I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home!

Ronny just arrived home late Wednesday night from a 10 day long business trip in Europe.  He visited Romania, The Netherlands, and Belgium.  We surely missed him and were thrilled he made it home in time for Thanksgiving!  With all the time differences and our crazy schedule here we do our best to find time to talk over the computer with him, usually when its very late at night for him.  Sometimes the hotels he stays in have choppy internet access at best so even then its difficult.  This was a busy trip for him with lots of meetings and lots of work.  There was not as much time to sight see this time around but it looks like they will be returning again shortly, as in just a couple weeks!

I've been sick for the last 5 days of his trip so I was extremely excited to see him and know I wasn't alone in the parenting world once again.  Thursday morning we woke up bright and early to run the 5k race for the Utah Food Bank.  Ronny ran with the boys, Charley and her cousins stuck together and Ben and I took up the rear and walked.  My lungs were in complete revolt from the start and 10 minutes into the race Ben announced he needed to use the restroom.  I told him the fastest way for me to get him to a bathroom was to finish the race as there were no port-a-potty's in sight, something I will definitely comment on in my survey I will return!  I was a bit bummed not to get to run as I have been training for this race but the cold I've been battling and the fact no one else was there to walk with Ben made the decision to walk for me.  I will have to find another one to run soon.  We had a great meal with my family at my sister's house and then ended the day with a movie.  Great Thanksgiving!

We are excited to see this new company finding work and moving forward.  We knew travel would be a part of the new job so we are taking these trips as they come.  One of these days we'll plan on traveling with him and tour a few of these spectacular countries he is working in.  For now we will enjoy our time with him while he is home!

Sibling Affection

Its not often I find all 4 kids sitting at the island without some kind of trouble going on.  I found them like this, enjoying pancakes this morning.  I just had to snap a picture while they were distracted!  Ronny has been gone for the last 10 days on a business trip in Europe and I have been sick the last 5 days of that trip.  We are sooo excited for his return tonight.  Things usually go much smoother while he is gone but with this nasty cold I have been hibernating as much as possible.  The kids are so independent now that they take everything in stride.  We know Ronny has to leave again next month for another long trip back overseas but we enjoy the time while he is with us and the kids enjoy talking to him on the computer.

What We Do For Sport!

Recently I started playing volleyball again with our church team.  I quickly realized my knee injury from college was going to give me trouble.  I was good and wore my brace every time I played and iced for days afterward, even babying my knee, it ached for days after each night I played.  I averaged about 2 nights a week.  Our team was fortunate to have some great women so we played some pretty intense games.  Towards the end of the season my ankle began to swell.  I couldn't remember injuring it and it didn't have any pain associated with the swelling but it was getting pretty big.  I called a good friend of mine who is a Chiropractor (Dr. Luce) who specializes in sports med and KT tape and asked if he could tape me one night.  This was my first experience with the tape, although Ronny has used it in the past.  I was shocked at how well it worked!!!  That little bit of tape on my knee gave me more support than my hinge brace and I had no pain or swelling after our matches when using the tape, it was AMAZING!!!! My knee never felt so good, even before my college playing days!  I will definitely use this again!

Our women's team ended up playing for the regional championship against a really good Polynesian team.  They were great and so much fun to play against.  We were able to hold them off though and won the regional tournament.  Yahoo!!!  I then started to play on the Coed team, that same Polynesian team hammered us in Coed!  In the end we had one of our guys end up breaking his nose from the elbow of another one of our players.  Even with his broken nose he played the following night.  We had lots of fun but were defeated early in the tournament.  I am now really missing playing and can't wait until next year!  I wish I could find a rec league around here, I would definitely sign up!

I asked Charley what she thought of me playing with the younger ladies and if she thought I could keep up, (I was the oldest one playing on both teams!).  For the most part I did keep up, although I am not as inclined to lay out for a stray ball anymore!  She told me it was awesome!  Sure do love that girl of mine!  I coached her rec team this last season as well (it was a volleyball filled fall season!).  Her team was so much fun to coach and Charley did great considering this was her first experience.  By the end of the season she was serving over hand and digging up balls the other team was hitting over.  Her team ended up taking 3rd place although I really think had the tournament been structured differently they would have had a good shot at second!

A Teenager Amongst Us!

 Happy 13th Birthday Charley!!!!

Halloween 2012

Sam Turns 9!

Happy 9th Birthday Sam!  I asked Sam where he wanted to go for dinner.  He said anywhere that has salmon!  So we headed out to Blue Fish sushi bar where he and Joseph ordered their salmon dinner (which was huge!!!! as they didn't have a child's size version).  The both scarfed their plates clean!  We headed home for cake, ice cream, and presents.  He is excited to advance to Bears in cub scouts and excited to use his Sports Authority gift too!

A few things we've been up to lately.....

 BYU vs. OSU football game

 Dad waiting in the loooooong line to get a permit to cut down our own Christmas tree this year.

 Our Camry's odometer the day our engine light went on and the new registration forms came in the mail.

 The car we traded our Camry in for!  

 Dad's new church calling, Scout Master!  He is sooooo excited!!!

 Picking out pumpkins and climbing hay bales.

 Volleyball!!!  First time Charley played outside of church ball and first time Mom coached her team!

SoJo Marathon #3, this time running with new friends.

Good News!

Friday we went to see Joseph's doctor yet again for another set of x-rays, our 4th set in 4 weeks!  (One of those sets was just a few days before on his thumb, the stinker needs to take better care of his fingers!)  After the x-rays were done the doctor walked in with a big box and other casting materials.  I looked at him and said, Doctor Ormund you never have good news for me!!!  He smiled, laughed, and said today was our lucky day, Joseph's x-ray's looked great.  You could still see a small fracture on his pinky but could tell it was healing nicely.  The joint no longer had a bone sticking out the side and the growth plate looked clear.  So, no surgery!!!!  He also was sent home without another cast because the bones looked like they were well into the healing process and he should finish healing nicely without the cast, double hooray!!!  He is still banned from major sports and was told to take it easy for another 2 weeks.  We'll see how long that lasts with him returning to school before then.

Bad News

Today we went to the doctor to have Joseph's finger x-rayed again to check on his knuckle and growth plate.  Sadly it turns out Joseph did brake both the joint and damaged the growth plate.  The doctor told us we should have had it x-rayed last week as Joseph would have then been referred to a hand surgeon and discussed surgery.  Unfortunately we are now 2 weeks from injury and things are a little more complicated.  I told him the doctor at urgent care told us to wait 2 weeks which is why we waited until now, had he said to come in a week we would have come in a week.  (I am none to happy at this point!)  So the new plan is to put Joseph in a hard cast and have it x-rayed again in 2 weeks and if things still look as they do then refer us to the surgeon.  AHHHHHHHHHHHH!  He also told Joseph no more soccer. He is bummed as there are only 2 games left.

Something the think about.....

The other day I was driving to work and just thinking about all the things that needed to happen that day and then about everything that needed to get done the next day, and so forth.  Usually driving is when I get teary most of the time, you know when a song comes on the radio, or I pass a certain landmark and the flood of emotions come and it just gets the best of me.  Yesterday I did get teary too but not for what usually brings those tears.  Somewhere in the midst of all the "to do" items I was thinking about, I realized just how happy and content I was.  I thought wow, I am one blessed lady!  I have a great marriage, I have great kids, I have a job that I love that allows me to be a full time Mom at home, I have great students that love to learn, we are still financially stable even with all those medical bills to pay off, I get to serve my friends, neighbors, and some super cute kiddos at church.  Wow, life is really good!   I realized although I still have lots of crazy going on with places to be and things to do, and stress here there and everywhere, amongst all of that I am still amazingly blessed and am really happy.  Which of course brought tears of gratitude for those wonderful blessings, (nuts how those pesky waterworks get in the way sometimes!).  With all that has happened over the course of these last few years the Lord has continued to bless us and wants us to be happy.  Trials come and go, some of those trails are overwhelming and last longer than we want them to, yet life still continues on and I am seeing the sunshine, the joy, and overall beauty this life has to offer.  Life is good!

Bubble Boy!

Ready to play, ironically today is picture day for the team.  NICE.....

Taking One For The Team

On my way out the door to take Charley to karate and head over to my own volleyball game Ronny called from soccer practice.  I couldn't think of why he would need to call me as he should be loading up to take the boys over to karate as well.  When I answered he explained that Joseph blocked a shot from a teammate and was standing next to him with his pinky finger now pointing straight out.  So, change of plans!  I met him at the field put the kids in my car in his, put Joseph in mine and we headed over to urgent care.  We called the grandma's while we were waiting to be seen, they helped distract Joseph from the pain.  Thankfully there were only two people ahead of us.  They took 3 x-rays and I am still amazed at how quickly they get those back now with all this new technology!  The doctor came in and we all looked at the scans together.  Sure enough they showed a break in the pinky from the joint closest to his hand all the way to the next joint.  The doctor didn't think he damaged the growth plate but wants more x-rays in 2 weeks to make sure.  He then started to explain the splint Joseph would be getting.  We both laughed and Joseph held up his index finger and told him we were more the experienced with fiberglass splints.  The doctor was pretty impressed and wanted to hear the story which Joseph happily supplied.  We asked if Joseph was able to still play in the games and were pleasantly surprised when the doctor said that if we wrapped his hand in bubble wrap he could play, although playing goalie was out as is karate and dodgeball!  I can't wait to take a picture of this one!  Thankfully this time it was not his writing hand so school shouldn't be too much of a problem.  I am amazed at Joseph's pain tolerance last night when they were manipulating his fingers in the right position for the splint.  He was a trooper!

Happy Birthday Ronny!

This last Tuesday was Ronny's birthday.  Unfortunately we were so busy we had to postpone celebrating until Wednesday night.  He really wanted to have chicken wings for dinner and be the one to barbecue them.  I had everything ready for him when he came home from work.  He went out to the grill to heat it up and when he was ready to put them on he discovered we were out of propane.  We loaded everyone in the car and headed to Buffalo Wild Wings.  Ronny requested a chocolate, chocolate, everything chocolate cake.  I ran out of frosting so he got a cream cheese center instead.  It was yummy!  I managed to find a few last minute gifts that even garnered a smile or two.  Ronny let Joseph handle the camera this year and we found this great pic amidst the set.  He did a great job!  Ben has been so excited to celebrate his birthday all week and wanted to invite his entire school class over to the house for a party.  Ronny reminded him it was and even birthday so we could only celebrate with the family.  Happy Birthday love, we surely do love you!

Angel Day

Today we are celebrating Aaron's first Angel Day.  I am amazed at how fast this last year seems to have gone by.  We wanted to make today meaningful for our kids as well as for us.  We started the day visiting Aaron's grave and placing flowers there.  Ronny surprised us and had the florist make a matching bouquet for us to have here at home, combined with the flowers that were delivered yesterday from some great friends, our house smells wonderful!  Each of us shared our favorite experiences with Aaron while gathered around his grave.  It was so sweet to hear the kids memories of him and what they feel were important moments.  While at the cemetery we picked up what trash and leaves we could find and pulled a few weeds.  We then went to lunch, the kids requested we go to the same place we went on his birthday earlier this year, (I see a tradition starting..., they even sat us in the same booth).  Coming home we all went outside and planted 280 tulip bulbs.  Both Ronny and I thought this would be something that we could work together for now and enjoy the beautiful flowers on Aaron's birthday next spring.  The kids all came inside individually and painted pictures throughout the afternoon and Ronny and I have enjoyed watching them work together and create works of art to share with each other.  We have a few projects left to do and have plans to visit our neighbor in the hospital this evening, but all together it has been a rather peaceful day, a few tears here and there but mostly just peaceful.  Something we were hoping for and grateful to have been blessed with.  We could not have asked for better weather, what a beautiful day it has been.  We constantly feel the Lords's love and peace throughout our home.  Although Aaron never made it here to the house with us, we feel his presence constantly.  Aaron is most certainly an important member of this family, one that is waiting for us to return to our Home in Heaven for us to be reunited as an eternal family.  What comfort that brings.......

All Clear

With all the excitement around school starting for the kids, starting a new job myself, and the start of the fall sports season I forgot to update our blog on Ronny's health.  Ronny had another follow-up with his surgeon in late August.  The doctor gave Ronny the all clear and officially released his care back to his regular doctor.  We were a little surprised when he didn't order more blood tests as that was what he indicated would happen at his previous visit.  Ronny was more than happy to leave without getting poked and called to inform me on his way to the car that no more appointments had been scheduled.  We were both happy to close this chapter and move on.  Ronny continues to see his regular doctor here closer to home as they are still monitoring his thyroid.  He had an appointment this last week for an unrelated matter and the doctor ordered more blood work to check his numbers again which Ronny was not so thrilled about.  He is getting so much better about getting poked lately, I surmise its because now he just expects it.  He also heartily informed me he was the first to get his flu shot this year.  I need to get the rest of us in to do that.   

Work has been on the slower side for him this summer as we have learned that a good portion of Europe goes on vacation in the months of July and August for several weeks making scheduling meetings for those of us here on this side of the pond somewhat frustrating.  Things are picking back up and we have noticed him bringing home work more times than not lately.  We would much rather be busy with work than not, so we take the late nights in stride. 

Ronny is once again coaching the boys soccer team.  We moved Sam up into Joseph's division this season to cut back on the amount of time we are spending on practices and games each week.  He is holding his own just fine.  He took a header in the face this weekend and had one mighty bloody nose and a nice bruise to show for his efforts.  Their team this year is so much fun to watch.  All the kids are happy to be there and are working hard and are just so much fun to watch!  Charley and I have both started volleyball again for our ward teams.  She will also start playing on a city rec team in the next couple weeks that I volunteered to coach.  Ronny is training for the South Jordan Marathon again this October and is secretly hoping he just may qualify for Boston this year, or next for sure he tells me.

Our days and nights have become extremely busy for the next month or two but we are enjoying it for the moment.  Being busy helps my mind stay away from too much time thinking of the "could have beens" and stay focused on the here and nows.  With the anniversary of Aaron's passing only a few days away I find my mind rehashing so many of the memories from our time with him.  They are bittersweet memories that often times keep me up at night and bring the tears flooding back, but I am grateful to have them.  For now I will enjoy the self inflicted chaos that brings its own challenges and leave the rest in the Lord's hands.

Joining the Work Force

After 13 years away from public school teaching I am heading back.  Last week I was hired to teach at a school for gifted children down in Provo.  I am teaching Jr. High and High School Math to 5th and 6th grade students.  I teach 2 hours a day Monday through Thursday and then am paid for 4 prep hours a week, so 12 hours total.  It allows me to be home with my kids yet keep my mind on things other than my all too quiet house.

Its quite the challenge at the moment as neither the students nor I have text books, nor do I have a lesson schedule, only a vague outline for the year from the school district, as well as having to teach two different classes simultaneously.  Thankfully one of the full time teachers helps me out as I run between the classrooms.  Today was my first day and between a major traffic jam on the way down, realizing I forgot some supplies at home and needing to stop off at Walmart on the way in to replace them, arriving and finding the copy machine broken, also finding there were not enough supplies to have kids working in one of my classes nor overhead transparencies, things went smoothly!  I managed to keep the kids on task between the two classrooms with the help of my supporting teacher and I think I actually may have taught both classes something new.  Success!  I am hoping that the text books arrive soon and that I will get a computer to work with.  There is a significant amount of new technology in these classrooms and a completely new curriculum that I am not familiar with and both are really intimidating!

After the classes were over I headed to the district offices to start all the new hire paperwork only to find they didn't know where it was.  I told them I would come back tomorrow after class and hoped they would have it ready to go, something they assured would be the case today.  Considering all the hoops that needed to be jumped through just getting in the classroom today I can't really say I was too surprised.  The Asst. Superintendent had to personally sign off on my hire so I can imagine things are a little scrambled at the moment down at the district, especially considering I'm the 3rd teacher they have had in this class in 3 weeks!  NUTS!

I'm pretty excited about this new adventure and having a little more income will certainly help pay some of these hospital bills off faster.  I am also home in time to still help in the boys classrooms each week and my kids don't know the difference yet that I am not home while they are at school.  I am still here when they need me and still crack the whip with getting homework and chores done, much to their dismay sometimes.......

One Truly Amazing Experience

This is Trina and baby Zach.  Baby Zach arrived at the end of July.  Just a couple weeks before he made his debut his dad had a bike accident and broke his hand and ended up in surgery with a plate and 10 screws.  Shortly after the accident Trina came over and asked me one really big question.  She asked if I would come and help with Zach's delivery.  To say I was floored by the question I don't think quite covers the emotions that came with that question.  However those emotions didn't come close to the ones that came the day of his arrival.  To be there holding Trina's hand while she delivered this little guy was one experience I will cherish always.  Trina made things look way too easy, one little push and Zach was here after only a few hours in labor.

A week after Zach's arrival our family left for a trip to California.  While there we got a call from Todd, Zach's dad, informing us that Trina was in the hospital with a burst appendix.  I found a flight the next morning and headed home to help out.  This little guy came home with me for the next 5 days.  I had soooooo much fun taking care of this little guy and his brothers and sisters.  When Trina was recovered enough to take Zach again during the night I had to give him back.  It was really hard as I became quite attached to this sweet little boy.  Zach reminds me so much of Sam when he was a baby.  This great family matches ours so well with a daughter close to Charley's age and 5 more boys.  Both our families have suffered the loss of a son and Trina sang at Aaron's funeral last year.  Since Trina's surgery I've had fun watching him and his 2 year old brother a few more times.  It is always hard to give him back when the time comes but I look forward to more time with him in the future and Trina is very gracious in letting me get my baby fix with this little guy whenever I need it.

Summer Happenings Part III

 A new bed for Joseph!  He was the only one without a nice bed set.  

 One more year for me.  We improvised with a cake and just celebrated with cupcakes a neighbor brought over.

 Pulling weeds, that job never ends!

Great nights and walks around the lake!

Summer Happenings Part 2

 Visits from great friends from OR!  We had visits from great friends from our old Wymount days too but somehow I didn't get a picture of that.

 End of year performances.

 4th of July parade and breakfast.

 Summer bike rides always with a visit to the gelato shop.

 Fun at 7 Peaks, if you know my boys they love to dance and with a D.J. there they just could not resist getting up on the stage and bust a move!

 Sam earns his Wolf!