Interesting Article Off Of KSL

ksl.com - Nursing shortage eases in Utah, elsewhere

Happy Memorial Day!

Memorial Day is one of my favorite holidays!

Of course I love holiday pay at work.

I love seeing all of the beautiful flowers at the cemetaries.

Most of all, I love to think about all of the sweet memories

I have of friends and family who've already moved on.

I'm not in a rush to die.

But I think it will be exciting to see everyone again

Hopefully they'll be excited to see me too. :)

There are a lot of new faces I can't wait to meet as well.

I hope I make all of them proud.

Tiffany Lynn Searle

This is Tiffany Searle.

She is 9 years old. The same age as my oldest son Andrew.

Tiffany and Andrew were classmates in kindergarten.

During that school year, she told her mother that she wanted to marry him.

She made me so proud to be Andrew's Mom.

As I was reading the paper today I found her obituary.

Tiffany passed away due to an undiagnosed disease last Tuesday.

My heart aches for her family!

I can't imagine what they're going through right now.

I get upset every time I think about her.

Please everyone, try to keep her family in your prayers.

Tiffany Lynn Searle

2000-2010

Our sweet little Tiffany returned to her Heavenly Father on the beautiful early morning of May 25, 2010. After 5 years of battling an undiagnosed disease, Tiffany is finally able to run and play again.

Tiffany, the youngest of 6 siblings, was born September 19, 2000 to Scott and Valerie Searle of American Fork, Utah. As soon as Tiffany was born, the nurses said "You'll have your hands full with this one!" Tiffany came full of life, ready to change the world. That's just what she did. Every person who knew her, however briefly, was touched and changed forever. even when her body stopped working, she never stopped or gave up. Accomplishing so much in her short life, Tiffany did everything with a smile. Some of her favorite things to do were being with her family, playing with friends, and running. Thanks to Make a Wish Foundation, Tiffany was able to run again with everone cheering her on. She was also honored at AFJH's Benefit Concert and also as BYU's Thursday's Hero. Tiffany loved everyone unconditionally which she learned from her parents' example. Her mother spent selfless hours serving her and being her constant caregiver.

We would like to thank all who have generously given so much to our family, including help with our home, meals, thoughts, prayers, donations, and Tiffany's incredible 9th birthday party. We'd also like to thank Hospice for all they did so Tiffany could be home with us. "Nurse Sharon's" understanding and kindness to our family is especially appreciated.

Tiffany is survived by her parents, her sibling, Amanda & Kasey Gibson, Kerra & Josh Wagstaff,

Elder Randy Searle, serving in the Kennewick, Washington, LDS Mission; Nic Searle, and Brittney Searle; grandparents, Larry & Ann Searle; great grandmother Edith Searle, and numerous uncles, aunts, and cousins. She is preceded in death by her grandma Carol Lamb; great grandpa Max Searle and her fiend Jolyn Manuela.

Tiffany has finished her race here on Earth, but she is on the other side, cheering us on as we finish our race.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at 11 am in the Hillcrest Stake Center, 165 North 350 West, American Fork. You may visit with the family Monday evening from 6 to 8 pm at the Anderson & Sons Mortuary, 49 E 100 N, American Fork and Tuesday at the church from 9:45 to 10:45 am prior to the sevices. Burial, American Fork Cemetary.

Online condolences may be sent at andersonmortuary.com. For more information and details go to http://www.helptiffany.org/

Brody's Kindergarten Graduation

Brody graduated from Kindergarten today!
His teacher Mrs. Anderson put together a cute little graduation ceremony.She got all of the kids matching caps and gowns (black t-shirts)

Check out my little stud in the middle.

They all "Walked" into the classroom.

They did a little dance. All of the kids hit a t-ball and walked to all 4 bases.

Mrs. Anderson spoke about each one of her students. Then she handed out certificates.
I think she made everyone tear up.
What a great teacher she is!

Brody and Dad

Grandma and Grandpa Walker, Brody and Bree

Brody's certificate "The Class Alphabet Guru"

Each student got their own scrapbook!

Andrew's Red, White and Blue Concert

Andrew and the rest of his 3rd grade class finally had their Red, White, and Blue concert last night.
The concert was originally scheduled for last Friday; however,
the weather was poor so it was changed to Monday.
Then of course it snowed.
(Pretty crazy weather we've been having lately)
The concert was great.
Andrew and the rest of the 3rd graders did an excellent job.
I'm glad I was able to see it.

They performed at the Silver Lake Amphitheater.

Aaron was trying to be tough, but I think he was hurting pretty bad.
Aaron let Brody play with his phone. Brody kept on typing "Nick Jr."
Brody is a amazing when it comes to electronics.

Abby and Bree chased each other and rolled down the hill.

Alyssa and I watched the whole thing.

Brody even took a turn rolling down the hill.

It's Not A Tumor!

Aaron had surgery this morning.
He had a lipoma removed from the back of his head.
What is a lipoma you may ask?
According to Wikipedia, A lipoma is:
a benign tumor composed of fatty tissue. They are the most common form of soft tissue tumor.^[1] Lipomas are soft to the touch, usually movable, and are generally painless. Many lipomas are small (under one centimeter diameter) but can enlarge to sizes greater than six centimeters. Lipomas are commonly found in adults from 40 to 60 years of age, but can also be found in children. Some sources claim that malignant transformation can occur,^[2] while others say that this has yet to be convincingly documented.
Aaron has had this bump for as long as he can remember.
I asked him to take a picture of the tumor.
I guess it didn't come out without a fight.
Aaron said the tumor had a good blood supply.
(Check out the piece of hair connected to the "tumor")

Poor Aaron!
He can't have his stitches out for 10 days and he is sore tonight!

Happy Birthday Kate!

My niece Kate is 3 years old today!
Crazy how quickly time goes by.
Ashley and Dave gave her a party yesterday.
They fed all of the Fam tacos, fruit, and cupcakes.
It was delicious!
The party was so much fun.
Happy Birthday Kate!

Mr. Fix It Is At It Again

With all of the warm weather we were having,
(Notice how I said were).
my kids were spending a lot of time outdoors playing in the water.
Now of course it's snowing, and I'm just praying that my poor little raspberry bushes will survive.
Anyway, back to my story.
Aaron had an AMC conference this weekend in SLC.
Saturday in between classes, he stopped at Home Depot and purchased a lock for our hose.
He installed it later that evening.
Now we don't have to worry about flooded basements!

Been Kind Of Down

There have been a lot of rumors at my work.
Some of the rumors have been that the Developmental Center is going to become privatized. Another rumor is that they're going to close down the pharmacy.
The biggest rumor I've heard is that they're going to lay off all of the part time employees so that they don't have to pay for their insurance.
I decided a while ago to just wait and see what happens.
Last Wednesday the following article came out in the Des. News.

AMERICAN FORK — The Utah State Developmental Center is tightening its belt.

After cuts made during this year's state legislative session, the Utah Division of Services for People with Disabilities, which runs the facility, is working to shave $1.5 million off the center's 2010-11 budget by July 1.

No residents will be moved out of the center at 895 N. 900 East, but the cuts could mean a reduction in services and layoffs for some employees.

"The most important thing to understand is that we're not reducing any beds at the developmental center," said division director Alan Ormsby. "We may do some consolidation of certain apartment buildings, but we won't be reducing the number of people served."

Ormsby also said there will be no freeze on admissions at the center.

While the number of residents will remain the same, the services they receive will be cut back.

"We don't want to make any long-term changes to services, but we are going to have to reduce some of the services that are offered down there," Ormsby said.

Hydrotherapy pools and animal therapy are among the services that likely will be put on hold for at least a year, he said.

The center also may outsource some of its services to professionals in the private sector, said center superintendent Karen Clark.

"The Legislature asked us to look at opportunities for privatization, for things that could be done by private business entities in the community," Clark said.

The center may have to release some of its staff. Though the Division of Services for People with Disabilities has introduced retirement incentives for developmental center employees, there is a "strong likelihood that staff will be reduced," Ormsby said.

"Our hope is that through retirement incentives and attrition we'll be able to reduce the staff somewhat," he said, "but there is a possibility that we'll have to do a reduction in force."

The developmental center is an intermediate care facility for people with mental retardation. Its budget cut came as part of a $25.7 million reduction in funds for the Department of Human Services. The center's budget was cut by $2 million, but the Legislature backfilled it with $500,000 in one-time funds. If the backfill is not repeated next year, the center will have to cut an additional $500,000 from its 2011-12 budget.

Ormsby said the reductions were "just part and parcel of the major cuts that the Legislature had to deal with" and said the Legislature treated the center fairly. Nevertheless, he said, the budget cuts will be tough to implement.

"Given the very difficult budget circumstances that the Legislature had to confront, it's going to be a challenging environment," Ormsby said. "Overall, we're going to make sure that people's needs are protected, and we're going to make sure people are safe and healthy."

Then on Friday I received a phone call from work. I and all of the other part time nurses have a meeting Tuesday morning at 9:30. I'm pretty certain we're all going to loose our jobs. I'm really down because I don't want to loose insurance for my family. What to do?

Someone's Lost A Tooth!

Brody lost his first tooth Friday.
We're not sure when it fell out.
It didn't bleed,
and of course Brody didn't tell anyone.
I feel guilty because I didn't even notice it was gone until we were at church this morning.
(I hope he didn't swallow it)

Abby and "Camping"

One of Abby's favorite past times is playing "Camping."
She and her friends can play it for hours.
They literally take every blanket we own and tuck them into our bunk beds, making "tents."
Here's a picture of Abby at work.

Bree's Princess Dress

Bree got this dress from her cousin Kari a couple of weeks ago.
She calls it her princess dress.

I've probably washed it 5 or 6 times.
Every time I wash it, Bree has to put it on.
Doesn't she look like a princess?

Have You Ever...

Have you ever had a moment where you thought,
I just don't think I can do it today?
I had one of those moments this morning.
I had to wake up to help my kids get ready for school.
I was very tired,
and my bed was very warm.
And my bathroom was ... for lack of a better word

POOPY

(We're still working on potty-training at our house)
I started crying and asking why me?
Then I said a little prayer.
I asked for help and patience
I'm glad to report that my kids made it to school.

The bathroom is now nice and clean.
I did however throw away the bathroom rug. :)

A Little Bit Of Heaven

Yesterday after we dropped Andrew off to his baseball practice, my daughter Abby begged me to stop at the Snow Shack. I've been craving a shaved ice for quite a while, and had just read one of my sister's posts on her blog about a recent trip with Kate and Tiger's blood. Any how, we got a 32 ounce coconut cream. Wow! May I just say it was amazing. -Abby wasn't so sure when she first looked at it. She asked my why we got cottage cheese? She changed her mind after she tasted it. It was a little bit of Heaven!

My New Calling!

I have a new calling!
Did my picture give it away?
...I am a SCOUT LEADER!

Here is my partner Michelle.
And below are our soon-to-be Wolves!

What a cute class huh!

The Latest

Not too much going on at our house right now. I just wanted to write down a few things so that I'll remember them later on when I go back through the blog. Sorry no pictures!

-Abby had her last day of Mommy Preschool on May 6th.
-Andrew went to his first economics fair this past Friday. He came up with the idea to make and sell paper airplanes. He also had a drawing for one of his Playstation games.
-Brody went on a field trip with his kindergarten class on Friday May 7th.
-I took Brody, Bree, and Alyssa for a walk on Thursday. Every time Bree saw some one approaching us, she would say "Hi." As they passed us, she would say "Bye, I love you!"
-Alyssa had a cold this past week. She wouldn't let me, Aaron, or her Grandparents put her down. Ever!
-Andrew had his first baseball game on May 8th, and his second game was today. Go Mariners!
-We'll be taking a trip to Washington the first week of August. One of Aaron's friends is getting married and Aaron gets to be the best man!
-Aaron has a seminar in SLC next weekend for AMC (His practice management group).
-This past week my sister found out she's having a boy! -We on the other hand are having a girl. -JK Mom. I promise I'm not pregnant!

That's all I can think of right now.

The Dentist and the Derm

Monday was a marathon day for dr. appointments. In the morning we went to see my brother-in-law Dave for dental check-ups. Andrew, Abby, Bree and I were all seen. This was Abby and Bree's first visit to the dentist. Out of everyone, I was the only one that had cavities. I had not just one cavity, but two. I was so purturbed! After the dentist, we went to the park and had lunch. Thank goodness for Mcdonald's. Following lunch, I tried to get everyone excited to see the dermatologist. Andrew, Abby, and Bree all have some warts that we want removed. All of our appointments were great and we made it through without any tears. Well sort of ... Alyssa cried when I had my x-rays, but that was it. Here are some pics.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was great this year. They gave us a chocolate at church!
My hubby and my kids gave me lots of sweet gifts.

I got to visit with my Grandma Nelson

My kids got to play with their cousins.

We got to talk to my little brother Mike. He'll be coming home from his mission July 23rd. Only 2 more months!

I got to spend time with my sweet Mom!

A musical card that my kids gave me!

Some pretty flowers my mom gave me.

Some coupons Abby gave me!

A cute little flower Abby made in preschool.

Andrew made me some bath crystals and 2 cards!

Brody gave me these beautiful flowers.

My neice Sasha and my daughter Alyssa

Both of them are so cute!

They couldn't stop kissing each other.