End of January

At the end of January, Josh and Megan had their 100th day of school where they could dress up like a 100 year old or choose a decade in the last 100 years and dress up that way. Josh chose a 100 year old and Megan chose a girl from the 1950s. Megan also had another gymnastics meet, we went skiing with the Elmers at Solitude, Nate had a work conference where his friend Walter gave him some new shoes to help with his foot situation, Lia had a violin concert, we played with cousins, Nate helped judge a cooking contest for a young men and young women activity, Josh went swimming with the deacons, and Megan and Stella had fun together. 

Josh's First Temple Trip

We took Josh to the temple for the first time in January. We would've gone to the Salt Lake Temple where Kent worked, but it was closed for the month of January and Josh was excited about going so we didn't want to wait. Janet and Kent and Ashley came with us. Nate couldn't go in the water to do the baptisms, so Kent did them and Nate did the confirmations. It was a great day and I was so proud of Josh and so thankful to be there!

Jazz Games

In January we went to more Jazz games. I took Lia and then Megan to the first couple games while Nate recovered. Then Nate got tickets to a suite and took Josh and Laura. I love taking the kids to games--especially when it's one on one. It's a lot of fun to be with the kids and see the game. It's serious business for Megan--she'll get mad at you if you're not watching the game.

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.