Week at a glance

I have become a thief. I have, and I'm proud of it, too! I have decided to steal an idea from Bill's brother Bobby and his family. On their blog they have a weekly post called "Bobby's Sunday Summary", which is all about the previous week and things that happened. So I have decided that I am going to do something similar on our blog, so that you faithful readers can keep track of the happenings of the Evans family (because I know you are all dying to do so). So here goes.

Monday I spent 4 hours at the hospital for routine doctor's appointments (there wasn't enough time in between each appointment to go home and come back) while Will got to go play with his friend Angelique. Later that day we had Family Home Evening, which can be a hit-and-miss sometimes. Will was a little more squirmy than usual, but we made it short and sweet. Tuesday was a fairly normal day. Bill went to the Institute building where they broadcast BYU devotionals, then taught his lab class in the afternoon. Will and I spent the day together at home and had a good time. Wednesday during the day was pretty routine. Later that night I went to a planning meeting. I am in charge of Ladies Night Out in our ward, and I have an unofficial committee that my sister-in-law Susan and I put together. It usually turns into us chatting and laughing more than planning much of anything, but we have a good time. What made this one a little extra special was that they threw me a little birthday party as well, since I will be out of town for my birthday this year (there will be a post about that later I'm sure). Thursday was a lazy day. We all slept in a little more than we probably ought to have, then spent the day at home. Bill and Will had a little bit of fun with some sleeping bags that Bill was airing out from a camping trip he took last weekend. They made it into a small fort.


Friday was our weekly date night. We are a little low on funds these days, so we stayed home and watched "Ice Age" and an episode of "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader" on our computer. Saturday Bill was on campus the majority of the day working on studying for his qualifying exams in the fall, so Will and I enjoyed another day at home. When Bill got home I decided I didn't feel like making dinner, so Bill and Will ran out and got some food for us. Today was a good day. Sacrament meeting had some good talks on prayer and the Atonement. We found out during Sunday School that the teacher had gotten the stomach flu last night, so we combined with the other class and it was a lot of fun. I was definitely glad I didn't have to substitute! After church we rushed home so our home teachers could come, then took a short nap before Bill had to go home teaching himself. Later we had the sister missionaries over for dinner. There's a new sister serving in our ward, and it was fun to get to know her a little bit. Will kept us all entertained and it was a lot of fun. And finally, I can't remember if these were taken this week or last week, but here are some cute pictures of a bunny that likes to hang out around our complex.



I won't be home next Sunday, so I will combine the next two weeks into a huge post, or maybe two separate ones, depending on how I'm feeling.

A Boy's Best Friend

Call me a deprived child, but when I was growing up I don't remember having a toy or a blanket that I HAD to have with me everywhere. I'm sure my parents or grandparents would disagree, but I just don't remember. That is definitely not the case with Will. He has a very special dog that his Grandpa Evans gave him when he was just a few months old that has become his absolute favorite toy of all time. He carries that thing everywhere, even when he goes to play at other people's houses. We have to be very sneaky or persuasive if we want him to leave "Big Doggy" at home at all. He's even gotten quite possessive of it. I remember one time we were at a family gathering, and another child wanted to play with it, but Will promptly went up to him and grabbed it away, letting the child know "this is my doggy." Let's just hope he won't carry it around with him to his classes at college :-)

Time for a toddler bed?

Will has many talents and skills, and apparently he's acquired a new one. I've been trying to figure out when is a good time to get him a toddler bed, especially since he is almost 3 years old. I think it's time to give it a little bit more serious thought.

The joys - and pains - of motherhood

Don't get me wrong...I love being a mother. I live for the times when Will gives me hugs and kisses, tells me he loves me, and we have a great day together. Then there are days like today. Days when my house is a mess, I haven't showered, Bill doesn't get home till late, and Will has more than one time in his "time-out chair" for doing something we've told him a hundred times not to do. This is a day when I feel like doing exactly what the cartoon shows: putting myself in time-out and letting Will have his way with the house. Obviously that would just make things worse than they are, so I must resign myself to blogging about it and getting on with my day.

Happy Father's Day

Father's Day is such a great day to remember the fathers that are a part of our lives and who have touched us in many different ways. They preside, provide, protect, teach, watch, and care for their families and friends in a way that is very unique to each individual. Today I want to pay special tribute to 5 fathers who have had a big influence on my life.


First is my grandpa Rollie. He is someone that I look up to with a lot of respect. Whenever we have the whole extended family together, he is always giving us great words of wisdom and advice. He cares about each one of us and wants to know what we're doing, even if we live hundreds of miles away. He loves to joke around and be silly, but he also knows what's important and what he needs to teach us.

Next is my grandpa Owen (sorry about no picture, Grandpa!). He is one of the sweetest, kindest people that I know. I love to play games with him and joke with him on the phone. He has a wonderful sense of humor and loves to laugh and have fun. He is a great handyman and has helped children and grandchildren with many different projects whenever he comes to visit. He is a peacemaker who always makes sure that everyone is happy and getting along.


My dad and I have always had a close relationship and are similar in many ways. He has always been in the public eye, but at home he was just Dad, and he did his best to make time for me and my sister despite his hectic schedule. Seeing him be a grandpa has been so neat, and I love watching him take care of Will and create that special bond.


In the 4+ years that I've known my father-in-law, I have gained a lot of respect for him. He is quiet, gentle, kind, serious, encouraging, supportive, loving, hard-working, and just an all-around good person. I think this picture is perfect, even though you can't see his face, because he loves Will very much and is the first person to steal him away whenever we come to visit.



And of course, there is my husband. I can't say enough about what a wonderful father he is. He is so gentle and patient toward Will, and loves to spend time with him. He often comments about how much he would like to be a stay-at-home dad while I go off and work. He loves to take Will outside or to the library and making sure that Will is happy. He does so well at providing for our family and keeping us going with his positive attitude and endless love. I am so grateful that he is the father of my children.

Happy Father's Day to these wonderful men, and to the many other fathers among my family and friends who I love dearly.

Happy Birthday Bill!

Today is Bill's 27th birthday. I have to say that I married a truly wonderful person. He's such a hard worker, always trying to do his best in school, work, church, and at home. He is always looking at life in such a positive way, and never thinks bad about anyone. I am privileged to be his wife. I hope you have a fabulous day, Bill. I love you.

We are so blessed

I know it's probably a little silly to get something meaningful from a reality TV show, but I am going to wax philosophical for a few minutes. One of my favorite shows these days is Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The reason I love that show so much is because they go around the country essentially changing the lives of families that need help in all sorts of different ways. The most recent episode I watched was a family from Idaho that have 4 children all suffering from a potentially life-threatening disease. As I was watching I felt a myriad of emotions, including sympathy, sorrow, and joy. Watching this particular show made me realize just how lucky I personally am, and how lucky my family is. Being born with Spina Bifida, I know what it's like to have a million and one doctor visits, numerous surgeries, and special accommodations made for you. However, Spina Bifida is fairly mild compared to many birth defects and diseases that are out there. Yes I am confined to a wheelchair, but I am also a college graduate, a wife and mother, and besides not being able to walk, I consider myself a "normal" person.

Another thing I am so grateful for is that Will is a healthy, happy child. I see so many children out there, like the ones on this show, who have to deal with so many horrible things and it breaks my heart to see that. It also makes me look at my own child and realize that I have it pretty good. Besides spending a week in the NICU for a small infection when he was born, he has never had much more than a cold in the 2 1/2 years he's been on this earth. I remember when I was pregnant and we went in for an ultrasound. I felt so much relief when I could see that his spine was completely formed and he wouldn't have to deal with the things that I did growing up. I know there is a chance that one of our future children might have to deal with Spina Bifida, but I am so glad that at least Will doesn't have to.

Finally, I am grateful that the Lord has been watching out for us and that He sees us as worthy of His blessings. For example, Bill is currently working on his 3rd degree, but in the 4 years that we have been married, and the 3 degrees that we have between us already, we have never had to take out a single student loan. And because of wonderful medical insurance, we don't have medical bills piling up and drowning us. We have some amazing family and friends who have helped us tremendously over the years with everything from babysitting and bringing us meals to just sitting and talking with us if we've had a bad day.

We have been so incredibly blessed, and even when times might seem hard, I wouldn't trade the life I have for anything in the world. I have a wonderful husband who adores me and who I love so much, I have an adorable little boy who makes life fun and interesting, I have a roof over my head, food to eat, family and friends to spend time with, and so many more blessings. It's definitely a wonderful life.

It's hot up in here!

We've lived in Illinois for about 10 months now, and even though there are a lot of things I miss about Utah and BYU, Urbana is definitely growing on me. I like how green it is here, I like having many parks to choose from for Will, I like our ward and the people that we've had the chance to meet. There's only one thing that I absolutely can't stand - the humidity!!! I have never been so hot in my life (well ok, I probably have, but it certainly feels like I haven't). I don't know how I'm going to survive the rest of the summer. Any ideas?

Happy 100th post!

I can't believe we've done 100 posts since we started this blog back in October. It's been so much fun to do, and I am so glad that Bill's sister Laura introduced us to the blogging world and got us (more specifically me)hooked on doing it. I think the top 3 reasons I love doing this blog are:

1. It's a great online journal, which is good for a slacker journal-writer like me
2. It's a good excuse to take pictures, which is nice for a bad scrapbooker like me
3. It's a great way for loved ones to keep up on what's happening with our family

I'm looking forward to the next 100 posts, and I hope you are too.

So Proud

I feel bad that my picture-taking can't do it justice, but this is the final copy of Bill's masters thesis from BYU. After a slight mix-up at the printer, we finally got the right one. I am so proud of Bill and the hard work that he went through to get this done. Math is a hard subject to write a paper on, and I can't even begin to understand what exactly his thesis is about, but I do know that it looks very impressive and that Bill put in a lot of time and effort to get it done. I'm very proud of him and I know that he will do just as well with his PhD dissertation.