Our Thanksgiving in West Virginia

Thought I'd share a bit about our trip to WV. We flew from Casper to Washington DC on the 22nd. Derrick's mom, Cindy, and Dave picked us up at the airport. Nate did really well on the trip...it was a long day! The dvd player was a life-saver for us. It was nice to pop in a movie whenever he was getting restless. I think we only needed it once though...or maybe twice. We spent all day Sunday relaxing at Cindy's house in Moorefield and then headed down to Summersville to visit Eric and Tonya and kids on Monday. Nate had a blast with his cousins or atleast with their toys. He was in heaven! Tuesday the guys and Cindy watched the kids so Tonya and I could go shopping in Charleston. It was so much fun! I actually got a bit of Christmas shopping done. That was the highlight of the trip for me. The rest of the week we took care of kids and just had fun being together. We all made the three hour drive back to Cindy's on Thursday to spend Thanksgiving at her house. She had a feast for us! It was wonderful. Friday Derrick's aunt Pam and cousins Tyler and Lindsey came over. It was nice to see them. Our time in WV flew by...its never long enough. Saturday we didn't fly out till 5:30 pm east coast time so didn't get home to WY till 1:30 am. Another long day!! The next morning Nate woke up with a high fever. Thankfully it only last 2 days; not sure what that was all about.

Now we are settled back in and getting ready for Christmas. I got my house and tree all decorated this week. I looks so nice! I love Christmas! We are having my mom and dad for Christmas which will be fun. It will be the first time we have had Christmas at our house! Then the 26th we will all head up to eastern MT for my cousin Talina's wedding on the 27th. (I get to be a bridesmaid!!) After her wedding I think we will keep going on to Lewistown for a few days. So it should good... it definitely will be different this year without Jeff. It's bittersweet. He will definitely will be missed this holiday season. I can't help but wonder what Christmas celebration he will be experiencing in heaven. Surely they celebrate Jesus' birth in heaven, don't you think? :)
Anyway... here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I love you all and am thankful for each one of you!

We had a little "photo shoot" one day hoping for a

nice picture for Christmas...

Three little monkeys jumping on the bed...



Nate loves his Grammy!

Derrick, Tyler, and Eric watching football

Sweet Logan

Eric cutting up the prime rib.

Wow, it was good!

Nate enjoying his Thanksgiving dinner

Yum!

Derrick and niece, Caroline

She is 3 months younger than Nate

A few fun pictures for ya

Just hanging out

Kisses!

Enjoying his new car from Grammy

Story time with Daddy

I'm back!!

So I've been away from the "blogging world" for a few weeks now. A lot has gone on since my last post so I'm not sure where to begin. I have been feeling a bit uninspired lately but I'll try to get something out today. I guess I'll start with our trip to Florida. It was tons of fun!!...the first two days. We got there on a Thursday afternoon and Derrick immediately met a fellow dentist and WVU alumni. Since the Mountaineers were playing that night we just "had" to find a sports bar to watch the game. It was great fun...they won! Friday Derrick spent the day in class and I spent the day shopping and pampering myself at this little nail salon called "Golden Nails." I got a beautiful manicure and pedicure and a 15 minutes massage all for like $75! We ate at a great italian restaurant for dinner and spent a wonderful evening together. It was that night at 3:30 am that we got the call. It was a call I had always prepared myself for but never thought would actually come: Jeffrey was gone. Both of my parents as well as Kelsey had had a bad feeling about that night. In fact the night before my mom had asked me to pray for him as he planned to pick up Dane at the airport. After the phone call we were in shock, devasted, angry. There was definitely no possibility of sleeping, so we decided to go to the beach and take a walk. It was quiet and peaceful; the opposite of how we were feeling inside. Once it was light out we had to chuckle at ourselves walking barefoot in the sand in the dark. We came upon a number of prickly things that we could have stepped on. The next few day in Florida were just ok. We tried to come home early but it was going to cost us a small fortune so we decided to make the most of our "vacation." We arrived home to Buffalo late Monday night. On the way home I asked the Lord to show me a shooting star to assure me that Jeff was with Him and that He was going to use this tragedy for His glory. Sure enough, about half way home a huge beautiful falling star shot across the sky! I cried and laughed at the same time. What an amazing personal God we have that would care enough to do that just for me. Tuesday was crazy but we finally made it to Lewistown late that night. It felt good to be home with family and to hold eachother tight. So many family and friends were there to support us. So many memories of Jeff. So many emotions. So little time to grieve. The viewing and funeral were both a healing time for me. The Lord was definitely there that day and the salvation message was very clear. It was as Jeff would have wanted it. He was never a grey person... it was either black or white. The rest of the week we spent just being together. We did get a chance to go look at Jeff's car as well as the wreck site. All difficult things to see but necessary at the same time. It was very hard to leave and come home. I wasn't ready to come back to reality. I wanted everything to stop! Life can't go on! It's not the same now!

I have been reading Beth Moore's "Praying God's Word" on overcoming despair. She reminds us that Satan does not give us a break when we are grieving. He plays dirty. He gets us when were down. That has been true since we've been back. I have been physically quite sick with a sinus cold, there is a lot of big, stressful decisions to be made at the office within the next fews weeks, and I had an odd experience with a stalker which has left me living with a bit of fear. (That story to come) So I have been taking a day at a time and trying to keep my eyes on the Rock. My Strength. My Constant One. What would I do without Him?!?

I do want to mention my little bit of sunshine that has been shining through the clouds... a friend! God's timing amazes me. I have been waiting and longing for a friend for almost 6 years!! And what better time than this! And I seriously dont know if I could have done the last few weeks without her phone calls and spontaneous invitations to get out of the house. Thank you Jesus for your provision of a friend for me!

So, that pretty much sums things up. I guess I'll post some pictures of the last few weeks... our time in Florida and our time in Lewistown. I hope you feel a bit more "caught up" with my life. I want to thank each of you for your continued prayers for our family, especially for Jeff's daughter, Mylo. Being 2 1/2 you understand alot but not enough. She knows that her daddy is gone and that her mommy is sad and that something isn't right. Mom said that she will start to ask for daddy and then catch herself like she knows she's not supposed to. The other day she saw a picture with Jeff in it and ask if that was her daddy and when they said yes, she threw the picture across the room. I cant imagine how confusing it must be! Pray for Kelsey, too, that she will keep her eyes of Jesus and take a day at a time.
Okay, thats enough for now. I love you all my friends!!

Our early morning walk on the beach

(they are a little dark, but they're special to me)

The day of the funeral...

Brother Evan and wife Sabina with daughter KayLee

My dad's family

Merilee and Geoff and kids

The 5 Moring cousins

L to R: Nate, Mylo, KayLee, Luke, Kate

Proud Grandparents!

In loving memory

Mylo's 2nd birthday

This was taken on Oct 17 2008.
The last picture we have of him!

Nate's newest accomplishment

PB & J... Yum!

Praise!

I met with the Dr. in Sheridan this morning and as far as he is concerned there is nothing to worry about! He said everything looks perfectly healthy! Thank you Jesus! I won't go into details as I am never sure who all reads my blog, but thank you to any one who was praying for me. I appreciate all of your love and concern for me.

A little sunshine

So I've been having a rough week. It started this weekend with a sharp pain in my lower right side. It was very painful and hurt to even walk. I called the Dr. Monday and had an appt Tuesday. They did an ultrasound and they found a cyst on my ovary (which could be nothing to worry about) as well as another lump that he is unsure about. He can feel it just poking on my stomach. (Of course, I can't feel it) So there will be more poking and exams tomorrow... I am actually doing a good job not worrying. At first I let my mind wander to all of the horrible possibilities but I'm just not going to go there. On top of it, I woke up 2 days ago with a terrible sore throat. You know the one that hurts with every swallow? And then...my period started! Cramps! And now there is more stupid crap going on at work with a few "wonderful" (I'm saying that sarcastically if you didn't catch it) employees who think they can do whatever they want. And then...ok I'm done. Now to the good part. Yesterday I decided I needed to get out of the house so Nate and I headed to the coffee shop. Its nice because they have a play area for kids that Nate absolutely loves. When I got there I ran into two girls that I had seen at MOPS last Wednesday. They said that they meet at the coffee shop and let their kids play on the Wednesdays we don't have MOPs and invited me to join them. They were so nice and friendly and we all swapped numbers to get together for "play dates" I was so excited! I am so lonely for girlfriends and after 5 years I was starting to give up on the idea of ever having a friend. I came away reminded that the Lord does care about my every need and He delights in meeting them! Thank you Lord for the little bit of sunshine in my dreary week!

Help!

Ok, what is the fastest most effective way to get your 18 month old to keep his hands out of his pants?!? I have noticed his exploring hand down his pants quite a few times in the last week or so and today he came to me with a handful of poop! YUCK!!! This can't happen again!

MOPS

So Nate and I checked out MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) today and both had a good time. They have free babysitting which is nice. Nate cried a little when I left but was having a blast when I got back. He would "run" and then clap for himself. He really has fun whenever he gets to play with other kids and new toys. He was so cute when we were leaving he had to wave goodbye to everyone and yell "ee a" (see ya). I got to meet some new people and visit with a few aquaintances. First we had a craft where we decorated our name tags and could make a card or two, then brunch, a speaker, and finally a discussion time within your assigned group. It was a little awkward being my first time but I'm sure I'll warm up and enjoy it. I really am trying to do more things like this to "get out of the house." I need something different for myself to do and its going to be nice to meet other women who are in a similar place in life as I am.

To top off the whole morning, we came home and Nate took a 3 hr nap! Nice!

Here we are after we got home from MOPS this morning...we were having fun. :)

A few things I've been up to (from Nate)

Curly's food looked a little dry so I thought he
might enjoy it more if it were in cold cereal form.

Here I am helping Mom make pumpkin muffins!

Yum! I love to taste test!

I love my "puppy Curls" even if he scares me half the time!




Driving my new "car"




Dreaming of driving a real one someday...

Just hangin out.

Mom thinks I look so cute in my WY Cowboys hat.

"Uh oh!!!"

I thought this would be a fun game to play with the

paper towel roll but for some reason mom didn't

think so.

Nate at 18 months

Nate seems to be growing and changing quite a bit lately. He has his well-baby check up next week and I am anxious to see how much he's grown. I know he has grown taller because he can now open and close all the doors in the house. This has its pros: he can now let himself out of a room once he closes the door on himself, and cons: he can now open the doors to the bathrooms and flush the toilet till his little hearts desires...or until I catch him. Speaking of which... he has begun to tell me when he has poopies! Yeah! Sometimes he is too distracted to tell me but he probably tells me 80% of the time. Progress!

He has turned into quite the monkey as well. He is so proud that he can climb up onto our bed by himself now as well as all benches, chairs, tables... Mommy doesn't like this new feat that well.
He is also trying to say some new words such as "ee ya" for "see ya"when he is waving goodbye, "bop" for hot, "ba" for ball or book, to name a few. The sweetest thing is that he loves to pray before we eat. He always reminds me by laying his head against his shoulder. Last week Derrick was gone hunting and each time he specifically wanted to pray for Daddy. So sweet!

He also has had many not so sweet moments as he is getting his other three molars in as well as a cuspid. He has not been sleeping well at nights at all. I'm ready for this phase to be over!

Well, thats a quick update on the Naters for you.