ONE YEAR... and I miss this kid

Soooo... today is my ONE YEAR MARK for working! I can't believe I have been at this job for a year today.... and I SURVIVED!! ha ha.

It has been a tough year for me to be honest. I know this doesn't come as a great big shocker to most of you that know me well. BUT.

I have learned (relearned) some things:

1. I can do hard things.

2. My kids are incredible.

3. Dave is a patient man.

4. Nursing never changes.

5. Patients have become more drug dependent/less grateful.

6. Doctors have become nicer.

7. Twelve hours is longer than it used to be last time I did this job.

8. Having insurance is WONDERFUL.

9. Going outside my comfort zone makes me grow.

10. Heavenly Father answers prayers.

Moral of the story: Next year will be easier. (I hope!)

Just had to post these picture of Matt and his friends ...

I love these kids and miss my boy!! It's so amazing though.

Only 3 more weeks of college left for him! I can't believe how fast

it went. He has LOVED it and it has been SO GOOD for him.

And So good for me to be able to let go a little at a time...

He turns in his papers in THREE weeks. Love him.

cRaZy hAiR dAy CuTiE!!!

Today is crazy hair day at school. Ellie loves it! Today is also a talent show in her class. She is playing the piano. Her two pieces are Camp Town Races and Hiawatha. Ellie has done SO well on piano this year. After just over 6 months she really is taking off! We are proud of her! She just loves to practice and it shows!!

Here are some belated pictures of Ellie's birthday party. She had a great time and her friends were so kind to her! Thanks for the fun celebration!! We did our usual (ghetto) mattress surfing, played games, opened gifts, had pizza, cake and ice cream. It was lots of fun!

THE CURSE OF "THE GEORGE" ?

Dave had a legal conference he had to attend Friday and Saturday in St. George. So we decided to make it a couples retreat and getaway together. We haven't done that for over FIVE, yes FIVE years. (Thank you so much Rich & Heidi!!) So we were all excited, packed our tennis rackets, swimsuits and were ready to have fun. Well, I went shopping while Dave was in his conference and after about 30 minutes I decided I didn't feel very well and went to the car, took some ibuprofen and sat and waited 3 long hours for Dave's conference to get out. By the time we got to our hotel in Hurricane I had a massive fever and chills and a sore throat. I got in the bed at the hotel and shivered under the covers for 4 hours. After that we went to the store, got a thermometer to take my temperature and some cough drops. My fever was 100.6. ugh. I took 4 more ibuprofen and I felt so bad about ruining the trip that we decided to just drive up to Zion and I could just sit in the car that way. By the time we had been in Zion for about an hour, the ibuprofen kicked in and I felt a little better. We went out to dinner at Oscars (yum) and then to a movie- When in Rome (lame).

I took some more ibuprofen (gotta love that stuff) and then we went to bed. After a really sleepless night I got up and drove Dave to his conference. I went back to the hotel and slept until they made me check out. Then I went and got a bite to eat, drove around, and then sat in the parking lot waiting... and waiting... and waiting... his conference got out almost 2 hours late. I was soooo sick by this point I wanted to flippin kill something....

ANYWAY... I am now thinking that "THE GEORGE" holds some kind of bad luck for me. Last time we went there for a FUN family getaway the EXACT same sicknastiness thing happened to me. WHAT THE!? Anyway, needless to say, our weekend couples retreat was a bummer. I felt so bad for Dave. I hate to be the party pooper. I was so happy to get home. I went to bed, woke up this morning feeling worse than the day before. Tomorrow I am going to the doctor. Lindsey got it last night too. She is miserable as well. I think the two of us will be hanging out together tomorrow. argh.. being sick is the pits.

p.s. I am pretty sure that working at the hospital this past year has been the "root" of all my sickenesses this year. I am exposed to so many germs there~it's almost impossible to stay healthy until you build up an immunity to it all. This happened to me when I first became a nurse almost 20 years ago. That first year working in the hospital at UVRMC I was sick about every 2 weeks. This past year it has been about every 2 months for me. NOT FUN! :P

Birthday/Baptism/Birthday

Dave blowing out the candles on his BIRTHDAY SHAKE... (we were a little "caked out")

ELLIE and baby "MATALIE"

This weekend has been lots of fun! First Ellie's birthday Wednesday, then Matt and Grammie G drove down Thursday. Friday Matt and I spent the whole day getting his medical and dental part of his mission papers done! YEA! That was a great relief to have done! And the VERY best part of that day was when we went to the orthopedist and he said that Matt's knee is 100% healed and he gave him clearance for ANY type of activity and to serve a mission. This has been something we have been so worried about for so long and it was just a huge relief to know that it is all good. He passed his physical and dental exams with flying colors and his papers are now DONE!! YEA! He can't wait til April 16th to call Pres. Tew and say push the SEND button! :) YEE HAW!!

Friday night we went to an AWESOME birthday party for Spencer complete with spiderman cake, spiderman decorations and spiderman games!! It was awesome! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPENCE!!

Saturday was Ellie's baptism. This was a wonderful day. It really was. We just had such a great feeling all day and knew that Ellie was making the best choice ever. Matt baptized her (per her request) and then Dave confirmed her. We just had a wonderful day and really appreciated all the friends and family that came to support her. It was great to have her Grandpa Bertoch drive down and back Saturday to be there and also Grammie Gibson, Rich & Heidi and Nikki & Jordan. We had a great time together all weekend.

AND THEN today (Sunday) is Dave's birthday!! YEA DAVE! Just HAD to laugh out loud watching Dave turn all shades of red while his Mom got up in our ward and announced over the pulpit in her testimony that it was "DAVID's BIRTHDAY TODAY!!" ha ha ha ha ha!!!

But seriously, we just love and appreciate Dave so much! We woke up early today and gave him his present so he could wear them to church! :) New Dress shoes... awesome! The kids and I had fun last night going to ECCO at the outlet malls to buy them while he and Grammie went shopping for lamps for our living room. We finished the night with a movie party watching Audrey Hepburn in "Sabrina" and eating homemade orange julius' and popcorn. THE BEST!!

I feel very blessed this week. I am a lucky person to have such a great family and so many reasons to celebrate!!!

MARCH 3rd- Happy Birthday ELLIE

Happy Birthday Ellie! Big 8 years old! We love Ellie. She is a sweet heart. She brings a lot of fun to our family. We hope she had a Happy Birthday!
EIGHT OF THE TOP REASONS WE LOVE ELLE:
1. She is so cute!
2. She is a great helper around the house.
3. She loves to snuggle.
4. She is so smart.
5. She is "so fashion."
6. She has tons of energy.
7. She is very loving.
8. She tries so hard to be her best!

Ellie got to take cookies to class to celebrate the big day, was sung to and got a crown at school. Got to go out for ice cream and to the park with Heidi and kids after school, had her favorite dinner at home, cake, ice cream and presents with the family! Fun stuff!! She is getting baptized tomorrow and then gets a friend party next weekend! YEA for ELlie! We love her to pieces!!!!!!!!!