Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Church article

When I was in the Relief Society presidency, I had to write articles every now and then for the ward newsletter. Here is one article that I wrote. I really liked it at the time so I saved it on my email. I just found it today. It was written in 2006 or 2007 I believe.

This past fall while I was pregnant with our second child, Kellen, it seemed that everything that could go wrong did go wrong. If it wasn’t the refrigerator breaking down it was the car, etc, etc. One day while I was eight months pregnant I got a letter announcing that our medical insurance rates would be increasing by a large amount. At this point I had had it and I just broke down. I began to pray and plead with Heavenly Father that He would help us find a way to make things work and that He would also comfort me during this time. After my prayer I put in a CD of some piano music that my friend had made. I pressed play and the very first song that came on was “Be Still My Soul”. As I listened to the piano music into my mind came the words, be still my soul, the Lord is on thy side. I felt my spirit and body begin to relax. I had a strong reassurance that Heavenly Father heard my desperate prayer and knew of our struggles. He knew at that very moment I needed to feel His spirit more than anything. As I sat on the floor sobbing I felt the worry and anguish melt away and hope fill my heart. Heavenly Father had, in essence, given me a big “Spiritual Hug”. Every time I think of that experience I am reverenced and I marvel to know that Heavenly Father knows us individually. I know that in our time of need Heavenly Father will bless and comfort us by sending His spirit. 

Memories of Kellen


I found these memories on the computer this morning. 

Memories of Kellen

Kellen is such a good little man. He came to this world on October 10, 2006 at 7:16pm. He was a big baby at 8 pounds 4 ounces and 21 inches long. I was in labor with him for 16 hours. He almost didn’t make it and needed a lot of extra attention. I was on oxygen through many hours of the labor. Then he did not want to come out of the birth canal and the nurses and doctor wanted to perform a c-section to take him. So I had to turn to my side several times as his heart rate and mine were getting really high. I then had a fever that made me take antibiotics. It was crazy. I then had to push on my side to get the little guy out!! IT worked!

After the birth Kellen had to go to the NICU to get an IV. He was on antibiotics for 48 hours and the IV was in his head. He was such a little trooper. HE hardly cried at all. He only cried when he was hungry or had his diaper changed.

Kellen is now 2 months old. He is really squirmy and loves to smile. Sometimes when I am trying to feed him he likes to look up and smile at mom. Today he smiled and looked just like Daddy. He is such a good baby.

12-30-06
Daddy kept saying “peek-a-boo” to Kellen and he just kept laughing and laughing. 

1-1-07
Daddy is changing Kellen’s diaper right now and is giving Kellen little raspberries. Kellen is loving it! He keeps laughing and cooing. He loves to talk to us right now and loves to smile while doing so.

Kellen also loves to be naked. He loves to have his diaper changed. He used to hate it! He would scream in the hospital every time we had to change his diaper. Now he just hangs out. We are a little nervous just letting him hang out while he is having is diaper changed as he tends to spray us!!

When Kellen was first born for some reason he would poop and wet all over his mother! Little stinker! One night he pooped so much and wet all over our bed. We had to take off all the sheets and blankets. It took mama several washes to get everything clean again!

2/3/2007
Kellen is such a happy little man. Right now Kellen is laying underneath his little animal toy. He is kicking and screeching. Literally he sounds like a baby eagle. He is almost four months and weighs about 13 pounds. He is always happy to see his mom.

The other night Kellen woke up at about 4:30am for a feeding. He cried for just a second and then let out a loud scream. It sounded like, get over fast and feed me now!

2/18/2007
Tonight I was thinking of my favorites memories of Kellen. I have a lot of them written down but I think one of my favorites is when I would look over at him bassinette. I could hear him waking up. Then I would peer in at him  and he would be looking up at me with his big eyes. We would then smile at each other and laugh. I would get him out of his little bed and we would lay by each other until he decided it was time for breakfast!

February 2007
This month we started feeding Kellen baby rice and bananas. At first he was not a fan of the food. He would just spit it out. Now, he is a lot better. Although tonight 3/3/2007 we are going to give him rice with green beans…I wonder if he will like that….more to come!

3/1/2007
This week Kellen has found his feet. He loves to grab for his little toes and chew. If he has socks on (which he usually does) he likes to munch on the socks.

Lately Kellen has been sucking on fingers. He really enjoys taking a finger of someone else and sucking on it. He just holds open his little mouth and then tries really hard to fit in a finger or two.

4/1/2007
Today we were trying to watch conference and Kellen was making LOUD screeching noises. He sounded like an eagle. Daddy asked him if he wanted to build an eagle’s nest and he answered with a  loud eagle screech.

Kellen is also very squirmy lately. He will just slide right off our laps if we are not careful. The other day while I was working on a R.S. project Kellen almost fell right off my lap befor e I knew it. In fact, right now he is trying to slip off too!!

4/15/07
Today while we were at church Kellen saw Sis. Halker behind us. He started smiling at her. He just smiled and flirted with her for a long time during the meeting. He is such a flirt!

He is also starting to roll over. Today while dad was changing his diaper Kellen started to roll away. Funny thing is that Katie did the same thing. Once they realized they can get away they do it every time!

Also, everyone at church was commenting on Kellen’s fuzzy hair. Every time we get out of the tub I comb it down to see if it will stay. Instead when his hair dries it sticks straight up. People keep thinking we do that on purpose. That is not the case. It just sticks straight up on it’s own. It’s so soft and everyone loves to come and rub his little head.

Kellen is starting to sit up on his own. He loves to also suck on his toes. It’s a little difficult for me to feed him his oatmeal (or other baby food) when he is trying to stick his toes in his mouth!

4/29/07
Kellen has been rolling around a lot lately.  He is so squirmy. It’s great that he can get around but hard to keep up with our little man. He is also very curious in what I am holding. If I have his baby food he will try and grab the spoon and feed himself. In fact the other day he got hold of the spoon and  got baby food all over his face.

5/2007
This week I put Kellen over in the far side of the living room. This would be the farthest place from the start of the kitchen floor. A couple minutes later I hear this tapping on the kitchen floor. Kellen had rolled all the way over and had started tapping on the floor. I think he enjoyed feeling the different surface!

5/14/2007
KEllen has his two bottom teeth. He is being a little stinker lately because his teeth are hurting. Poor little man! He looks really cute with two little white teeth.

6/07
Lately, Kellen has found that in order to be happy he needs to be constantly sucking on my hair. My hair is rather short at the moment but he still finds it long enough to stick in his mouth.  He also loves to grad at everything that comes within range and will eat it. He’s really fast!

7/9/7
Kellen has started to crawl around the house.  He finally figured out how to use his little legs and push himself all over the place. I can put him down in the family room leave for a short minute and come back to find him gone. I usually find him in Katie’s room. He loves to go in there and play. It’s pretty funny to watch him try and reach for toys. He is pretty good at getting some of them. He also loves her nightlight.

Kellen also loves to eat all kinds of crackers. This morning 7/13/07 I was getting Katie some graham crackers and I gave them all to her. He got really upset that he didn’t get any. So I had to take a little of Katie’s crackers and give them to him.

Kellen really loves to play and laugh. He is a very happy little man. He also loves to pull the dogs’ hair. Poor Cassie even puts up with it. I am trying to teach him to be soft right now. OF course as he is only 9 months old right now he does not understand what I am trying to teach him.

8/31/07
Today my sister Erica was putting gel in Kellen's hair to give him the baby fauxhak (spelled wrong?) He then moved his head away and said "NO!". This boy is 10 months old and already knows how to say NO. We are in trouble!

Memories of Katie

I found these memories on the computer today. I just had to put them on the blog!

My dear sweet little Katie,
I am recording some funny and sweet little memories of you. You are my beautiful little angel that I love very much!! Here are only some of the wonderful things you have done in your life.

6-10-06
I had a lot of other thoughts written down on the computer before the hard drive totally broke. So I am trying to remember what I had written previously on that computer.

-The other day you told me (mom) that if I was crying you would hold me in your arms. Sometimes I just do a fake cry just so that you will come over to hug me.

Tonight, we put you to bed a little early because you requested to go to bed. Today you spent time with Ava while dad and I went to watch the Joseph Smith movie at the temple. You and Ava were having so much fun that you decided not to take a nap…hence, you were tired. So we read scriptures, told stories of country duck, and then sang songs. You requested the following…Twinkle Little Star, “Sunbeam song”, I am a Child of God. Then you asked that I stay in your room and sing and rub your face.

Memories from dad….
Before you were born daddy packed a special hospital bag just for you. It contained your dress, shoes, and diapers. I think there was a binky that you never used. Oh, and of course and blanket.

You were born right before sunrise and daddy took you to the window to show you your first sunrise.

You used to love to look at ceiling fans. You would be enthralled with them for hours.

Everyone that would meet you would remark that you were so alert even as a newborn. Also, you were very pretty and everyone noticed that too.

Sometimes you would get sad and we called it your fussy time. Daddy would take you outside and take you for a little walk to calm you down. You enjoyed being outside. I think you enjoyed looking at the surrounding trees and other things.

For you first Halloween you were a cougar. You were very cute too! You looked so cozy in your little suit. Mommy even wore that for her first Halloween. For your second Halloween you were a BYU cheerleader. We also had BYU shirts on to show that we were your biggest fans. For your third Halloween Mommy made you a cheerleader costume.  It was miles too big but you looked so gorgeous!

When Shellie was cheering in high school we made a little cheer outfit for you. You did not like being in that outfit. You were crying a lot…we have pictures to prove it!

For some reason when we said Zamboodle you would laugh for the longest time. So we would say Zamboodle really fast to listen to your laugh. It was just the cutest thing. You have such a cute little sweet voice. Everyone who hears your voice comments on how cute it is!

You absolutely love to hear stories about Jesus. You always ask to hear about when Jesus went swimming translation: when Jesus was baptized. You know the story rather well now (6-10-06) and can tell us about the baptism!

Yesterday in the car you told me that you loved me just out of the blue. I was so touched. We just kept telling each other that we loved each other. What fun! Mommy loves to hear that!

You love to give Gucci little doggy treats. You have moved the box of treats down to a shelf on your level just so you can reach them at moments notice.

6-20-06
The other day I was telling Katie that she could not play with the make up and she was not happy! She replied with “that is not nice to me!!!”.

6-21-06
Today when Katie was jumping on the bed she had no panties on and I could see her little toosh. I said “I see a little toosh!”. She replied “That’s my toosh!”. What a silly lady!

6-27-06
Katie came to sleep with us late one night and she was laying on dad’s pillow. After she had been sharing the pillow she whispered to dad, “Give me your pillow”. Stinker!

7-22-2006
This week we spent some time at Grandma and Grandpa Everett’s house. We had Katie stay in the Americana Room and we stayed in the other guest room down stairs. Katie would often leave her room to come join us to sleep. One morning she woke up at about 4am and decided to come in. So after hearing her cry I found her at the stairs and brought her in. Not too much later she asked for chocolate milk. Of course, I was not wanting to get up and get milk for her so I said no. A minute or two later she said the following, “Mommy, now don’t say no, but I would like chocolate milk.” I then did not say no but told her to go back to sleep right now. She did and later that morning at a decent hour she finally got her chocolate milk!

The other day at church Katie’s teachers just could not telling me how smart they thought she was. I asked if she said anything funny. They said that they held up a picture of John the Baptist not thinking that anyone in nursey would know who it was but of course Katie yells out “That’s John the Baptist!”. They were so impressed. Miss Katie Nana loves to hear about when Jesus was baptized and would love to be baptized right now too. We keep telling her she has to wait until she’s eight.

The other day she had a little bath toy “DORA” that she was playing with and Dora’s friend Boots. The decided that she was going to baptize them. So she raised her little hand to the square and proceeded to baptize Boots and Dora. We have to remind her that only men with the priesthood are allowed to baptize. It was really funny though too see. If only we could all have the innocent faith of a little child!

July 2006
When we were coming back from St. George we stopped in a little town about two hours outside of Flagstaff. It was near the dam. We went to a bathroom that did not use water. Basically they were outhouses in a bathroom that used liquid sanitizer for hand wash. I sat Katie down on the toilet and she refused to go to the bathroom. She absolutely would not go because she said there was hot wind on her bum and no toilet flusher. Then Tommy took her on the dam to show her the river below. He said that she could not stop talking about how there was no flush on the toilet. We had to go back a mile to go a gas station where there was a flush and no hot air on her bum.

August 2006
One day I asked Katie to say the prayer. She said that she was thankful that her dad was straight.

Same month- the other morning Katie woke up and requested that we say a prayer. Of course I obliged and asked her what we should pray for. She asked that we pray for her soccer skills and her mesquito bites to go away. She had been playing soccer with Scott the night before and apparently felt the need to pray for her soccer skills. Silly lady! She still talks about her soccer skills.

8-25-06
Today Katie was showing me her elegance moves. She lifted her arm and leg at the same time while standing on her head…she was very proud of herself! A true elegant lady!

August 2006
The other day Katie was at the dinner table. Her hair was kind of in her face. She put her face back and her hair would move back somewhat so she could see better. She said that she was moving her hair back like Ariel from the Little Mermaid. She kept imitating the little mermaid all night. In fact, that night we had to bathe like the little Mermaid would do. Silly lady!!

Katie has been learning about traffic lights in preschool with Grandma Lyle. So now every time we go past through a green light she yells green light. The other day we were sitting at a red arrow. She said the light was green and got really upset that we were not moving. So now we ask my mom that she also teach the lights and the exceptions to the rule!!!

Katie has had a cough for a little while and says that when she has a cough she has dust in her heart!

Katie has been trying to build strong muscles for a little while now. We are able to get her to eat her dinner by telling her that her food will make her muscles bigger.  She now says that her food is in her muscles. The other day she told Tom that her bacon was in her muscles.

She is really happy when she finishes her meals lately too. The other day I was in the shower and I hear Katie coming in. She was at the table eating her pancake. All of the sudden I see her little plate coming through the shower curtain. She was showing me her empty plate. She was so proud of herself finishing her breakfast!

1-1-07
The other day we were taking family pictures for Christmas presents. I asked if our friend Mike could get a picture of Katie holding Kellen. For some reason Kellen kept slipping off of Katie. Mike said “say cheese”. Katie said “Wait, my handsome man is slipping”.  Silly goose!!

While we were at Grandpa and Grandma Everett’s house for X-mas Katie told us that she could not be moved or picked up because she was too delicate!

2/3/07
Last night Katie and Kellen were staying at my parents house as Tommy and I went to a play with Tommy’s office. Grandpa Lyle took Katie to the park to swing on the swings. Grandpa was pushing her when all of the sudden Katie fell of backwards into the sand. She was very sad and Grandpa carried her home. While he was walking home Katie said the she fell because she forgot to hold onto the chains.

2/18/2007
Tonight I was thinking of my favorites memories of Katie. I have a lot of them written down but I think one of my favorites is when I would look over at her bassinette. I could hear her waking up. Then I would peer in at her and she would be looking up at me with her big blue eyes. We would then smile at each other and laugh. I would get her out of her little bed and we would lay by each other until she decided it was time for breakfast!

2/22/07- This last weekend Tommy took Katie to the Botanical Garden while Kellen and I stayed home. The other day she was talking to a friend on the phone (which she loves to do) and she said that her daddy took her to the Canical Garden. She told her friend to ask her daddy to take her to the Canical Garden.

When Katie was about 1 or 1 ½ she used to love to color. However, when she would color she would make a sound like “eeeeeeeeeeeeeee” really loud! It was kinda embarrassing during church because she did not have an inside voice and would say “eeeeeeeeeeeeee” in sacrament meeting. Good times! Luckily she grew out of saying “eeee” but now she is a super great artist!

3/10/07
Katie was outside with Grandpa Lyle and Erica and myself when we found a worm in the mud. Grandpa was taking out the weeds and found a large earthworm. There was another tiny little worm next to it as well. I asked Katie what the worm’s names were and she said the earthworm was Aler (A-ler) and the smaller worm was Lar. I am not sure where she came up with those names but they seem to fit.

3/17/2007
This past week we went to Disneyland. Katie was just in love with everything to see. The first character that we saw was Cruella Divelle. The first ride we went on was Snow “White. She was a little freaked out. But then later she asked to go again. Later that day we went to the Princess lunch. We saw Ariel,. Cinderella, Belle, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. She loved every minute of it! She got a crown and a lunch pale.

We went to Disneyland for two days. Katie loved driving the cars at Autopia and Bugs Life land. On the second day it got really cold at night and Daddy bought Katie a princess towel to keep her warm. She wants to go again tomorrow!

4/29/2007
One night Katie was laying by dad and watching TV. Then she told dad that he could carry her into bed. She was not gonna walk into bed. She’s such a little princess. She knows that she is too cute and gets her  parents to do just about anything for her.

5/6/2007
Today was Katie’s first primary talk. She was so good and talked right into the microphone. Too bad we couldn’t hear very well. Dad wrote your talk right before church started. It turned out to be really good. Katie is such a cute little lady! She just loves to be the center of attention.

When we went to the doctor a couple months (from today) Katie had an ear infection. The doctor came and in and asked her what princess was inside her ear. When the doctor checked she said that she saw Cinderella. To this day usually Katie asks me to look in her ears and tell her what princess is inside!

5/12/2007
This weekend Katie was going to read me a book. She held up the books and said “do you want uno or dos”. The girl is a genius!!

Shellie gave Katie a huge pallet of lipstick. It has at least 50 different colors to choose from . Katie is so addicted to putting on lipstick lately. Everyday she will come out with a new color all over her face. Lately, she has gotten really good at putting it only on her lips. She is so funny! I have been making her ask me when she can put it on to avoid getting it all over the place. So her cute little voice will say “Mom, can I put on litpstick?” Of course!

Katie loves to have campouts in her room. This is where we take down all the pillows off her bed and lay them down on her floor. We then get blankets and then lay them down. The we look at her fan and pretend it’s star. Then we tell stories together. She is so funny!



6/25/07
Katie is getting funnier and funnier!! Lately, she has been complaining that her stomach hurts because her babies are kicking. I asked her how many babies she has in her tummy. She told me that she has nine and 13 babies. I asked her to name her babies for me. These are her names:  Moroni, Sally, Hammer, Lipstick, Uver, Abraham, Dora, Diego, Malicia, Volcano, Shelter, and Emperor. I am not sure where she got some of these names but they are certainly original! Every now and then she will say “owe, my babies are kicking!” It is so funny!!

Katie also loves to cook things lately. She puts all sorts of things together. After she has put baking soda, salt, sugar, cereal, etc, she then puts the bowl in the freezer. It then sits there for a couple of days.

SHE ALSO LOVES TO MAKE COOKIES FDA

8/22/2007
Katie has a wonderful imagination and sense of humor. We were pretending that a mean shark was coming to get us. In order to be safe we had to duck under my comforter on my bed. Upon asking her if her shark had a name she replied "yes, enchilada testimony". It took everything I had not to laugh! She comes up with the funniest names for all her make believe little friends or foes in this case!

9/2/2007

This morning Katie told me she was going to the bathroom. Afterwards she came out and said that she was sorry she took so long she was stuck in traffic.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Katie's love note

Katie wrote the sweetest love note to use on our bathroom mirror. I had to save it!!
Here is what is said:
Dear Mom & Dad,
Mom: 1. I like your style
2. Your keep the house clean
3. I can tell you love me.
4. Your so kind and loving
5. You treat me like a queen

Dad: 1. You are the best artist
2. You understand my thoughts.
3. I can tell you care for me.
4. You love mom.
5.You are kind and loving.

Love, Katie
I love you!

Yep, we have the sweetest young girl ever!!!

There's a chicken in our yard....I think!

Tonight Tom and I kept hearing a chicken in our yard. We could not figure out how it got there and we could not find it anywhere. Every time we would go outside to find it, it was quiet. It was so weird! We told the kids to stop and listen for the chicken. Then Kellen figured it out. He was playing minecraft on the iPod. The game that he was playing had chickens that roam around and cluck every so often. Okay, we found our chicken on the iPod!

Katie's orchestra concert

Sadly my camera was dying right before Katie's orchestra concert. Of course I did not notice. Ugh! Look closely and you can see her sitting at her seat getting ready to play. She did a wonderful job! She has really taken to violin! She did not love the piano but really loves the violin. I am so happy that she is having fun in orchestra. We love to hear her playing through out the house!! 

More Cousin Time

Shellie brought her sweet little princesses down from Washington to visit for Thanksgiving. We had to opportunity to have them come over. Brinley came to visit but Brielle got to spend the night one night. She had a lot of fun. However, she would not go to sleep! So Brielle had to come into my room and sleep so her cousins Katie and Kellen could sleep. 
Little Brinley.

Just a random picture of my manly son, Kellen.

Tom playing the guitar for the kids before they went to bed. Brielle really enjoyed it and started dancing. Oh, Brielle is a little turkey and likes to beat up on her sister and cousins. I gave her the nick name of "Brutus". She is the cutest little Brutus ever!

Cousin Brielle playing the guitar.