Good Eats

I decided that I wanted to become a little more organized and I created a menu planner.  I have thought about doing this for quite a while and here it is; finally done and it looks pretty good if I do say so myself.

This was a pretty easy make.  The frame used to be attached to a mirror that had been left at my house years ago when I was renting my bedrooms to single girls.  I've never used the mirror, but I rather like it as a frame.  I was able to disconnect the mirror and put scrapbook paper on the backing.  The little basket at the bottom came from the dollar store and I the cute stickers that make the "Good Eats" and the little dots that have the Days of the week on them came from a scrapbook kit that I bought years ago and have never used.

I chose 4 different categories for my food:  Mexican, Italian, Breakfast, and Other.  We eat breakfast for dinner quite a bit in my house! The 5th slot is "Used".  I put the meals in there after we eat them so that we get a variety and then I will sort them back in later.  I have color organized my meals to help with sorting.  After using this a few weeks I have started putting other ethnic foods in my "Italian" slot.  I felt like my "Other" was getting rather full.  I do have one more color that I just hide behind my "Breakfast" category (it's the least full slot).  I have a few cards that are red.  They include:  new recipe, eat out, and left overs.

To fill up my menu with recipe cards I first went through my cook book from my mother and a few other books that I have and wrote down the recipes that I liked.  Then, when I was at my sister-in-law's house a little while ago, she has a menu board and I wrote down all of her recipes.  I made them into cards.  It is kind of fun because I don't know exactly what all of her meals are, so I choose one out and then look it up on the internet,  It is a fun wild card.  I have also been doing a freezer meal group and once a month I get a bunch of freezer meals.  If I like the recipe I've made cards for it.

What do I think of my menu?  I haven't been using it long, but I will say that the weeks that I have used it; I have been happier when dinner comes around.  I am not stressing about what to put on the table.  This week I was sick for a couple days and didn't use it.  I can definitely tell you that I prefer to use it!

Every time my mom sees my menu board she tells me that it needs to go on pinterest.  So, please, fill free to pin :) 

GREAT Great-Grandparents!

I am very blessed to have both of my grandfathers and my Grandma Arda Jean still alive; Grandma Veda passed away last September.  We named Kately Veda after her.  It was so cute, at the time that Kately was born Grandma Veda and Grandpa Dew lived in the basement of my parents' home.  My Grandma's memory was going, but the one thing that she could remember was that Kately's middle name was Veda.  When we would come visit, Grandma would turn to Grandpa and say, "LaMar, do you know that little girl's name?  She's Kately Veda, named after her two Grandmas!"  We chose the name Kately because Chris' great-grandma was Kate.  I love that we named Kately Veda after my grandma who has now passed on.  I feel like she is still with me to help guide me in raising my daughters. :)

A while ago we had family home evening with Great-Grandpa Dew. Kately and Grandpa played hide-n-seek.  It was so sweet to watch.  Kate and I would run and hide and Grandpa, in a wheel chair, would putter himself behind us asking where we had can and where we could be.  Kate just giggled.  We love to visit Great-Grandpa Dew.

One Sunday Kately sat on my Grandpa Christensen's lap and read a book all about tractors, quite fitting for my farm-bread grandfather.

A few days ago my mother took another video of Kately reading a book with Grandma Christensen.  She even began a video again, but the TV was on in the background and a Viagra commercial came on.  Needless to say I won't be sharing that video.

Kately and Grandma Christensen

My daughters are so blessed to know their great-grandparents!  We love them!!!  They are so kind to everyone.  

Happy Anniversary (16 days ago)

April Fool's Day - Our Anniversary!!  4 years!!

It has been 4 wonderful years since we were married for time and all eternity in the Draper Temple. 

Yes, we were married on April Fool's Day and had tons of fun with it!  There were pranks played all around that day.  

• My brother's came in to me while we were getting ready to do the family pictures before the reception and Heber was wearing a purple shirt with his suit and Jacob was wearing a kilt, both of which I had said they I didn't want them to wear at my wedding.  They then proceeded to explain that they did what I had asked.  Heber had on a white shirt under his purple one and Jacob had his pants pinned up under his kilt.  At this point, I just grinned and decided that I wasn't going to be bride-zilla and not make a fuss.  They yelled, "April Fool's" and took off their unwanted attire.

It’s kind of a lame picture, but it was the only one I could find tonight

• We had friends take window spray paint and paint "Just Married" on all of the cars parked outside my parents' home where the reception was being held.  The also, specifically did not paint our actual car.
• I decided to play a joke on Chris and had arranged ahead of time with the bakers to put a very hard foam inside the bottom layer of our wedding cake.  When we went to cut the cake I lead Chris to the non-penetrable bottom layer.  It was hilarious!

• For our wedding dance Chris and I started out by dancing to It Only Takes a Moment from Hello Dolly, and then in the middle, without warning, the music switched and we danced to The Chicken Dance  and then it went back to normal, and then it switched one more time to The Bunny Hop.  It made for lots of laughs and tons of fun.  My only regret is that we didn't invite others to dance it with us.  

• Chris then sang the song, Can't Take My Eyes Off of You.  Which was so romantic and beautiful, but most people don't know is that I can't stand being called, "baby" and the entire chorus of the song is all about how much he loves and needs his "baby"!  I don't think anyone else caught the glint in his eye when he sang the chorus to me, "I love you, baby and if it's quite alright, I need you baby, to warm a lonely night. . . baby . . .baby . . . baby. . . " 

·         After leaving the reception, we had the biggest April Fool’s joke of the day played on us.  The Bed and Breakfast that we were supposed to stay at had locked their doors and wouldn’t answer the doorbell or the phone calls.  We weren’t sure what to do, we couldn’t go back to our house because my roommate hadn’t finished moving out.  So, I called one of my best friends who worked at Crystal Inn.  She answered her phone saying, “You’re not really calling me on your wedding night?!”  I explained the problem and she was able to get her manager to give us a deal on a room with 2 queen size beds.  I told Chris that we each had our own bed to sleep in, what a deal!

What a wonderful, wonderful day!  And what a wonderful 4 years it has been!!!

Well, this year, it looks like April Fool’s Day lived up to it’s name.  My mom and I attended a class at the diabetes clinic up at the University of Utah.  Chris, apparently, tried to send me flowers to this class, but the florist couldn’t deliver them because they didn’t understand the address.  Not sure why they couldn’t understand or at least use Google Maps, but none the less, the flowers were not able to make it to me.  Luckily Chris was able to get them sent to Huntington where we spent the Easter weekend with his family.  I had no idea that they were going to be there.  They were stunning, and actually 2 weeks later, still are.  Chris had me count the blooms.  208.  One for every week we had been married!

I made Chris a candy bar message on our whiteboard wall.  As I was putting it up Kate was watching a movie and half way through finally noticed what Mommy was doing.  Her look was priceless.  “Ah, ah, ah, mommy, candy . . .”  It was darling!

It reads:  Dearest Topher,

It was 4 years ago that we dressed in white with our heads way up in the air, that you put a ring on my finger.  I became your baby and you became my Mr. Good.  That day was pure bliss.  We planted a see that will grow throughout eternity.  We've enjoyed dots of snickers  during the zours spent rockin'  the suburbs.  Our little  juniors have really intensified our lives.  Betwix K-K-Kately  and M-M-Emberlys, we have the cutest sugar babies every!  I skored a 100 grand when I married such a ju-jubilant young chap. You are my whatchya-ma-callit (pardon my lapse of thought) oh yeah, my life!  I love you!  Love, S-S-Stina

I feel so blessed to have this wonderful man in my life!!!  I have loved the last 4 years and look forward to the next 4-ever!

THEN

NOW

A Tale of Diabetes

As most of you know, last week Kately was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. This has been quite a shock; neither Chris nor I have this in our families. We found out from the doctors that Kate has 0.5% chance to get diabetes. I would like to tell the story of how we found out about Kately's diabetes and what has happened since then. However, I would like to take a different kind of approach to telling this story. I have told you many times that that I started this blog to show the hand of the Lord in the lives of my family. Well, in this time of trouble, the Lord has been with us every step of the way!

So, here is my Basket Full of Blessings and a Tale of Diabetes (ABC Style)

Twas the night before St. Patty's Day when...

A	The night before the diagnosis we visited Great-Grandpa LaMar Aunt Karissa and Daddy put the puzzle together. Polyuria + Polydipsia = DIABETES.  (for all you non-medical personnel, like myself:  frequent urination + excessive thirst = Diabetes).
B	Back to the hospital we headed. Poor Kate, her 4th hospital visit in just over 1 year.  Nevertheless, there is a blessing here!  Her life is not in danger this time.
C	Checking sugars, as we’ve come to call it in our house. At the doctor’s office, they said that her blood glucose was higher than their machine could count.  At the hospital, her blood glucose was 567!  It should be between 100-200.  A blessing to know that the hospital can count that high ;)
D	Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a serious complication of diabetes that occurs when your body produces high levels of blood acids called ketones.  Kate did not have this!!!  Huge blessing!  This can cause very very serious problems!  This can occur if you do not detect diabetes soon enough.
E	Everyone loved Kate at the hospital, of course!  Kate is always the bell of the ball wherever she goes and this hospital visit was no different.
F	Forever diagnosed.  It was hard to accept that there was nothing to be done, nothing that the doctors could do to reverse or fix Kate’s problem. At least this isn’t a serious disease.  It can be kept under control.  That is a blessing!
G	Grandma Dew and Kately (notice the sticker on her nose that she got for being poked) Grandparents:  We could not have made it as far as we have without wonderful grandparents.  My mother comes over several times a week to help me not feel so overwhelmed.  We spent Easter with Chris’ parents who helped show Kately how wonderful and brave she was every time she received a “poke”.  My Grandma Christensen provided us with a bunch of Easter eggs full of little toys instead of candy.  Couldn’t do it in this world without grandparents! Easter at Grandma and Grandpa Myers'
H	Hospital:  There is no place better in the world than the Primary Children’s Hospital.  We have now been there 4 times with Kately.  It is a hard place to be, but at the same time, there is such a sweet Spirit there.  You know that there are angels with every one of those children.   You can feel the love that Heavenly Father and His Son have for the children!
I	“I’m okay.”  This is what the precocious 2 year old tells us every time she sees us getting the syringes ready to give her insulin.  We tell her that she is “wonderful!” and that the insulin helps her stay wonderful.  Insulin is a blessing, without it Kately wouldn't be here.
J	Journey:  We are all taking this journey one day at a time and each day gets better and better.  Of course, there are ups and downs, but as a whole, it is a blessing that we are all growing, learning, and getting stronger.
K	Wonderful Little Helper washing dishes Kately!  Kately is amazing and she is a blessing!  What strength and courage she has.  I can’t believe how strong she is every day.  Even now, not even a month later, she is telling me that she needs her sugars checked before a meal!
L	Life Goes On:  Life is starting to get back to some sort of normalcy.  Our lives are forever changed, but we can move on and still do everything we used to.  Same Old Kate, always finding some small container to sit in.  This time she even asked me to take a picture.
M	Modern Medicine:  What a blessing it is to live in this day in age!  100 years ago Kately would have died.  Even 20 years ago, her life would not have been as easy as it is now!
N	Nurses and Doctors:  All of the nurses at the hospital were so great.  They were kind and patient.  You would have to be patient to work with little kids who don’t understand why they are in the hospital.
O	Emberly and Uncle Jacob Overwhelming amounts of help!  Everyone has stepped forward to help us.  My Aunt Michelle was so kind to drop everything and take Emberly for us the day that we had to go into the hospital.  Ladies in my ward helped to take over my responsibility of arranging the luncheon for a funeral in our ward.  My sister, Lexia, sent a package with gifts for Kately for whenever she needs a distraction or a special treat (which has been quite a lot).  I can’t even count all of the other people who have helped, but thank you, thank you, thank you! Opening one of Aunt Lexia's gifts, I think this one was bracelets
P	Mama's Cuties Priesthood Blessing:  Before we went to the hospital, I had my father give me and both of the girls a priesthood blessing.  Ember was told that she would have a perfect day and not even notice that Mom wasn’t there (she has been known to cry for hours without me around).  Kately was told that her diagnosis wouldn’t be serious and that she would be okay.  I was told that I would be given strength that I didn’t have and hope that I didn’t know I had.  Wow, priesthood blessings are amazing!
Q	QTs:  My little pixies are silly, and yet they make this life wonderful!  I love them so much!
R	Ronald McDonald House:  This is a room at the hospital that is designated for the patients’ families.  They provide free food, computers, and places to shower and sleep.  The 2 nights that we were there community groups came and made dinner for the families.  Listening to other parents talk about their children, helped me to realize just how blessed we were that Kately’s diagnosis was not very serious!
S	Spring Break:  We were so blessed that the week that Kate was diagnosed, was Chris’ spring break, which meant that he didn’t have to balance school into the week.  I feel like this is one of the biggest blessings; Dad got to spend so much more time with us during this hard time! Stickers:  (I also have to add this blessing!)  I never knew how wonderful stickers could be, but Kately gets stickers every time she gets poked and they really help her to cope.   Kately decided to give one of her stickers to Mommy so we could each have one on our noses.
T	Teaching time:  The main reason that they kept Kate in the hospital for the few days was to teach Chris and I all about diabetes and how to deal with it.  This was very overwhelming, but very informative and needed! At the hospital, Dad, Kately, Mom, Grandma Dew
U	Under water:  Have you heard that song, “Head under water and you tell me to breathe easy for a while”?  That is exactly how I have felt these last few weeks. As I look back at the weeks prior to this diagnosis, there was such a peace that had entered my home that I feel like hadn’t been there before.  Life was good.  I remember having the impression a couple times that something was coming, something was going to happen.  I know what I feel like life is hard, but those premonitions from the Spirit have made this drowning feeling not quite so horrible.  I know that the Spirit was preparing me and giving me the blessing of foresight.
V	Very Young:  it really is a gift that Kately was diagnosed so young.  She will grow-up with the diabetes.  It might be a life change for her now, but she will grow-up knowing nothing different.  That is rather nice, sadly.
W	Kate in the Waiting Room Waiting Room:  We were blessed in the hospital to be right across the hall from a small waiting room that had a bunch of toys in it.  A blessing this time around at the hospital was that since Kately didn’t have a contagious disease; she was able to leave her room.  We spent a lot of time in that waiting room playing; even a visit from the head diabetes doctor was spent in the waiting room so Kate could play.
X	X-rays:  Not this time!  My brother, Heber, says that when you get an x-ray they turn your body in the most uncomfortable way and then tell you that you have to hold it there for 2 minutes!  Kate had to have her leg x-rayed last fall when she fractured her leg.  But not this time!!
Y	Yoked:  Jesus Christ said, “Take my yoke upon you . . . and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  I have studied this scripture lately and I have yoked myself with the Savior.  He has not taken this burden from our family, but He has definitely made it easier to carry.  I know that the Savior has sat with Kately and helped her through these hard changes and I know that he has been with me too.  I could not do it without the help and love of my Savior!
Z	Zzzz….Kately sleeps through her nightly sugar checks.  We have to check her at 2am to make sure her glucose readings are right where they should be.  The blessing here is that Kate sleeps through the finger pricks and sugar checks!  Also, Kately has always been a good sleeper, but the few weeks before her diagnosis, she had a hard time sleeping.  Naps didn’t usually happen and she always woke up drenched in urine.  Since we have started to get the diabetes under control, she is back to taking a 3-hour nap each day and sleeping through the night, mostly ;).

I know that this ABC Style was kind of hokey, but it was fun and helped me to organize my thoughts.  I hope you were able to see the Lord’s hand in our lives as well as we have.  He is always there, even in times of trials!