Thanksgiving Weekend

I have to say, Thanksgiving weekend was just what I needed, and I think Stephen & the kids enjoyed it almost as much as I did. We have been so busy the past few months. Sometimes I feel like I can barely catch my breath in between the homework, carpools to lessons, dinner, chores etc. I really do enjoy doing those things, but once in awhile, it is nice to just RELAX and Have Fun. !
Jonathan's thanksgiving break started Wednesday. My dad came home Tuesday night and he wanted to take Jonathan golfing since the weather was so nice. Neither Dad nor Jonathan has play golf for a few months, so they were excited to play 18 holes. The plan was to play the first 9, eat lunch, & then play the last nine. Unfortunately the grill at the golf course was closed. But they decided that playing all 18 holes was of far more importance than eating. They were both starving when they returned home at 4:30!









Thanksgiving Day

We stayed in our PJ's all day. We had planned to watch movies and play games. But we ended up watching the Little House On The Prarie Marathon and The Errand of Angels on PBS all day long. In the morning, everyone pitched in to make dinner. It was a wonderfully relaxing day!







Friday

On Friday, we went up to Salt Lake City to watch Kaitlyn perform in two concerts for the Lights On Salt Lake Ceremony. We decided to ride Trax up for fun, and it was also nice to not have to hunt for a parking spot downtown. The last time we went to Salt Lake, someone stole our registration sticker off our van. So it was nice not to worry about the van all night.
The kids thought riding trax was great fun! Yes, even Jonathan, who worked very hard not to smile in the pictures, determined to give the impression that he was sacrificing by being with us.





We rode trax to Kaitlyn's first performance at the Gallivan Center.






After the performance was over, we snapped a few pictures and the headed back to the trax station & rode up to the Gateway for the next performance.










After the Gateway performance, we boarded trax again & went to Temple Square. The kids wanted to see the temple and the nativity.





Finally, we boarded trax a final time, rode it down to Sandy to our van, then head home. It was a fun night! Here are a few cute pictures of the kids that we took Friday night. We had a lot of fun!

Lights On Salt Lake City

Kaitlyn sang with the One Voice Children's Chior last night at Lights On Salt Lake. This video was taken by a photographer for the Salt Lake City Tribune. Kaitlyn is not in the video.

I took a TON of pictures, I will post them by Monday!

In Theory.....

I have been cleaning up a storm since Friday. My thought is if we start out with a clean home, it will be easier to maintain over Thanksgiving, making more time for fun, which we really need. It's been go go go for weeks on end. So today, I made Thanksgiving assignments for everyone.

MOM
Kitchen
Bathrooms
Laundry

Dad
Tues & Wed & Friday- Meals

Jonathan
Vacuum house
Take Out Trash

Kaitlyn
Upstairs living room
game room

Emily
Laundry room
Game room

Hannah
Empty Dishwasher
Family Room

*Everyone clean up after themselves
* Everyone clean their own rooms


Hopefully everyone will maintain their space, and it will be a nice break for everyone... including me, the resident housekeeper. :) I will let you know how it goes!

Utes Won

For those outside of Utah, the BYU- Utes football game is a huge rivalry. Our family was divided in half. 3 of us remained true to BYU, 3 chose to support the Utes because according to them, they are the better team this year.
We decided to make the game fun by saying the fans of the losing team would make a victory dinner for the fans of the winning team the Monday after the game.
So Jonathan, Kaitlyn & I (BYU loyalists) made this for dinner last night:




Stephen, Hannah, & Emily (Utes defectors) totally enjoyed the yummy RED spaghetti dinner & Cherry Cobbler for dessert. They cheered even louder when I said, "BYU fans have dish duty tonight!"

But next year, BYU will win!!!!!

You Know You Went To Ricks College If:

1. You drove 30 miles just to eat at Taco Bell.... in the snow.... both ways.

2. [for guys) You dated a girl over the age of 19 and asked yourself, "am I really into older women?"

3. (for girls) You told your FHE brother that you don't date guys you are related too.

4. You walked to Broulims, bought groceries, then walked home & the delivery guy dropped them off an hour later.

5. You went dancing at the Retrix and walked home with your roomate at 1am... and you weren't worried about being out that late at night on the streets.

6. {for guys) A girl you asked out told you she only dates RM's. You are a "PreMee" so you are too young for her. Funny thing is, you are both 18.

7. (for girls) You've been proposed to after the first date & you actually considered saying yes.

8. You announced your engagement at Ward Prayer.

9. A major shopping excursion is too WalMart.

20. Living it up on a Friday Night meant going to JB's after an ARSC dance.

I thought these were hilarious. Hope my old friends who went to Ricks do too!

Miracle Baby

There isn't a whole lot of exciting things going on in the Daisson household to blog about right now. Our days are pretty routine: school, work, homework, choir practices, gymnastics. The only "new" thing is that since it gets dark by 5:30 here, Jonathan is home more instead of golfing or playing football. So, since there is no new news, I thought I would take you all back in time & tell you about Jonathan's amazing birth story.



Stephen & I decided right before we were married that we didn't want to wait very long to start having kids. We figured I would get pregnant about 6 months after we were married. So, I thought it was odd that I was always tired & craving sleep about 3 weeks after we were married. About a month after we married, Stephen & I loaded up a tiny Uhaul trailer and headed to Lewiston, Idaho where Stephen completed his degree in Justice Studies. On the way up, I was extremely nauseous. Stephen's mom was with us, and after I had visited the side of the road for the 8th time, she said, "Melody, you're pregnant." Stephen & I just laughed and told her we didn't think so.
A few more weeks went by. Stephen & I started school, moved into an apartment & Stephen found a job. I was still really tired, and getting sick every morning. But again, I didn't think much of it because Stephen had just had a terrible cold & I thought I had it too.
Stephen & I were talking a lot about having a baby. Although we assumed we would wait 6 months, it just didn't feel right. So we decided to fast & pray about it. Fasting has always been hard for me, but this fast seemed to wreck havoc on my body. I was so weak, I could barely get out of bed. So I slept alot. Right before we ended my part of the fast (I can only fast 6-8 hours), I had a dream of a little girl in a blue dress, about 4 years old. She looked at me and said, "Mom, you are suppose to have me." I looked behind her & saw the eyes of other children.
I woke up & told Stephen. We decided it was time to have a baby. We started talking about how tired & sick I had been.... then realized I hadn't had a period since we got married. It was Sunday, & it was torture waiting for Monday so we could go buy a pregnancy test.
We bought the test & raced home. I went in the bathroom to take it. I heard a knock on the door. It was a neighbor. I finished the test & went out to join the neighbor & Stephen in the libing room. The neighbor talked on and on and on. Steve & I were dying. Finally, she left. Then all the sudden, we were nervous & it took us a few minutes to gather the courage to go look at the results. Fianlly we did, & we were shocked to find a test that said positive. I was already pregnant! We couldn't believe it!
So, since I had that dream, we assumed a little girl was on her way. We chose the name Nicole Jean, and my mother in law sent beautiful pink blankets & clothes every few weeks. I was so busy with school that I assumed I would decorate the spare bedroom after finals were over. After all, the baby wasn't due until Feb. 14th.
I was at a party for the married couples in our student branch one night in early December when I started to feel ill. I ended up leaving early & going home. Stephen was working, & by the time he came home, I knew something wasn't right. So he called the doctor & she told us to go to the hospital.
We went, and found out I was in labor & already dilating. Our baby wasn't due for 8 weeks. We were both terrified, but were thankful the doctor was able to stop the labor. She sent me home on strict bed rest & medication. A few days later, I went into labor again. Back to the hospital. This pattern continued for 2 weeks. Then one morning, my labor started while in the hospital. The nurse checked me & discovered that my water had broke. Since we were in a small town, the hospital didn't have a NICU. So as the doctor made arrangements for me to be life flighted to a bigger hospital in Spokane Washington, Stephen & our branch president gave me a priesthood blessing. The blessing promised that the baby would not come until it could survive outside the womb and that it would be healthy. This was such a comfort to us & the only thing I worried about during the 30 minute flight to Spokane was if Stephen would make it in time to see the baby born. He had to drive two hours.
So, I made it to Spokane & was rushed to a delivery room. A team of nurses & doctors came in to hook me up to monitors & examine me. The doctor asked me, "Your water broke?" I told him yes. He had a perplexed look on his face & excused himself. I could hear him on the phone at the nurses station talking to my doctor. He was telling her he examined me & my embryonic sac was fully intact. She had checked me right before I left, and had insisted that it had broke. After 20 minutes of conversation, the doctors concluded the the sac had somehow resealed itself, but I was at a great risk to deliver at anytime, so I needed to stay up in Spokane where an NICU was.
I went into labor off & on for the next few days, then suddenly stopped. After being labor free for 4 days, the doctors concluded that I could go home when I was 35 weeks along. I went home, and 5 days later, my water broke for real.
On January 5th, at 11:19am, a baby BOY entered this world. When the doctor pulled him out, we were all amazed at how well my labor went. Because I have cerebral palsey, no one had any idea if I would be able to have a natural birth. I wanted to try & my doctor agreed. As far as labors go, it was a piece of cake. Pushing wasn't a problem at all. I think it was one of the most incredible things in my life. As he was being born, I kept thinking, "I can't believe this, I am actually giving birth." It was amazing!
After 10 minutes of pushing, he was born. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his head twice & there were two knots in the cord that tightened up as soon as he was born. The doctor said, had he been born full term, he probably would have been born dead. It was a miracle he was born before those knots tightened up. After getting over the initial shock that "he" wasn't a girl, I started to cry as they placed my new son in my arms. He was 5 weeks early, but weighed 5lbs, 14 oz, and 19 inches long. He opened his eyes when they placed him in my arms. He was perfect. He could breathe on his own & ate well. The next day, we took him home.
We named him Jonathan after my dad. His middle name is Stephen's mother's maiden name, Spencer. We named him Spencer to remind him of the faithful pioneer heritage he comes from. Later, we found out Jonathan means a gift from God. That, he truly is!

Live Puppy Cam

This is really cute, check it out!
http://cdn1.ustream.tv/swf/4/viewer.49.swf?cid=317016

Thankful Thursday #1

Today, I was scrapbooking & listening to a show on TV. It was a local show that is kind of a Rachel Ray/ This Old House/ Martha Stewart/ Dr Phil combo (as in offering relationship advice). Anyway, each week, they have a blog feature segment. Today, they talked about the trend many bloggers are following, posting one thing they are grateful for on Thursdays.
I am grateful for so many things, some very deep & profound. Others simple & kind of silly. Today, I will blog one thing I am grateful for. I am grateful I am sitting here, waiting for Stephen, who is out giving a priesthood blessing to a sick neighbor. I can't say how grateful I am to have a priesthood holder in our home, who has blessed me & the kids when we are sick or just needing extra strength. I haven't always had this blessing, so it feels like a wonderous miracle each time I think of it.
Well, he's home & I'm off to bed. What are you thankful for?

Kaitlyn & Her Choir on YouTube

These videos were taken at the concert last Friday by another parent. Enjoy!

Clean Walls!

Ok, most that know me know I do not like housework. I like a clean house though. The walls needed cleaning, and the leaves need raking, and the van needs cleaning. And these are on the top of my list of most disliked chores. So here comes Jonathan.... wanting to buy a set of books. Let me rephrase that.... wanting Mom to buy a set of books. Well, I bought him the books, and he washed walls, raked leaves, and cleaned the van. I think he appreciates the books more because he earned them, and I love the clean walls THAT I DID NOT HAVE TO WASH!!!

Steve's Graduation

Steve's brother, Mike called today & wanted to know when Steve graduates from nursing school so they could make plans to attend the graduation ceremony. When Mike & his family were here in August, I told his wife Michelle that we were going to attend his graduation & invited them to come. A few weeks ago, we recieved an email from the college he attends & found out it would cost $100- $150 for graduation. After discussing it, we decided that we didn't want to spend the money to sit through a long and stuffy graduation. Steve said it wasn't something he needed to do. So, we talked about how we did want to celebrate the end of nursing school. We decided that since the kids have had to pitch in & help alot over the past 2 years, that I've had to do a lot of the parenting & running of the household on my own, and Stephen has had to work, work, work to accomplish this goal, that we should spend the time & money doing something we will really enjoy.
Although Stephen graduates in early May, he will have to wait until June to take the NCLEX to get his RN license. He said that he won't feel like school is over until after he passes the NCLEX. So, we've decided to hold off making any celebration plans until he has his license.
So, for anyone who was planning on attending graduation ceremonies, I hope our decision hasn't upset you. We truly feel this is the best for our family. After he has his license, we will let you know how we plan to celebrate!
Love you all, thanks for your support!

EB Awareness Concert

Last night, Kaitlyn performed with One Voice Children's Choir at a benefit concert to raise money for EB awareness, research programs, & scholarship funds.



What is EB?

Epidermolysis Bullosa is a rare genetic skin disorder that causes a person's skin layers to easily separate from slight friction, causing large blisters and open wounds. It affects the mucous membranes and can cause blistering and scarring even to the mouth and esophagus, and cornea of the eyes.

Along with a silent auction, several local talents gave a benefit concert.


Noteworthy was there


LOL


George Dyer. He was incredible!


And Jamie Hartley, who has EB. Her voice was incredible.

It was an amazing night! I feel bleesed to have been a part of it. Kaitlyn said it was the most amazing experience in her life!

Christmas Present

When my sister in law was here in August, we were out shopping & we found a framed picture we both fell in love with, and wanted to buy a copy for each Daisson grandchild. But at $10 per frame, it would have cost us $130! So we bought one copy, & I created my own in Photoshop Elements. I liked how it turned out.



Click on the picture to see enlarged photo

I will have it framed for each of my children, nieces, & nephews. This one is for my nephews & Jonathan.



This one is for my nieces & my girls.
What do you think?

A lot of thoughts

Although Stephen & I voted for the same presidential candidate, we had completely different opinions on who would win the election. Since last night, I have heard about how far American has come to elect the first black president. I couldn't help but think how far I have come too. Politics never used to interest me much. But I married a man who is very passionate about politics, and very Republican. He loves discussing politics. And in the very beginning of our marriage, we weren't very compatible in this regard. I think mostly because I was a young mother just trying to keep up with the demands of caring for small children. I didn't have enough brain cells left to think of anything more complicated than trying to cooridinate nap time with quiet time so I could get something done each day. So when Stephen talked politics, I just listened to him politely & nodded at appropriate times. I tolerated listening to Rush Limbach and Shawn Hannity. When election time came around, I asked him what he thought, and then voted.
About 4-6 years ago, I realized how incompatible we really were when it came to politics and how incredibly boring it must be for him to talk to a wife who really had no opinion of her own. So I started to educate myself, form opinions, and now discussing politics is one of our favorite past times. Though we agree on a lot of issues, it is fun when we disagree too. So, when I told Stephen months ago that Obama was going to win, the stage was already set, & McCain totally biffed it when he chose Sarah Pallin as his running mate, he vehemetly disagreed. So, to make it interesting, we made a deal. After the election, we would go out to dinner. If Obama won, I could choose the resturant. If McCain won, it was his chose. I really was hoping Stephen would be choosing some cute little place that specializes in hot, spicy food (we will never be compatible when it comes to spicy food). But since Obama did win, I am seriously debating between seafood or mexican cuisine..... I have two days to think it over. And this choice seems harder to make than who to vote for president.

Another topic that occupies 90% of my thought process is raising my children. Lately, the subject of helping my girls develop healthy self esteem has been on the fore front. It seems that around 4th grade, both Emily & Kaitlyn started to struggle. They both have different issues & I won't discuss them here, because they are private & personal to them. But I will share my thoughts. It seems both girls are their own worse critics, and to me, their perceptions of certain things about themselves are distorted. But I have wondered, is that my own motherly bias clouding my perception of their perception? After all, I do see both Em & Kait as strong, beautiful, talented, capable..... you get the point. I have mulled over this for weeks, & on Monday, I was given a sliver of inspiration.

I joined facebook in August after doing an internet search for an old high school friend who recently wrote a book. The search pulled her up on Facebook. I went & checked it out & discovered that a whole group of people I hung around in high school was linked up there. Curious as to how their lives had turned out, I joined. Over the past few months, we have chatted back & forth & it has been fun to renew those associations. Recently, a few of us have posted pictures of "the good ole days" of high school. It has been interesting to me to read comments that my friends have posted about themselves. One friend commented how fat she felt on high school. Funny, I never thought of her as fat. I always admired how athletic she was & wished I could play volleyball as well as she did. Another wrote on her blog how she felt like others thought she was mean & no one liked her. I always felt a tiny bit envious of how popilar I thought she was, and wished I could make friends as easily as she did. We all laughed at our 90's hairstyles. But I can distinctly remember wishing I could get my bangs as high as Tricias. And I also remember feeling like a shy, awkward, pretzel stick that no one noticed in high school. So you can imagine my complete shock everytime someone from high school emails me to say how they admired me back then. Especially people I was just sure didn't know I existed.

So what I have learned is the girl's perceptions ARE distorted, just as mine & all the other girls I grew up with were. This is a part of the growing process. And it is likely, they will struggle until they reach adulthood to finally be able to say, I like who I am. Just as I did around the age of 25. I think as parents, we are doing a good thing by providing opportunities such as gymnastics & choir, where they have talent & feel successgul. It has helped their self esteem. But what I have realized is that more than needing a good self esteem, my girls need a solid sense of self worth. They need to know that they are precious daughters of a Heavenly Father, that loves them very much. That He created them for a specific purpose. That by having faith in Him, & through applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ, they can overcome the things that they percieve as weakness and become the strong, capable, beautiful, talented daughters of God that they truly are.

Holy moly, this is a HUGE thing to teach these girls. I am so greatful to have the Gospel to teach my girls these principal. But man, I have a lot of studying to do.

This is a historic day!

Well, by tomorrow (hopefully), we will either have the first woman vice president of the United States, or the first African American president. By the order in which I wrote the last sentence, you can guess that I prefer the history books to read, "On November 4, 2008, Sarah Palin was elected to be the first women to hold the office of Vice President of the United States of America."
I woke up this morning, anxious to vote. I have been watching, reading, & discussing this election for 20 months now. I am weary of it. I am ready to see the end of it.
So, I decided to get voting over with early this morning. So when I woke up, I dressed in a pair of jeans & a sweater. It wasn't until I was walking in to cast my vote that I realized I had chose my red & white sweater!
My plan was to drop Jonathan off at school & then vote really quick before going back home to finish getting the girls ready for school. When I arrived at the polls, there was a 45 minute wait! I have voted here for the past 8 years, & the longest I have had to wait is 10 minutes. So, realizing I wouldn't be able to vote before getting the girls off to school, I decided to wait. I dropped them off, and went to vote. I waited 40 minutes. If the numbers of people out voting in my tiny little town are an indication of voter turnout around the nation, this may well be the best voter turnout ever.
And that is what is so great about America! We the people, have the right to vote!

Last of Halloween at our house

I took pictures of the girls on Halloween morning because I knew they would be too busy/ too excited to pose for pictures after school. I was right, they had a great Halloween, full of fun and spent with friends. Kaitlyn said it was the best Halloween ever.

I have to say, I totally admire the teachers & principal at the girl's school. They totally get into Halloween. They throw great parties for the kids, dress up in great costumes, and every year, do a costume parade through the school. This year, there were so many parents there to watch that it took me 10 minutes to find a parking spot. I barely made it in time to see this:







After the parade, I went & picked up each girl at her classroom. I just had to take picture of Kaitlyn & her best friends. Plus, I took a picture of the girls with their teacher, Mrs. Mead.





When we came home, Jonathan was busy trying to come up with the scariest costume ever. Here is what he came up with:



An evil math teacher!


Now class, for homework, you have 1 million math problems, all due tomorrow.

Jonathan took off with his friends as soon as it was dark, who all thought his costume was hilarious. Gotta love how easy it is to entertain 13 year old boys.

The girls invited a few friends over for a spaghetti & breadstick dinner before trick or treating.





I was very happy that Stephen's clinical instructor let him come home early, & after dinner, he took Emily & Hannah trick or treating. Kaitlyn went with her friends, Jonathan with his. Kait & her friends hurried & covered our neighborhood in 45 minutes, then rushed back to our house to hand out candy. It was all gone in an hour!

It was a fun day. Now to get ready for Christmas.....

Happy Birthday Mike!