Wonderful Weekend!

Here is what made my weekend so great:

*Friday morning my little brother, Kevin, and his 4 children moved into our guest house.  He has lived in Utah since he got married so I really only saw them every couple of years at family reunions and things  like that.  It is so wonderful to have them so close now.  I am really looking forward to getting to know him better and getting to know his children.

*Friday afternoon, John and all 5 of our children left for a weekend stay at Ryan House.  I stayed home so that I could help with the Finish Strong event Saturday morning and go to church with my brother and his family on Sunday.  I knew my children would be in good hands and that they would all have a fantastic time, so it made it a little easier to be away from them.

*My mom came back into town on Friday and she and I were able to go out to dinner and run a few errands together.  I love being with my mom.

*Friday evening as I was preparing some items for my booth at the Finish Strong event, I was able to think back to how the event got started and all of the many miracles that our family and others experienced because of this inspired event.

*Friday night about 11:30pm I was stung by a scorpion for the first time in my life.  Now it may be strange that this event made my great moments of the weekend list, but here is the reason why.  I have feared being stung by a scorpion for a long time.  I have heard horror stories about it.  Well, now it has happened.  It wasn't fun, it hurt/stung for about 24 hours, my arm and hand were tingly and numb for a few hours, BUT I lived.  I now know that I am not allergic to them, I will not need to go to the ER if I ever get stung again, and it was not nearly as bad as I had imagined it.  I don't have to wonder anymore.  I now know what will happen if I ever get stung again and that is a good thing!

*Finish Strong event Saturday morning...best thing ever.  What a great turnout.  I loved visiting with people, friends from church, some friends I hadn't seen for a while, some I had never met before...many of which had been at the event for Bryce and Annalise last year who were interested in how they were doing and actually thanked me for how our family has helped them.  Incredible!

*4 & 1/2 hour nap Saturday afternoon!

*4 & 1/2 hour nap Saturday afternoon!  (Sorry, but that deserved two spots!)

*Saturday dinner out with Mom again.  Olive garden.  No responsibility to hurry home to.  We were just able to talk and enjoy some time together.  No rush.  I love spending time with my mom.

*My family was doing great at Ryan House and having a wonderful time!

*I got my start up kit to be an Independent Product Consultant for doTERRA.

*Slept through the night!

*I was able to be up, showered, and ready for church within a 1/2 hour.  When everyone is here, it typically takes about 2 hours to get everyone ready and out the door.

*Going to church with my brother and his children.  It amazes me how much I love his family.  I am so happy that they are here.  I am also thrilled with how kindly they were treated at church.  They all loved our ward and say that they feel very comfortable there.  They have become members of one of the best wards around!

*Sunday lunch with my brother and his children!

*2 hour nap!

*My family returned home from Ryan House.  All safe, well, and very happy.

It has been a fantastic weekend!

Priesthood, Sacrament, Church is Awesome!

So I am behind on some very important happenings in our family.  On March 31st, John was ordained as a High Priest.  He also has a new calling in the ward.  He is one of the assistants to the High Priest Group Leader.  John's dad was able to drive in to do the ordination and celebrate this wonderful day with us.  This day also happened to be Easter, so it was great to have him here to celebrate that with us as well!

On April 1st, our oldest son William turned 12.  On Sunday April 14th he received the Priesthood  and was ordained to the office of Deacon.  It was a wonderful day and I am so proud of our son.

My mom, my sister Sheri, my brother Kevin, and his children were all able to be here with us to celebrate this wonderful day.  In Sacrament meeting, the Bishop always has the newly turned 12 year olds recite an article of faith.  William had #13.  He did a fantastic job reciting it.  He has been practicing the memorization of all of them for a while now and has them down!

Then this past Sunday, William was able to pass the Sacrament for the first time.  He was so nervous!  There are some wonderful young men in our ward though and they helped him know exactly what he needed to do.  He did a fantastic job and it made me so happy to see him doing this.  Mom and Sheri came to church with us this day as well!

John also spoke in church last week.  Annalise had been up most of the night before, so I was only planning to stay for Sacrament meeting. I wasn't sure how she was going to do or if we would make it through the meeting.   Amazingly, she did very well.  As I carried her into the chapel, she lifted her arms up and said very clearly, "this place is Awesome!"  She was in such a great mood throughout the entire meeting.  What a blessing!

It is so wonderful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  To be able to attend meetings every week where we can feel the spirit, where our children are able to learn about Christ and his teachings, and where we can "recharge" our spiritual batteries in preparation of the upcoming week.  I agree with Annalise...This place is Awesome!

Miracles Do Happen

4-18-13

Today was a good day.  So far, this week has been a good week for our family.  As of this morning, my brother Kevin and his kids are free!  His divorce is official and he has full custody of his children!  Now they can all relax a bit and start building their new lives here in Arizona.  I am so happy for them.  Of course I am sad to see an eternal family break up, but I was sad about that when I first learned what was happening.  I understand that sometimes, because of free agency and the choices that people make, sad things have to happen.  But in the end, everything will work out for those who are trying their best to do what is right.  I am so happy for my brother and look forward to seeing what his life ahead has in store for him and his children!  

Also this week we witnessed what I believe to be a miracle, a very significant one in my family.  A couple of weeks ago my dad, who had some cancer removed from his stomach a few years back went in for a check up which he does every 6 months.  His white blood cell count was high so they decided to do a CT scan and make sure everything was okay.  His stomach looked fine, but they did find something in his liver.  Tuesday of this week he went in for a biopsy.  The surgeon doing the biopsy said that since the mass was so close to his lung he wanted to do another CT scan to be sure of where it was and make sure he could get to it without puncturing his lung.  He took the CT Scan and saw nothing in the liver.  He did an ultrasound to see what was going on.  Again, he could not find anything there.  He had seen the original CT Scan and knew that less than 2 weeks earlier there had definitely been something in my Dad's liver and today it is not there.  They rechecked his numbers and guess what...they were down as well!  Not to normal, but lower than they have been in the past.  Prayers have been answered and we have witnessed a miracle!  I am so thankful for the power of prayer and fasting and thankful that miracles do indeed still happen!

As a side note, as for the rest of the story of  "My best day so far" post, I don't think I am even going to finish it now.  It seems like that week was so long ago now and I don't even remember all that happened, nor do I really want to go back and relive it at this point.  Let's just say that for about 2+ weeks things around here were very intense and basically non stop.  We still aren't back to our normal and I don't know if my laundry and house will ever fully recover, but life moves on.  Things are good.  Not perfect, but good and Miracles do happen! 

My Best Day So Far part 2

Back to the story...So that is what we did.  When we got to urgent care, they showed us the x-ray and we could clearly see the fracture.  We got a brace that mostly fit Jacob's arm, stopped at Costco to pick up a couple of things including a pizza for dinner, went home, threw a few things in the suitcase, tried not to look at the dishes in the sink, and left for a wonderful weekend away.

A few weeks back, our past Stake President, President Richardson told John that he felt inspired to invite our family to use their cabin for a little family get away.  We had decided that this past weekend would be a good time to do that.  Other than a slight nagging pain in John's shoulder/neck, we all were feeling great and had a fantastic time at the cabin. (More on that with pictures in another post)

Then we came home.  We got home Saturday night and I spent until about midnight getting clothes, dishes, etc. clean and ready for Sunday morning.  I also listened to our phone messages.  I realized from the two reminder calls that came from PCH, that someone has messed up and scheduled Jacob's Ortho appointment at 10:45 when he was supposed to check in for surgery at 10:15.  Oops.  No problem, I would just call and get it all cleared up first thing Monday morning.

So Monday morning came.  Yes, my best day so far.  I called the orthopedics's office and explained the mistake that was made.  The receptionist's response, "well, I don't have another appointment time."   Okay, so what should we do?  I explained that he had broken his arm almost a week before, he was still in pain, and we needed to get it set.  She just kept repeating, "I don't have another appointment time."  No offer of another day, or to squeeze him in earlier, or even an apology for whoever made the mistake.

So my mind reeled for a minute trying to figure out what to do, then I just said for her to cancel the appointment and I would take him somewhere else.  As I began looking for the names of the other orthopedic offices that I had gotten from our PCP, the phone rang.  That was my dermatologist letting me know that the spot on my nose was indeed cancer.  They told me they would call me with the results in 7-10 days.  I wasn't ready for that call just 4 days after the appointment.  It threw me for a loop.

So, back to trying to find an orthopedic doctor for Jacob.  Luckily the first place that I called, was very helpful.  A very kind young man listened as I explained our situation.  He then said that he would do everything he could to get William in right away so that it did not interfere with his surgery the next day.  He determined that the Gilbert office was the closest for us and looked at the schedule.  He said that they were totally booked, but that he would talk to his supervisor and see if they could squeeze him in, but it might be at the very end of the day or at the very beginning of the next day.  She would call me and let me know.

Okay, off to the grocery store to grab a few things.  While out, I got a call from the supervisor at the Core Institute.  She said that they could get Jacob in at 10:30 if I could make it.  The doctor had to leave by 11.  It was 9:55 at the time.  At first I said I could but then as I sat there with my groceries, I realized that there would be no way I could check out, get my groceries home, pick Jacob up at school, and get over to the office in time.  Besides I only had respite scheduled for Bryce and Annalise until 10:15.   She said that they could get him in at 2.  Perfect!

Our awesome respite worker was able/willing to come back that afternoon, which was great.  I did find out at this time though that due to sickness and unavailability for the next morning, I would not have any respite workers available Tuesday until 1:30pm instead of 7am like we had originally scheduled.  I would need to figure out another way to have Annalise taken care of while I took Jacob up for his surgery.  No time to figure that out now though, I would do it when we got home from his appointment.   Luckily Bryce would be in school all day so as long as all went well, it would just be Annalise and she is pretty easy.

At 1:30, I picked Jacob up from school and headed to the appointment.  I signed him in and the man behind the counter asked me what our last name is.  He looked at his computer and then back at us and told me that we were at the wrong office.  Ends up that the lady didn't schedule us at the Gilbert office, near Mercy Gilbert Hospital, but at the Mesa office on Dobson by Banner Desert Hospital, 16 miles away from where we were.  That would have been good to know earlier!  I explained that we would not make it there by 2 and that they were just squeezing us in.  Again, this young man was very kind and said that he would call them and let them know what had happened and that we were on our way.

As we headed back out to the car, I called our respite worker to explain that we would be a little longer than we had planned.  Then I realized that despite having charged my phone to 100%, the battery was low and would soon die.  I've been having trouble with my phone holding a charge and it no longer will charge with the charger in the car.  So it would soon die.  Not a big deal, I know.  However, when you have a medically fragile child at home who has a tendency to stop breathing at times, it makes you a little nervous to be without any way of someone getting a hold of you.  At least it does me!  I called John with the last bit of battery I had and told him what was happening and where we were going if anyone needed to get a hold of us...and off we went!  I explained that I had no idea when we would be home and that dinner would be late.  He reminded me that he had a meeting at 6.  I said that I would be home as soon as possible, but it should be in plenty of time.  He said, "I'll see you with a pizza in hand at 5:45.  I hadn't planned on pizza for that night, or being home that late, but he was right on!  Jacob and I walked in with a pizza for dinner at 5:45.

to be continued  (and finished) soon!

Happy Birthday to my Big Boy!

Today our oldest son turned 12 years old.  It is hard to believe that it was 12 years ago today that I became a Mom.  What a wonderful day and a fantastic first born.  I sure love this boy!   Happy birthday William.

My Best Day So Far? part one

There is a book written by George Durrant (one of my favorite people of all time!) that I love.  It is called, My Best Day So Far.  He talks about how he made up his mind to make each day his best day so far no matter what happened.  That book has inspired me for over 20 years.

Yesterday about half way through the day I was talking to John and I told him that I was really trying to make it my best day so far, but someone was seriously working against me.  And that was only half way through the day!  I kept trying, I really did!

The events of yesterday really started out last Tuesday evening when my brother and his kids were over helping us get our yard ready for Marsha Dunn Klein's visit and helping to tile our guest house.  At the end of the evening the kids were all taking turns on our Zip line.  It was Jacob's turn and he called John over and made sure everyone was watching.  Then he took off.  The only problem was that right after he took off, his hands slipped off and he fell many feet to the ground.  He has ridden the zip line many times over the years with no falls, but Tuesday with everyone watching was different.  His side and wrist were hurting him, but it was not really that swollen or bruised, so I did what any "good" mother would do.  I gave him some Ibuprofen and sent him to bed.  Yeah!  Wed. he was still hurting so I had him use the sling we had from when William broke his wrist and sent him off to school.

By Thursday he was still in a lot of pain and since we were leaving that evening to go out of town, I decided I would take him to urgent care and get an x-ray, just to make sure it wasn't broken.  I had my dermatology appointment that morning so I just took him with me and then went to the urgent care center closest to where we were.  (Now of course this was not the closest one to our home which is an important piece of this story as you will see later.)

They took the x-ray and told us that it was not broken and that the bone looked very good, but that they would call us once the radiologist looked at it so that they could tell us what his official report was.  No problem.  We left, relieved that it was not broken and ready to head home and prepare for our trip.

About 10 minutes after walking in the door, just enough time for me to say good-bye to our respite worker who had been caring for Bryce and Annalise while we were out, the phone rang.  It was the man from urgent care.  I was all ready to hear the report from the radiologist that Jacob's hand was fine.  So when he said that there was indeed a fracture in Jacob's wrist and that we needed to go back to urgent care to pick up the x-rays and  take them and Jacob to an orthopedic specialist to have his arm set, I had a hard time understanding what he was saying.  He repeated himself again.  I said okay, got off the phone and thought, okay, what am I supposed to do now.  We are leaving in just a few hours, we are not packed, there are dirty dishes in the sink, urgent care is a 20 minute drive away (would have been smart to go to the one near our house, huh?!), and how am I going to find an orthopedic specialist that will let us come in right now and get Jacob's arm casted.  So I called John and told him what was going on.  While I was talking to John, the man from urgent care called back and said that if we weren't able to get him in to have his arm set that day, to just go back to urgent care and they would give him a splint to hold it until someone could cast it.

Okay, so with the help of our pediatricians office I got the name of some doctors to call.  Ended up with the group at Phoenix Children's Hospital Mesa campus.  The lady I spoke to there looked at Jacob's information on the computer and saw that he was scheduled for surgery Tuesday morning and said that they could just cast it that morning before his surgery.  They would need to wait for the swelling to go down before casting it anyway.  Excellent.  Only one trip to Phoenix!  At the time, I didn't know what time Jacob's surgery was scheduled so when she said, while looking at the computer, " let's have him come in at 10;15.  That will give us plenty of time before his surgery", I believed her.

First mistake, but I was relieved that we could just go back to the urgent care center, get the x-rays and an arm brace, rush home, pack and head out of town!
                                   ...to be continued...

Not What I Wanted to Hear

I have had a little white spot on my nose for about 6+ months now.    Didn't hurt, didn't itch, didn't bleed, didn't grow...it was just there.  Last Thursday I finally went in to see a dermatologist to get it checked out, just to put my mind at ease that it was NOT cancer.  The dermatologist took a look at it and said that she could not guarantee that it was not cancer so they would need to do a biopsy to be sure.  She said the results would be back within 7-10 days.

This morning I got a call from her letting me know that it is indeed Basal-Cell Carcinoma.  Not what I wanted to hear!   I know that it is a very common, curable type of cancer, but I will admit, I am still a bit freaked out by it.  Although I felt in my heart it would be, I really did not want it to be cancer...of any form!   

So, I guess they will be doing some type of procedure called Mohs surgery or something like that where they will go in, numb my nose, take a bit of it, and check it for cancer while I wait.  They will repeat the process until the sample is clear of cancer and then stitch up my nose and I will be on my way.  Doesn't sound fun at all, but I guess that at least I will know I am cancer free when I leave the center.  I've never been particularly fond of my nose, but I would really prefer to leave it just the way that it is.  The dermatologist assured me that the surgeon/pathologist who will be doing the procedure is also a plastic surgeon and will "take good care of my nose".  Nice to know.

My little white carcinoma spot