Dad's Coming to AZ

Here is Mom & Dad with Natalie & Julia @ Yellowstone in 2006.

My mom and dad, Charlene & Tom are coming to AZ to visit for New Year's. I think they will be leaving from Dallas on or about 12/30. I know they will be in Tucson visiting with Sonja and my dad's stepmom, Ruth. Dad starts Chemo today. I talked to him this morning. He has a friend in his ward, brother Prince, who brought over a juicer. Prince used to be on a health kick and just had it lying around but thought my dad might like it right now. My dad really teared up when he was telling me about how Brother Prince is loading a bunch of my dad's fav songs on an i-Pod so he can listen to them while he's getting his treatments. My dad LOVES music, especially the Beatles and various other 60's bands, so I know he'll really appreciate that. We hopefully will know the results of the PET scan later today. The PET was done last week, but b/c of the holidays we are still waiting for results. I can't believe dad's going to have Chemo today and then fly to AZ on the 30th but his Doc said that would be totally fine for him to travel. On Friday 12/26, dad had his Bone Marrow Biopsy and his Port a Cath placement. Those procedures both went well. Dad said he was sore after the Biopsy. They went in through his hip and he said his leg felt numb for a few hours, but all is well now. Thanks again for all your love and prayers! We love you dad! - Carolyn

Sledding to the ER

Today we went sledding up near Baker's Ranch, just East of where we live. It was lots of fun until... Natalie went a little off track and sledded into some shrubbery. She has a few scratches on her face. I thought that 2 of them looked a little deep. That, and the fact that I couldn't get one of the pieces of wood out of her cheek made me go ahead and take her into the ER. The ER doc didn't want to mess up her face anymore than it already was, so he called in the plastic surgeon. 5 hours later the plastic Doc shows up. He dug around in her cheek for that elusive piece of wood and finally got it out. Natalie ended up with three stitches. We are hoping for no scars. :) We are supposed to keep all those scratches and cuts moist with Neosporin and followup in 6 days to remove the stitches. I am sooo grateful we have insurance, and so grateful the ER doc called in the plastic doc. Afterwards, I took Natalie out to Starbucks for their yummy Signature Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate. She loved it. We then picked up some special Barbie Band-Aids to cover up the stitches. Natalie is very embarrassed about her wounds and doesn't want to explain to ANYONE that she KNOWS about how she had to get stitches. She OK'd me blogging about it because she doesn't have to see any of you all. :) She's such a funny girl.

Merry Christmas

It snowed last week. The girls had a wonderful day off from school to play in the snow. We are spending Christmas here in Foresthill. We plan on going Christmas Caroling tonight with Grandma & Grandpa Light and the Trimble cousins.

Our thoughts and prayers are with my dad. He was recently diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He's already had one tumor removed has lots of procedures scheduled for this week. He had and echo-cardiogram done last Friday and a PET scan on Monday and he's awaiting the results. The initial CT scan showed lymph node involvement in the neck, chest, and groin, but the PET scan results will be much more specific. The official diagnosis is Diffuse Large-B Cell non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Dad will have a bone marrow biopsy done on Dec. 26th. He's also met with the surgeon who will place his port a cath that will be used for Chemotherapy treatments. Chemo should start on or around Dec. 29th. Dad seems to be handling the news well. Rachel described dad as being pretty "chill" about the whole situation. We love you dad. I'll see ya soon. :)

10cm, Didn't Want to Wait for the Doc

I delivered a baby this morning. The Doc showed up about 5 minutes later. For those of you who don't know: I am an L&D nurse, among other things. I work part time at a small hospital. My patient was having her 2nd baby. She came in at about 3-4cm around 2am.... really wanting an epidural. Well, by the time I admitted her, got her IV started, called the CRNA for the epidural, it was about 3:15am and she was 5cm. She then screams, "I need to push!" She's complete (10cm) of course... There was one other Fantastic nurse & our Awesome OB tech on. We called the Doc, who's about 10 minutes away, and RT (respiratory therapy). I donned the sterile gloves and assumed catching position. Sure enough, a beautiful baby girl born @ 3:25am. Our CRNA arrived just when I was cutting the cord and said, "I guess you don't want an epidural... (she looks around the room and sees Me, RN #2, & OB tech)... Hey do you need me to call someone about that? (pointing at the baby).. " Doc arrived about 5 minutes later. RT arrived a few minutes after the Doc. Hmmmm. We were lucky. Baby was 2 weeks overdue, weighed 8-11, and had thick meconium. She came out screaming. It was a good outcome. :) That's what I call a precipitous delivery if ever there was one. That makes baby #3 for me, I think...

Baptism Day

Natalie's Baptism Day. Here she is all dressed up.

Natalie with her Dad.

This was the program for the Baptism.

Here we are together: dad, mom, Nat, & Juls.

We are so pleased with the decision you have made, Natalie, to follow the Savior's example and be baptized a member of His Church. I know that if you choose the right and try always to be like Christ, you will truly find happiness and eternal life. We love you so much, Natalie. --Love, Mom & Dad

A Thanksgiving Engagement 2008

Thanksgiving 2008!! The Nichols Family (mom, dad, Michael, Rachel, & Jen) all flew in for Thanksgiving & Natalie's Baptism. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving hosted by Grandma Janeal Light. I brought a Ham with home-made Dr Pepper glaze. I also made fresh green beans almondine and a jello pretzel salad. Oh, & I picked up a delish pecan pie from Sam's Club. :) It was a great dinner. Jen did a great job helping me get all the dishes prepared in time. She is a great cook!

Jen also had wonderful news for Thanksgiving. She just got engaged to a wonderful man (Mike). We haven't met him yet, but we hope to soon. Mike stayed in Provo for Thanksgiving. Jen's ring is beautiful. She is so excited and we spent most of the week discussing wedding locations... (In 3 days, the location changed from Houston temple, to Oakland temple, to Sacramento temple, and Dallas temple.) Last I heard, the wedding will be late April or early May in the Dallas temple. Jen & Mike, we are so happy for you! Congratulations!!!

Natalie's Birthday Party

Natalie had her birthday party with lots of screaming little girls. It was fun. We made beaded bracelets. Then we watched a movie, "Casper Meets Wendy." The girls seemed to like it. We fed them popcorn, pizza, and punch. Those girls can really put away food! After the movie, we had cake and ice-cream and opened presents. I think Natalie and all her friends really had a good time. She told me it was the best birthday party ever!!! So she is officially 8 years old now!!! And such a sweet little princess. :)

Happy Anniversary

Ben & I were married 9 years ago in the Dallas Texas Temple. We are madly in love. I can't believe it has been 9 years. Time flies when your having fun! I love you hon. You are the most wonderful husband in the world. You definitely 'had me from hello'. --Yours eternally, Moi

Happy Birthday Natalie

Natalie is 8 years old! Happy birthday princess. You were a very cute and very LOUD baby. I think LOUD babies have strong spirits.

Your blessing day was Dec. 10th, 2000.

Your Dad gave you a name & blessing: Natalie Renee Light. (Your name was almost Sydney Renee Light because we really enjoyed the Sydney Summer Olympics that year 2000... but Natalie means 'Christmas Child' & we eventually agreed on that.)

Natalie & Daddy napping on a Sunday Afternoon. (I think you are about 4 months old in this pic).

Here you are all dressed up in St Patrick's Day green. You are about 4 months here also.

Here you are competing in the Memorial Day Hula-Hoop contest. You are 2 and 1/2 years old. This was taken May 2003. You are such a sweet, funny girl. You love to make people laugh! You are a very kind and loving sister to Julia!
And here you are today, all grown up! We love you Natalie... :)

Natalie's Baptism

We took pictures today of Natalie in her baptism dress. She is very excited about her big day. We are planning for Saturday, November 29th for her baptism. Thanks Grandma Charlene for making the beautiful dress. Natalie feels like a princess! Julia has been practicing her baptism song that she will sing for the past several months. Thanks also to Grandma Janeal who will accompany Julia on the piano. I am so happy for Natalie and the wonderful choice she has made to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Happy Birthday Baby!

Isn't he cute? Ben is now 31 years old! He's turning into an old man. Happy Birthday babe. We love you!

Our new Prez

I love politics. I love the election season. It was a good race. I believe in democracy and this truly was an historic election. Congrats O'Bama! Kinda sounds Irish eh?

Prop 8 appears to have passed! Yeah!!!! We worked hard on this initiative.

Apple Hill

Here are River, Julia, Sky, & Natalie in front of a giant pumpkin! We went to Apple Hill today. It was a little chilly and rainy and therefore not very crowded. We picked up some apples, apple cider, apple donuts, hot chocolate, and looked at all the fun crafts. We went with the Rosenberg Family and they are experts on Apple Hill. They knew the best farms to go to and and best places to buy certain apples. It was fun to be with them. :)

Later, Ben & I went to a pre-Holiday party at Dr. Kaufman's house. We had fun playing blackjack at the party. We won a gift certificate to the FireHouse Restaurant in Sacramento. I've never been there so we'll let you know how it is when we go. (Yes I got my hair cut!) :)

Halloween

The girls had fun on Halloween. Natalie dressed up as a "pretty" witch. Julia was an adorable cuddle bug / lady bug. They were both so cute! We live in such a rural area, that we go into 'town' to go trick-or-treating. All the businesses in town hand out candy and we end up running into all of their little friends in town. It was great fun!

Natalie & Julia trick-or-treating in 'town' with their friends!

Protect Marriage!

Robb & Robin Wirthlin Interview. - Thank you for having a voice!

We met Robb & Robin on our Family Reunion Trip to Yellowstone in '06. They are great people. Our kids got chased by a bear! Good times. :)

Prop 8 in plain English

Our Trip to UT

Emily, Nat, & Juls

Sweet little Max!

Max's Cake - Great job Heather!!!

I've been so busy and haven't made the time to write. We were able to drive to UT for Billy and Shauna's wedding. We all had such a great time visiting with family. We left Thursday afternoon and arrived late at my awesome cousin Julie's house. Thanks again Nancy, Ariel, and Julie for letting us stay for two nights!

Natalie & Julia loved playing with the Wii and meeting the mysterious Ariel. I swear Natalie & Julia thought that Ariel was a mermaid with red hair!

On Friday, we were able to visit with the Asp Family. Kim used to be Natalie's pre-school teacher. Natalie & Julia were able to play with Emily and Ella and paint some pictures. Thank you Kim for watching the girls while Ben & I attended a temple session at Timpanogos Temple with Billy, Shauna, and lots of family.

We then attended Billy and Shauna's wedding at Casa Hatfieldadelphia Art Gallery. It was beautiful to see Billy and Shauna so happy with their wonderful children. I just loved snapping pics before the ceremony of all the cousins so happy playing and excited and dressed soooo cute.

We spent the night Friday night again at Julie's house. On Saturday morning, Ben watched a knife demonstration with Nancy! Facinating.... that's all I have to say about that..... Then Julie treated us all to breakfast at the new Paradise Bakery in American Fork. It was great.

On Saturday afternoon, the Light family all met at the Lehi Rec Center for indoor swimming and water park fun. Again I had tons of fun snapping pics of all the cousins playing. It was sooo fun for all.

Saturday evening, Billy and Shauna treated the Light family to an incredible Homemade Chicken Enchilada dinner. Great, great, great dinner. Billy also made a fantastic Chocolate Fudge Cake for us. It was incredible. We spent the night at Billy and Shauna's house on Saturday night.

Sunday morning we headed back towards California and were able to stop by Heather & Joey's house for little Max's 1st Birthday party. Max was sooo cute and loved his cake so much. The girls had fun watching Max open his presents and play with all their cousins.

We got home Sunday evening. We enjoyed our entire trip and loved visiting with all our family.

Congratulations Billy and Shauna

We are so happy for you both. Congratulations to you and your beautiful family Kylee, Kayden, Bradley, Tyler, Haley, and Paige. We love you all and are so glad we could celebrate in your special day.