Playground Fun

While Elessia's older sister, Jill, came and stayed the week with them to help with the kids, I became the playground grandma.  A couple of afternoons, I came and took the other three kids to different parks so that Jill and Ezri could enjoy some quiet time.

Fortunately the weather was good enough that we could have fun, although some days required coats and hats.

Here are some photos from the different times we went to the park.

These first ones actually included Carter as they were the week before the surgery when Elessia was in AZ.

Carter

Jena with part of the gang

Zander (Spiderman)

Liam

Zander

Liam

Liam and Alex

The International Peace Gardens--fun for me because I loved talking about the different countries which were represented in the garden.  Liam likes to learn about countries.

Part of the Chinese Garden

They loved the path to this big rock---

and loved the little bridges as well.

We went to a few other parks as well.  It was great to be outside with sunshine.  

Carter's Surgery

After at least a year and half of collecting a variety of diagnoses such as low muscle tone, sleep apnea, swallowing problems, etc., Carter was finally correctly diagnosed with Chiari Malformation.  That means that the space at the base of the skull and the spine is too small.  Because of the growth of the brain, pressure was being put on the brain stem at this point and could explain all of the things they had observed in Carter through her life.

Surgery was scheduled for Monday, March 29th, and while it was very scary especially for Jessica and Elessia, it was also exciting to think that it was possible that many if not all of her symptoms would be relieved and that she may catch up in her development.

Here is Carter, waiting for surgery!

Surgery went well and the doctor was very hopeful.  It will take several months to see if there was any permanent damage to the brain/nerve tissue or not.  The doctor reported that the area was very white, indicating that there was significant pressure, but that things had gone well.

She had to remain in the hospital for five days which is never fun.  She mostly slept the first few days and really didn't even begin to play with toys until Thursday.

Skip the next pictures if you are not a fan of stitches:

The doctor did a great job at not removing a lot of hair.  Since Carter likes her hair, that was a nice bonus.

She liked her Frozen toys from us, but she didn't quite have the energy to play with them yet.  I think this was on Thursday.

Going home day---Yay!!!!

Carter continues to recover well.  She will have a swallow test this week to see if that has improved enough to have her come off of thickened liquids.  She would love to eat fresh fruit again and drink regular water.  Thickening liquids has stopped all of her lung difficulties so it has been worth it, but it is a pain and she is not a fan.

Meanwhile, the other kids and I----next post!!!

Our Other Life--

While missionary life is fulfilling and exciting, it doesn't mean that our "outside life" has stopped.  Life keeps happening all around us.

Jena keeps busy with her missionary service at the seminary and the Distribution Center.  She is telling everyone that we are moving to Salt Lake to a new apartment and she is so excited.

This is her faith poster for the entry into the seminary building.

She was excited to attend the "Lamb of God" movie with our mission.  One of our zone members slipped us "some important mission papers" right before the movie:

How sweet was that?  After we got home, Jena immediately wrote Sister Jones a thank you note and then asked me to make sure I took a picture of the treat "for the blog."

Tosha had surgery to begin the process of repairing the damage from her surgery back before Ava was born.  It has been a long slow recovery complete with an almost full-body compression suit for six weeks--doesn't that sound fun?  Her doctor was very pleased with the results and Tosha's healing so far.

Ben remains at the Utah State Hospital.  We have recently been able to visit since we have been vaccinated so that has been great. 

Scott and his family are in town for Chantel's weight conditioning business and will spend a week in Utah.  His boss at work was recently fired so that makes for uncertainty in the workplace.  Hopefully things will settle down for him.  We are excited to see them tomorrow for our belated Easter dinner and hunt.  And Scott will help us with some moving heavy things that we need to do to prepare for our upcoming movie.

It has been a few crazy weeks and no place more crazy than for Jessica and Elessia---Monday, the 22nd, Elessia got word that her mother was put into ICU for not clear reasons.  She had been in the hospital due to diabetic complications, then had been moved to a rehab hospital, and then moved back in critical condition.  Elessia flew to Mesa, AZ, with the baby Ezri while Jessica "piece milled" care of the other 4 kids while she was gone so that Jessica could continue to work some.  Jessica had just returned to work the prior week after her 3 month maternity leave and already was taking days off the next week for Carter's surgery.  Luckily they have good friends and I came down in the afternoons on some days and overnight once to help get everyone taken care of so Jessica was able to manage some working.

Elessia's mother passed away on Wednesday so they were very grateful that Elessia had gone down.  Baby Ezri was the hit of the family as they hadn't met her yet.  She was the bright spot in a hard situation.  

Besides Jessica and Elessia's kids, the youngest cousin on
that side is 12 years old--so they had to make due for sleeping arrangements.
She slept all night.

As Carter's surgery was scheduled for March 28, the family scheduled the surgery for the following week which allowed Elessia and her sister, Jill, who was watching the kids during the week Carter was to be in the hospital, to drive back to Utah together and gave the kids an extra day to get to know their Aunt Jill before the surgery.  More on the surgery and then their return trip to AZ on the next post!

And, of course, the three of us are busy trying to get the house and yard ready and to pack things up in preparation for the upcoming move.  We have lived here 23 years so that is a lot of stuff to go through.

Easter Sunday + General Conference= Priceless

Easter Sunday---the part of it tied up in Easter dinners, hunts, and baskets is being delayed at our house because Scott and Chantel and kids will be in town so we are gathering with them and Jessica's family for Easter dinner/Easter fun on April 19th.  Because of that, I haven't given much thought to those types of things----

We did get this delivered to our door by two little children that I do not know:

So we had a visit by the Easter bunny, nonetheless.....and of course, there is some Easter candy to snack on during the upcoming last session of General Conference.

What we, what I have done instead--has been so much better and as a result, my heart and my mind have been flooded by the sweet confirmations once again-- "He is truly risen!" and we will also live again among all those we love and have lost for a short time.

Preparation started earlier than usual.  For our mission conference on March 18, Elder Daniel Rona, who is a missionary in our zone and also a noted tour guide and researcher in Israel, gave a beautiful presentation about the last week of Christ's life along with understandings of the Passover and the symbolic nature of the things that the Jews did.  Elder Rona is Jewish by birth, his grandparents were killed in the Death Camps by the Nazis.  As a young boy, he and his dad left Israel and came to America and there he and his father joined the Church.  As a young elder, he served his mission to Germany.  He married his lovely wife, Marilyn, and they returned to Israel and raised their family there while he built his travel agency.  He is a bright and gifted man and we were lucky to be taught by him.  He has YouTube videos which can be found at Israel Revealed or by searching his name.

As a mission, we were invited to attend a private showing of the movie "Lamb of God" which we did with about 100 missionaries in the Kaysville Theatre.  It is a concert film and it is amazing.  I suggest anyone who is interested in Christ or who love Him, watch it.  The music is great and the messages meaningful.  I was struck by the humanness of the Apostles and their great love for the Master.  I can do that--be human and have great love for our Master.

I discovered that on the Gospel App there was an Easter playlist which included several pieces from the Messiah which was written for Easter.  This week, I listened to those songs whenever I was in the car alone.  I have never created a playlist for myself nor used the Bluetooth in my car to play something, but I was grateful for that opportunity this week as I prepared for General Conference and Easter.

For my personal study, I read the accounts of the last days in Christ's life.  I also watched some other YouTube tributes to Christ and about His Atonement.  My Facebook was filled with other videos and quotes as well which helped remind me of the greatest of the sacrifice in my behalf--and in yours.  I re-watched the presentation by Elder Rona last night.

And then conference-- starting with the three sessions yesterday, the one this morning, and waiting in anticipation for the final session-- As I posted on Facebook--

"My summary of the first day of General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."

Although that scripture was not quoted today, that is what was done....the thread through the talks in all three sessions.

Can't wait for tomorrow...Easter Sunday and Conference...a perfect combination."

Photo of the Garden Tomb taken by friend, 
Eileen Bradford-shared with her permission

Now, I am embarrassed to admit that when I was younger, I didn't like it when Easter fell on Conference Weekend because it seemed like all of the talks were about the Savior (or related--when it fell on April 6 and things seemed focused on the Restoration)  as opposed to an array of topics.  Somewhere along the line (thankfully) I have matured.  Today was Easter and as "there is no other name than His" that can return us to God, let us praise Him and Honor Him.  The modern day Apostles and Prophets of God and the Sister leadership should be speaking of Him and showing us the way to draw close unto Him and His Father and to become more like him in thought, word, or action.  There is no other way.

So, "thanks be to God for the matchless gift of His Son."

Happy Easter!  He is Risen!