Grandma's Disneyland updates- part 3

OK so I didn't load the pics on all that great- just turn your head when needed and realize they're out of order!! Above is the girls jumping waves at the beach. I thought is was toooo cold for swimsuits- the girls disagreed and got completely soaked in their clothes!! Oh well they had fun!

The fireworks from our room- and the music came across on our TV and was timed perfectly!
The view from our room- you can see Space Mountain and the Matterhorn from the balcony.

Our room- Tay is hiding on the top bunk...
Tay played in the sand- he got knocked over by a wave and that was enough water for him- he wouldn't even put his feet in after that!

Turn your head--- we rented a bike that had enough room for everybody. The kids laughed and laughed and thought it was great! (They only lasted for 1/2 hour peddling though!!)

We're going back to the park in the morning so stay tuned... Luvs and kisses for Grandma and Papa- we really wish you were with us!!

Grandma's Disneyland updates- part 2

Here are some pics from the 1st day at Disneyland. I always knew kids should come in a box- now if only I could find the instructions!


Riding the Mickey Wheel- Jessica wasn't too sure about the height!

For the complaints I heard in the line, the girls were sure excited to see Pooh!




Riding the new Little Mermaid ride....
By Grizzly River Rapids

Grandma's Disneyland updates- part 1

We took the kiddos to Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef- Tay thought it was "very cool" but didn't want the sharks to eat him!!

The Shark Reef has a sting ray petting area. Taylor didn't want to touch them because "they might be slimy!"

After arriving, the kids wanted to swim- thankfully the pool was very heated and we had fun playing in the water.

In Loving Memory of Grandma Dot

As per my brother's request, I am posting pictures and thoughts from my Grandma Dot's funeral today. Above is the digital copy of the program. It was a beautiful program. My favorite part was when my Dad gave a life sketch- he said that he couldn't really do a life sketch for Grandma because her life was more of a mural that each of us have added to. He went on to describe different "brush strokes" that had occurred in Grandma's life. Elder Hafen talked about Grandma's conviction to the gospel. He talked about special talks they had in the last few days of her life. His comment was that he has never known someone more ready and more excited to meet our Heavenly Father. My Grandma's life was full of service to others. It was mentioned numerous times how she was able to make everyone around her feel welcome and loved. The spirit was strong and there is no doubt that Grandma is now with Grandpa Garn.


The Girls before the funeral- looking very grown up...




I know she looks pale and her hair isn't all done up- but Grandma requested that she look natural and didn't want it any differently.






The roses off to the side were placed by all of the grandchildren present. I think it was a very fitting way to say good-bye. In all the day went well. I am so sad to know that Grandma Dot is gone- I will miss her so very much- but I know that she's happy where she is and she deserves to be there with Grandpa Garn.

Life is so short and we never know at what point we will no longer be here on Earth. Today has further emphasized to me that we need to live each day to the fullest and we need to love those around us just a little bit more and hug them just a little bit longer.

With that in mind, we are off to play with our kids- just like Grandma would want us to....

Our life in April

The month has passed by so quickly! It seems that April always sneaks up on me and suddenly it's gone. I figured I had better update the blog for the month before it's completely over. Today is actually Ryan and my 13th Anniversary. It amazes me how fast the time goes. I feel so very blessed to have married my best friend and he continues to still be my very best friend. We knew that our schedule (more particularly my schedule) would be crazy this month. So we took the first weekend of the month and ran off to Vegas. It was so relaxing and very warm! Then we came home to a snow storm... blah!

I was also blessed to get a promotion at work. I was promoted to a charge nurse position. I pretty much run the nursing unit and decide on which patients to admit when it's my day to charge. I'm not really sure that I wanted it but I agreed to the extra responsibility. If nothing else, I keep telling myself that it looks really good on my resume. And the bit of extra money will at least pay for my gas.

Kelsi turns 12 in 6 days! When did she get so old?!? She is pretty much as tall as me now and is relishing the fact that her next growth spurt will make her taller than me. She will be starting the youth program at church and is very excited to be going to girl's camp this summer. I'm not sure how she will do being away from us for an entire week. I do remember how much I grew up and learned confidence in myself when I went at her age. I look forward to her having these experiences and watching her continue to grow into an amazing young woman.

And of coarse, we celebrated Easter today. I was brave this year and let the girls make their own Easter dresses. They actually turned out pretty cute and the girls were so excited that they had made them- they could hardly wait to go to church today. Taylor has been very excited for the Easter bunny to come. He seems to think that he's just like Santa and just can't fathom why the Easter bunny doesn't come down the chimney. After all, that would just make sense, right?!? I had to laugh at how disappointed he was that the Easter bunny that came to his school didn't talk. He said to me, "Mom, I don't know why he didn't talk. On Hop (the movie) he talked! And I just couldn't get him to say ANYTHING to me!" I chuckled and felt really bad for that poor Easter bunny that Taylor was trying to get to talk!!!

Well that sums up our month- here's a few pics to go along with the words...

Ryan with the Treasure Island Chopper in Vegas


Kelsi sewing her Easter dress


Me with the albino alligator in Vegas at Shark Reef

Jessica sewing her Easter dress

Taylorisms

I just adore my 4 year old and they many, many , many funny things he comes up with. So here are a few to make you smile....


Tay woke up around 9:30 the other night- this was Ryan's conversation with him-
Taylor (crying): There's a monster under my bed
Ryan: Hey buddy there isn't any room for a monster under your bed because there are drawers under there. He wouldn't fit
Taylor (still crying): But he's a really little monster!

After Ryan picked him up from preschool:
"Dad can we go to Cowafornia? I really want to pet a cow!"

After hearing that Ryan and I were going to Las Vegas for the weekend
"Why are you going to Lost Vegas? You'll get lost"

Random conversation in the car with me
Taylor: Mom is Jesus in the clouds?
Me: No buddy he's in heaven
Taylor: Where's heaven?
Me: In space somewhere.
Taylor: So when someone dies they can go to heaven and see him?
Me: Yes
Taylor: What if I just pretend to be dead? Then can I see him?

Taylor: Mom am I your favoritist today?
Me: You're always my favoritist.
Taylor: But do you love me mostest today?
Me: I love you mostest everyday.
Taylor: Nooo! The other day you loved Jessica the mostest- she told me so!


"When I grow up and I'm 10, I'm going to be superman!"

Life Changes...

Isn't the stress of life just great sometimes?!? The last few months have been very stressful for our family. So here's a recap and how things have turned out--

In December I had to have an ablation. This is along the same lines of a hysterectomy but less invasive. Long story short- the doctor was nice enough to give me an infection which led to the ablation and some major antibiotics! The way the doctor phased it was that I had won the lottery on the infection because only 0.5% of patients get one with what I had done. Why is it that I can't win something that involves an amazing award??? Nope, not me... I win the prize that gives me surgery, of which we had to pay $1000, and some nasty antibiotics that I will NEVER take again!

All through this time, I was having some major issues at work due to budget cuts that hit our facility. I started looking and interviewing for jobs in July with no luck. After being told that 2 of the 5 days I worked I would have to take on a patient load of 48 to 1- Ryan and I decided to take a leap of faith and quit my full-time, benefited job. For those that are not in the medical field... a patient ratio of 48 to 1 means that I would be the ONLY nurse to 48 patients. Not only is this not safe (for obvious reasons) it's extremely difficult because if anything happens, I am ultimately responsible due to the fact that I am the RN in the area. Jan. 7 was my last day. I felt a sense of relief after quitting but the stress of having no insurance and no full-time job was a bit daunting. Thankfully, I was able to pick up hours at a care center that I worked at before.

After, literally, months of interviewing, I was finally offered and accepted a job at LDS hospital in SLC. (I think Utah is about one of the only areas that doesn't have a nursing shortage!) It was such a stress relief yesterday to go fill out all of the employment paperwork! I am very excited to be back working for IHC. I have always felt that I could spend my entire career working for them. Mainly because the company is so large, has an amazing reputation, and has tons of different opportunities and areas of practice to keep me from ever getting "stuck" in an area.

I will be working on the psychiatric/behavioral health unit. This is a lock down unit that medically treats patients with injury etc. directly related to mental health issues. I will admit that this is not my "ideal" area of work-- It's the same type of nursing that I was doing before. However, I know that I am good at it and that I have the patience to deal with these very difficult patients. Not to mention the fact that it gets me into IHC. We will see where my career goes from here.

I have truly felt a sense of calm as Ryan and I discussed and then accepted this position. We feel like we took a true leap of faith by quitting my last job. I have a sense that for some reason Heavenly Father wants me to work this new job. There were too many "coincidences" that lead to me interviewing and then taking this job. I don't know why and may never know the reasons but I feel like this is where I am supposed to be for now.

I am hoping that life calms down for at least a little while. I think our next endeavor will be the decision to buy a house again. I'm still not sure if I am ready for that yet-- there are pro's and con's to each side... and with me now working in downtown SLC, it changes the direction that our thoughts were headed as far as areas etc. Hopefully, we have a few months of calm before we have to make life changing choices....