Nathan

Nathan had so much fun when Lauren was home. Her old bedroom is now the music room/Blair's office/Nathan's room when we have guests.

Dad didn't get home in time, so Nathan handled grilling the chicken for dinner. He is usually quite helpful with meal preparations and is good at baking all kinds of treats.

One of the few snowy days we have had so far this winter.

Ticket to Ride is our new favorite family game. We got it as a Christmas present. Nathan especially enjoys it.

He is currently in the school play and serving as the patrol leader for his scouting group. He and his friend played a saxophone duet for a contest and did quite well. He didn't even seem to get nervous.

This day in 2005

We were in ICU at the hospital in New York City. Lauren had been fading fast and we had been there for several weeks. Her coronary arteries had very limited function and she was a mess! It was a lonely, difficult, scary time!

She didn't have much strength even to stay awake for very long periods of time. Then the phone call came late the night of Feb 16 - a heart was ready and surgery was set for early in the morning.

After a very very long day, the docs and nurses were still getting her settled at 11pm.

Less than 5 days later, here she is a bit perkier and even waving.

Unhooked from most of her lines - weak but alive. Eventually we learned that her new heart came from Amy - a young lady with a story of her own. What a blessing that gift was, and such a miracle!!!

I wish you all could see Lauren now - a vibrant, thriving college freshman. She is soaking in everything BYU has to offer, feels quite good and is incredibly happy.

So today, I am grateful for many things, but especially for Amy's parents - Barb and Ron, who saved Lauren's life.

15 year old Megan

Megan's freshman basketball season just ended last week. She is in the white on the right - just so you can see how many tall players she deals with.

She played almost every minute of every game, unless they were winning by a large margin. I think everyone is more comfortable when Megan brings the ball down.

Here she is making one of her clever passes.

Every once in a while, Megan pulls a Jimmer and takes a shot outside of the 3 point line. I think this one went in!! I wish I had more action shots, but she moves so fast, I couldn't get many.

Here she is in the blue away game uniform. What a great season - I can't believe she doesn't get tired of playing. It takes a ton of time!! Plus she is a good student, so once she gets home, it is study time. Early morning seminary has her leaving at 6am. On Feb 4th, she celebrated her 15th birthday. She opened a gift first thing in the morning and was surprised with a....

trip to Utah for skiing, BYU basketball, and visiting Lauren and family.

Megan's dinner choice is always heavy on the carbs. Enchiladas and breadsticks - throwing a bit of salad and fruit in there as well.

2 choices of homemade ice cream - strawberry and reeses peanut butter cup. What a way to celebrate!

Catching Up - Rachel

The look on the girls' faces is natural for Rachel - posed by the other two. Rachel just gets excited about life. She has funny stories every day and wakes up happy and talkative. She has a grateful heart and often says thanks for things like laundry and dinner. She couldn't wait for the first snowfall of the season!

Rachel has been seen sporting scarves lately. She is sooooo busy with AP classes at school and being a yearbook editor. She got an awesome ACT score so we receive many pieces of college mail daily trying to recruit her. She says her heart belongs to BYU and has no back up plan. (Sorry Blair)

This girl LOVES the trumpet!! She is working on a trio of Bugler's Holiday (for all you music experts out there) and it is amazing. I don't know how she moves her fingers that fast. She also is a talented piano player.

Luckily, Rachel isn't a sickly child. We went to the dermatologist a few days ago to have a few small injections in her foot. Not a big deal. Rachel didn't even want to sit in the green-colored chair though, then started to feel light-headed as we were leaving. She is taller than I am and looked quite pale, so I quickly had her sit on the floor. The 6 nurses immediately gathered to observe her, give juice, feel her forehead and make sure she was okay. She found the humor in all of that and has enjoyed sharing her story. What an incredible young woman!!!

LAUREN IS HOME!!!!

4 months is a long time to go without seeing one another. I felt so complete having us all in the car together driving home from the airport. Yay!!!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving weekend - 2007 - Lauren was headed to the hospital for her 3rd heart transplant. That gives us a lot to be thankful for!!

Thanksgiving weekend - 2011 - Lauren stayed in Utah and the rest of us went to Nauvoo. Here are the kids in front of the Mansion House - one of the prophet Joseph's homes.

We fixed an early Thanksgiving dinner and took leftovers with us to a condo.

Thanksgiving morning we went to Carthage Jail. No matter how many times I go to these sights, I learn more about the sacrifices and challenges the early saints had to endure. Wow!

The homes and shops had their old-fashioned Christmas decorations up.

Blair took us to the old pioneer cemetery. We found Nancy Holbrooks headstone, the wife of Joseph Holbrook.

The Nauvoo temple is beautiful both inside and out. There were actually several weddings that weekend.

Nathan is such a good sport and posed for a sunset shot on the Mississippi river.

This year was a bit somber for us. Some dear friends from our Utah days were in a car accident. The husband was killed and the wife sustained some severe injuries. My young cousin lost her husband in a tragic accident as well. It just causes a lot of reflection about the blessings I have and the struggles others have to go through. I am grateful for the strength and blessing that my family and the promises of the gospel provide.

A Budding Star

Nathan is only in 6th grade, but he was cast in the school musical.

He was Zeke, the farmhand who talks to Dorothy about having courage.

Then he sang and danced as a munchkin.

Next part - one of the lollipop guild. The boys weren't expecting the audience to laugh at them, so they had a hard time keeping straight faces.

The Ozzians welcome Dorothy and her friends to the land of Oz all dressed in green costumes.

Nathan is posing by the tinman (tin-girl in this case) - isn't that a great costume?

The show was amazing and so well done - he had a great time and learned a lot about theater, singing, dancing, and stage management. The directors loved his enthusiasm and personality!!