young boy would be trying to get girls in the first grade...I guess we are going to have to watch out for this girl loving young man:)