Craaaaaaazy November

Hey there. We're still alive and kicking. We're all together once again after 15 days of being 8,400 miles away from NilsyNils, and we're pretty happy about that. Here's what's been happening:

Halloween: 

The Halloween parade was just as thrilling as usual. Nils 3D printed Ava's stormtrooper mask, which she was super excited about. It probably weighs about 3 pounds, so she didn't last too long trick or treating with it. 

 Aani was Phasma from Star Wars. I don't remember who that is, but it was an easy purchase from the Amazons, so yay for Phasma!

Ava: Stormtrooper, Aani: Phasma, Addie: No Face from a movie I can't remember, Anders: God's Gift to Women (Yeah)

Nils went to India:

India was a long 15 days. Nils was afflicted with the Dehli Belly and sick in bed for 3 days. There were good times as well; he was there for Diwali celebrations, and the people are all really nice. He was able to build a good relationship with his team members there. 2 weeks was too long for him and us, though. He doesn't like Indian food anymore and tried to eat as much American food as possible while there. He still has PTSD from getting sick and thinking about the food that made him so. We did fine back here at home, we just missed him. Also, he was so jet lagged when he got back that he went to bed at like 5 pm every night for a week. So it was kind of like he was gone for 3 weeks. Rough.

Tiny Coke

He shaved his face before he boarded his flight home, because I told him I knew he'd make the right choice about it. :) 

 We went to 5 Guys the night he got back- no beef in India.

Sickness:

I got a horrid cold while Nils was gone, and tried all of this crap to try to make it go away faster. I ended up with a sinus infection 10 days later that I thought was going to kill me. My head hurt for 5 days, and on day 5 it was so bad I couldn't take it. I went to the doctor and they flushed my ears out with pressurized water, which was really unpleasant. It was all very traumatizing, so I needed to document. Anyway, some antibiotics and a couple of prescription pain meds fixed me up. THANKS FOR NOTHING, BLACK ELDERBERRY.

Rando Life: 

Activity Days Recognition Night- the girls each brought a bag with three things that represented them and the good things they do. Aani brought her violin, a book because she reads to her sisters, and a New Era Magazine.

Ava brought her leotard and a Friend Magazine, and a Coke to represent when Nils asks her to "Coke him", which means she runs downstairs to the fridge and grabs a Coke for him.

The kids and I ventured up to OC Tanner to have lunch with Nils the day before Thanksgiving. They have a pretty good cafeteria, and the kiddos got to see Dad's work.

I just felt like taking a picture of our shoes at church. We still sit on the front row. I don't know why, and I don't know that it will ever end.

Anders is tuning my mom's piano 5 notes at a time. It's so out of tune and our ears bleed when it's played.

Thanksgiving:

The kids really wanted to decorate sugar cookies. I had to bow out after a few minutes because of the wheat flour flying all over the place, but they did a fine job and cleaned up pretty well.

French toast on Thanksgiving morning, thanks to Kneaders cinnamon bread. I made the buttermilk syrup and ate a couple spoons of it to make myself feel better, since I don't get to eat good things anymore. Sad life.

Thanksgiving dinner. The night ended pretty crazy, with 2 more families coming for dessert and some shopping. We spent all of our money. It was pretty fun.

It snowed enough for the girls to build a snowman. The poor snowman face planted about 3 minutes after this picture was taken.

Addie Reads in Restaurants:

Here's some proof.

Bring on Christmas, baby!

Life Update

It's time for a life update, because everyone is growing up, and there are things I don't want to forget. There are also some things I do want to forget, but I'm sure I'll be happy I documented some day; probably so I can use it as payback for all my pain and suffering. ;)

Nils: Nils' job at OC Tanner is going well. It's, as he puts it, a "big boy job", and comes with a fair amount of stress and pressure. The commute is a real butt-kicker. Aside from these less than ideal circumstances, it's a wonderful company. Their whole business is centered around recognizing excellence in the workplace, and they practice what they preach. We're willing to give it at least a year to gauge how we feel about everything. Nils is in India for the next two weeks for work, and I hope he has a good time and doesn't get too much diarrhea. I also hope we all survive back here at the ranch and don't get too much diarrhea. I'm so funny! The YouTubes have been put on hold a little bit- this new job is taking a lot more time and energy. Nils has been able to release a couple new videos in the last month or so, but just hasn't had the time to put in like he used to. It somehow continues to grow, though, and he's up to 200,000 subscribers. Crazy.

Katrina: Life is crazy for me, and I realize I've mostly done it to myself by deciding to get a job outside the house. When I think of the alternative, though, which is staying home by myself all day while the kids are at school and going slowly insane, I think it's worth it? I think? The jury's still out. I like the job, and when I'm there I feel good. I like contributing, I like associating with people, and I like stretching my brain in a new way. The people there are A++...they couldn't be nicer. However, there is a bit of mom guilt happening over here. I have 2 days off in the middle of the week, and I LOVE THEM. So, I don't know what I'm trying to say. I like the job, and it makes me appreciate being home when I am. I've asked the kids how they feel about me working, and I mostly think they don't care that much, except when I'm not available to be at their beck and call.
I continue to not eat gluten and plan on avoiding it for the rest of my life. I think people think this is a phase. Sometimes I eat fries from places that don't have dedicated GF fryers, and I ALWAYS suffer the consequences. I kind of always have some sort of a rash that varies in severity, but it has never been the full-body situation since I stopped eating gluten. Anyway, I'm not going to eat a sandwich or normal pizza ever, and it's a real pain in the butt. It's also put a major damper on the happiness I get from cooking.

Anders: Anders is a full-on angsty teenager, and just about every teenager cliche is true with this kid. Pray for us. We're making him drive more and more, because we really are looking forward to not being his chauffeurs much longer. He's excited about getting his license, dating, and getting a job. All of these things are scary to me, but I recognize they are things he needs for his happiness, and therefore, my sanity. As I've mentioned, marching band has dominated his life for the last three months, but it ends tonight. The amount of time and work marching band takes is astounding. Too bad no one cares about it except marching band parents. :)
I think I FINALLY found a piano teacher for him- I've had like 3 people tell me they'd teach him and then flake out. So annoying. Anyhoo, Anders is quite good at piano already, but he can tell he needs help with theory and technique, so we need someone who knows what they're talking about. He takes all the honors classes at school and is in concurrent enrollment chemistry. He's enjoying being a sophomore and was thrilled to death to leave the middle school behind him.

Addie: Addie is becoming very teenagerey as well. It's just delightful (sarcasm font). She's still a great kid and very easy going for the most part, but she has almost no enthusiasm for anything outside of reading. She takes a book with her wherever she goes, no joke. Birthday parties, restaurants, friends houses, grandma's house, etc. She also likes goats. She has a several close friends, but is honestly just totally content to be in her room reading 24/7. She gets straight A's without any prodding from us. Almost every day after school, she goes to her friend Lina's house (in our neighborhood) and helps her with math, and also hangs out. She really likes playing the viola, and "jams out" to classical music in her room or while doing her chores. She hates doing her hair, and I've been really, really, really trying to get her to part her hair on the side. I have to do it for her, and the last time I did, she called it "the dreaded side-part". I don't even know. Anyway, for the most part, we're just thankful for Addie and her natural goodness, even though there are a few things I have a hard time not controlling at the moment.

Aani: Aani is in 6th grade and is a pretty cool cat. She has a few friends in the neighborhood, but also likes being home a lot. I guess that's what happens when you're the middle sister. There's almost always someone to hang out with. She does a great job of looking out for Ava, and is a great sounding board for Addie. She plays violin in the Saratoga Strings orchestra for 5th and 6th graders. She says she likes reading, but I sure don't see her reading very much. :) She likes going places and almost always asks for dessert. She has a fairly adventurous palate and will try and like lots of different foods. It's so wonderful. She's itty bitty for her age and hates it. She prays and fasts for growth spurts. Last Sunday we went to my mom's house for dinner, and Aani asked me if I wanted to go on a walk with her. The two of us went on a walk for about 45 minutes and had a great chat about all kinds of things, and my heart was full of love for her. When we finished, she said, "Well Mom, thanks for going on a walk with me!" Please stay nice forever, Aani.

Ava: Ava is in 3rd grade, and is in a traditional class as opposed to ALL. Thank heavens. She tested for ALL and was 2nd alternate, but I mentioned to her 2nd grade teacher last year that I kind of didn't want her in ALL. I'm a bit over it, and Ava is the type of kid that will do great wherever she is. She also hates reading, so there's that. The teacher she has this year is over the top amazing. I feel like I say that every year, but it's true. He's OVER THE TOP AMAZING. He went to Harvard to get a master's degree in education, and came back to the same school after graduating to continue teaching 3rd graders, which is what he did BEFORE he went to Harvard. He just loves teaching 3rd graders, I guess. Anyway, I'm enjoying this experience. Ava is almost always happy. She gets along with everyone. She has an unmatched enthusiasm for life. She joined the school choir and tumbles. She loves going to Activity Days. I can't believe she's going to be 9 soon. Her room is almost always hazard-level messy.

Pip: Pip continues to be a bad dog. If left to her own devices, she digs through the trash, poops on the carpet, destroys retainers, licks Anders' pillow obsessively, and barks too much. She's banned from PetSmart, and even the vet has written in her chart that she's a bad dog. We keep her because the kids love her for some reason. She loves me so much and is mostly good when I'm around. She pees whenever Nils comes home and acknowledges her existence.

So. Life is crazy right now, and I really don't see it letting up anytime soon. We're blessed and stressed and trying to enjoy the ride. Most nights we collapse in bed and marvel at how wonderful it feels to lie down. I love these people to the point of utter exhaustion.

That September Life

'Tis been a full, busy month, with work, school, and all the extra curriculars starting up. Marching band has taken over Anders' life, and he's acting like he's over it. I think he has more fun than he lets on, it's just that by the time he gets home, he's exhausted and starving so he can't remember the good times. Aani has orchestra in the evenings twice a week, as well as activity days, and Ava has tumbling and activity days. Addie doesn't do after school activities just yet, but she reads a lot and hangs out with friends, so it's fine. :) 

Pictures: 

Marshall's opened up in Lehi, and we spent like 2 hours there and had a great old time. Ava made this "super cute" face with the unicorn mugs. I dunno. 

A lovely fall morning, and the back yard is starting to look a lot better these days. So much stinking work. We hydroseeded the non-grass areas, and it's slowly starting to fill in. It will probably actually look good in about 2 years.

We had a YW mother-daughter "Nailed It" activity, where we decorated sugar cookies to look like each other. Addie told me I needed to give her poofy hair, so I did.

Nils, Anders and some of the young men and leaders hiked Mt. Timpanogos on Labor Day. Nils' fingers turned into sausages, and his big toenail is black now. Getting old is super great.

 This picture makes us laugh a lot.

Speaking of getting old, I had an MRI on my thigh/femur to see what was going on. The sports medicine doc saw a stress fracture on the x-rays and it was killing me. After 2 months of inactivity, there was very little improvement. The MRI showed nothing. NOTHING! It was also one of the most panic-inducing experiences of my life. The claustrophobia is alive and well my friends. Anyhoo, I've been sent to physical therapy, which is convenient since that's where I work and all. This lovely picture is of dry needling in my quad. It's kinda like acupuncture with electrodes. Very weird, but I do think it helped. 

Nils is getting more and more into 3D printing. He printed this Millennium Falcon and has done lots of other things. 

Apparently this is what Nils' work days consist of. Meetings, meetings, and white boards. It's been a little rough, Nils' new job and me working as well...

which is why dinner sometimes looks like this....
Thanks, McDonald's, for feeding our children.

 (and IKEA)

So, there's been quite the fire burning in Southern Utah County, and although we most definitely don't have the worst of it up here, the air quality has been pretty crappy for weeks. The Father's and Son's campout was scheduled a couple weekends ago, and was cancelled due to the terribly smoky air. 

So they had Fathers and Sons Dodgeball night instead! Addie went with Nils, since Anders had to be at the Homecoming football game for band. 

 Breakfast for dinner.

 Anders had an assignment for one of his classes to make a vision board. I was pretty impressed with it. "My Lit Future". 😎

I told Nils that it was probably time to get a nicer TV. Why do I say things like that? Look what happened. 2 TV's. In our defense, every TV in our house has been a used KSL deal, so this is fine I s'pose. But, I'm keeping my big mouth shut for a long time now. 

I'll try to take more pictures this next month. I can't believe how bad I've been at it. See ya's.

August photo dump

So much going on. We're trying to stay afloat and will probably survive it all. Here are some pics, but we've mostly forgotten to take pictures of life lately.

Aani, Ava and I drove a few miles down the road by the lake with Nils so he could fly his drone. Then he lost his drone, and it turned into a whole thing, but this picture is pretty cute. 

Our nephew Stockton returned home from his mission in Brazil. He's a good one. His 2 grandmas kissing him. 

Ava and cousin Oakley are the babies of their families, so we call them "the babies". We went to dinner at Tucanos and called out "Baaaabies!" and they came running. Pretty dang funny. Oakley is 14, so it's extra great.

Nils' 40th birthday happened to be on the same day as his sister's memorial services. We canceled the party we had planned for obvious reasons, and I asked our friends and neighbors to heart attack him while we were gone. They did not disappoint! We are blessed with a pretty fantastic community. Our bishop and his neighbor pulled together a surprise "cake eating" the next night for Nils, so it all turned out awesome. Nils felt very loved.

Aani spent an afternoon at work with Nils, and he asked her to write 3 pieces of advice for him on his white board. Not too shabby, Aani Flaani. 

The kids started school, hallelujah! This summer about killed me. Anders 10th, Addie 8th, Aani 6th, Ava 3rd. I do love them. 

I started my job! I was so nervous. It's going fine, but I must admit it's quite an adjustment after being home for almost 16 years. Everyone is very nice and I have no complaints.

Nils started a new job this week, too! This is major, people. We thought he'd be at the Church for forever, but along came O.C. Tanner out of the blue, and straight up offered him an opportunity that seemed stupid to pass up. This pic is of Nils and Dave, his cohort at the Church. It is very bittersweet leaving his church job- it has been an enormously huge blessing for us. O.C. Tanner better deliver the moon, y'all.

Nils almost went blind last weekend. He was in excruciating pain and couldn't stand the smallest amount of light. Turned out he had a corneal ulcer, which is actually considered a medical emergency. We found an eye doctor who was open on Saturday and saved the day with antibiotic eye drops and a magical numbing drop. It turns out that changing your contacts every two months is dangerous for your eyesight. #lifelessons (Nils still isn't sold on the idea.)

I have a new physical ailment, too! Nils isn't the only special one! My femur has been aching non-stop for almost 2 months. I finally went to an orthopedic doctor last week since I'm a genius, and lo and behold, guess who has a stress fracture? What caused this remains a mystery, but I'm glad to know I'm not crazy. No more jump squats for awhile, I s'pose.

This has been a month, indeed. Peace the heck out.

Loss

Events and circumstances are much more far-reaching than we understand. This month has been full of all of the emotions life has to offer.

Nils' little sister, Harmony (Gwen, as she preferred to be called), passed away on August 2. She has a husband and 4 young kids. She suffered for many years from depression, and I don't think we'll ever understand what she endured. It's just so sad. There is much to be said, but I don't think this is the place to say it. We're comforted knowing that she's not suffering anymore, but not having her here on Earth is a massive loss for so many people who knew her and love her. I hope she is able to better understand now, and I know this experience will make us all kinder and more sympathetic and empathetic to those who struggle.

This is the only picture I took on the day of Harmony Gwen's memorial service. All of these people knew her from the time she was a toddler in Connecticut. This was a Goshen Ward reunion of sorts under the worst circumstances imaginable. I didn't grow up with them, but Nils did, and I know all of them; these people are legends in my book.

When I was 19 and spent a week in Connecticut at the Rasmusson's house, Harmony was gracious enough to give me her room to sleep in. She was a bridesmaid at our wedding. She was always kind. She lived in Orem/Provo for awhile after high school, and was always willing to babysit Anders and Addie so Nils and I could get away for a rare date. As we all got married and scattered across the globe, it became more difficult to keep a close relationship with her; she and her husband, Ben, have been in the army for the last many years, and have never been close geographically to us. However,  she would go out of her way for years to hand-craft birthday cards for every member of the family and send them. All of my kids got birthday cards from Aunt Gwen. It was no secret that she struggled with deep depression. There were peaks, deep valleys, and some mole-hills for her, and I don't think any of us allowed ourselves to think she would leave us. We will always miss her, and I can't imagine that this will ever feel normal. We don't know what is next for her hubby and kids, but we hope to be a source of love and support them however we're able. We love you, Harmony Gwen! We truly miss you.