Nielson family pictures

On October 17, I took a bunch of family pictures of my sister Maria's family. She and Shay have been married for five years and have two girls--Emery (almost four in these pics) and Nora (18 months). We went to Canyon Park here in Cedar City and it was so gorgeous! It helps that they're a very photogenic family.

Megan's mission

 Maria, Megan and Melissa

My baby sister Megan,14 years my junior, decided to serve an LDS mission back in April 2014, much to my surprise (because she's so shy). The next 6 months were spent getting her papers ready, waiting for her call, going through the temple and then she had her mission farewell, spent 6 weeks at the MTC in Provo and then flew to her mission! I can't believe I  haven't written about any of it yet. 

My parents put on a big party when she was going to open her mission call on June 8th.

There were a ton of people there, it was sort of crazy. A bunch of her college friends drove down.

 She got called to Saltillo, Mexico! She'd been hoping to go Spanish speaking, so she was very excited. She'll make my Abuela Nora proud!

Isabelle was only 3 1/2 weeks old at the time. It was her first time meeting Auntie Meg.

A few months went past and Meg finished her summer semester at UVU, and she came over to hang out with us one last time at our house.

She went through the St. George temple on Saturday, Sept. 27th. Mark was on call and had to work that morning, and so I had to get up and get all three kids down to Hurricane (45 minute drive) to Mom and Pop Yoder, and then drive to St. George (another 30 minute drive) from there.

There was a DELUGE of BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS on the way down, like can't-see-2-feet-in-front-of-you-on-the-freeway type of storm. But of course I was running late and so I white knuckled it through anyways (but it slowed me way down), dumped the kids off at the grandparents and then floored it all the way to the temple. The session was starting at 10:00 am and I got there at 10:00 am exactly. (There was no parking either, to top things off.) I got dressed as fast as I could, but the group had already gone upstairs, AND it was a full session. I had to beg them to let me go up, and luckily Monica had saved a seat for me. I about died.

I'm glad I made it and could be there with my family.

My brother Kev

On October 12th, she gave her farewell talk in church in the Hurricane 9th ward, which is the ward I grew up in, and it was so strange to go back after all this time and see people I've known my whole life! Meg did a great job--this whole endeavor was really forcing her to come out of her shell. 

Sisters ♥

 

 

 

Our attempt at a family picture--Isabelle had a fistful of Madelyn's hair...

 

 The whole Murset clan!

 Then, she was set apart...

 Then, she spent 6 weeks at the Provo MTC learning Spanish...

 

 Then she flew to Mexico in late November and has been in the city of Saltillo ever since.

Well, when you condense it all like that, it makes it seem like it happened really fast. She's already been gone for 3 months! 15 left to go. I still can't believe she's out there. We're proud of you, Meg!

Isabelle is 5 months old!

Isabelle is actually 8 months old today. I started this post 4 MONTHS AGO but then my computer's graphics card crapped out for a month and I couldn't get my pictures, and then everyone was sick for a month, and then the holidays happened, and anyway I've been in the mommy trenches/survival mode for a very long time. But I do want to keep blogging, so I'm soldiering on.

5 months old

Weight: 14 lbs. 7 oz. (42nd percentile)
 Height: 25.25 inches (57th percentile)

Likes: Talking, giggling, eating, being held, grabbing people's faces, grabbing toys (we noticed she always reaches with her left hand), shrieking, drooling

Dislikes: Sitting in the Bumbo, getting face wiped, getting dressed, napping

New Skills: Eats baby cereal and food like a champ!

 This strawberry onesie is a gift from my Aunt Susie--it's one of my favorites.

We started Isabelle on oatmeal mush, and then tried fruits and veggies a few weeks later. She loves all of it. My least picky eater to date (thank you, Lord).

 What was funny was Luke's reaction--he positively gagged whenever she was eating her mush and refused to even look at her. Haha!

When she kept arching her back every time we put her in the Bumbo, we figured we should just sit her in our lap while feeding her, and she liked that a lot better.

I squeezed her into this dress on a Sunday...I had to, because:

 It was Madelyn's old dress that I loved so much. They look like sisters, huh. 

*Side note: Madelyn has THREE HANDMADE BABY SCRAPBOOKS. Luke and Isabelle: zero.

  

She went for her first swim on 10/3/14 (Her great-grandma Mary's 97th birthday!) when we went up north so Mark could take his medical boards.

She wore Madelyn's baby swimsuit, and I couldn't stop squealing when we put it on.

 She liked the (questionably murky) hot tub a lot better than the chilly pool.

♥♥♥

 

  

 

 (I found a little toad in our garage. ???)

She gets lots of daddy time, because she has Mark wrapped around her little finger.

 This was her month to experiment with not sleeping during the day. Here she is with Auntie Meg, taking one of her cat naps.

She was sleeping well at night, but during the day, even if I was holding her, she'd only sleep for 20 minutes and then wake up again. (Her brother Luke was the same way.) It was a harrowing ordeal. 

This was also the month(s) that she had clogged tear ducts and possible eye infections. So maybe that had something to do with it, who knows.

 But mostly she was just happy and adorable, as always!

Christmas card 2014

Merry Christmas from the Yoders!                                                 

 

 Our 13 year anniversary is on December 28 ♥♥

Mark has a new job offer to work as a surgical PA at IHC Southern Utah Neurosciences Institute! He has enjoyed working in pediatrics for the past six years, but is looking forward to working with the spinal surgeons Dr. Major and Dr. Stauffer and the neurosurgeons in this new group. He will begin training at the end of January in St. George and once he is established, he will split his time between their offices in St. George and Cedar City.

He has also been busy with several woodworking projects, building Madelyn a desk, and he got himself a vintage Neo-Geo arcade for his birthday. He loves having a little baby to snuggle again.

Melissa spent the first half of the year being pregnant and miserable and the other half of the year raising a darling baby who made it all worth it. Her heart condition (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) improved greatly once Isabelle was finally born. She has still found time to do a lot of sewing, jewelry making for her etsy shop, blogging, and reading. She works hard to keep the family and house running—it is a full time job!

 

Madelyn turned 10 on December 21^st! She is enjoying 4^th grade and gymnastics. She is a very good student and loves to read. She has loved having a baby sister and is the best little helper. She was so excited to watch The Hobbit  last week—she really loves all that nerdy stuff that her parents do. Every Wednesday, she gets to stay up late to watch NOVA. She loves sea animals, art, helping mom in the kitchen and our cat Tiger.

 

Luke turned 5 in September and is in his second year of preschool. (He barely missed the kindergarten deadline.) He is super smart and can read at a 2^nd grade level already. He loves being on the computer, Minecraft, Mario and Luigi, rocks, dirt, swords, guns, tanks and everything little boys are into. He still is a huge mess maker and doesn’t like to wear clothes all that much. He is so funny and always insists that we tell jokes around the dinner table. He likes being a big brother and enjoys running errands with us around town.

 

Isabelle turned 7 months old last Sunday. She was born on May 14 at 12:32 pm, 6 lbs. 6 oz, 19 inches. She has been an absolute joy to our family. She has been such a happy, sweet baby and has the most beautiful round face with rosy cheeks and dark brown eyes. She has the whole family wrapped around her little finger and is spoiled with love. She can sit up, roll over, clap and is very grabby with her hands. She is also quite the night owl! We are really enjoying her and savoring the time we have with our last baby.

We love you all and hope you have a wonderful holiday and coming year!