Below is a piece pulled directly from the Kitsap Sun from last weeks newspaper:

BREMERTON —
Michael Pitcher, the landscaper who died Monday after falling from a tree he was limbing, cherished his work and family.


The 30-year-old Bremerton man was the son of longtime Bremerton dentist Frank Lee Pitcher and his wife Sandy, and the middle of seven children.


Pitcher started a landscaping business right after his 1997 graduation from Olympic High School, where he was an Eagle Scout and Trojan Scholar. He served a two-year mission in Chile for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in landscape management. A certified arborist, Pitcher owned Allstar Landscape Services in Silverdale.


“He loved his landscaping company,” Michael’s mother, Sandy, said in a phone interview Tuesday. “He died doing what he loved, and that was working with trees.”



In 2001, Pitcher married Tabitha Hill, and they had a son Matthew. Tabitha was killed in a car accident near Yakima on Dec. 1, 2002. Michael married Michelle Hoyle in 2003 and they had three more children. Matthew is 7, Cayden 5, Ashlynn 4 and Wesley 1 1/2.


“The most important thing to him was his family,” Sandy Pitcher said. “He worked very hard to be a good father and husband.”


Pitcher loved to play the piano. He especially enjoyed teaming with wife Michelle, who sings beautifully, Sandy Pitcher said.


Michael’s mother described him as a “tenderhearted and compassionate” man.


“He accomplished a lot in his short life,” she said.

"Many years ago, I observed a heartbreak—which became a tragedy. A young couple was nearing the delivery of their first child. Their lives were filled with the anticipation and excitement of this monumental experience. During the delivery, complications arose and the baby died. Heartbreak turned to grief, grief turned to anger, anger turned to blame, and blame turned to revenge toward the doctor, whom they held fully responsible. Parents and other family members became heavily involved, together seeking to ruin the reputation and the career of the physician. As weeks and then months of acrimony consumed the family, their bitterness was extended to the Lord. “How could He allow this horrible thing to occur?” They rejected the repeated efforts of Church leaders and members to spiritually and emotionally comfort them and, in time, disassociated themselves from the Church. Four generations of the family have now been affected. Where once there were faith and devotion to the Lord and His Church, there has been no spiritual activity by any family member for decades."

"My paternal grandparents had two children, a son (my father) and a daughter. After serving a mission and military service in Hawaii, my father returned to the islands in 1946 to establish himself professionally and raise his family. His parents lived in Salt Lake City, as did his sister. She married in 1946 and four years later was expecting a child. There is something very special for parents to anticipate a daughter (in this instance an only daughter) giving birth for the first time. No one knew that she was carrying twins. Sadly, she and the twins all died during childbirth."

"After retiring professionally in 1956, they moved to Hawaii to be with their only posterity. The ensuing decades found them loving their family, serving in the Church, and mostly, they just enjoyed being together. They never liked being apart and even spoke of whoever died first finding a way to help them reunite soon. Nearing their 90th birthdays and after 65 years of marriage, they passed away within hours of each other by natural causes. As their bishop, I conducted their double funeral."

"The faithfulness of Grandpa Art and Grandma Lou, especially when faced with difficulty, has now influenced four generations that have followed. Directly and profoundly, it affected their son (my father) and my mother when my parents’ own daughter, their youngest child, died due to complications caused by giving birth. At 34 years of age, she passed away 10 days after childbirth, leaving 4 children, 10 days to 8 years old. With the example that they had seen in the previous generation, my parents—without hesitation—turned to the Lord for solace."

"Throughout the world and among the membership of the Church, there is great joy and great pain. Both are part of the plan. Without one, we cannot know the other. “Men are, that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25) and “for it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things” (2 Nephi 2:11) are not contradictory; they are complementary. In describing how he felt when he turned to the Lord, Alma the Younger said, “My soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain” (Alma 36:20)."

"If you feel you have been wronged—by anyone (a family member, a friend, another member of the Church, a Church leader, a business associate) or by anything (the death of a loved one, health problems, a financial reversal, abuse, addictions)—deal with the matter directly and with all the strength you have. “Hold on thy way” (D&C 122:9); giving up is not an option. And, without delay, turn to the Lord. Exercise all of the faith you have in Him. Let Him share your burden. Allow His grace to lighten your load. We are promised that we will “suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ” (Alma 31:38). Never let an earthly circumstance disable you spiritually."

"His most exemplary act, the Atonement, required Jesus to descend “below all things” (D&C 88:6) and suffer “the pains of all men” (2 Nephi 9:21). Thus we understand the Atonement has broader purpose than providing a means to overcome sin. This greatest of all earthly accomplishments gives the Savior the power to fulfill this promise: “If ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence . . . , if ye do this, he will . . . deliver you out of bondage” (Mosiah 7:33)."

"As we commemorate this Easter morning, let us turn to the Lord, our “bright and morning star” (Revelation 22:16). I testify He will forever light our way, our truth, and our life (see John 14:6), in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

It all started with Sarah waking up one morning in tears because of ear pain. I gave her some Tylenol and a heating pad to ease her pain. Within an hour both of her eardrums ruptured. Nothing I wasn't versed in already since she's gone through this before as a wee young lassie. Later on we ended up taking her into Prompt Care from the pain being so great, only to find that both of her ears were infected. I also noticed her right eye was starting to swell. They paid no attention.

The following morning Sarah awoke to her eye being swollen completely shut. Back to the doctor we went, but this time to her own pediatrician. The diagnosis: periorbital cellulitis. He let us know how serious of an infection this was and said that had we not come in as quickly as we did, she probably would have been hospitalized with orbital cellulitis. ***I have to add how caring and sweet her doctor was. He reached over and gave her a hug and kissed her forehead after explaining what was going to happen. After realizing how serious this was, Sarah had no complaints about getting the injections (in her rear...ouch!) she would endure for three days in a row. Although she did express how the medication actually going into her bloodstream stung much more than the needle poking into her skin. On that first day she had to get blood cultures done as well. THAT was difficult for her since she was very weak to begin with and they had to draw large amounts of blood. 

Pictures taken each day at the doctors office:

With a new month comes a new blog title.

Verily: