Missin' Mom

The last  couple of days have been harder for me.  I'm missing Mom.

We went through some boxes, trying to get things out of the house and into the new shed Concho has finished, and I came across lots of photos from the past and projects I remember doing with Mom and stuff like that.  I even dreamed about her the last two nights, though I can't remember them well enough to repeat them.

I have a picture of just Mom and me from a Young Women's activity.  I have one that I labeled, "Mom and her typewriter."  Remember that "new" electric typewriter, that you could type one line digitally and correct before it typed on the paper?  I remember how "cool" that was. 

I pulled out Elizabeth's old clothes and found that the dress she wore to David and Kendra's wedding will probably fit Suzanna and Suzanna is thrilled.   She wanted to wear it to church yesterday, but I told her I haven't washed it yet.  She was very disappointed.  When we got home from church I went into the kitchen to make dinner and Suzanna came to me about one minute later, with the dress, and asked if I had washed it yet.  --I think that would have made Mom happy.

I found the fabric that Mom had used to make a maternity dress for me.  We both loved that fabric and thought it would be such a cute dress.  I still love that fabric.  Elizabeth and I have re-used it for other projects, too.

Mostly, I'm realizing that we like to do a lot of reminiscing in this family and I'm really not liking not being able to pick up the phone and do that with Mom right now.

Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt

I was short on time and materials for Jared's hat, but hopefully you get the idea.

If you couldn't figure out Spencer's headdress, it's supposed to be steam coming out of his funnel.

Pumpkin carving video...

I hope you had a happy halloween.

Love, Wendy

Additional Photos

I added a couple posts to our family's blog with some pictures from the funeral and burial. It's quite the effort to upload them to one blog let alone two so if you're interested in taking a look you can see them here: http://nielson2.blogspot.com/. There are many others I have saved on my computer so if you are looking for something specific let me know and I'll see if I can get it for you. Enjoy!

Our Photo Contributions

Hand-Foot-and-Mouth

We got home safely last night and I had a great 10 1/2 hour night sleep. Tonight however, it's back to the usual insomnia so I thought I'd hop on and post a little.

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I went back to Nephi in Friday and since I wasn't sure if anyone took pictures after the burial I snapped a few (ps, just a reminder that I want a copy of everyone's pictures). The flowers were still in pretty good shape so I left them there.

We tried to take a family picture while we were at Daniel's brother's house, this was one of the best we got...

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So it seems that the fever Spencer had at the Red Barn was the beginnings of Hand-foot-and-mouth disease. Spencer has the rash on his hands and feet but thankfully doesn't seem to have any in his mouth. I felt bad that we probably exposed several children and had to fly, but there wasn't much we could do about it. He hasn't complained about it at all, for which I am supremely grateful. He's more annoyed by the mesquito bites he got here at the airport that have swelled on his forehead, ears and neck; they're so painful to even look at...

(The weird eyes make it look even worse!)

But life seems to be quickly getting back to normal...

It was so good to see you all. Love from Texas.

72 Hour Kits!

Side note to Shauna's earthquake post...Shelley Jordan (Christensen) is a consultant for Shelfreliance.com and she can get a pretty cool 72 hour kit for $79.99, which I guess is an incredible sale. Her sister, Brittany, is taking the orders for this area and the deadline is October 31st. Let me know if you want more info--or you can ask Brittany (Keogan) directly too :)

Kit Includes:
  Essentials
•1 Heavy Duty Backpack (1 main compartment, 2 small top compartments, 1 medium compartment, and 2 zipping side pockets).
•1 Multi-function Knife (includes scissors, screwdriver, and nail file)
•2 (two) 3M®, N95 Deluxe Dust Masks
•1 Pair of Industrial Leather Work Gloves
•2 (two) 10-hour, Disposable Heat Packs
•10 Yards of 2” Duct Tape
•2 Bright Sticks (provides up to 24 hours of light, 12 hours each)
•2 name brand OB Tampons
•1 (one) 50-foot Rope

Shelter and Bedding
•1 Tube Tent with Rope
•2 Emergency Sleeping Bags – 84”x36” (windproof and waterproof)
•2 Ponchos with Attached Hood (one size fits all)

Communication
•2 Whistles
•1 Hand Crank Flashlight/Radio/Siren (no battery or electricity needed)
•Universal DC Adapter for Portable Electronics (will charge cell phones, portable DVD Players, and any electronics with a DC plug in! Simply plug your DC device into the adapter, and plug the adapter into your hand crank flashlight. No batteries or electricity needed).
•1 Notepad and Pencil

First Aid
•1 First Aid Booklet
•1 Deluxe First Aid Kit Including:
•1 Pair of Scissors
•1 Ace Bandage
•1 Small Roll of Athletic Tape
•2 Iodine Pads
•2 Large Band-aids (4” x1.75”)
•20 Standard Size Band-aids
•4 Extra Strength Tylenol Caplets
•4 Pepto-Bismol Caplets
•2 Blistex Chapstick Pouches (.5g each)
•2 Antibiotic Ointment Pouches (.5g each)
•2 Sterile Alcohol Prep Pads
•1 Ammonia Inhalant Respiratory Stimulant
•2 (two) 3” x 2.25” Gauze Pads (2 ply)
•2 (two) 2”x2” Gauze Pads (12 ply)
•2 (two) 4”x4” Gauze Pads (12 ply)
•1 Pair of Tweezers (plastic)
•1 Pair of Disposable Vinyl Gloves

Food and Water
•12 - 8.45 fl. oz. Coast Guard Approved Emergency Water Servings
•2 Coast Guard Approved 3600 Calorie Food Bars
•1 Plastic, 8 Liter Emergency Water Bag (not pre-filled)
•8 Water Purification Tablets (1 liter per tablet)

Sanitation
•1 (one) 2-ply Toilet Paper Roll
•4 Tissue Packs (10 tissues in each pack)
•2 Toothbrushes
•1 Fluoride Gel Toothpaste (.6 oz)
•1 Hand Sanitizer(.5 oz)
•4 Wet Naps
•2 Cloth Wash Towels
•2 Re-sealable Storage Bags
•1 36” x 36” Heavy Duty Garbage Bag

Family Facebook

Shauna, I think that this is a great idea! I know you tried to get one started before and I'm glad that we're finally giving it a go. I'll try to treat this blog like my personal facebook for big announcements and little facts in which you might be interested.

On that note, Spencer is feeling much better. It took a little more than 24 hours but not much.

And I'm also very happy Shauna did this because I'd like a copy of everyone's pictures & video that you have of the funeral/this burial trip. And I'm talking all of them--the ones you don't think turned out great (obviously skip the too blurry ones), the ones that only have your family etc, etc.

Thanks again Shauna!