The appraisal is in

and is wasn't good.

I thought we had it in the bag since it was the same appraiser who did our construction loan and that rarely happens since banks no longer have the power to pick who they want. I thought there was no way he would come in that much lower than his original appraisal. But he did and now we're trying to figure out how to come up with $40,000 in extra cash.

It will all work out . . . somehow, but today was kind of a stinky day. It looks like we might be putting our house on the market sooner than we wanted to.

Now in the spirit of Thanksgiving,

not a day goes by where someone in our family isn't thankful for Alex.

We all love him for the smiles and the giggles and the stories he tells and his overall happy nature.

But I think most of all we love being able to dress him up! 

 

 

A somewhat eventful week

Last Sunday kind of felt like the city of Enoch in our ward . . . if you weren't there, you missed some pretty big stuff. We got a new bishopric. Quinn Howard is the new bishop; Ty and I have speculated often that he would be bishop someday.

Three kids sick this week and several days of missed school. Wish they could all be sick at once instead of one after another.
Wednesday Ty and I got a call while we were at the house in Lake Point that the home two doors down from our Stansbury home was on fire. I thought it might be a little kitchen fire. No, it turned out to be the real deal. Burned in 20 minutes and we live a half a mile from the fire station.

Kiersten was the only home at the time and she got evacuated. I was grateful it didn't spread to other homes. While all the neighbors were congregating outside, one lady who lived several doors down came frantically down the street trying to find her daughter. After about 20 minutes the daughter was found at a friend's home. It made me realize how important it is to have a meeting place other than the mailbox (the mailbox is just too close). Ever since I was a child I've thought of what things I would throw out the window if we had a fire. This fire made me realize there is absolutely no time. Fireproof box is probably the only way to go with valuables.

On Friday and Saturday we set up the sport court at the house in Lake Point. We may not be able to move in if our appraisal on Tuesday goes south but we will be able to play hoops.

Our hairy not-so-little wolf spider friends (one had a 4-inch span). We've killed 22 so far, too many of those in the house. My poor kids living in the basement. Just glad my bedroom isn't down there. Maybe my girls will keep their clothes off the floor.

I also started the Book of Mormon again, trying to read it in 60 days and finishing up Christmas Day. So far I'm amazed at how a people can have spiritual experiences and then forget the Lord so quickly. It is so fundamental to our testimonies to daily remember Christ because it is so easy to forget Him. That's why I enjoy reading my scriptures. It helps me to not forget.

About that last post . . .

Yah, not feelin' so free.

This is what has taken just about every minute of every day. I'm so ready to be done.

And this is Ty's first rodent catch in our yard. He was pretty excited to find him dead in the trap he set.

Feelin' a little free

I knew this week I would be turning over the Stansbury Park Community Association newsletter to the new editor.

I was also planning on turning over my treasurer duties I've been doing for the past 3 years.

What I didn't know was I would be released from Primary.

Last Friday Karen, the Primary president, stopped by to tell me she felt I should be released and that it would probably happen Sunday. When it did happen I had a wave of emotion come over me. I will miss Primary but am excited to go back to Relief Society although a little strange to be released with no other calling. I've been in Primary for 8 1/2 years of the last 10. I honestly was not expecting it. We've been together as a presidency for over 3 years; I thought they'd redo the Primary presidency when I move in a month of two. At our last presidency meeting I voiced my opinion of being done with Primary. It was a bad day and I was feeling very stressed and MENTALLY tired. Stansbury Days were coming up where I had obligations; Nate needed a birthday party even if it was 3 weeks late; there were doctor's appointments between Alex and Nate; the house building was going full force with decisions that needed to be made YESTERDAY; my current house was a disaster because of summer break and my lack of ever being home to keep it clean; and I was supposed to be putting together a quarterly activity. I just couldn't do it and told Karen so.

BUT NOW . . . kids are back in school and my house stays cleaner; I've quit the Stansbury Community board and handed over my responsibilities there; Nate got his party; there are still decisions to be made on the house, but they are getting fewer. Staying in Primary would be no problem. Heck, I'm not even doing the program this year (I was VERY smart to switch with the other counselor at the beginning of the year). That definitely would have made me one crazy lady.

So now I have no real responsibilities and I kind of like it. For a little while anyway. I've still got a lot to keep me busy. Who knew building a house could be so time consuming? :)

Flowers from the Primary presidency as a thank you. Aren't they gorgeous?!

6 week baby photos

Just got Alex's 6 week pictures back (now that he's almost 10 weeks). I thought it was fun to compare my other children's pictures taken at the same time.

 We all think he looks the most like Nate. And we all love him.

Every prayer offered by the kids involves thanking Heavenly Father for our baby.

Mr. McClatchy

There were red and baby blue ribbons tied everywhere.

His funeral was today.

He died last Sunday from strangulation.

He went to his room to change his Sunday clothes, became intrigued with swinging from a bathrobe belt tied to the bunk bed and ended up with it around his neck.

He was only eight years old.

He was Nate's age.

He was in Nate's first grade class.

I was a reading mom that year and remember reading with him. His mom worked at the school and sometimes she would walk down the hall while we were reading. He would always tell his mom hi and give her a shy little smile.

Nate would come home from school and tell us how Mrs. Heaton would call Jacob, Mr. McClatchy and Nate thought that was hilarious.

Jacob became Mr. McClatchy in our home and we frequently asked Nate about Mr. McClatchy and what happened at school that day.

It's strange to think he is gone. As a mother I cannot imagine losing a child, especially losing a child so suddenly and in a place you'd think is pretty harmless. My heart aches for his mother. He was the baby of the family with two older brothers on missions and a 15-year-old brother at home. Death can be such an awful thing. How grateful I am for the knowledge I have that death is not the end. Mrs. McClatchy will see her Mr. McClatchy again someday. Oh what a hopeful thing.

It's still raining

Monday was quite possibly one of the worst days ever. Even Tyler concurred.

Nathan was scheduled to have a tympanoplasty done on his right ear. Last year he had complained of his ear hurting when he went swimming and I did nothing. This year I thought I should have his hearing checked and sure enough he was hearing about 30 decibels lower than he should. Dr. Ventura, his ear doctor, said he had a perforated ear drum and that we should have a tympanoplasty done where they take a skin graft from behind the ear to fix the hole.

Well, he's had a perforated ear drum before on that ear and to fix it Dr. Ventura put a patch on it. It was quick and we were home within 2 hours and Nate was out playing that afternoon. I assumed this was what we were doing and scheduled the surgery for the day before his 8th birthday.

Nathan, Alex, and I arrived at the hospital at 7 am and got checked in. The anesthesiologist came in and casually asked if I knew this would take a couple of hours. I was a little surprised, but went to wait in the waiting room.

Also that morning I woke up bleeding . . . again. I'm 5 weeks postpartum and ready to have my body back. Over the past 5 weeks the bleeding has slowed and stopped for a couple of days and then started back up. Well again, I assumed I would be home in a couple of hours and could deal with the bleeding. Alex started getting a little fussy in the waiting room, so I picked him up and left to walk down the hall. I found a phone to call Ty to tell him we would be a little while, went to the rest room and knew I needed to go home. I was bleeding too heavily and was not prepared. I called Ty back in tears and asked him to come to the hospital.

He came and switched places with me. I went home and called my doctor's nurse. She of course told me to just take it easy. I wanted to ask her how exactly I was supposed to do that with 5 kids, a new baby, building a house, and one of my kids was having a surgery I did not anticipate. I did my best and even had Kiersten and Erik mow the lawn for me which was a first for them.

Nathan finally came home about 1:30pm with stitches behind his ear and a big bandage on his ear that he needed to keep on until his appointment on Thursday. He didn't look happy and I felt so badly for scheduling this surgery right before his birthday. I also had to reschedule his birthday pictures.

Saturday we spent the day at Cherry Hill, and despite having all the kids wear sun screen, Ty didn't put any on himself. Needless to say he got rather burnt. He spent all day Monday trying not to itch the sunburn even though he desperately wanted to. I thought he would go crazy.

Nate's birthday was as good as we could hope for. I let him stay in his jammies all day. His Primary teacher brought balloons, a happy birthday sign for the front lawn, and candy. She had told me Sunday how nervous he was about this surgery and I told her it would be nothing. Well, he had something to be nervous about. I don't think he was in a lot of pain, more discomfort than anything. I really wanted to do something fun so he'd forget about his ear, but I didn't dare venture very far from my bathroom. I'm hoping that this bleeding is nothing more than my monthly friend returning with a vengeneance. Ty's back was good yesterday and much better today.

We're all glad Monday is over. It was one of those days that never turn out quite like you think it's going to and I hope to never have a day like it again.