Dan's Concussion Therapy

Recovering from a concussion is boring.  I don't know what Dan would be doing to pass the time without Chewy (Dan's oldest sister's dog).  He came to visit this week with Trisa and Travis.  Dan has spent time throwing a ball for him, petting him, and squirting him with water (so that he can stay cool). Chewy is a very snuggly dog, and Dan has spent some time snuggling with Chewy too.  

Chewy sitting on Dan's lap.

We don't have any pets, and have been informed several times that people with asthma shouldn't get any (not that we were going to), but when you have a concussion, a nice, friendly dog can be just the thing you need!

Connor's Awesome Eighteenth Birthday

Way back on June 9th Connor had a birthday, which we did celebrate.  We even got him presents!  When I was shopping for him I called him and asked "What is the one thing you will be the most disappointed if you don't receive?"  Any Guesses?  Well he got it, and you can see it in the (unfortunately poor quality) pictures below.

Connor's presents wrapped in Toy Story Christmas wrapping paper.  We almost exclusively use only the finest left over Christmas paper for birthdays -- unless we use comics.

Derek, Kayli, Trisa, and Dan with what looks to be laser vision.

Here it is.  The one thing Connor wanted more than anything else -- and it's not the Batman hat.  It's the Panda Pillow Pet.  Connor is somewhat obsessed with Pandas.  He does like the Batman hat Kayli got him, but he informed me that he had been asking for that pillow pet for 18 months and hadn't gotten it yet.  Poor Connor.

The loved Pillow Pet, and the Harry Potter puzzle that Jake thoughtfully gave him, and Derek is thoughtfully holding on his shoulder.  If there is one thing he likes as much as Panda's (or maybe even more) it's Harry Potter!  He does love people more than things.

Connor and his loot.

Connor and his fellow Batman Hat wearers.  Have I mentioned that most everyone in my family claims to be Batman?  It's really kind of hard for my lovely girls to be Batman, but they still like to wear Batman hats and help people when they can.  Trisa is on the left, and Kayli is on the right.

The whole family was actually present for this occasion.  Tia came from Provo and Travis was here with Trisa.  Connor's 18 birthday only happens once! Connor is a good son, and a good person.  My favorite is when he is laughing with his siblings.  They can be very fun and entertaining at times!   Connor chose lasagna for his dinner (that seems to be the most popular birthday dinner here) and brownies and homemade peach ice cream for dessert.  

Being 18 and out of high school can be a bit stressful, but I am confident that Connor will do well.  Happy 18 to Connor!

The Concussion and a Padded Room

His biggest bump is under his bangs.  I just thought you'd like to see that he is ok
before you read about what happened.

This morning Derek was woken up by the sound of Dan being rather loud in the family room.  It was before 6 in the morning.  Dan being loud in the morning isn't completely unheard of.  He likes company when he is up.  But when Derek finally came back in our room he said "Dan is loopy".  I just thought, "Like usual?".  I didn't know what he meant and was surprised when Derek got his phone and headed back out instead of getting back in bed.

Soon he was back to ask when Instacare opens and I was up to see the big bump on Dan's head and to hear the story of blood on Dan and on Dan's garbage can, and Jake's blanket, and the bathroom, and the door jams.  Besides the bump Dan has a slightly swollen eye, a sore nose, dilated eyes, and is shaky and confused.  It is really unsettling.  Dan doesn't know when or how or where he fell.  We speculate that he got a bloody nose and passed out onto a hard floor (maybe the hall or bathroom).  We took him to the emergency room since that is what was open.    He has a concussion. They did a CT scan, which showed no cracks in his skull.  He should get better with rest and time.  Hooray for good news!

We came home and Jake has been taking good care of him.  Jake is a really good brother and has spent his morning sitting by Dan, and gently bringing him back to the couch when he decides he's going to "go swing" or "get his legs back" by staggering around.  Jake has carried Dan around from one room to another and he helped Dan get into Minecraft when Dan was too confused to remember how. When Jake was sitting by him Dan said, "I wish Jake were here."  Jake reported other odd things too, like Dan asking about someone he could see when nobody was there, and asking Jake if he was going to wear blue and green all day when Jake was wearing gray.  Thankfully, sometimes he says normal things too.

Dan will be fine, but it is not really fun to watch our bright little boy be so confused.    At the hospital he couldn't wait to go home to do back flips on the trampoline.  I suggested that today wasn't a good day to do that.  The Dr. said that the important thing is that he doesn't get another concussion.  I think we just need to create a padded room to keep him in for a year.  Unfortunately, he'd only be happy in it if the padded walls were like trampolines so he could bounce from one to another!  Let's hope Dan's year starts looking up a bit!

Beautiful Spring!

My favorite climbing rose bush has been making me smile extra big this spring!

These are my hanging pots on Memorial Day.  They actually look better now!

My pots aren't in great shape, but these flowers are beautiful, and will likely look better as the Summer goes on (as long as I water them!)

This Spring has been absolutely beautiful.  The mountains and fields are green, and at the beginning of Spring there were beautiful flowering trees everywhere. I am thankful for the beautiful world I get to enjoy every day!  Happy Spring!

The Abominable Belly Ache

Dan started having stomach aches off and on in March (I think).  They had gotten bad enough by the end of April that he had missed two weeks of school in a row and had a scheduled doctor's visit.  I kept waiting for him to just get better because, most of the time, he didn't seem too sick.  Some days he sat around miserable all day.  Sometimes during the middle of the day he seemed quite normal.  Some days he felt so well at the end of the day he was sure he'd be well and headed to school in the morning.  He would cry with disappointment when he got up and his stomach was hurting again.

Dan at a bad stomach hurting moment.

 Since his stomach hurt but he wasn't nauseous we started insisting he eat in the morning.  That would make it slightly worse for a bit, but he'd feel better sooner (for a while).  The day I took him to the Dr. he felt pretty well.  They poked at his stomach and he said it hurt everywhere, but he was feeling ticklish and was able to be distracted from the pain.  They didn't know what was wrong.  They sent him for a blood test which was normal (except one number which was slightly off).  They sent him for an ultrasound.  They found gallstones and we thought we had our answer -- but no -- the pain was wrong and the gallstones weren't stuck or blocking anything.  Later they sent him for a stool test.  That was fine too.  No H.Pylori, no signs of infection.  We tried a couple of medicines and he is still taking one his pediatrician prescribed that helps some.

Finally, I followed my friend's example and took Dan to an allergist.  My friend's daughter had been having the same symptoms and her Mom took her directly to the allergist where her daughter was found to be allergic to five new things.  She was already allergic to the same things as Dan (milk, eggs, and peanuts).

Dan's Allergy Testing -- Waiting to see how bad his reactions would be.

When the itchy waiting was over, Dan was still really allergic to those foods listed above and tree nuts (which he has been allergic to for a long time). This time he also tested allergic to five things that he wasn't allergic to before: wheat, corn, barley, soy, and beef.  He did suffer through an anaphylactic response after his testing with a resulting epinephrine shot (at the Dr.'s office thankfully) which was no fun, but we did get an idea what is wrong, and a plan to deal with it.  We are now in the midst of a month of not eating any of the foods he's allergic to.  He is feeling better.  After a month we can add one food back in at a time and see which thing is causing the stomach pain.

I did take him to a gastroenterologist this week.  He was tested for celiac, which he doesn't have, and his blood tests were redone, with the same results.  The gastroenterologist thinks the problem is the food allergies.  He says he doesn't know why some people are allergic to so many things, but that Dan is one of those super allergic people.  So we will stick to the plan the allergist came up with.  At least there is an explanation for his long time stomach pain!

This is an old blurry picture, but Dan is back to playing with his buddy Jake again and that is a happy thing!

Connor Graduates

The graduation walk around the track.  I don't really know who that is behind Connor.

Kayli, Connor, and Trisa (Tia was working and Jake and Dan were at school)

I added this picture because it's kind of funny how hard it is to get a picture where
Derek isn't talking.  I had more of these than the ones where he was just smiling.

Me and Connor and Derek

Grandpa F., Connor, Grandma F.
My parents drove from St. George for the graduation and then drove
home the same day.  They are very supportive grandparents and they love Connor.

Grandpa C., Connor, Grandma C.
Naturally his Christensen grandparents love him just as much and they came too.  They don't live very far from us though, so hours of traveling wasn't necessary this time.

Connor the High School Graduate

Connor is a great.  Even though I've tried to tell him, he never does seem to realize how talented and smart he is.  He's naturally athletic, artistic, musical, and a good writer too!  He has a great sense of humor, has awesome moves (which I only get to see if he doesn't know I am looking) and is a favorite with his sisters.  His brothers are pretty fond of him too.  Jake and Connor have some great ping pong matches, and Dan is pretty sure there is no better artist than Connor.  I am sure he will be great at whatever he puts his mind to doing.  Derek and I are happy to have such a good son!

Dan: Future President

Dan the Man
Dantastic
Danimal
Future President

Dan was blessed this year to have Mrs. White as a teacher.  She is really good at what she does, and really helpful to those who end up missing lots of school. She loves her students like they are her own children, and cried over them as the school year ended because she hates to say goodbye.  One of the things she did on the last day of school was to make sure every student heard something good about themselves.  She also gave them each their own unique award.  Dan got the "Future President" award.  He was really pleased with that.  He told me, "I did not see that coming."

On the way out to the car, He was telling me a story about a bomb, and an airport.  I can't remember the story clearly, but I don't think it ended well.  His point?  "What this country needs is better security".  He was already working on planning what he would do as President.  He was very pleased to show his certificate to all of the family.  He can hardly believe that some of his classmates thought he should get that award.

I liked watching him as he came back to his seat.  He went around giving people five and looking rather pleased and like he didn't quite know how to handle such good fortune.

4th grade program.

The fourth grade program was fun to watch.  Dan generally enjoys performing, and after they sang the songs at the beginning, he is the only one who took a bow.  It made me smile.  I love my Dan.  He is smart, and fun, and extremely wiggly.  I doubt he would hold long meetings as President.  He wouldn't want to sit down that long!  It is a daunting task to raise the future president.  Derek and I will do our best.

Flying

I wrote this song for my friend's son.  He turned 16 on the 16th and has been bravely battling cancer for years.  He likes super heroes (I haven't met too many boys that don't).  Most people love to occasionally escape into their imagination. You can go anywhere, and do anything in your imagination! This song is a mixture of both.  You can listen to me singing the finger picking version if you click here.  For the fun version where Tia and Kayli sing with me, and Connor does the video work click birthday video.  The words are below.

FLYING

(Q's Song)

The sun is shining in the sky

And lots of friends are walking by

Music's floating in the air

But I am far away

Flying through the sky today

Lightning flashes when I land

Wearing armor I take off again

Rockets that I shoot make rain

They will not cause you pain

They'll bring earth alive again.

I love flying

When the sun is shining

And when the night comes

I will fly

Way up to the moon

The colors are now bright and fun

From a tree I see everyone

Arrows arc into the sky

And rainbows they appear

Chasing out all doubt and fear

Running so fast no one can see

But good things follow after me

Bad things get pushed far away

As I go on my way

Running right through walls today

I love flying

When the sun is shining

And when the night comes

I will fly

Way up to the moon

I hear a sound that brings me home

I stop flying around alone

I lower the shield I hold

And all is safe and sound

Landing back on solid ground

But someday I'll take off again

Perhaps next time I'll take a friend

We'll take off into the air

And fly up toward the sun

To do good for everyone

I love flying

When the sun is shining

And when the night comes

I will fly

Way up to the moon

I love flying

When the sun is shining

And when the night comes

I will fly

Way up to the moon

Derek Turns 50

Derek's happy birthday was on May 5th.  Derek is thoughtful and fun.  I love him.

Derek and Dan and Jake.  I believe Derek had been teasing Dan about using the face clamp Dan is holding to clamp his face.  Derek wasn't really surprised by these presents that he bought himself, but they were just what he wanted.  He wanted a fancy sports car more, but we can't always have everything we want.

Derek and his presents and Dan and Jake

I think Kayli was extra proud of this picture.  Derek and I have matching weird facial expressions going on.  There are 5 candles.  One candle to represent each of the ten years since Derek was born.

Happy Birthday to Derek

Derek asked for kebabs for his birthday, but we both forgot and so he asked for chicken enchiladas.  I remembered the kebabs too late for Monday's celebration  so we had enchiladas that day, and kebabs the next.  It never hurts to have an extra day of birthday celebration!

Derek and Me: 28 Years of Awesomeness

28 Years ago yesterday (May 11), Derek and I were enjoying a beautiful, sunny wedding day.  One week ago today, on May 5th, it was Derek's 50th birthday. We have good reasons to celebrate in May!

I think every year I get to spend with Derek is full of awesomeness.  I am extremely thankful to be married to someone who is always inclined to think well of me, and who has a gift for helping me, and our kids, to smile.

On Derek's birthday we headed off to St. George for an anniversary trip.  Here are the pictures.

Derek in Kolob Canyon

Kolob Canyon

With a little resting and snack eating I made it to the end of the Taylor Creek trail in Kolob Canyon.  Yay!

I insisted we try a selfie.  This was the best out of three -- I looked more dorky in the other ones.

This is the end of the Taylor Creek hike in Kolob Canyon.  The picture is pretty, but everything is more impressive in person.

On the way back down the Taylor creek trail I had to have a picture of the tree that was growing right on top of a rock (yes the red thing is a rock and not red dirt).

This was the way they built a part of the trail so it wouldn't get washed out (I think).  I hadn't ever seen a section of trail like it and so I wanted a picture.

This was the next day, in Zion Canyon.  This is the upper Emerald Pools (I think). 

I had to try to get at least one picture of the really beautiful scenery that we enjoyed while at Zion National Park.

Derek and I also spent some time on our trip visiting family, or having them do all of the work by visiting us and bringing us food (thanks Quinn and Tonya).  It was fun to see how Jenny and Jeff's new house was coming along, and to spend time with my parents visiting and driving around.  We saw my Fuller Grandparent's old house, and the LaVerkin cemetery -- the "final resting place" of a lot of my relatives.

I'll put the pictures of Derek's belated birthday celebration on a different blog for you to enjoy :-)

Dan and the Keyboarding Contest

Somehow or another Dan was good enough at typing that he got invited to the district keyboarding contest.  This was an event for 4th and 5th graders that went from 3-9 p.m!  It was single elimination though, and so you could leave if you didn't type fast enough to make it to the next round.

This is Dan in the cafeteria at the high school where this was held.

We were lucky to have friends to sit by, but the music was so loud we couldn't really talk to them.  We got there at 3.  I wish we had gone later.  By the time everyone was signed in and we got started it was a little after 4.  Dan was in the first group of the first round.

While waiting for over an hour to see if Dan made it to the next round, we went and got dinner, and then found a quiet lawn to hang out in.

Dan did not make it to the next round.  We were actually quite happy about that.  Dan was done and so was I.  Dan didn't even want to stay if there was the possibility he'd win a hundred dollars!  The most interesting thing about the whole experience might have been the silly disagreement Dan and I had on the way there about whether the animation for Clifford the Big Red Dog, or Pokemon was the worst.  Nobody won.  Usually we are arguing about scientific "facts" that we don't quite agree on -- or discussing them -- in a very civilized manner.

I'm glad Dan was good enough at typing to get invited to this event, but I am also kind of glad that he refuses to go if invited next year.  Perhaps they could find a way to make that contest much, much shorter!

Dan Tries Something New

Dan did really well which was a good thing since I put his wrist guards on backwards and his knee pads kept slipping down.  Maybe it helped that the wheels were kind of broken on the hand me down, down, down skates?  He has new skates with non-broken wheels now.

A Healthy Heart. A Happy Time.

Exactly a month ago I picked up Jake from school and headed up to Primary Children's Outpatient Center for a routine checkup with Jake's Cardiologist Dr. Cowley.  Jake reported with a smile that his friend asked where he was going and Jake said, "To the hospital".  His friend said, "Is everything ok?" and Jake said, "I hope so." Jake had a couple of heart defects when he was born that, without the help of terrific heart surgeons, would have made his life awfully short.

We drove an hour for an appointment that took half hour.  They did an quick EKG, took the blood pressure in both arms and legs and then the Dr. came in.  He looked at Jake and said, "Wow!  You've gotten so big that I feel really old!"  I bet Jake liked being called big!  He's 14, and not super tall, so he doesn't get that a lot.  Dr. Cowley said it seemed like just yesterday when he was talking to Derek and I before and after Jake's surgery.  We remember too, but I am impressed that he remembers.  Jake isn't his only patient!

Just like Jake's last appointment Dr. Cowley mentioned how pleased Dr. Hawkins, the heart surgeon would have been to know how well Jake has done.  Dr. Hawkins passed away due to pancreatic cancer in 2011.  Aside from Jake's scars, Dr. Cowley said that nobody, even a trained cardiologist, would be able to tell anything had ever been wrong with Jake's heart.  Jake keeps growing though, and we keep going up every once in a while to make sure the repair of his heart grows with him.  He won't go again until he's a senior in high school and then he'll have echocardiogram to make sure all is still well.  He's had one before. I think they are fascinating to watch -- they are about a half hour long ultrasound of the heart.

Anyhow, I learned from my friend Susan C. to try to do something fun while we are skipping school for these appointments, and so Jake and I went to the dinosaur museum on our way home.  Jake knows a lot about dinosaurs and could often tell me what I was looking at before either one of us read the information.  He was good company.  Here are some pictures of that:

Selfies don't always work out -- so then you hand your camera over to someone nice.

This was toward the end of our time I think.  I kind of forgot I could get pictures before that.

So Jake is closing his eyes, but for some reason it struck me as funny to have skeleton people
fighting a skeleton dinosaur with spears.  

 We had a happy time, and were happy to hear that Jake has a healthy heart.