Email

Email to Michael:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Effective July 1, 2008 the Church has organized the Kabul Afghanistan Military District. This district will encompass all of Afghanistan. A district presidency has been called. The district presidency will report to Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander and Elder Bruce D. Porter of the First Quorum of the Seventy. The Kabul Afghanistan Military District has been assigned to the Middle East / Northern Africa Desk at Church headquarters. Elder Neuenschwander and Elder Porter will be responsible for managing the church in the countries included in this region of the world. These Brethren will report to Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

The following brethren have been called to serve as the district presidency:

District President: Eugene J. Wikle

First Counselor: Nathan W. Noyes

Second Counselor: Rodney R. Hullinger

These brethren reside in Kabul and serve at Camp Eggers. Attached is a photo of the new Kabul Afghanistan Military District Presidency (left to right - Brother Rodney R. Hullinger, Second Counselor, President Eugene J. Wikle, Brother Nathan W. Noyes, First Counselor).

There are currently over 400 members serving in Afghanistan at 36 locations and there are 17 Service Member Groups. In the near future military service member branches will be established at selected locations. As District President, I will have the priesthood keys to act as a judge in Israel. These priesthood keys will be conferred upon me by General Authorities during my visit to Church headquarters on August 15th. As branches are organized, the branch presidents will also have conferred upon them the keys to act as a judge in Israel. All of the service member groups will continue to function as currently organized. I will continue to send to you a weekly devotional message and other information that I receive from church headquarters.

This is a historic event for the Church and for you as you serve in Afghanistan. In the coming weeks I will have more information to share with you about the newly formed district.

As your district presidency, Brother Noyes, Brother Hullinger and I are committed to serving the Lord and you. We look forward to assisting you and doing the Lord's will in His vineyard of Afghanistan. We pray for your safety and success as you serve in Afghanistan.

Best regards and stay safe,

Eugene J. Wikle

District President

Kabul Afghanistan Military District

I am so excited for this! What a blessing it is watch the church expand to these places in the world!

Hooked

Wow I found my new favorite snack! I honestly had never had REAL cherries before until a couple of weeks ago (why would I try them when candied cherries taste so nasty?) and I am now hooked! They have just replaced grapes as my favorite fruit :)

Treadmill

Looking to buy a treadmill. If anyone knows anyone who is selling one they own or have any ideas for a good buy let me know!

Come Back Grandma!

My mother-in-law left this afternoon and MD and I are already missing her! She was such a wonderful help and so good with MD. She became his best friend and would follow her around until I am sure it wore her out! She was so patient with MD who has struggled a lot with mommy and the new little boy who has messed up his personal paradise. I cannot begin to say how grateful I am for her wonderful help. She really stepped in and helped make this transition easier for him. He turned to her for so many things-even to get out of trouble with mommy! Tonight MD got upset when he realized it was his uncle putting him to bed and not Grandma. Mom thank you so much for your wonderful help and your emotional support to our entire family during this time. We love you

Also my father-in-law came down for about half of the time. Thanks dad for your willingness to help and your generosity to us. We love you.

Favorites

MD's Favorite toy: The broom. He wields it like a sword or in some cases as a way to knock something off the table he wants.

MD's favorite activity: Taking a bath. He is like a little dog who learned what the word walk means. I have to spell the word bath to people around me because if he hears it he runs to the bathroom door and starts knocking on the door!

Least favorite: Me. I have lost MD's good graces. I am aider and abettor in turning MD's world upside down by bringing another little kid into his home and then keeping him there.

More Pictures from the Blessing

Hyrums Blessing Pictures

Fun Facts about Hyrum

He is a happy boy-though he is happiest when he is asleep. I have caught him smiling and giggling at night. During the day he is very alert and watchful-quick to watch for mommy so he can call me over to pick him up.
He is my champion pooper. He loves to poop. During his first bath he pooped, every time I change his diaper he poops 30 seconds later and on one occasion I wasn't fast enough and he pooped on the bed. He introduces himself to whoever is holding him by pooping.
He is great at communicating what he wants. When he is hungry he starts yelling. When he wants to be held he starts yelling. When he wants away from MD he yells. I am becoming fluent in understanding "baby"
He is a really good sport-Every time it is time to nurse and he has to eat mommy's "yucky milk" He shows his displeasure by pulling off and making a "this is nasty" face and pretty much taking about 3 or 4 minutes just to start eating. I guess it is the first sip that is nasty because after he decides to try again, he chows down.
Hyrum is Michael's favorite toy. Michael loves pushing the baby button. What will happen when I push this? (usually his eye) Oh he screams!
Hyrum is a good snuggler. I forgot how much I love to hold babies that don't want me to put them down. I have enjoyed holding Hyrum after he eats and smelling his "baby" smell. '

He is a fun addition to our family!

The army life

Michael left back for Afghanistan this Monday. It has been a little bit of a rough transition having him leave again but I am so grateful that he had this time to come home and be here for the birth of Hyrum.

I felt like I was on vacation. My sweet husband took over and helped out so much. I didn't change one of Hyrums diapers until he left (Almost two weeks) I never cleaned a thing and I enjoyed tons of sweets and goodies. It was so nice to relax and visit with him. I realize how much I take for granted when he is gone. Just being able to sit and have a conversation is so nice. Also having someone else for MD to follow around takes so much pressure off of myself! Anyway I miss him but I am so proud of him. He is such a good example and I am so grateful that he wants to defend his family and his country. I think he has a tougher time of it when he is gone then me-it is so hard for him to leave his family and watch his children grow up from pictures. He loves his boys so much. But he has never complained and has always listens to me patiently when I felt overwhelmed with all the stuff that accompanies a deployment.

Anyway I feel like I am on a roller coaster ride and hopefully the next 6 months (or so) speeds by quickly

MD's new trick

Yep-MD learned to take off his own diaper! Hooray for learning new things!

Many Faces of Michael

OK maybe they are all one face!

Our Family Picture

We had Hyrum's baby blessing last night and we had my brother-in-law take Family Pictures for us. He is so talented and we are so grateful to have pictures of the whole family-Thanks so much Kenneth. More pictures of the blessing will come later.

These two are my favorites.

New Baby!

Julie had her baby this evening via c-section after being on pitosin all day and pushing for an hour. The baby weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces and was 20 inches long and they are naming him Evan Andrew. Congratulations Julie and Brandon!!!

Still waiting for more pictures to come in. My mom sent this to me over the phone :)

Random

I love the pictures of Michael laying down with a boy asleep on his chest

I have a lot of time now to spend on the computer since I am suppose to be sitting or laying down most of the time, though I get an occasional trip outside to see family as a treat for good behavior :) no complaints though-I can tell I am healing and know that I need to take it easy, though the hardest thing is watching people do things that I think I can myself.
OK I have decided that I really love 2 kids. It helps that Hyrum is super good-He sleeps most of the time and is already working on a wonderful sleep schedule at night. I have been enjoying feeding him at 11:00pm then him eating at 3:00 am and then sleeping until about 7:30 sometimes 8:00! I have this weird feeling when I think that I am a mother of two-like I have left a stage of life, and it is REALLY WEIRD seeing 2 carseats in the back of my car!MD is starting to explore getting to know Hyrum-mostly it has involved pinching his legs, stealing Hyrums blanket, poking Hyrum in the face and on one occasion giving Hyrum a "kiss." I love seeing both my boys together. During the pictures we took earlier he was poking Hyrum and patting him on the head. He seemed to think he was HILARIOUS!
It has been fun watching MD with his Grandma Huish. He is SO possessive her to the point that when one of my nephews was sitting on her lap he threw a fit until she picked him up and put him on her lap as well!

MD loving his spaghetti-It was fun to watch him pick up one noodle at a time and stick it into his mouth.

We were impressed by how much he ate.....
Until we saw his lap!

"The Boys"

At Family Home Evening Last night-a picture of "The Boys" I feel extremely outnumbered :)


Just hangin out!



Michael LOVES being a dad. He has the best of both worlds-a baby to cuddle and a toddler to play with!

Who is who?

I think both boys at birth looked remarkably alike. Can you tell which is which?



Top is Michael Dunn and bottom is Hyrum.

c-section horror story

I am giving a brief description of what happened.
basically my anaesthesiologist did not do a very good job giving me my spinal bock. she had to stick me about 4 times and after all of this I did not go completely numb. I could actually still move my right leg and felt it when the A-lady (Anaesthesiologist, though I am going to say A-Lady to save time) grabbed a needle and started pricking me with it. It was mostly numb in my abdomen so they went ahead a started the surgery. I knew I would feel pressure, but was unprepared for the shot of pain every couple of seconds that accompanied it where they were cutting (though I was told by the A-Lady that the pressure could feel like pain and that I wasn't really feeling pain.) After about 2 minutes I started hyperventilating and felt like I was suffocating under the oxygen mask that the A-Lady was holding over my face. She started fussing at me when i started squirming trying to breathe and told me that I wouldn't be having so many problems if I would just do exactly what she said. I tried to calm down but it kept getting harder and harder to breathe and my body started going into shock from not breathing and the pain from the surgery that I was feeling. finally right after the baby was born and they started stitching me up again I passed out, which was such a huge blessing because I woke up when they were almost done and I felt like I could breathe again, though I was shaking so badly that it took me about an hour to stop when I was in recovery.
I was told in the recovery room that this A-Lady had had alot of other similar problems with her other patients because she uses outdated techniques and refuses to use the newer procedures and medicines.

I really am just so grateful that Hyrum was OK and that there was no lasting damage on my part. I love my Doctor and really appreciate how quickly and efficiently he finished the surgery. Sorry to sound so negative- after the surgery it was a pleasant experience and I have really loved being the mother of 2 wonderful boys.

I have been feeling lately that I have been living in a kind of dream-land (not having to clean cook or change any diapers will do that!) It has been so wonderful to have My mother-in-law here to help out so much. I really just lie around most of the day taking care of Hyrum and nursing. The reality of two children has not really sunk in yet.

Michael Dunn is not doing so well with this new little invader. He is fine with him as long as he stays in his bassinet and requires no attention from anyone. He will try to get anyone who happens to be holding Hyrum to put him down and hold him instead, but if I am holding Hyrum he just avoids me. Poor kid-it has been hard for him because I also am not allowed to hold him for 6 weeks. He has, for the most part, stopped coming and reaching up for me to pick him up. He did have a melt down this evening. After he took his bath he was screaming and reaching for me so I had him put into my lap and we sat and rocked. He then ran off naked back to the bathroom, but his Grandma caught him and brought him into his room to get changed. I followed them in there and MD started crying. I went to get him a bottle and came back to him crying hysterically and trying to get to me. We sat and cuddled for awhile and then Michael came in and we sang to MD and then did his night time routine. It was sad and sweet to watch him calm down. You can tell his little world is rocked and he is confused and upset by this new change. I think he really needed the one-on-one time with Mommy and Daddy without any other babies present.

It has been SO wonderful having Michael home. He showed up last Saturday night with a bouquet of roses and lots of presents (IPod, scrap booking materials, and LOTS of books) He has been helping me non stop with everything since he has been home. He is so good with his boys. I love watching him play around with MD. It is one of the things I miss the most when he is gone. MD loves being with his dad as well. He will drag him around the house or follow him from room to room copying anything that he thinks is funny. I love having him around the house-when he is here this is much more laughter.

Family of Four!

We are Home! It is so nice to come home after 3 LONG days at the Hospital. Hyrum was born on June 4th at 7:56 a.m. and was 8 pounds 7 ounces and 21 inches long. The C-section was horrible, but I will give more details of THAT on a later post. We finally decided on a middles name after being threatened by the Birth Certificate lady. He is Hyrum Johnny Huish, and Yes, Johnny is after my dad. Some names that got thrown to the side were wildebeest, Harry, King, Duncan McLeod , and Gadianton :) I am once again in the lovely world of planning my day around when I have to nurse next, which is why I am on at 11:00 (also I wanted to stay awake to take my pain pill :) Michael got here last Saturday and I will give more details of that as well on a later post.