Three Weeks of Thrills

I actually wanted to title this blog entry "Four weeks of Fun," but it has only been 3 weeks since my last post, so that didn't really work out:)

The kids were off track for three weeks in November, going back to school on the 30th. As always, off-track time is busy, trying to find things to entertain the kids all day everyday. During their off-track time Ryan actually had a project for the kids to tackle. He wanted all the bad apples picked up off the ground in the backyard. Of course, this is not a project that the kids would do effectively on their own, so I was out there with them filling up the trash cans to overflowing. I felt bad that so many apples had gone bad. We did manage to salvage a couple bowls full of fairly nice apples for our eating enjoyment.

The weather was pretty mild throughout their off-track time with only one significant snow storm. The kids really enjoyed playing in the snow for a couple days, building a snow man, etc. Things have warmed up a bit since then and there is now hardly any snow left in the yard. Today our temps are back down in the teens and 20s with the potential for some snow this weekend.

The Friday before Thanksgiving my brother Jonny came down from BYU Idaho to stay with us for the Thanksgiving holiday. The kids really loved having him here for several days. Andrew has finally passed me up in height, but still has at least 4 more inches to go to pass up Jonny.

Thanksgiving day was most enjoyable. The plan was to go to dinner at Em & Nate's place, spend the afternoon there, and then head down to Delta around 5 pm to spend the rest of the weekend with our friends down there. We made it to Nate & Em's in plenty of time to help set up for dinner. All of my sisters and their families were able to join us there, along with Ryan's brothers and his parents. It was great that we could all fit comfortably in Nate & Em's spacious home. Of course, I ate too much, as there is always so much good food to choose from, though I skipped out on the turkey this year. I know it's a little silly, but I didn't want to end up too tired to drive down to Delta later that afternoon. I had fun visiting with my sisters, Emily and my mother-in-law, while Ryan and Nate went with my father-in-law to look at a house he is interested in buying. When 5 o'clock rolled around I had all the kids use the bathroom and get in the van. Before I could get everyone out Ashley came back in to tell me Andrew was hurt and he needed me. I went outside to find Andrew kneeling on the lawn holding his arm with his shoulder slumped down. Mary, our nurse in the house, took a look at it and determined it was likely his collar bone was broken. GREAT!!!! Determined not to let this ruin our weekend away, we decided to have Ryan take Andrew to the ER while I took the rest of the family to Delta. In the ER it was confirmed that he had broken his collar bone, though apparently the break was in a good location, whatever that means. I guess it's good it wasn't too close to the joint or any growth plates, etc. So, after their 1-hour visit to the ER (amazingly fast for the ER, especially considering getting x-rays) they too were on their way to Delta. We arrived at the ranch about 7:45 and Ryan and Andrew were there just before 10 pm.

The first night after he broke his collar bone Andrew really did not sleep. He was only recommended to take ibuprofen and Tylenol for pain, so he was still having a lot of discomfort. Ashley came to get me around 2:00 a.m. because Andrew was in a lot of pain and felt like he couldn't move without making it worse. I gave him another dose of medication at that time and helped him get onto the couch with some pillows and into his sleeping bag. The next morning he was doing a little better, but still had to be regularly dosed with Tylenol and ibuprofen to keep the pain under control. Friday night he slept much better and by Saturday he was much improved. It is his left arm that is in a sling and I was a bit concerned at first as he is left handed. However, he has been able to use that hand quite a bit, even in the sling, so writing and even playing the piano have not been affected too much.

While in Delta I was able to finish up my Christmas cards and get them in the mail. That was the one big project I had brought with me, so most of the rest of the time was spent eating and watching movies. It's so funny, no matter how well we plan, Kathy and I always bring much more food than we need. I guess that's good though, if we ever got snowed in or something we wouldn't starve:)

With my work slowing down so much I didn't have to think twice about a new job opportunity that came my way this past few weeks. I am still doing the same kind of work, medical transcription, but for a new company. I started my training this week and so far so good. I am always a little slow starting out, especially working with doctors and patients in an unfamiliar location. The account I am starting out on is for a hospital in Florida. There are a lot of foreign dictators on this account, so that will take some getting used to. Thankfully, I have access to many sample reports from these doctors, which will help me tremendously.

Ashley had her 11-year-old check up this past month and ended up getting 3 shots. Though we haven't gotten flu vaccines in the past, we thought it would probably be a good idea this year. As they happened to have the H1N1 vaccine that day, Ashley was vaccinated, as well as Adalyn and Alexia, with both H1N1 vaccine and regular flu vaccine. Thankfully, nobody got "sick" from the shots, though I am not looking forward to taking Adalyn back for a booster next month. She hates the doctor's office and when it was her turn for shots she just kept screaming "no thank you doctor, no thank you doctor."

Ashley and Austyn both received letters in the mail this past few weeks informing them that one of their Reflections projects was going on to the next level of judging. We went to a special assembly this past week where Ashley received a medal for her musical composition and Austyn received another trophy for his "dance." (Apparently there weren't many entries in that category, in his age group, this year.)

Austyn and Alexia both started Jr Jazz basketball this week. They are on different teams, as they are in different age groups, but they both enjoyed their first day of practice. They will play for two months, with their last game February 13th. I'm just glad that most of their games are between 11:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Saturdays. I was a little worried, after talking to another parent, that we might get stuck with 8:00 a.m. games every Saturday, which is too early for us!

Just in case this week wasn't busy enough already, we also had parent teacher conferences Wednesday and Thursday evenings. Ashley, Alexia and Austyn are all doing well. Ashley is at the top of her class and Alexia has straight A's as well. I was a little worried about how Alexia would do this year with Ms Short, as she is known as the "meanest" teacher. However, I was quite pleased with the praise she received from Ms Short for being very helpful, kind and hard working. Way to go Alexia!! I am so proud of our kids!!!

Last night we had our ward Christmas dinner. This year it was a Christmas Fiesta and we had tacos or taco salad, with rice, beans and desserts. The desserts were the highlight and there were many to choose from. Mostly I was just glad that I didn't have to make dinner last night:)

Ryan is working today, which means I can make something easy for dinner like mac & cheese or spaghetti-o's. Ryan has been really lucky, since his accident, to have good weather on the days that he has worked. He usually works Monday locally, then Tuesday and Friday up in Idaho. Most of the snow we've had has come in on the weekends and hasn't affected him at all. I doubt he will be so lucky all winter, but we'll take what we can get and just keep praying for his safety on the road.

Today is an early-out day for the kids and they'll be home any time now. So, I better hurry up and make a list of things for them to get done before they start asking to play.

Happy Holidays!!! ~*~Julie~*~