December Stuff

This year Kenna has opted to give a whirl at playing the viola at school.  I love that she is willing to give it a go.  I am absolutely no help with learning to play an instrument, but hope that she can learn to enjoy it and keep up with it. 

Here she is at her first orchestra concert.  Considering they are first-year students, they actually did pretty darn good.  Hello there maestro!

The week before Christmas each of the kids had a sing-a-long at the school.  They each were so cute and fun to watch.

Allie with the 4th grade:

Kenna and the 5th grade:

I have to be honest though, I think Ty and the first graders take the cake.  It was so adorable!

We had an Israelsen Christmas party that was a ton of fun, complete with a cousin nativity.  Kenna is Mary, Ty is Joseph, Allie is a shepherd, Lexi and Kai are angels, Tate is the best baby Jesus EVER, and of course Oakley is directing the whole scene.  She later decided Tate had a pretty good little seat and wanted to take over the manger. 

The two little angels, Lexi and Kai:

The most PERFECT baby Jesus, Tate.  He seriously is the cutest little pa-tuty ever! 

We headed back to the Israelsens on Christmas Eve for some delicious soup and cinnamon rolls.  Here is Grandpa Israelsen with his oldest and youngest grandchildren, ages 11 and 3 weeks.  The girls are still ahead!

Thank you December for another busy and fun-filled month!  Most of all thank you for giving us a chance to reflect on the birth of the most precious baby ever to walk the earth.

Happy Birthday Kenna!

For Kenna's birthday this year, she decided she really really really REALLY really wanted to go on a little trip to the mall with her friends.  This was the talk of the town for about two weeks, and the anticipation was HUGE, but the big day finally arrived!  Three of her besties walked home from school with her on the Friday after her birthday, then me and the tweens loaded up and headed to the mall.  Those silly little girls would have stayed there the entire night if I let them!  They wandered in and out of a few different stores, got their pictures taken in the photo booth, ate a pretzel, and just loved being out with each other. 

Afterwards, we grabbed some Little Caesar's pizza then headed back to our house to eat before we took the ladies home.  Overall I think it was a success and ended up being just what Kenna was hoping for. 

I can't believe my first little lady is ELEVEN.  Eleven!  One more year of Primary, then we are on to Young Women's and then.....oh my she'll be graduated before I know it.  She is turning into a beautiful young lady and I am so proud of her.  We probably have some great hormonal teenage adventures ahead of us, but for now I am so grateful she has found a cute little group of friends who are good girls.  And I guess that even though she would rather spend time at the mall than play with dolls (that ship has sailed), at least she is more than happy that I bum around with her!  Maybe she'll feel the same when she is 17........????  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Happy Birthday Mom!

December started off with a surprise birthday trip for my Mom.  The weekend before her bday, Me, Steph, and my sis-in-law, Nicole surprised my Mom with a little overnighter trip to Salt Lake.  We definitely mastered the surprise factor!  We showed up at Mom's house with some balloons and told her to pack her bags.  She was so shocked, it was so fun!

First stop was lunch at the Garden Restaurant in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building downtown.  If ever there is a perfect setting to eat, it is there!  We sat right next to the window where we had the most amazing view of the temple.  Oh my heart!  The food was amazing, we talked and laughed, and on the way out there was a beautiful choir singing Christmas songs up in the balcony of the entrance to the JSMB.  I am absolutely in love with that place.  I so wanted to get back down to SLC with the kids to enjoy temple square and the lights and such, but it never happened.  Frowny face.

Before our evening activities, we went to check in at the hotel.  Matt and the kids had gone before us and decorated the room.  It was so darn cute, and Mom loved it.  There were little foil bits of "Happy Birthday" confetti all over the room.  Dear maid, we are so sorry.  We tried to get the worst of it picked up.....

Our first activity was at a place called "Conquer the Chamber."  Basically you go in a room and use different items and clues in the room to try to solve a mystery to unlock the room to get yourself out within an hour.  Overall, this was really fun.  The exception being we were put into a group of six other 15 year old boys.....ya, basically they were extremely obnoxious and a bit on the unruly side.  We would love to go back again and do it as a group of more....how shall I put it.....like-minded adults?   

Our last event of the night was a comedy play/musical at the Desert Star Theater in Murray.  The show was about a little made-up Utah town that needs to earn money, so it puts on its own redneck version of The Nutcracker.  Oh my heavens, this was SO MUCH FUN!  We laughed and laughed!      The theater itself has a rustic feel to it that is absolutely charming.  They do a whole variety of shows- mostly spoofs on other shows.  Definitely worth a repeat!  I want to take Jacob back and see another show sometime.

After the show we came back to the hotel and played some card games for a bit then hit the sack.  We were tired after such a fun day!

Steph had come up to Smithfield to surprise and pick up my Mom, so my Dad came down the next morning to pick up me, Mom, and Nicole to take us back to Cache Valley.  This is my Dad showing off Mom's wig on the way out of the hotel.  Ah ha ha ha ha haahah haha ha!  He is such a nut, I love it!

Overall it was the BEST weekend, we had such a great time. So grateful for such wonderful memories with family.  It was so fun to surprise Mom and celebrate her and the wonderful, amazing person she is.  Happy Birthday Mom!  Here's to at least 20 more!!!

Merry Christmas

It seems, during this past week before Christmas, that amidst enjoying countless hours of Christmas songs, wrapping, and plates full of goodies from neighbors, I have also had this underlying current of sadness as I have noticed many different tragedies in the lives of people around me- both near and far.  The news seems to be constant with tragedies of death and loss as well as great suffering caused by the hurtful actions of others.  My heart aches to see many who are dealing with such overwhelming sadness right in the middle of "the most wonderful time of the year."

The other night as I was thinking about this, I had a thought pop into my mind about the whole reason we do all that we do this time of year.  It all boils down to the night a perfect, tiny little being entered the world:  The Savior.  It hit me that at the very same time I am reflecting on the sadness and injustices and suffering in the world, I am also reflecting on the life of the very One who has come to deal with those very things.  If ever we need a Savior, it is then.  The times when anger at the actions of others seems to blacken my heart- it is then I need the Prince of Peace to soften my heart and take away the anger.  Then is when I need to recognize He who has come to right every wrong, to correct every injustice.  When the pain of loss is deep and overwhelming, it is then I need Him who has taken away the sting of death.

A few weeks ago in Sacrament the speaker was talking about the Savior and how we as a religious people are readily able to recognize Him as the Savior of World, yet often struggle with truly understanding that He is the Savior of us as individuals.  Have I really come to understand that the Savior knows me personally and rely on Him not only for saving the world, but saving me in my personal afflictions and trials?  In my own moments of despair, confusion, and error do I know that He is MY personal companion?  I realized that although I can answer yes to this question, I have many gaps that can be filled.

This Christmas and throughout the new year I will be continuing on this journey.  That I will do as the wise men did-  they didn't just see the new star and believe in the Savior of the world, but they actually took step after step on what must have been a difficult journey to finally sit at the feet of the Savior and see Him, and know Him.

Faith Hill sings an absolutely beautiful Christmas song entitled, "A Baby Changes Everything."  The very ending of the song says,

My whole life has turned around
I was lost but now I'm found
A baby changes everything,
A baby changes everything.

He changes everything for the world.  He changes everything for ME.

Please Don't Go, Fall!

I absolutely LOVE fall in Cache Valley.  It is one of my favorite times of year here.  In fact, this is when I missed Cache Valley the most when we were living down in Southern Utah.  I am hoping hoping hoping it will last just a bit longer before the snow flies when all I want to do is curl up in a fetal position and not emerge again until April.  This is also the time of year when I first met and started dating Jacob, so it always takes me back to those fun butterfly-in-the-tummy days.

A few weeks ago we decided to head over to check out the little side-of-the-road pumpkin stand right next to Ted's on the highway.  They had so many different varieties of pumpkins and the kids had an absolute blast picking out pumpkins.  I was kind of surprised they loved it so much.  It was so cute to see them all so giddy about picking out their own little pumpkins.  They would have taken a whole truckload if we let them!  I loved that we could actually get quite a few pumpkins without paying
an arm and a leg for them.

 As part of the usual Cache Valley tradition, we love to make it over to the Pumpkin Walk.  We have learned, however, it's much better to do it on an afternoon rather than wait to do it for FHE Monday night.  It gets so crowded that it's not really even fun.

So we headed over on one of the afternoons we had off for UEA.  It's probably actually the most exciting thing we even did over UEA.  How dare we actually stay home and get work done during school break- the atrocity!!

Allie stayed home to play with a neighbor, but me and the other three got out to enjoy the beautiful weather.  Such a nice day!!

 I had to get this fun little picture:

 I LOVED this exhibit.  I hope my kids will come to learn what a blessing it is to live in America.  I love this incredible country we live in.  There are so many good people.  Despite the craziness of this somewhat horrific election season, I choose to focus on all the good that is out there.  At the heart of it, Americans are good people and I pray that we all will turn to the true King of this great land and allow Him to be our leader.  Through Him this great nation can be saved.

(Pause while I get down from my soap box.....)

Of course we had to get pictures in nearly every character board.

Queen of the Wild Things!

Lexi has her little hands under her chin in almost every picture, I love it!

I love the double glasses action in this one:

It's always a good day when Jessie, Buzz, and Woody are on the job:

Hopefully we can enjoy these beautiful colors and sunshine for a bit longer before we hunker down for a few months.

The Sauce is the Boss

Last Saturday I drove Jacob out to Young Ward so he could "help" with farm duties.  Thankfully Dad and the brothers were willing to have him tag along and ride around to be the cheerleader while he stayed off his ankle!

When we got there, we found Mom busy in the kitchen working on applesauce.  Come to find out she had an orchard in the garage waiting to get sauced and processed, so we decided this Saturday would become the day to crack out all that applesauce.  I went back home to grab a few supplies and to enlist the help of some fellow saucers (aka the girls).

We ended up getting through all the apples and filled up the kitchen counter with beautiful jars of super yummy applesauce.  It ended up being a really fun day.  There is always such a huge sense of accomplishment to look at all your hard work sitting there all ready to head down to the fruit room.  Apparently I was so overcome with satisfaction I failed to get a picture of our rows of fresh-out-of-the-canner jars of steaming hot sauce.

Don't you fear, we are equal opportunity applesaucers and had all hands on deck!  When it comes to canning, the phrase "many hands make light work" is especially pertinent.  Oh yes Benson, you bet your sweet curly boots this made it on the blog- you included!  I know, you feel very honored.

Towards the end of the afternoon, I think everyone was very happy to see the final apple get cut up.

A perfectly pleasing impromptu Saturday project.  Say that ten times fast.

Horse + Barbed Wire = Surgery

Yep, the old saying holds true.  "When a horse gets tripped up on barbed wire, you'll end up having surgery on your ankle."  Or something like that.  Or maybe that's just a new saying.....

....Regardless, Jacob had a little snafoo with the ol' bronc and ended up damaging the soft tissue in his ankle.

Oh heck, for documentation sake let's just tell the whole story.  It's a doozy.

So Jacob and his horsie headed up the mountain to help out some ranchers who were gathering their cattle for the winter, and to try to get some good contacts for work.  Well, he was only about an hour into his day when the unfortunate incident happened.  Jim Craig was hot on the tails of a mama cow and calf when the two split and the mama cow headed in one direction and the calf headed another.  The horse headed toward the calf when Jacob anticipated him heading toward the cow, which led to Jacob getting off-centered on the horse and slipping further down the side as the bronc continued to run.  To get himself back up and centered, he dug his legs into the horse's side forgetting he had put on his spurs.  Well, with a spur in the ribs, the fine equine kicked into a higher gear straight toward a barbed wire fence.  To make a long story short, the collision with the fence took the legs out from under the horse, sending both of them tumbling down with the horse landing broadside on Jacob's ankle.  Yow!  I know, it just sounds painful! 

This is the part where we add in a HUGE thank you to the heavens in recognition of a LOT of blessings.  This little incident could have been so much worse.  Thankfully the horse landed only on his ankle, and missed smashing any of his vitals.  Thankfully there was no head trauma.  The horse ended up with a large gash that needed staples, but otherwise came out unscathed.  Pretty amazing considering of what could have been.  Yes, firm believer of angels!  I truly feel he was protected.  Gotta give credit where credit is due!  (Okay, so that one might actually be a real saying....)

After a week of a swollen ankle and limping, Jacob stopped over at Ryan Rigby's to ask if he thought Jacob needed to have it looked at.  He answered in the affirmative, so an x-ray followed up by an MRI confirmed that the soft tissue sustained some major damage and needed repair.  Not to mention an old cartilage injury was discovered.  Bale twine and duct tape just weren't going to cut it this time.  (I need to insert here how much we have absolutely enjoyed working with Dr. Rigby!  He has been so wonderful to us and I feel confident knowing Jacob is in very competent hands.  His nurses have been so very great to work with as well.)

Wednesday, October 12, 2016 will go down in the history books as the day Jacob went under the knife for surgery.  Since an MRI can only show so much, the doc was hoping he would only have to do a scope to clean up the damaged tissue and the procedure would be fairly simple.  He figured the cartilage damage wouldn't be significant enough to warrant any repair.  But, he would just have to get inside and look around to determine exactly what needed to be done.

Sheesh, this is really wordy.  I hope we appreciate all this yada yada someday.  

Jacob was such a gem.  Despite a mild protest, he let me take a pre-op picture.  He's even smiling!  

Here's the ankle, although a bit of the swelling had gone down.  Looks like his ankle swallowed a tennis ball.  Hmm, actually it looks like a ghost with toes swallowed a tennis ball:

We MUST give Jacob a big thumbs-up for not passing out when he got the IV in!  He had two amazing nurses who did excellent at keeping him distracted and popped the IV in without him hardly knowing.  I was proud of the ol' chap.  

We got set back about a half hour due to the surgery before Jacob running a bit longer than anticipated, but soon he was back in surgery and I was left to wait it out.

It was rough, let me tell you.  With a Diet Coke, a heated blanket, and a quiet room, I think I may have gotten the better end of the deal...

When the doc didn't come back after the hoped-for 20 minutes of a quick scope, I figured Jacob ended up with more repair than he was hoping to have.  Sure enough, when Doc Rigby got inside with the scope and took a little looksy, he determined that the cartilage did indeed need repair and that the ankle would require some hardware to support the ankle bones to allow for proper healing.  Along with this was a loose piece of tendon that had sheared off in the accident that needed to be removed.

Here's Jacob's new hardware.  This is as if you are facing Jacob and looking down at the top of his foot/ankle. 

 

The little circle-looking thingers on the outside left are just something in the wrap that was still on his leg when he had this xray done, but the other bright spots are actually on the inside.  There's a metal plate on the left that is screwed into the fibula, then they drilled two small holes through his bones with thin bands that go through to the other side and are held in place by what they call "buttons" that are on the right.  (You're cringing, I know.  Slightly nauseating.)  This device helps hold the bones in place while the tendons and ligaments heal.  It will become his new permanent fixture.

As for the cartilage, there was a fairly big flap-like piece that had to be cut out, and then the remaining damaged area had to be filled with a mixture of donor cartilage and Jacob's own blood platelets.  This "reconstruction" is what is going to be the longest to recover from.  Jacob has to be completely non-weight bearing to allow the cartilage to regenerate and be strong enough for him to start walking on it again.   

There are some perks, however.

Lexi gets treats and coloring pages at his check-ups:

Just because Jacob can't walk doesn't mean he can't talk!

Not to mention he has a sweet new set of wheels.  Ooooh baby!!

I've got to give Jacob credit, he has been doing pretty darn good.  He keeps off it like he should and has been maintaining a fairly positive attitude, despite the fact it's killing him not to be out enjoying this beautiful fall weather.  Of course we've got another month or two ahead of us before he is free to walk unassisted, but we'll keep hoping for the best.

Guess it's better to count blessings than burdens, right?  Right.