My sister-in-law, Peggy, is making these fabulous teepee tents that are even more amazing in person than in the photo below. Check out her etsy shop HERE. Your kids will not be disappointed with this Christmas gift--in fact, I am thinking Jeff and I would have fun with one of these in the living room!
--Nan.
Where did the past 22 years go? She was so little just yesterday asking me if we had a "ca-pon" for every item of interest in the grocery store and confusing a marque announcing the performance of "Jesus Christ Superstar" for the second coming. But alas, she is no longer Whitney Paige Lemmon, but Whitney Paige Lemmon Taylor. Her husband is an amazing guy who was raised in a phenomenal home. We love him, his siblings, and his parents. So join with us as we give it up for the newest extension to the Lemmon clan: Morgan and Whitney Taylor. Some fun pictures from the wedding can be found at www.dustinizattphoto.blogspot.com (scroll down a little to find Morgan and Whitney)
I returned to the United States just over a week ago and was so grateful to be back in the presence of the people I love the most. And I was excited to put these purchases to good use...
Thanks for your love and support. I truly felt of your strength even on the other side of the world.
Reflections on my Experience in Amman:
"On the first day of clinical at the University of Jordan Hospital, seven bright-eyed BYU students stepped onto the medical-surgical floors to discover that we, the Americans, were under scrupulous watch. Our every move was being watched and critiqued. Many of the Jordanians questioned our motives and resisted our foreign techniques or ideas concerning patient care. It was a rough environment in which to be immersed. Against my natural man instinct to fight against this opposition and want to prove my skills and knowledge acquired in an American nursing school, I instead turned to my Father in Heaven. During the first week, faith, reading the scriptures, praying, and clinging to the spirit were the things that helped me to endure the week. Through this reliance on the Lord, I was prompted to humble myself, continue to extend friendship, love the nursing students, staff, and patients, and listen to the spirit. Furthermore, I realized that my role as a nurse is the same no matter whether I am in the United States or in the Middle East. In fact, the Book of Mormon teaches that “God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth” (Alma 26:37). As the Savior accomplished his mission and touched the lives of thousands during his mortal ministry despite scrutiny, I could do the same and touch the lives of my Jordanian patients. With Christ as my example, His light in my life, and my ability to touch people’s lives as a practitioner of the Healer’s art, I knew I could improve patient’s well being and satisfaction even in the face of hardship of people doubting my abilities. I set out the next clinical week convinced that I would be the vehicle for Heavenly Father to let his beloved children in the University of Jordan Hospital know that God was aware of them and to bring His healing power to their lives. Whether it was by a dressing change, human touch, talking to someone for a few moments, a smile, laughter, or changing the bed linens, I was determined to let the Healer’s art work through me. I would be undeterred by questioning eyes to bring the message of love to the bedside. As the clinical days continued, I observed that as my approach changed from proving my nursing knowledge to letting the light of the Healer shine through me, the Jordanian nursing students, staff, and patients began to change their outlooks toward me as well to one of greater compassion and love for a fellow healthcare worker. Through this entire process I learned the reality of the principle taught in the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. In this chapter, Christ teaches that a key to true discipleship is treating others with love and respect despite racial, political, or religious differences. In the same respect, to be a true practitioner of the Healer’s art, it is required that care and compassion be given to all people despite differences. Consequently these two interweaving thoughts caused me to see and remember that the Healer’s art is a selfless practice of love and compassion to all people in all nations and of all cultures as if my hands were His hands."
this is one of the 25 arabic words i have added to my vocabulary while in the middle east... it means HI. good one to know.
for the last two weeks, i have been with these six girls working at the university of jordan hospital in amman, jordan. we are completing our global health and human diversity course with BYU college of nursing and we have definitely been tutored in how diverse people and healthcare can be around the world. we are working in the hospital mentoring their nursing students for one more week before we get to travel around in-country and possibly to jerusalem. just wondering...has anyone heard of the dish mancef and is it good? also, if anyone know of an arabian cookbook, i would love to know about it...
(picture in a grove of olive trees in the countryside outside of amman).
one of the hardest things about being a family of two is cooking. one of the hardest things about being newly married, just starting a new career, etc is not having a lot of money to spend on 20 different ingredients for one dinner. the solution?
JUST A LITTLE FROSTING.
my friend julie started this blog. there are a handful of us contributing recipes on a consistent basis to help people spice things up in the kitchen while not burning up the plastic. check it out.
last friday, whitney and morgan went all over downtown salt lake city in search of industrial landscape. good things we were following our photographer through all of the twists and turns. he posted a sneak peek of the pictures on his blog. enjoy the scenery...
luckily, i ran into mackenzie from home and kim from nursing school who both were also running the 10k. we were all grateful when we crossed the finish line as seen in our smiles. a bunch of us went to magleby's fresh for some amazing french toast afterwards which made my smile even bigger.
so while i usually leave the running thing to my division 1 athlete cousins, every now and then, it is fun to catch your stride, put one foot in front of the other, and remember the people who have been in your life who have fought cancer.
as many people will know from my mom's previous post, text messages, phone calls, and rumors, i indeed have a ring on my left hand. usually the best part of someone getting engaged is the story. this is the story through pictures minus the beginning where i was not going along with the plan and great measures had to be taken to convince me to go up to my apartment and find morgan on one knee when i opened the door at the end of this trail of firsts--the FIRST day of march, the FIRST time we played together, the FIRST time we met, the FIRST time we hiked the Y, the FIRST time we went to hawai'i together, and the FIRST time morgan actually enjoyed watching football and sang the fight song. and as morgan told me, this is the FIRST time we fell in love.
A name change? How is it possible? Oh, yay, that thing called marriage, flying the coupe, and cleaving. So now the dilemma...does JNWLemmon become JNLemmon or JNWMLemmon...I think I am going for JNWMLemmon. Jeff always wanted more kids and a son was on his order list. Well, Whitney hand picked one just for her dad (or maybe just for her, but he fits Jeff perfectly). Whitney is engaged to Morgan Taylor and they are planning a July 11th wedding in the Newport, CA Temple. We couldn't be happier for both of them and for the collective extended families. Whitney and Morgan first met when they were a year old and for the next several years logged many hours in the sandbox together. Time passed and moves happened and besides the glimpse of him at general conference where she saw him (a vivid memory for her and a no-recall for him), they did not interact for 15 years. They met back up at the end of their first semester freshman year at BYU. He left three weeks later for an LDS mission to Taiwan. There were some random letters here and there over the course of the next 24 months. After Morgan returned from his mission, he enrolled for Spring Term at BYU-Provo and Whitney enrolled for Spring Term at BYU-Jerusalem. So, they spent the next 8 weeks emailing. They finally got some face time in July 2008 and have enjoyed being together ever since. 
So, there has been no update to our blog in what we will call a "relatively" long time. I sat down in front of my laptop with the specific assignment, self inflicted, to update the blog. And I sat, and I sat...it was hauntingly like my high school experience writing essays for English (and a major reason why I studied math in college--numbers prompt me to explore, blank white paper does not call to me).
