The Light In My Eyes.

  Wow.

Last night was amazing, and our family was so honored

as we watched the Night of Heroes event.

There was a part in the live interview last night when 

  CLAIRE (referred to these days as Sister Nielson)

 POPPED UP on Zoom to say hi.

She was able to attend along with Jane, who's in Arizona.

Seeing her beautiful face and black nametag on her shirt made me feel emotional.

What an excellent way to represent her role as a servant of Jesus Christ!

Thank you to the wonderful people at the Valleywise Health Foundation

and my burn peeps for sending us a 

basket of delicious goodies to enjoy while watching the program.

When I was a patient in the burn unit, I had a mini-fridge in my room

filled with treats and drinks, specifically rootbeer,

to make it more enticing for my Little Nies to visit me.

The goodie basket sent to us last night was filled

with treats and ROOTBEER!  

I was so touched they remembered that.  

I LOVED hearing from my incredible heroes,

 Dr. Foster and Dr. Lettieri, too.

I hope the foundation receives gazillion dollars from donors!

(You can still donate and watch the fundraiser)

This is a very special hospital to me, with 

 the best doctors, nurses, therapists, and staff!

You can watch the full short documentary that was

used in the event below:

THANK YOU, David Pergolini & Justin Rogers 

for making our story into a beautifully stunning and emotional treatment. 

I am forever grateful.

Happy Weekend!

I did not come this far only to come this far.

 Christian and I are really excited to be a part of the 

Arizona Burn Center Night of Heroes event tonight!

Since it's a virtual event, we will be streaming from here in North Carolina,

 Jane in Arizona, and maybe Sister Nielson, who is serving a 

full-time mission in New Hampshire might make an appearance?!

Valleywise Health has made this night so special for our family, and we hope our

story will highlight the amazing work that went on while we were patients.

So many hours and tireless nights, so much work and energy from

so many amazing skilled doctors, nurses, and medical staff.  

Words can't even express my deepest gratitude.

We were also very humbled to acknowledge and share our love 

for the great Dr. Daniel Caruso, who patched us back together.  

Without him, I wouldn't be here. Sadly Dr. Caruso passed away in 2017; his memory and our admiration for him will forever shine bright.

*You can still register and watch the event HERE*

My life just keeps marching on with stress and worry, and

 each day, I find the strength to let my faith 

flourish so I can, as President Nelson says, 

 "...help turn challenges into unparalleled growth and opportunity."

In Claire's most recent letter home, she reminded me of Elder Holland's

beautiful words in a talk he gave:

"No matter what challenge you are currently facing, remember: 

"I did not come this far only to come this far." 

Keep going. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. 

Keep growing. As I have said before, 

Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever."

I believe Elder Holland, and I believe Claire!

I'm a miracle, and I prove it every day when I wake up and live.

Also, I made a promo video for the event tonight,

and I kind of think I look like a muppet.

 

Bamboo, Duck tape, and Purging

Yesterday Gigs was out exploring the neighborhood looking

 for more critters to add to his already 400 plus critter collection;

 (frogs, toads, crickets, lizards, scorpions, hissing cockroaches, and Fern).

And in his searching, he came across a giant bamboo tree.

He cut down a few branches with his hatchet that he carries around

 everywhere he goes and lugged them home where he and

 Ollie wrapped them up in duck tape and had lightsaber fights.

Those are always fun and games until someone gets super mad.

Ollie came in with a bloody finger and I suggested he wear gloves.

He looked at me and was like,

 "Mom, that's super nerdy to wear gloves." 

 And I was like, "Oh, and having lightsaber fights at age 16 isn't?"

I guess it doesn't matter how old you are, once a boy always a boy.

I secretly love it.

Later I dedicated the rest of the day upstairs in the boy's room

cleaning, organizing, and doing a lot of purging.

I must have gotten rid of 30 small containers and tupperwares

that Gigs keeps for his bugs hidden under his bed,

I stepped on probably 6 pins from his insect pinning,

and found a giant stash of wrappers under Ollie's bed.

He likes treats- maybe more than me.

The boys hate when I do this with them because I make them 

try on clothes that they never wear to make sure they have officially

grown out of them, and/or remind them they still own them.

Like, we discovered three white Sunday shirts with tags STILL ON THEM

stashed in the back of the closet.

We also had some good laughs today when they tried on 

 clothes that were WAY TOO tight, or when I discovered 4 pairs of shorts in

Gigs' drawer that fit and 8-10 year old.

Like, I remember buying these shorts for the boys

when we lived in Fox Hill when they were in 4th and 6th grade!!!

They must have been HUGE on them back then if they still (kinda) fit.

Gigs is really sentimental and so after a little power struggle,

I decided to let him keep the shorts

and when I said he could keep them, I really meant it.  

In fact, I'm never going to throw them away, and will

 probably wrap them up and gift them to him on his wedding day.

The boys get really distracted while we work:

But I'm just glad they are with me and making me laugh while

I secretly throw away their stuff.

When it was all said and done, we took four big garbage sacks to The Goodwill,

and dumped four more sacks into the garbage.

Piles were stacked up in the laundry room and Christian came to see the progress,

then he shouted, and I thought it was because of all the hard work we'd done.

Nope.  One of Gigs' pet scorpions was wandering around the floor

then slipped peacefully under the washer.

So now we have a scorpion on the loose.

I was exhausted at the end of the day

Now it's Lottie's turn!

Night Of Heroes

Join me in honoring and celebrating the first responders 

and medical heroes who saved our lives!

April 29th, 2021

Lod gets glasses!

 But not real ones.

Somewhere Lottie stumbled upon a photo of Jane

 when she was in 4th grade with glasses on.

Upon learning that it's ok to wear fake glasses and treat them like an accessory, 

she asked me if I'd order her a pair.  

She pulled up the ones she wanted on my phone.  

Apparently, she had done her research

while I was driving her home from school.

Then she told me that these glasses were special because they

 had a blue screen something or other on them

to protect her eyes from too much screen time.

I didn't even know that existed.

But good to know.

They look really cute on her!

Drones

A few weeks ago Gigs got his new drone.  

He's been into drones for a while now since watching his cousin Clark fly 

around beautiful parts of Utah on his IG account.  

So Gigs sold his motorcycle, 

saved some money, and bought himself a pretty nice drone.

Each Friday Clark takes time (I mean HOURS) to 

Marco Polo Gigs and talk him through the complicated setup 

 and answer Gigs' endless questions.

It's the sweetest thing, and I am so grateful!

He zips through the trees and between the 

pergola at the park-like no big deal.

I am amazed.  Just a few days ago he put Jane's GoPro camera on his drone

and filmed the neighborhood from above.

It's fun to see above the trees.  

I can just see the amazing wedding videos he's going to be making

in a few years. Claire?? Jane??

After school, he went to the park to film Ollie on his dirt bike.

The footage was pretty cool, and Ollie felt legit.

I drove to the park to watch the action, and of course, just in time for the battery to die.

So Ollie took a little break (nap) in the car while Gigs charged his second battery,

and Lottie and Angus ran around the park.

These are good days.

Sister Nielson on Mondays

 I used to dread Mondays because I have to get back into the groove of things; 

shopping, school, meal prep, etc.  Mondays seem to go on forever, too. 

 But now, I love Mondays because it's P-day for Claire!

P-day is her preparation day where she shops for food, does her laundry, 

apartment cleaning, sightseeing around her area,

but best of all, she gets to call/facetime HOME!!

With each week that passes by, I can see change 

 in her countenance, spirituality, in her heart, and confidence.

She is amazing.

Last week she and her companion received the COVID vaccine  

and the next day she was deathly ill.

I felt so helpless not being able to help her.

Luckily it was her P-day and I was able to talk to her.  

And thank goodness for online grocery shopping!!

The Church has encouraged the missionaries to receive the Covid Vaccine.

I'm so thankful she is safe and taking steps to get herself ready 

for when she goes to Brazil (we hope soon!).

The Monkey Bars

When Claire was in Kindergarten she came home one day with 

a letter for bad behavior at school. 

I was shocked. Was the teacher mistaken? 

This couldn't be for my straight as an arrow Claire!

But apparently, Claire had asked to use the restroom and on her way back

 to class she noticed that the playground was completely empty.

This was her chance to conquer the monkey bars with 

no one looking, and with no lines, either.

After a while, another teacher noticed the lonely Claire outside and

 escorted her back to class where her teacher was not happy!

 As a result, she got a RED ticket for breaking the rules.

I looked at Claire who was crying.

In between sobs she said to me, 

"But I did it, mom. I did it! I did the whole monkey bars by myself."

Claire has lived her whole life doing things under the radar with no one watching.

Now she's serving the Lord quietly and confidently in New Hampshire

 sharing His message of peace and hope.

She's not serving a mission because it's cool, or because she has nothing better to do. 

She's serving because she loves the Lord, 

and has dedicated her life FOR HIM!

Go, Claire, Go!

It's nice to be back gathering with our church family 

attending church together.

(Even though we are missing Claire and Jane).

Today I was able to watch Claire speak in her ward in New Hampshire

over Zoom!  How cool is that?

 She did a fantastic job.

She spoke about life's challenges and how the through

the Savior we can find peace in our trials.

She began her talk by referencing our airplane accident.

It's been really neat to see how her experiences with that 

event have shaped and strengthened her in ways I didn't even know

or understand.  

She quoted Elder Dale G. Renlund's talk several times:

"Some unfairness cannot be explained; inexplicable unfairness is infuriating.

 Unfairness comes from living with bodies that are imperfect, injured, or diseased. 

Mortal life is inherently unfair. Some people are born in affluence; 

others are not. Some have loving parents; others do not. 

Some live many years; others, few. And on and on and on.

I testify that the Savior lives. He understands unfairness...

The marks in the palms of His hands continually remind Him of you and your circumstances. 

He ministers to you in all your distress. 

For those who come unto Him, a crown of beauty will replace 

the ashes of mourning; joy and gladness will replace grief and sorrow; 

appreciation and celebration will replace discouragement and despair.

 Your faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will be rewarded

 more than you can imagine. 

All unfairness—especially infuriating unfairness

—will be consecrated for your gain."

You should see the other guy

Oliver was sweet enough to run a few errands with me last week.

I drove him to the high school to pick up Jane's graduation gown packet!

Jane obviously won't be home to attend her graduation ceremony, 

but last January, when she finished her final high school class,

 she was out of there, never to look back.  Just like Claire.

But last year, I threw a really beautiful graduation party for Claire 

and I intend to do the same thing for Jane 

when she comes back home in the summer.

Mr. Nielson's eye is healing up slowly.  When people ask him what happened, 

he tells them he went to Tiajuana for Spring Break, followed by,

 "you should see the other guy."  

When they ask me about it, I tell them he forgot our anniversary.

(Dad jokes)

But really, he got it wakeboarding in Arizona.

Life is different, with more boys than girls in the house.

We, Marco Polo Jane, say goodnight each night before bed.

We don't want her to miss out on anything.

Like this:

Is This Thing Still On?

 Attention, tap, tap, tap....is this thing still on?  

Is anyone out there?

Since we broke up in February

I've been having a "wrestle" with my choice to stop writing

and sharing with the (often grouchy and critical) internet...you!

For the past few months, Christian and I 

have been working with the Arizona Burn Foundation on some very cool

projects, and I've been going back to my blog archives

to retrieve photos and stories from the past.

As I've been reading the old posts,

 I've felt so much gratitude for the lessons I've learned,

the people I've met, the service I was given,

and that I was able to continue to write 

during some of the most challenging days of my life.

I've decided to post a few things here and there.

Like...Ollie is going on his first date soon, Jane has moved out 

of the state, Mr. Nielson has a HUGE black eye,

Claire is serving a mission and having 

THE BEST missionary experiences (and I can't NOT share),

 and Jesus is the Savior of the world!

I just saw this!  I'm honored!!

Reading with Filters

Before Jane left to Arizona she and Gigs were reading every day together.

It was something that lifted a huge

 burden off my shoulders since I was juggling homeschool

 with Gigs and virtual school with Lottie.

(And my church responsibility).

Jane is the reader in the family.  

Claire likes to read too, but Jane is a beast! 

 I swear she can read a book in one sitting.

Last month Gigs and Jane began reading the Harry Potter series.

Even though Jane is 2000 miles away, the beautiful world of facetime has again blessed our lives.

Each day around 1:00 (when it's 10:00 in AZ) she and Gigs read together.

One day I walked in to find Gigs curled up on the couch with the

 second Harry Potter book and his phone.

I went a little closer to see that Jane 

was reading to him while he followed along.

I looked closer, they both had some sweet filters on while reading.

I don't know how they can read without dying.

Thriving!

Nicholas spends most of his days creating habitats for all of his critters;

scorpions from Arizona, cockroaches, three frogs, 

a beautiful beetle, and the occasional lizard.  Plus Fern his hedgehog. 

He has about 10 Tupperwares filled with habitats crowding his room.

(Oliver is thrilled about it).

Often he'll included Lottie in the projects, but they just end up

fighting about who gets what critters and it drives me crazy.

For our botany unit in school, we read about a

man who created a terrarium 40 years ago 

that is STILL thriving today!  Gigs was so impressed and intrigued

with this idea that together we got supplies for him to make his own.

He planted it in a glass jar with dirt, rocks, coal, soil, and plants.  

He sealed it up and we've loved watching it thrive!

He's really got a thing for critters and plants.

Each night we watch him feed his scorpions with crickets under a black light.

I love watching him explore this incredible world!

And he's a natural at it!