Wii Wii

I have got to start updating this more often so that I don't have so much to say at once. I'll begin by saying that it seems everyone is finally well at our house (knock on wood). Now let's pray it will stay that way! McKenna is back at school and on Tuesday received awards for High Honor roll and Excellent conduct. I am sure proud of her! Mark gave his 2 weeks notice at Gulfstream and his last day is tomorrow. He is so excited he can hardly sit still. He really didn't like the work he was doing there. Now he will be working as a graduate research assistant with a professor at Georgia Tech, doing something he loves. Plus he will actually have time to study now.

We have been busy around here just having fun. The weather has been beautiful still so we have worn ourselves out playing outside, flying kites and playing soccer. We drove through the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday and saw about 5 or 6 alligators. Not the most we've ever sighted, but still a ton of fun! We listened to my nephew Ryan open his mission call yesterday which was a fantastic experience! Helsinki Finland will be his hime for the next 2 years. Congrats Ryan!

Mark and I had a fun Valentine's Day. We put the kids to bed and made ourselves a nice dinner that we ate on china while watching Pride and Prejudice. Mark fried shrimp and grilled steak and we also had twice baked potatoes, a salad with cranberry vinaigrette, rolls, peas and some sparkling cider. And most importantly, the Cheesecake Factory Godiva cheesecake we had for dessert! Perfection! And we can't forget that we shared this wonderful evening and dinner with Joseph because he decided it was more fun to be with Mom and Dad than in his bed!

There really is nothing else happening here. Oh wait, I finally found a Wii! We love it and have had so much fun. My kids got the hang of it really quickly and are so competitive! I am amazed at how good they are! I like to box with Mark because he has only won twice. I don't know if he has problems hitting a girl or what, but I kick his Wii butt! It's great exercise by the way, so I highly recommend it to anyone who may be thinking about getting one. Our bishop and his wife our coming over for dinner tomorrow and bringing their controllers to play. Should be a blast!

Random

Ok, don't ask me why in the world I thought about this song because I don't have an answer for you. But if you are a member of my family, you will probably know every word. Thanks Daddy for teaching us ALL different types of music. Weird or not, we love it!

I was wrong

Well I was wrong about February....we are still sick. McKenna had the flu last week and Kaitlyn has it now. Fortunately it was pretty mild and the worst symptom was a fever. Kaitlyn is getting over it, so we will keep our fingers crossed for better health! I actually have to be grateful for the flu this time. We were supposed to go to a PTA program put on by the first graders on Thursday at 6:00. Because McKenna was sick, we obviously didn't go. Well as everyone was leaving that meeting that night, they saw the sugar factory explosion. I am so glad we were not there to witness that, especially with our young kids. The factory is directly across the street from McKenna's school, but it sits pretty far back from the road so the school was in no danger. They did have to cancel school on Friday because they were still trying to get the fire under control and the whole area was blocked off. Crazy stuff!

I thought I would add a few pictures of my kids. I think they were all taken outside. We have had the most beautiful weather lately and have been opening all the windows and doors in the house to let the fresh air in. I am really looking forward to spring and summer so we can go to the beach and the swimming pool here in our community. Our kids love being outside!

I will leave everyone with an FYI just in case you aren't in the loop. Mark got accepted to Georgia Tech and started in January working on his PhD in Electrical Engineering. I am so proud of him for getting into the #7 engineering school in the country! He will have his Masters next summer, and it will take another 3 years after that to finish his PhD. He works so hard as an employee, a student, Elder's Quorum Pres, a husband and a dad! I am so grateful for his hard work which allows me to stay home and be a mom and for the blessings that brings into our home. I have the best husband in the world, just don't tell him or he might get an even bigger head! :)

Finally February

Well I am hoping February is a healthier month for us than January. We all took turns being sick the entire month of January. I took Joseph to the doctor twice and the insta-care once, Mark went to the doctor and I finally broke down and went myself. Now that the rounds of antibiotics have kicked in, I have stripped all of our beds, sprayed them with lysol and washed the sheets. Oh, and I bought new air filters. Hopefully that will do the trick!

I have spent the better part of yesterday and today potty training Kaitlyn. Now when it's her idea to go to the potty (which is generally when she is supposed to be in bed), she does great. But when it's my idea and I ask her to go, she has a fit. This girl definitely has a mind of her own. That's why many people call her "Battle Ax." If you know her, you know why. If you don't know her, well battle ax is a perfect description! I just took this picture of her a few minutes ago jumping on my couch and eating chips at the same time. And she put on her own shoes, necklace, sunglasses and glove today. We are minus pants because they are wet. Potty training, remember?

I have to take a few minutes right now to brag because for the past few days, my kids have been able to go outside and play on their swingset and play soccer, etc. It is 75 degrees here today. Can't beat that! Also, happy birthday to all those who have a birthday this month. I would name all of you, but there are a lot and I am afraid I would miss someone. But today is Bill's birthday, so I hope you have a great day Bill!

Well said

Laura told me to watch this tribute to President Hinckley by Glenn Beck. I thought it was great, so I posted it so all of you could watch it too. Thanks Lars!

Goodbye

Today was Stake Conference here in Savannah. But instead of just our stake, it was our entire region including all of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. The conference was broadcast live from Salt Lake City where we were fortunate enough to hear from Elder Glenn Pace, Sister Mary N. Cook, Elder Dallin H. Oaks and President Thomas S. Monson. It was a fantastic meeting. The funny thing was that I talked to several people after the meeting who commented on how different President Monson was this time and I agreed. We couldn't put our finger on it, but something was different. As Mark and I drove home, we talked about this and he mentioned to me that he saw for the first time that President Monson looked like the prophet today. So you can imagine my surprise when my parents called us this evening to say that President Hinckley had passed away.

As much as I was saddened to hear of President Hinckleys death, I couldn't help but smile as I thought of the reunion he must be having with his much missed wife! I was thinking of how excited he must be to finally see her again. Thinking of that made me realize how grateful I am to know that there is a life after this and we can all be reunited with our loved ones again.

I loved President Hinckley. I so looked forward to hearing him speak each General Conference. I enjoyed his sense of humor but also his ability to tell us all what the Lord needed us to be doing, but in such a loving manner. What an amazing, long life he lead. He was a great example to me. I will miss him!

Finally....

Well I have finally stepped into this century and created a blog. I can not guarantee that this first post will make any sense. It's late and I am tired. Unfortunately, everyone in our house is sick with what Mark calls the Georgia Rot. I, myself have been suffering from it for about 2 weeks, Mark for almost 3 weeks, and the kids just keep passing it to each other. My poor little Joseph has an ear infection in both ears and has been running a temp tonight of over 104 and McKenna has coughed for 2 nights straight. So what I am trying to say is that there is not much sleep happening in the Lowther household as of late. It's so rare, I had to take a picture of it. But I don't write to complain, but to merely state facts. We have been truly blessed and this is really the first major round of sickness we have had in quite some time. That's actually quite miraculous when you stop to think about it-- between pre-school, elementary, primary and nursery. I know this time of year has found many of you sick as well. Let's pray we all feel better soon!

Now that I have been a downer with all that depressing junk, we can move onto another topic. "Why Mario on your page" you say? Well this family is on the hunt for a Nintendo Wii. Impossible, you say? You're probably right. I found myself with supreme luck when standing in Best Buy 5 days before Christmas and some came in stock. So....I bought one! One was the limit so that was it. One! As I brought it home, I realized keeping it probably wouldn't be the smartest thing as I had already WAY over spent my Christmas budget on Mark's laptop. So I sold it to a friend who was dying to find one. Now that tax returns are around the corner, I am on a Wii hunt again. Tuesday, I missed some in Best Buy by about 8 hours, and tonight I missed some in Gamestop by 2 hours. Hey, at least I'm getting closer! So now I am channeling all things Nintendo to see if that helps! Wish me luck!