Thursday, August 28, 2008

Emergency Room Visit!!

Tonight I spent the evening at school having Back to School Night with the parents of my students. It was an enjoyable evening but of course I would always rather be home with my family. I came home eagerly anticipating seeing Nathan and Kerry. To my surprise, the lights were on, the TV was on, the computer was left in the middle of a game but no family. The thought (prompting) came to check the phones. Several calls from Madison Memorial Hospital were on both phones - the house and my cell. So. . . I immediately phoned the hospital. I explained, I am mom and grandma to several people living in Rexburg did they have any Denney's in the emergency room? The answer was NO. Did you have a Kowallis in the Emergency Room. Again, the answer was NO. I asked if Heidi might be in labor and delivery because she had already spent one evening in the hospital with premature labor. Again, the answer NO. Do you have any Christensen's in the hospital - NO. I hung up the phone thinking what to do next and immediately it rang. On the other end was Kerry. "Nathan crashed on his bike, you need to come to the hospital". Off I went. Evidently he was racing a car and his chain came off. He smashed his chin and has a HUGE gash. So about and hour and a half later he has many stitches, a very sore arm and an extrememly sore jaw. His jaw is going to be a problem for quite a while - the hit was so hard that his face is swelling and he might need to eat soft food for several days. Football is going to be on hold for a while too, but all is well and he is home and trying to sleep.












Monday, August 25, 2008

Love those Missionaries!!

One of the most exciting things for a mom used to be running to the mailbox to get letters from missionaries. Now it is running to the computer to get e-mails. Just the same for several years now that has been my great pleasure. Unfortunately I had never heard of a blog when Hyrum and Adam went out and it was more difficult to share photos. Now it is pretty easy so here are a few from all three of my missionaries. Kenne currently serving in Texas. Adam served in Mexico and Hyrum served in France.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Date Night!



Almost every Friday night Kerry and I go on a date. It is tradition to eat out and then choose another activity. Sometimes we go to the temple, sometimes we go to the movies, sometimes we do something like play tennis. Tonight we played tennis and as we were driving home we went past the splash park in Porter Park and noticed that there were no children playing. We had it all to ourselves. We had lots of fun playing in the water and taking photos. Here are a couple of favorites. After the photo shots Brenda was too tempted and wanted to get really wet!!!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

First Day of School 2008



Every year I try to take photos of the kids on the first day of school. Today there was only Nathan - the only child home to begin school for the first time. Here is a really cute photo of him. Then I decided that I wanted a photo of me on my first day of school too. My third grade class was wonderful and we had a great day.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Treasured Moments

I will never forget the day when Courtney arrived at our door step, having traveled with her parents from Pocatello, Idaho (where they lived) to Rexburg to visit. It was one of the first times she could articulate her thoughts for us. She ran into the house and yelled "Gwandma, Gwandpa, I'm home!" as she ran into our arms saying hello with a huge hug. It was the most wonderful, treasured moment. If one thinks that the excitement wears off with grandchild number two, they have never had grandchildren. Number two (Kyler) and number three (Kyla) are just as wonderful and just as fun. To see Kyler smile that huge, beautiful smile and say "Hi gwandma!" and to hear Kyla say "wuv you!" are treasured moments that I am eternally grateful for. There is a reason that the leaders of the church say to have children while you are young. It gets more difficult to run after them when older, but every chance we have to spend time with our grandkids is a treasured moment and we are grateful.

Friday, August 15 we were on our way home from our date night dinner when Hyrum and Amiee called and asked us to tend Kyla while they went to a movie. We were going to the Madison County Fair and so we took her along. It was SO fun to watch her listen to the cow moo. She kept saying "big cow, big cow" over and over. She made all the sounds of each animal and she had fun playing with a balloon until it went "bye, bye balloon". Treasured moments to be sure!


Saturday, August 16 we were able to tend Courtney and Kyler while Chris and Troy went to Christina's high school reunion. We jumped on the tramp, played in the back yard, played games, had snacks, and enjoyed spending time with these two little people. What a treasured moment it was spending the evening together. What a perfect way to end my summer vacation before school begins for me at 7:30 a.m. on Monday morning.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Summer 2008

I have been reflecting on the summer as today is my last day before school starts. It has been a full summer with lots to do and lots left undone but I am grateful for all of the family experiences we have had.

Our first big event was May when Kyrstina graduated from high school. We are so proud of her. It was a fun day of family and enjoying grandkids, but it was also because my dress zipper broke and split all the way up the back so... I had to give kids back to moms and just worry about keeping modest until I could get home!


Our second big event were Park City Utah, condo vacation. We spent a week doing basically nothing but sleeping, relaxing, swimming, playing video games, etc. We enjoyed having Nathan's best friend Dillon with us. We also loved having Mike, Betsy and boys come up for a day with us.

Our third big event was Nathan's Baseball and Softball. As you can see from this photo it wasn't all cake and ice cream. Here he was playing softball and he looked away long enough to get hit smack in the eye. We were worried that he wouldn't be able to see the ball for his Baseball game but all was well. He recovered quickly. Nathan played 3rd base regular season, 2nd base and short stop during all-stars and he played short stop and pitcher for softball. It was a good year for him.


Another fun event was seeing Adam and Jenni and taking the whole family to Downatta Hot Springs. Dad and I have wanted to take the family there for several years and we finally did it. It seems that most everyone had fun and we hope to go again some time. This photo is Amiee and her cute new swim suit and Chris, Troy, Kyler and Brenda enjoying the spray area at Downatta.


Another fun family event was Jenni's graduation. We are proud of her and it was fun to spend this evening with them. We went to the graduation, had a photo session with family and then we all went to Millhollow for ice cream. Poor little Kyla had to go home because she threw up - poor sweet girl. But it was a nice evening.


The other thing we did while Adam and Jenni were here was go to Rigby Lake. Everyone got at least one turn in the canoe and we had lots of fun.

Well, that's not all the fun we had this summer, but that's all the time I have. I'll have to make part two another time. I guess to sum it up - I love summer. I love my family. I love spending time together and remembering the good times and trying to do better when we struggle. Life is good and I am SO grateful that now I'm bawling. Duties call so out for now. Thanks to everyone who helped make this summer wonderful. :)

Monday, August 4, 2008

Staying online takes hours. I love it, but life seems to get in the way. This summer we have had tons of fun. Below are some of the things we have been doing as a family.














For fun this summer we went up to Nathan's scout camp for parent's night and enjoyed the beautiful mountains of Idaho. We are about 9000 ft. at a lake beside the mountain cliff. There was snow, deer, and beautiful surroundings. We had a wonderful time together.


Nathan has been playing a lot of baseball this summer. His regular season he played 3rd base and did really well. Then he was drafted into the all-star team and he played short stop and 2nd base. He also took his turn in the outfield. This photo is Nathan in his all star uniform. They took 2nd place in one tournament and 1st place in another. We had fun watching him play.



My beautiful mother Crystal Markowitz has been struggling with base of the tongue cancer. I had the priviledge this fall to go visit her and help take care of her while she recovered from surgery. This photo was taken the day before I left. She now has her feeding tube directly into her stomach instead of through her nose. It was a difficult time for her but wonderful for me to be able to help and spend time serving my mom.