Home Sick

Eve spent the day home sick with the flu.

Snuggling and watching Tv together.

Stimpy- Happy at Home

Within a couple weeks of when we moved to Taylorsville in July, our kitty Stimpy got a wee bit confused about where home was and ended up several miles away from home- in South Jordan (South East- the totally wrong way from anywhere he has ever lived).  In Logan he thought he was a wild cat.  Our neighbors down the street left food out for all the cats in the neighborhood so it was rare that he felt the need to come home in the summer.  We would see him around the neighborhood and give him some attention when he decided to grace us with his presence.  But mostly, he was an alley cat.  But when we moved here, we knew he shouldn't run wild in a new place that he didn't know.  He had never lived anywhere besides our Logan home and so we didn't want him trying to get back there.  We attempted to keep him inside and around but with all the people and movers and stuff going on, it is no wonder he left the house and yard and wandered off to find someplace calmer and quieter. After weeks and weeks of searching and calling animal control for any sign of him, we had given up hope of him ever coming home.

Here he is right after he got home.  He loved to stare out the window and look at the snow.

But then an incredible thing happened.  In his terrible adventure he made it to the home of a super nice couple- a couple that loves animals.  They took him in and nursed him back to health after his long journey.   From what they told me, he arrived at their home around early fall and had just been hanging around outside their home.  As it got colder, they built him a little cat house to help him stay warm.  When it started to get really frigid  they lured him over and grabbed him and took him inside the house.  It was so nice of them to care about a cat that just showed up on their step.  He has been super skinny and wormy but when we saw him, I could tell he had been living the good life with this couple.  He was as fat as I had ever seen him.  He was always very skittish around them and incredible as they are, I think he always knew it wasn't home.  He was continually hiding behind their furniture or trying to escape their house- and their big dogs that had never known cats.  After a few months, they decided they would keep him and so they took him to the vet to get him checked out and vaccinated.  While there, they asked the vet to scan him for a micro-chip.  The vet thought they were crazy since he looks like a typical stray that no one would take the time or money to chip.  But of course they found out he was micro-chipped and that meant he had a family that loved him.  I'm so glad we made sure to chip our cats before we moved just in case they got lost.  It totally paid off.  The vet called us that day and we went to their home to get him.
He came home to us on Jack's birthday on January 3rd.

Stimpy loves to drink from the sink.  It's pretty much the only way he'll drink water.  He is very demanding and loud when he wants a drink.  And he wants it when he wants it... even if I am using the sink to get ready.

When we first got him home, I was nervous that he wouldn't know our new home or think this is where he belonged and that he would try to run away like he did at the foster family.  But he was like a totally different cat.  He was much calmer at his real home.  He seemed so happy to be home with his family.  And maybe the house finally smelled like us and had enough of our stuff that he knew it was home.  He just wanted lots and lots of love and attention.  I admit, our other kitty Scout was not nearly as thrilled to have him home as everyone else- and she took out her first child jealousy on the carpet several times.  We were pretty tempted to drive her out to South Jordan- but unlike Stimpy she actually has skills to make it home.  She proved that several years ago after going missing for several months she showed up out of the blue.  We believe she had accidentally hopped in te back of a car or truck and got taken on a journey out of the neighborhood but had made her way home all skinny and weary.  We always joke that Scout lured Stimpy to some place where he would get lost.

He knows where to get the best loves from.

When he first came home, he was so afraid to go outside.  For about 2 months we kept him completely inside (partly because it was still winter and cold out but mostly because he wouldn't even go near the doors).  I think he was so afraid of getting lost again.  After a couple months I felt it was finally time for him to explore right around the house.  So I stuck him out side.  He freaked out!  He wanted in so badly that he kept jumping up and at the back door window.  Poor cat.  He's obviously been traumatized in the real world.  After that, it was about another week before I let him outside again.  He was calmer the next time but he still pretty much just sat by the door for the next few times I let him out.

So needy.  I have to block my lap to keep him from sitting on me all the time.

He's doing much better now.  He can handle being outside.  Though he never roams outside the yard.  Even Scout seems to be coping with having him home.  He still wants lots of loves and he definitely feels happy to be home.



Not In Public

Someone picked his own outfit today and thus is not allowed to go out in public with me.

The cape is everyday attire but the showcap is new.  I'll normally let the kids pick their own outfits for the day, but I have to draw the line at a showercap instead of pants.

"Special"

Just a random day in The Nielsen House.  Boys being boys...

Except Porter thinks he wants to be a mommy.  He keep stuffing his shirts to look pregnant.  I think he's a little baby hungry. 

Such a flirt.

One day Jack will regret letting me take such pictures to post on the internet.  But now, he just thinks they are funny.  As do I.  Typical Jack with his fro hair and dazed looks.   So "special."

First Night in the Big Boy Bed

For Christmas the boys got a bunk bed.  They were so pumped to think they could one day share a room.  They are so excited to get to talk and play together all night long.  Ha ha... they wish!  For the time being, we have the beds as singles in each of the boys' rooms.  I'm not ready for the boys to be parachuting off the top bunk.  And I also am not ready for grumpy boys that think their new bed is too cool to sleep.  Porter is still getting used to the idea of sleeping someplace besides his safe and secure crib... even though he can climb out any time he wants  We thought it would be easiest to put his bed in his room with his crib so he can get used to how it feels.  But he can still sleep in his crib until he is ready for the big bed.  Pretty much the big bed has functioned simply as a trampoline.  But tonight we tricked him into sleeping in his big boy bed.

Easter 2013

Easter Sunday was soooooo beautiful!  Such a perfect day.  Warm and sunny.  A wonderful break from the bitter fight spring and winter keep having in Utah.  Our little family was able to have a nice Easter together without too much glitz and glamour.  Such a wonderful day and way to celebrate the most wonderful day over 2000 years ago when Jesus Christ rose from the grave and opened the way for every person to live again.  

So, how does the Nielsen family celebrate Easter?  Yes, the beloved bunny makes a visit.  But he takes a backseat to the real star of the day: Jesus Christ.  Yes, we hunt eggs and gorge on goodies, but not before we take time to honor and show our love for our Savior Jesus Christ.  We find the best way to do that is to attend and worship in His true, living and amazing Church on the Sabbath day and draw close to Him as we renew the covenants we made with Him.  We listen to inspired speakers that testify of Him and offer words of encouragement, edification and enlightenment.  We attend Sunday school, primary and other classes where we learn and discuss His gospel so that we may strive to understand and live it more fully each day by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Faith in Jesus Christ brings a power, peace and happiness into our lives that cannot be found or replicated anywhere else.  

It makes days like this even sweeter and brighter and happier.

(Please take a moment to read a few more thoughts at the end of this post.  And follow the links to learn more about this topic that consumes my heart.)

The kids clean up pretty good.  Here they are all dressed up for the day...  

Do my kids know how to smile for pictures?  Pose for pictures?  Stand together for pictures?  Open their eyes?... no... the answer is obviously no.  Yep, daddy was in charge.  And I publish these with the hope that next year will be better.

The fabled bunny certainly hit our house hard.

If you can't see all the eggs it is because they were so well hidden.

The expert huntress put her extra years of hunting experience to good use.  She was the clear winner.

Porter just liked getting to participate.

I am so thankful to know that because Jesus Christ broke the bands of death, we have promise and faith and hope that death can have no permanent power over us.  Families can be reunited forever.  All of us will experience death in this life but because of Jesus Christ, all will live again.  How thankful I am for my testimony of Jesus Christ and his gospel.  How thankful I am to be a member of His Church.  My life has purpose, meaning and potential.  My family is stronger and closer because of the eternal ties that unite us together in love and happiness.  The gospel of Jesus Christ gives me an eternal perspective that breaches the temporary moments of this life and reaches into the glories of eternity.  It enables me to face the trials and ordeals of this life with hope and happiness.  How thankful I am to know Jesus Christ.  He is my Lord, my king, my Savior, my exemplar, my brother and my friend.  He is the only way.  Any other way is madness.  I feel his pure and eternal love for me and each and every person.  No one is perfect.  Only God.  We are all weak and flawed in so many way in this world but we are loved by God so much that He would do anything to bring us home to Him again- even suffer and die to pay for our debts.  Because of His perfect life, He was the only person that could be the perfect sacrifice and reconcile us to our Heavenly Father.  Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely.

I testify that He lives!  He loves us!  He is involved in the details of our lives.  He wants us to know Him.  He is there for us.  If we reach out to Him, he will help us, heal us and bring us home to Him.