3rd week of November

Here are some highlights from this week. 

On Tuesday, we had our activity days.  Steve and Nyles came and helped us play floor hockey.  The kids had a lot of fun playing it.  Steve and Nyles then played it that night, for their combined YW/YM activity, which Steve was in charge of.

I went into work this week, riding the train.  I had to be in early two of the days, so I rode w/ Nyles on his way to school (at 7am).  Nyles auditioned to have a part in his school play BeetleJuice this week, and we just found out that he got in!  He's super excited!  He'll stay after school a couple times a week for practice, with the play in the Spring.

Great quote.  SLC Temple Square construction.  

Pretty sunrise as we arrived at Nyles' school, Mount Jordan Middle School.  

Steve has been feeling better this week, and since I was in the office all week, he got to work on the attic, making progress for the boys' Lego Room!  He got most of the flooring done.  Good work!

Friday night we met Dave/Joann and Stacie/Phill at the Draper Temple and did family sealings.  Other's were sick and weren't able to make it.  We had a great time though.  It was just the 6 of us w/ the sealing, which was nice.  It was a wonderful evening together.  Nyles watched his brothers while we were out and did a great job.  We are slowly starting to let Nyles be in charge, so Steve and I can go out here and there.

Saturday, Steve and Nyles went duck hunting.  They haven't got to go all month since Steve has had kidney pain and we were sick.  They were happy to finally go out again.  They met Zach Hannay out at Utah Lake and even shot a couple ducks.

Carter drew our family as turkeys; too cute.  At the Draper Temple after doing family sealings together.  Nyles and Steve ready to go duck hunting.

While Nyles and Steve were gone, Carter, Hudson and I ran some errands and racked up more leaves around the yard.  They were good helpers.  Carter found a pretty leaf from our pear tree.  Silly Piper.

More pretty leaves from our pear tree and a bush up front.

Nyles watching for ducks.  Zach and Steve.

We ordered Nyles a Gabb phone as an early Christmas present.  He's only a little excited to use it ;)  Carter will take Nyles' Gabb watch.  The Gabb phone/watches are great since they don't have internet, but you can contact your kids.  They're a lot "safer" to use for kids.

Nyles w/ his new phone. 

Nyles giving Carter and Hudson a ride to their beds after scriptures/prayers.

Nyles and Steve participated in a "Youth Program" in church during sacrament meeting.  It was kind of like a Primary Program, but for youth.  It was fantastic!  Our Bishop felt the youth should do it a couple weeks ago, and they prepared and executed it!  They had a couple musical numbers and each youth came up and said why or how they were a disciple of Christ.  Since Nyles is in his Deacon's Presidency, he gave a 2 minutes talk.  He did an awesome job!  Dave was able to come join us for sacrament meeting and Joann/LuDean/Diane joined via Zoom.  Thanks for the support!

As I was putting Hudson to bed last night, he asked, "When is Jesus going to come?"  I told him nobody knows.  He then said that he really wants him to come so he can see him again.  I told him I do too.  It brought tears to my eyes.  I love his pure testimony, even at such a young age.

My uncle Brent (my mom's older brother) passed away last night.  We're sad about the news.  We're still praying for Ryan (Barbara's son), that the Dr's will know how to treat his illness and that he'll recover soon.  He's had a rough week, in and out and back in the hospital, as they've been trying to figure out what's wrong.  We know the Lord hears our prayers and will answer them on His own timeframe.  I'm thankful for the gift of prayer so we can communicate to our Father in Heaven.

Great quotes:

2nd Week of November

Here is an update from this past week.  

Sunday evening Rose text and asked if they could have the Quaking Aspen tree Steve cut down from Dave's yard the day before.  I had put it on my blog so she'd seen it.  Ava decided she wanted to use trees like this for her wedding as decorations.  So Monday morning, Steve went out and got the tree out of our dump pile right before they came to pick people's "trash."   The tree was rotting, but Steve found some parts of the tree that were better.  He cut the tree and some of the branches and put them aside for Rose to look at.  It was a miracle I posted it on my blog that night (the night before our dump pick up and usually I don't post until Monday), and also that Rose happened to read it.  Rose also said that Summer had just told her, who talked to Ava, the night before.  Rose was praying for help and the Lord answered her prayer.

The Quaking Aspen tree.

Monday afternoon, Dave took Steve to AltaView Hospital to get his kidney stone removed.  It all went well and they were able to get it out!  I picked the kids up from school, then finished things up at work.  Thankfully it was my week to work from home.

On Tuesday, Steve rested most of the day.  I took the kids to school then Steve picked them up.  They put a stent in him during the surgery, from his kidney to his bladder to keep the ureter open.  Unfortunately the stent was rubbing on his bladder and kidney, and the suture strings that hanged out of his urethra were very uncomfortable.  He ended up taking narcotics all week to help w/ the pain.  I'm glad I was able to work from home again this week to take care of the kids and Steve and still work.  I'm also grateful Dave was able to take Steve and be w/ him.  He was in good hands.  Thank you!

I had activity days Tuesday afternoon.  We discussed gratitude and then played charades and pictionary w/ Thanksgiving words.  Steve also went to YMs that night, though he probably shouldn't have.

We got a little bit of snow Tuesday morning.  Yikes here comes winter!  Great quote.  

The kids playing w/ a train set Diane gave us.

Wednesday evening I went to Pilates class w/ Pauline.  It felt good to get out.

Pretty sunset.  We got a little chew toy for Piper.  She loves it!

Saturday morning Steve took Nyles and Carter over to help Diane carry Christmas decoration boxes up and down from the basement.  Hudson and I stayed home to clean and ran some errands.  Steve ended up coming home in pain.  Dave brought the boys home a while later.  We raked up leaves in our yard as well and cleaned up outside.

Hudson helping me mix some waffle batter.  Saturday evening Steve took out his stent.  He almost passed out, but didn't.  He felt mostly better after taking it out.  It cramped some but nothing like when it was in, nor like the kidney stone.  We're so happy to finally get it past us.

Steve was able to go to church w/ us on Sunday.  We took it easy, but enjoyed spending time together.  Cute Hudson drew "sunglasses" at church and wanted a picture.  Later Hudson dressing up as a knight.  Yep, we're counting down until our next cruise in May.

Great quote:

First week of November

We had a pretty exciting week.... not!  Steve ended up going into the ER Sunday night.  He thought he broke his ribs and was worried they were stabbing into his lungs or something since he now had a fever.  I hadn't been feeling well since Friday night, but didn't think much of it.  I figured I had a cold.  So while in the ER they did a CT scan to look at his ribs and lungs.  His lungs were ok and his ribs were bruised.  They also tested him for Covid, and sure enough it was positive.  Steve got home at 2:30am, then we tried to go to bed.

Steve was supposed to have his kidney stone removed Monday afternoon, but he called in and told them he had Covid, so they told him they'd reschedule.  I was supposed to go into the office the whole week, but since Steve was supposed to get his kidney stone out, I had told my boss I was going to work from home Monday.  

Since Steve tested positive for Covid, I figured I'd better test as well.  Sure enough, I was positive.  Carter wasn't feeling well either, so we tested him, and he was positive also.  Hudson and Nyles felt well, so they went to school.  I ended up working from home the whole week, while fighting chills, cough, and a runny nose.  It was tough at times, but I made it through.  I was thankful I was able to work from home and didn't end up taking any PTO.  

Hudson went to school Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, while Carter stayed home those days.  Hudson didn't have school Thursday since teacher had a staff meeting,  Ironically that night Hudson woke up w/ Croup, so Steve took him to the Dr.  Nyles also wasn't feeling well Friday morning either, so he stayed home from school.

My positive Covid test, along w/ Carter's positive test.

Nyles tried his pottery set we gave him from the Honoree Dinner.

And we got a little snow.  As we stayed home the whole week, the kids found ways to pass the time.  They came up w/ a new game called Turkey, where they pretend to be turkeys and shoot each other as they pass from one side to the other of the living room.  Hudson thinks it so fun!

Steve got another order of firewood.  

This person wanted 12 bundles of firewood for their home wood burning stove.  Great quotes.

Steve cut down some Quaking Aspen trees at Dave/Joann's place, then Dave brought the trees to our place to dump them.  Our bi-annual dump pick up is tomorrow, so it works out.

Steve and the boys felt good enough to go duck hunting Saturday afternoon.  While they were gone I worked on my Relief Society lesson.

I taught the lesson in Relief Society today.  I had 2 talks, "This is my gospel, this is my church" by Elder Renlund, and "Live up to your privileges" by Emily Freeman.  Both are great talks.  I mostly quoted from Renlunds.  I loved his analogy about dynamite. "Dynamite changed the world. It also made Nobel wealthy. Without a stabilizer, nitroglycerin was just too hazardous to be commercially valuable, as Ascanio Sobrero found out. By itself, as I mentioned, kieselguhr was of little value. But the combination of the two components made dynamite transformative and precious. In a similar way, the combination of the gospel of Jesus Christ and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides powerful and transformative benefits for us. The gospel is perfect, but a divinely commissioned church is required to preach it, maintain its purity, and administer its sacred ordinances with the Savior’s power and authority."

After church we stayed after to work on getting our temple recommends renewed. We'll go back next week to meet w/ our Stake Presidency. Before dinner we walked down to the grade school to play and take Piper for a walk/play catch w/ her ball. Steve's kidney has been hurting again. We're grateful his surgery got rescheduled for tomorrow.

Picture of dynamite for my lesson.  Silly kids got my camera phone.

Though we had a sick week, we played games together and tried to make the most of it.  It was good to spend time together, and we were thankful this round of Covid wasn't as bad as when we got it last year.  We're glad to be on this side of the sickness, and hope to be fully "better" soon.

Great quotes:

Last week of October

Here are some highlights: 

On Monday, October 28th, we officially celebrated Dave's birthday.  Steve and Nyles smoked some chili for dinner and I made some cornbread.  We met Dave/Joann at LuDean/Diane's place.  After dinner we sang Happy Birthday to Dave and played a fun game Diane organized.

Carter helping sing Happy Birthday to Dave.

Playing a fun game w/ sticky hands.

More fun w/ sticky hands.

Steve is working on building a "Lego Room" in our attic, and stairs going up to the attic.

The boys are getting super excited!

Carter and Nyles helped to paint the stairs' frame.

Silly Hudson trying on a mask at a store.  

Steve and Nyles in their Halloween costumes for stake YM/YW combined Halloween activity.

Carter's class Halloween party.  He dressed up as Captain Jack Sparrow.

Carter's class in their Halloween costumes.

Nyles as a Dr, Carter as Captain Jack Sparrow, and Hudson as a fireman.  Steve took them over to Sprucewood Elementary for some pizza and a trunk or treat.

Halloween night we went out trick or treating.  Steve decided to stay back and pass out candy.  He built a fire on the driveway, which was nice as it cooled off.  We got together w/ our neighbors on our street (Crestridge) and went trick or treating together.

Steve's set up to pass out candy.  Pretty sunset.  The kids on Crestridge (and Stacia holding Archie).

Back row: Clay Evan, Sienna Gatherum, Nyles, Ethan Gatherum (mask on), Kaitlyn Moreton, Zoee Gatherum.  Front row: Beau Evan, Tate Evan, Hudon, Carter, Archie and Stacia Barton.

With adults: Dee and Sydney Evans, me, Brad and Stacia Barton, Kyle and Josh Moreton, Ally and Ty Gatherum-and their dog.

Trick or Treating time.

I dropped Hudson off after the first block.  He was done, so he went and helped Steve pass out candy (really he just watched the fire).  I took Nyles and Carter and Clay and Beau around one more street before calling it.  They had PLENTY!

On Saturday we mostly stayed home.  I wasn't feeling that great, so I slept in.  Steve went and winterized our camper trailer and our sprinklers. Steve made more progress on the stairs going up to our "Lego Room" he's working on.  He got the stairs installed in the wall now!

We have stairs going up to the attic!

We then went over to Cabela's for some Christmas fun.  

It ended up being SUPER busy though, so we didn't stay very long.

Sunday morning I got the boy's tithing together to give to the Bishop.  As we got in the car, Steve was reminding the boys that even though we give the tithing to the Bishop, it really goes to the Lord.  Hudson then asked, "Who is the Lord?"  Steve then answered him, "It's Heavenly Father."  Then Hudson asked, "Is the Lord coming today?"  Steve answered, "That's a good question.  I don't know."  Such an innocent, yet thought provoking question from little Hudson.  He's a deep thinker for sure!

We got a little snow overnight!

On Sunday, we had our family dinner at our house, specifically the "honoree dinner."  This year it was Nyles' turn.  We had different soups for dinner, then gathered in our living room to say a few things about Nyles ie things we love/admire about him and give him a gift about it.

Taking turns telling Nyles what we love about him and giving him a hug.

More thoughts and hugs for Nyles!

Hudson had a little bit of a hard time since he wasn't getting any gifts, but he managed.

When we were done, we sang Happy Birthday to Cameron (he wasn't feeling good after his Covid shot, so Kim called him) and Happy Birthday to Steve - November birthdays in the family.  We then had cake and ice cream.  Nyles gave Carter and Hudson a ring pop each, which turned their tongues green!

Great quote:

Did you know that Mormon lived his entire lifetime while the Nephites were wicked and the Lamanites waged war against them?!

He never experienced righteousness and peace in the land.

He didn’t really have any super successful “missions” where he converted a bunch of people.

He didn’t get to perform miracles in front of a bunch of believers.

(This is all at least as far as we know, and I feel pretty fair assumptions based on his descriptions.)

His world was in extreme turmoil, war, and hatred from the moment he was born until he took his dying breath.

And yet he lived a righteous life, followed the Spirit, was visited by the Savior when he was 16 years old, tried to influence his world for good, and took on a writing project that influenced millions of people for years to come.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve definitely had the attitude sometimes that the world needs to go back to “normal” before my real purpose can go back to normal.

But Mormon never had a “normal” world.

And he still found a way to be one of the most righteous individuals in history and change history for the better.

President Nelson taught us recently to: “Embrace your new normal by repenting daily.

“Seek to be increasingly pure in thought, word, and deed.

“Minister to others.

“Keep an eternal perspective.

“Magnify your callings.

“And whatever your challenges, my dear brothers and sisters, live each day so that you are more prepared to meet your Maker.”

We don’t need to wait for old “normal” to do any of that.

It’s all available to us right now.

And even if we never go back, even if we keep getting more chaos and hatred and even bloodshed around us-

We still have full access to God, to our Savior, to righteousness, and to fulfilling whatever our purpose might be.

Credit to : Sister Cali Black

Happy Studying! #ComeFollowMe

4th week of October

 We had a pretty busy week.  Here are some highlights.

The boys had Monday off of school.  They went up to the cabin in the morning to help Dave winterize, then came home, got the boat, and went out duck hunting for the afternoon.  I worked all week in the office, riding the train downtown.

Nyles shot some Coots and a duck.  They are making progress on the SLC Temple and Visitor Centers.  Hudson playing w/ a duck decoy in the bathtub after they got home from hunting.  

Tuesday afternoon, we had our Halloween Activity Day.  We combined again w/ the girls.  We had 4 stations and had the kids rotate to each one every few minutes.  Steve and Nyles came and helped, which I greatly appreciated, and Hudson came and played :)

Fun Halloween activities: Bowling, ping pong, bingo and hat toss.

Having fun!

That evening Nyles and Steve went to a combined YW/YM activity.  They had a murder mystery dinner.  While they were gone, Carter, Hudson and I went to the library.

Steve is now working on a "Lego Room" in our attic.  The boys love playing Legos, but they make a mess, so we want to have one room to put them all in.  It will be a win/win for all of us.  

The start of the "Lego Room" in our attic.  Cute Carter on 'mustache' day at school.

Pretty sunset, then Draper Temple.

Thursday night, Nyles had his first band concert.  He is playing the flute, started in August.  

They did awesome, especially considering how short of time they've been playing. 

Nyles w/ his flute.  Dave came as well, and Joann/Diane/LuDean/my parents were able to watch online.  Thank you for your love and support.  It means a lot to all of us!

That night as we were getting ready for bed, Steve started feeling pain in his back (kidney).  He knew right away that he was starting to feel a kidney stone.  Luckily he had some pain meds that helped and he got some sleep.  Friday he was still feeling it, but he managed to get through the day.

Friday night we had out ward chili cookoff.  Nyles stepped up and made the smoked chili for Steve, as Steve still wasn't feeling well w/ his kidney stone in process.  I also made some chili.  Steve came to the dinner, though he wasn't feeling well and was drugged (ie a little out of it).  Steve did get a blessing from 2 men in the bishopric though while he was there.  Everyone voted on their favorite chili, and Nyles won first place!!! Good work Nyles!!!

Great quote.  Nyles after his first place win at our ward chili cookoff!

After we got the boys to bed, Steve went into the ER w/ even more pain from his kidney stones.  They did a CT scan and said his stone was 6.5mm and they only intervene at 7mm, so they sent him home w/ a med refill just after midnight.  They told him to call his Dr. to hopefully get him in next week or come back to the ER if it gets any worse.  Nice eh?

Saturday I mowed the lawn, we got groceries, and did more cleaning and laundry.  Then that afternoon, 4pm, we left to go over to Olympus Hills Bowling lanes for Dave's surprise 70th birthday party.  We helped set up and got ready for him to arrive.  As he walked through the door we all started to sing Happy Birthday to him.  Luckily he was totally surprised!  We actually pulled it off :)  The immediate family was there, along w/ extended family, plus neighbors and past/present ward members (including from the single's ward he was bishop in).  Overall it was a great turnout.

Dave coming through the door, surprised by the people inside!

Fun bowling!  Steve wasn't feeling great again, from his kidney stone in process, but he managed.

Disco time!

Glow sticks!!!

We all helped clean up and were out of there by 7:45pm (they were kicking us out as out time had ended and other people were coming in).  Steve continued to hurt and was tired, so we went to bed shortly after the kids did (with pain meds on board for Steve).  It was a fun evening though, and we were glad we pulled off the surprise party for Dave.  We are so thankful to have him in our lives.  It was great to celebrate him for a night.

Pretty Daisies in bloom and Mums; so pretty!

Sunday evening we went to Ezra's birthday party.

Great insight and quotes: