November...

Well, I'm keeping up on my posting pattern pretty consistently. Does that sentence make sense? You'll have to forgive me... I feel like my English skills are deteriorating lately, and I don't have good English as it is. Pretty sad.

Sunday evening (20th) Seth and I went to Park City and stayed until Wednesday to have a little 5 year anniversary getaway. We left Scarlett with family. Park City was great, relaxing, and fun. We did some shopping, caught a few movies, ate good food, went driving around the crazy rich people's houses, etc but my favorite part was probably playing pool with Seth. It was just nice to be together, with no distractions or schedule. I didn't take a single blasted picture... and I had my camera like the whole time. Lame, I know.

So... Thanksgiving was a blast. A Lot of Seth's family was in town! Cousins from Rexburg came down and stayed with us Wed-Sunday. He has some cousins that live in Provo going to school also, AND Seth's parents were in town! So it was quite a blast. I really didn't take any photos of Thanksgiving though :( My father in law, Steve, was taking a ton so I felt like I didn't need to. But of course I didn't get copies of the photos he took before they left home to Michigan.

It was a great feast though! We played a lot of "mafia" afterward. And that is always a blast with the Oesterle clan. (Seth's mom's maiden name is Oesterle)

We also did a little black friday shopping. Oh, how I wish we had some photos of that!! I didn't do a great job at planning out a wishlist this year. But I like the deals we got, and the experience of it all. We went to wal mart. And holy. crap. It was nuts! I like going to wal mart b/c the last two years they have started Thursday night, so you don't have to get up super early. It's easy to stay up late than to wake up early.

I went looking for the 600 thread count $20 sheets right away (any size!). Got a pretty good spot, and once it was time to attack (10pm) it was MAD HOUSE. CHAOS. I was able to get in there though and start handing things to people around me who wanted some. Then I was throwing the set that we wanted (mother in law/cousins, us)... They went fast! On the way out of the store 45 min later my Mother in law said "I saw a different side of Megan tonight that I would have never imagined." Hahahaha. Oh boy. I can get determined about some things....

We got a fisher-price little people "dance and twirl" set for Scarlet, 10 bucks. it was marked down from 30 to 15, but I also had a $5 off coupon fisher price toy - and got it for TEN.

We wanted to try target at midnight... but it was absolutely insane. I thought wal-mart was crazy. But Target was nothing compared to Wal-mart. It was SO bad. the line literally wrapped around the parking lot 3 times. And at the door they had the zig-zag line along the side of the building. Then, once it was midnight, they were only letting a dozen or so people go in at a time. I don't know how long people had to wait outside, but we weren't going to hang around for that mess.

Friday was pretty chill. And that was a good thing. Saturday Seth's parents left on their 24 hour car ride home to Michigan. Seth's mom, Sandi, had been in town for about 6 weeks! It was fun having her here. I can't believe it's December, b/c she was here November just flew by. I wish Steve, father in law, could have stayed longer! But that's life.

I got to decorate our Christmas tree while the cousins went out off roading in the Nutty Putty cave area on Saturday afternoon. Scarlett slept the whole time, it was perfect. Saturday night we went to Temple Square. Goodness it was cold. But great. I am not going to lie, I was a tad disappointed this year with the lights. I feel like there have been more in the past. But I like seeing the nativity scenes and the different displays they have. And of course the Salt Lake Temple looked amazing all lit up, as always. I'm glad it worked for us to all go up together, We're a good group of cousins.


And that was our Thanksgiving week! It was a party.

Seth's at work this weekend. Scarlett's currently taking a nap. And I'm doing lots of cleaning, laundry, etc. But all with such a heavy heart. And lots of tears. I am just so sad.

I have an adorable bright blue eyed nephew who is just 7 months older than Scarlett. They are the best of friends. Scarlett absolutely loves him. Loves him. She gets to go play with Preston while I work two days a week. They make each other laugh and love playing together. They also make each other cry and scream and all that other feisty toddler stuff.

Scarlett is still rear-facing in her car seat, and when we are just blocks away from getting to Preston's house Scarlett gets very excited and starting saying "Preston! Preston!". Sometimes Preston is the first word when Scarlett wakes up, and her last word before going to sleep at night. She asks where he is, and just adores him. They are such good friends. Such close cousins.

Yesterday Preston was seen by a specialist who is very positive Preston has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. They will do a muscle biopsy in a few weeks to confirm the diagnosis. We were hoping for something curable, temporary. However, this is not curable. And I am so sad. There is no DMD or muscular dystrophy in the family history of Preston, but 35% of DMD cases are from a mutation and not genetic.

Preston was born into the greatest family, with the best parents for him. It will be okay, but it is still hard.

Precious Promises

The First Presidency Message in the Ensign (A Magazine the LDS church publishes each month) this month was excellent. I hope you don't mind, I just feel like sharing it tonight.

Precious Promises of the Book of Mormon

Many years ago I stood at the bedside of a young father as he hovered between life and death. His distraught wife and their two children stood nearby. He took my hand in his and, with a pleading look, said, “Bishop, I know I am about to die. Tell me what happens to my spirit when I do.”

I offered a silent prayer for heavenly guidance and noticed on his bedside table a copy of the triple combination. I reached for the book and fanned the pages. Suddenly I discovered that I had, with no effort on my part, stopped at the 40th chapter of Alma in the Book of Mormon. I read these words to him:

“Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, … are taken home to that God who gave them life.

“And … the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow” (Alma 40:11–12).

As I continued to read about the Resurrection, a glow came to the young man’s face and a smile graced his lips. As I concluded my visit, I said good-bye to this sweet family.

I next saw the wife and children at the funeral. I think back to that night when a young man pleaded for truth and, from the Book of Mormon, heard the answer to his question.

From the Book of Mormon come other precious promises, including promises of peace, freedom, and blessings if we “will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ” (Ether 2:12).

From its pages comes the promise of “never-ending happiness” to “those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual” (Mosiah 2:41).

From its pages comes the promise of “incomprehensible joy” to those who become “instrument[s] in the hands of God” in rescuing His precious sons and daughters (Alma 28:8; 29:9).

From its pages comes the promise that scattered Israel will be gathered—a work in which we are engaged through our great worldwide missionary efforts (see 3 Nephi 16; 21–22).

From its pages comes the promise that as we pray unto the Father in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, our families will be blessed (see 3 Nephi 18:21).

From a study of its pages comes the fulfillment of the prophetic promise that “there will come into your lives and into your homes an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God.”¹

And from the pages of the Book of Mormon comes Moroni’s promise that through prayer, real intent, and faith in Christ, we may know the truth of these promises “by the power of the Holy Ghost” (see Moroni 10:4–5).

With other latter-day prophets, I testify of the truthfulness of this “most correct of any book on earth,”² even the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ. Its message spans the earth and brings its readers to a knowledge of the truth. It is my testimony that the Book of Mormon changes lives. May each of us read it and reread it. And may we joyfully share our testimonies of its precious promises with all of God’s children.

The Dentist

Scarlett loves "Teeth". She loves to brush her teeth, and point to her "teehh". She also loves playing w/ mom and dad's toothbrushes when she can't find one of her own.


Last Wednesday we took a family trip to the Dentist. Yay for clean teeth!

It was Scarlett's first time, they call it a "Happy Visit". The hygienist was showing Scarlett the different tools she was using on my mouth to clean my teeth, while Seth was getting his cleaned in a different room.

Scarlett was not impressed with all the tools. If looks could kill ... Scarlett was just staring that hygienist down. Priceless.

The dentist couldn't quite get a good look at Scarlett's teeth but he said "so far so good" She still has her cuspids to come in, but the dentist said they are pretty close to breaking through.

And sure enough, tonight, our poor uncontrollable crying-in-pain little girl is teething. Thank goodness for ... oral gel, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's Somewhere over the rainbow, a rocking chair, and a mommy.

It is moments like these that I wouldn't trade for anything in the entire world. Anything.

Get your carpets cleaned more often

Painfully gross carpet = Embarrassed to have visitors



Investing a little $$ with a coupon from the free ads in the mail on carpet cleaning = Visitors welcome and encouraged.

Garage Sale'ing

I only went to on a garage sale kick one Saturday this summer. I loved it. I wish I had gone more. I left Scarlett and Seth at home to sleep while I went to a first few, and then they joined me. Seth about freaked when he saw my wad of cash I was ready to give to anyone for their junk. But it was a ton of One dollar bills... I felt so rich though.

We got some sweet and CHEAP toys for Scarlett, some jeans and shoes. I got this gigantic framed art piece that I only want for the frame - project in the works. At our last garage sale stop there was a lady just trying to get rid of a ton of other people's stuff for them. She pretty much said take whatever you want and give me $5. Score! I got a lot of smaller frames for projects I make as wedding/baby gifts. Like this: I made it for my cousin Mary's wedding gift. A bit of spray paint and sanding here and there.We also got a table /chair set that is just right for Scarlett. She likes having her own little chair. I want to put new fabric on it and paint it... too many projects.We got a few new games and hair bows. It was fun to find new treasures - will definitely try to go more next season.

Thursday Nights

Seth has class from 6-10 every Thursday night. One of Seth's classmates, a single dad, brings her little girl over for me to watch and they carpool to class.

She's 7 months older than Scarlett, it's been about a year now that she's been coming over. They're great fun together, she's a fun little girl. We like to have our girl dance parties... I'll have to get a few photos of that. But here are a few snaps of Cheese stick & Strawberries snack time! Yay!!!