Jordyn's First Holy Communion & Confirmation

Sunday was such a Blessed day! We celebrated Jordyn's First Holy Communion & Confirmation into the Catholic Church. She was so beautiful as were all the rest of her group. In order to fully understand how this day came together, you must understand the turmoil it took to get her to this day.

At the beginning of April, I decided to start looking for dresses for Jordyn. Specifics I had were obviously, the color HAD to be white and I wanted it to be a very meticulous and beautiful dress. Jordyn rarely has the occasion anymore to be special and the center of attention so I wanted to make sure this day was absolutely perfect. I went to eBay and searched the sites. I chose several different styles of dresses and then let her pick the one that she liked the most. On April 11th, I purchased her favorite dress in a size 8 since that was what was being offered.

On April 12th, after putting on her Easter dress which I believe was a size 7, I realized that a size 8 would be much too large. I immediately emailed the seller and asked if I could get the dress in a size 7 instead of 8. Before they ordered it, she wanted me to send her Jordyn's measurements so I could get the absolute correct size. Within the next week, I took her measurements and she registered oddly. She had the height that would require a size 8 but everywhere else, she was measuring a 6!!! She's such a skinny little thing! We decided however that since the dress is designed to be full-length that we would get a size 7 so that it would be long enough and then we would just have it altered a tad to fit her in the waist and chest.

On May 1st, the seller finally received the dress from their supplier. At this point, we have three weeks before the big day! She sends it out and we received it May 5th. The minute we get it, we take it out of the box and try it on and as luck would have it, she was SWIMMING in it. It was huge!! I ran downstairs, emailed the lady and asked if I could send it back Priority Mail on the 6th and have a size 6 sent to me. She wrote back saying that would be great. Brad sent the dress out on the 6th with a Delivery Confirmation number saying they should receive it by the 8th.

On May 10th, I still had not heard anything from the seller. I email asking her if she had received the dress and if she had sent the size 6 out. She emailed me later that day asking if I had a Delivery Confirmation number. I was LIVID because the confirmation number said the dress had already been delivered on Friday, May 8th!!! On May 11th with only 13 days to go, this is the message I receive in my eBay inbox...

"Sorry to inform you that our supplier has already sold

out all sizes of this white dress because now is the

season for white communion.

So they've sold everything once shipment

comes in last time. We're going to revise all listings

as new shipment may not come in shortly.

Please advise if you can take other color as substitute. Thanks."

I could not believe it!! Why on earth did the lady think I needed the dress??? NO!! Of course I can't take another color!! And please tell me why she waited a full 6 days to order the size 6 dress when she KNEW that I was sending the dress back. She had the confirmation number to prove it!!! OHHH, I was so angry and to top it all off, she had already confirmed my payment of $90!! Well of course she did, why shouldn't she get paid for all this hard work of terrorizing me??? I wrote her back and told her...

"I HAVE to have a white dress as this is also for

communion and I need to have it no later than May 23rd.

If you cannot get me a size 6 dress by that date

then please send the size 7 back and we'll have to make due I guess.

Do you know when you might be receiving a shipment of these dresses?

I will pay for overnight shipping of a size 6 dress...

but this is an absolute MUST for me to get this dress

as I have no other options at this point. Thanks for keeping me informed."

Not wanting to wait for a response, I immediately started looking for other dresses but every single one I found just wasn't as beautiful. Oh and also by this point, I had already paid for an organza jacket for her to wear over the top of her dress...ANGRY!! The seller ended up sending the size 7 dress back telling me that she had "Refused" the package I sent and that it should be there within two days which would have been Wednesday the 13th. By Friday the 15th, I still had not received a dress! Here we were, one week away and no dress! We had shoes, veil, jacket and tiara...but NO dress! Our mail usually arrives by 2:00pm every day so by 5:00 on Friday when I hadn't received the dress, I ran to the computer to leave what very well could have been the nastiest email ever but decided one last time to check the same delivery confirmation number we had been given and see if it would tell me the return delivery status. The message on the phone said "Package was successfully delivered at 4:24pm on May 15th, 2009." WHAT??? WHERE??? So not only was our package over 2 hours late, it was delivered somewhere else...or worse, stolen from our front porch. We later found it on the back patio in one of our patio chairs....Thank goodness it wasn't raining that day!

So, we finally get the dress and rush it up to my Aunt's house on the 16th since she said she would try to alter it for us. Since she was limited with time, she did a quick fix and sort of "hemmed" an area that would work. The dress was so ornate that in order to do the job correctly, she would have had to take the seams completely apart and relocated appliques and such. My Aunt was AMAZING!!! We had forgotten to make little marks when we tried it on for her so she hemmed it by just guessing the correct size. On Sunday, the 17th, the dress was ready to be picked up! I couldn't believe it, all of that terror was gone and this was actually going to turn out okay.

Needless to say, the day was going to be great! I had ordered a cake from Sue Jacobs at Creative Cakes who had designed Bradley & I's wedding cake. She had the cake done on Saturday the 23rd and everything just fell into place. On Sunday, I woke up early and got myself ready. I was so anxious that I had Jordyn's hair done, complete with veil and tiara, by 8:30 am and Mass wasn't even until 11:00!!! She looked absolutely breath-taking. Here are some pictures of that most wonderful day!!

After Mass with her Jacket off

To show the back of the dress

The entire group of 14!

Receiving Communion for the very first time!

Jordyn with her classmate, Jacob Ketola

Jordyn and Jacob with another classmate, Jake Tatko

Jordyn with her Godmother & Sponsor, Wendy Kaschmitter

Jordyn with NaNa Rita


Jordyn with NaNa Maria

Before Mass....so Beautiful!!!

With Bishop Skylstad after Mass

Being Confirmed by Bishop Skylstad

Receiving a Blessing from Bishop Skylstad

Our little girl is growing up so fast

Jordyn Alexis Nielson

First Holy Communion & Confirmation

May 24, 2009

Let me explain the month of May...

Every May, with the exception of last year, I make the yearly trip to White Bird with my best friend Dawn to visit her son's grave. Little Garit Charles was born overdue on May 2, 2001, exactly 6 months before I had Jordyn. On my birthday that year, a mere 4 days later, I got the call no one ever wants to hear. Garit had a birth defect which went undetected by everything. To sum it all up, he had twisted bowels which were not noticed until it was too late. Yes, he could have had surgery upon surgery and MAYBE survived another couple years but my friend decided to make the most un-selfish and hardest decision any mother could make. She did not want her little "angel baby" to live in pain and spend what years he might have in a hospital bed without ever knowing if any of these surgeries would fix the problem so, she let him go. I got the call around 9:00pm on my 22nd birthday. Garit survived past midnight but that doesn't make me remember my birthday very fondly.

Fast forward three years to my 25th birthday. Jeylin was only 2 months old. Brad was home that day and thought he would be a great husband and let me sleep in. I remember hearing the phone ring and later found out it was one of my parents. They told Brad they would call back and so, I didn't let it bother me. A little while later, the phone rang again. This time, Bradley brought the phone in and told me I had to take this call. It was my cousin Stacy. He was calling to tell me that our Grandfather had taken his last breath that morning. Oh Happy Birthday yet again! My Grandfather had been sick for several years, suffering from emphysema. We were all surprised honestly that he withstood the disease as long as he did. Even though we had a lot of time to prepare for this, it didn't make it any easier. That day was spent in tears and ended with a trip to Grangeville.

This year, I was celebrating my 30th birthday! I dreaded it for so long but now realize how foolish that really was. The day started off as any normal day. Being a Wednesday, I had to work...yucky! At 11:00, Brad came and took me to lunch at Red Lobster...very awesome since he really dislikes the restaurant. It was a nice lunch and afterward, I went back for a couple hours of really boring work and then it was off to the gym. I left the gym at 3:30, came home and jumped in the shower. We really didn't have much planned for that night because Jordyn had a softball game and I too had a double-header. We were actually hoping the rain would hold out so they would get cancelled and we would be able to go hang out with our friends. Unfortunately, the rain let up and a new dark cloud took it's place. I was on the phone with my friend Anne planning for our auction duties that week. My cell phone rang and seeing that it was my mom, I tossed the phone to Bradley to have him answer it. After saying his usual..."What's Going On?" greeting, his face went pale white, he stood up from the couch and proceeded to walk into the kitchen. This was not good. I told my friend that something was terribly wrong and I had to go. When I got off the phone, I heard Brad telling my mom to come over to our house. At that point, he hung up the phone, walked back into the living room and told me the fateful news..."Your Aunt Sara died!" I was so caught off guard and dumbfounded that the only response I could say for the next several minutes over and over again was "WHAT?". I couldn't even cry because I was in so much shock! How could this be true? She wasn't even sick?

My Aunt Sara was 54 years old. She had two biological children, my cousins Stacy (mentioned before) and Missy who had just celebrated her 29th birthday the day before. I stress the biological because my Aunt Sara had many "non-biological" children throughout the years. She owned her own in-home daycare for the past 27 years. She touched many lives and was even caring for kids of the kids she had watched in the past. That day, my Aunt was home watching four young kids...those that weren't old enough to be in school during the afternoon. She had just made them lunch and then went to sit on the couch because she wasn't feeling very well. She never stood back up again. One of the mother's came by at 3:00 to pick up her son and was told by the kids that "Gramma Sara" was sleeping on the couch. After seeing my Aunt, she immediately knew something was not right. She called 911 and then my cousin. An hour and a half later, was when my mom had called me. She was gone. Completely unexpectedly and left us all in a state of shock. Five years to the day, she went to be with her dad.

For various stupid reasons, our families had not been close for many years. This was just the reason to end all that stupidity. Life is too short and if I had one more day with my Aunt, I would have told her that I loved her. She left behind her husband, Neil who is also battling his own illnesses, my cousin Stacy, his wife Abby and their two boys, Cameron and Cal. My cousin Missy, her husband Kobi and their son Leighton. Missy is also due in September with baby #2. My Aunt Viv, her younger sister (who is battling breast cancer) and her children, Clint and Spencer. And of course, my Dad, my Grandmother and us. No one can prepare you for what comes with an unexpected death. At least with me, there was a period of denial...like I kept waiting for the "Punked" crew to jump out from behind the bushes. Then, the guilt of all the things left unsaid and all the years spent in feuds that were incredibly pointless. And lastly, the grief came in waves. One minute I would be "dealing" and the next I would start bawling over the simplest things. I can't even imagine what her own children are going through. We had five days together reminiscing her life, her laugh, and her caring nature. As a family, we decided that we weren't going to wait for another tragedy to hit this family before we finally started acting like a family. On Mother's Day, we had a private family viewing and had a chance to say our farewells. I told her I was sorry that we hadn't spent more time together and that I loved her. I told her that if I was wanted, I would help watch over Missy, and then, I told her goodbye. Yesterday, we had her funeral. It was beautiful and there were so many people who came. It was nice to see that she had many people who loved and cared for her. It was also on this day that we received the results from her autopsy. I'm hoping I am listing this right but it was "Lethal Arrhythmia". Pretty much, her heart skipped and that was it. We now had the cause and also know that she felt no pain and basically just went to sleep.

For those of you who read this and already knew of this story, thank you for all your thoughts and words during this hard time. Thanks for the Facebook messages, the cards, the food, the flowers and the presence of your love. Please continue to pray for her children and grandchildren that the healing process will be speedy. Please pray that our families heal together through this tough time. And please pray for my Aunt Sara that she is where she needs to be....watching all the children in Heaven....oh and getting on Grandpa's nerves :) Oh and for the record, Missy and I are going to start celebrating our birthday's in JULY!!!!

Updates

Okay, so I was going to go back and update each month however, time has gotten away from me yet again. Therefore, I will be wrapping everything up in one long package!!


January: January found me working 7 days a week. I did this for 7 weeks in a row! It was incredibly exhausting but the pay was good. I have since gone back to my 5 day a week schedule although, I think I burnt myself out and now just wish I could go back to being a stay-at-home mommy.


February: As stated below, February was a very busy month. We celebrated Valentine's Day although honestly, I can't remember what we did for it. All throughout the month, Jordyn continued to practice for her role in Father Tom's adaptation of Sleeping Beauty. There were four productions this year which ran from the 19th to the 22nd. At the end of the month, we celebrated Jeylin's 5th birthday with a big bash at McDonald's for all his school friends and then a family get-together afterwards at our house.


March: Soccer practices started this month. Four practices a week and two games every Saturday until May! I got lucky because they did practice one night at almost the same time at the same place...you know, the whole "two birds with one stone" idea. We also had dentist appointments this month. Following along with the "birds", all three kids were seen on the same day! I was a little nervous because this was the first time any of them had seen a dentist. I was really lax about it because my mom, a dental assistant, always looked at their teeth. Turns out, I had nothing to worry about! They had great teeth with no problems to report!!! It's a good thing they love to brush their teeth! Last year at our annual Holy Family Auction, Father Tom, my friend Anne Ketola, and myself auctioned off two birthday parties for kids. These were geared towards younger kids with around 8 guests and all the fixings. Last year, we brought in $250/each for a total of $500 for the school! We had the first party set for March 21st. It was for a little girl in Jeylin's class. All three of us helped with the decorations, Anne made the food and I decorated the cake...I'll post pictures later too. It turned out fantastic!! That same day, was my Grandmother's 85th birthday! We had a large family party at Roosters Landing. It was a busy, busy day but tons of fun! Spring Break started March 28th and we lucked out because Bradley was able to take the entire week off with the kids.

April: On April 1st, I started my personal training sessions at Gold's Gym. This lady is awesome! She has really been incredibly professional, unlike the last so-called trainer I had. I have really enjoyed spending time with her and getting back in the gym. April 3rd, Brad and I headed out to Spokane for an adults weekend away! We needed a break and it was AWESOME! For Easter, we split the day with our two families. We went to church in the morning all decked out in our Easter dresses and suits. After church we headed to my Aunt Marie's house for dinner. It was fabulous. Afterwards, Brad and I headed to his parent's house for even more dinner. Brad's brother Sam and his wife Amy were down visiting and it was nice to see them as well. April 18th was the second installment of our Birthday auction. This was a little more challenging because it was for a 13 year old. We went with a Garden Tea Party theme and I must say, it turned out beautifully!

So there, all the updates for the past few months. May will have it's own post since there is already so much to write. Thanks to everyone for being so patient and I hope you all are still reading this.

Sleeping Beauty

Every year, Father Tom puts on a school play with our kids. These are not your typical run-of-the-mill plays and when you're sitting there in the audience or working backstage, you have a hard time remembering that you are watching children. This was the fourth year for the play and the production was Sleeping Beauty. In previous years, Father Tom has done Jonah and the Whale, Cinderella, and The Wizard of Oz. Being a very well-read individual, all of these plays are Father Tom's adaptations of the books. For example, anyone who has read the true story of The Wizard of Oz knows that there are some differences between it and the movie with Judy Garland. These usually lend themselves to be more indepth productions. As well, Father Tom always adds characters so there are opportunites for every single person who wishes to act.



This was Jordyn's second year in the play. Last year in The Wizard of Oz, she had four smaller parts with only a couple speaking lines because she was only in 1st grade. This year, she had one key part with several scenes and a lot of speaking parts. I can only imagine what next year will hold. This year, the kids started practice on their first day back from Christmas break which was January 5th. They basically practiced every single day and on days such as President's Day when they didn't have school, there would be large 5 hour practice sessions!! Every year, ladies volunteer to make the extravagant, period-exact costumes and props. The gym is transformed into a wonderland. There were four separate productions this year which lead to an exhausting week but to see the joy in Jordyn's eyes is soooo worth it.



Jordyn was a servant to the King & Queen and she nailed her lines beautifully! As soon as I get the pictures uploaded, I will post them.

Long Overdue

After many requests for an update, I've finally got the time to comply. It has been three weeks since my last post and let me tell you, those three weeks have been a whirlwind of activities! I will add posts later about each activity but wanted to let you all know that I haven't forgotten about you or the fact that I need to update this thing. Full-time work, three kids, two soccer players, dentist appointments, birthday parties, and more. Look for more frequent updates as well as a few pictures over the next couple weeks.

Hope you are all healthy and happy and I'm sure we will all talk soon!!!

Happy Birthday Jeylin!

My little man is 5 today...well sort of anyway :) When I was pregnant with Jeylin, I was given the due date of February 26, 2004. Woohoo! I thought this because if he came early like Jordyn did then we would miss Leap Day by sure...but little Mr. Jeylin had other ideas :) He stayed in just long enough for me to get an induction date set up (for March 1st) and then decided to come on Sunday the 29th of February! So, he was all confusion from day one....both coming late AND early. Jeylin arrived into our little family at 9lbs 8 1/2 oz and 21" long. He was born at 5:34pm and it was the easiest delivery ever!! Since then, this little man has come to grace our lives everyday with his quirky attitude, big brown eyes with extra-long eyelashes, and of course, who could forget those dimples :) We are celebrating today since that is what we do on the "off" years. He asked for a party at McDonalds so I guess Happy Meals all around it is!!

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY

JEYLIN MICHAEL!!!

Picture Tag

I was tagged by both Alaina and Becky. This version of tag is called "Photo" Tagging! The RULES are to go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures. Go to the 6th Folder, then pick the 6th picture in that folder. Post that picture on your blog and the story that goes along with the picture. Tag 6 other people that you know to do the same thing and leave a comment on their blog or an e-mail letting them know you chose them.

I just recently cleaned the pictures off my computer so I only have the pictures that have already been posted on my blog still available but I'll try to come up with a new and interesting story for it...

Here is Jeylin in all his wonderful glory up on top of the straw-fort at the pumpkin patch at Wilson-Banner Ranch this past October. We take the kids every year to get their pumpkins, apple cider and of course, play around. This year it was a beautiful day and we were able to get some really great pictures. I have decided to tag the following six people...

~Anne~

~Laura~

~Chrissy~

~Taffee~

~Natalie~

~Amy~

Truly the Best Ever!!!

I'd just like to point out the obvious...any man who can stick with me for nearly 9 years is truly amazing but he just keeps proving his wonder!!

Last night I was craving Belgian waffles...or at least that was what I thought. Brad decided to go to the store to pick up some random things and I told him to find something for dessert. If that something didn't quench my craving, I was going to make french toast...waffles just take too long.

Anyway, Brad came back with the following items...

Strawberries

Blueberries

Vanilla Ice Cream

Whipped Cream

And then he combined those ingredients with the following things we already had on hand...

Krusteaz Pancake Mix

Chocolate Chips

Bananas

Chocolate Syrup

To make me this wonderful dessert/late-night breakfast treat....

Oh and by the way, this was at 7:30 at night and they were by far the BEST pancakes I have ever eaten!!!

And the Doctor Says...

...astigmatism!!! Yep, our little girl was in need of glasses and so, here is our little girl with her brand new "big girl" glasses :)


Wait for it...

Ta-Da!!!!

Please help sponsor Jarrod...

A friend of mine put this on her blog about her husband Jarrod. I am passing this along to all of you so we can get the word out for his efforts. I will be donating on payday, I hope the rest of you can help as well.

Support Oregon Special Olympics!

Jarrod recently became a member of a fund raising committee for the Special Olympics Oregon. Prior to this, he was already involved in going to the events and handing out the medals to the athletes (in his military fatigues since its more exciting for a soldier to hand out the prizes!). On February 21st of this year, Jarrod will be taking part in the Portland Polar Plunge. This means that he will be jumping into the FREEZING Columbia River in an effort to raise more money for the cause. Unfortunately, the current economy situation affects non-profit organizations more than you might think. Fundraisers, such as this one, are vital for the athletes continuing success. If you are interested in supporting the Special Olympics athletes of Oregon, please make a donation by visiting Jarrod's Firstgiving page:

http://www.firstgiving.com/jarrodjohnson

You can donate online with a credit card. All donations are secure and sent directly to Special Olympics Oregon by Firstgiving, who will email you a printable record of your donation. Any donation will help and is greatly appreciated.