Kendra Wedding

I was lucky enough to be a part of my friends special day. Kendra and Robert finally got married this weekend and I was asked to take pictures for them.  It was beautiful and I'm so happy for her.

Thanksgiving 2014

Plans changed for us at last minute because of certain circumstances for Thanksgiving.  We were going to cook and have another family over that are good friends but we didn't feel like we could host, so we ended up with the Whipple's for Thanksgiving.  Please Marcia Whipple for taking us in like that and letting us come over.  It was such a blessing since Nate's family didn't invite us over and my mom was down in the valley.  We didn't have anywhere to really go and we definitely didn't want to cook for ourselves.  It was a great morning and the kids had fun playing around with all her grandkids.

I felt so much gratitude this Thanksgiving for the little things, like my healthy big boys and my wonderful husband, and friends and family who were there during one of the hardest times in my life.  To commemorate the day, I got a picture of the boys all dressed so nicely.

 I also got to go do some black Friday shopping that night and ran into some friends to shop with too.  It felt good to start getting ready for Christmas and to focus on getting things that day and I always love shopping for my boys.

Sister Missionaries

We have become so close to the sister missionaries that are in our ward right now, Sister Taylor and Sister Christensen.  We have had them over several times for dinner and they love doing things with our kids and they have come over for FHE too.  One night they helped them make their own missionary nametags that said Elder Adams on it.  They have been so fun to have around and we have loved to getting to know them.  Sometimes I wish we could keep the same missionaries for their whole mission.  They have become great friends to me and we have already joked how they are going to come back and we are going to have a fun movie night.

They are all missionaries.

Sadly, they do have to leave.  Sister Christensen on the right got emergency transferred they day we took this picture but Sister Taylor will get to stay here a little longer.  We have been trying so hard to find someone to help teach the gospel to and having them to encourage us has made it so much better for us. We love our missionaries.

 

Pregnancy #3

Things have been hard for us these last few months.  I found out I was pregnant at the end of September.  We had been trying and we were so excited to have another baby in our lives.  We have been patiently waiting for the right time and I guess it still wasn't the right time.  I miscarried when I was 12 1/2 weeks along.

On Sunday the 23rd. I was starting to have some bleeding but it wasn't super heavy so I called my doctor Monday morning, the 24th, and they told me that if I was having any bleeding, I needed to go to the ER so they could run blood work and do an immediate ultrasound for me.  I left work and headed over there.  Nate came a few minutes later and I am so grateful that he did because they did the ultrasound there and they couldn't find a heartbeat.  I don't think I could have handled having to tell him myself later.  The baby was measuring 10 weeks old which would have been when the heart stopped beating.  We were devastated.  They scheduled a D & C appointment for Wednesday morning, but I ended up miscarrying the baby myself Tuesday night the 25th. I hope that I never have to experience that again. Nate was so great that night and day after.  I felt so bad that all of it happened right around his birthday and Thanksgiving.

I am so grateful though for the people I was able to call and talk to who have been through the same thing and for the outpouring of love I received from friends, family, and church members when they found out.  I will never forget it. 

It's weird to say this, but in some ways, I knew this was coming and I had been preparing myself from the beginning for something to go wrong. I knew it was what the Lord wanted and so I just expected to not hear the heartbeat that day.  Not that I have been ok with any of it.  I have just been dealing with it better than I thought I would because Heavenly Father has been there for me and letting me know that it was suppose to happen and that I will be ok and have more some day.

We now have a little angel in heaven and we can't wait to meet them some day. 

We were able to get some ultrasound pictures.  Some at 6 weeks and them some the day we found out in the ER.  I will cherish them especially the first one since we did get to hear the heartbeat then and everything was great. 

10/12/14

 

At the hospital after the ultrasound 11/24/14

12 weeks (the day before we found out there was no heartbeat) 11/23/14

The way I told Nate

It was positive. 9/27/14

Our Birthdays

Our birthdays were very low key this year.  We started out with a party for me, Nate, and Pete out at Mom's house with dinner and our favorite cakes.  We were spoiled and got some fun presents.

On the night of my actual birthday, we got to go to our favorite Mexican restaurant for Taco Tuesday.  Nate asked them to sing to me and we shared the fried ice cream they gave me.

 In a way, the dinner ended up being the celebration for both of our birthdays.  Nate's birthday was on the next Wednesday and due to certain circumstances, I was not feeling well enough or able to do anything special for him on his actual birthday.  Thankfully, his friend came and took him out to dinner and a movie and he got to buy himself a new game.  He says it was a good day and I hope it was.  I love that guy so much and am grateful for what he did to make my birthday special.  We are now in that phase where we don't mention our ages anymore. 

Phoenix Temple Dedicaiton

I am so grateful that we now have so many temples in Arizona.  We were able to go to the Phoenix Temple Dedication today and with this temple dedicated, we now have 5 operating temples in Arizona and one being started in Tucson.  The temple is beautiful and the dedication was beautiful.  We went to the afternoon session so Mom could go to the first one and then watch the boys for us.  It was nice and I love the blessings of the temple and that Nate and I are sealed for forever with our family.

 

Todd's Baptism

Nate and I had the opportunity to participate in a baptism for a convert in our ward tonight.  Nate was asked to perform the actual baptism for him and I was the piano player for the evening.  It was such a sweet experience and we felt blessed to be a part of it.  

2014 School Pictures

So, I feel like I can say that I have the cutest kids ever.  I don't really like buying school pictures, but I am sure glad I did this time.  These kids are so adorable and I just love these pictures too much.  They smiled perfectly and I love it!

Kayton's Class - Mrs. Deanne and Mrs. April

Merrick's Class - Mrs. Keilah and Mrs. Shellie