A Blessing

Today was a unique day. We went to the funeral of our nephew, Andrew Josiah Nygard. (To read about him go to www.nygardfamily.blogspot.com) I felt very blessed to be there and witness the miracle of his life. Eric and Jenny, his parents were the main speakers at the funeral. Jenny spoke of Andrew's sweet personality and characteristics. She was a pillar of strength as she spoke of her little boy. I felt a great deal of peace and comfort as she spoke. Eric spoke of our knowledge that families are forever. That Andrew is now in the presence of God and that he is performing the work of the Lord there. And that as they live their covenants they too will return to live with him after this life. I feel very blessed to have Eric and Jenny's example of true followers of Christ, and honored that I am able to be so closely associated with them. They truely understand the Lord's plan of happiness for His children. They have consciously chosen to draw near to the Lord during this time. On the back of the program today was this quote ...

"The Lord takes many away even in infancy, that they may escape the envy of man and the sorrows and evils of this present world; they were too pure, too lovely, to live on this earth. Therefore, if rightly considered, instead of mourning we have reason to rejoice as they are delivered from evil and we shall have them again. The only difference between the old and the young dying is one lives longer in heaven and eternal glory than the other, and is freed a little sooner from this miserable world." -Joseph Smith

I left the funeral service with a feeling of needing to arise to the occasion and live a better life and share with others the wonderful Gospel of Jesus Christ. We miss Andrew and will continue to miss him but we know that we can be with him again. What a wonderful, wonderful knowledge we have.

Tonight Kevin's brother. Brian (19 years old) is preparing to leave on a 6am flight tomorrow morning to South America. He is leaving on a two year mission for our church in Uruguay. He is leaving to bring this message of hope and love to the people there. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people that help me to remember and follow Christ.

Mild Weather

In November there was a day that was especially warm and so we walked to the park down the way. A typical trip to the playground for us entails......

This little sweetie being content and happy to just be. (have you ever seen such a little angel)
Nelson being is silly, boyish self.

Maycie playing to role of big sister and second mom.
Our trip abruptly ends went I find Maycie with this look on her face. It is time to hurry home to the potty:)

Fall Fun!

When fall came the kids must of missed picking the summer fruit. This however didn't stop them from picking something. Perhaps they thought that the leaves were ripe and ready for pickin'.

Enough is Enough !!

So Friday night after the kids went to bed I went to >>>> not the spa>>>>not the gym>>>>not even to do some great act of service>>>>>but rather I went to Toys R' Us. You may be asking yourself , WHY????? would I do that on a perfectly good Friday night whilst my husband is at home enjoying the peace and quiet with three sleeping kids? I asked myself the same question. I am a sucker for a great deal and for my three kids. It was a sale and I had the coupon to go with it. I went , I bought, I had the after bargain shopping buzz all the way home. Then I decided I should get out all of the kids Christmas presents and organize and take inventory. I shop for Christmas pretty much all year off of the clearance racks, ironically this is so I don't have to run out after all the crazy sales going on this time of year---as if I were above it---atlas we see I am not. Anyhow upon arriving home I pulled the gifts out of the storage unit and realized that I had too much, I didn't want to give my kids that many gifts. My bargain shopping buzz was shot. I looked at it all a bit dismayed. How did this happen? I repeat-I am a sucker for a great deal and my kids. As I lay in bed that night feeling a little sick over it all I decided that I needed to pull back the reigns a bit. I thought I was already doing a good job of that. The life maxim strikes me --the hardest thing to do is the thing you think you are already doing. And so here I am Thanksgiving not even here yet and I have more then enough Christmas gifts. I am surrounded by bargain shopping bliss and I have no more shopping to do. Have I learned my lesson? I guess in a months time we will tell.

Round and Round He Goes

Do you remember the great toy called the "Sit n' Spin"? Lately at our house it has become the "Lay n' Spin". There is no sound with this clip but if there were you would hear the lovely music that this toy plays as well.

Halloween 2010

I have a dream that went poof. I once had a dream of having a cool family tradition of having cleaver family themed costumes each year. Kevin (aka costume hater) went along with this the first year we were married. He was still hiding his true identity. (I was a daisy he was a bumble bee, yes he wore wings and antenna, and yes it was cute!) Then he even dressed up the next year in the same costume when Maycie and I were both lady bugs. However he refused to smile in any of those pictures. It pretty much went down hill from there. There was the year that the kids were both dogs and we were dog catchers, he wiggle his way out of that one by being "too busy" with school. Hummm. Last year we got nothing from him and this year I worked on him, I even begged a little. But atlas the only two costumes that Kevin would consent to was a dentist (lame, since he does that all day at school) and a cowboy. Kevin has a special place in his heart for cowboys. When I told him what he would be wearing I even spotted a bit of a smile cross his lips. He asked me if I would go find his boots ( I think they are in storage at mom and dad's). We bought our hats when we lived in Cheney, at the time he talked about always wanting a cool cowboy hat growing up but couldn't afford it. We bought these for five bucks a piece from someone liquidating their inventory.

Please note that in this picture Kevin has a big smile on his face. My current reality for Halloweens to come is of Kevin and I in this same costume, year after year, after year and so forth. I have to say despite my dead and gone dream of the past the reality of the future isn't too bad, in of that my husband likes to play cowboy and I like to see him happy. Plus I think he looks great doing it!

Newest Member of our Family

In Maycie's words "We don't have any animals in our family Mom, just kids. " This is a very true statement. However, we have added a new member or rather a supporting member to our family. The Vitamix! We researched and planned a lot longer for this newest member then for any of our three children. We went through a few obstacles to finance this latest addition and paid more for it than we ever did for the births of our children (insurance pretty well covered those). Some do complain that the Vitamix is a loud addition however, we argue that it does come with an on/off switch installed, which children don't have. :) Thus far we have made smoothies, ground wheat into flour and made yummy wheat bread and tonight we plan to make soup with it. We have decided to keep it, we like it and are happy to have it!!! Finally after years of thought and months of saving on the side our desire to own one of these "babies" had come to fruition.

First Day

Kevin and Maycie both started school on Thursday. Very Exciting!

Can't leave Nelson out.


Here she is waiting for the bus.
While Maycie was gone. Nelson busied himself playing games.....
water painting.....
and as usual Jane was content to just be....
until Maycie returned back home. She loved pre-school. On Friday she woke up and informed us "I'm a school girl". She can't wait to go each day. I love the relaxed mornings.

10 months old

Jane is 10 months old. Can hardly believe it. She sure is our little doll.

Raspberries

Both grandparents have big raspberry patches. Maycie in her own words "I sure am a great raspberry picker." And she is. She is quite diligent. While in Wenatchee, visiting Kevin's family, Maycie picked alot of raspberries. In this picture she is just beginning. She really was very diligent, filling up whole containers.

Nelson's raspberries on the other hand rarely made it to his container, he ate them as he went.

All that picking must have worn them out!

Girl Cousins

Maycie is one lucky girl. She has four girl cousins the same age as her, two on each side. Since moving to Seattle a year ago she has missed being able to see them. She is very happy that one of them, Aubree recently moved to Seattle as well. We went to visit Spokane a week or so ago and while there she was able to visit with Christy. We had a weenie roast!

Here they are with Ally, Christy's little sister.
This picture is just too cute! They just love each other. In years to come they will look back at this photo and smile!

Potty Time!

Since Nelson will be three in November I figured I would try him out on the potty. Yes, it is pink. That is because Maycie "needed" her potty to be pink when she was potty trained. It motivated her. Anyhow in order to get him to sit long enough to increase his odds I gave him some books to look at. Maycie was very excited about the prospect of Nelson going potty, "Just like me" so she camped out in anticipation of the great potty event. So they read and chitty-chatted.......

and looked at books some more.......until........nothing, yep it never happened. Better luck next time!
Nelson sure had a good time though. Look at that face. I almost don't mind changing those poopy diapers, almost.

The Shed

Look at this corner, doesn't it look empty. Well, I have a big smile on my face because it is now filled. Our wonderful Landlady Gabrielle added an addition to our little home.

Yesterday We had a storage shed built in our back yard. I am very excited as now I have a place to put those items that have been sheltering under the porch.

Maycie could hardly wait to move her bike right on in.
A BIG THANK YOU THANK YOU TO GABRIELLE!!!
Now... just to decide on what color to paint it!

Meet Your Local Friendly Firemen

A couple of weeks ago we went to the local little fire station for kids awareness. Nelson made me smile. I was worried we were not going to be able to get him out of the hat and coat. I think he just may be a fireman. His dimples would make for one good lookin' fireman.

These are Nelson's favorite footwear, his frog boots, which are three sizes too big, yet he insists. I think in this particular instance they complete the outfit. Love this boy!
Maycie didn't want anything to do with the fireman outfits, thou I tried for picture sake. Perhaps if they had a pink fireman hat that would have swayed her. She is my pink girl. When asked her favorite color she says "pink and purple and your favorite color is yellow and pink, huh mom" "Oh and Nelson's favorite color is blue."

The Little Things

Last month we went to the church picnic to celebrate the pioneers. They had some fun 'old school' games like the stick pull. Kevin and I decided to go head to head. I figured he would win but I anticipated I would be able to have a few seconds of pulling. Instead the person said go and Kevin immediately launched me over his head. But I got my revenge when I purposely ran into him and took him out in the sack race. We have a good time together. Good memories

In life we sometimes hurry here and hurry there and don't think too much about what is going on in the lives of those around us. We or at least I tend to think more about the next thing on my list to do. But there are times when I am able to remind myself to stop and be still and look and feel and enjoy the moment. God put us here to experience life and learn to choose for ourselves but to also experience joy! Below is a picture of Maycie that makes me smile. Remember those summer days of riding bikes and just enjoying the freedom and sunshine? This is I think her first time experiencing cotton candy. She liked it! I liked seeing her experience this simple joy.

Nelson liked it too!

Swim Lessons

Maycie had her first swim lessons this summer at the YMCA. She loved it! She now is much more comfortable in the water and kicks her legs and strokes her arms at the same time. She doesn't swim without arm floaties yet but she has time she is only four.
Below is her class practicing their kicks and blowing bubbles in the water.

Ironically, she thought riding in the raft was the coolest thing ever. When Maycie is excited she shakes. She is shaking in this picture as she sits in the boat.

Goat yelling like a man

This is how Nelson sounds when he calls for Mom. I hear this all day long.....Imagine.

Canada/Spokane Trip.

I headed out as a lone parent with Maycie, Nelson and Jane at he end of June. We went to Spokane and then to a family reunion for my dad's brothers and sisters in Hillspring, Alberta. Then we went back to Spokane for the week after the 4th of July. Kevin couldn't come to the reunion because of school but he flew in and was with us for the week in Spokane. As I packed all of the kids up I couldn't help but chuckle at their different personalities. Here is Nelson in his car seat surrounded by his prized possessions. His blue blanket, made by Grandma Nygard, his punch balloon, his binky bear, which typically isn't allowed out of his bed, it is a teddy bear with binkies sewed to its paws. And then for some reason he wanted to wear his bike helmet. he wore it for almost three hours until we got to our pit stop in Wenatchee.
This is Maycie with her favorite blankie, made by Grandma Folsom. She likes to hold the corner and suck her thumb. This is how she started out the trip.
And Jane was just as sweet as ever.
This is at the reunion. Maycie is with one of her cousins, Savannah. She likes playing with Savannah.
Here is Maycie and Nelson playing with other kids at the reunion. I thought it was so fun to see my kids playing with the kids of the cousins I used to play with.

This is in Waterton Park at Cameron falls.
Sucker time
We spent one afternoon while we were in Spokane playing in water at my brother Darren's house. They had lost of blow up water toys. The kids thought that was the best thing ever. I enjoyed relaxing with Jane in the shade.





We had a great time. But we are glad to be home as well!