Taking Alison to the MTC

On Wednesday, August 1st, 2012 we dropped Alison off at the MTC

In front of grandma's house

In front of the MTC

In front of the MTC

When dropping off at the MTC you are only allowed 2 minutes and then you have to go. I was only able to take this picture and then she was quickly taken to the MTC.  We are so proud of her and we know she will do a wonderful job on her mission.  From the time she was little she would say she was going on a mission.

Nora Jane Rogers

I got to Utah on Thursday, July 26. That day James, Ashley and I went to the her doctor's appointment. The doctor said that he would induce on Friday.

Ronan at the doctor's office

Ashley about to have Nora

Nora was born July 27, 2012 at 3:37pm 6 lbs. 12 oz.  19" long

It was a an awesome experience for me to be there.  I was so excited to be there.

Grandma and Nora

Alison and Nora

Grandpa and Nora

My cousin Niurka and Nora

Grandma and Nora

Daddy and Nora

The kids looking at Nora in the NICU through the window. Nora had to go in the NICU after she was born because she had an air pocket between her lung and chest wall.  Because of the air pocket was pushing against her lung, the lung did not inflate completely when she inhaled.  She stayed in the NICU for almost a week. I was so happy when she was able to go home.

The proud parents

Dad's funeral

I was thinking about my memories of dad and I had a lot of them come to my mind but the one that stood out the most was Christmas 1994. Brent had been gone a lot, traveling for work and so I was home alone for long periods of time with the three girls. I really was having a hard time, I did not like being alone and that Brent had to travel so much.  To this day I dislike it so much when he has to leave on his trip every month and I think it has to do with the fact that he traveled so much before.  Anyway, one night I was home alone putting the girls to bed (I had all three girls at this time) when there was a knock on the door.  When I opened it, dad who was the Bishop and the youth of his ward were standing there.  They had gone caroling and dad thought it would be good to come to my house even though I was not in his ward (I lived very close to mom and dad's house). I think he was inspired because it really made me happy to see them there, Brad, Nathan and Matthew were there, they were right in front of the group. 

Grandma had a great idea, that the grandkids color and write messages on dad's casket. Here is Conner and his cousins writing on the casket.

Parker

Ashley's message

Brittany's message

Alison's message

Parker's message

Conner's message

The kids at the viewing

James and Ronan at the viewing

At the cemetery a few of the cousins sitting on a bench

Lexi's cool picture on the casket

Picture of the cousins at the luncheon

Utah trip-part one

We went to the Bridal Veil falls in Provo- Conner loved it

My friend Glory Harris just happened to be at the Bridal Veil falls at the same time.

Ashley and I went to the City Creek Mall in Salt Lake

The hospital where James had surgery was very nice

We went to a Park in Saratoga Springs that had this really cool piramid

Ronan

Helping Conner

Ever since Conner was a baby he has had issues with eating.  Unfortunately we were a bit naive.  When he started to eat solid food he had a hard time.  He hated eating, he eventually would eat but a lot of the time he would throw up his food. We thought he would outgrow it.  I found foods that he liked and would eat.  When I tried to introduce new foods he would scream and not eat.  I found that if I mixed his food with blueberries he would eat it, still I would have to be careful because he would gag and throw up.  One day he was so angry and crying so much that he pushed back and broke his high chair.  That is when I decided to feed him while he took a bath because he would throw up almost every time and while in the tub he would play and be distracted while I fed him.  It was so hard on us and it still is.  Dinner time is miserable for us.  The thought of dinner makes me want to cry, because we can never sit together, Conner hates the smell of food and we can not sit next to him.  I seriously thought he would get better but he hasn't.  I called the pediatrician and they suggested an occupational therapist.  When I looked at their website I read about "Dysfunction in sensory integration" and one of the symptoms is picky eater. I want to cry because I feel bad for him and yet if that is what he has I am happy that finally something can be done. I want him to get better, I want this battle with food to finally be over. It has consumed our lives ever since he started eating.  Dinners revolved around finding something that he would eat and then getting him to eat it!!!  Dinners at our house can take sometimes more than 2 HOURS.  It so stressful that I don't like cooking anymore and I HATE DINNER TIME.  The worse part is people don't understand that he is not just a picky eater, it is more than that.  It is so hard for him and it hurts to see him suffer like that. Unfortunately this is starting to affect him in other ways, some kids at school don't like him.  Conner is a sweet boy, he is caring and loving and I don't want him to change.  It hurts so much when he comes home and tells me that his classmates don't want to play with him or that they call him annoying.  In an effort to help him we took him to a psychologist and she said he had some OCD issues.  She wanted to treat him with hypnosis. That is when we decided it is better to take him to an occupational therapist.  I can't wait to meet with the therapist and be able to finally help him!!

Fourth of July 2012

On the Fourth of July we went and parked near the Magic Kingdom to watch the fireworks.  They were awesome!!

Conner and Anthony waiting for the fireworks