Because it is my blog, I can post cute pictures of grandkids whenever I wanted.
This round of pictures came at my request so that I could print pictures to give to my dad and to Ben.
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| Niki (3rd), Ava, Cooper (K) |
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| Alex, Zander (K), Carter, Ezri, Liam (2nd) |
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| Scarlett (3rd), James (K) |
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| You can see Jon Schmidt on the piano and Steven Sharp Nelson on the cello |
And then after the broadcast, the audience got invited to watch as the choir and orchestra performed the Hallelujah chorus a few times which was taped for use in an upcoming video with the Piano Guys (who performed in the filming as well.) Look for that in the future and know--we were there.
THEN as if that wasn't enough, they dismissed the audience but then said, "Wait--we forgot that Jon Schmidt and Richard Elliot (the Tabernacle choir organist) are going to perform a duet with piano and organ of "Waterfall." This was one of the Jon Schmidt pieces that Tosha learned as a teenager. It was fun to hear it in the Conference Center as two masters played their instruments in this setting. It was a perfect end to the morning of music.
What a perfect start on a Sabbath day.
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| Looking south into the Plaza area |
It makes me proud to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who understands the call to serve all of God's children....and certainly proud to be friends with Laurie and Mike--what faithful disciples are they! Such as we have found our way to serve with our talents and abilities, Laurie and Mike are willing to share theirs! God makes use of all who have a willing heart and mind.
So, I will say it again, senior missions are amazing--they can be hard and demanding--but such an amazing moment in time to serve where you are called.
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| Sister Dixon with Sister Cisneros and then me with Sister Cisneros |
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| Sister Coley, the newest missionary in our zone |
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| Sister Forman and Sister Elder |
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| Jena with the Elders |
We got home in time to change clothes, maybe answer some phone calls and emails and then headed out for the next mission activity of the day---
Mission Branch Party at the Holmes' home!
They have a beautiful house in Farmington and Sister Holmes had thought it was a great idea to invite the Mission Branch up (which is the full-time missionaries) to their house while they still have rental tables and chairs from their back yard reception for their son two days earlier (and he actually had gotten married the day before this party.) It might have used the tables and chairs effectively, but I think she was ready for a very long nap when it was all over. I didn't get any pictures of our missionaries from the event.
When we first walked in, they asked us to put some fact about ourselves that others didn't know (since we all already had name tags. :) ). I put that we had lived in Hong Kong; Gary said that he scuba dived--lots of missionaries had also scuba dived so that led to lots of conversations. Without any help from us, Jena came up with her own "I act the theatre." People had fun talking to her about plays that she liked and ones that she had been in. For tonight, "Guys and Dolls" was her favorite play.
Some moments there are no pictures for--but they are as real as sunsets and clouds and much more important than those in the eternities (well, clouds and sunsets play their parts in the whole world as a system and these are actually pictures of clouds in this post--- but you get the point)-- our relationships with each other--in our families and in our friendships are the most important things and sometimes it changes plans on a day or in a week.
Dad: It started first last Thursday with a text and then a phone call with Karla, my dad's wife, telling me that my dad was in the hospital. He had had a fall and they decided that he needed to remain in the hospital for observation although his original tests had come back fine--no concussion or anything from the fall. I had already made plans to visit with Dad that evening with my sister, Valerie who was in town for BYU Education Week. Since dad was doing fine, I decided to wait to tell her and my other siblings until later that day so that Valerie could enjoy her day of classes and my other siblings could get home from work, etc. Then Thursday evening, we were able to visit with him at the hospital for a couple of hours.
Ben: I already had a medical appointment with Ben that afternoon with his gastroenterologist in Provo so we did that first. His doctor had decided that there was no evidence that Ben had any significant blockage or constipation over the past 2 months and that the diarrhea was "primary" not as a result of constipation. So, he took Ben off several medications and is hoping to change another one to help his bowels get more into balance/ He is still very much at risk for constipation due to the antipsychotics and other medications he is taking so it will always be a balancing act between the two. Unfortunately, there was other bad news. His liver enzymes especially ammonia are off again. As a result, the doctor has ordered a different scan of the liver which will be done at the end of September.
In addition, he has gained 7 lbs in the past five weeks. He continues to struggle with his slurred speech but it is improving. It is likely due to the medication they added to reduce anxiety which has allowed him to go outside. It is being reduced but likely will have to be stopped. Ben is discouraged since he felt that medication had been very useful for him. Ben can't seem to catch a break with medication.
Liam: While we were at the mission branch social on Friday night (more on that in a different post), I got a text from Jessica saying they were heading to Primary's with Liam. He had been having "retractions" as he was breathing for about 3 days but didn't have any other signs of being sick. Usually, it is caused by pneumonia or colds. They reached out to his doctor on Friday and she responded by asking them to take him to the ER at Primary's. Due to the history in the family of Chiari Malformation, there was the tiniest chance that he might be having symptoms of that. Meanwhile.....
Elessia: Elessia had had some blood work done as part of an overall health checkup and Friday afternoon, her doctor's office had called and said that her blood work was not good and showed some possible heart issues and she needed to be checked at an ER as well. So now, Jessica had two family members to take to an ER. She dropped Elessia off at the University of Utah Hospital ER and then went just down the hill to Primary's with Liam. Elessia's niece who is a BYU student came up to watch the other kids.
When I got the message, I checked in with Jessica and Liam said he wanted me to come and stay with him and Jessica. So, after dropping off Sister Cisneros and Gary and Jena, I headed to Primary's about 8:30 pm and hung out while they were running tests and making decisions. Good news about him--he does not have Chiari. His lungs were clear. They decided that he was constipated which was causing his stomach to swell and push against his diaphragm and that was irritating his lungs. About midnight, he headed home with me while Jessica joined Elessia at U of U ER where there was a 4 hour wait to even be checked into a room.
After having an EKG and more blood tests, Elessia was cleared to leave the ER about 3:00 am. Everything looked back to normal and she needs to follow up with her doctor to make sure things stay that way.
So after all of that--good news for both of them. And I guess, better safe than sorry!! We are happy that they both are fine.
Liam thought it was fun to spend the night, but we had to leave early in the morning to take him home so that we could get the other things done that needed to be done. We are putting lots of miles on our car these days.
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| Liam sleeping on our couch Saturday morning Some time in the night he had put his glasses on. |
