Josh's Ordination

Josh was so excited to become a deacon! He had been waiting for a long time for this moment! Nate was still supposed to be off his foot and laying down with it elevated, but he went to church and bore his testimony about the power of the priesthood and talked about how excited he was to have all the new deacons join the quorum. After church, we invited our families over for Josh's ordination. It was a very sweet and special day. I'm so grateful Josh gets to be a deacon and receive the priesthood and I'm so grateful he has Nate as his Dad. I am also grateful for all the support we receive from our families. We invited our parents and all our siblings and their families. Everyone who could come, came. It was a great day!

Megan's Gymnastics Meet

A few days into January, Megan had her first competitive gymnastics meet. Nate was at home in bed, but Janet came with me to see Megan. She was so cute and so excited and she did a great job! And we made sure to FaceTime Nate for her events. Her best event was on the vault where she made it on the podium for her age group. She went home with a few medals and a huge smile!

New Year's Day

On New Year's Day, Josh and Nate went rabbit hunting with Ian and his boys. Josh was so excited! And Nate was excited to take him. They had a great time until they were about ready to leave and Josh set his gun down to get some more ammunition and his gun went off. When I saw his name come up on my phone, I panicked. And when he told me Nate got shot, for a split second I assumed the worst. When I asked him where and he told me his foot, I was so relieved! I went from picturing something life changing to knowing we could handle this. I tried to reassure him that it was okay and he was going to be okay and I got in the car to meet Nate at the hospital. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital in Payson. When I saw him, I was overwhelmed with gratitude that the circumstances weren't so much different. The shot from Josh's gun went right into Nate's big toe and out the other side, totally obliterating the joint. He had surgery where the doctor tried to save his big toe, but he wasn't able to. His big toe on his right foot was amputated and his second toe was patched back together. I was so sad for him that he lost his toe, but still so grateful that it wasn't worse. Ian brought Josh to the hospital so he could see Nate. He was so, so sad. He felt terrible and did a lot of crying that day. I was so grateful for Ian and his boys for taking care of him and then for Nate's family who took him and the girls up to Janet's for the rest of the day. I was also so grateful for my Mom and Steve and my Dad and Dana who both came to the hospital to see us. We didn't get home until late that night because Nate was having a hard time keeping his oxygen up. They wanted to keep him overnight, but we begged them to let us go home. We knew we needed to go home for Josh's sake and also for Megan's sake. She was also having a really hard time and we knew everyone would feel a little better if we went home. We picked up his prescription and oxygen and made it home about midnight to anxious kids and a great mother in law who waited with them. Over the next couple of weeks we received a lot of visits, meals, and treats. We felt so much love for Nate and Josh, which we were so grateful for because it ended up being a hard couple of months for both of them. Josh felt so bad about what happened and although Nate tried to be really positive, it was a painful recovery, in more ways than one. 

Christmas Break

Over the break, we got a couple days of skiing in before Nate and Josh got strep throat. They were pretty miserable. Josh got the rest of his printer put together though while he was home sick. While they were recovering, the girls and I went iceskating with my family and skiing with Katie and Scott and their kids. They were so cute and it was fun to go with them. When Josh was feeling up to it, we went suit shopping. President Nelson announced that in January, all kids turning 12 in that year would be moving on from primary to young men and young womens, which meant Josh would be ordained a deacon in January. He was SO excited! And we were so excited for him. He was definitely ready to be done with primary and was so excited to be a deacon. So, we went suit shopping. And lastly, the kids enjoyed the last few days of the Christmas break.

Christmas

On Christmas Eve we went to my mom's house for a fabulous breakfast and then we went skiing at Alta. We then got cleaned up at the Nelson's and went out to dinner with Janet and Kent and Cameron and Sarah and their family. Afterward we went home and the kids opened their pajamas and got ready for Santa for to come. Megan left him some notes with a bell and string that ran up the laundry shoot to her room. I'm pretty sure she slept though his visit though. Christmas morning was great! I love how excited the kids get and I love to see them get excited about the things they've gotten each other. Josh got all his sisters a bath bomb that he picked out for them. He may have had a little help from his dad, but it was one of my favorite parts about Christmas! Megan didn't waste any time trying hers out. Josh and Nate spent a good part of the day putting together his new 3D printer. It came in probably 1,000 pieces. Megan put some things together herself and curled up next to the fireplace and read the blog book I printed for each of the kids. Lia and Laura used their new curling irons to curl their hair. That night we went to the Nelsons. The kids acted out the nativity, we sang songs, Josh played the guitar, and Lia played the violin. It was a really great day! When we got home, Nate put the new skies on the car where they stayed the rest of the break.