Baby Boy Stronk Is Born

On Wednesday evening (July 10th) about 10:00 p.m. I received a text from Cheryl that her water had broken. After speaking with her doctor, she went to the hospital and was admitted. At 3:00 a.m. (July 11th) she was given pitocin to start contractions. 

I arrived at the hospital about 11:30 a.m. Cheryl was in active labor but the contractions weren't very strong. 

As the day progressed, the contractions got stronger. At about 4:30 p.m. Cheryl decided to get an epidural. She was dilated to 4 cm at that time. That brought her much needed relief.

I decided at that time to check into my hotel and wait for word that baby was born. At 10 p.m. there was still no baby and Cheryl was only dilated to 6 cm. I decided to go to sleep and made Parker promise to call me when baby was born no matter what time it was. I'm happy with that decision because I was able to sleep until 5 a.m. when Cheryl called and said that they had a baby boy and that he was delivered by c-section. Cheryl had been fully dilated and she had pushed for 2 hours but the baby was too big for her to deliver. Baby was in distress so they rushed to the O.R. to deliver him.

This picture is of Cheryl meeting baby for the first time. Cheryl & Parker decided that they didn't want to know the baby's gender ahead of time so it was with great excitement that they found out that they had a son.

He was born at 3:56 a.m., weighed 8 lbs. 8 oz., and was 20.5" long. Interestingly, sometime between 3:30 A.M. and 3:45 A.M. I suddenly woke up from a vivid dream. I dreamed that Cheryl had given birth to a beautiful baby boy with golden brown hair and it was thick like his grandpa Bruce. Came to find out later that that was the exact time that they were performing the c-section. He was such a beauty in my dream and he is a beauty in real life! He even has golden brown hair, but its not thick yet.

After over 20 hours of labor, it was disappointing to Cheryl to have to have a c-section, but at least the baby was born and in good health. Next time, a c-section will be scheduled and she won't have to go through labor.

It took four days, but they finally picked a name for the baby. He will be known as Kessler Alan Stronk -- named after his great-great grandfather Kessler and his grandfather Alan. Parker's middle name is Alan also.

There is nothing like holding a baby. I was in heaven each time I held him.

Grandpa Alan got to hold his namesake for the first time on Saturday morning.

On Saturday afternoon, Jared arrived from Mesa to surprise Cheryl. He couldn't wait to meet his newest nephew.

We are so grateful that little Kessler has joined our family. He is truly a gift from God! 

He is our 6th grandchild. By having a boy, Cheryl evened out the genders of our grandchildren - we now have three girls and three boys. You can't beat that! Life is good!!!

July 4th EaRtHqUaKe!

I guess the earth wanted to celebrate the 4th of July in a big way near Ridgecrest with a 6.6 rolling earthquake at about 10:30 a.m. This was the biggest quake we had felt since the Northridge earthquake in 1999.

There was no damage here at our house, but Ridgecrest and surrounding areas did receive a lot of damage.

Fast forward to the next day - July 5th - and at about 8:19 p.m. an even larger quake hit. This was a 7.1! For the first time during a quake, I felt fear.  The quake lasted for about 28 seconds. This was 10 times larger than the first quake. No wonder it scared me!

Our pool water was kept somewhat contained because of the pool cover, but the sloshing motion caused the cover to separate from its track, so Alan opened the cover to relieve the tension. It took a while for the water to settle back down.

There have been over 800 aftershocks. We have felt a few of the bigger ones, but we haven't felt the smaller ones.

We are hoping for a quiet day today, but who knows what the day will bring. I am just happy that we are prepared for an emergency. We have our food and water storage, giving us peace of mind that we can survive for many months if necessary. 

Ever since I was a child, Church leaders have been warning members to have food storage on hand in case of an emergency. Let this serve as a wake-up call for those who haven't heeded the prophets warnings. We have followed the leaders in that regard and that brings me so much peace and joy.

Jumbo Card

In the early planning stages of the E. K. Stott reunion, we wanted to create a jumbo card that everyone at the reunion could sign and we could present to Grandma Pearl so she would know of our love. Plans were changed, however, when her health declined and she passed away 17 days before the reunion.

Because of that turn of events, we decided to use the card [which I enjoyed creating and ordering] in lieu of a guest book at her memorial service. We also had it at the reunion for anyone who wanted to sign it.

The front of the card:

The inside

The back

************

As a gift to Alan and I at Pearl's passing, my family found this perfect quote which they put in THE perfect frame and presented to us. Since my mother-in-law's name was Pearl, this held special meaning and brought tears to my eyes when we opened it. We placed it on the table with the card at the memorial.

Pregnancy Update

Although we don't live too far from Cheryl and Parker (about 130 miles), we don't get to see each other as often as one would think. I have only seen Cheryl a few times during her pregnancy. Since I haven't seen her since her baby shower in May, I asked her to send me an updated picture. This is what I received from her yesterday:

Her due date is less than two weeks away (7/13) and I am anxiously waiting for the day the baby makes his/her debut into this world.

Cheryl's pregnancy has been ideal. She hasn't been sick at all, which is a huge blessing. She LOVES being pregnant and I think she has that beautiful pregnant glow about her.

I know that Cheryl is excited to become a mother and Parker is excited to become a father. Together, they will make great parents.

E. K. Stott Reunion

On Saturday, June 22, the extended Stott family gathered in West Valley City, Utah for a family reunion. It was the best-attended reunion we have ever held because it coincided with Pearl's memorial and other individual family reunions.

We had indoor games, a talent show, lunch, family history, outdoor games, and lots of renewing friendships and reminiscing the past.

Ella and Ethan represented our family in the talent show. Ella danced and played the piano. She is very good at both talents.

Ethan played a solo on the oboe, his favorite instrument to play out of about 7. He did very well.

The main purpose of the reunion was to celebrate the upcoming 100th birthday of Grandpa Keith's birthday (on August 23rd). I hope he was in attendance in spirit to help us celebrate.

I was in charge of the decorations for the cultural hall. I chose red, yellow, and blue table cloths and balloons. I thought it turned out well. I just wish I would have thought to have taken a picture before the lunch instead of afterwards.

During the outdoor activities, Clara really got around...courtesy of other family members. Haha! I think she had a blast.

We decided as a family to wear our Stott shirts from our own family reunion. They were a big hit.

Group pictures were taken of each family. I'm still waiting for Keith to send me copies of those pics. I will add them here when they arrive.

Eighteen of the twenty grandchildren of Keith and Pearl are represented here in this next picture. Nate had to leave earlier in the day and Cheryl is missing because she is too close to her due date to travel. This fun group of cousins decided to sit according to their order of birth, starting with Carol Lee on the lower right and snaking up to Jon in the upper left corner. How fun it was to see all of them together on this special occasion of their Grandpa Keith's 100th birthday celebration.

  For posterity reasons, I will list them in birth order: Carol Lee, Kathy, Susan, Cynthia, Kimberly, Ryan, Karen, Eric, Jared, Michael, Stefanie, David, (Cheryl - Missing) Melinda, Angela, (Nathan - Missing), Amber, Kyle, William, and Jon.

This might be the last time the family tries to get together for a reunion. Because of that, we tried to make this an extra special one. I believe everyone had a great time.