Seminary Graduation

Little Cottonwood 5th Ward Seminary Graduates: Landon, Nick, Carolyn & David

The Boys of the Hood...what great boys they are!

Academy of Finance Graduation

Cottonwood High Academy of Finance Class of 2012

Landon with his Academy teachers Miss Riches and Ms. Wynder

Both of the boys graduated from the Academy of Finance Program

Landon's two years of Academy of Finance will give him a head start in college this fall. We are so proud of him.

Seriously...PLEASE No more ER Visits

Another War Wound

Okay...enough is enough. Saturday night or should I say Sunday morning I headed with Landon to the ER for stitches after he and another kid collided playing basketball. The kids eyebrow bone popped open Landon's cheek and split open the kids eyebrow. As I am sitting there in the ER we realize that it is exactly two months after Nathan's accident to the day. And I went into the hospital exactly four weeks after Nathan. So come June 13th...I said, everyone has to stay home and fold their arms and do nothing. Let's just say my Mother's Day didn't start out too well. I climbed into bed at 4:47 a.m. Seriously, please no more for our family. I think we have definitely had our share.

Quad Stake Olmpics

This morning I went for my first walk in over a month. No it wasn't the pace or the distance I am use to but, it was a start and it was so nice just to be able to enjoy the beautiful spring morning. I am making progress and that is definitely a step in the right direction.

Landon participated in the Quad Stake Olympics last Saturday. He took the Gold Medal in the High Jump at 5' 7". Pretty good considering he hasn't ever done it before. He received the Silver in the 100 meter dash too. Thanks Andy for the great pictures you took.

Having some fun by just jumping over the pole when it was still low.

Getting a little higher

He must get his talent from his Mother :) ha ha!

Colts Senior Day

Landon's Senior Day on May 8th, 2012. The Colts honor their Seniors who have dedicated the last four years to the Cottonwood Baseball Program

Coach Crawford, Landon, Me, and Jeff

Things to Celebrate

This year we have definitely had our fair share of trials. We have many things to celebrate too. We think the mountains we have been climbing are starting to plateau. Jeff started it by winning a new Ipad 3 while he was in Baltimore last weekend at a factory tour. Lucky for me he already has one for work...so Happy Mother's Day to me!

Nathan finished his last semester at SLCC this week and received his Associates Degree and will start at the University of Utah in the fall. He still has another 5 weeks before he can start to put weight on his ankle which will be the day before his birthday...what a great gift. He will still be in the boot for another 4 weeks after that which will be around the first of July before he will be fully walking without crutches.

Landon will be graduating from Cottonwood High School on June 1st and received an Honors at Entrance Scholarship to Salt Lake Community College which will pay for his tuition starting this fall. His hard work has paid off. He will also graduate from the Academy of Finance Program and Seminary. He will play his last High School Baseball game next Wednesday. May will be filled with lots of memory making things for him. It will be a fun month.

We are glad to be able to celebrate our boys successes and are happy to be apart of it. Although we have been a little overwhelmed with our trials the Lord has really blessed us and watched over our family.

Pericarditis

As a mother I am happy to post what is happening in my boys lives. But not too much about myself. This post is for my posterity. Over the last week I have felt that I needed to leave a record about what has happened. I hope that it might help them later on. So this is for them.

Last Tuesday, I ended up in the ER room after being sick for over a week. We flew down to Anaheim for Landon's Baseball Tournament on Saturday, March 31st. I started having flu like symptoms and trouble breathing on Monday by the time we got home Wednesday I was still feeling awful. I have been have trouble with the nodules on my Thyroid pressing on my esophagus and trouble swallowing. So I thought that I was just having more symptoms and so we decide to move up the surgery (which would have been today). And with that you have to go off all ibuprofen which I had been taking on and off for the body aches.

After taking Nathan to school and work I started having more chest pains and I couldn't take a deep breath and when I tried to lay down I couldn't stand the pain. I was freezing and aching. I finally called Jeff and talked to him. I just didn't want to go to the ER. I was leaning forward with my hands in my head which helped alleviate some of the pain and pressure in my chest. I was praying to the Lord to just give me the strength to make it till next Tuesday. Well some of us need a to be hit on the head with a bat I guess. I heard the still small voice in my head say, "go the hospital and now". I guess we need to listen and not pray for what we want.

We arrived at the ER about six. They took chest and neck x-rays and my Thyroid tests said the levels were still  normal. But, the chest x-ray showed a cloud around my heart. They ordered an echo on my heart and a CT scan to check for a pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lung) While the echo was being done he ER doc came in and asked if she could see any thing. She said, oh yes, she has about an inch of fluid between her heart and the lining of her heart. With that they knew what it was...Pericarditis. I have inflammation around the heart with a Pericadial effusion which is the fluid. They admitted me to the hospital around two in the morning.

I spent the next two days in the hospital while they put me on an anti-inflammatory and a Lasix to take off the fluid. Luckily no damage to my heart. I went to my internist yesterday and he said it would be about 2-3 weeks before I will be a 100%. I go to the Cardiologist on Friday and hopefully all the fluid will be gone so I don't have to have it drained off (that certainly doesn't sound fun). There are two kinds of Pericaditis, acute or chronic. Mine is acute caused by a virus I picked up probably on the plane. They will watch me real close for the next three months so that is does not go chronic.

I am not sure why we are given some of the trials and mountains we all have to climb. But, I do know that the Lord watches over us even when we think he has forgotten us. He knows better than we do what we need.  We just need to stop and listened to what he is trying to tell us. I am so grateful to my family and for everyone that has helped us over this last week. Our Bishop has been in for three and half years and has had 39  Funerals. I told him when he came to the hospital that I didn't like the number 40. So I will stay around and cause just a little more trouble.

Tender Mercies

Still pretty swollen...waiting to see the xrays

Today we went in for Nathan's post op appointment for his ankle. We have really been praying that his foot would be in the right position so that he would get a boot instead of a cast. That way he can work on getting his motion back and then in ten more weeks when he can finally put weight on his foot he would be that much further ahead.

Waiting for them to take out the stitches

Of course you never have to look far to see someone else worse off than you. While we were waiting to go back a guy went by in a wheelchair with a boot on each foot and his back in what I call a turtle shell. We found out that he had fallen at Momentum also and had broken both of his feet and his back. We keep reminding Nathan that it could have been so much worse and how grateful we are that it wasn't.

What will the Doc say after seeing the x-rays???

A very happy day for Nathan and us! He got the boot :) it never ceases to amaze me how the Lord has a hand in every thing. Although this has not been an easy thing for our family, I feel like the Lord has sent us tender mercies. When  trials come our way the Lord is always there to help us through it. I know we still have a long way to go to get him back on his feet (literally) but, I feel like we are truly watched over and blessed while we get through this. I am so grateful for every tender mercy he sends our way!

Sweethearts 2012

Landon, I hope I don't Strike out with asking you to Sweethearts. So here's my pitch...knock it out of the park to find my name

Landon and Toni

It has been a rough few days ...Poor Nate :(

It is just after midnight as Jeff and I sit in the waiting room. Nathan has been in surgery for over two hours now. We were sitting at Landon's first baseball game when Jeff got the call from his brother Justin. He had come down from Montana and Nathan had taken him to go rock climbing out to Momemtum. Nathan was bouldering when he fell 13 feet landing on the seam were the two mats meets breaking and dislocating his ankle. He was taken by ambulance to IMC. Jeff and Justin met them at the hospital. I stayed at the game until Landon finished pitching. Nathan didn't want me to see it until they had straighten it. But I got there right after they took X-rays. It was not a good sight and terribly hard to see your son that way. They did conscious sedation while they put it back in place. Even with the meds he was holding on to the bed rails. Luckily he doesn't remember any of that part.

You can see why he didn't want me to see this...

It definitely looks much better straight

While Jeff was on his way, Brad from his work called and he told Lori, who called her brother Drew who is an orthopedic surgeon for ankles. After seeing Nathan's X-rays he took over and called the ER doc and was on the phone with Jeff. They moved him to trauma so they could speed up getting his medical care. After post X-rays and a CT scan they splint his ankle and moved him to a room until the surgery. Drew made arrangements for an OR room.

Drew came in just before ten and explained everything again to us. He dislocated and broke his ankle on all three bones that stable your ankle. One clean break on the outside and 4 to 6 breaks on the inside. Not good. They went in to clean everything and if there is not too much swelling take care of everything...plates, screws, bone graphs etc. they just called and said that they had finished cleaning and that they were going to be able to move on and finish his surgery. It will be another hour and a half before he is done.

I will write later after he is out of surgery and we learn more. It sure isn't easy to watch your children go through these trials. I wish it was me and I could take all the pain away. If it was only as simple as when they were little and you just put a bandaid on it and kissed him better.

It is Wednesday night. It has been a long two days but, all has gone well. They finished up his surgery about 2:00 a.m. He has two metal plates on both sides of his ankle and 12 screws total. He will be in the hospital for two days for antibiotics, your ankle is high risk for infection...they won't take any chances. It will be two weeks before the cast it or put it in a boot.  No weight on it for 12 weeks. It is going to be a long haul but, it could have been so much worse. 

The new hardware in Nate's Ankle

Junior Prom

It all began with her answer...

Picking up his date Maddie Nielson

The Guys

The Group

 

Off to the Dance in style

The Rotunda at the State Capitol

Meeting Thurl Bailey

Nathan and his date Melissa couldn't resist getting their picture taken with Thurl Bailey at Landon's Baseball Banquet where he was the guest speaker!