Our Fall Fun

A few favorite September activities... Harvesting seeds from our giant sunflower that mysteriously grew in our backyard.
Lovely Mt. Timp in the background and fun at the cabin in Sundance.
Kenyon and the kids on the Sundance slopes.
Yummy mini carmel apples for FHE. My friend linked me to this recipe on Family Fun.

General Conference Packet

Last Conference, I received several emails with link to this awesome General Conference activity packet. The lady who created this has updated it with a new packet for this October Conference. From what I have read - she wants anyone to feel free to use this. It was great to have so many activities in one place and it really helped the kids make it through some General Conference.

General Conference 2008 Packet

There is also a link on her blog to an Apostle matching game that you might like for FHE.

Enjoy!

For my friends who are not familiar with General Conference - it is a worldwide meeting that is held twice a year (April/October). Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) listen or attend General Conference where we are taught and instructed by our Prophet Thomas S. Monson and other church leaders. They are the best meetings of the year - inspiring and uplifting. Anyone is welcome to listen - check it out here.

Check it out!

Here is my blag of the week...my cute twin sisters (recent graduates of BYU-I) have opened their own etsy shop - OneFourThree. They have made darling things. They are super talented and I hope to one day make something as cute. Keep checking out their store because they will keep adding new creations. Happy Shopping!

RS Good News

Wouldn't TAMN just love this? So the Good News thing in Relief Society isn't my favorite thing. But, I did have something to share today. Drum Roll....Kenyon came to Sacrament Meeting today. Of course he came late and left early and he sported the lovely teal covered face mask. But, he was there and he was able to see our kids participate in their Sacrament Meeting Primary Program. It was his first real outing and it seemed to go OK. Tomorrow is officially day +90 so that is also good. We are so close to that magical day +100. This was definitely a much better week than last.

'hold on thy way, fear not, god shall be with you forever and ever.'

A couple of weeks ago, Elder Holland gave a CES fireside for the young adults of our church. http://www.lds.org/move/index.html#lang=english My sisters attended this fireside and then sent the family an email encouraging us to watch/listen to his talk. I love Elder Holland's talks and I finally got around to taking the 44 minutes to watch it on my laptop. It is fantastic and I thought I would put it out there for all of you. Take 44 minutes and listen to Elder Holland. It is definitely applicable for every one of my readers. We all face trials. Elder Holland describes Joseph Smith's experience in Liberty Jail and the lessons that we can learn from this experience.

Itty Bitty SLC

I have always wanted to to do this and never have. I am not sure it will happen this year but YOU should do it. I think it would be fun to split up with a bunch of couples and have a race around downtown looking for as many pictures as possible. Check out this article in the Deseret News. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700259065,00.html

Every year the Deseret News sponsors a contest in downtown SLC to find these places. They provide 20 photos - itty bitty snipits of things seen around SLC. You have to locate these pictures and document their exact location. I think it sounds like to the best thing to do on a perfect fall evening. Plus, I love going downtown. And, if you are really good - you could win some cool prizes.

PS - update on Kenyon - he is improving so they will not do the GVHD tests. It is/was probably a virus. We will go again Friday for a couple more tests to make sure the levels are alright.

September in Utah

I really do love fall in Utah but it just doesn't last quite long enough. I love the weather right now. But for some reason - all my kids want to do is play inside. Lame. Go out!

I am not a sports fanatic. Duh. But, I do like BYU sports and I enjoy going to a good BYU football game. Especially on a day like today. (Wasn't that a crazy win?) Kenyon LOVES BYU football, so it is very frustrating that instead of going to the game today we were at home. Sick. Kenyon is worse and it is frustrating - for both of us. And then I have some crazy cold. I have had allergy problems that get worse with being prego but now it has developed into some sort of cough. What is that about? How are we supposed to function in this house if I am not totally healthy? I could scream. Actually, I just tend to cry a lot. Nice, I know.

As far as Kenyon goes, we don't really know exactly what the problem is but it is probably Graft vs Host Disease. We won't know that for a little longer - a few more tests but they ruled out a bacteria. He is really miserable and he HATES it. Rightly so. 80+ days of puking and then it gets worse could ruin any day. He has definitely lost more weight, which is also discouraging because we were doing so well. He had gained a couple of pounds before Thursday hit and then he dropped a good 8 or 9 pounds in the last couple days. You are probably thinking - are there any more pounds to lose? No, not on Kenyon. Meanwhile, I have easily gained 9 pounds this week. Thanks Baby!

If it is GVHD, it is not shocking or terribly bad news. It is kind of what they expect and they treat it with steroids. In fact, some doctors think a little GVHD is not such a bad thing - except for the person who has to deal with it. But as far as the transplant goes, it is quite common. It would probably mean extending the time some of the meds are taken and adding a couple (all bad news for Kenyon).

While I am in a complaining mood - I'll tell you what else I am sick of. Driving to Huntsman. What is that about? It is so flipping far away and I drove up there 4x this week. Shoot me. I already have to go a couple times for sure next week and maybe more. Oh well. At least we have Huntsman and we didn't have to move to some other state to deal with this. Lots of people do.

On a good note - Kenyon's hair is growing back. It is not much but some good fuzz all over. He is excited and so are the kids. The kids had soccer games this morning and all played hard. I only saw bits of all three as I jumped from each game but it was all over by 10:30 am. That is a little insane for me.

Remember

I remember that day. We all do - I guess. I turned on the TV after Kenyon had left for work and I remember thinking - What is this? Is this a movie preview on the Today Show. It really took me a few minutes to figure out what the heck was happening. Then, I couldn't stop watching TV. That night I was having a baby shower at my house for one of my friends. There was some debate - should it still go on? We ended up having the shower but under less than wonderful circumstances. I think I was still in denial or at least not completely grasping the gravity of the events.

A couple of years ago we took a trip to NYC with our friends. I knew that we had planned on going to see ground zero but I didn't quite plan on what that would be like. We came out of the subway and there it was. It hit me so much harder than I had ever expected. I was so such a basket of emotions. I am glad that we saw it when it was a big hole. Last year, I went back and it was mostly covered or under construction and it was a different experience. Seeing that massive hole in the earth and reading all the signs was so moving.

Tonight is CRAZINESS but tomorrow I plan to drive the kids over to park in Sandy where all the flags are posted. I want my kids to know something of this event and the impact in our lives. We are so grateful for the sacrifice of men and women around the country who are serving in the armed forces. It is such a blessing to be surrounded by people who are willing to make a sacrifice for the good of others.

Crazy Saturday Mornings

For the next 8 weeks, my Saturdays are CRAZY! At least the first half of the day. All three kids have soccer games. They love to play and it is so fun to watch. They play on teams with lots of friends and neighbors. It is just a little tricky trying to be at 3 games and short one parent. But Kenyon did want to come out today. He found a comfortable spot to cheer on his kids.

Gavin scored a goal at his first outdoor soccer game. He was pretty excited the whole game.

Thanks to Mindy for taking pictures for me. Someday I will remember my own camera.

We're So Proud

Isn't he a cute preschooler? We have such good dental care.

G-Man was so excited to start preschool at Miss Brittney's in our neighborhood with all his friends. He wouldn't take a normal picture and then my camera wouldn't do anything that nice anyway. The only frustrating part of the day was that preschool didn't start until after lunch and he just couldn't stand to wait that long. He must have asked a million times if he could go to preschool. Brittney is lucky is wasn't hanging out at her garage door for hours.

Kenyon update - not much. We have passed 70 days. So far no GVHD (graft vs host disease). That is great. I think the nausea is getting better. Fatigue is probably the next big problem. We work towards packing his food with calories so that we can put a little bit more weight back on the guy. The highlight of his week was probably having a couple friends come watch the BYU game with him. BYU football is always a highlight to the week (as long as they are winning).