Graduation Celebration!

Chad invited some of our friends and family over to celebrate my graduation from nursing school. I didn't remember to get my camara out until it was almost over so I missed most of the people that came. This picture is of us with our good friends Jake and Amy Murphy and Merrill and Kristen Barnes. We love these guys so much, what fun it is to have close friends.

Nathan and Laurel and their kids came as well as the Stones, the Smuins, and the Browns.

Thanks to all my family and friends for being such great supporters and helping me get through school! I love you all!

RN Graduation!

On June 6th I graduated from nursing school! What a dream come true for me. I have wanted to be a nurse for as long as I can remember and this was a big day of celebration for me. How lucky I am to have the best husband in the world as my biggest supporter. He has been amazing in helping me get through this whole process.
The kids have also been so amazing and supportive of me. I love them so much!
I have made some great friends in the process of going through school. Kathi Spencer and I carpooled most of the time and we had many many conversations about school, kids, work, and many other things. I already miss our car rides together.

What a great experience it has been. I am so glad to be done but I have so many great memories that I am taking with me!

Relay for Life!

Aunt Sherri and her family were part of a Relay for Life team this year. We participated in the Relay for Life while Shina was still going through chemo and we had a great time. We were so happy to be able to participate again this year.
Shina proudly wore her "Survivor" shirt and participated in the survivor lap.


As Shina gets older she realizes more and more what an accomplishment it is to be a cancer survivor. She doesn't remember much about her experience fighting cancer. We tell her stories about the experience and she is always reminded when she sees the scars that are left behind on her body. Next year we hope to have our own Relay for Life team and help raise money for the American Cancer Society.

Chad and the kids at the Cabin

Ok, so this is kinda old news but I have been a little bit preoccupied and haven't blogged about anything for quite a while. Chad took the kids to the cabin over Memorial day to give me a little bit of quiet study time. It looks as if they had a good time, a lot of guns and a few dead animals. I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much as they did.
Isaac shot a couple of potguts with his 22 and decided to skin them! Why he did this I don't know. Why Chad took a picture of it I don't know. Why I am blogging it, I have no clue. But enjoy!
Lafer was upset because he wasn't able to hold "his" bb gun. He has claimed Isaac's gun because it is the smallest and so he thinks it should be his.


I was so grateful for the break that Chad gave me so that I could study! I don't think the kids had any complaints about getting away either.

You know you are almost done with nursing school when.....

I think that laundry is my least favorite chore.  I have never been good at keeping up on it.  We have this great pool table in the family room that has been so perfect to pile and fold laundry on. But with one week left of nursing school I haven't even tried to fold this mountain of clothes. 

 It's so funny every morning as the family all gathers around the pool table and throws the clothes all over trying to find something to wear.  And then I pull out the spray bottle and try to do a quick spray down to get the wrinkles out.  

I know it's embarassing to post my laundry on the internet.  But hey at least it's not "dirty laundry".  

What Luck!

Tuesday evening we had a busy evening with two ball games that overlapped.  I dropped Isaac off to warm up for his game and then went to get the other kids to bring them back with me.  We were driving down the street by Burgess Park and I had slowed down to let some kids cross the street when I heard a loud BANG!   I thought that I had hit a kid at first but quickly realized that I had been hit by a foul ball and this was the result....

I guess there wasn't anyone responsible for the flying foul ball so I had to call my insurance and file a claim.  
They came to the house two days later to replace the windshield and collect $100 for my deductible.  I guess on the bright side I got a brand new windshield that is clean!  (for the time being that is)

Lafe's Pledge

I tried forever to get Lafer to say the Pledge so cute to send to Grandma and Grandpa. I guess I pushed it a little to far!

WARNING: Not for the faint of heart!

So Chad seems to have had a lot of in-grown toe nails in the past few years.  He has gone to the doctor to have them removed before, but he has started to just try and remove them himself the past few times.  And now working for a surgeon he has access to all the instruments and lidocaine so this last time he decided to set up his own O.R. in our bedroom and take care of those darn toenails himself.  He painfully endured numbing up his own toes but then realized that to really get the toenails out that he couldn't get the right angle and asked me to perform the "surgery" for him.  
I really didn't want to do it.  I stalled as much as I could thinking that he would get tired of waiting and just do it himself.  But the only pair of sterile gloves that he had was a 6 1/2.  Much too small for him (and me for that matter).  I finally gave in and started what will go down in books as my "first surgery".  He wanted to make sure that it was done right this time and so he got some kind of chemical to apply to the toe matrix to kill the root so it wouldn't grow in that area again.  It smelled like framaldahyde (I have no idea how to spell that) and the smell alone was making me sick.   I started to feel all flushed and my hands were starting to feel numb (probably the too small gloves).  Chad gave me step by step instructions and with great hesitation, I started to cut.   

I kept telling Chad that I was starting to feel sick.  He said how are you going to be a nurse if you can't handle this?  I told him that as a nurse I won't have to do the cutting.  And that the cutting (and the smell) was what was bothering me.  
I did finally finish, both toes on both sides of the toe (with the help of my noble assistant, Lafe). And for the record, I could never be a surgeon!

Oh, and if you got through this post and you are feeling a little bit queezy,  don't say I didn't warn you.

First and Last!

Here it is April and we have planted our seeds for next seasons garden and they have started to sprout and we cut the last of our squash from last years garden!  Who would have thought that our veggies would last this long!  

Dance competitions!

Shina and her cousin Elle have were lucky enough to make the same dance team at Alpine Peaks dance.  They have been working hard for months to get ready for the spring dance competitions.  It has been so fun to watch Shina work so hard and practice as much as she does.  They had a lot of success at their first two competitions.  It is so fun for me to remember when I was competing and I hope that Shina enjoys it as much as I did.

Sagerino turns 5!

It's crazy to think that my little "Flo"  is five already!  She is such a special girl and it is so fun to watch her grow up and learn so many new things!  She started asking me in October how many days it was until her next birthday.  I was very glad for the big day to get closer so I didn't have to count so many numbers!  
Chad made Sage's favorite breakfast of German pancakes for her birthday!  
How fun it was to take a few of her friends and siblings to build a bear.  



That night we all went to dinner at Tepenyaki.  Both Lafe and Sager we a little scared when the chef lit the fire!  




The long awaited moment of opening her presents!  The day after Sage's birthday she asked me how many days until her next birthday!   Aaaargh!

The Ten Virgins

In January I was asked to participate in a Relief Society Enrichment program that the committee was putting together telling the story of the ten virgins.  I wasn't given a whole lot of details but I said yes.  Until I went to the first meeting I didn't realize the time commitment that would be involved in this program they were putting together.  After the first meeting I left thinking maybe I should have told them no.  We would be meeting every Tuesday night plus some additional Saturdays until the night of the program.  With my school schedule being the worst it has ever been I didn't know how in the world I would be able to do all of that and learn lines and attend practices for this program.  But after reading through the script and seeing what a great program this was I became very excited and looked forward to each practice.  
I am been in the primary since we moved into the ward and knowing that we weren't staying here permenantly I haven't really gotten to know very many women in the ward.  Boy have I been missing out!  

I have gotten to know and love each of them.  We worked hard to get this program ready and spent many hours both laughing and crying together.  
It has been a long time since I was on a stage and performed.  I did it a lot in high school both in dance and drama.  I loved it then but felt a little rusty.  I think if it weren't for me being in school right now and my mind being in good "study shape"  I would have had a very difficult time memorizing my lines.  They seemed to come very easy for me and I am so grateful for that.
One thing that I have learned about the sisters in my ward is that they don't do anything "half way"  If they are going to do something it is all or nothing.  We had beautiful props and a gorgeous back drop.  They truly did go all out.  
We were even miked for the production!
One of the funnest parts for me was being able to work with my good friend Kim Brown.  We have known each other since elementary school and have been very good friends for a long time.  We actually were in drama and dance company together and actually performed quite a bit together back in the good old days.  We had a lot of laughs as we remembered some of our times together doing The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and The Grinch among other things.

Kim directed the program and also sang a few songs.  She is so talented and did an excellant job.
I played the part of Malka, a foolish virgin, who was a good woman who just got consumed with making things beautiful and didn't prepare.  I learned a lot about myself and ways that I can become better by being part in this play.  I am so grateful for this opportunity and for being blessed to have so many great women to work with.