Families are Forever

So this post is not going to be easy to write, but I need to let my feelings out. This post will be sad and long, you have been WARNED.
On my birthday this year, I got a call from my dad telling me I needed to come home. My mom was quite sick in the hospital. So, I booked a flight and got to the hospital the next morning. Right after I got there, I told my mom I love her and how much she means to me. Then they whisk her away to surgery. At this point, I had prepared myself that I would never see her again, that she would die on the operating table. But, being the fighter she is, she made it through and did wonderful. The next day she was back to being her feisty self and was telling the nurses jokes and most importantly giving all of us, her feared and well-known trademark, "the hairy eyeball". This is a look she would give us kids when we were in trouble. So, we knew because of these signs she was doing better. Also, the nurses all informed us that she was a miracle. During the week I was there, we got to have a few very deep conversations, she told me how much she loved me and I told her how much I loved her. It really helped us grow together.
Then after another week or so in the hospital, she was transferred to a nursing home to get rehab from her surgery. I talked to her a few times and she seemed happy, just really tired all the time, which is understandable from all the trauma her body had just been through. So then last Friday, the 13th, (I guess they are bad luck) my dad informs me that she is back in the hospital. Just some nausea and a little dehydrated. I called up to the hospital they tell me she is fine now they have given her something for the nausea and she is resting and they were just going to admit her overnight for observation. This makes me feel OK.
So, the next morning, I call up to the hospital and ask for her nurse because I am unsure of which floor she has gone to during the night. They inform me that she is in room 374, which I know from her last stay at the hospital in the ICU. This immediately gets me worrying. So I call her friend Liz, who is also a nurse like my mom to see what is going on. She tells me that mom has pneumonia. Of course I instantly start to cry and get upset. Then, later that night I talk with my sister who had been with mom at the hospital and she says mom is doing good. Just that they have her on antibiotics for the pneumonia and that it may take a few weeks to finish the treatment. I call and check regularly with my mom's nurse and my sister and things seem to be going fine and dandy.
Then, I get a bunch of phone calls on Tuesday morning, very early, from both my dad and mom's friend Liz. Basically, they tell me that during the night, mom's lungs have started filling with fluid very quickly and that the antibiotics have stopped working. It was at this point that my dad tells me that they have taken her off the antibiotics and are just going to keep her comfortable until she passes away. I get very upset, obviously. I call Liz and ask her if I can talk to mom. She says yes, but that mom isn't able to talk at this point. So, they hold the phone up to my mom's ear, I tell her I love her, to be strong and have faith that Heavenly Father will take care of us. Then Liz gets on the line and tells me that mom is mouthing "I Love You Sarah". At that point, I just lose it. I start crying my eyes out and I realize, that my mom will not be on this Earth much longer. I call a few close friends to tell them of what is going on. One of them goes to see her and reassures me that she is at peace and doesn't seem to be suffering.
After all this, my dad gets to the hospital from Denver at about 9pm. I talk to him and my sister at midnight. They are both with my mom. I told my sister to call me the minute anything happens. Then, at 4:49 AM I get a call and it's my sister and she is sobbing. She tells me mom has just passed away, that her heart just stopped.
As soon as I get off the phone with her I immediately start trying to book a flight home. The Lord was definitely watching out for us, it was truly a Tender Mercy, that we were able to find a cheap flight into Greenville today. I feel at peace knowing that my mom isn't suffering anymore, but that doesn't make the pain of missing her any less. I have been through alot in my life, but I swear nothing can compare to this pain. It feels like there is now a hole in my heart where somebody ripped it out, stomped on it and then tried to put it back in. It is just so painful, yet I am comforted by the fact that I know that I will see her again and that we will be together forever as a family. As part of this life, like it says in the Bible, we must experience the bad so we know what is good, and we must experience dark so we know what is light. Well this is a bad dark time in my life, but soon there will be light. I have faith that the Lord knew what he was doing and that he has a greater purpose for my mom right now. I love you Mom, thanks for everything that you did for me, for all the fun times, all the laughs, all the support, all the love and most of all for being a great example of Christ-like service and love. I will miss you for the rest of my life, but I can't wait until that day when we can be together again. I LOVE YOU!!

Life...Sometimes You Gotta Roll With The Punches!

Well I know this post is long over due, so I am sorry. But life has just been one big roller coaster lately! We have had some really sad times, some happy times, so trying and frustrating times and some just down right exciting moments!
I'll start with the sad times. Our sweet puppy Wendy passed away on June 5th. We knew it was coming but that didn't make it any easier to say goodbye to our silly, sweet girl. She was our first pet as a couple and she was like a child to us. We will always have a place in our hearts for her.
Trying and frustrating explains how my health has been lately. I have been having pain in my upper right-side of my abdomen for about 3 weeks now. I have had blood work, ultrasounds, a scope of my stomach, a test called a HIDA scan where they shoot you up with radioactive dye and watch it go into your digestive system and see how it works and now I also get to have a CT scan of my stomach. Why do you ask?? Because nobody can tell me what is wrong with me!!!! It is so frustrating! I just want to know what is going on with me.
Lastly the exciting part of our lives. I have been trying to find a new job for a while now. I have interviewed at a few places, but last Thursday I interviewed at a nursing home in Salt Lake. I really liked the person I interviewed with and I just had a really good feeling about the interview. Then by lunch time on Friday I got a call and they offered me the job!!! They pay sooooo much better than my current job and have some pretty great benefits! I went today and filled out all the paperwork and passed my drug test. I will start at the end of the month. I am really excited for a new change in my career.
Well, there you have it the roller coaster called the lives of Jon and Sarah!

Fun Adventures and 18 Months of Waiting!

Sorry I have been such a blog slacker lately. Life has just been really crazy, but crazy in a good way. First off, Jon and I went down to southern California for my BFF Ashley's little sister's wedding. Brittany and Josh were so happy and we were glad to share part of their special day with them. They got sealed in the Los Angeles Temple and it was a beautiful day, with perfect weather. Poor Brittany got a little sunburned taking pictures for so long! :( I loved seeing Ashley's family, even her little brother who is a teenager and doesn't like being around people, especially girls, was happy to see me and gave me a hug. I have never lived in Cali, nor do I plan to ever live there, but when I go to see Ash and her family, it feels like I am home. They just know me so well and we always just pick up right where we left off. I guess knowing somebody for 16 years of your life can do that for you!
Also, while we were there, we took advantage and went to Disneyland!! It was my first visit there. While I have been to Disneyworld in Florida, this was a totally new experience. I had so much fun and I definitely want to go back again soon! While we were there, we met up with my old roomie from my BYU-Idaho days, Erin!! It was so fun to see her and catch up. She has a little girl now, named Eva and she is stinking adorable! It was awesome to see her, she is so much fun to be around and has such a happy, bubbly personality, you just can't help but smile and be happy when you are around her. It was a blast, I can't wait to go back so we can see her again too!! Oh and sorry for no pics, we forgot our camera!
Onto 18 months of waiting. My best friend from Weber finally came home from her mission last Friday. She she is so amazing, she has been such a good support for me, always encouraging me and helping me out, even from far away! Her name is Shamayne and she was serving in Brazil. Last night she called me and we finally talked for a bit. It was so good to hear her voice and catch up a bit. Then, after I get off work today, we are going to hang out. I will have pictures to post later for sure!

A Beautiful Day for a Beautiful Couple

So on Friday, Jon's sister got married. It was a beautiful day and they were so happy. We are glad we got to be a part of it. They are now off on their honeymoon having fun I am sure.
Now that it is all over with Jon and I are happy to have a new brother-in-law and go have fun double dates with them.
Congratulations Angie and Julio, we love you guys!
Copy and paste this link, http://vimeo.com/10815891 and you can see their awesome wedding video. This guy did an awesome job!

Sickness.....Sickness.....oh and more being SICK!!!

WARNING: IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT VOMITING OR HAVE A WEAK STOMACH DON'T READ THIS POST!!!

So let me just start out by saying, I HATE BEING SICK!!!! I have been so sick the past month, it is driving me crazy! First I had pneumonia, then I got a cold, then I had problems with my heart and asthma, now I am sitting at home puking my guts out!!! All while Jon is on a plane headed for Boise for the rest of the week. Great, so I get to be sick and home alone all at the same time, I am so excited for that!
I know that we must endure the bad to appreciate the good, but sometimes I feel that I have definitely had my fair share of sickness for a while. I know I shouldn't complain too bad, I am in relatively good health. I can still take care of myself, don't have a life threatening illness, or anything like that, but still it is frustrating! So I guess I will just sit at home and try to get better so I can go back to work tomorrow and earn some money. I don't dare going to work sick though, because the people at the nursing home can catch my virus or whatever it is so easily and it really can get them so sick really fast. So I'll be trying to sleep or read a book be between trips to the restroom. Sorry if that is a little too graphic for some, stuff like this just doesn't bother me after working at a nursing home!

I Love to See the Temple....

So yesterday, Jon's family had the awesome opportunity of being all together in the temple while his sister and her fiance went to the temple for the first time. It was such a special day for all of us. Yet, all I could think was that my family will probably never get this opportunity. It made me kind of sad. I wish my siblings would remain true to the promises that they have made in the temple, but I don't see that happening any time soon. We went to the Bountiful Temple, it is probably one of my favorites, it is so gorgeous, both inside and out. Then in a couple of weeks, Jon's sister will be getting married in the same temple Jon and I got married in, the beautiful Salt Lake Temple that most people recognize.
Anyways, to end the post, I am glad Jon's family all got to be in the temple together. I am glad I made the choice when I was little to go to the temple and I was glad I got married to the man I love there so we can be together forever!

The Lost is FOUND!!!!

So, I know to some people this may sound bad, but I lost my scriptures sometime last summer. While I was trying to clean stuff up and get things put in storage so we could list our house, I kinda went packing crazy. I started packing anything I could to get it out of the house so it would be easier when we did eventually move. I packed up decorations for holidays, unwanted movies, lamps we never use, coffee table we never use and all our books in the office as to try and make the room and the rest of the house more open. Well, I guess in so doing that, I decided I needed to pack ALL the books into one huge and really heavy, I tell you, rubbermaid container and take it to storage. After we did this, I realized my scriptures were missing. I never quite put 2 and 2 together and said hey maybe I put them in that container I took to the storage unit. Ever since then I have been on a hunt to find them. When we moved and took everything out our house and into the new home, I never found them. I had decided I lost them forever. I kept looking as we unpacked boxes at our new house, but never saw them. So we still have some stuff in the garage and the other night I walk by the huge are really heavy aforementioned container, and think, "Hey scriptures are a book, maybe I put them in there with the other books." Then I started digging, and after a few minutes when I had finally reached the bottom of the container, I FOUND THEM!!!! Oh, happy day!! I was so excited, I read them out loud to Jon for a while then proceeded to read some more by myself. I had forgotten what peace reading them gives me. They are now safely beside my bed for me to read every night. I couldn't be happier. I guess the lesson of the story is don't give up, just keep looking and you will find what you need! So there you have it, my great story for the week!!

Saturday is a special day

Well, it is a special day, but I haven't done anything to get ready for Sunday yet. So far, I went with my 2 co-workers to get new shoes. I found some really cute ones to wear at work. Then we went to Ross and I found a great photo album to put all my pictures from Europe in. After that, we went to Sam's and I got a few things for Jon and I. All in all, it was a fun adventure, one we will definitely have to repeat some time soon.
Then I spent some time lounging around the house. After that we went to a yummy lunch at Mutt's, it's my favorite place to get good barbecue here in Utah. Now we are back home until we go to my cousins for game night.
Oh so the reason for the name for the post. I love Saturday. It has to be my favorite day of the week. You get to do pretty much whatever you want. Then, you get to spend it with your favorite people. In my case it is my cool co-workers, my amazing family and my awesome husband. Hope everyone else has a fun Saturday. What is your favorite day of the week and why is it your favorite?

Ahh, Friday!

I want this blog to be a little more of an indepth look into my feelings. Also, I am going to try and make this a daily occurance. It probably won't turn out that way, but I am going to try. So here are my feelings for today:

So it's Friday, hip hip hooray!! I feel like it has been such a long week but I really haven't accomplished much of anything this week. With being sick, I only went into work on Thursday and Friday. The house looks somewhat scary because I haven't felt up to cleaning all week. But nonetheless, I am happy it is now the weekend. Jon and I just went to dinner, at our favorite Chinese place up here and had delicious coconut curry chicken and sizzling hong kong steak, so delicious.

We have a few exciting things to look forward to this weekend. I am going shopping with my fun co-workers tomorrow. Then we are going to my cousin's house for another fun games night. Then we have nothing to do on Sunday but church. The weekends are the best time, spending time with Jon, doing nothing, sleeping in, getting to hang out with friends and family and going to church. What's not to love. I hope you guys all have a fun weekend too.

Ode to my wonderful husband

This is to tell my amazingly wonderful husband how much I love him. So my night went something like this, Jon coming home and cuddling with me in bed as I complain about how bad I feel. Then, him asking what should we do for dinner and I then told him I wasn't hungry. He then suggested that we watch a movie and he let me pick. I picked a total chick flick, The Notebook and he was such a good sport and didn't complain about my choice, not even once. Then he went and cooked us a delicious dinner of pot stickers and cashew chicken. MMMM...it was so yummy! Then we watched the new tv show The Marriage Ref, it was really funny. Makes me think maybe our arguments are as stupid as I thought they were. Now, he is dozing off on the couch, I think it is time for me and my awesome hubby to go to bed. I have to be at work early tomorrow, BOO!!! So girls, just be jealous that your husband isn't as cool as mine. That's all, just had to let y'all know what a lucky girl I am to have him!

First of a new blog and lots of Europe Pictures

So, I finally got a new blog set up!! Go me! I sit here at home, sick with pneumonia, so I am going a little stir crazy and needed something to do. So, I decided to start our new blog.

Lots of things have gone on since my last post on our previous blog. The most exciting is that we sold our townhouse and moved into a house! We feel so fortunate to have sold our townhouse so quickly and gotten a good price out of it. We have been here a little over a month and we are loving it. We love not having to worry about being quite for the neighbors. Although, we do miss our next door neighbors, the Barbers. Hopefully they will be moving up this way soon. We love having a HUGE backyard for the dog to run around in. Having a 2 car garage is great, but we still haven't parked 2 cars in it because the other half is full of boxes yet to be unpacked. Having 3rd car parking on the driveway is super nice too. Also, we love having a storage shed to put extra stuff in. Lastly, we are loving our new ward, lots of nice people and the bishop is such a great guy, he is super friendly.

Another exciting thing that happened was that we went to Europe!!! It was a life long dream of mine and I feel so lucky to have gone at the age of 26. I will post a few pictures for you guys to look at. We started in Paris and spend 4 days there. It was everything I thought it would be and more. The food was amazing, the people were super nice, the architecture was incredible and the artwork was beautiful. After Paris, we went to spend time with our friends, the Heugets in a costal town called Caen. They were wonderful hosts and absolutely hilarious! I love Vincent and Beatrice. Funny story with them. We were there the first night and it was our wedding anniversary. So with dinner they offered us wine and we told them politely that we don't drink wine. Then after dinner, it finally clicked that it was our actual wedding anniversary and they offered us champagne. We again told them we don't drink and their response was, it's ok it's not wine. Jon and I had a good laugh about that. Another funny highlight was Beatrice telling me she married the most beautiful man in all of France and funniest too, that she laughs everyday with him. While in Caen we went to Mont St. Michel. It has been a dream of mine to see it since I saw it the first day of French class in high school on a poster that my French teacher had hanging up in the classroom. After Caen, we took the train to London. It was a fun city and we saw lots of neat things, most of all the Tower of London and the Eye of London. After London, flew up to Edinburgh to spend time with the Adams, Steve and Kristen. We had so much fun with them, even if the weather was not the most pleasant. The food actually wasn't that bad, the chocolate carmel cookies that we got at the store by their house were soooooo good and the thai place we found right of the royal mile was so good. We also enjoyed a Thanksgiving lunch at Deacon Brodies' Tavern. Jon, Kristen and I also enjoyed a beautiful concert at St. Giles Cathedral, it was a very good start to our Christmas season. We also got to see the lighting of the Edinburgh Christmas tree. Then as our last adventure, we went to the Edinburgh Christmas market. We saw some interesting things there. Guys dressed in drag as angels riding around on segways. It was comical to say the least. Then we flew back to London, took the train back to Paris and got back late on a Friday night. We spent one more day in Paris, where we got our picture drawn at the artist's square and bought a few paintings. We also went back to Notre Dame and saw it all decorated for Christmas. Then we walked up the Champs Elysee and saw its Christmas market. It was an amazing trip and I can't wait to go back to Europe again. Oh, and this also explains the name of the blog, La famille de Casper this means The Casper Family in French.

Lastly, we had a good Christmas at home with Jon's family. We are also excited to have a new member of the family. Jon's sister is getting married next month. He is super nice and we are all happy to have him in the family. Jon is still working at Pitney, he has been there for 3 years now. I am still working at the nursing home, it is hard at times, but I am still liking it. Alright, enough of the boring stuff for now, here are some pictures for your enjoyment.

This picture is of us inside of Mont St. Michel. If I look red, it is because I was hot from hiking the 500 stairs to the top of the Abbey.

This is us at lunch inside the town at Mont St. Michel. We had a great lunch with the traditional omelet and tart tatain. Which a delicious apple tart with fresh cream, it is soooo good.

This is the beautiful Mont St. Michel! Even more breath-taking in person and an amazing site!

Our friends the Heugets, Beatrice and Vincent. This in their home in the family room. Love them!

The Eye of London, it is absolutely huge!! It takes 30 minutes just to do one revolution!

Us on the River Thames and behind us Parliament and Big BenThe Eye of London lit up at nightWe found the Church on the bus map so we had to go see it. This is also the headquarters for the London Mission.

The Bloody Tower at the Tower of London, this is where prisoners would be held before being beheaded.

Jon trying on his kilt for the first time at a shop on the Royal Mile.

St. Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile, so beautiful!Jon and I inside the Edinburgh Castle overlooking the cityThe Edinburgh Castle lit up at night, one of my favorite shots from our tripKristen and I freezing waiting for them to light the Edinburgh Christmas tree.

Jon and Steve modeling their kilts for me! It was quite a site to behold for sure!