Another afternoon at the park with friends= one happy boy!
At the beginning of the month I went in to see a podiatrist to see about having surgery on my foot or ankle. I took Murphy for a walk in late August and I was in tremendous pain for several weeks (yes, weeks!). It got to the point where one day I literally had to crawl from my bedroom out to the living room because I couldn't put any weight on my foot. I made a video journal type recording to document the extreminty of my pain. It was ridiculous. So I called my doctor and he set up the referral. On October 1 I saw a podiatrist who did a great job explaining what was happneing that was the cause of my pain. He also did a great job explaining to me my options. After talking to my brilliant brother in law, the pain management doctor, I decided to try a cortizone shot in my foot before deciding on surgery. I got the shot the next day-Friday October 2. It hurt quite a bit more than I expected all that day and even into Saturday. I iced it several times. But by Monday... it was feeling like a normal foot. So when Eliza asked if we watned to go to the park I was eager to give it shot.
I played with so much joy because I was able to move freely and without pain. I was able to rotate mid-run and run and plant my foot.... I even kinda fell in a small hole with that foot and didn't have to quit. It was amazing. I felt so good and SO happy. I probably over did it, but it was worth it. I did slow down for the next several days, but nothing too serious.
Our water unit study in science continued, we all thought this water wheel was fun.
Sometimes I have a hard time when the kids are outside playing, I just don't want to force them inside to work when things are so pleasant outside together. This was one of those days. They were having so much fun blowing. theleaves into piles and jumping into them. This pile actually has a hidden surprise within it... Abraham! He sat in there for a good 15 minutes while waiting for Fisher to finish his lunch. He really wanted to surprise him and had the patience to make it work. I took some good videos of all this fun, but don't like to post videos here, so we'll just stick with photos.
I especially love it when Levi gets involved with the fun. He has struggled to love home school. He is down a lot. But this was a lot of fun for him. Made my heart happy.
Levi thought it would be fun to try jumping from the top of the suburban. Maybe I'm a bad mom, but I let him try it. I'm sure that I was getting judged at least a little when one person drove by. They did a full on double take and then stared for a minute while wat the Stop sign. Thankfully, no one got hurt.
More chocolate chip cookies.
I was talking to my dad early in the month about his need for shoulder surgery. He told me the surgeon could get in his the 13th of October, but he didn't want my mom to have to miss this quilting retreat she was going on. I was aghast! "Mom's going on a quilting retreat and she didn't invite me?!?!?!?" So I got the scoop from my mom that she and my aunts and cousins were renting an Airbnb at Bear Lake and quilting for a weekend. I promptly invited myself to join them. We spent what felt like forever talking about who was going to join me on the journey and how we would travel. In the end, the kids and I hit the road early, early one Thursday morning. We drove all day and got to my parent's house Thursday night and slept there. The next morning, the kids hit the road down to stay with my brother while I snagged a ride with my mom and dad to Bear Lake.
On the way to Bear Lake I got a message from Jonas with a picture of Eliza's hand telling me that she had dislocated her finger. I was not amused. I talked with my brother who wondered if I wanted someone to take her to the doctor. I wasn't sure, but my reception had been spotty so I asked them to connect with Ethan to make the decision. Ethan felt like she needed to probably be seen, but that was the last I heard about it.
At Bear Lake we had a difficult time finding the location of the place we were staying, but after stopping and asking some locals we eventually found it. It was a nice place! There were 10 of us and most of us were sewing all weekend. We needed places to set up sewing machines, ironing boards, cutting mats, not to mention all the food... it was crammed! But it was so much fun! Two of my cousins have nursing babies, so they were the only two kids allowed and it was such a nice break! Just what I needed! I tried to capture some pictures of the fun!
One of the things I really loved about it was that we were able to talk about my grandparents and my great-grandparents quite a bit. I recorded my aunts and mom telling me stories that I can transcribe and put into family search. Stories are my favorite thing about family history because they make me feel really connected to my family members that came before me. The whole trip was a major blessing for me as I have never really felt like I "fit" in the family. As a kid, I had a bunch of older boy cousins, and a bunch of younger girl cousins, but no one my age. And, I really never felt like anyone in the family liked me all that much. (Something I've struggled with my whole life).
The first night there I stayed up until 2 am with my cousins and one aunt talking about all sorts of things. It was really neat for me to have a chance to get to know them so much better. I am the oldest of the granddaughters on this side of my family and while I had a bit of a relationship with the older two cousins, the younger two (and the new cousin-in-law) were a different story. I remember holding one of these girls when she was 3 weeks old while we waited outside the temple while Richy and Kari got married 20 years ago! And the other was a cute little "flower" girl at my wedding. Which basically means she got a dress and got her picture taken a couple times. Though she and her brother did take gifts and placed them on the gift table at the reception. Anyway, it was so fun to get to know each other better, as adults.
My dad joked that we wouldn't get any sewing done because we would be too busy talking, but I was really impressed with all the sewing accomplished.
This was my pile of finished work. I was really excited with all I got done... of course, they're still in the box I brought home with me, untouched since getting back...but more on that later.
I have designed a cute table runner that these Christmas blocks will be a part of.
And these Fall themed blocks will become another table runner.
We got paired up for meal prep. So we each only had to cook one meal, too. There was so much food and it was all super delicious!
We had to check out by 10ish Sunday morning, so we decided to clean up as much as we could Saturday night. Then when it was all put away we played games, talked, laughed, snacked... the makings of a perfect girl's night.
The best group of ladies to sew with! It was totally worth the effort of driving down with my kids to be here for this. I left feeling so, so good.
I went back to my parent's house for a bit and then we started the drive down to Ogden after a nap. While we were driving down my dad stopped by the cemeteries where my great-grandparents are buried. It was great to see where they are buried after hearing so many stories about them over the weekend.
As we pulled out from the Lewiston cemetery I got a text from Jonas informing that Levi broke his arm. This picture was attached. I thought, for sure, he must be joking. No way could I have had two kids get injured over one weekend at my brother's house. We were on our way down, so I told them to wait; I would take him to the ER when I got there. Levi and Eliza both commented (when I talked to them) that when Levi was getting situated in the chair, he had his elbow on the arm rest and the arm kind of perpendicular to it and they were sure they saw his forearm flop in the middle of it (Harry Potter style). When I got there, I could tell it was going to be broken. So, we got right in the car and headed to the ER.
He was in a lot of pain. But he kept telling me he didn't want to have surgery. I told him that I didn't think they would have to... the break was in the middle of his forearm, the worst I expected would be setting the bone.
As we walked into the facility we were met by a security guard who led us right into the trauma area. A nurse walked up and asked if it looked bent... she looked at it and decided that it did, in fact, look bent. So we were ushered into this big trauma room.
They brought the x-ray machine right to his bedside which was nice that he didn't have to move...but it still hurt a lot.
The x-rays needed no radiologist to expertly weigh in and let us know it was broken...
I cringed when I saw this. The doctor told us that he didn't think setting the bone would do any good, that it would just pop right back out of place. He was sure he needed plates and screws in place to secure it. He would send photos and talk to an orthopedic surgeon to verify...
Then he wrapped Levi's arm in this gargantuan splint to get us through until we got him in to the surgeon.
Levi and I missed Sunday dinner, but we got back to Richy's while people were still hanging out. Porter, or I should say Elder H, grew to really adore Fisher during their weekend together. He gave him extra hugs, not sure if he would get to see him again before being in quarantine for his mission.
I have the best family. I love these people to the moon and back.
We drove down to stay with Ethan's parents that night so I could be closer to the airport for picking up my dear, sweet hubby at midnight.
His parents had been working and working and working to get Grandpa's house all cleaned out and they were eager to give Ethan this awesome get-up they encountered. It pays to be the namesake, I guess. :)
Over the weekend Scott and Jane had hosted their annual pumpkin carving and our kids got to participate for the first time! Bolton was super stoked to make his into this helmet.
Fisher thought Grandpa needed a helmet too.
Levi had stayed at my brother's house instead of going to the pumpkin party... so he tried his hand at single hand carving. From the get-go, he was determined to be independent. Really surprised me.
Monday morning was spent on the phone with lots of doctors' offices. I didn't feel overly confident with the ER doc and so I called around after getting some recommendations from family for a surgeon. We ended up taking making an appointment for Levi down at Primary Children's emergency room the next day.
We decided that Eliza needed to go in, so I took her to Tanner clinic urgent care. When we got there I was surprised to see one of my aunts with whom I'd just spent the weekend! She works there, and apparently, the different doctors all rotate through the urgent care center and they were on that afternoon. It was nice to have a familiar face to take care of her. They did x-rays and discovered that she had indeed, broken her finger. So we left the clinic with instructions to buddy tape it for the next 3 weeks.
Anybody have any tips on how to get this kid to not be so addicted to screens?
Ethan took him Levi to Primary Children's hosptial and opted to stay in the room while they tried to set the bones. They were hopeful that he was young enough that the bones would straighten out and heal correctly without surgery, so they spent quite some time trying to get the bones lined up. The way Ethan tells it, there were at least 6 people working on him (at one point 9). Levi was knocked out with sedation, thankfully. They were pushing and pulling, and stretching, and bending... you get the idea. Ethan, who doesn't have a history of squeamishness, felt uneasy and had to remind himself to breathe a few times when he started getting light-headed. So, yeah, it was pretty brutal. They would take an x-ray every couple minutes and took 84 (or 85) photos.
They came back and Levi looked a lot more comfortable with his arm bent and in a sling. The images Ethan brought back didn't impress me much... the bones were barely (barely!) even touching on the very edge. But we would see in a week if he would end up needing surgery or not. All total, they were at the hospital for about 7 hours (if I remember correctly).
We were happy we got to see my parents again, even if it was for a very brief visit.
I took some kids to Burly Burger and since Bryant can't have milkshakes, he chose a Brother Brigham Root Beer.
That evening we decided we needed to get out of the house, so we decided to hit a trail.
I really do miss having hiking trails all around. The kids were happy to go because there would be cousins joining us.
It was a really lovely evening.
As we were going along the trail, we were surprised to find some old cars that were fixtures on the mountain.
Great for a photo-op.
Fisher had a lot of fun with his hiking buddy, Eden.
Apparently, the trampoline had 3 victims over the weekend... Claire was the other unfortunate soul. She got to hitch a ride up part of the trail, though.
Happy, happy. Joy, joy.
Love birds.
Lovely sunset.
Richy was like a pack-horse with all the stuff he had to carry all night.
We were planning to go hand out at Richy's that evening, but then Sean called as we were driving away from the parkway. He and his family were just leaving their ward's Halloween drive-by parade and wondered if they could drive by and throw candy at our family. They were in quarantine while we were in town because a couple of them had had Covid. It was going to be a big bummer that we couldn't see them, but then they surprised us with this opportunity! We drove up to their house and the kids got candy. We sat/stood on the front lawn and visited for a bit and it was fun! Like I said earlier, I love my family so much.
The next day (I think... its all kind of blur, in reality) I got a phone call from my aunt who had taken care of Eliza the day before at the urgent care clinic... she had more bad news to add to our load: Eliza's finger break was in the growth plate and she needed to see a hand specialist. Ugh. So we made an appointment at Primary Children's for the next day.
We took a trip into Ogden to go to Deseret Book. I took Eliza with me to the store, Ethan took the boys to walk around the temple. While they walked they recorded the boys singing, "I Love to See the Temple" for our ward's primary program. Once we were all together we splurged and got everyone ice cream at Farr's.
Watching Fisher with his ice cream cone (which might have been his first ice cream shoppe cone) made us all reminisce our time in California when we used to get ice cream cones once a week at Baskin Robbins on base. He really liked it.
We spent some time at Richy's after ice cream and then Ali invited Jonas, Levi, and Eliza to spend the night at their house so we drove out to see their amazing new home! The kids were in heaven!
Ethan and I enjoyed visiting with them so much!
We had a lot of fun as a family in Utah but Ethan had to get back to work and the two oldest boys had to get back to school, so Ethan took everyone but Levi and me in the suburban and drove home on Saturday. Levi and I bought tickets to fly home on Sunday. Which meant we got to stay an extra bit of time. Richy and Kari hosted us once again. They are so wonderful. They made us a delicious dinner.
And then they took us out for a show, as well. Back in my old stomping grounds, we went to watch Paige's play
Working.
As we were entering the auditorium I ran into my dear friend! She also had a niece in the show! We had just had dinner together the night before, but it was such a fun coincidence to run into each other out and about! We had lots of fun in these hallways together back in the day!
Sunday morning Richy drove Levi and me to the new SLC airport. We checked in and went through security (although it was a little more involved because of Levi's arm). Then we got on our plane in SLC and flew to Denver. The gate attendant was kind enough to let Levi board early so he woudln't risk bumping his arm on anyone while walking through the aisle. While waiting for our next flight we visited the USO and got some snacks. I love the USO so much. They are such a blessing while traveling. Good people.
We headed to our gate and when we got there, it was crowded! I asked the gate attendant there if he could board early and was told that he could not. Only those in wheelchairs, unable to walk are given that priority. I wasn't too impressed. Once we were finally able to board he actually did pretty well at not bumping it, so I wasn't as upset anymore. We found our seats and got settled. I texted Ethan that we were on the plane! So close to being done with the travels! We had been in our seats for less than 5 minutes when they came on board and told us that everyone had to get off the plane. Then we stood around the gate for a while waiting to hear what was happening... finally we got word that our flight was canceled. So I found a hotel and we headed to the shuttle exit. The shuttle came after about an hour and we finally made it to our hotel. Unfortunately, there were no cookies in sight (one of the reasons I wanted to stay at a Doubletree). We ate a bunch of snacks that we had packed for our dinner. It wasn't awesome. Levi watched a movie on my phone that night, Ephraim's Rescue. It can be hard to keep the Sabbath Day holy while traveling but we did the best we could.
It snowed that night. Levi found it relaxing watching the snow fall out the window.
When we woke up Monday morning, there wasn't as much snow as we'd expected but it was cold! I think it was about 11 degrees. Also on Monday morning Ethan went in and got tested for Covid because he'd been feeling sick.
We caught the shuttle back to the airport, got through security again (with a little hold up with Levi's arm), and made our way to the USO to wait. Pretty awesome wall of patches.
Finally got on the plane and headed home!
When we arrived in Fargo we had to find the car that Ethan had left in the parking lot. Even though the thermometer said it was 24 degrees it felt way colder in Fargo than in Denver. That wind was brutal. But "Eagle Eyes" Levi found the car. I got it cleaned off and then we made the hour drive home. It was so great to be home finally!
Abraham and Fisher have a bumpy relationship. Abe loves Fisher sometimes and can't stand him at others. I like it when he loves him.
Wednesday after getting back to North Dakota, Levi and I headed down to Fargo again to see the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon. I think that was the morning that Ethan got the news that he tested positive for Covid. Cause, you know, we needed just one more thing to deal with. I called the clinic to make sure that they would still see us, thankfully they understood that we really needed to be seen.
We got there and they put us in a room isolated from everyone else because of the close contact with Covid. Levi got x-rays (with his splint still in tact). Once he got back from x-ray we waited and waited and waited... I finally called the front desk and they basically said we'd been forgotten. Ha. So, the PA came in to meet us and explained the situation.
The surgeon felt that the bones were not lined up well enough to trust that they would heal straight. He was concerned that if it healed poorly he would have limited mobility (rotation, specifically). His hope was to put two nails (or rods) down the length of both bones. There was potential that he wouldn't be able to get the rods in place and he would need to use plates and screws, but that would be a far more invasive a surgery. The rods are primarily used with pediatric cases whereas the plates and screws are for adults. Levi is neither a child nor an adult. That is why we were given such varying answers in Utah... he's too big to treated just like any young child fracture. Setting the bones would be enough, typically in those cases (though the doc wasn't sure he'd be able to avoid surgery with Levi's fractures because they were so ill-placed). Anyway, usually in an adult the initial surgery (that the ER doc talked about) with plates and screws would be used.
This surgeon has worked with both adults and kids in his training. He said that most docs don't have experience doing both the rods and the plates... so I felt confident that we were in the right hands.
We drove down the next morning for the big event. I was impressed with this glorious sunrise as I drove.
At the hospital, again we got our own room to wait in. Levi had some anxiety as he changed into his gown. He was trying not to cry. Eventually, his IV got placed... the nurse kept asking if it hurt. She wasn't getting return (blood) in the needle, so she was concerned it wasn't in the vein. He was adamant that it didn't hurt. However, once the fluid started dripping he noticed that his arm looked really strange. A huge bubble was forming above the IV entry site.
So the anesthesiologist came in and placed another one, this time in his hand.
It didn't capture well in the picture, but this is where the IV had been.
We watched lots of Treehouse Masters while we waited. But it was soon time for them to wheel him away. He, again, was fighting tears. They asked if he wanted to give me a hug before leaving and he tried to play it cool, but I hugged him anyway. That's when the tears stung.
The surgery was only supposed to take about 45 minutes. But it ended up taking almost 90. I was getting a little nervous, but the doctor told me it was all the protocols becuase of Covid. After the surgery the bones are much better lined up. A big sigh of relief from this momma.
Apparently, the doctor had to really hammer them in there. But Levi only has two little incisions. One by his elbow and one by his wrist.
The next day we celebrated Fisher's third birthday (after Levi and I got tested for Covid)! We started the day with birthday wishes on Netflix.
The day progressed nicely with dinner, cake, ice cream and presents! We even got to enjoy some time on a vdeo call with grandparents. This tube for racing cars was a hit.
We finally have a boy who loves cars...and it only took 5 others to go through.
Abraham is getting really comfortable reading, it does my heart a lot of good to see his big brother help him as we read scriptures.
We all got our results back from our Covid tests and we were all negative which meant that we all got to quaratine for 14 days after Ethan got to go back to work. A Halloween in quaratine was going to be interesting. I had to get creative. So, that's what I did. I ordered several bags of candy (grocery delivery is the best). We got out the costume box and let the kids dress up then Ethan and I stood behind three of our upstairs interior doors so they could trick or treat. After the first round, they all changed costume again and did the rounds again. Of course, I had to get photos of each round.
Ethan and I even dressed up a little.
This was a funny one, she was a teenager...she had earbugs in under the hoodie.
Look who else got in on the action!
Not sure the pants were a good choice for a beard, but what are you gonna do?
This one was a little too close to actuality.
Everyone was really happy with their haul.
We also watched The Nightmare Before Christmas while we ate. It was actually a really fun Halloween. And definitely one we'll remember. I liked these collages I posted to Instagram so I thought I'd share them here, too. I love my kids!
