February Part 2 (And March too)

My 1st baby turned 18 in February!  It's gone by so fast.  We sure love our sweet BethAnne!

We decorated the house with hearts and a sign (see above) and we got her 18 birthday balloons!

And we made a yummy cake

Happy Birthday BethAnne!

BethAnne and I got a great present a few days after her birthday.  A pharmacist in the ward had extra vaccine that was about to expire, and he thought of me, and he let BethAnne get hers too.  We got our 2nd shot about a week ago and so we're now fully vaccinated.  Mark got his first shot this last Monday and we definitely can see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

About a week later, BethAnne was admitted to the hospital for major surgery.  My family put together a great care package for her which included this llama which was a great comfort for her week in the hospital.

Before surgery

The surgery had some unexpected complications and so she had to have another surgery a few days later.  It was a really rough week.  My mom saved the day by staying two nights at the hospital and helping the doctors figure out how to control BethAnne's pain.  We were so grateful when BethAnne was able to come home after a week at the hospital. Her dogs were so grateful too.

In better news, while BethAnne was at the hospital Mark got a great job offer from Amazon (working remotely). (He hadn't been laid off from his old job, but his company had gone downhill in several ways). Mark started his new job this last Monday (3/29/21) and we're very grateful.

Then even more good news happened last week.  They started digging on our house.  After waiting more than 6 months, it was finally our turn!

We also got to have our first in-person party with the Rogers since last fall because Nana and Papa are now fully vaccinated.  It was so good to be together!

                                             

And finally, Daniel got to go to the dentist for the first time last week and he did amazing.  Last time we couldn't get him in the door, so I thought we would just go in and say "Hi", but he let them do a full kid cleaning! He loved the batman protective eyewear! He's getting so big and grown-up!

So spring has come and life is great.  There are still challenges, but we feel very blessed and we go forward with faith.

 

February 2021 Part 1

We have missed the temple this last year during the pandemic, though we have felt strengthened throughout the year by faith and the Spirit.  Sometimes on our dates, Mark and I get takeout and sit and eat in the temple parking lot.  It's a very special place.

Daniel made this "transformer" out of duplos.  He's so creative!

Mark got me these beautiful roses for Valentines Day.  They bloomed beautifully for a week.  I'm so grateful for him and for our marriage.  

We got a fun surprise Valentine's weekend.  We had almost no snow all winter, but then on Valentines weekend we got a lot.  It didn't stay long (which is kind of good), but it was beautiful and fun while it lasted!

Sweet Andy!

Beautiful Snow!

Snowball fight!

Adorable Daniel!

Mark took the kids sledding, the hill was quite crowded and the place we found wasn't very steep, but it was good for Daniel!

I bought some daffodils and one day the sun came out and shone through them.  It was so pretty and a great reminder that after the dark winters of our lives, spring comes again.  (And you can see my valentines roses blooming in the background, so pretty).