I can't believe how fast Thanksgiving has come and gone. It is definitely my very favorite holiday....for many reasons:
1. Spending time with family
2. Eating....eating.....and more eating!
3. A certain someone was born on Thanksgiving Day!!!
4. A time to reflect on the MANY things to be grateful for.
The week before Thanksgiving we drove to California to look for a place to live. On the way down we stayed in Mesquite and I ran my 11th half marathon. I'm hoping to run one more before the end of the year, but I don't think it's going to happen people. Someone, please remind me that when making this coming year's new year's resolutions to not commit to something physical. I think this year I'm just going to stick with the old "I'm going to stop drinking Diet Coke this year" resolution and then fail miserably before New Year's Day is over :) Mia is also making a New Year's Resolution to lay off the DC.....Such great parenting. 
We had a great time in San Diego. Bryan worked most the time we were down there and so it was up to me to go to the housing appointments. Let me just say that I am THANKFUL for GPS or I would've been a lost mess. We found a place in Oceanside and we'll be moving the middle to end of January. This is so bitter-sweet as we are really looking forward to the adventure, but I don't know what I'm going to do being so far from our family and dear friends. We just hope we have LOTS of visitors!!!
On our way back from California, we stayed in Fillmore for Thanksgiving. It was so much fun having my whole family there (except for Jeff who will be coming home in June.....YAY). The weather was so nice and so it made it so much easier cutting trees this year (a Thanksgiving tradition). There's nothing I love more than a fresh cut Christmas tree. 
The highlight of the party was definitely the cupcakes......and a mighty fine cupcake it was!
And yes.......I celebrated birthday #31. Where did those 31 years go?? There's no better way to celebrate your birthday (belated) than Girl's Night Out. It's been almost 9 years since I graduated from college and I feel so fortunate to keep in contact with some of my old roommates. We spent hours laughing and reminiscing about the good ol' SUU days. Good times. 
And last but not least.......the lights at Temple Square.
And last but not least.......the lights at Temple Square.
So having this tangible reminder of our Angel Kate, it became clear to me that I need to be better about documenting our lives not only for us, but for our posterity. In the past I've found myself questioning whether I should post certain things, not wanting to broadcast it to the entire blogging world. These things are an important part of our lives and, therefore, I want to document them. With that being said, I have decided to finally go 
Blowing kisses
We spent the first 2 days in Paris. Our first destination was the Louvre. It was incredible. After spending some time there, you sure gain a greater appreciation for art.
It's like looking out the backdoor at my courtyard.......oh wait!
We decided that we wanted to take city tour of Prague. Doesn't this picture scream "Tourist??"
This little quartet sat and played outside of the castle. The music just added to the ambiance.
Couldn't leave Prague without having a famous "street" frank! 
Here we stopped in a little ski village. Not enough snow yet to hit the slopes. 
Jordan looks like he fits right in.
This castle, Hohenschwangau, is located just below Neuschwanstein and is where King Ludwig II grew up. 
It had been raining quite a bit and so the water level was really high. It was crazy to see water flowing into the various businesses and homes. 
I guess they just have to get used to it.
I think I have died and gone to heaven!!!
Bryan scoping out the local fruit stand. 
It's amazing how 10 days can come and go so quickly {actually 11}. We missed our flight home, causing us to spend another night in Paris {long story}. Anyway, 24-hours later and $4,000 in change fees we were on a plane back to Utah. This was such an awesome experience and I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity. 
More Cupcakes.........
LuLu was born with Alpha 1 Anitrypsin Deficiency, a genetic disorder that causes liver and lung failure. Because of LuLu's declining health, the need for a liver transplant is necessary sooner than later. We know that the money raised through Apple Fest will be a big help to the family of LuLu with the anticipated medical expenses for her impending liver transplant. Again, thank you for all the support at Apple Fest this year and we look forward to another successful event next Fall (September 17-18, 2010).
Sweet Kate, Kater Bugs, Bugaboo and Sissy was born on a beautiful HOT Summer morning, July 15, 2006. With no prior knowledge of any birth defects or a heart condition, Kate was transported to the NICU at Primary’s shortly after birth. During the 7-week initial stay, Kate was diagnosed with Tetrology of Fallot and later was given a diagnosis of Double Outlet Right Ventricle. Although Kate was full-term, she only weighed 4 lbs. 2 oz and heart surgery was too risky for how small she was. The doctors felt the success rate of the surgery would be greater if she could weigh at least 10 lbs. We were so excited to bring Kate home and help her grow. Dealing with oxygen, a feeding tube and A LOT of medications, we were determined to provide Kate with as normal life as possible. Kate experienced swimming, going to the zoo, museums and even a hay ride on Grandpa Roper’s farm. 
At six months, Kate went in for her heart repair. After 12 LONG hours, the surgery was complete and seemed to be a success. Recovering in just 17 days, Kate came home and we were hopeful for some developmental progression and increased strength. Also having a rare genetic condition and not knowing what to expect for her future development, we were hopeful that the heart repair would allow her to start reaching some milestones. One great memory we have is Kate’s 1st birthday. During that first year, especially during those dreaded RSV months, we tried to limit as much exposure to sickness as we could, limiting exposure to family & friends. So when her birthday came around and she was fairly stable, we thought it would be appropriate to have a big celebration. This ended up being much more than we had planned on. With close to 100 of Kate’s friends and family, it was a lot of fun. Having feelings of going a bit overboard, looking back we were so glad we did it because it ended up being Kate’s first and only birthday. 
We wanted to provide Kate with the best quality of life as possible. However, as she grew, her muscles and heart were not able to keep up with her growing body. She started experiencing seizures, which would cause her to stop breathing. Primary’s became her second home, spending over 5-months in and out of the hospital. She was so loved by all who cared for her. I must say that Kate was quite pampered during her stays……having her nails painted, ribbons and bows in her hair at all times and even an occasional massage (with that darn Oscillator). We knew that the only way for Kate to get out of the hospital and hopefully stay out was for her to have a Tracheotomy. This was an extremely tough decision, but we wanted to do all we could, medically, to keep her here with us. Boy, what a challenge. But, we had wonderful help from family and also home nursing.
Kate endured many surgeries and experienced much physical pain over the course of her short little life. As a parent, you want to do anything and everything for your children. Through our religious beliefs, we believe all things have purpose and we know that we will see her again. As much as we did all we could to help our sweet little Kate, we believe she helped us more than we could’ve ever helped her. We always said, “Kate had the biggest heart of anyone we know,” and in reality she did.
Four weeks after Kate’s passing, we welcomed a healthy baby girl, Mia, to fill our empty arms. We want to keep Kate’s memory alive, not only for us, but for Mia and our future children. This past fall, we organized a charity 5k run, in memory of Kate. The proceeds of the event went to Primary Children’s. We hope to keep this new tradition alive. Having Kate in our lives has made us better people. We miss her so much but feel so blessed to have our very own guardian angel watching over us. 
We spent one day hitting all the places that Bryan served. He served over a year in Durham and wanted to see if he could find his apartment. We spent some time driving around familiarizing himself with the area and then Bingo.......we found it.
We also drove to Raleigh to see the new Temple. It was absolutely beautiful. 
I'm a HUGE fan of doing destination races so we signed up and participated in the Salem Lakes trail run. It rained the entire time we ran. I'm typically not a fan of running in the rain, but it wasn't pouring and actually created a nice little mist. I wish I would've taken more pictures because this lake was beautiful. We didn't stay for the awards ceremony after the race, but later found out that Michelle and I both placed 1st in our age division. Not too shabby!
Teresa and Scott (Michelle's sister & brother-in-law) taking a photo of taking a photo!
Visiting NC this time of year is a MUST. It is so lush and green and with the leaves starting to change, it was absolutely breathtaking. We spent a day driving to the Smokey's.
As much fun as we had, we were both very excited to get back to Miss Mia!
I'm embarrassed that it has taken so long to report on Apple Fest this year. We had an absolute BLAST and are are already looking forward to next year. We had such a great turnout and and are so appreciative of the many generous people that came out to support this great cause. We didn't have the "Kate Rosenvall Foundation" set up for this year, but are working on having it in place for next year. Since our daughter Kate spent so much of her short little life at Primary Children's Medical Center, we want to donate the proceeds of Apple Fest each year to something special; whether it's something the hospital is in need or to help a family(s) who are in need of financial help for medical bills. We are so excited for the turnout we had and the many, many donations that were given. A HUGE "Thank You" to all those who participated in Apple Fest this year as well as all the many volunteers who helped make this event happen. Stay tuned for the donation grand total.
We kicked off Friday night with a dutch oven dinner and live entertainment by "Switchback" playing anything from Lynyrd Skynyrd to ACDC. The food was great, the entertainment was great, fun was had by all.
Mia had such a ball! What was I ever thinking?
