Game Night

When we moved to Winslow, we met a family in our ward, the Green's, that has a game night every sunday night.  It has been our favorite thing about living here.  We have a lot of fun and at the end of January, there was a family that had to move away and we made a big deal of their last night at games.  Sometimes we just go so we can sit and talk and hang out.  We will definitely miss this part of our life here in Winslow when we move.  

Barney Ross Adams

It's taken me a while to write this because I didn't know how to put it to words.  Nate's dad passed away on January 17th.  He was 58 years old.  It was a Thursday and Nate's sister called him right before he was about to go to school and told him the news.  There was a fire in his apartment and he didn't make it out in time.  Nate was so shaken up over it so he went and got a substitute for the next 2 days and we loaded up and went to Show Low.  We weren't very close to him and I only met him about 4 times so I didn't really know how to react, but it hit Nate a lot harder than I expected it to.  We finally got to Show Low and Nate worked with his family to get everything arranged for the funeral.  The arrangements were made for the next Saturday, January 26th. 

We came back the next weekend and had the funeral.  It was a graveside service at the Clay Springs Cemetery.  It was a really rainy day and we were a little afraid of things not working out, but everybody came and the mortuary was amazing through everything.  Barney was retired from the Army, I think, so the first thing was the gun salute and the presentation of the flag.  Since Nate is technically the oldest child, he got the honor of being presented with the flag.  It was a very special moment for him.  We were very grateful for the service men coming and being in the rain and helping us honor him.  Afterwards, Barney's brother Michael gave a life story/shared memories of Barney and I really enjoyed hearing about him growing up a little since I never really got to know him.  He talked about how Barney was a protector and looked after people and took care of them.  He loved being outdoors and going to Nutrioso.  He lived all over the White Mountains and graduated from Snowflake High School.  He was good at working on cars.  After his brother shared his stories, then there was a musical number, Abide with Me, sung by Nate and some of the Perkins family men in Clay Springs.  Since it was so cold and raining we ended there and then while we were at the church for the luncheon we would share some more stories about Barney there.  Before we left though, Nate was in charge of dedicating the grave.  He did an amazing job and I was touched by the love that was there.  The casket was lowered and then we all went back to the church for a luncheon.

The Relief Society was kind enough to provide the luncheon and we all just enjoyed so much being there together and catching up and talking.  It was a hard, but also wonderful day to be with family.  We are sad that he is gone and I feel bad that Barney and our kids never really got to know each other, but I am glad that they have some stuffed animals from him so they can have something to remember him by.

Merrick 18 months

This little boy of mine is growing up way too fast.  It doesn't feel like he is 18 months old already. He had his first Sunday in nursery yesterday which he loved and so did Nate and I.  Here is a recap of what he is doing now.

• He is walking/running like a pro
• He loves to chase Kayton around and be his little buddy
• likes to play patty cake and this little piggy
• has most of his teeth in but still has a few holes in between
• he loves to take baths
• he is starting to talk a lot. he says - ball, hi, daddy, mama, yes, no, hat, yay, nose, juice, bye, and it seems like he can say a lot more too
• likes to clap
• getting good at throwing balls
• likes to dance
• so good at helping me pick up toys and put dishes in the sink
• loves jumping on my bed and being thrown around
• he eats a ton of snacks
• loves to swing and be outside

He is just a fun active kid and we love him so much.  He still has a clogged tear duct that we are going to get surgically fixed some time this month.

Playing at Grandma's

We had to take an unexpected trip to Show Low in January which ended up with Nate having to be gone running errands and me and the boys staying at my mom's house for most of the day.  That didn't bother Kayton one little bit though.  He loved being our there on their 4 acres and with their 4 dogs.  It had been forever since he had gotten to play outside so it was a pretty great weekend.  He got to play in the snow and learned that when he walks in the snow he makes footprints.  

It's the beginning

This weekend marks the beginning of a lot of things for me personally.  

I think I have mentioned before that earlier this year, I was diagnosed with having Hepatitis C.  Well yesterday, the 11th, I started my 6 month long triple medicine treatment.  So far I am doing ok.  I have to take about 12 pills a day and give myself a shot once a week.  There are some side effects that I am worried about since I stay home with the kids all day, but so far I am doing ok.  I got a little headache going on now, but I feel like I can do anything I need to today.  Here's to 6 more months.  

Also, this week, I started taking classes again.  Yup, I decided to take online classes to finish my associates degree.  I'm really excited about it.  I am planning on using that degree to become a substitute teacher for whatever district Nate works for.  I am so excited for it even though I know it's going to be super difficult to finish everything.  I am taking English 101 and a beginning Chemistry class.  Wish me luck.