Fever, Funeral

This has been a difficult week for me.  Samuel has been very sick.  Wednesday morning he woke up with a fever.  It felt very high as his whole body was so hot.  I tried to take his temperature a couple times but could only get a reading of about 100 degrees.  Which is hot but not too concerning.  But he was so uncomfortable.  His fever lasted until Friday morning.  He was be so lethargic and weak and just lay there and want to cuddle.  And then later he would get so ornery and irritable.  I was worried about him getting dehydrated, but he would drink a little water and still had tears and mucus.  Finally on Thursday night the fever subsided a little and he ate a very small amount of soup.  He slept through the night and ate breakfast Friday morning but still had the fever, but it seemed to go away.  It made it so hard for me to do anything else but take care of him.  He threw up once in the car and then another time in my bed, icky.  I missed exercise sessions and YW activity.  It was hard to do anything.  Scott was able to be home Thursday morning so I could go to swimming class, but that was it.

Scott's cousin's wife, Becky Lockhart, passed away this week.  Scott went to her viewing Thursday evening and the funeral on Friday.  She was the former speaker of the Utah house, first woman speaker of the house.  She was very loved and very well known.  She has been talked about on the radio and there have been billboards all up and down I-15 in memorial to her.  I only met her a few times but she had her family were very impressive.

Eric and Rubie had a good week.  Monday was MLK day, a day off of school.  As a family we went to the Provo Beach Resort for some fun.  We had lunch, did bowling, and just played around.  We all had a great time.  We did make Samuel miss his nap which after a while we were all paying the price.  That is when we got the kids ice cream and then decided to leave.  Sam bowled a little bit but after a while he got bored with it.  So I took him to the large play place, but he needed me to climb through it with him.  So I was all through it with him.  Of course I wanted to just sit there, but then again....It is such a sweet memory playing with him as we climb all through the twists and turns and he laughs as we tumble and roll and go down the long long slide.  He does it over and over and over and I'm glad to have been able to play with him.

Today is Stake Conference and Scott has drill.  Sam is doing better.  He was still tired yesterday and wanted to watch movies and cuddle and not play that much.  Hopefully he will be good in the primary room or some other room while we are at the Church meetings.

A Job Offer!

The biggest news this week is that Scott received and accepted a job offer.  The offer came on Wednesday from ULA--Upper Limit Aviation.  They are a flight school.  A small company relatively.  But trying to grow and expand.  He actually had some offers came in from Pack Size and almost an offer from another company.  I still have not processed thoroughly the whole experience.  From the day Scott was laid off to the day he got the job offer was 40 days.  Significant, yes.  A weight has really been lifted and we feel such blessings and love from Father in Heaven.  I really pray this is the experience that Scott hopes for and wants and that this job will stick for awhile and be able to help grow his career in the way he is looking for.  The company is located out by the Salt Lake Airport, so it is a long commute.  We may end up moving further west and north still within Utah County.  I am supper proud of how hard Scott worked to secure a job offer.  There was not one day that he sat around the house depressed or wondering what to do.  Wednesday evening he went to tell the Bishop of his job offer and was promptly called as the Ward Employment Specialist.  He likes that calling and does well at it.

The kids had Friday and Monday off of school this weekend.  We will try to do something fun with them tomorrow.  But we just have really hung around the house and spent time here.

Eric was still excited about cub scouts and the kids received great report cards from school this week.  I'm proud of them for being good students.

Sam is speaking so well and it seems every day is saying new words.  One of my favorite though is that he calls Eric "E-E".  Which is so funny because when we pronounce Eric's name the "E" is not a long e sound but rather "eh", so where did he get "E-E"?  He is a smart kid.  I love to watch him form the words and realize that he is saying it, then he can't stop.  Like last night he kept saying Bailie over and over.  Bailie came to babysit for two hours while Scott and I went out to dinner.  She played with him and he had fun with her.  So now he says her name.  Today in church he was so funny.  He wanted to make Bunny fly in the chapel.  He looked up and saw how high the ceiling is and tried to throw Bunny up there.  Of course they promptly got me to grab him, toss his to Scott, and tell him to take him out of here.  But when they came back in, he still wanted to fly Bunny.  I love that as soon as I say it's time for class let's go, he enthusiastically replies "Okay."  And off he goes down the hall.  He is hardly ever wishy washy on directions.  He will either reply "Okay" or "No."  He has fallen in love with Buzz Lightyear and Lightning McQueen.  He still asks to watch "Go" (which is Frozen) but now includes "Anna, Go" and still loves Olaf.

A New Year, Turning 8, and a Baptism!

Our Christmas break went by so quickly.  Especially since after we finished Christmas we began to prepare for Eric's eighth birthday and baptism.  Scott was sick for a lot of days right after Christmas.  Eric and Rubie were on the verge of not feeling too well either.  Thank goodness they don't seem to ever get too sick, just enough that I worry and it usually lasts 1-2 days.  What a blessing!  I know that Heavenly Father protects us with our health.  I do appreciate the blessing of good health in myself, Scott, and our children.  By New Year's Eve I was really struggling because I had not been able to do much.  With Scott sick I couldn't very well just leave him with the kids and with sick kids I couldn't take them anywhere or have others over.  I missed my last swimming class of the year and missed 1 or 2 group workouts because of it.  And then Carlee and Nate invited us over New Year's Eve.  I was going to take the kids but that didn't seem right to leave Scott here by himself.  So it made me ornery and on edge and feeling left out.  But by the time Eric's birthday rolled around on Friday everyone was doing much better.  Eric had a pile of presents and I let him open one early with breakfast and had doughnuts for breakfast.  Scott had some early meetings.  That afternoon Scott took Eric, Rubie, and two friends, Brock and Logan Fox to Jump On It for a couple hours and to get a treat.  We were glad that Logan was in town and able to come.  Camden was out of town and Noah and Max were at a Jarvis family reunion.  Eric was feeling bad until I realized we could invite Logan too.  The next day was Eric's baptism.  He was so excited leading up to it.  I'm so proud of him.  A couple weeks ago during sacrament meeting he whispered that he would soon be able to take the sacrament and he was excited about that.

His baptism was at 11:00am on Saturday, January 3, 2015.  It was at the Stake Center, the church building that we attend every Sunday.  He was the only one in our ward getting baptized that day.  His baptism service was well attended by our family and friends that could be there.  On the Jeppson side Grandma and Grandpa Jeppson came, Ben and Cassie and their kids came and Joe and Tai and their kids came.  On the Wilson side Grandma and Grandpa Wilson came (they had flown in Tuesday to be here), Dan and Brandee and their family, Andy and Beth and their boys, and cousin Deedee.  Then the Harrisons, Tulett's, and Jarvis' came.  From the ward Brother Howell conducted (he is the ward mission leader, but also the kids' dentist), the Bishop, Verlena Jackman (pianist), and Canessa Rowley (primary presidency rep) came.  The program went like this: opening song--Teach Me to Walk in the Light.  Opening prayer--Grandpa Jeppson.  Talk on baptism--Grandpa Wilson.  Musical number--I Am A Child of God by the primary children present.  Talk on Holy Ghost--Jennifer Wilson.  Baptism of Eric by Scott Wilson.  Confirmation of Eric by Scott Wilson.  Testimonies offered by Grandma Jeppson, Grandma Wilson, and Eric.  Closing prayer by Dan Wilson.  It was a great baptism service.

Eric had to be baptized twice because Scott didn't say "Amen" at the end of the prayer the first time.  The witnesses to the baptism were Uncles Joe and Dan.  In the priesthood circle to bestow Holy Ghost and confirm Eric a member of the Church were Scott, Grandpa Wilson, Grandpa Jeppson, Uncle Joe, Uncle Dan, Uncle Andy, Nate Tulett, Karl Jarvis, John Harrison, and the Bishop, and Brock and Aimee Charlton.

Somethings that Eric remembers about his baptism:

• that I got dunked under the water, twice
• that afterward I got a bloody nose
• that everyone was complimenting on it--congratulating me
• I received a special blessing after being given the Holy Ghost
• that everybody came over to our house afterwards
• I felt the Spirit and the Holy Ghost, I felt it after I got out of the water and got the blessing
• I felt the Spirit when I shared my testimony, it made me feel great, loved, and like an angel

Everyone came over to our house afterward for lunch and visiting.  I had bought a bunch of food from WinCo and others brought salads and chips.  It was a nice party.  People were so generous with gifts to Eric.  We had people write him notes and took pictures with everyone.

I kept thinking about baptisms from my mission.  Those were amazing experiences.  This was a little different.  I very much wanted Eric to be prepared for his baptism.  I wanted this to be his decision and not just him doing it because he turned 8.  I spent a couple of family home evenings teaching lessons out of Preach My Gospel and he seemed to know the basics of what he needed to in order to get baptized.  We had talks and he seemed to understand what it meant to get baptized.  I'm so proud of him.  I loved hearing him share his testimony.  He stood in front of the group confidently and spoke clearly about his beliefs and feelings.  He has a sensitive and tender heart.  I pray that he will always have good friends to help him make right choices and that he will be the kind of friend that will be strong of character to influence others to make right choices.

He started cub scouts this last week and I am so thrilled to see how excited he is about it.  He has some great leaders in Brother Simmons and Brother Ridgeway.  (Brother Simmons has been Rubie's and then Eric's primary teacher.)  Scott and I are committed to scouting so I hope that always remains a positive in his life.

Scott is still searching for a job.  He has had multiple interviews with multiple companies but has yet to receive an offer.  We are hopeful that one will come soon.  The Lord is blessing us, but I still am unsure of what we are to learn from this time.  Perhaps it is just an opposition thing that we must be required to keep faith and hope through, remain positive.  Perhaps it is simply having the experience that we may be able to draw on this and use it to relate to others in the future.  Perhaps it is to draw us closer as a family.  And perhaps it is help us recognize what is most important to us.  Perhaps it is to help us grow closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  And actually it is all of that. And there could also be more.  I think Scott has a lot of things that he is learning about himself and what he wants from his employment during this time.  It's hard for me to see how humbled he is and the efforts he is having to go through for interviews.  I'm so grateful that this is happening now and I pray that we don't ever have to experience unemployment again.  I can imagine how much harder this is for older couples.  I am very grateful for small things that the Lord influenced to be in place for our family during this time.  Our lifestyle really has not changed much yet.  But if the unemployment continues on into February, we may start to really feel the effects of financially.

2014 December Pictures