Mom and Dad's Visit

My Mom and Dad came on Jan. 17th to visit us here in Ely. It was so fun to have them here. The girls put Grandpa to work right away. They pulled out the book that has all kinds of facts about animals. Each page studies a different animal. It reminded me of when I was a kid and Dad would read to us from the encyclopedia about alligators and crocodiles. I loved it. Apparently Eliza and Kate do too.

The kids in the toy room. Dad made a wooden fridge for the kids while he was here to add to their kitchen. They love it. I just can't believe how precise Dad can be with an old saw, a pencil, and a piece of wood. It is perfect!

While they were here, we got to see Nathaniel take the oath or be sworn in as a lawyer. It is one more step in the process. It is only a five minute ceremony where the judge reads something and then Nathaniel repeats it. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is. It is like the icing on the cake. It is the final piece in the puzzle. You go to 3 years of law school, study and take the bar, fill out your character and fitness report, pay more money than you'll ever be able to repay, then you finally get to be sworn in and then you wait you the bar card to come in the mail. I am just glad it is all done. He worked so hard and I am so proud of him. It was fun to have my parents here to celebrate the occasion with us. My Dad said that if only all lawyers would do what they swear to do in the oath, this world would be a much better, more honest place.

I love watching my parents with my kids. Tanner doesn't take to anyone, but then I realized, that's also because he is always away from home and familiarity. This time was different. He let my Mom hold him and play with him. He was laughing so hard when my Dad was playing with him this night. I love it!

For having such a great sense of humor, my Dad looks so serious. My Dad has such a great outlook on life. He told my brother, "Anyone who thinks life isn't funny isn't paying attention." I need to have his outlook more often, especially right now. Then again, I find Ely funny a lot.

I am so happy they came. We didn't really do anything, but it was just so fun to have company. It gets lonely here. People tell us all the time that Ely is like this black hole. No one ever comes to visit. Well, we lucked out I guess!

Tanner's 1st Birthday!

I love the first birthday! I love to see how different kids react to their first experience with high doses of sugar just handed to them to do what they will. Kate was so funny on her first birthday. She just poked at the cupcake and then wouldn't touch it. She wouldn't even eat it. Tanner was the polar opposite, like most kids. His birthday was actually the 15th.

I could have kicked myself for not having candles. And this isn't the first or second time I have done this for my kids' birthdays. How hard is it to remember the candles? Apparently it's too much for me to remember. So, we have gotten well versed with the matches. It worked out really well for Tanner because the flame died before he had the chance to grab at it.

He got the idea REALLY fast. Use both hands and shove. Atta boy!

The after look. I had to get a picture of him naked because he is so much smaller than Nathan was, it amazes me they came from the same mold.

"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to." Eliza was determined to make him happy all day. She didn't like the fact that he would cry on his birthday. That just wasn't right to her.

We didn't do much else for his birthday. We didn't even buy him presents. But before you judge me, he doesn't know any different and we just had Christmas and have plenty of toys. So why not save ourselves a few dollars and put it to more worthy causes?
I just love our little guy. He is so sweet. His smile is my sunshine. I love his dimples. I love that his hair stands up like my brothers. I love how ticklish he is. I love his little hands and feet. And I love, loVE, LOVE, the way he lights up when he sees me. He is such a blessing in our family.

Spontaneous New Year's Trip

New Year's Eve was not like most in the past. We had a few troubles that made it a little challenging. Once again, our furnace stopped working. Of course it happened on New Year's Eve when nothing is open. I was not feeling great with a UTI but was unwilling to go and pay outrageous ER prices to be seen and medicated. Ely does not have a walk-in clinic so it was ER or nothing. Nathaniel gave me a blessing and I drank as much cranberry and orange juice as my body would allow and I actually turned out okay. If you have ever had a UTI (which I have had several) you don't get better without meds so I know it was a direct blessing from above that I got better. Nathaniel tried to restart the furnace and it worked for a little while, but then just stopped completely. We were worried about the kids getting too cold, so we let them have a "sleepover" in the living room to try to stay warmer. We added an extra quilt later when we found out it was supposed to be -22 that night. Yikes! That's really cold with a working furnace, terrifying when you don't have heat at all. We warmed up their rice socks and tucked them in as best we could.

We woke up New Year's morning and it was once again freezing in the house. I woke up to Tanner crying at 4 a.m. and noticed it was in the 50's in the house. I went to the cellar to restart the furnace and see if I could get it working again. It didn't stay on. I went back to bed and had to sleep with the quilts over my head because I was so cold. I laid there in bed worrying about my kids being too cold, not knowing what we were going to do because every time the furnace goes out it is a holiday or the weekend, or both. This was the 3rd time the furnace had gone out on us leaving the house in the 40's at best by the time we actually leave. We once again decided to leave our freezing house, this time going south to the land of the SUN! The funny thing about all of this is that Nancy, Quentin and their family were supposed to be at our house for New Year's, but the roads were so bad they couldn't come. It would have been horrible if we would have had 5 extra freezing children to worry about. We instead went to their house in Yuma. So, we still got to have that visit...just in a better location! Nathan helped us pull into the driveway at about 10 p.m. New Year's night.

Nathaniel dropped us off and turned around on Sunday and drove back to Ely to work and get the Landlord to put in the baseboard heaters they told us they were going to put in while we were gone. Well, Monday they had someone service the furnace AGAIN. We were really frustrated. If the furnace goes out again we are going to stay in a hotel and deduct it from our rent until they properly fix the heat situation.
Monday we got to go to the church and have FHE with Nana and Papa and Becca. It was really fun. We played relay games and musical chairs (for kids and adults). I love Nathaniel's family. It is especially fun to have Nancy in the family since we were friends prior to being married to Sorenson boys.

Oh how I missed Arizona and LOVED the trips to the park especially on Friday when we didn't even have jackets. I will move back there, sooner or later...hopefully sooner than later. One day while we were playing outside I heard Katelyn singing a song she had made up that went something like this, "I love me just the way that I am..." It was so cute. I love her just the way she is too.

Tanner got ear infections while we were there. He had high fevers, had a hard time sleeping, and was just plain miserable the last few days. Luckily, Nathaniel surprised me by coming late Thursday night instead of Friday night so he was there to help out. I really needed it because Nathan had the flu and was throwing up as well. Bless my husband for coming to help out. I felt so bad for exposing Nancy's family to all of our illnesses. She's a gem, she didn't even kick us out, make us feel bad, and she helped me wash Nathan's bedding after a major nasty blowout diaper.

I love my time with family, I just wish I didn't have sick kids when I travel. It makes me stress more. I was very happy we got time with relatives even if the circumstances were not ideal.
Just as a side note, this is the coolest wagon ever. It folds up to fit into your car. So cool. We took it to the park and it was so handy. I think that will be my first purchase once I move to Arizona (see how I am already planning that move).

Nathan trying to cheer up a sad little brother.

Tanner was miserable on Sat. morning, had a fever, and wouldn't sleep. We gave him some medicine and finally he gave out on the love sac. He took a good little nap on it while we loaded up the van.

By the time we got to Parker (2 hours from Yuma) Tanner was burning up again and was shaking. I gave him more medicine and held him while we both cried. I remembered Nathaniel's friend telling us that we needed to have him chew something to help clear out the tubes in his ears. I had bought licorice for Nathaniel so I gave Tanner a piece. He was such a mess, but he was happy. That's all that mattered. This is what he looked like the next time we stopped. I had given him lots of licorice by that point and had to take him into the restroom to clean him up. I will do anything to make a sick child smile. And what a goofy smile that is!