Checking in ...

Just thought we’d try to send an email update for two consecutive weeks…yay! You might even get three, but don’t count on too much after that.

We hope that this finds you all well and happy and Tracie enjoying her birthday today! Jason enjoyed talking with her for a while.

It was a good week of checking things off of the to-do list and trying to enjoy ourselves as 5 before we become 6 in just 10 days! Crazy! It was very cold and rainy much of the week, but we had another perfect Colorado fall day on Saturday. We really enjoyed getting out in the morning to Ashtyn’s soccer game as a family and then staying and playing at the park when it was over.

Little baby “A3” is growing fine. I was measuring small again at my pre-op appt. this week so they did another ultrasound and everything is well. It was nice to see her. Jason took the morning off and it was a good thing as I was at the doctor, then over the hospital, then back to the doctor. He is so great! He took Jantzen and Alyssa to their gymnastics classes and Alyssa was so excited to have her Daddy there to watch her. Then, he even got her lunch and off to preschool. Amazing!

We had great excitement on Friday as it was finally time for the carpet cleaners to come! I think I loved Gary and Kristen, the carpet cleaners, even more than Chris, the garage door repairman from last week! That was a big lick and it looks, feels, and smells great! I also enjoyed my haircut on Friday, then a special date with my sweetie. Jason and I got to the temple, even through rush hour Denver, and really enjoyed a session together, then talked with Sister Brown for a while afterward. As most of you know, the temple president is President Brown, our former mission president and we’ve enjoyed seeing them on most of our temple trips. We may not have told you that he fell from his roof this summer and almost died. He broke many bones and was in rehabilitation for quite some time. During that time, he felt that he had more weakness than he should on one side and that he wasn’t progressing as quickly as he should. They checked into it and found that he had had a very slow bleed in his brain from the fall. So slow that it wasn’t initially detected. Anyway – long story short, he had brain surgery the next day. The clot covered the entire right side of his brain. His son, who has a doctorate in neuroscience said that the only similar MRIs he had seen were from people who were dead or who were severely disabled from that point on. Last week (about one month post-brain surgery) the man spoke at a Stake Conference in Ft. Collins with his wife. On Friday night, they were both at the temple and he was speaking in a chapel session. Absolutely miraculous! I think it’s neat to pass along such things for other’s reading enjoyment. They will be released from the temple at the end of October.

After the temple, we enjoyed a really nice dinner out at Maggiano’s Little Italy on a gift card from some friends. We laughed as we remembered our last dining experience there with Jeremy and Kelly, when Alyssa got sick and threw up ALL OVER Jason in the lobby after we had eaten. It was a less-exciting dining experience this time and certainly most enjoyable. It was a really great date together.

On Saturday afternoon we headed out to some friends house for what I thought was a family get-together….turns out it was a surprise baby shower with many friends greeting me in the living room! I was COMPLETELY surprised and very overwhelmed at the kindness of our friends. It was a beautiful shower and so much fun. I haven’t had a lot of time to just sit and think about this baby and it was wonderful to focus on these moments and to celebrate her coming birth. Jason, of course, played a great part in helping my friend plan the surprise and he took the kids over to the park with her husband and kids during the party; then joined us later for dessert. I am so lucky!

Jantzen has been an ornery bear lately and not sleeping well, so we’re trying the tougher love approach to nite-nite this week in hopes that it will help him. Wish us luck! I think he senses that something is up and I anticipate that it is not going to be an easy transition for him. Poor little dude.

I know that there were some funny things said this week, but I can only remember one: From a hot moment with the ornery bear in the van on the way home from the grocery store I raised my voice at him and slapped his little hand as it was squishing a doughnut bite onto the freshly cleaned van carpet. It was quiet for a few minutes, then Alyssa piped up very matter-of-factly with : ‘Mom, I just want you to know that, when you got angry with Jantzen…..that was coming from Satan.” They sure do remember those Family Home Evening lessons. Of course, I told her that she was right and that that’s why I had turned on our Primary songs to help all of us to feel a better Spirit. And, of course, I dutifully apologized when we arrived home, always hoping to set a good example although we do fall short a lot.

Another great moment was spontaneously dancing in the living room tonight in pajamas to the “butterfly bop” song, completely made up, of course, and named after a game that Ashtyn made up for us to play today.

Even though this is already long…..I am passing the along the list of names we’re taking to the hospital. Not so that you can give us your opinion on them (because frankly your opinions don’t matter anymore Ha Ha), but so that you can see them and come to love them! Here you go:

Amberly Ella…….……Ainsley Ella…………Aubrey Madelyn…..……..Audrey Madelyn…………….Addyson Ella………….…Abby Madelyn…………....Aryelle (Something)