SO TODAY . . .

I had told Carly to stop doing something for the one hundred and forty-umpteenth time and I said to her "How many times do I have to tell you this?" She didn't even skip a beat. She said, "Three, four, five, six times!"

It's probably a good thing that just when you are the most frustrated with your little ones--they make you giggle. :}

DAD GETS AN A+

Grandpa went to his physical therapy this morning and continues to attack it. They think he is working really hard--harder than most of the people they work with who are younger and stronger than he is. After he finished there we went to his appointment with his surgeon for a checkup. The surgeon thinks Dad is doing marvelous. He is surprised by how little pain Dad is having and thinks if he is doing this well at this point that he will be doing fabulous in a couple of months when he gets through his physical therapy. We sure hope so!

GRANDPA UPDATE

Grandpa is doing really well. His recovery so far has been flawless. Knock on wood with me, won't you?! He is going to outpatient physical therapy three times a week now at the rehab center where he stayed. He has an appt. tomorrow (Monday) morning and then in the afternoon he has a checkup with his surgeon to see how he is responding to the new shoulder.

Unfortunately, we have been hit with a really heavy snowstorm that's been falling for the past three days. I'm hoping they will have the roads cleared pretty well by noon tomorrow. It is supposed to continue snowing lightly through about 11:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. His appt. with the surgeon is about an hour from here and is just after 2:00 p.m.. His rehab appt. is about five miles away and is around 10:00 in the morning. Just hoping we don't have any travel problems. Keep us in your prayers and I will update you as soon as we return. Take care, N.

COMPUTER ENHANCED FUNNIES

My niece Riana came over and treated Carly to a little computer fun. She has a program where she can add things to faces, change shapes and sizes and do all kinds of funny things. Riana delighted Carly for almost an hour helping her make funny pictures of the two of them. Here's a few of the more normal ones they came up with.

A BOY'S BEST FRIEND

We have the nicest dogs. Tashie (short for Natasha)is so patient with the kids. She lets them sit on her back, ride her, jump on her--just about whatever they want to do and never gets agressive with them. In fact, we are constantly protecting the animals from the children! Lol!

Jonathon loves Tashie and loves to just sit by her or on her. Tashie honestly doesn't seem to mind at all.


The only thing Jonathon is missing here is a pair of chaps and his cowboy hat! Hey, it's not like cowboys actually ride cows, you know! It works! Lol!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

I am incredibly grateful for all the blessings I have; for my wonderful parents and sisters; and my absolutely amazing husband and children. I have the most wonderful family, friends and life! The Lord has been so good to me and I am so grateful.

We had a really nice Thanksgiving Day. My sister Susan and her family came for dinner. Sarah's family stayed home in Idaho this year but we will be with Sarah next week. It was fun to have most of the family here with Grandma and Grandpa. One of my nieces on Rob's side stopped by later after dinner to play. It was a good day all around.

Grandpa is making progress every day. He had a good day today. I think the turkey and pumpkin pie helped! Hee hee! So much to be thankful for! Hope it's the same way at your house! Take care, Nancy

CARLY GOT HER HAIR DONE!

Carly was so excited to get her hair braided. It's the first time she's had someone put braids in her hair and it took 3.5 hours. She did really well, though. I couldn't believe how quietly she sat for most of the time. She never does that for us!

The first picture is of her with her hair only halfway done. The second is of her and Dibabe (Dee-bobby) the girl who braided her hair. Doesn't she look adorable?! Plus, she really likes it--which makes it all worth it! Yay!

Well, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you have a terrific day!

THAR SHE BLOWS

Wow, out of the blue we got hit with a blizzard tonight. I say out of the blue but then maybe I just wasn't paying attention to the weather reports. Seems like it came out of nowhere. And when I say blizzard, I do mean blizzard! We had winds of up to 55 miles per hour tonight with the heavy snow. Luckily, we had done all our Thanksgiving food shopping and stocked up on what we needed otherwise. Rob had just come in from work when it started, too. So, we all just holed up in here and I made a big pot of broccoli, cheese and chicken soup along with hot rolls. It was yummy. Grandpa even came upstairs to eat with us.

We all stayed in tonight so don't know just how bad it is on the roads now. It's after midnight now. They closed everything early here today and have closed schools and all the universities tomorrow. They even cancelled surgeries at the hospitals. It's been a long time since we've had one like this. Takes me back to the Blizzard of '78 in Indiana. I'm just glad to be indoors and hope everyone who is outdoors stays safe.

Take care everyone and Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

A SHORT GRANDPA UPDATE

Grandpa is doing his exercises everyday. So far he is working on his own with Grandma. We haven't figured out the home PT thing yet. He is doing really well, though. My personal opinion is that he is even better since coming home. I just think there is something about being in the hospital or any type of facility that kind of messes with your system. Grandpa is up and doing things more, talking to people on the phone and working in his office whereas at the rehab center if he wasn't doing PT he was usually sleeping. He just seems more put together now. Of course, part of that is time but I think a good deal of it is psyche as well.

He sure enjoys talking to his friends in Indiana. Don't hesitate to call if you get the itch. That's the best medicine he has!

MY BUCKET BOY

Jonathon was busy vacuuming the floor with Carly's pink vacuum last night and brushing his teeth (yes, at the same time) when he discovered this big black bucket. Next thing I knew he'd put the vacuum down, climbed in the bucket with his toothbrush and made himself comfortable. That's my funny little guy!

We had filled that bucket with Halloween candy and had it in Grandpa's room at the hospital and rehab center for the nursing staff. Now that Grandpa's home and the bucket is empty I've seen it on Carly's head and Jonathon's seat! Wonder where I'll find it next? Probably don't want to think too hard about that one! Lol!

By the way, Grandpa is making progress. He came upstairs for dinner tonight. He is looking good and seems to be feeling pretty well. He likes to hear from all of you so if you're inclined to call, please do. He still has lots of physical therapy ahead but he is working hard at it. More later.

JULIE, THE GREAT ORATOR

Julie, my 16 year old, won a third place trophy today at her multi-school debate tournament in oratory. I am so proud of her. It's only the third tournament she's done oratory in!

One of my friends pointed out that even though she may not have done many tournaments she is a teenager and as such has been practicing debate at home for quite some time! (So true! Lol!)

Well, Grandpa did make it home today and is doing really well! We are so glad to have him here. The kids were very happy to see him and it didn't take long until they were crawling all over him! He's up to phone calls if you want to check in!

SICK, SICK, SICK!

Today was full of sick kids and tired parents. Carly and Jonathon both have bad colds and are running fevers of 100 or more. So, it's been a busy, long day keeping them well and happy.

Grandpa will be released from the rehab center tomorrow at 10:00 in the morning. Mom and I are going to bring him home. Of course, I should actually say that Grandpa and Grandma both get released because Grandma has spent almost as much time there as he has. She just hasn't had to do the therapy!

Well, off to bed for this tired Mommy!

GET THE LADDER BOYS; WE'VE GOT A CLIMBER!

Unfortunately I'm about to start having nightmares of the fire department, long ladders and those words in my future. I told you about Jonathon climbing on top of his and Carly's cute little table. Yah, well that was funny, sweet, cute and all but this morning I left him and Carly in her bedroom just long enough to go to the kitchen to grab a bottle. When I got back--oh, thirty seconds later, Jonathon was on top of her dresser reaching for a picture that is hanging pretty high on her wall. I about fell over. Of course, there was no time for me to do that since I had to grab him and keep him from falling off the dresser.

Sure enough my little, almost 15 month old had crawled onto his sister's tiny toddler bed and up on the side rails and hefted himself up onto the dresser top. He is a strong little booger that one. Don't know what I'm gonna do with him. And I thought I had to watch Carly every second!

I'm starting to understand why my grandmother tied my father to a tree with a very short rope when he was a little boy. (But then, those of you who know him already get that, don't you? Lol!) Well, this is his namesake and he is gonna be a whole lot like him! Think I'm in big trouble! Now where is that rope? Just kidding. Lol! :)

GRANDPA UPDATE

Looks like Grandpa will be coming home on Saturday. The physical therapists who have been working with him say he is doing really, really well! They also say he is a really hard worker. I'm sure he is probably their hardest worker but that probably explains why he needs so many naps the rest of the day. :)

JONATHON'S FIRST SENTENCE

Wouldn't you know Jonathon got in trouble this morning and it turned into his first sentence. We have this really cute, colorful table and chair set that is made for toddlers. It looks like it came out of the Crayola factory. Carly and Jonathon just love it. It's little--like them but still kind of big to do what he's doing with it.

Jonathon has taken to climbing on one of the chairs and standing up. Then from there he moves to the top of the table, stands up and throws his arms up in the air like he's conquered it--kind of a KING KONG or rather King JON thing! Anyway, we are constantly pulling him off of either the chair or table, telling him "NO!", blocking him from the table. You name it we've tried it. He is just so quick. He gets up there before we know it!

So, I turn around this morning and he's standing on the chair (which I've taken him off of ten times already) getting ready to move to the table. Really loudly I said, "GET DOWN!" Startled, he immediately sat down in the chair and then said, "Get Down! Get get, down, down. My mom was in the room with me and it was all we could do not to bust up laughing at him!

It hadn't even occurred to me that he'd said his first sentence until Mom pointed it out. But hey, two words count. Ask your English teacher. Lol!

SEVENTEEN DAYS . . .

Julie has started her countdown. She looked at me on her way to bed tonight and said, "Seventeen days, Mom." It only took me a second to catch on. Of course, she could only mean one thing--her birthday. It's a countdown she puts us through every year.

Last year was particularly painful as the countdown began because I was conjuring up all kinds of frightening thoughts of what lay ahead for the year, i.e. teenage driver, first dates, boyfriends. Talk about lions and tigers and bears! Well, we made it through the first date, driver's ed and some on the road driving (though we don't have our license yet but that's another blog), and thankfully she is a really good hearted, wonderfully behaved teenager who hasn't come home with a whole slew of boys just yet!

So anyway, after she announced there were just seventeen shopping days left until her birthday, I tried to strike a deal with her. I suggested we just skip her becoming seventeen altogether and stick with sixteen since it worked out so well for both of us. I mean why screw it up when it's working? She wasn't interested. Not even a little bit. Geez, go figure? Kids these days!

OUR WEEKEND

Jonathon and I went to visit Grandpa tonight. Grandpa was snoozing when we got there. He was really tired from all the physical therapy he's been doing. Jonathon got up and gave him a big hug and kiss to wake him up. It was more like jumping up and down on his bed but either way he woke him up! Ha! Grandpa was pretty glad to see him. He has another week of PT before he comes home and then I imagine he will have some home physical therapy as well. He is doing good, though.

Our daughter Sara and her boyfriend went back to Cedar City tonight. It was really nice to have them here for the weekend. We really love this young man she is dating. His name is Stephen and he is so good to her. She is really happy, too.

Rob got called out tonight for work so I am waiting up for him to get home. The little ones are down, so is the teenager so it's nice to have a few private moments all to myself. Yay! Ah, but I hear those dishes calling my name. Darn! Well, I will leave you with a picture of Jonathon enjoying one of his new found pleasures--the powdered donut! Yum!

SHORT UPDATE

Today seemed like a really long day. Carly was really excited about having her big sister in town and couldn't quite settle down. Even though Sara was out running errands Carly couldn't quite get into her nap. She usually naps for 2-3 hours and she was really tired but every time she heard a sound she was sure it was Sara coming back so she would get out of bed and want to get up. I put her back down for her nap 3 different times before she actually went to sleep. Gah!

I'm really glad she loves her sisters as much as she does but Carly without a nap is like a month without sunshine. Actually, it's more like a month of hail storms. She is one cranky girl when she is tired!

Went to visit Grandpa tonight. He is in good spirits, though he is really, really tuckered out. They started him on a new regimine of physical therapy and even though it is helping it does wear him out. I'm pretty sure he will be at the rehab center for at least another week but I will keep you posted as we find out more.

SARA'S HOME

Sara came home tonight. She brought her boyfriend Stephen with her and they are here for the weekend. We are late night talking or this would be longer. Carly was sure glad to see her! She has been asking for weeks if Sara could come over and play. Lol!

THE SURGEON'S REPORT

Mom and I took Dad (Grandpa) to the shoulder surgeon today for his check-up. The Doc thought Dad was doing really great. He got the staples taken out of his shoulder (ick!) And, Grandpa didn't even wince once! Say that five times fast!

The doctor sent us back with some new protocol for Dad's physical therapy. He will most likely be at the Rehab Center for a couple more weeks. He is making progress with his movement--so all is well!

A SHORT UPDATE ON GRANDPA

Grandpa is doing a little better each day. He is sore from the surgery and from physical therapy but he is gaining movement. The pain he is having is also a different pain than what he was having before the surgery. The surgeon told him in the hospital that once he stopped feeling worse he would start feeling better. Lol! So, hopefully that time will come soon.

Grandpa has his first check-up with his surgeon tomorrow (Tuesday). We will be excited to see how the surgeon thinks he is doing. I will put up a note tomorrow telling you how it went.

If you are trying to reach my Dad and are having trouble getting through on his cell phone try calling the rehab center. The number there is 801-614-5700. He is in room 13. He loves to hear from you! Take care.

BREATHE BABY, BREATHE

So, the weather is starting to change here. It's been getting colder for a week or two and we have snow in the mountains now. We are supposed to get some snow on the ground later this week. Unfortunately, Jonathon's breathing is starting to get rough again. The doc said this could happen again this year since he is still so young. We were so hoping he would have a winter free of illness. He still has to have one breathing treatment a day, but when his breathing is this rough we usually end up giving him 2 or more.

I really don't want to have him get sick like he did last year so I am being pre-emptive.
I kept him home from church today. I'm not letting him go to any classes with other little kids where he could catch their germs. I decided not to pull Carly out yet because she loves her class so much. But if she comes home sick at all I will pull her too. I can't have her bringing home illnesses. It's just a frightening thing to have a baby who can't breathe well and have to put him in the hospital. I don't want to have that happen again. It's a bad memory.

Hopefully, we can enjoy the snow from our windows, not catch any bugs and have a happy week and as we are doing so do lots of normal breathing! :}

HAPPY 52nd ANNIVERSARY DAD AND MOM!

We love you so much and are so proud of you! Congratulations on 52 great years! Have a terrific day! Here's to another 52!

CARLY AND JONATHON LOVE VISITING THEIR GRANDPA

Especially since they found out he has a ride they can play with! Actually, they do love going to see Grandpa. They miss having him and Grandma at home. Grandma is staying with Grandpa at the rehab center. She does come home every day for an hour or so but other than that she has been with him pretty constantly.

My babies love their grandparents so much. They will be so happy when they are both back home again. Even more so if Grandpa brings the wheelchair with him! Lol!

MY TOOTHY GRINNY WHINY BABY BOY

Jonathon has been cranky this whole week. He has wanted to be held and comforted all day long and if I even try to put him down he lifts his legs up and keeps them up and won't let me put him down. (We refer to this as "him having his landing gear stuck up.) I've wondered if he was teething or just not feeling good in general--until today when I actually got his mouth opened and my fingers inside. Yep, he's teething. He's got at least three new teeth coming in and they are bigger ones on the bottom and top. No wonder he's clingy and whiny. Guess I would be too.

Wish I could have someone hold and comfort me all day long when I'm cranky. Maybe next time I'm in a bad mood I'll try keeping my landing gear up. Hey, it works for him! :) Sure love that kid!

TELEPHONE, TELEGRAPH, TELLCARLY

Grandpa called to talk to Carly yesterday and got a lot more than he bargained for. For some reason she decided that it was the day she was going to start answering the phone. When it rang she ran for it. Luckily I beat her to it. She has never had any interest in answering the phone before and I haven't encouraged it because she hasn't really had the full language skills to do so. She could probably do it now but she gets shy and won't always talk or answer.

Well, yesterday she wasn't shy at all. When I answered Grandpa didn't even say hi to me he asked for Carly. She was so happy she ran and took the phone from my hand. She talked to him for a good 15 minutes off and on. I'm not even sure Grandpa got to ask her any questions. Sometimes she actually had the mouthpiece near her mouth and the earpiece near her ear. (As in most of the time she was just holding the phone somewhere above her waist talking to it.) I tried to rescue Grandpa a few times and got a severe scolding from my little cutie pie each time. She let me know the call was for her, not me! Trouble is--she is sometimes a little hard to understand so I was feeling bad for Grandpa. Plus, she would say things she thought he would understand but really only she knew like , i.e. "Your chair right here Grandpa". She was pointing to his lift chair and letting him know it was right in front of her. But he had no idea what she was talking about or why she said it.

I finally thought to pick up the extension and asked Grandpa if he needed rescuing. He did. He asked if he could talk to Jonathon. I gave my phone to Jonathon since I couldn't get Carly's away from her. Poor Jonathon couldn't get a word in edgewise but he listened intently. Finally Grandpa said he'd better go and Carly was heartbroken. My poor little Chatterbox! I comforted her by telling her we would visit Grandpa later. We did and that made her happy.

Grandpa is still doing really good. He is tired from all the physical and occupational therapy but he is making progress. Things are looking up. :)

GRANDPA IS PLUM WORE OUT

Today Grandpa got his first taste of real physcial therapy today at the rehab center and it wore him out. Then later today he had occupational therapy. He spent a good part of the day working his limbs and trying to get himself more mobile. As a resut, he can barely keep his eyes open for the Colts game! You know it's bad when that happens!

I am still surprised at how little pain he is in. It does hurt him when he moves his shoulder but if he is not moving it he really doesn't have any pain.

A special thanks to the Class of 1957 for the beautiful basket planter. It makes his room bright and cheerful and he was delighted to receive it! Thanks so much! Also, thanks for the calls and cards. Those mean so much to my Dad. He's always been a talker and it really cheers him up to talk to you and hear from you. He does love his friends and classmates! You are all terrific! Lots of love to all of you from all of us. More later. N.