Pre School Graduation

Logan's last year of pre-school. A bitter sweet day for us. We have had Mrs. Clark for 5 years she taught Andrew for 3 years and now Logan for the last two. This also means my baby is a Kindergartner. He is so ready. I am happy for him but sad. Time goes by so fast. Those of you who know my Logan he totally beats to his own drum. At Graduation they do a little program they sing songs and each child comes up and picks the song of their choice they have practiced for it all year and about oh 2-3 songs into it Logan has the cap and gown off and is done had enough. It took some coaxing but he put it all back on and finished but was so glad once again to get all the garb off. We love him!!!!!!! He always has us on our toes that is for dang sure.

We are so proud of you Logan and we love you!

It is amazing how time flies when you are having fun. I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted. Here is a real lengthy run down of what is going on in the Abelhouzen home. Andrew has had another Karate Belt Graduation he is now a Purple Belt. We are so excited and proud of Andrew for sticking with the commitment he has made to do Karate he goes 4 times a week and back to back classed so 1 hr 45 min each day. He is loving it and we are so glad. It is hard to be that dedicated he so badly wants to play with friends some days and just can't fit it in but he sticks with it and I am so proud of him for that.

My mom and sister came for a weekend visit to get out of the snow and cold and into some warmer weather we had a good time they could not believe how warm it was. We took the kids to the water park in Washington Fields. Funny thing all the kids are running through the water and having a blast and Logan is no where in sight so I scan the park for him and there he sits all by himself on a rock just taking in the sights. That is my Logan for you. He beats to his own drum that is for dang sure.

Tim and the boys went to Father and Sons Camp out and had a good time despite the wind and cold. Tim was very prepared he took extra blankets and I packed all warm clothes. You just never know what the weather will do here. I had a girls night out. I went to dinner with family and than Sara and I stayed up til the wee hours watching chic flicks. It was really fun. It beat spending the night alone in a big dark empty house by my bean self. So that is what we have been up to the last month and 1/2. I will try to be better about updating my blog. Hope you are doing well and looking forward to summer vacation. Only 4 more days of school Ugh than what do I do. I will have two crazy boys on my hands. I'd say at least they help by entertaining each other but that is not always a good thing they seem to get into trouble allot when they are together. I wish I had pictures to prove it but I was so furious . Sunday Tim had gone to Cedar City to support a friend who is a Quadriplegic do Rock Crawls (see my link to Clay Egan in the blogger buddies) he is amazing. anyway so it is just me and the boys here. I get them all ready dressed in their church clothes, hair done looking very snazzy and sitting at the bar eating lunch. I say to them I am going to jump in the shower throw on a dress and than we will leave for church it is 12:15 at this time I get out of the shower dress come out of my room at 12:45 to leave and they are not inside I find them and they have drug the hose from the front yard to the side yard have filled their hole with water and are both sitting in it covered from head to foot in mud they have been having a mud fight in their church clothes. So needless to say we missed Sacrament all together because I was trying to shower the mud and dirt from their hair and clothes and had to start from scratch. Good times there. I look back now and can laugh but is it just my children that are out of control or are there others out there? Love Des

Hello- Well I am back among the living! I survived my Hysterectomy and am actually surprised how after only 8 days how well I am feeling. I had my first outing today since my surgery. It felt so good to get out of the house. By the end of the trip I was hurting and so longing for my soft comfortable bed.My mom is here from Salt Lake and she too wanted out. She wanted to go to Colorado City so Tim's dad was so gracious as to drive us the 45 minuted drive for the Grand tour of Hilldale/Colorado City since I am not supposed to be driving. She was surprised, it is not at all what she thought but most people who do go are surprised by the town and what it is not. We had a good time. Logan of course made the trip interesting we were driving through the town and we kept referring to the "polygamists" we stopped at this little pizza joint that everyone has raved about. Logan says" if we eat the food will be polygamist" I explained to him no, polygamists are a group of people, like we are Mormons it is there belief. So we are in the pizza place waiting for our order and in walks some town folk and he says to them "are you polygamist" I ushered him as quickly as I could out to the car where we hid in humiliation until they had left. Out of the mouths of babes. We had a great Easter. We spent the day with Tim's Family we had a very nice dinner at his parents house and then the whole family went to a new park that just opened not too far from us and we had a family volleyball game against another family. Logan of course beats to his own drum and climbed up the side of the mountain doing his own thing. It was such a beautiful day. It has been so beautiful and warm I am so excited for Spring. The trees are all blooming and smell so wonderful. My mom has enjoyed the warm weather while here and Salt Lake gets snow. She is leaving Sunday and it is going to be sad. She has helped me so much with the boys and waited on me it has been aweosme. I am sad to see her go, it has been nice to visit with her , she does not get here very often. Her and Logan have had some great talks on the front porch. We have a great ward they brought in meals and have helped with Logan and play dates. I do not know what we would do without our family and friends. Tim and the boys were able to attend Tim's nieces baptism this past weekend Andrew was so proud of her. It is hard to believe that in just a few short months he himself will enter into the waters of Baptism. Andrew got an award at school today the Hero Hunt Award for Dependability. We are so proud of him. Way to go buddy!!! He is such a good kid. We are so blessed to have our boys. They both bring so much to our family. All our love, Des

It has been a busy few weeks, between working, being a mom, & karate there is not much time to sit down and do much. I am in bed lately by 9-9:30 it sucks. I think I am getting old or something. I finally got Andrew's belt Graduation downloaded to the computer so you can see that. He is doing so awesome!! He just got asked to move up to the next class. He gets to spar and he loves it!!! He has full sparring gear, feet and hand pads, a helmet with face shield and a mouth piece and he wears it every chance mom isn't looking. He is really enjoying karate and is working on his purple belt right now. We are proud he has stuck with it and is enjoying it. Now that Logan's toe has recovered he has asked to go back to gymnastics.In the mean time he practices his acrobatics from my bed. I have the pictures to prove he really is spiderman. I need to find the time to get him enrolled again he loves it and he is so good at it. I have been having some woman issues and had to go see a OBGYN today and was told I need a Hysterectomy so I am scheduled for surgery Wednesday March 26th. I am so excited! No more woman stuff. I am keeping my ovaries but having everything else removed. Not looking forward to surgery or the pain afterwards but so looking forward to no more menstrual cycles and cramps and all the other fun stuff we get for eating that darn apple first. Tim saw the Neurosurgeon last Friday in Salt Lake and it looks like he is not going to have to have surgery after all he was told he has a very mild of case Chiari I Malformation and the risks of surgery outweigh the pros of surgery. He is going to be watched carefully by our family doctor and if any new symptoms or the ones he has now worsen we are to go back in for an MRI and go from there. This was good news for Tim. He was not liking the idea of brain surgery and you can't blame him. We got to spend a nice night away from the boys. Tim's family watched them overnight and we spent the night at the Marriott City Center we had dinner on the roof of the Joseph Smith Building and than went on a carriage ride afterwards around Memory Grove. Kind of a late Valentine Celebration. I did the 12 days of Valentine's to Tim it was fun and he got me the most beautiful diamond necklace it is a heart set with diamonds and inside is a mother holding a baby. He got it to represent Jonah so I could always have him close to my heart. It is beautiful and something I will always treasure. He has never got me jewelry before except my wedding rings. I was kind of shocked and real diamonds wow! Other than that we spent Valentine's at home with the boys. We made homemade Sugar cookies we decorated and took around to our neighbors our annual Valentine's Day. So our getaway even though just overnight was very nice. Hope you are well. Love Des

1 Year Anniversary for Jonah's Graduation day!

It has been one year since Jonah left for his mission can you believe how fast it has gone by. We had a little graveside Memorial Service for him and released balloons. It was a beautiful day. A great day to look back on this past year and be thankful for our special spirit although with us only 4 short months, unable to talk his spirit spoke volumes. He has been such an inspiration to us and I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for giving us the peace and comfort we have had as we have mourned his loss this year. I am more grateful for the opportunities recently he has provided for me to share Jonah's story and help others facing our same situation. He has provided for me a way to take what could have been a devastating experience and turn it around and make it a positive experience and still continue to share Jonah's sweet spirit with others even after he is passed. He has led and guided me to be a positive tool in the lives of others. I know Jonah is doing great things on the other side and his spirit is still here touching others in this life.Thanks to all of you who called or thought of us friday it was a great day. I thought it would be harder than it was but how can we be sad when Jonah has graduated and is needed so much more in heaven than we need him here. This I am sure is why Heavenly Father needed him back he was a choice spirit and is very busy. Love, Us

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

We had a wonderful Christmas. Santa was good to us this year. The boys got an xbox 360 and a ton of games to go with it. I can barely pry them from the darn thing even my big boy! They got lego sets a whole town, a police station fire station and airport.We are going to have a huge lego party tonight and put it together we have invited our family over for pizza and lego assembly night it shall be fun. Tim and I got a new tv for our room. Christmas afternoon Tim's parents and I went to see the new National Treasure movie. A must see!!! While you guessed it the boys stayed home and played xbox. It was a great day. It was so relaxing not having to run from one parent to the next. The boys got to enjoy their Christmas and not be rushed from one grandparents house to the other. I think this is going to be our new tradition. Stay home and veg in our new jammies Santa brings us Christmas Eve. We even fit a visit in to Jonah although he had visited us earlier in the day. We put a beautiful Pine Tree all decorated on his grave. We hope you all have a great year and that your Christmas was a good one. I got a new digital camera too so now I can update pictures more quickly. I am still learning how to use the darn thing. I am so electronically challenged. So as soon as I figure out how to download pictures I'll post our lego assembly so you can see it in it's fullness. Love ya all. Des

Happy Thanksgiving

Wow! Time flies when you are busy. Sorry it has been so long since I last updated. I finally have the photos from our trip to Oakland. I have had the busiest three months of my life. I did a tree at the Jubilee of Trees in dedication to our precious Jonah and it turned out beautiful. I got so many compliments form Jubilee goers and family and friends that went to see it. I was worried I went very simple and plain. My theme was crown without the conflict and I did prince crowns and stars. Aqua, Silver and White were the colors and they were so gorgeous together I was very pleased. I hope Jonah was too. We delivered the tree today to the buyer and he couldn't have been a nicer gentleman. I will again upload pictures when I get them from mom. Well it being Thanksgiving and all I would like to tell you what I am most thankful for. I am thankful first of all for Tim and what a rock and a support he has been to me this past year. We have grown so much and our marriage has improved in leaps and bounds. I am thankful for Andrew & Logan and for the joy and happiness they bring into my life. I am so indeed grateful for all the prayers and thoughts sent to us this year from our friends and family. We are truly blessed to have the people in our lives that we do. I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me to be a mother of such a wonderful spirit. To Jonah how proud I am to be your mom and for the decision you made to go on an Eternal Mission. I look forward to the day I get to hold you in my arms again. Until then we pray for you daily. Thanks for blessing our family with your presence even if for just a short time. I love you angel boy. I am thankful for Tim's family and what a support and blessing they are in my life and how they have treated me like one of their own. I love the friendships we have. I hope you all have many things to be thankful for this season and wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. All my love Des.