First off let me just say that I feel so blessed and privileged to be a Mom to 4 beautiful girls! Really I'm so lucky! But I will also say that so so so so many people have made comments to me that I feel indifferent about. I try to smile and nod and move on but in reality it hits a cord with me that I just don't like. You see I want and have always wanted a big family. I love being a part of a big family and I feel like Heavenly Father wants me to raise children in the gospel of Jesus Christ and I feel privileged to do so. But every single time people find out I have 4 children they always seem so sympathetic like they can't even imagine how hard that would be. Then they find out that I have 4 girls and they ALWAYS say your poor Husband. First off 4 kids is HARD! As of now I pretty much get ZERO time to myself. I'm either nursing a child or helping another one. Right now I have a lucky few minutes where all my kids are sleeping and I'm writing this. I probably should be sleeping but I feel I need to write this message.
So here is the question why, why do Zach and I keep popping them out as one lady said to me this week. Well honestly I love my family and I feel family is the most important thing on this Earth. You see when we die we don't get to take any of our things with us but because Zach and I have been sealed in the temple we get to be with our children and family forever. We get to make memories together and help each other make it through this crazy world. I've lived away from family for 5 years! I wish I could move back and get to experience life with my sisters and there kids but right now I don't get to do that. So Zach and I make as many memories together as we can. I want to be busy going to ball games, concerts, school functions, and helping to raise awesome kids who will one day hopefully make me a Grandma and then I can love on all there kids. You see if I just look at life from the now moment I would say no way am I having any more kids. But who knows what the future holds. It has been hard having 4, there are days that end in tears, like tonight. My Husband is gone and I've been cleaning all day and my house still looks messy and my sister is coming. But you know what all my kids love me. Kali told me tonight Mom I hope I can be better tomorrow, I love you. She put her pinky out and we locked little pinkies and I think it was her sign to say I'll try harder tomorrow Mom. She has been such a hard child so I'm grateful for those special moments. Then Anna comes into my room where I'm trying to nurse the baby to sleep and she give me a note that says I'm the best Mom in the world but she needs help cause Kali and Elsie weren't letting her go to sleep. I stood up walked into their room while nursing the baby to tell them I love them one last time and then to let them know they needed to go to sleep cause if not they would be tired tomorrow. Then my sweet Elsie says Mom I love you so much and gives me kisses and hugs and she keeps trying to come up with things to tell me so I would stay in her room, then I think these moments will go by fast. They will grow up and I will wish they were little again. After I got Evelyn asleep tonight I just wanted to hold her and not let go, she is already getting so big and I know that this baby stage goes by fast.
I can't even count the number of times I've heard wow 4 kids, you got your hands full, your poor Husband, and you must just keep trying for a boy. When people say you've got your hands full now I just simply say better than empty. One day I got out of the car with my 3 youngest and this man next to me says you got a whole load of kids coming out of there hu. I'm like and I got one at school. He says wow you've done your civic duty. Then he asked if my other one was a girl which I said it was and he says oh I see what it was your Husband just wanted a boy so you kept trying. I just smiled and walked away but seriously conversations like this happen to me all the time. Sometimes I just don't know what to say but really why do so many people care about how many kids I have? Why don't you offer to help instead of criticize? Why don't you tell that Mom she is doing an amazing thing even if it's hard. Yes this year alone we could have probably bought a brand new car with how many medical bills we are going to have but it is all worth it. I will keep driving my mini van that someone scratched F*** You on the hood and rock my bun cause being a Mom to these 4 girls is worth all the hard ache, pain and frustration that happens every single day. Yes I could be spending my time doing things that the world sees as much more "fun" but in all reality there is way more joy watching my children learn and grow. To listen to them all laugh together, sing songs together, and yes even annoy each other is so much more rewarding. So maybe if your reading this say a prayer for this Mama, that I can have the patients to be kind and loving to my children and that I can learn to deal with all the things that come my ways dealing with all these kids. I will need every pray I can get.
Friday, May 26, 2017
Monday, March 6, 2017
Fabric book 101
Someone asked me how I made this fabric book so I thought that I would explain as best I can. The main part of the book is flannel. I used it because I was able to sew it all together at the end. I'm part of another group that's making a book and they will use stiffened felt, which will be nice and sturdy but it will have to be put together with rings or something.
Some things to consider:
-If you plan to make a book you need to make sure that you know that the only pages that will not be side by side are the middle ones, so if you want the others side by side you have to plan accordingly.
-Pellon is really easy to work with but it can be time consuming. You don't have to use it but I really like using it.
- Velcro is easy to work with but if you plan on using the sticky kind know that it will probably come up at some point and you may have to use some type of strong adhesive to get it to stick. If I did it again I may just use the sew on kind, even if it takes longer.
This butterfly I got the idea from a game my kids have. It's all velcro and you could put each piece sewed down with ribbon I just don't feel I need to.
The snowman is also velcro. I did a lot of velcro.
For the clock I used some foam for the hands, but in the past I've used plastic as well and liked both. The plastic turns a little easier. One trick with the cloth though, use a long enough brad that it won't come through the fabric, if that makes sense. I think the only I have on here is like 2 inches wide when all the way open. The last book I made I think the brads only were 1/2 inch and it wouldn't stay in the fabric.
These flowers are velcro. You could make them with buttons but I had a bunch of velcro so I used what I had.
This boat is similar to the butterfly. It is also velcro.
These letters I just put on a page so that they can trace them with there fingers or whatever. I put them on with pellon. I have a picture at the bottom. It comes by the yard and you have to get it at like Joanns or something. It is an iron on adhesive, but I really like it. I used it on a lot of the pieces of felt because then I could layer them to make them last better.
These animals and the other animals I have are from some fabric I had, I just cut out 2 of each animal and then used the pellon to bind it to the book and then to another fabric for the top ones.
The ice cream cone has buttons for matching colors and then velcro to make the cone.
For the shapes it's velcro but I used the kind where you have to sew it and I will just say that this kind stays ALOT better than the sticky kind. We had to get some strong adhesive to get some of the other ones to stick.
Tic-Tac-Toe was also made by using pellon to bind the green lines down and then I just cut out x's and o's. The animals are just like the others.
This lady but was really easy. I just got a zipper and sewed it on the fabric and then made little ones for the inside. My girls think the little ones are really cute and they helped make them. I used tacky glue for all the dots and such.
The last page is just a texture page. Kids love to feel different textures and it's good for them.
This is the pellon stuff. It comes with instructions. I would say a trick is to make sure that you don't have extra hanging off the side when you iron it on cause it will get on your iron and it's kind of a pain to get off. Possible yes, just a pain.
Some things to consider:
-If you plan to make a book you need to make sure that you know that the only pages that will not be side by side are the middle ones, so if you want the others side by side you have to plan accordingly.
-Pellon is really easy to work with but it can be time consuming. You don't have to use it but I really like using it.
- Velcro is easy to work with but if you plan on using the sticky kind know that it will probably come up at some point and you may have to use some type of strong adhesive to get it to stick. If I did it again I may just use the sew on kind, even if it takes longer.
This little girls hair is yarn. I did burn all the ends and then I just sewed the top. There may be a better way to get the hair to actually stay somewhat in place but I just sewed it along the top. My girls like to braid it all.
This lady but was really easy. I just got a zipper and sewed it on the fabric and then made little ones for the inside. My girls think the little ones are really cute and they helped make them. I used tacky glue for all the dots and such.
The last page is just a texture page. Kids love to feel different textures and it's good for them.
If anyone has any questions let me know. I'd be happy to answer them.
Friday, December 9, 2016
Pee and Poop and more Pee and Poop
Majority of the people I know don't sit around talking about pee and poop. It's not something that needs to be talked about because it's just something that most people take care of by themselves without a whole lot of push. Most kids potty train fairly quickly even if that's a couple months, believe me when I say that is like a moment in time! Yes a very hard time but overall a small amount of time. So why am I talking about pee and poop. Because that is the most difficult challenge my daughter and I face on a day to day basis. Imagine if you will for a minute having a child who you're worried about her going well pretty much anywhere because you are almost positive they will have an accident while there. School is hard because I always worry that some kid is going to talk about her peeing her pants and tell her she smells. My daughter Kali has had the problem well forever. I don't think we have ever gone a day of her life where she hasn't peed her pants. I mean she is 5 so this shouldn't be an issue anymore, right?
So why is this? The Urologist we've been seeing for over a year now says that it's all because she is constipated all the time. Her poop pushes on her platter and she has a hard time controlling her pee. I wish I could give her a magic pill to fix all of this but well it doesn't work like that. I used to take it all upon myself but now it's just life. I was talking to the Doctor this last week and telling her this is just stressful and she said it is stressful. She said it falls right under kids with disabilities and being blind or deaf. So my child who is completely fine intellectually can't figure out how to poop right so she can pee right? It really is so hard! I write this letter not to throw a pitty party about what we go through but maybe to reach out to someone else who maybe deals with bladder problems as well. I know I can't be the only one dealing with this.
I've decided to kind of map out our challenges on a day to day basis so those of you that don't know me or my daughter can get a glimpse of how hard this can be for anyone who has to go through something like this.
1. Medicine we take every day: oxybutin 3 times a day, miralax once a day, magnesium and calcium supplement once a day, a laxative once a week on Fridays usually, and right now she is suppose to take and enema like a rectal suppository every week(if you haven't ever given one of these to your kids you are lucky cause she hates this!).
2. Schedule for the day: She has a wrist watch that goes off every hour and we ask her to at least try and go potty every time it peeps. Sometimes she ignores it but when she goes she has a chart she gets to mark a mark on to get prizes. (When you have to go anywhere that can be stressful, I now know where pretty much any bathroom is at any public place I've ever been)
In the morning before school I have to give her oxybutin. (She takes that in a syringe and it's not usually too bad but sometimes she hides it in her bag and doesn't take it or sometimes she leaves without taking it. On those days it's almost a guarantee that she will pee at school. We come home about lunch time and eat lunch and she take oxybutin again. She also gets miralax and a magnesium supplement about that time too which all goes into a cup with some kind of juice, chocolate milk or something like that). That is ALWAYS a fight! Sometimes it's hours before she takes it and it's very frustrating. She hates it and I don't think I would like it either but she has to take it every day so I guess a fight it is every day. Then she gets to take oxybutin once again at night. On top of that she has a wrist watch that peeps every hour and she is suppose to try and go potty at that time. That is a lot of times to pee during the day but me telling her wasn't working. Me nagging her all day wasn't working. So this seems to help. But sometimes she ignores it. We created a chart for her to mark but it still doesn't work all the time and all of that is hard to remember, specially with 2 other children. So basically it feels like all I do is make sure my kid takes her medicine and goes potty every hour. Then when she pees her pants I have to make her change her clothes which is always so hard, and adds to laundry. I also have to make sure she puts her dirty clothes in the laundry room from her room or the car or wherever the clothes were left smells like pee and her sisters complain. Then at night she wears a pull-up which she is usually pretty good about it but she really wants to wear panties. When she wakes up she has to put it in the trash asap...but she usually doesn't so I have to make sure she gets it in a Walmart sack then we tie it up and put it in the trash. All of these steps are stressful and my little independent 5 year old does not want me telling her about any of them.
Now with all of this there is a pretty much a guarantee that she will have to change her clothes at least once a day. I make her go in her room and take care of it herself but sometimes it's still a huge fight cause she doesn't want to have to do it. She also really doesn't want this problem! Poor thing just wants to pee like a normal person, she really just wants to have fun like the other kids and not have to worry about all of this, but it is a problem and maybe just maybe someday we will not have to worry about this anymore. But as of now we get to deal with it.
I guess the moral of all of this is you never know what people are dealing with everyday. When my daughter first started being potty trained I would get so mad that I couldn't make my daughter go potty. I used to take it all upon myself like it was my problem and you know what it's not but as a Mom you don't want your children to struggle with things like this!
A little tender mercy from God this last week was talking to another Mom who's daughter is actually in her 20's now but has also dealt with bladder problems. She told me that people will judge me with my daughter and say I'm just babying her. They will say that I'm just not pushing her hard enough, but they have no idea what you are going through. That is so very true! For a little while I was giving my daughter cold showers when she wet her pants cause I just didn't know what to do, well it didn't work. It just made things worse, she still wet her pants and it wasn't helping. I wish I wouldn't have done that but can't go back now. I also tried sticker charts, time outs, taking away privileges and I'm here to tell you it is just NOT something she can control. So after I stopped all of that about a year ago I've just been trying really hard to love her. I felt like I lost my sweet Kali for a while. She still doesn't like to be touched too much and I think that it all stems from her bladder problems. The Mom that I talked to this last week said that it can cause depression in years to come for her. In my head I'm thinking, I think that just triggered my postpartum depression even more. It was so stressful and I was already pretty depressed so it really didn't help. I will write another post about that but for now I just want anyone who reads this to know that even though this challenge is so incredible difficult and I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy, I also know that it has taught me about unconditional love. It has taught me to not judge Mom's who are just trying the very best they can with what they got. It has taught me that there are some really mean people in this world and some pretty amazing people who are just trying the best they can everyday to be the best they can. It has taught me that my daughter who is so incredible smart is going to have to deal with this problem probably for the rest of her life and I just have to love her in spite of this challenge. I may hate this problem but I have to separate it from the love I have for her cause when people are mean and they will be I have to be here for her.
If you are reading this and are dealing with anything like this please reach out to me. It's easier to go through challenges when you know you aren't the only one dealing with an issue. I know that God has given this challenge to my family for a reason, I just hope that as Kali's Mom I will deal with it with grace and love.
So why is this? The Urologist we've been seeing for over a year now says that it's all because she is constipated all the time. Her poop pushes on her platter and she has a hard time controlling her pee. I wish I could give her a magic pill to fix all of this but well it doesn't work like that. I used to take it all upon myself but now it's just life. I was talking to the Doctor this last week and telling her this is just stressful and she said it is stressful. She said it falls right under kids with disabilities and being blind or deaf. So my child who is completely fine intellectually can't figure out how to poop right so she can pee right? It really is so hard! I write this letter not to throw a pitty party about what we go through but maybe to reach out to someone else who maybe deals with bladder problems as well. I know I can't be the only one dealing with this.
I've decided to kind of map out our challenges on a day to day basis so those of you that don't know me or my daughter can get a glimpse of how hard this can be for anyone who has to go through something like this.
1. Medicine we take every day: oxybutin 3 times a day, miralax once a day, magnesium and calcium supplement once a day, a laxative once a week on Fridays usually, and right now she is suppose to take and enema like a rectal suppository every week(if you haven't ever given one of these to your kids you are lucky cause she hates this!).
2. Schedule for the day: She has a wrist watch that goes off every hour and we ask her to at least try and go potty every time it peeps. Sometimes she ignores it but when she goes she has a chart she gets to mark a mark on to get prizes. (When you have to go anywhere that can be stressful, I now know where pretty much any bathroom is at any public place I've ever been)
In the morning before school I have to give her oxybutin. (She takes that in a syringe and it's not usually too bad but sometimes she hides it in her bag and doesn't take it or sometimes she leaves without taking it. On those days it's almost a guarantee that she will pee at school. We come home about lunch time and eat lunch and she take oxybutin again. She also gets miralax and a magnesium supplement about that time too which all goes into a cup with some kind of juice, chocolate milk or something like that). That is ALWAYS a fight! Sometimes it's hours before she takes it and it's very frustrating. She hates it and I don't think I would like it either but she has to take it every day so I guess a fight it is every day. Then she gets to take oxybutin once again at night. On top of that she has a wrist watch that peeps every hour and she is suppose to try and go potty at that time. That is a lot of times to pee during the day but me telling her wasn't working. Me nagging her all day wasn't working. So this seems to help. But sometimes she ignores it. We created a chart for her to mark but it still doesn't work all the time and all of that is hard to remember, specially with 2 other children. So basically it feels like all I do is make sure my kid takes her medicine and goes potty every hour. Then when she pees her pants I have to make her change her clothes which is always so hard, and adds to laundry. I also have to make sure she puts her dirty clothes in the laundry room from her room or the car or wherever the clothes were left smells like pee and her sisters complain. Then at night she wears a pull-up which she is usually pretty good about it but she really wants to wear panties. When she wakes up she has to put it in the trash asap...but she usually doesn't so I have to make sure she gets it in a Walmart sack then we tie it up and put it in the trash. All of these steps are stressful and my little independent 5 year old does not want me telling her about any of them.
Now with all of this there is a pretty much a guarantee that she will have to change her clothes at least once a day. I make her go in her room and take care of it herself but sometimes it's still a huge fight cause she doesn't want to have to do it. She also really doesn't want this problem! Poor thing just wants to pee like a normal person, she really just wants to have fun like the other kids and not have to worry about all of this, but it is a problem and maybe just maybe someday we will not have to worry about this anymore. But as of now we get to deal with it.
I guess the moral of all of this is you never know what people are dealing with everyday. When my daughter first started being potty trained I would get so mad that I couldn't make my daughter go potty. I used to take it all upon myself like it was my problem and you know what it's not but as a Mom you don't want your children to struggle with things like this!
A little tender mercy from God this last week was talking to another Mom who's daughter is actually in her 20's now but has also dealt with bladder problems. She told me that people will judge me with my daughter and say I'm just babying her. They will say that I'm just not pushing her hard enough, but they have no idea what you are going through. That is so very true! For a little while I was giving my daughter cold showers when she wet her pants cause I just didn't know what to do, well it didn't work. It just made things worse, she still wet her pants and it wasn't helping. I wish I wouldn't have done that but can't go back now. I also tried sticker charts, time outs, taking away privileges and I'm here to tell you it is just NOT something she can control. So after I stopped all of that about a year ago I've just been trying really hard to love her. I felt like I lost my sweet Kali for a while. She still doesn't like to be touched too much and I think that it all stems from her bladder problems. The Mom that I talked to this last week said that it can cause depression in years to come for her. In my head I'm thinking, I think that just triggered my postpartum depression even more. It was so stressful and I was already pretty depressed so it really didn't help. I will write another post about that but for now I just want anyone who reads this to know that even though this challenge is so incredible difficult and I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy, I also know that it has taught me about unconditional love. It has taught me to not judge Mom's who are just trying the very best they can with what they got. It has taught me that there are some really mean people in this world and some pretty amazing people who are just trying the best they can everyday to be the best they can. It has taught me that my daughter who is so incredible smart is going to have to deal with this problem probably for the rest of her life and I just have to love her in spite of this challenge. I may hate this problem but I have to separate it from the love I have for her cause when people are mean and they will be I have to be here for her.
If you are reading this and are dealing with anything like this please reach out to me. It's easier to go through challenges when you know you aren't the only one dealing with an issue. I know that God has given this challenge to my family for a reason, I just hope that as Kali's Mom I will deal with it with grace and love.
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Adventures of life
Over the last month crazy things have happened! I took a spontaneous trip to AZ with 3 kids all by myself. It was crazy! I got to talk to my Grandma and Grandpa Pearce and spend some time with my brother before he left on his mission to Des Moines Iowa. Stephen will be a wonderful missionary and he is super prepared for whatever lies ahead. My sister Jamie also had her baby and I had a ton of fun hanging out and holding her sweet little Emmett. Elsie thought holding him was pretty great.
My sister Natalie will be moving sometime the end of this year I believe so it was also fun to let my girls play with Claire and Talie. They are best friends and love spending time together. It would be fun to live close but things don't usually go the way you plan I'm finding out. I also got to see my sister Andrea and her kids. Then we saw Jason and Kenzie and got to go to dinner with them. It was great catching up. My sisters step son had a birthday party while we were there so we had fun going to that. Tristan is such a fun kid and my kids love playing with him. I was able to stay with my in-laws while in Mesa and it was fun seeing Cassie and Jordon and spending time with Holli and Dave. The girls just love there Grandparents on both sides. All in all it was a great trip. Long and tiring but I made it! Kind of proud of myself!
Then I get home to find out the few weevils I had found previous had taken over my pantry, I had worms in our cereal boxes, and my kitchen is half torn apart trying to fix the dry wall that's just been a big hole for like 2 1/2 years. So I pretty much don't have a kitchen cause my kitchen became my pantry and I've bought all kinds of container to put cereal, crackers, rice, flour and whatever else that needed a plastic container where bugs couldn't get in. It's been a crazy week. I've been cleaning shelves and wiping every food item off to make sure it doesn't have a weevil. Hopefully we've got it all under control and won't ever have this problem again. Bugs are NO joke! We have pets control come to our house and we still get spiders but not near as many as we would other wise. I thought that we were doing pretty well at keeping things cleaned but I guess I was wrong. So if you need me for the next week I'll be cleaning every shelf in my kitchen and re organizing my life to get rid of these nasty bugs.
My sister Natalie will be moving sometime the end of this year I believe so it was also fun to let my girls play with Claire and Talie. They are best friends and love spending time together. It would be fun to live close but things don't usually go the way you plan I'm finding out. I also got to see my sister Andrea and her kids. Then we saw Jason and Kenzie and got to go to dinner with them. It was great catching up. My sisters step son had a birthday party while we were there so we had fun going to that. Tristan is such a fun kid and my kids love playing with him. I was able to stay with my in-laws while in Mesa and it was fun seeing Cassie and Jordon and spending time with Holli and Dave. The girls just love there Grandparents on both sides. All in all it was a great trip. Long and tiring but I made it! Kind of proud of myself!
Then I get home to find out the few weevils I had found previous had taken over my pantry, I had worms in our cereal boxes, and my kitchen is half torn apart trying to fix the dry wall that's just been a big hole for like 2 1/2 years. So I pretty much don't have a kitchen cause my kitchen became my pantry and I've bought all kinds of container to put cereal, crackers, rice, flour and whatever else that needed a plastic container where bugs couldn't get in. It's been a crazy week. I've been cleaning shelves and wiping every food item off to make sure it doesn't have a weevil. Hopefully we've got it all under control and won't ever have this problem again. Bugs are NO joke! We have pets control come to our house and we still get spiders but not near as many as we would other wise. I thought that we were doing pretty well at keeping things cleaned but I guess I was wrong. So if you need me for the next week I'll be cleaning every shelf in my kitchen and re organizing my life to get rid of these nasty bugs.
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Camping pictures
I decided to take some pictures of my girls when we got to our camp site and I'm so glad I did. Hope you enjoy! I haven't done any editing to these, and well I don't know much about editing but with that in mind I'd say these are pretty good. I love these girls so much! Well and there Dad! My life would be boring and dull without them!
If I could lighten this up I think it's really cute. Elsie just loves her sisters and she is always watching them and learning from them.
This picture of Elsie is a little to bright but I love this sweet thing! She is always happy and quite the Mamas girl even now.
The picture above and below explain Kali to a t. She loves to carry sticks everywhere when we are outside and so is always thinking of silly things to do.
I love this picture of Anna. This is her beautiful smile that is hard to get on camera for some reason.
My girls LOVE the water! I think they could swim every day! Anna has become quite the swimmer! In her swim class age group 6-12 she was the only one who could touch the bottom of the pool by swimming down and he also has figured out how to dive pretty well. I am super proud of her! She is quite the determined little thing and it will serve her well in life.
These girls love there Daddy! He's pretty great! (also this picture is a little dark as well)
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
...crazy couple weeks part 2 (Katie's wedding)
So after getting to Mesa Saturday morning about 9am we picked up a few pizzas and headed to a Shumway Family reunion. It was a lot of fun seeing some people I haven't seen in a long time. To name a few my Aunt Ione, my Grandma and Grandpa Pearce, Brian and his family, Spencer, and Maylene. After the reunion I went to Andreas to help set up for Katie's shower. It was a lot of fun talking to Annika, Kira and many others there. Emily came and Jolie(who was the girl who became rs president after I left the singles ward). I would say that it went really well and that Katie got lots of great things.
The rest of the week was full of getting wedding stuff, playing with cousins, and trying to be outside as much as possible in the amazing weather. It was seriously like 90*. I couldn't believe how hot it was already and it is only February. Some of my favorite things we did was go to the park, go to jump zone, did a family bbq, picked lemons for lemonade for the reception, and got many of my things I my check list done! Yay! Saturday morning Katie needed a brooch and so off I went trying to find one. I first went to Joanns and got some little pearl thing and then I left and went to an antique store on main street by the temple. I felt like that is where I should go so off I went. They didn't open till 10 but I was able to get in and find something pretty quick. I then went and dropped it off with my Mom at the temple and headed back to get Zach to go to the temple. One of the funniest parts of the sealing was Nathan's 99 year old Grandma. She said oh Nathan it was so horrible but it turned out so great. It was super funny and everyone heard it. But yay for being married! We then headed off to the luncheon. It was a beautiful afternoon and it was great to be around loved ones. We then headed to the church to open it at 3pm for Kitty who was coming to do the cake. She did a wonderful job! We then went and got everyone ready and did pictures and enjoyed a wonderful evening of visiting with family and friends. I truly do miss my friends and family in AZ! I feel so blessed to have grown up in such a wonderful place. I don't know what the future has in store for our family but I feel so blessed that I was able to be there this last weekend. We may have drove Natalie and Dallas crazy with messes and chaos but we appreciate there hospitality.
Right after the reception was over and we cleaned up some we headed back to Oklahoma! It was a little crazy but we felt like we just needed to get out of town. It is so nice to be home. After a long and exhausting couple weeks it was so nice to just sit down and hold my little girls and watch Frozen with my girls.
The rest of the week was full of getting wedding stuff, playing with cousins, and trying to be outside as much as possible in the amazing weather. It was seriously like 90*. I couldn't believe how hot it was already and it is only February. Some of my favorite things we did was go to the park, go to jump zone, did a family bbq, picked lemons for lemonade for the reception, and got many of my things I my check list done! Yay! Saturday morning Katie needed a brooch and so off I went trying to find one. I first went to Joanns and got some little pearl thing and then I left and went to an antique store on main street by the temple. I felt like that is where I should go so off I went. They didn't open till 10 but I was able to get in and find something pretty quick. I then went and dropped it off with my Mom at the temple and headed back to get Zach to go to the temple. One of the funniest parts of the sealing was Nathan's 99 year old Grandma. She said oh Nathan it was so horrible but it turned out so great. It was super funny and everyone heard it. But yay for being married! We then headed off to the luncheon. It was a beautiful afternoon and it was great to be around loved ones. We then headed to the church to open it at 3pm for Kitty who was coming to do the cake. She did a wonderful job! We then went and got everyone ready and did pictures and enjoyed a wonderful evening of visiting with family and friends. I truly do miss my friends and family in AZ! I feel so blessed to have grown up in such a wonderful place. I don't know what the future has in store for our family but I feel so blessed that I was able to be there this last weekend. We may have drove Natalie and Dallas crazy with messes and chaos but we appreciate there hospitality.
Right after the reception was over and we cleaned up some we headed back to Oklahoma! It was a little crazy but we felt like we just needed to get out of town. It is so nice to be home. After a long and exhausting couple weeks it was so nice to just sit down and hold my little girls and watch Frozen with my girls.
A crazy couple weeks~!
Talk about a crazy couple weeks! Sunday February 7th started out like any other day except it was our sweet Elsie's birthday and she was turning 2. We woke up went to church and then I'm sitting in sacrament meeting and I get a text from my Aunt with an ultrasound picture on it and I turned to Zach and said "NO WAY". I had to double check that her name was on the ultrasound. She adopted a sweet girls about 8 years ago because she was told she would never had kids. Well now she is pregnant and it is a true gift from God.
Later that evening after we had put the girls to bed Zach gets a call from his Dad saying that his Grandma Jackie Christensen had passed away. It was a complete shock! I didn't know what to think. I just cried. I loved his Grandma very much! She was the type of person that would tell you how it was but you always new that she loved you no matter what. She truly was a remarkable woman. She was Relief Society President and that morning she woke up went to her meetings and did all that she was suppose to and then came home later and died. It was crazy! One minute she was alive and well and the next she was gone. It is still hard for me to wrap my head around! But non the less we felt it was very important to go to her funeral and be there.
They scheduled it for the following Friday and I was already planning on heading to AZ Friday night so I could be at my sisters bridal shower. Well this put a little detour in our way but honestly it worked out very well. We left Wednesday after Anna got off school and drove all the way to Utah. We got there about 11am. I then went and helped dress Jackie in her temple clothes which was a really neat experience! I'm so glad I got to have that time with her. My Mother-in-law invited me to do that with her and Cassie, Camille, and Carolina. It was a special time. The funeral was Friday which was really good! We were able to sign a couple songs and I led the music for the funeral. One thing I really thought was cool was right before we were going to close the casket the funeral director opened it all the way and had the girls come over and see her whole body. It was really special. He explained a little bit about the temple clothes she wore and what they mean. She said when he was little he could figure out why they only berried 1/2 of his Grandma...lol. I guess you could say that it really meant a lot to me that he would do that cause I know that Anna was super curious about it all. After we dedicated her grave sight we were able to go back after the luncheon to show Anna and Kali that they buried her. Anna was really sad that she didn't get to see them do it. But we saw all the pretty flowers and I told her that we would have just been in the way and then I think she was okay with it.
Going to a funeral like this was very good for me. I feel bad for Larry but I know that Jackie is okay and I know that she is happy with how everything turned out. I feel blessed knowing that death is a natural part of life and that I will see Jackie again. I know that she will be a little guardian angel watching over my family and for that I am truly grateful. At this time in my life I need all the help I can get. Larry said that she is up in heaven talking to all the future children that will enter our family. It was as if God was telling me there are more spirits that want to come to your family so get ready. I am truly grateful for the blessings I have and especially this family that I have married into that has welcomed me with open arms and loved me.
One special story I want to share before I close this post. Zach and I had been on a few dates and I told him that we were going to SLC for conference with a couple girls in my ward. He offered to let us stay with his Grandma when we went up there. My friend Jen said she thought we should so off we went. When I walked into there home I new they were special. They weren't there the weekend that we were but I just felt like I new his Grandparents. I felt like I would go to that house again and it was the strangest experience. It was one of the reasons I kept dating Zach even though I wasn't sure about it all. Zach was and is very lucky to have such awesome Grandparents.
Jackie will love and miss you! Thanks for all that you did for our family and probably will do!
....Katie's wedding and such to be continued...
Later that evening after we had put the girls to bed Zach gets a call from his Dad saying that his Grandma Jackie Christensen had passed away. It was a complete shock! I didn't know what to think. I just cried. I loved his Grandma very much! She was the type of person that would tell you how it was but you always new that she loved you no matter what. She truly was a remarkable woman. She was Relief Society President and that morning she woke up went to her meetings and did all that she was suppose to and then came home later and died. It was crazy! One minute she was alive and well and the next she was gone. It is still hard for me to wrap my head around! But non the less we felt it was very important to go to her funeral and be there.
They scheduled it for the following Friday and I was already planning on heading to AZ Friday night so I could be at my sisters bridal shower. Well this put a little detour in our way but honestly it worked out very well. We left Wednesday after Anna got off school and drove all the way to Utah. We got there about 11am. I then went and helped dress Jackie in her temple clothes which was a really neat experience! I'm so glad I got to have that time with her. My Mother-in-law invited me to do that with her and Cassie, Camille, and Carolina. It was a special time. The funeral was Friday which was really good! We were able to sign a couple songs and I led the music for the funeral. One thing I really thought was cool was right before we were going to close the casket the funeral director opened it all the way and had the girls come over and see her whole body. It was really special. He explained a little bit about the temple clothes she wore and what they mean. She said when he was little he could figure out why they only berried 1/2 of his Grandma...lol. I guess you could say that it really meant a lot to me that he would do that cause I know that Anna was super curious about it all. After we dedicated her grave sight we were able to go back after the luncheon to show Anna and Kali that they buried her. Anna was really sad that she didn't get to see them do it. But we saw all the pretty flowers and I told her that we would have just been in the way and then I think she was okay with it.
Going to a funeral like this was very good for me. I feel bad for Larry but I know that Jackie is okay and I know that she is happy with how everything turned out. I feel blessed knowing that death is a natural part of life and that I will see Jackie again. I know that she will be a little guardian angel watching over my family and for that I am truly grateful. At this time in my life I need all the help I can get. Larry said that she is up in heaven talking to all the future children that will enter our family. It was as if God was telling me there are more spirits that want to come to your family so get ready. I am truly grateful for the blessings I have and especially this family that I have married into that has welcomed me with open arms and loved me.
One special story I want to share before I close this post. Zach and I had been on a few dates and I told him that we were going to SLC for conference with a couple girls in my ward. He offered to let us stay with his Grandma when we went up there. My friend Jen said she thought we should so off we went. When I walked into there home I new they were special. They weren't there the weekend that we were but I just felt like I new his Grandparents. I felt like I would go to that house again and it was the strangest experience. It was one of the reasons I kept dating Zach even though I wasn't sure about it all. Zach was and is very lucky to have such awesome Grandparents.
Jackie will love and miss you! Thanks for all that you did for our family and probably will do!
....Katie's wedding and such to be continued...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)