Kerstyn is 14!

Our family enjoyed a beautiful day at The Magic Kingdom celebrating Kersty's 14th birthday! 

Happy Birthday Kerk!

Thanksgiving 2012

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with many things to be thankful for. We were happy to spend some of the day with Chris' side of the family.  His mom made a wonderful meal and we got to visit with Ricky, Carolyn and Bay too.  We just missed Holly this year but we will be looking forward to Christmas time.

Big Kid Date

The kids are out of school all week so Chris and I took tonight to spend some quality time with just Brennan and Kerstyn.  

We had a wonderful gospel discussion during dinner and then enjoyed a movie together after.

I can't believe how quickly they are growing up.

Family Pictures 2012 - Sneak Peak

Tender Mercies

I'm back, I hope...

I quit blogging for a while.  I just couldn't get it done, or wouldn't get it done.  But, my blog has been a place for me to journal and record the little things going on in our lives and I have found myself looking back at posts to get strength and encouragement, especially pertaining to Aislinn's health journey.

So, here I am, trying to do better at recording our lives for my posterity.  I hope that one day, I can look back, or they can look and see how much we love each other and how our lives have been guided through the years.

I've gone back to the beginning of October with some blog entries.

Kerstyn's Personal Progress

Kerstyn has been working really hard since November 24, 2010 when she turned 12 to earn her Personal Progress by the time she was 14 and went into the Mia Maids.  She did it!  We are so proud of her!

Happy Halloween 2012

There were't many kids out this year, but we had fun none the less.

Visiting Yoo-Ma and Papa

I took the kids over to visit Mom and Dad today because the kids were out of school.  We had a great time.

Look alike?

We got dressed alike today and didn't even plan it.  Kinda crazy, I'm thinking...

Fall Ball 2012

Chris and I had a wonderful time at the Fall Ball this year.  I always get excited about it and Chris always, well, he deals with it. ;)

10 mile temple walk and Tallahassee

Kerstyn was dropped off at the Eustis building this morning at 6:30 to head down to do a 10 mile walk to the temple with the Young Women in the stake.  I was supposed to meet her about 3 miles out and walk the rest of the way in with her, but when I was on my way to the scheduled meeting place, she had already made it there.  So, I told her I would park at the temple and come to her. 

I got down there and parked at the temple then ran to her.  I cried on my way because I was passing girls that were walking and some running, to the temple.  I was running to Kerstyn and while I was running, I was thinking, I will do anything, just anything to save her and get her to the temple...  It was a beautiful day and a beautiful experience. 

Kerstyn was actually quite ill but would NOT miss the walk.  She was a trooper.

We hustled away from the temple because Chris got us a flight to Tallahassee that afternoon to see the football game and then for Kerstyn and I to attend the memorial service of Dr. Croft who was the Director of Bands at FSU while I was there.

We had a WONDERFUL weekend.

Not again

I took Aislinn to the doctor Wednesday.  She woke up Tuesday with a low grade fever and complaining of a headache.  Wednesday, she woke up with a fever again but was complaining of her ears hurting, so I thought she had an ear infection.  She did not have an ear infection, so Dr. Soto thought it was viral.  Well, she came home today with a fever of 103.6 and was not doing well.  I gave her Motrin immediately and she then told me, "I think that I need Daddy to give me a blessing. I'm not getting better."  Well, that sounded eerily familiar, so I called Chris who was heading back from hearings in Orlando.  I also called Dr. Soto's office who said they still thought it was viral but if I was concerned to go to After Hours Pediatrics since she seemed to be getting worse instead of better.  What was frustrating is that while I was sitting in the pediatrician's office with her, I felt prompted to ask for a urinalysis but I didn't do it because she didn't have the typical symptoms. 

I should have followed the spirit and asked because I ended up at Arnold Palmer's Emergency Room tonight and they immediately gave Aislinn some Tylenol just 2 hours after the Motrin because she still had a fever of 101.7.  After 3 hours, we went back and she does in fact have another UTI. 

Not.  Again.

Well, I called Dr. Rich, and we are getting another ultrasound done soon.  I'll keep you posted.

One more day

We didn't fly out until 5:10 this afternoon, so we went around Provo and ate breakfast at Magleby's. We purchased BYU shirts for all the kids and picked up some information for Kerstyn who has her eye on going there.

We didn't arrive home until almost midnight and we were tired, but certainly glad that we went.

Back to reality...

Sunday General Conference

We had wonderful seats again for both sessions today. This morning, we got to enjoy Music and the Spoken Word too.

Apparently, I only know how to take upside down pictures...

Following the last session of conference, we went up to Bountiful to visit with David Wade and his family. It was so much fun and right before we left, we watched a really neat snow storm come in. By the time we made it down to the interstate, it was rain, but the snowflakes were so big and pretty.

Saturday General Conference

This morning we sat 7 rows back again in Thomas S. Monson seats. SO COOL! The session was wonderful! Following the session, we were just watching people, etc. because there is so much going on that you don't see when watching it on television. For example, you don't see how Elder Packer can't stand on his own and how Elder Nelson and Elder Perry literally hold him up so he can stand when the prophet enters. You probably didn't see how they were holding him up, literally, during the intermediate hymn and the words of the last verse were about holding each other up and loving one another. Senator Hatch also walked right in front of us as we were standing after the session and he stopped and shook our hands. That was kinda neat too.

Below are Chris and I in between sessions. Upside down, of course. We walked down to Subway, which was almost as far away as our car. Gail asked if we were parked at the airport, it was so far away. It makes me laugh again just typing that. Anyway, my feet were killing me and I ended up taking them off and walking barefoot. Classy, I know...

While the men were in Priesthood Session, Gail and I went to the new City Creek something or other and shopped and ate... We had a wonderful time, of course.

Brazil Sao Paulo North Mission Reunion

Chris and I have been looking forward to this day ever for a very long time. Chris had an amazing Mission President that he loves till this day. President Steuer is a great influence in Chris' life and ever since Chris and I met, I've wanted to meet him. Well, today it happened! They had a reunion for the missionaries that served under President Steuer and when we found out, I booked tickets!

There was pretty good turn out and it was neat for Chris to see some faces that he hadn't seen in a long time.

We arrived a few minutes late because the address we had was wrong, but when we got there, we saw President Steuer talking to various people. A few minutes later, while we were looking at pictures and other things on display from the mission, President Steuer came up behind Chris, put his hand on his shoulder, shook his hand, and starting talking to Chris.

It has been 25 years and Chris has said through the years that he thought President Steuer might not even remember him. I assured him that he would and does. I asked him, do you think President Carter would forget his missionaries? The answer seemed to be no, but I could still tell he was skeptical.

President Steuer remembered Chris. He remembered that he was from Florida. He remembered that Chris was on a visa delay and served in Florida before he got to Brazil. He remembered that when he finally got to Brazil, that he put him to work. When I say he remembered, I want to be clear that he said all of those things himself. He did not just agree to them, he brought them up. It was perfect, wonderful, and powerful.

All of the people that served under him stood and told where they live, what they do and about their family. There was a large amount of software engineers, apparently Chris missed the memo. ;)

They had a slide presentation then President Steuer stood and talked for a while. Sister Steuer was supposed to be there, but she had to go be with one of her daughters that was going into pre-mature labor.

President Steuer told about his family and shared pictures of all of them. Then, he talked to "his" missionaries. He spoke in Portuguese to them in the beginning and, of course, I had no idea what he was saying, but I looked over at Chris and he had tears running down his face. Apparently, he used to always start every zone conference with a question. He would ask the missionaries, "where are the strong ones?" It was never answered and meant to have the missionaries self evaluate their state. Tonight was different, tonight he asked the question again, but this time, he answered it. As he motioned to "his" missionaries in the room, he answered, "they are here". WOW! He then spoke in English so the rest of us could understand. He taught from the scriptures, his message was sweet and special.

I'm so glad that I finally met him and I look forward to seeing him again.

It was an amazing night.

Typhoon Lagoon Take 2

There were 15 of us again today, but I don't think that we ever had all 15 present at the same time. It was a wonderful day full of relaxing and playing.
After tiring ourselves out here all day, we took the youngest 3 home and got a babysitter for them, Chris, Brennan, Kerstyn and I went to Apopka to see The Hunger Games.

Good movie and a great day!