a LOT

Denise and I had a big day planned.  We were going to watch Les Miserables, for her first time ever. I picked her up at 9, we went to Sonic and came back home.  She'd made treats for breakfast and we were just getting started when her phone rang.  She said, "Jeremy!?" and then she said, "Which hospital!?"  I was already grabbing my things to go.

Jeremy is Liza's age and the two of them have grown up together since they were just out of diapers.  Jeremy is Denise's oldest.  He's a good guy.  Always kind and loving and so so intelligent.   I love this kid.

Apparently, Jeremy, a scientist kinda guy, was in the lab, standing with another guy who turned his back to Jeremy and then heard a loud thump and turned back to find Jeremy on the floor, having the first of many, many seizures.  Denise and I pulled up as they were unloading him from the ambulance.  I dropped Denise off to go inside with them and then, went to pick up Jeremy's partner, Sarah.

We raced back to the hospital and straight into the ER.  There were machines and tubes and you name it being placed on his body.  He was still seizing and we were all just in shock as we watched. I called Doug immediately to come and give Jeremy a blessing.  Jeremy and the rest of Denise's kids have little faith in the gospel, at this time in their lives, but they all agreed that it was a good thing.  (I think that the fact that Doug was the one coming made that easier for them, as he is family to them.)

Jeremy had to be intibated before Doug could even arrive at the hospital.  He gave Jeremy a beautiful blessing, assuring him that he would live, that his doctors would be on their best game, that all would be well.

Within an hour, Jeremy was life-flighted to Salt Lake City, in a medically induced coma, to stop the seizures until more tests could be performed and before he could have surgery on his brain.  Test showed that he had fractured his skull in the fall and had a brain bleed.  Things were looking pretty bleak.

Even knowing where we are today with this, just looking at these pix makes my heart hurt.  Denise asked me to take pictures so that we could show Jeremy when he is better.

However, Jeremy never needed the surgery.  Jeremy had a few really bad days, but within a week, he was awake and able to sit, to speak, although he had little short-term memory.  By Tuesday, this week, Jeremy was transferred to a closer hospital in Ogden and the next day, he was released from the hospital.  He still has memory issues, balance issues and is working hard to improve in those areas.  He's receiving physical therapy and speech therapy and and and... but he's alive.  He's home.  And there is hope, even though he is quite discouraged at all that has happened and has little comprehension of anything that's happening.

I started this post on the day after all of this happened... two weeks ago.   It's been a crazy two weeks.  CRAZY.  C-R-A-Z-Y!!! We are so thankful for the many prayers that were answered.  On the night before Jeremy was transferred, Denise called at midnight and said that her cute little 2 year old granddaughter, Rose, was in the ICU in Vegas with RSV.  The next night, when Jeremy was in the second hospital, Denise texted, "Guess where I am?"  Assuming she was with Jeremy, at the new hospital, I about died when she said she was in the Logan ER with her daughter!!!  Talk about having a lot on your plate!  Thankfully, Ashlee is fine, Rose is home and fine and Jeremy is on the mend!  It's been crazy.  Just plain crazy.

I will not complain about my problems.  That's for sure.  Life is good.  Trying but good.

February

Since I'm behind on keeping up... haha, that sounds funny... I thought I'd do a quick catch-up on a few major events in our world.   Sundays have been pretty crazy.  Maybe I should shoot for Wednesdays!  So here's February in a glance.

Miki's Baptism!  It's unbelievable to think that this sweet little angel was just a baby and we were going through such a life-changing event, as we watched her birth and then saw Stott and Wendy take her home from the hospital to become her eternal family.  What a blessing, what a miracle and what a gift!  Mikelle is so happy, so loved and so blessed to be in this wonderful family.  My favorite thing is watching her with her older sister, who's just younger than Zeej.  Wow!  It brings tears to my eyes.  Two weeks ago, Mikelle was baptized by her dad and the baptism was officially witnessed by her two older brothers.  Doug and Quayd were able to join in the circle while she was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  It was a lovely event and Mikelle could not have smiled any bigger!  We adore this precious child and could never express our gratitude to Stott and Wendy for their goodness!  We are blessed with so many extra members of our family, as a result of adoption!  Love it!

The next day was Super Bowl Sunday. It was just Quayd and Zee, Doug and I.  We kept our meal pretty simple compared to years before, but we did have a nice feast.  With Grace gone, we have lots less eating restrictions, so we had beans (her least favorite thing on earth to eat) and all the gluten we wanted without guilt.  Sadly for Zeej, she had just come down with strep, so she was pretty tame all day.  Sadly for me, this also meant that I would be doing most of the kitchen duty myself.  The game was a fun one to watch, our only game of the entire year, every year.  But, the time together was just the best.  Some traditions can't be broken... We had marvelous church meetings before, then a marvelous family time together.

The next night, we hosted thirty people for dinner.  The funny thing was the Doug texted me in church the day before, "We get to feed Group A for FHE tomorrow night."  I love this!  LOVE it!  HOWEVER.  This is something that I have depended on Zeej for her assistance.  With Zeej having strep, and Quayd starting to be sick right behind her, I did all of the preparation and cooking on my own!  This was a first since my shoulder replacement.  I decorated the tables, then, made ten loaves of bread, five batches (20 quarts) of homemade chicken noodle soup and dessert.  I was so excited to feel like "me" again!  It was painful at times, but slowly, I'm getting better.  YAY!  HAPPINESS!!

We had such a fun night with the students!  After dinner, I asked them to each share 1. Something they love to do.  2.  Something they love about their life right now.  and 3.  Someone they love.  I was amazed at how many said they love their moms.  Also, several said, "Right now, I'm loving this homemade bread... this soup..."  Good answers!  What a gift to serve these young adults!

Zeej was on the tireswing in the backyard... standing on it, trying to take a photo of the textures of the tree for her photography class, and slipped off it.  We thought that she'd broken her arm at the elbow.  Thankfully, it was just a bad sprain and bruise.  She was mortified when I told her that the PA wheeled in the cart, he was there to put on her diaper.  It was worth the cost of the ER bill to see the look on her face!  CRAZY!  FUNNY!

Winter finally arrived at the end of February.  I woke up to snow beginning to fall.  I went to Ward Council Meeting at 9:00 and there was about an inch.  When we came out of church at 2 in the afternoon, we had eleven inches.  It has snowed off and on every since.  But, the beauty of snow falling this late in the year is that it melts off the roads and sidewalks pretty quickly.  It's sure been beautiful though.  I laughed at all the people whining about this snow.  Seriously, people.  It's STILL winter!  Whine in April or May when we get snow, not March.  Just sayin.

There's been so much going on in Relief Society. My every day is filled with busyness.  My every other waking moment is filled with concern, love, thoughts of how to serve these amazing ladies in our ward.  I am surrounded by women who are remarkable and with hearts full of love for each other.  I've never been around such amazing ladies.  Hours and hours upon hours of time spent together and I've yet to hear gossip or negativity.  People speak highly of each other.  They have a tremendous desire to serve one another.  And they do!  It makes my job so awesome!  I am blessed!  Busy but blessed!  Life is good!

no poker faces here

One of my biggest blessings that has come from serving in Relief Society is my friendship with these three cute ladies. (Our friendship actually began two weeks before my calling, but they have been a big part of it!)

Viola on the left, Diane in the center and Frankie on my right.  

Oh my goodness, they do make me laugh!  We have too much fun when we get together to play Hand and Foot.  For the past months since August, it's been, at least, once a week.  They have their own rules, different than Carol and I have played for decades, and they stick to them!  They watch what the other is doing and I just chuckle at how they tease each other about the game.  You can feel the love of these three women for each other, for the Lord, for those around them.  I have never heard them say a bad word about anyone.   They truly have learned how to love everyone and accept people, flaws and all.  They are a great example to me!

We've also enjoyed going to the movies together and out to lunch.  I am blessed to have these three cute ladies in my life.  They make me laugh and warm my heart.  They are like having three extra mothers!  I feel their love and their prayers and their concern and they are not afraid to tell me what they think!

Doug is always teasing, "Poker night?" when I say I'm heading to one of their homes. (I'd highly doubt any of them have ever played a hand of poker!)  It was Frankie's garage that I broke my head in, trying to protect Viola from falling. They all felt responsible and Viola offered to come and clean my toilets.  She's probably not cleaned her own toilet in decades, but she said, "That's the worst thing anyone could ever have to do, and I'd be willing to clean yours because I feel so awful!"   No! She did not clean my toilet! 

Doug just adores them all and is as thankful as I am to have them in my life.  He's given priesthood blessings to Viola and she calls him her "Go-to Man" for blessings because she got through her pneumonia and flu so well and then another health issue.  I do think it's her amazing faith, however wonderful Doug may be! 

Viola has been a widow for twelve years.  Her husband Jerry was her best friend.  He was so handsome!  I love to hear her talk about him and I love to ask questions about him.  Viola was the "hostess with the mostest" in the ward for decades.  I really feel like we are kindred spirits when it comes to what matters in entertaining and hosting and partying.  I'm constantly hearing about the things that Viola did to turn our church cultural hall into the streets of London, into Bethlehem, and the dinners that she hosted with the most elaborate decor ever!  Yep, we connect!

Diane has been alone for two years.  Her life story is fascinating.  She's been through a lot and yet, she always has a smile on her face and gives thanks for all that is hers.  She's soft-spoken by voice, but she has a mind that she isn't afraid to speak.  Her spirit is huge!  She lives by the spirit and counsels me with her wisdom and gentle spirit often.  I just adore her.  She's tall and thin.and elegant.  The very first day that we moved into the ward, she was conducting the music in Relief Society.  I was in awe of how beautiful she was.  Her spirit is so strong.  She almost whispers when she speaks, but what she says is always worth listening to and pondering for days. 

Frankie is a "happy soul".  Frankie smiles all the time and has the greatest laugh! She's been a widow for ten years. She's always got something to make us smile.  She's small in stature and large in spirit.  Frankie is a good listener, as well.  I sometimes watch her while we play cards and just see her taking in what's being said.  I can tell that she goes home and ponders and prays for us all!  She's a remarkable lady and has the brightest eyes.  Frankie uses a cane and has to be a little more careful about her steps, but she gets around and doesn't slow down!  Have I mentioned that I adore these three women?!

I'm just grateful for the blessing of knowing so many "wiser" women in my life.  I've always loved women who were older than me... from my first friends Linda Kimball and Joanne DeCorso, who were in their thirties when I was 19 to Susan Hatch when I was in my 20s and she was in her 30s to Sarah Willmore when I was 30 and she was in her 40s.  And then all through my 40s, I had the wonderful single widows in Smithfield as great examples and special friends.  They were in their 70s, 80s and 90s. It doesn't feel like long that I'll be the one who is the "Wiser" sister.  Wait!  I'm almost 60!  I already am falling into that category!  ha!

I just hope to be able to live the active lives that these women have!  Norma Watts was shoveling her own driveway at 90plus.  Helen Simmons, 88, across the street from me now, does all of her own housework and plants hundreds of flowers each spring.  Viola announced just after I'd taken that photo that she's planning a Mediterranean Cruise to Rome for the dedication of the Rome LDS Temple.  She's just turned 87!  And she'll do it!

What a blessing to have such wonderful, exemplary new friends in my life!  Honestly, there is hardly a day that I don't wake up and wonder if my "poker ladies" and I will get together today!  Seriously, there has to be a better name for them.  They are not poker ladies.  They are giving ladies, serving ladies, wonderful ladies and I get to call them my friends!  I am blessed and life is good!