Random Fun

Derek in deep thought at a Jazz game

Derek, Hunter and Matthew at a Jazz game - they were clear in the back but still had a blast!
Megan being crazy with Jake's encouragement behind the camera

Jake being crazy without any encouragement from anyone

Christmas recital

Proud mom and Megan. Her recital was at Eastmont Middle School. What a blast from the past for me...
Meg and her favorite person in the world, Aunt Mel

Meg with mom and dad after the recital

There she is in the middle...standing on her hands.

Kenzi, Emily and Megan

Meg before the recital

She was so excited all day! Especially becuase she got to wear make-up! She is such a girlie girl.

School pictures and rooftop fun

Jake and Derek helped put up Christmas lights this year. I held my breath the whole time they were up there. This was a big deal for Derek...he is really afraid of heights!

Jake hanging lights....Hey, isn't it December? Where are your pants young man???

Meg's school pic. The last thing I told her before she left for school that day was "MEGAN, TAKE OFF YOU JACKET AS SOON AS YOU GET TO SCHOOL...DO NOT WEAR THE CHEETAH JACKET FOR YOUR PICTURES!!! She had a lovely green shirt on underneath that favorite jacket of hers. Oh well, this picture is so Megan! Miss Obedient!

Derek's school pic

Jake's school pic

November

Night games on our tramp - Jake (in white) is apparently too cool for a jacket. Our poor neighbors are probably sooooo sick of the constant noise in our backyard. If any neighbors are reading this, I am so very sorry. We are the worst neighbors!!!

Megan scooting away at the Riverside family fun night at Classic Skating

Derek and company at the school skate night...This little group of boys spent a lot of time scoping out the girl situation for the "snowball" skate. What a weird experience to see your little boy "snowballing" with a girl! Yikes!

Derek and mom at Thanksgiving dinner

Jake and Alan at Thanksgiving

Megan at Thanksgiving...She was sick that day and only ate one little bowl of ice cream then laid her head down for a little nap.

Thanksgiving at the Golden Corral. Since no one at our house felt inspired to cook (no one at our house is ever inspired to cook) we did a low-stress meal at the Corral. Pretty decent food, good company, and absolutely no clean up. Megan isn't showing in this picture...She was not feeling well and didn't want to cooperate for a family pic.

PARTY TIME

Megan and friends at Sam's party. Meg was so excited for this party that she was packed and in her favorite cherry swim suit 3 hours before the party started - which made for a long morning for both of us. Every 5 minutes for 3 hours I was asked if it was time to go yet. By the time we left, she said "FINALLY!!!"

The Amazing Gracie Gledhill

Michele and Gracie
Gracie

Miss Gracie Gledhill - the cutest 8-month old I have ever seen! Gracie is the daughter of my long-time friend, Michele. This little miracle girl has survived a major heart surgery and is getting ready for another one. She is a beautiful, tough little girl who has been through a lot and has also blessed a lot of people with her story. I had the chance to eat lunch with Michele last week and hang out with Gracie. She is the most beautiful baby with the most expressive eyes. When Gracie isn't keeping a constant eye on Michele, she will completely focus on whoever is talking like she is part of the conversation. This sweet little girl is so loved by so many!

The Adventures of Megan

Megan all wrapped up Derek toilet papering Megan - I had to add some breathing space for her - something Derek seemed to overlook!

Look away if you are queasy! Well guess what...I am queasy too but I couldn't look away! Here's a little injury Megan received on a morning I was getting ready to visit my dad at the ICU. According to Derek, I let out a few swear words when I first saw this (it was much bloodier before those lovely staples went in). She says she walked into a wall. Who knows - Derek and I just heard the screaming afterward. When the Doctor was shaving the area to be stapled, I started to cry and said "It took a year to grow out her bangs!" I guess it will take at least that long to grow this beautiful bald patch out. Megan did report the boys in her class thought the staples were really cool!

P.S. Megan says "That hurt"

My Dad, The Toughest GUY I Know

I don't have a picture to go with this story because we didn't think to take pictures of what was happening because it was too stressful. My dad was experiencing what he thought was a bad case of pneumonia on October 30. He made it to an Instacare and completely scared that doctor because his oxygen was sooo low. The Instacare Dr. called 911 to transport him to St. Mark's Hospital. Lucky for us, some amazing doctors caught on that this might be a heart problem. They were able to diagnose that a heart valve was leaking and quickly got him into surgery to replace a heart valve. The doctors (and nurses) seemed pretty surprised that my dad was able to survive everything that went on...but you have to know my dad. He is a fighter and he is tough! He got out of the hospital on Wednesday, Nov. 5 and is getting stronger every day. He is doing great and never even filled his pain medication prescription! I have learned many things from this experience...mostly I feel incredible gratitiude and love for my dad! I have discovered that life can change in an instant. During this stressful time, I have felt the strength that comes from faith and prayer. I am sure that our family has been blessed with a miracle, and I feel incredibly blessed and humbled by that!
I have to give a shout out to my Alan who took over for me this week so I could spend time with my dad (including being a room mom at a 5th grade Halloween party and getting a neighbor to do Megan's hair for Halloween). Alan can bring home the bacon AND fry it up in a pan! Thank you Alan!!! And I have to mention my amazing sister, Melanie, who is always there for everybody when they need her! And my dad's wife Janet who is doing her job and my dad's job at the same time...I truly have an amazing family!

Mom of the Year

I think someone needs to nominate me for Mom of the Year! I decided to take on a little part-time job during the day while the kids are at school. What I forgot to do is tell the school that I now had a job and what my new work number is. What I also forgot to do is turn on my cell phone today. When I finally checked my cell phone at about 12:30, I turned it on and realized the school had been trying to call me since 10:00 that morning. They had left messages that my little Megan was laying on the sick bed in the office. I quickly called the school (2 1/2 hours after they first started to call me) and found out Megan got tired of waiting for me, so she decided she felt better and went back to class. I think the guilt from this one will last for a while!

Needless to say, Megan has pretty much gotten anything she wanted today!

"Meg, would you like another brownie?

"Mommy will clean your room today!"

"Megan, let's go play with your pet shops"

"Would you like some ice cream with that 3rd brownie?
etc....

I'm sure all of that food bribery is really going to help her flu-like symptoms!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Today is my dad's birthday - I won't mention any numbers.... Let's just say he is starting the countdown to retirement. I hope you had a great day even though it sounds like you were sick! You are looking pretty good for an old guy! Love, Nat, Alan and the kids

Having fun over UEA weekend

Meg and Meg's hair - Look at her hair go!
Jake catching some air
Meg practicing her backbends
Derek being his goofy self
When Jake jumps, Derek goes flying!

We decided to stay home over UEA...too much going on this weekend with church callings and things are a bit crazy over at Fidelity! So maybe next year we will be laying on a beach somewhere over UEA weekend...one can only dream!

Swim Meet

Jake and his beautiful coaches Jessica and CC - No wonder he loves to go to swim practice!
Jake and his coach Weston - Weston is, according to Jake, "so awesome and really cool!"
Jake getting ready for the meet - Go Stingrays!
Meg making her own fun at a CPAP clinic

Baseball and Birthdays

Derek showing his "manliness" while pitching with frozen hands in frigid weather

Megan (in pink) at tumbling class - my camera won't take a good picture of her actually tumbling

Megan talking instead of tumbling at her tumbling class

Jake's 13th Birthday! He got his cell phone and a giant cookie from Mrs. Fields. I think he had a pretty good birthday! He's been texting away ever since. That's Derek ready for some action at his last game of the season.

Derek with Coach Lou (next to him) and Coach Jeremy (to the right). We feel pretty lucky to have had the greatest coaches who taught Derek a lot about baseball and sportsmanship!
Derek - Lucky "13" in the dugout

San Diego Vacation

More pictures from our San Diego vacation in March

(*note to self - I need to take more pictures of the boys...not just Megan...oops!)