Santa Fe, New Mexico

The road seemed so familiar - almost like  deja vu! Even though it did snow on us again, the roads were not bad at all.  We headed back the same direction we had just arrived home from 2 days prior, although this time we only had to travel 5 1/2 hours before reaching our destination in Santa Fe.  There Mark and I had a husband/wife conference for Seminary and Institute teachers.  It was absolutely wonderful.  They have these once a year and most of them have been the first part of February, near our Wedding Anniversary.  I told Mark we are so lucky! We have a paid for get-a-way every year! We stayed Wednesday night and Thursday night and then we arrived home at 11:00 Friday night.  I was able to farm out all of my children to friend's homes and they all had a great time.  I'm sure they wish we'd leave them more often! While we were gone, Chase and Abi went snow skiing with their Elementary school for a class field trip.  Chase caught on quickly and claimed he didn't fall once the entire day! He is a huge fan of snow skiing and is now saving his money in hopes to return to the slopes! Abi said she had a great time, but she said she struggled until the end of the day.  She was finally getting the hang of it when it was time to go! Thank you Jeanna Hansen for the private lessons and time you provided Abi - you made her day! Kailan played in 2 more volleyball games while we were gone and was excited to tell me that she had spiked the ball over the net twice! All of the kids did really well while we were gone.  I have no idea why I ever stressed about it!


The meetings Mark and I attended were so spirit-filled, and so up-lifting.  It really motivated me to come home and be a better person - a better wife and mother.  I loved it all! Friday afternoon after it was finished, we drove to Albuquerque and went to the Temple.  I've never been to the Albuquerque Temple before, so that was really nice to see.  It was very beautiful and I absolutely loved the inside.  

NPA's Valentine's Dance

Kailan's friend took this picture of her at NPA's Valentine's dance.  She looks quite festive in red! Kailan is in 8th grade this year and is involved with the Middle School Student Council.  She serves as Vice President.  For the dances she is always busy decorating, setting-up, selling candy, dancing and socializing of course, and cleaning up.

Kailan's 1st Volleyball Game!

One of my favorite things to do is watch my kids! I love to see them grow and develop and learn new skills while having lots of fun! Last year as a 7th grader, Kailan chose to swim on a swim team here in Flagstaff instead of trying out for Volleyball.  This year she has decided to play volleyball.  She is doing great and is really enjoying it.

This is the side serve.  Completely new to me - I've never seen it before.

She hits it quite hard this way!

And she was able to score a lot of points for her team from her serves.

Happy 20th Anniversary to Mark and Me!

DREAMING...... of walking hand in hand on a beautiful beach in Cancun.
REALITY..... unpacking from our trip to WY for Scott's funeral, doing laundry for me, my husband and 7 children while he is at work teaching, cleaning the Montessori Schools (our part-time job), homework and chauffeuring kids!!! This is 20 years of marriage! It's crazy and chaotic but I'd do it all again in a heartbeat!

A friend of mine brought dinner over for the kids (very thoughtful) and Mark and I did escape for a couple of hours and enjoyed a nice meal and of course great company (one another), before we came home utterly exhausted (from our big WY weekend) and crashed!

A Sad Day...

The long-term Acute hospital in Denver called us a little after 3:00 Wednesday morning to tell us that Scott (Abi's dad) had just passed away about 10 minutes prior to them calling.  They said he went peacefully in his sleep.  He's been in the hospital since the first part of September.  He has been in and out of ICU several times and in the rehabilitation center most of the other time.  He would never be able to live on his own again.  During his stay in the hospital(s), I was able to find an address for his sister Lisa in Casper, WY who we had never met.  We have a good friend in Casper (Patrick - Mark's research partner), drop off a letter at her place that we had emailed concerning Scott's current condition.  Soon after, Phyllis, Scott's step-mom who lives in Cheyenne, called me on the phone and I had a really nice visit with her.  Her daughter Joan, in Denver, was willing and able to take Scott's cats - that has worked out really well.  Phyllis and Lisa were able to drive to Denver and visit Scott the Saturday before he passed away.  Scott had been so close to passing away a couple of other times during his hospital stay, but held off, I feel, just so we could make contact with his family.  I know that Heavenly Father is in charge and everything was orchestrated so perfectly.  I am so grateful that through all of this we were able to meet Scott's sister and her husband, his step-mom and step-sister.  They are wonderful people and we look forward to getting to know them a little better.  And of course Abi is thrilled to have met her grandma, aunts and uncle! Brooklyn was just as excited, reminding Abi that since we adopted her, they are our family too! That's only fair I think - she becomes a part of ours and us apart of hers.

I felt like the funeral went really well.  We held it at the Stake Center in Cheyenne, WY on Saturday afternoon, January 30th.  We had a really nice turn out.  Neighbors and friends of Scott's as well as co-workers from the drop-in center where he volunteered were able to come.  During Scott's life story, Lisa shared with us that her mom had passed away on the same day as Scott, January 27th, 27 years ago.  Again, I know Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us - I don't believe in coincidences.

Afterward we went to the cemetery and saw where Scott's parents and his grandparents on his dad's side are buried as well as where Scott will be buried.  Then we went to Grandma Phyllis's for dinner.  We thoroughly enjoyed our visit there and the kids loved looking at all of Scott's dad's rocks.  He has an amazing collection, and now we have quite the collection as well as Phyllis and Lisa encouraged the kids to take some home.  Abi also brought home her dad's rocks and arrowhead collection.  I now fully see where her love of rocks comes from!

This is Scott's parents headstone.

This is Scott's grandparent's (dad's side) headstone.

This is Scott's sister, Lisa with Abi.

This is Grandma Phyllis's daughter Joan with Abi.

And this is Grandma Phyllis!

Grandma Phyllis, Abi and Aunt Lisa

Uncle Shawn, Abi and Aunt Lisa

Abi with her new rocks from her grandfather!

This is the home that Abi's dad, Scott, was raised in.

Taige is 9!!! January 28, 2010

Because of our unexpected trip to Cheyenne, WY, Taige spent 17 hours on his birthday in a seat belt! The roads were very icy and snowy so we found ourselves often driving 40 mph.  Taige did get to choose the fast food restaurants for both lunch and dinner! He chose McDonalds for lunch and got a happy meal and then Taco Bell for dinner.  And, he was nice and snug with his family ALL day! Honestly I don't know how life can be much better! When we arrived at the Kim's home at 9:00 that night (we left Flagstaff at 3:45 a.m.), Becky was frosting brownies for Taige.  We sang happy birthday to him and enjoyed brownies and ice cream.  The next day he was able to go and spend the day and night with one of his very best friends in Cheyenne - Trevor Sutphin.  He had a great time.

Can't get enough Snow Pictures!

And I only put a very small portion of the snow pictures I take on my blog.  The snow is so beautiful and so much fun!

 

  

Family Service Project!

  

 

We have some wonderful neighbors who we unfortunately only see every couple of months.  This is their second home, they live in Scottsdale.  We wish they lived here full-time! Both of them were born deaf and so I have loved practicing my sign language with them when they are here in Flag.  They both are really great - we've really enjoyed getting to know them better.

Driving up to our neighborhood.......beautiful, huh!