Elder Holland

This past Sunday, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, who was the president of BYU while I was studying there, and is now an apostle, spoke at a fireside at BYU. Stephanie's family, who live in Provo, were able to attend, along with my sister and her husband who happened to be in town visiting. I wish I could have been there.

It was a beautiful talk. It was as if he was speaking directly to our family. In fact, he invited the Clarks and my sister and brother-in-law to meet with him afterward. They all said it was a very special experience.

You can watch the video of his talk here. (My sister and her husband appear briefly in the video.)

Elder Holland is much more impressive than Matt Lauer. Besides, he reminds me of my dad.

Donation Information

People have been so generous with their donations for Christian and Stephanie's recovery. It is amazing. There has been some confusion about how to donate because there are two different bank accounts, so hopefully this will clear things up.

Please make checks payable to:
"Christian & Stephanie Nielson Rehab Fund"

You can either deposit it at any Bank of America branch, OR address as above and mail to:

P.O. Box 8850
Mesa, AZ 85214

If you prefer, you may also donate using the PayPal link at the right. (This goes to a Wells Fargo account listed as "Stephanie Nielson Fund" set up by her family in Utah.)

PLEASE beware of any other "funds" claiming to be in their behalf... they are likely to be fraudulent.

Custom Card

Love this card. Check it out here.

More links

Yet another article (a column actually, so a slightly different angle) that appeared in the Arizona Republic yesterday (read here).

The author of the above article wrote this about Stephanie back in November. I thought it would be fun to let you know about some of the "NieNie sitings" from before the accident.

- Bluelines (blog from the short-lived "Martha" mag "Blueprint.")

- Cookie magazine blog.

- Design Mom

Another video

Watch the 12 News video here.

Isn't my mom cute?

Another news interview

This afternoon a reporter for channel 12 news (KPNX) came to my parents' house for an interview. My mom convinced me to come over. The interviewer only wanted 3 people on camera and since my older brother was there (and because my voice is all weird and croaky because I'm getting over a cold) I sat out. It was interesting to watch the interview though. But 30 minutes of interviewing will be boiled down into 1 minute on the 6:00 news tonight.

Watch for mom and dad and Peter.

In the news....

Here is a link to the segment from the Today Show this morning. I cried. My kids were so pleased to see their cousins, Claire, Jane, Ollie and Gigs on TV... just a still photo, but still cool. We sure miss those kids!!!!

And here is an article that appeared in the East Valley Tribune today.

Tune in Tomorrow

Here is the scoop:

The Today Show interview will be tomorrow, Tuesday, September 9th. It will be live on the east coast at 7:00 a.m. (4:00 a.m. here in AZ... good thing my parents are early-risers), but it will be broadcast at 7:00 local time (where ever you are) so tune in.

UPDATE: Looks like my parents wiggled their way out of this one, and now just the Clarks (Stephanie's family) are going to do it. :)

Beware of Telemarketers... or whatever

We had just walked in the house this afternoon after arriving home from church. I headed to the bedroom to change my clothes (so I could make rolls for Sunday dinner at my parents' house) when the phone rang. I looked at the caller-ID in the bedroom... it said, "NATIONAL BROADC" and a long-distance phone number. I immediately thought, "Stupid telemarketers" and let it ring.

Little did I know that in the kitchen, Jay saw it and thought, "Political pollster!" He answered it.

A minute later, Jay walked into the bedroom with the phone to his ear saying, "I think you should probably talk to my wife. Just a minute." I'm thinking, "Are you kidding? I don't want to talk to a stupid telemarketer or whatever!" I looked at him like he was crazy, but he held out the phone to me and whispered, "It's a producer from The Today Show."

I dropped the hand-mirror I was about to put away.... it shattered on the bathroom floor.

It clicked in my head: NATIONAL BROADCASTING COMPANY = NBC.

I'm still unclear how they tracked me down (I guess these guys have lots of connections and huge databases of info, but still). My parents' phone is unlisted, and my number is listed... and under my name (not Jay's), so I suppose it wasn't too hard.

Bottom line: someone scouting stories for the show came across this New York Times article about Christian and Stephanie, and they want to do a segment this week. Naturally, I was caught off guard. I listened to her go on, and then asked her to give me her contact information, told her my family was getting together for dinner this evening, and that we would discuss it and someone would get back to her.

Well, I guess my parents (and Stephanie's parents) are going to be on the Today Show sometime this week. My parents had a small taste of this from a local TV news station (see video here). I promise you they are not thrilled about being on national television (Steph's parents are both in politics, so being in the limelight is old hat for them), but the story has spread like wildfire, and because of the NY Times article it's already national news, and they figure it's good publicity for strong families, and maybe even for the church.

I think poor Jay was disappointed that he didn't get to participate in a political poll.

It Begins

Long before he met me, Jay walked into a pawn shop one day out of boredom and noticed a half-size cello. He had become fascinated with the instrument recently, and since he was young and single, gainfully employed, and the cello could be had for very little, he bought it.

When we began dating seriously, I was surprised to learn that he owned a cello.... but didn't know how to play it and had never had a lesson in his life. He said he would like to learn someday. Well, I don't think that someday will ever come, but now that Collin is old enough (and reading music well, thanks to piano lessons) we can finally put it to use.

Collin had his first cello lesson yesterday, from Jeremy, a high school senior who lives down the street and plays in the school orchestra. He has a really fun personality, and Collin is having a blast already. I think Jeremy will be a good teacher (and the price is right... and he comes to our house!). So, we will see if Collin decides to stick with it.

Hope Concert

Prayer Works

My brother Peter and his wife Darin visited Christian yesterday. I enjoyed this report from them:

Christian was cinched up in his new back brace and strapped into a fancy chair when Peter and I saw him yesterday. He was in a sitting position after 17 days at "30 degree maximum" as he put it. (That's the most incline he is allowed in the bed.) It was so fun to hear his voice, though it's not quite his yet. He was laboring to talk and to stay alert, but he had his humor and was coherent.

As we were saying goodbye, he swelled with thanks for our visiting him and then he spoke so beautifully about prayer that I wrote it down after we left so I wouldn't forget. He said, "Thank you for the prayers. I feel them. I feel them. I've needed them more this past week (17 days, but who's counting :) than I ever have in my life. And there have been times in here when I needed them so badly, and I could feel them. Keep them coming."

Thank you all SO much for your prayers. Please "keep them coming!"

Labor Day

After a big family Labor Day bash at my sister's house, Jay and I went to the hospital this evening. Christian was extubated today (I think that is the correct term... had the tubes removed from this mouth), so that means he can talk! He is not very lucid because of all the medication (they assured us it would wear off), but it's just so good to hear his voice and know that he is going to be OK.

It's kind of funny because he is so "out-of-it." It is sort of like he is drunk (which he never has been in his life)... his speech of kind of slurred (not to mention the fact that this lips and mouth are extremely dry which only makes it harder to talk) and the things that come out of his mouth are quite funny.

A couple of times he talked to an imaginary "Officer Hall" and thanked him for this service to his country. (The nurse said that just before we arrived Christian had been accusing everyone of stealing his dishwasher.) He said he needed to borrow someone's cell phone. I told him my battery was dead, but maybe tomorrow. Later he said he had some keys and he needed me to lock up some things for him. I pretended to take the keys and lock something, and he thanked me. I wanted to, but I didn't laugh.

It reminded me of when Christian was a little boy. He was a sleep-walker.... and talker! He would walk around the house and say strange things, and try to go outside. We would just laugh and my dad would lead him back to bed. Tonight was like that.

In between the goofy-ness, he asked us several times to take him to Mom's house. When we gently told him that we would do that soon, but not just yet, he asked to go to our house, and then he would say, "OK, let's go! I'm ready! Let's go!" and he would try to get up. When I assured him we would go there later, he said, "I need a safe place to go." I finally said, "OK, let's go," and pretended that we were going, and then said, "OK. Here we are, it's nice and safe here and these people are going to take good care of you." He asked me not to leave and I said I would stay.

A couple of times he asked Jay if he had anything to say. Jay mentioned sports and the party we had just come from, which seemed to kind of get a laugh from Christian.

When he got really agitated, I asked Christian if he would like me to sing him a song. He nodded vigorously, so I asked him if he would like to choose a song, but he didn't respond. Jay suggested a Def Leppard song, but since I don't know any (:P) I sang him a couple of hymns. I didn't know what his favorites are, so I sang two of my favorites.... "I Need Thee Every Hour," and "I Stand All Amazed." He was calm and seemed to appreciate it.

Finally, I told him it was time to go to sleep and that we were going to leave, but that Jay would be stopping by to visit him during his lunch hour tomorrow since his office is just a few minutes away. He seemed very appreciative and kept saying, "Oh, thank you so much." I was about to say, "I love you Christian," when he beat me to the punch. That didn't stop me from saying it though. It made me sad to think that I don't ever remember telling him that to his face before in my life.

I am going to make sure I say it more often to all of my siblings.

7th Birthday Party

The Saturday after school started (yes, we've been busy) we had Mary's birthday party. She chose to have a "Chef Party." First, all the guests decorated their own apron and we made paper toques.
Then they each made their own pizzas. I didn't realize doing the dough would be so hard for kids this age. It was a little crazy because they all needed help, but they enjoyed it. After eating their pizza, they decorated jumbo-sized chocolate cupcakes (notice they had ditched their hats by this time). All the kids seemed to really enjoy themselves, and Mary said it was her best birthday party ever. I'm glad. It was kind of a lot of work, but it was worth it. Very fun!

First Day of School

Just a couple of days after we returned from the ranch, Collin and Mary started school. They both have great teachers and are doing well.

Jack also started preschool with his same teacher from last year. One of Jack's buddies is in his class and they play together a lot and have a great time.