Thank You and We Love You

This week has been the longest/hardest week we have ever had. We left Seattle last Friday to go to Wenatchee for Eric's brothers mission "farewell". We headed to Spokane on Monday afternoon so we could spend Christmas with my family. We got in around 6:30pm. My family was all there, and it was so fun to see them. Sara, my sister, had flown home to Spokane early, so she was extra excited to see our family again. She held Andrew, fed him, let him touch whatever he wanted (ornaments, lights, decorations), and then laid him down in bed at about 7:30. We played games, hung out, and all went to bed. I got up the next morning and fed Jared. Just as I finished feeding him, Sara ran down the stairs yelling for someone to go get Andrew (she didn't want to yell "Andrew is dead"). She had gone to get him out of bed, and when she felt him, she could tell he had passed away. We ran upstairs, I called 911, but he had been gone for a while. The EMT's called it SIDS. We were in a state of shock.

We said a lot of prayers, family prayers, couple prayers, personal prayers. The day before we had decided to go to the temple, so Eric and I decided to stick with our plan and go. The session was supposed to start at 11:15, and we walked into the temple at 11:19. The Brother who checked our recommends told us the next session would be at 12:30, but as he was telling us that, a man stepped up and said they would hold the session for us if we'd hurry. I had thought my Mom had called to tell them to hold the session for us and told them what had happened. We made it, and cried through most of the session. I appreciated more where we were and the covenants that we have made. After the session, I waited for Eric and his brother Brian (who came to Spokane with us and leaves for his mission to Uruguay on Wednesday) in the foyer. As they came out, the Temple President came out and asked us if we'd like to meet with him in his office. He ended up giving us amazing blessings with awesome promises and they provided a lot of comfort. I am so grateful for the priesthood and its power.

We miss Andrew so much. We miss his smile, his Spirit, his laugh, holding him, kissing him and so much more. We miss watching Andrew interact with his siblings. He had such a special and unique relationship with each one of his siblings. He already knew how to be soft with Jared and he would give him a "kiss" on the head and then give us a cheesy smile. Life is weird with only four kids. It doesn't feel right, but we are so much more grateful for the four we still have with us.

We will never be the same. We are grateful for the gospel and the knowledge that it blesses us with that we will see Andrew again and be able to raise him. We are so thankful for the 14 months that we had Andrew in our home. He changed us. We now have a physical investment that gives us major incentive to live our lives so we can be with Andrew again.

The kids are doing good. Aubree has a lot of questions and misses him a lot. Tanner and Travis both talk about Andrew being in heaven with Heavenly Father.

We have been blown away by the amount of love and support that people have shown to us. We appreciate it more than you know. We have been blessed with tons of food, cards, people calling and stopping by, flowers, and tons of hugs. We wish we could personally tell everyone thank you, but there are so many people who have reached out to us. Please know that we sincerely and deeply appreciate your kind words, thoughts, prayers, and gifts. Eric went to get me some flowers at the store and the lady asked what the occasion was. After he told her, she said she would give him a deal. He picked out a beautiful bouquet of roses and she gave them to him, no charge.

When we have been having a hard time, we just read through the comments that have been left and we are comforted by your love, prayers, and support. My favorite things are the people who have seen him and know him and tell me things they love about him, like his lips, smile, and eyes.

Eric's family ended up coming to my parents house to celebrate Christmas together. Our families are so wonderful. They have blessed us with so much love and so much support. Andrew's funeral is going to be on Tuesday in Wenatchee.

I can sit and look at pictures and video of Andrew all day. This is my favorite video. Tanner has him laughing so hard that he is crying.

Andrew Josiah Nygard- Our Angel

Andrew passed away last night in his sleep. He is such a special boy and we are so grateful to have been able to have him in our lives. We are so thankful for the knowledge we have that he is sealed to our family.

Families are Forever!

Done! Gingerbread! 3 Months! Birthday! Zoo! Swimming!

Eric finished his quarter last night. I think he had close to 10 finals. He was pretty worn out by the time he got home yesterday. We had a party to celebrate with root beer floats.

Travis loves ice cream and root beer, so root beer floats are his new favorite. Tanner drank his so fast I didn't even get a picture of him.

Eric was pretty excited to be done. He is so great! We will make sure and relax a lot before he starts again in three weeks.

We love you Sara!!! Andrew follows Sara everywhere. They are such buds.

Aubs went to her cousin, Maycie's princess party and had tons of fun. I love Aubree's forced camera smile. She is so funny.

I didn't get the groceries put away before I had to feed Jared and this is what I found. Andrew is starting to get into everything more and more. He loves to undo the toilet paper rolls, take clothes out of baskets, and "clean" out the cupboards.

For FHE we decorated gingerbread houses. I always have the best of intentions of making them look nice, but it's too hard. So... at least the kids had fun.

Jared turned 3 months old on Tuesday. I can't believe he is already that old. He fits so perfectly into our family. He is such a good and happy baby. He is now sleeping almost 11 hours a night and it is heavenly. He is smiling a ton, starting to "talk" more and more, and beginning to laugh.

Here Jared is about to laugh. He is so cute!

Andrew is a big doll to Aubree. She is always playing with him, carrying him around, and putting him in her stroller. He actually likes hanging out in her stroller. Andrew is such a sweet boy!

Travis turned 3 last week. He still says he is 2 and Tanner is 3, but it helped for him to see a 3 on his cake. We did two cakes this year for Trav. One with Eric on the weekend and one on the day of his birthday. While we were singing to Trav, Eric is on our laptop (google video chat) singing along. Travis loved his bear cake (Aubs went crazy with the sprinkles).

Travis is going through a stage of dressing himself over and over. He wakes up from his nap with his clothes backwards, inside out, or different clothes altogether. In the pic above you can see the tag of his undershirt. I am sure his pants were on backwards too. At least he dresses himself... at least that is what I tell myself.

On Travis' birthday he wanted to go to the zoo. It was really cold and rainy outside, so we went to the zoomasium.

Zoomasium

Travis' first cake (brownies).

The neck on his spiderman pj's is so stretched out because he likes to take it off pulling it down around his shoulders.

Cute boys. Tanner is such a good big brother. His little brothers really look up to him and copy everything he does.

Last years Christmas sweaters.

Aubree is the best big sister!

Aubree, Tanner, and Travis have been taking swimming lessons and loved it!

Aubs graduated to the 2nd level and is so close to swimming.

Tanner loves to splash and has no fear.

We are leaving this week for Christmas break. We are grateful to be able to celebrate the birth of our Savior. We hope you are all well and have a wonderful Christmas!!!

Where Dad Lives

Last year, when Eric did his first year of dental school in Spokane, we lived 7 minutes away, there was tons of parking, and we would visit him to eat dinner once a week. The kids got to know where Eric was "living" away from home. This year, it takes a lot longer to get there, lots of traffic, there is no place to park, and we have a new baby, so we haven't made it to visit Eric once. The kids and I wanted to at least have dinner with him once this quarter, so Sara watched the babies and we got a tour of the school/clinic/hospital and got to have dinner with Eric.

As I drove home, I had a greater appreciation for Eric and the time and effort he puts into school. He works so hard and gets little sleep. Eric enjoys going to school and what he is learning. He is going to be such an awesome dentist! We are so grateful for Eric! Eric starts finals tomorrow and is done with this quarter in one week. We are so excited to be able to have Eric around for the break.

Attitude of Gratitude

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving, I wanted to do a post about the many things I am grateful for (Some of the things may or may not relate to the pictures I have posted).

I am grateful to be a mom; to have been able to both adopt and give birth to children that we have been blessed with raising.

I am grateful for the Gospel, our Savior, and the huge/amazing blessing that is in our lives.

I am grateful for our health (especially Eric's).

I am grateful for each one of our kids, but most days I am especially grateful for Aubree and the huge help she is.

I am grateful to have a washer and dryer in our home (and the little hands that "help" me fold them).

I am grateful for wonderful friendships we have. We have had the chance to spend time with friends from Pullman and have come to realize how grateful we are for the people we got to know while at WSU.

I am grateful for sleep. Thanks to BabyWise, we have trained our 5th child to sleep through the night.

I am grateful to live in a time of modern technology. To be able to take TONS of pictures of our kids and then use our computer and the internet to show them off and keep records of our life.

I am grateful for our Birth Moms. We have been blessed by adoption and are so appreciative of the sacrifice they made for us.

I am grateful for learning. The kids love books and learning. Aubree loves "reading" to her brothers.

I am grateful for exercise. I had the chance again this year to play in my Alumni game. I wasn't in that good of shape, but I had fun playing.

I am SO grateful for Eric. He is such a hard worker, wonderful dad, and the best husband! He doesn't have tons of time to spend with us, but when he does he makes the time worth it. He took his break from studying on Saturday to sled with Aubs.

I am grateful for Eric again. I really can't say enough about him. The sledding hill at the Nygard's was so steep the kid needed help climbing up it.

I am grateful for cousins. Our kids have lots of cousins close to their ages and LOVE spending time with them.

I am grateful for our families. Both of our families are so helpful to us and are constantly looking for ways to serve us. Their houses are always open to us and they always make us feel welcome (especially with 5 kids). They are always so willing to help with the kids and we are so grateful! We are also grateful for Brian (he is in the picture above). He is leaving in 4 weeks on his mission to Uruguay. He is such a good friend to Eric and I and he is going to be the best missionary.

I am grateful for my sister, Sara. I don't even know where to start with her. She just graduated from nursing school in May and is now my help/nanny. She left her life in Utah and put her needs/wants to the side so she could help me. Sara is so wonderful! I don't know what we would do without her.

I am grateful for Aubree (she loved sledding!).

I am grateful for Tanner.

I am grateful for Travis.

I am grateful for Jared.

I am grateful for Andrew.