Christmas Pictures

We enjoyed spending as much time together over break as we could.  It was nice to have Lucy home.  She enjoyed it as much as we did.  She got all caught up on her sleep!  She slept in everyday and loved being back in her room.  She was funny being back home where she enjoyed little luxuries that she doesn't have back home.  Her first day home she commented on how much fruit we had in our house.  She said she enjoyed taking a nice hot shower, one that didn't randomly get freezing cold when someone in the apartment upstairs flushed the toilet.  She especially liked it when we went grocery shopping.  She said she misses the home cooked meal.  We made sure to make her lots of yummy food while she was home.  We did some fun things together as a family.  We went bowling one evening.  We woke up to snow on Saturday.  It was so pretty, and we were thankful that it mostly melted pretty quickly.  The snow slowed down work for Garrett, and he was able to be off Saturday evening with us.  We decided to try the newly re-opened movie theater by our house and see Zootopia 2.  It opened just before Thanksgiving so not many people know it's open.  We had the whole theater to ourselves!  Sunday evening, we got the Christmas tree out so Lucy could put up her ornaments.  We didn't fully decorate but just the tree. It's fun for her to be a part of things back home.  She flew home really early Monday morning.  It was a good thing she flew out when she did.  We got another snowstorm Monday late morning that arrived earlier than expected.  The roads weren't treated, and they were horrible.  We were glad she made it home safely and was able to go straight to her classes in Salt Lake.  We had such a fun break with her.  It was nice to be back together as a family.  We did a lot of fun things and made some fun memories.  It is nice to know she will be back home in just a few short weeks.             

Thanksgiving

I spent a lot of time Wednesday preparing things for our Thanksgiving meal.  I baked a lot and made all my pies.  It was nice to have a lot of it done and then do a lot of dishes.  We had a very nice and relaxing Thanksgiving Day.  We enjoyed being home together as a family.  It has been hard to have traditions change over the years.  Even making the whole meal on our own is a lot of work.  It has me rethinking this, maybe next year we simplify and not have as many dishes. We used to gather with my family and only be in charge of bringing one of the sides.  There are so many things I miss about those years we gathered.  I am trying hard to find joy in spending the day with my small family in my home.  I am sure it won't be too long that we will have kids on missions or possibly a new spouse spending the holiday with us.  This year I just soaked up the time with all of my kids home together. We slept in and had a restful relaxing day.  I did a puzzle I got when we went through my mom's things.  We enjoyed the parade and dog show on TV.  After we ate our meal together, we went to my sister Christys house to spend time with her and her family.  We enjoyed having pie together and playing a fun game with everyone.  It was nice to have an evening with some of my family.  It made our day feel special.     

We were so excited to have Lucy come home for Thanksgiving break.  We weren't going to fly her home originally.  We figured she could spend the holiday with JJ's parents there in Utah.  Then we got an email about a sale with Southwest, so we decided to fly her home.  A few weeks before Thanksgiving Lucy pointed out that the tickets we bought were for the wrong week.  That is probably why they were such a good deal.  We didn't know what to do, tickets at this point to fly home for Thanksgiving were now pretty expensive.  We looked at several options, and nothing really seemed to be working out.  We were on facetime with Lucy and told her we were working on it.  She teared up and we knew she really needed to come home.  JJ looked all over and was able to find an option that wasn't going to be extremely expensive.  He said if it had to be his Christmas present then that was fine, he wanted to have her home with us.  I did too and I am thankful for JJ for looking so hard to find a way to have her come home.  We haven't seen her since dropping her off in August.  She got in really late or very early in the morning however you want to look at it.  I didn't see her until Tuesday morning.  She dropped me off at work so she could have my car for the day.  She went to lunch with JJ and then picked me back up from work.  That afternoon she had a doctor's appointment with the Rheumatologist at the specialty center.  Lucy hasn't been feeling the best lately and I was able to call and get her an appointment while she was home.  It was a blessing that flying her home worked out.  She started out having some leg pain on the leg she had surgery on in the spring.  The next day it was both legs and then she woke up in the middle of the night with one of her arms hurting.  She called JJ and she was able to get an appointment at the student health center.  We were really worried about her.  They weren't much help for her at the health center.  They did some labs and then prescribed her a steroid to start taking.  They told her if it got worse to go to the ER.  We all felt comforted knowing that we had an appointment with her back home.  We were thankful they squeezed us in.  They looked at all the labs she had done in Utah and both the doctors looked at her body very closely.  They both felt like it seemed to be a post viral complication.  She may have had a virus which then caused this pain.  Lucy never felt under the weather but that said that doesn't mean her body fought something off.  We did some more labs, and they also prescribed her some more steroids to taper her off more gradually.  I think it was a relief for Lucy to know it wasn't something related to her Parry Romberg's or something new.  Also, a relief to see familiar doctors who were familiar with Lucy and her health.  Lucy finds great comfort in people she trusts.  That evening we were able to go over to the high school to watch the girls' varsity game.  I could tell Lucy misses playing with her friends that are still there.  It was fun to be a spectator and not feel so involved in the team.  It was a busy day.  We were all ready to be officially on Thanksgiving break now for the rest of the week.                

 

BYU VS. Cincinnati

A little while ago Ian Smith asked if people would be interested in going to the BYU vs Cincinnati football game.  JJ and the boys thought it would be fun to do a guy's weekend.  He got tickets for the three of them to go.  I planned to be home and get things done and enjoy a weekend by myself.  As plans got made Amy was going to go in Evans place.  Then Amy was going to be the only girl on the trip.  I decided last minute to come along.  We drove to Ohio with Spencer and Amy and got hotel rooms a little bit out of the city.  We got there, got checked in and got something to eat.  We then headed to the BYU tailgating event.  Nolan especially was really excited for this whole weekend!  We meet up with Ian who had Finley and Hudson.  The Quinney's were also there.  Nolan and Garrett enjoyed goofing off and throwing the football with the Quinney boys.  We went to the Quinney's hotel lobby and ordered some pizza to eat before going over to the game.  It was a late game and didn't start until 8 PM.  It was going to be a late evening for us.  We had good seats. I technically was sitting a few rows away but squeezed in with everyone else.  They were bleachers seats, so we sat close to each other.  We ended up standing most of the game anyways.  When we would sit down Nolan would sit on our laps.  It was exciting to see them score a touchdown right in front of us.  It was really cold, but we bought some hand warmers at the tailgating event that were helpful. Nolan got really into the cheers and chants with the crowd.  We won which was so fun.  After the game Nolan went down to the front to try to get some autographs.  He made some BYU helmets with his 3D printer and brought a sharpie marker.  Will Quinney was so nice and helped put his things down front to get some autographs. We got back to our hotel late and were all cold and exhausted.  We got up the next morning and had a good breakfast at the hotel before driving home.  It was a really fun weekend.  It was fun to spend time with friends, and I think the Elmores enjoyed taking a road trip with us.  I am glad I tagged along and was able to make these memories with the boys.  I know they had a fun time and will always remember this trip with us.  As they get older it's fun to have little adventure with them.          

 

The weather continued to be really nice all weekend.  It was going to cool down as the week went by, but we enjoyed it all weekend long.  The leaves were also still colorful.  We had one last tree with pretty leaves.  I made sure to enjoy the weather while I could and after church took Jack to the park for a walk.  JJ was still teaching his conference and none of the boys wanted to come.  Jack was thrilled and we even had a deer walk across the trail right behind us.  I will miss these nice days as the days get colder and darker earlier.   

 

Lindenwood Game

Lindenwood University gave all the winning teams tickets to come back to a home game.  JJ was teaching a conference, so Nolan and I went together.  We had a beautiful weekend with temperatures at almost 80 degrees.  It was so enjoyable to be outside for the game.  It was fun to attend a game at Lindenwood, we have never been to a football game there.  Nolan had fun hanging out with his friends and me.  He didn't want to leave me by myself, but I didn't want to keep him from being with his friends.  We will have to come to another game next year.    

I was getting ready for church and looked over at Jack and Nolan both laying in JJ's laundry.  I got a kick out of them!

We enjoyed watching the last Liberty game.  It was the first game of districts.  They lost but it was still fun to watch.  The Elmores came and it was nice to catch up with them.  

I got one of my mom's aprons while going through her things.  It is fun to wear when I cook. 

Nolan was a big helper for me this year raking up the leaves in our yard.  We love or nice big trees but they sure to make a lot of work when it comes to raking the leaves.  It is sad to not see pretty leaves when I look out my windows now.  

Nolans football team had a party to celebrate their victory and season.  We got together at Dogwood Social for pizza and games.  Nolan had a blast running around playing games with his friends.  I gave him some extra money to put on his game card for helping me with the leaves earlier. We enjoyed visiting with the other parents.  We ordered food and then played some shuffleboard with the Quinney's. 

5 years

Lucy celebrated the 5-year anniversary of her first surgery.  She said it deserved a celebration and she bought a piece of cake and a candle.  It is crazy for us all to think 5 years have gone by.  So much has happened and yet it still feels like yesterday.  I can and always will remember so many details about that time and all that went into that surgery happening.  Memories of our stay in Madison and at the Ronald McDonald house have faded but I will never forget that time.  That time will always be hard, thankful and special memories.  The surgery was one of the most difficult things Lucy has ever done.  She will tell anyone that she would do it all over again if she had to.  She never regrets it and will always be thankful for it and all it has done to change her life.   

 

Superbowl

Nolans football team has had a great season, and they were so excited to be heading to the Superbowl game.  Lindenwood university hosted all of the games that day.  Nolan was really excited to play on their field.  They had great practices all week preparing for the big game.  Nolan was worried about his kicking.  They had another kid try to kick in place of Nolan.  Nolan was a little sad to think about being replaced.  He got in some extra practice with JJ.  During the last practice of the week Nolan was kicking great.  The other kid wasn't even close so clearly Nolan was not going to be replaced.  We got to Lindenwood early so the boys could practice. It was a chilly day but not too bad, perfect for football.   I was thankful to not be sitting by myself for the game.  Garrett came, the Munsons came and Christy came with Tyler and Lainey.  It made me so happy to have friends and family there to support Nolan.  This was going to be a great game.  They were facing Holt, who they beat last year in the commissioner's cup game.  The boys would face a team who would challenge them for the first time all season.  It was a close game, and it took them a while to score. It made me nervous!  Nolan had a few plays get through his hands and he felt bad about that.  One resulted in a touchdown for Holt.  Nolan had the chance to kick when we did score.  His kick was no good, but the other team illegally tackled our center which resulted in a penalty.  We got to redo the play, and we chose to run the ball instead of kicking it.  They weren't successful but I was glad the pressure was off Nolan for that play.  It came down to the last few minutes of the game, and it was stressing me out.  Our boys played so well on both defense and offense.  We scored and it put us ahead by one point, but Holt still had the ball to end the game.  Our defense was amazing and didn't let them score.  Nolan pushed the player out of bounds the final play of the game to win the game for us.  It was so exciting!  We all went crazy.  What a season for the team, they were 9-0 and outscored their opponents 325-13.  It was such a fun game, and I was so proud of Nolan.  He had some great plays and tackled that really helped his team.  I hurried down to get some pictures of the team with the trophy.  Nolan was so cute and so excited!  It was fun to have JJ down on the field with the team.  He got some fun videos and pictures of them down there.  We took some pictures and then went to Canes with Christy, Tyler and Lainey for some late lunch.  It was such a great game and so fun to share that with the friends and family that came. I really have loved football this season.  Being able to watch both Nolan and Garrett have been a blast.  I have learned a lot about football but still have so much more to learn.  These days and special moments like the ones we had today will be things I will always remember!  Maybe not the exact plays and details but the feelings of happiness and excitement for Nolan and his team.