Baptism Day

I believe I mentioned in my last post that Jenna turned eight years old on Sunday, the 8th. Here's a picture of her with her ice cream cake.

Last Saturday, the 14th, Jenna had the opportunity to be baptized. We were so proud of the good decision she made, and we are so happy for our big girl. We were blessed to have our family come to town for the occasion. Joel's Mom, Brenda, and sister Erin flew in on Thursday morning along with my Mom. My sister Adrienne flew in Thursday as well, and my sister Cindy drove into town Thursday evening. Brenda's husband Roland was able to fly in Friday night, as well. And of course, my other four sisters already live in the valley. My cousin Kristin and her family were also able to come to the baptism.

Saturday was a beautiful day with the baptism in the morning. They do Stake baptisms here, so we didn't do anything for the program. But there were some nice talks and musical numbers. It was so special to watch Joel baptize and confirm Jenna. I cried more than once, and I think we all felt the Spirit strongly.

Here is Jenna before heading to the church...


Daddy and daughter...

Proud parents...

In their whites...

After the baptism we all came back to our house for a delicious brunch, starring Brenda's cinnamon rolls. Thanks Bren! Jenna got some wonderful presents, and she had a blast opening them, as always. One thing she got from Joel and I was a new scripture bag and a quad with her name on the front. She was really excited to have new, fancy scriptures. She has also really enjoyed ALL of the presents she received that day. She is a very lucky and loved girl!

And since all of us sisters were in one place at one time and even dressed up, we decided it would be a great time to get some group pictures. Aren't we cute!?!

And one with our beautiful Mother.

It was so wonderful to spend a nice weekend with our family. And it was even more special for our little girl to take such a big, important step in her life. We love you, Jenna!

First Day of School

Jenna and Will had their first day of school today! Last Monday Will had his Kindergarten roundup where they did a mini screening with the kids, and showed the parents around the school a little. Yesterday evening was the Meet the Teacher Open House, and that was the first time that all of us were able to really get into the school and see what was where. It's a large school with a lot of kids.

Jenna has been excited for school, but I think she got really nervous after the open house. She was less sure that she wanted to ride the bus to school, and she asked if school would be as busy/crowded as the open house. I tried to assuage her fears, but I'm sure it hasn't helped that I've been voicing my concerns about the bus and a large school for a few weeks now. She obviously picked up on all of that.

It was great to meet both Jenna's and Will's teachers; they both seemed like nice, competent teachers. We also dropped off our MANY supplies, which took two trips to bring in! They weren't joking around when they wrote the school supply lists.

We were up and ready in plenty of time this morning with little hassle and no drama. We walked just down the road to the bus stop, where we saw a few people we know from the ward. We chatted about the bus and I asked the Mom if they'd had any problems. It's nice to have people to take to about our concerns. We had to hang around the bus stop for awhile (probably not as long as it seemed), but when the bus pulled up both kids ran and got on without so much as a goodbye! I wanted to get a picture of them getting on, but I wasn't fast enough.

Here are the boys on the way to the bus stop. Adam wore his backpack, too. He was a little sad that he didn't get to go to school.

Jenna was leading the way.

Waitin on the curb.

And... on the bus.

Joel and I got a lot done while they were gone. We even had a long, productive trip to Costco, and at the end we weren't pulling our hair out. Wonderful! I tried not to think about the kids too much because when I did, I worried. Did Jenna find where she needed to go? Did she find anyone she knew on the playground? Is Will eating his lunch, or is it all going to be there when he gets home? Are they having fun? Are people being nice to them? So... I tried not to think about it.

When it was time for them to come home Joel and I waited at the bus stop. The bus was a little late, which feels a lot late in the afternoon sun. :) But I found some shade to stand in so it wasn't that bad. Of course I had worried that they hadn't gotten on the right bus, or that they had gotten off at a different stop. My worries were unfounded; they were both on the bus, they saw us when the bus pulled up, and they got off the bus with big smiles.

They had both had a wonderful, fun day. No one got lost, they ate their lunches, they had no trouble finding anything, and the other kids were nice. They both really enjoyed the bus ride, which was a big relief to everyone!

A few other things that have happened that I haven't blogged about: Adam got his cast off on the 5th. The fractures are healed (he did have a fracture on his fifth metatarsal as well as the third). He has to wear sturdy shoes most of the time for the next week, equaling two weeks after the cast came off. He limps a little now and then, but he doesn't complain of any pain.

Jenna's birthday was on Sunday, the 8th. We didn't do much to celebrate because she chose to celebrate this coming Saturday on her baptism day. We did do cake and sung Happy Birthday. I can't believe she's eight years old!

We are looking forward to seeing all the family coming into town this weekend for the baptism! Everyone's rolling in tomorrow, and we can't wait!

Cast

Here we have Adam in his cast...

This is what his cast looks like now...

I had to take him back to the orthopaedics office yesterday to get a new cast. A lot of the lining/padding under the cast had come out, so now he has a bright green cast instead of a blue one. 16 more days.

Long Weekend

Joel had midterms last week, which he finished on Thursday afternoon, so he had Friday off! He didn't have any new material to study, so we actually had a nice long weekend with Joel. We decided to go to a movie and then dinner on Thursday. It was great to go on a date with the hubs; it's been awhile since we've been able to really spend any time with each other. And thank you to my sister and her husband for watching our kids for us!

We went to see Robin Hood-the new one with Russel Crow. I would recommend it. I'm always a fan of Russel Crow, especially when he's being tough and kicking some tush. (Now might be the time to mention that Gladiator is one of my favorite movies) After the movie we went to Texas Roadhouse for some grub. While we were eating, a guy came over and asked us if we might want a balloon flower. Strange? Joel told him yes, and here is my lovely rose...

We spent part of our free time this weekend writing talks, because we were asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. We also watched a lot of movies- some good, some not so good. On Saturday evening I had run to the mall because I needed a new shirt to wear on Sunday. Right when I got there Joel called me and said, "I think Adam broke his foot." I thought maybe he wasn't being serious at first, but he was. Adam had jumped off of Jenna's bed and landed strangely. We've had other broken bone scares, so we decided to give him some ibuprofen and keep him off of it for a bit, and if it still hurt we would take him in for an x-ray.

By the time I got home he was still in pain, and even if he was distracted and you just touched his foot he would scream. So Joel took him to a nighttime pediatric urgent care facility for some x-rays, and low and behold, he has a small fracture in his third metatarsal. It's hard to see in the x-ray below, but if you click on it to enlarge it you can see the fracture.

They put him in a splint, and we need to get him casted at the end of the week. That brings up a whole other can of worms that has to do with insurance that I won't get into. I'll just say it is beyond frustrating, and we've already spent more money on this broken foot than on everything involved with his burn.

Adam is doing fine and he doesn't seem to be in much pain anymore. He can't walk, so he scoots around on his bum or crawls when he isn't being carried. I am really praying that he will be done getting hurt soon! If he keeps up at this pace, we will be in big trouble.

p.s. Our talks in church went well, and we also got callings. We will be teaching the Valiant 8 class together. :)

Confession

I don't think I've ever actually admitted this on my blog, although most of you surely know. My name is Sarah, and I am a Twihard.

It all started in November of 2008. A friend of mine was having a "Twilight" party; dinner at her house, then to the movie. I decided to go, although I didn't really want to see the movie. I hadn't read the books, and the commercials for the movie gave me the impression that it was not something I would be interested in. But I wanted to go hang out and have fun, so I went to the party for that reason.

I enjoyed the movie, even though I hadn't read the book. I think I may have actually enjoyed it MORE because I hadn't read it, so I didn't see all of the flaws in it. I liked it enough, and was intrigued by the characters enough, that I decided I had better read the books. I devoured them in no time, and loved every minute of it. Of course then I had to see the movie again, and then I saw all that was wrong with the movie (although I still liked it).

That's where the story begins. November of 2009 I went to my first midnight show to see New Moon, and I liked it much better than Twilight.

Last night my sisters Mary and Amy and I went to Eclipse in IMAX. They picked me up and we headed over to the theater to see how long the line was. The lady told us it wasn't very long, so we went to Walmart for snacks, then Rubio's for some quick dinner (and it was quite tasty). From there is was time to just wait in line. We entertained ourselves with playing some Phase 10 for awhile, and then decided to grab some Bahama Bucks. Mary and I ran over and got some while Amy held our place in line. Let me just say, it was YUMMY!

Above: Amy with her ticket, very excited!

Below: Hanging out on the floor of the lobby. There was no way we were standing for two and a half hours.


We were happy to be moving when they opened the theater at 11, and we got pretty decent seats. Not long after we got in the power went out, and I'll admit I was a little worried. It came on soon after, though, so I figured there wouldn't be a problem. In the meantime someone had blown up a beach ball and people were tossing it about, throwing it around the crowd. Some people weren't so amused, and it ended up that a lady right behind us took the ball and put it down by her legs. (I didn't mind, the people playing with the ball were pretty obnoxious). Some girl came to get it from her and just stood there, right in front of her (and behind me) for a couple of minutes. The lady that took the ball didn't even acknowledge her! I was uncomfortable just being near the situation! After a few minutes the girl gave up and went away, and then a different person got up and took the ball out. The whole time there were shouts of "give it back!", and "beach ball, beach ball!" A bunch of people booed when the girl took the ball out, and some cheered. Whew, it was too much tension for my taste!

At midnight we expected the previews to come on, but no luck. After 15 minutes I wend out to ask an incredibly uninformed theater employee what was going on. He didn't know. Apparently when the power went out it messed something up, so they were trying to fix it. At 12:20 the movie finally started, and the potentially angry mob was appeased.

About the movie, I will simply say that I enjoyed it immensely. I thought it was definitely the best so far, and they did a good job with the amount of time they had to work with.

So now you have it; my confession. I like Twilight. I love Twilight. The books are delectable pieces of words, ready for devouring. I will not be ashamed. :)

P.S. I just want you all to know that while I am a fan, I am NOT the fan with the Edward shirt, and the Jacob bag, and all that other paraphernalia. I was one of the normal looking people in line! :)

Not exciting

Well, we are anything but exciting here. Joel was making fun of me for not posting, but I really just don't have much to post about. So I'm betting this post is going to be a lot of random thoughts and events thrown together. (Don't say you weren't warned)

Things in AZ are going well. We are basically settled in to our house, although there still isn't anything hanging on the walls. Hopefully that will be somewhat taken care of tomorrow. It is definitely hot (duh) but I think we are all getting used to it. I have enjoyed having a Costco card, though I've found it to be quite a dangerous thing. It's so easy to get carried away with all of the great deals. Before you know it you wind up at the register spending triple what you planned.

My sister, Adrienne, came to town last week. I didn't see her as much as I get to when she stays with me (obviously), but all us girls were able to get together often and it was always a blast. The highlights, I thought, were lounging around my sister Laura's room listening to some new music, and watching North & South. (If you haven't seen it, watch it. It's based on the book by Elizabeth Gaskell. BBC is awesome.) Anyway... I also enjoyed the game playing at Rachel's house. And my nephew's birthday party. And swimming. Okay, so I enjoyed it all.

Joel started school last week and he's already crazy busy. When he's not at school he's mostly studying. It's most definitely going to be a busy two years for him, but he will certainly learn a lot.

We've enjoyed the two Sundays that we've gone to our new ward. Everyone we've come in contact with has been very friendly and welcoming. It's a huge ward, and I doubt we'll get to know everyone before we move. We look forward to getting to know people, though, and getting involved in the ward.

Adam is doing well; healing well. We are finally (FINALLY!!!) to a point where he doesn't have any more dressings, of any kind, and all of his skin is closed up. He now just wears his compression shorts. We try to keep him moisturized so the scars will be supple, and so he doesn't itch too much. But we can't keep his skin too moist or he breaks out in red spots (yeast infection). It hasn't been too hard to find that balance, though. We are so pleased with his progress.



I think that pretty much covers it. Next week I am looking forward to seeing my fist IMAX movie with a few of my sistas. It should be a great time, and a late night (or should I say early morning?). Good times. Hopefully I'll remember to snap a few pics so I can post about it. ;)

Goodbye, WY

Well, we officially live in Arizona now. It is an extremely bittersweet thing, as everyone close to us knows. We love Wyoming, and we love Laramie.


We actually left WY Saturday morning. My sister, Cindy, drove our pick-up down for us, so we were a three-car caravan. We were able to fit all our our belongings is a large yellow Penske truck, but we did fill it up quite full!


Saying goodbye to friends and family on Saturday morning was by far the hardest part of the whole deal. Even though I knew we needed to get on the road, I wanted to keep postponing our departure because I just didn't want to leave! After many tears and many hugs, we did finally pull out of town.

The trip itself went fairly well with little to no problems. We took two days to come down, staying Saturday night in Bernalillo, NM. We got to our new house Sunday evening around 5 and were welcomed by much family. Thanks to them we got the truck unloaded in no time! We also got beds set up and the large things brought into the house.


Everyday since then has been busy with unpacking and the many things that need to be done when one moves. We've gotten internet set up (obviously), registered the kids for school, bought a washer and dryer, and done approximately one million other things that needed done. We are very close to being done with the actual unpacking. We only have a few random boxes that need to be unpacked. There is still organizing and some moving around of things that needs to be done, so we're still keeping busy.


We are enjoying the new house, although is has a few quirks, as all houses do. It's been nice to have a garage, albeit a small one. We can get both cars in it, but there isn't much room to spare. I like that we are on one level; it's saved a lot of leg work. And of course, it's great to not share walls with anyone.

In Adam news, he is doing well and healing wonderfully, overall. We received his burn garment and he's been wearing it at all times, except for bath time. His right leg still has some ulcerations on it that need to heal, but I think those are coming along slowly but surely. His side looks absolutely amazing. Below is a picture Joel took on his phone this morning.


As you can see, there is only one small spot of scab. The parts that look pink in the picture are actually a little darker, for some reason the picture seems to bleach it out a little. The darker pink by the scab is a thicker scar. He's still sensitive on his side, but not as much as he used to be. We have to rub ointments on him every day, and he fights us a little less than he did before.

His donor sites are also looking wonderful. Those are completely healed and they don't bother him at all. As soon as we can get his right leg healed up he will be good to go!

Jenna and Will are also doing well. They've handled the move very well, so far. Jenna was sad when we left Laramie, but I think part of that was her seeing how sad I was. She came with me when I returned the paperwork to her new school for registration, and she was excited about going there. The playground looks fun, and the school looks nice. I think/hope that she and Will both have a good and positive experience at that school.

Joel starts school on the 14th, although orientation is next week. He is definitely nervous about the whole thing, but I know he'll be great. I think he'll be happy to get back to school and back to learning. I'm excited for him to start this new phase, and I'm so proud of him for all the work he's done to get here!