Funeral Weekend

This weekend we traveled to St. George for Grandpa Kimball's funeral.  Matt, Nicole, Kristy, Omar, Momma Kimball, Sheena, and I all piled into Momma Kimball's car, bound for St. George, on Friday afternoon.  I was lucky enough to be granted the front seat (due to my car sickness and pregnancy), but the more unlucky people had to smash in the back with Nicole, laptops, dvd players, and the dog.

The traveling itself was fairly uneventful.  Nicole handled it a lot better than I thought she would, sleeping or watching the "mouse show" (Ratatouille) the whole time.  I did not care for sitting in the car for four hours as it is quite painful on my pregnant body to be in one chair for extended periods of time, but we made it. 

We went to a viewing Friday night when we got in, even though we had just spent a lot of time in the car.  Then, around 7pm, we went to Cafe Rio to eat some food.  Unfortunately, I had waited too long to eat and I was quite sick and did not get to enjoy my food.

The hotel we stayed at in St. George was really quite nice, so we had an enjoyable first night.  Nicole had a hard time sleeping in the play pen, but I missed most of it because I just passed out when we got back from eating at Cafe Rio.  Matt stayed up with Nicole until she fell asleep and I was completely oblivious.

Saturday, we went to another viewing in the morning before the funeral.  Nicole, thankfully, fell asleep right before the funeral and slept through most of it.  She woke up near the end and I took her out of the chapel so that she could be wild and free.  Kids and funerals don't always mix well, but Nicole did okay.

The funeral was really nice.  I feel like I got to know more about Grandpa Kimball than I did before the funeral.  He was a quiet man of not many words, but I got to hear stories from his children and friends about who he was throughout his life.  Even though it is sad to attend a funeral, I felt very uplifted by the love that family and friends had for Grandpa and I know that he had a good life.  It is also a comfort to have the gospel and know that Grandpa Kimball is now with his two sons, Ralph and Kelly.

After the funeral the ward provided a lunch for the family.  Then, we all hopped back in the car and drove 2.5 hours up to Richfield, straight to the cemetery for the graveside dedication.  Nicole had just about had it with all the traveling by this point, so she had a freak out during the prayer.  I sat with her in the car until it was over because she just couldn't handle any more standing around.

We all went to Aunt Janet's in Richfield after the graveside service for a meal.  It was good to have a little more casual time with the family, rather than doing something funeral related.  I could tell that everyone felt a little relieved to just be done with it all.  Funerals can be stressful.

We headed to our hotel in Richfield because we opted to stay the night rather than drive the last 2 hours home.  We stayed at a Travelodge that ended up being a little dumpy, but it served our needs in that it provided beds for us to sleep in.  This place had an indoor pool, so Matt and I took Nicole swimming at 8pm at night.  I know, we are just the best parents.  Nicole loved it!  Those swimming lessons last summer really payed off because she is not even a little afraid of the water.  She is our little water baby.  We let her swim for 30 minutes and then we headed back to the room for bed.

I, once again, just passed out and could not be woken, even by Nicole tackling and climbing on me while I slept.  Matt, once again, stayed up with Nicole until she fell asleep.  He is such a good Daddy.  At about 4am, I hear Nicole, "Daddy, need help!  Daddy!"  So, Matt pulled her out of the play pen and put her in bed with us.  Luckily, it was a king size bed, so there was plenty of room for all of us and we slept great after that.  Most of the time, when Nicole wakes up, she says, "Daddy, yere ya you?"  Which of course means, "Daddy, where are you?"  She is such a little Daddy's girl.

Sunday we went to church with Aunt Janet in the afternoon, then we ate some food and headed home.  We got into Provo around 5:30pm.  Of course, we just vegged and did nothing the rest of the day as we were exhausted from all the traveling.

I got two bereavement days off from work, so I decided to use my second one on Monday and just recover from a weekend of travel.  Matt and I actually were able to sleep in until 8am.  This is truly a grand feat as Nicole often likes to wake up at 7am.

We did some shopping, Nicole and I took naps, and Matt did homework.  It was a lovely and not too eventful afternoon.  We went to Anne's house in the evening for her birthday celebration.  Momma Kimball made tacos and DJ made enchiladas.  It was nice not having to worry about making dinner.  Then, we played Just Dance on the Wii.  Carlos got it for Anne for her birthday and she loves it. 

Thus ended my very long funeral weekend.  It would be nice to take days off of work for reasons other than a family member dying.  I guess I will just have to wait until the baby comes.

So Blessed

When things didn't work out with Matt's old job during the summer, we were crushed. We didn't know what to do. We didn't know how we were going to pay our mortgage, and we didn't know what we were going to do next. So, we prayed about what to do and where we should go with our lives.

Matt and I came to the decision that he should go back to school, be a full-time Daddy, and that I would work. We felt like this was the right decision for us. We also were trying to get pregnant as we had decided many months previously that we wanted another child. We moved forward with these plans, though they were not the ideal situation.

I love being a stay at home Mommy. I love spending time with my child and I thought (after my last pregnancy) that I would never again have to work while suffering through pregnancy. Sometimes the things that we think are the right thing for us, are not always the right thing.

In many ways, Matt and I have realized (already) that the things that happened to us this summer and the decisions that we made after that were all to teach us something and to bless our lives. Even though the decision to go back to work (and school for Matt) was not an easy one and even though we loved our roles before the switch, we have discovered that everything has a purpose.

Because Matt has been home with Nicole, he was also able to spend more time with his Dad and help out his Mom these last few months. This was a great blessing that he had the flexibility to do this. Matt is really loving his classes and his new major. The ability to decide on a major (after many years of not knowing what he wanted to do if he went back to school) was easy and has turned out to be a good decision as it is something he really enjoys.

My new job has not only been something that I enjoy, but it pays for all of our needs, is closer to home than Matt's previous job, and my hours are flexible so that we can switch off taking care of Nicole so that Matt can attend classes. This is also a better situation than we could have expected.

We found out that I was pregnant a few days after I accepted my new job and I thought that working while pregnant at a brand new job would be difficult, but it has turned out really well. I'm not nearly as sick with this pregnancy as I was with my last one and I can function at work normally without a lot of pain and discomfort. I am very grateful that this pregnancy is easy. Additionally, my work has agreed to hold my job for me and let me work from home when the baby comes (something they are not legally required to do). Originally, we did not know what we would do when the baby came, but just a couple weeks ago, I worked out an agreement with my employer.

We also recently found out that we will be getting money in the coming year that we did not expect to get. This money will help us pay off our car, and all of our credit card debt while still having some left over to put aside for when the baby is born. This is really what floors me. We really didn't think we would be able to get out of debt next year with a baby coming and all.  In fact, with me leaving work for 6 weeks when the baby comes, we weren't sure how we would meet all of our bills. Then, this week, we got the news that we would be getting this money next year and it was truly an answer to our prayers.

This is just a testament to Matt and I that Heavenly Father loves us. That even though we are faced with trials and heartache, we will still be taken care of if we follow the guidance of the spirit. It has definitely not been an easy year as we were faced with no income, a new baby, and a death in the family, but after all the trials we are really very happy. Every trial we face is there to challenge us to be better, to be more faithful, and to find a greater happiness.

Matt and I can only conclude that the decisions that we made this year (school, work, and baby) have all been a part of Heavenly Father's plan for us and I am so grateful that we have made good choices (thus far). Next year will be full of new adventures, I am sure, but I go forward with faith that things will turn out and that we will be happy.

See Our Journey This Year
Happy News: Happy and Sick, It's a Boy
New Challenges: Starting Over, New Job
Summer Distress: Difficult to Say, Allergies, On the Hunt
Times of Bliss: Vegas Vacation, She's One, Birthday 26

Dad Kimball

Ralph (Dad) Kimball died Wednesday, December 8th of complications from cancer. He will be very missed. All of us in the family feel peaceful about his passing and are grateful that his 8 year battle with cancer will no longer pain him.

The funeral will be held on Monday, December 13th at 11am in Provo, UT. I will post the exact address if anyone feels like they want to come.

We are all very grateful for the Lord and his divine plan that allows us to be families forever. Though we are all sad right now, we know that Dad is okay, that he is happy and surrounded by people who love him. We know that we will see Dad again. This is not the end, but merely a brief separation.

Dad Kimball

Tried to go and see Dad Kimball last night, but I came at a bad time and was unable to see him.  He has a full oxygen mask all the time now and is having a lot of trouble breathing.  We thought he was looking better, but yesterday things seemed to get worse with his breathing.

He was moved back to the Intermediate Care floor at midnight last night.  This is a good thing because he gets better care on that floor.  On the Oncology floor there are a lot of patients for the amount of nurses.  When he was on the Intermediate care floor before, there was one nurse for every two patients, so he had a lot more attention.

I will try again to see him today.

Too Annoyed!

I bundle up Nicole in her warm clothes, coat, boots, hat, and make a bottle for her.  I bundle myself up.  I pack a bag for Nicole with toys and things.  I go out to the garage (at 7pm at night), get the stroller out and put Nicole in to go.  I walk, while pushing the stroller, through icey snowy sidewalks, down four houses from us.  Only to discover when I finally get to my destination, a sign on the door of our activities committee chair that says the meeting has been moved to Sunday after church.

I don't even know why I try!  These are the same people who planned a meeting, but failed to tell the location (via email) until after church had started that it was AT THE CHURCH right after church.  But, of course, I don't get email while I am at church, and I didn't find out until we were home and already out of our church clothes.  It is just too frustrating!

These people wonder why committee members don't come to the meetings?  It is because you make it too difficult to come!

Luckily, the ward christmas party is our last event that we are planning and then the bishop is disbanding the committee.  The ward council will now plan all activities.  I will not be sad to see that calling go.  I know it would be really difficult to be a committee chair, but you can't do a crappy job and then complain about everyone else.

Nursery

We have been trying to get Nicole to go to nursery on her own for a few weeks now.  She has been allowed to go since September 30th.  But, she has not been able to stay for more than 30 minutes before they brought her back to us, her in tears.  This week, she was super tired and complainy and I thought for sure we would see her within 15 minutes of leaving her at the nursery, but then we didn't!  After an hour, I went over to peek at her to make sure she was okay and she was fine.  She was playing and having fun and not crying.  Yay!  She stayed the whole time without incident.

Well, we did send her with a pacifier, which was an oversite on my part.  This was probably why she was okay, she was able to soothe herself.  But, we were asked not to send the pacifier again as children kept trying to steal it from her for themselves.  So, we shall see how she does next week.  *crosses fingers*

Starting Over

I'm starting to feel like Matt and I are starting over. When we got married, we both had good jobs and ample money and we were able to buy a house within a few months of getting married. Most young married couples don't have the opportunity to do this. I look at Sarah and Johnny who married not long after Matt and I and they are still renting and going to school and living at a minimum. Matt and I are kinda starting over and living that low income way that most couples do even though we have been married for three years.

I have to say, I would rather have started out with nothing and worked for more rather than having a lot and then losing it. Retreating is a lot more difficult than the other. But, I expect that this experience will lead Matt and I to learn more about each other and we will have a better marriage for it.

Matt starts school soon, which will be weird for both of us I am sure. I graduated four years ago and Matt stopped his schooling 5 years ago. A return to school feels weird. Even though I will not be taking the classes or doing the homework, I will be right there next to Matt watching him do it and helping when it is possible. Hopefully, this little journey of ours will not take more than a couple years to complete. We both know that this is the right decision for us.

Some days are harder than others when facing the unknown, but today is a better day. I will continue to have faith that the Lord will care for the things that we really need. Thank you for all your prayers and the help that has been provided.

Fired from the Nursery

Since no one in my ward reads this blog, I thought I might share a little bit about my and Matt's calling.

Back in January, Matt and I were called to serve in the senior nursery (2-3 year olds). We were warned before we went in that there was a child who was biting the other children, but we accepted the calling. Nursery is actually a lot of fun. We get to play with the kids and feed them snacks and Nicole has really loved it.

But, this biter child has been a problem the whole time, we will call him Bryan. So, Bryan was biting the other children and pushing them and hitting them and he just played very rough. Matt took it upon himself to watch Bryan and play with Bryan and sit with Bryan so that he could field his actions and make sure that he did not hurt the other children. Bryan is not a bad kid. He isn't mean or malicious in his actions, he just plays too rough.

Bryan eventually gave up biting (yay!), but he turned to hugging. His form of hugging is putting the other children in a headlock and taking them to the ground. We had to make up a "no hugging" rule so that Bryan wouldn't hurt the other children. Bryan's parents are very protective. They stand outside the door during nursery and watch him through the window in the door. Then, when ever they want, they come into class and sit with Bryan. His mother was even there when he took a little girl to the ground and her response was, "Oh, how nice of you to give her loves."

After our no hugging rule, a meeting was called with the primary president and all of us teachers (there are four of us in the nursery of 13 children). We were told that we could not tell the children not to hug each other because Bryan's mother didn't want her child to think that hugging is a bad thing. Additionally, we were told that we couldn't discipline the children (like putting them in time out). Every time there was a behaviour problem, we were to take the child back to their parents and the parents would keep their child for five minutes so that we could calm the kids who were hurt.

So, we did it. We told Bryan to give "gentle hugs" and we took him to his parents when needed. Bryan's mother disagreed with this too. When I brought him to her, he immediately came back in the room; I asked her to keep him for a few minutes so that we could get things back in order. Her response, "Five minutes is too long for a three year old, what am I suppose to do with him for five minutes?" I said that all the other parents had the same rule and they didn't seem to have a problem, but if two minutes worked better for her, then she could do two minutes. Her response, "What I am suppose to do with him for two minutes in the hallway? He is three."

So, we cut the five minute rule for Bryan. Jimmy, another child in the class, broke his arm a few weeks ago. He came into nursery the day after he broke it. Bryan, picked up Jimmy and threw him to the ground. Jimmy wouldn't come back to class after that. The next week he was too afraid to come to class, so his mom came with him. The next week he came, but Bryan did the same thing again. Jimmy has not returned to class after that. The other kids don't play with Bryan because he hits them. They don't want to sit by him at the snack table because he hits them and takes their food.

Last week Nicole was sick and I went to nursery without Matt. Bryan hit another child with a toy and I told him no. His immediate response, "I sorry." Which is what he always says, but it doesn't stop him from repeating his action. I explained to him, that he had to be sorry AND not hit again.

I guess Bryan's mom was in the hall watching because she came in and said, "I heard there was a problem with Bryan, what is the problem."

I said, "He hit another child, but he said he was sorry, it wasn't that big a deal."

She said, "It IS a big deal because I don't think that he is being treated fairly." I just looked at her because I didn't know what to say to that. I have been bending over backwards to make her comfortable with putting her son in nursery. She continued, "Was he hitting or was he playing because there is a difference."

I said, "Well, if hitting is playing, then yah, he was playing." I guess this made her mad, but she was already snapping at me and I was losing my patience.

She said, "You don't understand, three year olds play a certain way, that is how they play." At this time I shut up because I was going to say something mean and I didn't want to. So, I ignored her because I had nothing else to say. She sat in class with her son the rest of the time (whatever that just means that I didn't have to police him).

I thought about going to the primary president with the problem, but ultimately decided against it because I didn't want to be the problem. I didn't want to be the one making a big deal out of a little disagreement. I guess I chose wrong because yesterday I got a call from the primary saying that they want to move us out of sr. nursery. I asked if it was because of Bryan, the response was yes. Apparently, the mother went to the presidency and she wants us out, she thinks we are being to harsh with Bryan. I guess we are if "too harsh" is telling him no when he hits other children and bringing him back to his parents.

I didn't know that a person could get fired from a calling. Or, a set of people rather because Matt and I are both getting the boot. Well, I decided to tell my side of the story because the primary is only hearing from the complaining parents. We go to meet with them tonight. If I get released, no big deal. I just think it is all very silly. These parents apparently think that they know better about where people are called to than the Lord does. The Lord called us to the nursery, but the parents know better.

I could see their point of view if I was being physical with Bryan or if I was yelling at him, but I'm not. I just talk to him like a person. I don't talk to him like a baby, like his mom does. But, he is three and he is going to be in primary next year, I thought that I was suppose to teach him how to behave in church and hitting other people is not how to behave in church. Unless I'm wrong...

Difficult to Say

Hunting for a job has proved to be more challenging than I first thought it would be. The first day of hunting involves sending out a resume to a whole lot of people. But, then day by day there are not as many postings for job as there was that first day. I have interviewed for a few jobs, but have had no luck as of yet. I wish I were more like my friend Rachel when we were young. Every job that Rachel interviewed for, she got hired. Once she even asked 7 peaks, in her interview, if they would hire her best friend Becky too and they did. She had an innate charm about her that made employers want to hire her. I wish I had that.

Matt and I are coming down to the wire with his job. Many of you know now that we haven't had money coming in for a couple months now. We had enough savings to last us, but the well is drying up and we may have to jump ship with his job. I am still looking for some full time work to float us a for a few more months and hopefully it will come soon. Thank you to those of you who have already sent me job leads. I have definitely taken advantage of those things. Unfortunately, nothing has panned out yet, but I will keep trying.

Life often plays little tricks on us when things are down and we have definitely been experiencing that. First, our dishwasher broke, then our kitchen aid, then Matt's car, and this week it was our air conditioner. Thankfully, we are surrounded by family and friends who really love us and we have been able to fix and overcome these little trials. I can't express how grateful Matt and I are to those of you who have helped us in little and big ways already. I think that one of the hardest things to do is admit that you need help and then actually accept that help. It is difficult to JUST say, "thank you," and not say anything else. But, I thank you.

I often think that I get comfortable in the life that I am living and life needs to give me a little kick in the pants to make me change my course. That is how I am viewing our situation. Perhaps Matt and I need to change things, perhaps it is time for me to work and Matt to be a stay at home Daddy for a little while. I'm not sure what the future holds for our little family, but I have faith that we will be okay. I know that if we do everything that we are suppose to be doing, the Lord will help us fill in the gaps and we will receive the things that we need.

I know that the Lord often uses other people to answer prayers, but it is difficult to accept when it comes. I wonder if it would be easier to accept if everything got fixed magically rather than in logical ways. Like, "poof" my Kitchen Aid magically healed itself. Probably not.

Either way, I feel very positive about the future. I know that this adventure that we are on will be of great value to us, so I have to try and find the lesson in this part of my life. I am happy. I have a great life, a wonderful husband, and the most beautiful daughter in the world. Everything else is just frosting on the cake. I just really love the frosting.

To Washington!

Well, this year Matt and I are going to Washington to see his parents for Christmas. We are very excited to go. We haven't been out to their house in two years and it will be Nicole's first airplane flight. It is all very exciting.

I am all stressed because I have to get the house clean before we leave ( I hate coming home to a mess). And, I am on the activities committee at church and we are helping with the ward christmas party tomorrow. I think the party is way too late in the month, but there is nothing that I can do about that. I am cooking to pork roasts and a lot of rice tomorrow for the party.

I still have some christmas shopping left to do before we leave and I have deliver gifts before we leave. Plus, I've got to find some time to pack. So much to do!

I will probably post again after the holiday and after Sarah's wedding.

Orange Rolls and Conference

This weekend we made Orange Rolls for conference. I wish I had taken a picture, but I didn't have the sense of mind to do it and then they were gone before I knew it!

Sunday morning the baby woke up around 6am like she usually does. I put her back down to sleep and then went down to the kitchen to start the dough for orange rolls. It takes a long time if you are making the dough from scratch because the dough has to rise... twice! So, I made the dough and let it rise and went back to bed. But, of course Nicole was up an hour later. She is most definitely an early to riser.

The orange rolls were fairly easy to make, if time consuming, but they were totally worth it! We had Sarah and her newly reunited boyfriend Mark over. And, we had DJ and Kristy. I like to be with family on conference. It is just a comfortable and happy time.

Conference this year was as good as it ever is. It is such a comfort to have the guidance from our church leaders and be able to hear the counsels of the Lord from my own living room. It is most definitely my favorite church meeting ever. I would have conference all the time if I could. But, then I guess it wouldn't feel as special as it does.

Missing my Kellikins

Kelli goes into the MTC today. She is called to the Tallahassee, Florida mission. I'm really going to miss her. I went to her house last night to say goodbye to her and I cried like a little girl. I am so proud of her for making this decision, this sacrifice, to go and serve the Lord. And, even though I will miss her very much, I know that the people in her mission need her more than I do.

For all of you Kelli lovers out there, her mom is keeping a blog of Kelli's adventures. You can read about her at http://sisterkelliwilcox.blogspot.com/ . I don't know if she has anything up on the blog yet, but I'm sure that she will.

I'll miss you Kellikins!

A Family Weekend

This weekend was very much a family weekend. Mike came to Utah for his open house, to celebrate his wedding with all of his Utah friends. Even though Mike hates Utah with a firey passion, he still sacrificed and had a party here with his family and friends. He is so good to us.

It was actually a really busy weekend. Matt worked Saturday morning, so I was at home, alone, staining our kitchen cabinets and doing the laundry. We decided that we were going to stain our kitchen cabinets a darker stain and it has turned out to be a lot more work than it was first perceived. We first had to strip the cabinets of their current varnish, which was the hardest and smelliest part. Then, we had to stain the cabinets in three coats to get the dark shade that we want. But, we still have one more coat to do and we still have to stain all of the doors. There is a ways yet to go, but I think that it will be worth it in the end.

Saturday night, we went up to the parents for Mike's open house. The food was great, which is good, otherwise I might not have come. And, there were a ton of people there that I haven't seen in a long while, including: the recently engaged Justin, the Deavers, Grandma Moses (she retold the tale of her pedifile tenant, very funny), and Mike & Lisa. It was good fun to see these old friends and catch up a little/a lottle. A lot of them I haven't seen since my wedding and that was a year ago. But, I talked to them even less at my wedding because I purposefully ignored people at my reception. Lines are evil.

We stayed at the parents for many hours and then we went over to Norm and Rand's for games. We played "Bang," a new card game that I recently bought. There were 9 of us playing and the game lasted until 11pm, but there were many a "bang" joke made during the night. At one point, Anthon said, "I'm going to bang everyone one of you." And we all laughed because we are five years old.

Sunday, Matt and I went to Kellikins's farewell. I know that Kelli isn't technically family, but she has been around long enough to warrant an adoptive title. We went to Kelli's and talked with the highschool friends for a few hours prior to the sacrament meeting. Well, I talked and Matt ate massive amounts of oranges. He really liked the oranges there. Then, we went to the meeting. Kelli's talk was amazing. She is a very good writer and a very good story teller. She will do very well on her mission.

Sunday was the family Easter do-over day. We didn't celebrate Easter with the whole family last week, so we got together this week to do it. Matt and I picked up Krista Bright (Johnny's girl) and we headed up to the parents for the second time in one weekend. Mike and Lisa had already flown back to CA, so we were Mike and Lisa-less. Johnny, Krista Bright, Matt, and I hid the Easter eggs for all of the family. It was fun hiding eggs. It is one of my favorite parts of Easter, hiding the eggs. I don't like finding the eggs as much, because that is a lot more difficult, but hiding the eggs is a good time. Matt helped hide Johnny and Krista Bright's eggs and we hid them really difficult. One egg, we put inside of a fan vent in the ceiling. But, Johnny had no problem finding them all. Curse that Johnny. Johnny hid our eggs and we did have trouble finding them. Our patience would run out after about ten minutes of searching and then we would ask for hints. But, it was fun to run around the house looking for eggs. I hid Marie and Anthon's eggs really easy because they hate to look for eggs, but I hid them a little too easy because the little kids stole the eggs before Ree and Fish could get to them. Got 'em there!

After egg hunting, we all ate... well, everyone else ate and I sat with Tommy Thomerson. I was all full from the snacking I did before dinner. Then, we played a few games. It had been a long time since the family, the "kids" had all played games together. It was weird because we are all couplized now. All the marrieds, Johnny and Krista, and Baby and G-money. It was weird. We played Mafia first. This was a fun game, for a few rounds at least. No one ever trusted Norm, G-money lied a lottle, Krista can't lie worth beans, and Ree got killed a lot. Good times. Then, we played a round of Bang and it went a lot faster than Saturday... thankfully. I tricked everyone into thinking that I was the deputy and Sarah, who was actually the deputy, got really mad about it. I like getting her flustered, it is funny.

After games, we finally all went home and the weekend of family fun was over. It was a good, but very busy weekend.

Side note: Played laser tag with the highschool friends last night. My team lost, but I took first place. Gotcha there former Marine Tim.