LPN Graduation

On Friday was my graduation from the LPN program. I was so excited to graduate but it is only the half way mark for me as I am still working for my RN. It was a great celebration none the less. The graduation was held at Thanksgiving Point. I didn't get to sit and enjoy the graduation as much as I would have liked to because I was asked to speak. As much as I know it was an honor to represent my class it still made the day a little bit more stressful. I talked about how nursing school among many other things is only temporary but that we will always be nursing students because our learning won't end at graduation.
I was so glad to have Chad and the kids there to support me (minus Isaac who was doing a service project at an indian reservation in southern utah). They have all had to make so many sacrifices for me to be able to go to school. It was also a privilage to be able to stand and publicly thank them.
I am so lucky to have such a supportive husband not to mention a great tutor. He has helped me so much while I have been in school. Hopefully they can all hang on for just two more semesters.

A little bit of light reading

I decided it would be fun to stack all of my nursing books up to see how tall of a pile they would make. I wish I could say I have read and remember all the stuff from these books.

The first snow!

Last Sunday morning the kids were so excited when they woke up and found that there was snow all over the ground.
The first snow is always the most exciting and they wouldn't even change out of there pajamas before they went outside to play in it.

The snow only lasted half the day but they had fun while it lasted.

Can you believe Shina is 10!

Shina had a great birthday this year! She was so excited to have a party at Jump on It and got to SubZero for ice cream.
She is so lucky to have such good friends and cousins that live close by.
Instead of a cake Shina chose to have fried ice cream for dessert. I have to admit I would much rather have fried ice cream than cake any day too.

After Isaac got a gun for his birthday Shina wanted one for hers as well. She is kinda a tomboy anyway. She was sure excited when she opened up her BB gun.

The Harvest

It has been such a fun experience to watch and care for this garden. The kids have all had the chance to work in it by planting, watering, and weeding the garden.
It was amazing to see all of the vegetables that the garden produced. More than we could ever dream of eating.
The other night we went and picked all of the squash and cucumbers and we were amazed at how much we had.

The unfortunate thing is that so far Chad and I are the only ones that like squash. So if you live close and would like some we have plenty to share.

Blogging vs Nursing School

I have been so busy the last few weeks that it took a blogging marathon to get caught up on everything (I still don't know if I got everything). I officially finished my PN (practical nursing) semester at school and I am now able to test with the state to become a LPN. I get to enjoy a week off before I start my RN program. I am so glad to be this far in school. I only have 2 more semesters until I will be done with my RN. Yahoo!!!

My son the Deacon

What a proud moment it was last Sunday to see Isaac pass the Sacrament for the first time. He was all dressed up in the new church clothes that Grandma Mills bought him. He seemed nervous but confident at the same time. It is so awesome that we have another priesthood holder in our home.

Our Visit to Primary Childrens

Back in 2002 Primary Children's felt like a second home. After Shina was diagnosed with cancer we had to make daily trips to get her chemotherapy treatments. We got to know the nurses, doctors, and techs by name. After her chemo we went up every 3 months at first for cat scans and bone scans. Then after she went a couple years without any signs of the cancer returning they pushed us to every 6 months. We have been doing scans every 6 months since then. When we went to Oregon we had her scans done at a hospital there. We missed the familiarity of Primary's and are so glad to be back here to where we feel most at home.
Last week we took Shina up there for her 6 month scans. She has to be fasting and then they give her a large amount of contrast to drink over an hour. Then they start an IV and push another contrast into the IV while they are doing the scan. Shina always hates the IV and stresses about it for weeks before we go up there. She did so good though and said it didn't hurt at all.
We haven't been up there in 3 years and we were so surprised at how different things were, but even more surprised at how many things were exactly the same. There were so many familiars faces!

Back in 2004, Shina got the chance to paint a ceiling tile that was put in the ceiling of the cat scan room. It was such a fun thing for her to do. It was really fun to see that it is still there. If you are ever there look for her tile (hopefully you aren't).
It was really kinda stressful being there in the oncology clinic. While we were sitting in the waiting room waiting to go back there were two little bald girls about the same age Shina was when she was diagnosed. They were both waiting with their parents to go back into a room. You could see the worry and fatigue in the parent's faces and it brought back so many memories and feelings of when we were in there shoes. I pray they are as lucky as we are.

We were able to leave the hospital with great news. Not only were Shina's scans completely clear but they Doctor told us that we could start coming once a years instead of every 6 months. Yeah!!!!

2008 Deer Hunt

Chad grew up a deer hunter. It is all foreign to me but it is another Parrish tradition. He hasn't been in 3 years because we were in Oregon and he wasn't able to take the time off of school. Isaac and Shina weren't old enough to go before that and so this was their first hunt.

Isaac brought his new 22 that he got for his birthday and got to shoot it for the first time.
Shina also got a chance to shoot. Chad says that she is a really good shot.

It is so nice that they can hunt so close to the cabin. Tyler and Camille came along too!

Isaac is ready to take his hunter safety classes so that he can start hunting with Chad.

Cousin Day in Fillmore

In September the Bartholomew family (Chad's mom's family) had a cousin day in Fillmore where they are from. It was so fun to not only see Chad's aunts and uncles and his cousins but we were also able to see all of their kids who had grown up so much.

It's always fun to catch up with everyone and I hope that we do it more often.

Could he really be twelve?

I am a little late posting that Isaac had a birthday and turn twelve. I really can't believe that he is twelve already. It seems like just last week that he was a toddler. It seems so unfair that kids grow up so fast.
Isaac is such a great kid and he makes me so proud. He is very self motivated and a hard worker. He is thoughtful and kind to others. He is smart and does so well in school.
I started thinking about the fact that he only has 7 years until he will be going on a mission. I feel like I am falling short a lot of times in preparing him for this. I definitly need to start being more proactive in helping him to prepare. The first 12 years flew by, I know the next 7 will go even faster.
A Parrish family tradition is to get your first 22 when you turn 12. Chad wasn't about to change that. I was a little nervous about him having a gun, but he is a very responsible kid.
Isaac invited a bunch of his friends to Grandpa and Grandma Parrish's to have play games and roast hot dogs and marshmellows. They all had a great time.

My boy is growing up. Nothing I can do about it. I sure do love seeing him turn into a young man.

My little thumb sucker!

So Lafe is a thumb sucker. He just can't seem to keep that thing out of his mouth. It is so weird because he didn't start sucking it until he was about 18 months old. I guess because he is my last I am not so worried about it and I am not freaking out about it yet. I just want him to stay a baby for a little bit longer. He is so dang cute!