A Priceless Gift

I've been up since 4:30 a.m.  It's a product of my body conspiring against me.  Oh well.  I suppose it has it's perks since there's no one asking me to get them fruit snacks at this time of the day! Several moments of my time at church yesterday keep bumping into one another.  I thought I'd try to make sense of what my heart is telling me.

 One of the ladies in our neighborhood is very sick, and it doesn't look good right now for her.  My heart aches for her and her family.  Family is truly a priceless gift.  When I peel away all the distractions away from my life, family and the gospel is what's left.  Putting myself in her shoes for a second, I find it would be hardest to leave (even for a short time) my precious children and my dear husband.  Time with my family is precious.

Having a cast on my foot is a test in futility.  I managed to get my baby, her blanket, and my purse with me to Sunday School.  I got there a bit late, and found an open spot I could manage to hobble towards.  It was on the front row.  When Sunday School was over, I became a captive to my seat, and as such, enjoyed the conversations raging around me.  One sister had taken my baby for some of the time and as she passed by, I thanked her for her help.  She started talking to a brother in our ward whose son had spoken in Sacrament Meeting as the culminating event for serving his mission.  She conveyed the message that his son was a testimony to their success in raising him.  He noticed my baby girl, and mentioned how we both had cute girls in our families, and that we ought to have more.  He said it several times in a matter of a couple of minutes giving the reason as evening up all the boys that are out there.  Maybe this wasn't what he was trying to communicate, but I couldn't help take with me the thought that we need to have more girls that are strong in the gospel, and able to stand up to what this world can hand them. 

When I was pregnant with my second child, my husband and I ran into a mom of some of his acquaintances at a wedding reception.  She was kind and asked me about how many children we had.  Perhaps she could see my little boy was still a baby, and we were close to adding a new little one to our family.  Whatever her reason, she told me she'd had thirteen children (if my memory serves me correctly).  She told me children were wonderful, and the more the better.  Then, she promised me that if I could have more children than she had, she'd give me $100.  I chuckle about that memory now since I'd want more than a $100 for my efforts!  A couple of years later, we ran into that same lady at another event.  I can't remember what we talked about, but only a week or two later, she went to the effort of finding our home, and giving me a picture I loved.  It's a picture of a mom watching her son as he tries to match the same stride of the Savior in a painting on the wall.  I don't know why she did that, but I could tell of her dedication to family.  Maybe it was her way of sharing it with me.

A couple of years later, I was pregnant with perhaps my fifth or sixth child.  I was sitting in a recreation center, trying to rest while keeping track of my busy children.  I noticed another woman sitting across the way.  She was holding a brand new baby.  We got to talking, and I asked the obvious question:  "How many children do you have?"  She told me she had just had her thirteenth child.  I tried to wrap my mind around that number and stick it into what I knew then about mothering.  Then, she said, "It's so worth it!"  She went on to tell me how her older children were so sweet with her baby and how much they helped out.  She told me of the joy she had when they were all together.  Then, she ended by telling me that the more children she had, the more she realized how much more she treasures her new little ones.  I don't know what inspired her to share her thoughts on motherhood with me.  It certainly wasn't the best time or place.  But her words have stuck with me and shaped mine.

The world is changing.  Someone said yesterday in Sunday School that the world is expecting more from our children now.  The standards have been raised, and children need to be more accomplished.  I can see that myself.  As parents, we're expected to put our children in multiple extra-curricular activities and make sure they have straight A's plus making sure they're properly groomed, eating a well-rounded diet, and still take time to make sure our family has quality time together and that the children have time to be children.  It's no wonder families have fewer children (four is evidently the new six).   A couple of years ago, I was at the doctor's office, trying to schedule an appointment.  A nurse was passing the desk and gasped at the sight of my calendar.  She said she was grateful she didn't have my schedule.  I wasn't even turned to the current month!  With the addition of each child, I test the limits of what I'm capable of orchestrating in my home.

Despite the fact my husband and I can kill a conversation with the sentence, "We have 10 children," I have no regrets.  I sat on a church bench yesterday and watched my older children holding my little children.  Cecilia played with Shalyn and then handed her off to Cali trading her for Alyssa.  Garrett was holding Ruby, and leaned over to kiss Shalyn on the top of her head.  What a priceless gift!  I thought I truly loved my older children when they were younger, but with each new child, I learn just how much more love it's possible to hold and to give.  My love for each one grows every day, and the wonder I feel at them being who they are keeps hitting new highs.  I feel incredibly blessed!  Each of my children are precious gifts, and each day, I discover that all over again!

It's only been two weeks!!!

It's amazing how much we cram into two weeks worth of living!  So, here's what has kept us busy:

November 17th, Cali and I sang "Be Still My Soul" with other women in the ward in Sacrament Meeting.  On November 18th, I told Kelsy not to come as she had planned to come and help me.  It seemed that some of the girls were sick, and I didn't want to pass what we had along to their family.  But, an hour and a half later, Kelsy stepped through my door without her children.  She pitched in and pulled our kitchen out of the depths of despair (and me as well!).  I certainly couldn't have done what she did for me that day.  Ruby had lunch with Dr. T that day.  On Tuesday, Cali had a drum major clinic that she helped teach, and Mckenzie had Activity Days.  James had Scouts and the oldest four had YM/YW's.  My mom and dad drove all the way up the state just to come help me and my family for a couple of days.  We sure loved having them here!  On Wednesday, dad drove me to my appointment with Cecilia's counselor for her CCR's while mom watched the girls and worked on dinner.  Cali had drum major auditions.  I went to parent teacher conferences with my scooter, and managed to get through a bunch of Cali and Garrett's teachers before Ladd came and we were able to split forces and finish quicker.  That night, after dinner, Garrett, Cali, Jarom, Mckenzie, and Ruby all had song practices for the ward Christmas party.  On Thursday, Ladd had his doctor's appointment in the morning.  Dad took me to pick Garrett up for his orthodontist appointment.  They left soon after the appointment was over.  They did so much for us while they were here!  I'm so grateful they came!  Mckenzie had tumbling, and Ladd took Cecilia to the Winter Guard parent meeting.  Friday, Garrett and Cali went up to Deer Valley for job interviews, and I helped get Jarom ready for his campout.  In the evening, Ladd, and I and Cecilia met Garrett and Cali at the high school for their marching band banquet.  On Saturday, Cecilia had a winter guard clinic all day long.  Ladd had a meeting up at Deer Valley.  Cali helped me take both Lena and Mckenzie in to the doctor.  Both of them had an ear infection.  Garrett and Cecilia helped me do the shopping at Costco, and Ladd helped me do the shopping at Walmart. 

Sunday, the 24th, we got a new bishopbric at church!  Bishop Burdette, Brother Johnston, and Brother Whitaker are our new bishopbric!  The ward is in good hands!  I'm grateful for Bishop Wendell, Brother Lees, and Brother Sampson who served so faithfully.  The choir performed "O Render Thanks" at the end of the meeting.  Mckenzie just didn't feel very well, so Cali took her home so she could rest.  I was able to play the piano in Relief Society!  It's been so long since I've played the piano for a church meeting.  Someone watched Shalyn for me, and I managed to play the pedal with my left foot, and not mess up the songs too badly!  We had choir, and had our Home Teachers come to visit us.  Ruby was at a practice for the ward Christmas program while they were here.  The rest of the evening just seemed so relaxed.  It was a nice evening.  We found out during calendar that Cali made drum major for next year!  She will be the "saint" in their show for next year, and be a drum major for parades and pre-game shows.  Congratulations, Cali!

On Monday, I sent Lena and Alyssa over to the Bennion's so I could go do some of my visiting teaching.  I was grateful to be able to go!  My visiting teaching companion even came to pick me up so it could happen!  I did the lesson for FHE on spiritual strength and enduring to the end.  We found out that Garrett and Cali both got the job up at Deer Valley as ski instructor assistants!  I don't know how we're going to fit that into our schedule!!!  On Tuesday morning, my visiting teachers came.  YEAH!  The house wasn't perfect, but it was better than it could've been.  Ladd came home for lunch!  That was fun to talk to him for a bit during the day!  After school, Garrett went with the same group that he'd gone with for Sadies so they could watch "Thor 2"all the way through.  During Sadies, the movie theater had to evacuate everyone half way through their movies.  What are the odds of that happening?!  Cali stayed after school and was finally able to find a ride home around 4:30 p.m.  Cali went to a tree decorating party one of her friends was hosting for a few minutes.  Garrett, Cali, Jarom, Mckenzie, and Ruby all went to a practice for the ward Christmas program after that.  Wednesday was a homework, cleaning, and cooking day.  We watched lots of TV.  Garrett and Cali went during the day for a marching band thing -- one of the news channels was filming them.

Thursday, we made it to the church up in Riverton for Thanksgiving dinner with Ladd's family.  I was able to spend some time with Ladd's grandmother who is 100 years old this year.  She seemed extra spry to me, and fun.  For our program, she did a reading she had done in the 6th grade!  I'm not sure I can remember things like that even now!!!  Ladd and I helped clean up the church before everyone left, and we had Nate and Sherilyn over for dinner and some games afterwards.  During scripture study, one of the children slammed the laptop shut and cracked the screen.  I'm still wondering how to pull the Christmas letter off of it that I'd already written.  Ladd jimmy rigged it to another screen.  At least is still sort of works!!

Friday, Ladd worked for the morning.  I made the kids deep clean the house.  We almost got it to where I wanted it!  Then, we went to Mapleton.  I ended up playing a few games with my sisters-in-law.  Saturday, Ladd, Cali, and Jarom went to play basketball with the uncles and some cousins.  They played for four hours!!!  Garrett started their own Disney marathon.  I had Garrett take me to Costco and then to Walmart to do the shopping.  We did laundry all day long!  Ladd put up the Christmas lights outside.  He painted Cali's filing cabinet that she got when she turned 15 (over a year ago).  He started working on our Christmas stocking holder for our mantle.  We went to Chili's for our date.   It was a very enjoyable evening.  The kids made sure everyone had baths and showers and fed everyone dinner.  I love that they are so capable!

Today is December 1st!  This year has flown by!  Mckenzie threw up during the night twice.  Lena also had a nightmare.  Ladd was up a lot during the night.  We left Mckenzie here during Sacrament Meeting, and I came home to be here with her and brought Shalyn with me.  They are both sleeping right now.  We found out this week that Ladd has high cholesterol.  So, he's been trying to go running more often.  He doesn't go very far, but at least he goes!  Ladd's back has been hurting him (mine as well).  We switched our mattress around.  I'm not sure it will help much, but seeing as a new mattress isn't in our future, it's at least something!!

The Christmas season is upon us!  I'm worried about how we'll get everything done with our busy schedules and my foot getting in the way.  I told Ladd I wanted to re-evaluate our family traditions, and make the ones we do count.  This Christmas season has the potential for being very different than past years.  I'm curious as to how it will all turn out!!

And, that's us!

My Musings. . .

So, it's Saturday, November 16th, 2013.  It's been a week and one day since the operation on my right foot.  I'm sitting on the couch with both of my feet propped up.  I've taken two of my Loritab after working most of the day trying to catch up on the dishes, laundry, and clutter.  My feet still feel like ground hamburger.  I've re-organized all the socks, sorted papers, and (with Jarom and James' help) packed away most of the stuffed animals littering the two rooms that the five youngest girls inhabit.  This morning, Cali drove Cecilia and Jarom to the temple so they could do baptisms for the dead.  The temple was closed.  I guess they stopped off at Smiths to get a treat before coming home.  Ladd took Garrett and Ruby shopping with him this morning since we didn't have enough milk for all of the family to have breakfast.  It's fascinating for me to see what Ladd comes home with when he goes shopping.  But, it's fun to eat things we just don't get to try -- ever.  I'm avoiding the question as to how much it all cost!!  Last week, when I finally got enough courage up to ask him if he'd spent too much money, he said it depended on your perspective.  I suppose that's true.  Garrett and Cali spent a couple of hours puttering around getting ready for their big dates for the rest of the day.  Garrett and Cali are both at Sadies right now.  Cecilia is on the other computer watching the Harry Potter Musical (?! Is there such a thing?!).  Jarom just admitted to having math homework (it's 9:30 p.m., folks!) after playing the computer game Heroes Might and Magic IV most of the day.  James has no desire to go to bed downstairs without anyone else there, so he is reluctantly checking Shalyn's diaper.  Maybe he'll feed her a bottle next?  You'd think I was capitalizing on his fears. . . .  Ladd is sitting in front of the TV yelling at the BYU basketball team periodically.  He has his primary manual open on his lap.  I wonder just how effective his preparation for tomorrow's Primary lesson is while he's glued to the game? :) This is the second BYU game he's watched today.  He spent the "spare" time working on the 7th bedroom.  Today, he cut all the boards for the shelves in the closet.  James just announced to the room that Shalyn has glitter in her snot.  Not your everyday observation!  I thought Mckenzie, Ruby, Lena, and Alyssa were tucked into bed, but Alyssa ran up to me a few minutes ago and said she had gone wet in the toilet and washed her hands.  Then, she held her hands up for me to hand her gummy bears.  I checked, and she'd put potty training panties on herself.  Does this mean she's ready to truly be potty trained or did she just want a bedtime snack???  When Alyssa thought I wasn't paying attention, she smuggled the rest of her gummy bears into her room.  Alyssa had an extremely long nap today.  She's being extremely difficult to talk into going back to sleep for the night!  Shalyn has crawled away from James' ministrations, and is starting to pull herself up on the medical scooter my foot is propped up on.  I can't believe she's already starting to try that trick!  She's not even eight months yet!  She's my little explorer and vacuum.  She's constantly looking to figure out the world around her.  She likes to spit, blow, and hum all at the same time.  Earlier, she climbed all over Jarom while he was practicing with his drumsticks.  The other day, one of the kids came in holding Shalyn and announced that we all needed to look at Shalyn.  She was holding a toy dagger as if she'd practiced it for months.  Today, I decided her days in the walker were done.  I saw her trying to pick up a toy that had fallen off her tray.  She leaned far enough out that her feet were almost free to topple out after her head!!

This week has flown by quickly, but each day, I feel like I'm just waiting around for my feet to get better.  Ladd took me to the doctor Monday morning while Mom Olsen and Kristen watched Lena, Alyssa, and Shalyn and did my dishes and laundry for me.  The doctor summarized what he had found in the operating room.  He said that he had done the normal operation on my heel, but had also found some grisly-type material that had grown over the nerve which he took care of for me.  Then, when he went to do the burrs on my big toe joint, he found not one, not two, but "many" others.  He said he improved my flexibility to move my toe 30%.  And, he said that he's found ingrown toenails to bleed more than other issues with the foot as mine has done.  I've found my ability to walk on this foot to be a week ahead of the other foot.  However, both of my feet hurt quite a bit.  And, there's soooo much work to be done around the house.  I feel like it's always dirty despite all the help I've had this week!.  Mom Olsen and Kristen came again on Tuesday.  Mom Olsen took laundry home both days to iron for me.  It's nice to have some of Ladd's shirts ironed!!!  And, the Sunday shirts are all ironed as well.  On Wednesday, Lena and Alyssa went to Debra Goodey's house.  She even fed them before she brought them back.  I managed to do some basic cleaning while they were gone and Shalyn was sleeping.  And, I was able to listen to my scriptures the whole time and actually hear what they said!  That night, we had lasagna-type noodles brought in by Brook Foess and Lori Brainard.  It was all very yummy!  On Thursday, Lena and Alyssa went to stay at Emily Jones' house until around two!  I sat around most of that time and read a book that was due at the library that day.  Friday, Lena and Alyssa went with Heather Wilson.  They sure loved being able to get out of the house each of those days and have fun adventures at those houses!  I was able to actually have a bath while they were gone.  Simple pleasures!  That night, Deanna Weierholt and Lesa Thompson brought dinner in for us.  It was yummy, too.  It seems like most of the family have been battling coughs and snuffles all week.  Ladd's been sick.  Not fun!  Cecilia tried out for winter colorguard all week long, and she made it onto the premier team!!!  Congratulations, Cecilia!!!  She's so graceful while she's twirling her flags around.  She makes it look soooo easy!  Garrett went to the Draper temple with some of his drumline friends to do baptisms for the dead.  He had a campout that he missed as a result.  Ladd and I even tried to take him to their camp, but we couldn't find it.  After we dropped Garrett back off at home, we headed to pick up a prescription for me, and that seemed to be the extent of our date.  We did go into our room when we got home, and read the first chapter into one of my current favorite books, "Expecting Joy."  It seems to capture many of the feelings I have towards motherhood right now.  I went to bed early last night.  My back was hurting so much in the morning, and I was still so very tired when I got up.  Tomorrow, I'm supposed to be singing "Be Still my Soul" with other women in the ward.  Hope I'm up to it!!!

This week has been interesting since I can't drive.  Thankfully, with a little creativity, we've muddled through.  Cali has come home every day this week to grab the van, and go back so she and Garrett can get a ride back after working with teachers on their grades.  And, Cali's been so willing to run all the errands I've needed her to run.

Our anniversary this year was our 18th.  Even though it wasn't an even number, it still seemed to be a bigger deal to me for some reason.  When we did sealings the week before, I couldn't help feel so grateful for Ladd.  He blesses my life in so many ways, and turns a blind eye to all my failings.  He is usually so tactful, although yesterday, he said I ate the most. . . bread.  He swears he meant to say I ate the most bread, but it sure sounded like he meant I ate the most -- out of everyone.  I had given him a watch for our anniversary, and he hasn't been able to find it lately.  This morning, he put his work pants on and found his watch in the pocket.  Then, later, he asked me what I had given him the watch for.  I reminded him it was our anniversary.   I guess it wasn't as memorable for him?  ;)  Just kidding!  I'm grateful Ladd is in my life!!!  And, I'm grateful I have ten beautiful children to learn from and enjoy!  What an adventure I'm able to have because of these wonderful people in my life!!!!

Now, Onto November 2013

With Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia gone to State Marching Band in St. George, it was quieter at home.  I think this was the week that Ladd and I's date consisted of going to Costco.  I shopped while Ladd got his card activated, and we met up, walked out to the check-out line, and grabbed a twist frozen yougart that we shared for a few moments before we got to Lowe's where Ladd ran in to get a few things.  (Actually, I think this date happened the week before when we went to the Marching band competition to watch the new and improved show -- on the 26th).  So, I do know that we did father/daughter or mother/daughter dates and father/son dates.  I took Mckenzie with me to Coscto late on Friday night.  We shared a twist frozen yougart on the way home.  Mckenzie talked and talked to me.  It was nice to be able to focus just on her!  Ladd took Ruby to Smith's to pick up some glue so Ladd could help Jarom put together his rocket for the BYU POWWOW.  He took Ruby to Artic Circle on the way home and she had some ice cream treat with him.  Jarom and James worked hard getting all their requirements for their art merit badge done that night.  Then, Saturday morning, Ladd took both the boys to the BYU POWWOW.  My focus had shifted to my upcoming surgery that was less than a week away, so I did some cleaning and laundry, and baths, and so forth.  Ladd might have gone to another BYU basketball game that night.  I can't really remember what did happen, though.  I think that it was this night, as we were getting ready for bed, that Ladd told me that he had a lump in his right side of his throat, but that his health seemed to be okay -- he wasn't sick with a cold.  As he said that, I had the distinct impression that "this was it.  This was the beginning of the end."  All my emotions from the experience I had during Shalyn's pregnancy came flooding back, and I've been much more emotional this past week.  I've asked Ladd to at least go in and see the doctor about it, and he's been trying.  It's the doctor's office that hasn't cooperated.  Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia got back during church.  I'd left my cell phone at home, so they eventually called Ladd.  Ladd came to help me get into the car, and after we climbed in the car and sat around waiting for everyone to get buckled for awhile, he finally told me that he'd already picked them up.  I got fairly anxious to get home so I could see them, but he was in a teasing mood, and offered to drive us in all the wrong direction.  Finally, we drove into the driveway, and before he could pull back out of the driveway like he was talking of doing, I climbed out -- of a moving car.  I guess they swept everything except drumline in State 4A, and in Bands of America, they got fourth over all -- American Fork was the only band from Utah to beat Westlake!!!!  They did awesome!!!  I'm so proud of them!!! And, so grateful for it all to be over!!!!  We went to Mapleton that night.

On the 4th, I took Shalyn in to see the doctor because of her sore bottom that wouldn't heal.  It's still not better. . . .  I got Jarom's prescription filled.  Cali got an e-mail forwarded to her by Mr. Mangleson finally about her wallet having been found a couple of weeks before on the bus that she rode on up to the Idaho competition.  So, on Tuesday, the 5th, I called on it, and after loading James (he was pretty sick -- coughing a croupy cough), Lena, Alyssa, and Shalyn into the car, we drove up to a warehouse behind the Gateway, and I picked it up.  After school, when it was time to pick Cali up, I asked her if she wanted to drive, so I had her drive to Mapleton to try to find the purse that Ruby had left there on Sunday.  We got the purse, and after Cali drove up the canyon there a bit, we returned home which finished off her driving hours.  It seemed I was in the car all day that Tuesday running errands.  I think I took James into the doctor's office either that day or on Wednesday.  It was election day, so I went to go vote.  I also went to the Library.  I found the fourth book of the "Shamer's Chronicles" and was quite ecstatic to find it there!  I helped a man figure out where he needed to go vote.  A couple of years ago, the city council voted through some high density homes that were set amongst some of the mansion styled homes in Saratoga Springs.  There was quite an uproar about it them, and it has caused a ground swelling action that landed several propositions on the ballot on Tuesday.  I'm guessing there was a higher outpouring of voters as a result!  Especially since many of the city council members were being voted on -- and a new mayor as well.  Mckenzie had activity days and Cali and Cecilia had YW's.  Jarom had YM's up at the Family History Library in Riverton starting at 5 p.m.  I had to help him get an LDS account over the phone since I was driving with Cali at the time.  After school on Wednesday, I went to pick Garrett and Cali up around 4 p.m., and, after dropping Garrett off, I took Cali down to get her license.  It didn't even take very long!  We walked in, filled out a form, then were processed without more than 5 minutes of wait time!!!!  Now to get her on the insurance!!!  Cali told me how at school, she'd been called down to be a part of the Hope Squad.  Evidently, they got the student body to nominate people to be on the Hope Squad.  Over a thousand people were nominated, but they only pulled in the top twenty people or so, and Cali was on that list!!!  The Hope Squad is designed for these nominated students to be trained to listen to those that are needing help to not commit suicide.  They figure people who are contemplating suicide will be more likely to talk to their peers rather than an adult counselor.  It sounds interesting!!  When I was growing up, I was involved in programs that pushed the agenda to say no to drugs.  It sounds like the Hope Squad is the new Say No to Drugs program for our day and time.  Ladd and I went to the temple that night.  I was grateful to go.  I ended up trying to fit my insert into my temple "shoe" for my walking around the temple.  It was interesting, to say the least.  And, it was fairly busy there at the temple -- enough that we had to line up in the hallway outside of the chapel.  On Thursday, Mckenzie had Tumbling.  I had a physical therapy session and saw Dr. Rogers as well at the end of it.  He told me once again that I could have him inject some medicine into my left foot while in surgery for my right foot.  When I got back, Ladd and I got ready to go to the HOA meeting over changing the CCR's.  It was an emotionally charged meeting, and was a bit uncomfortable at times for me since I avoid conflict whenever I can.  Evidently, all the CC&R's were changed except the RV's being able to be parked in driveways.  So, now, we'll have to figure out what that means for our fence-line.  They passed the right to be able to pull out the fence if the board voted to do so.  Which means, it's only a matter of time.  Lots of questions still. . . .
November 8th, I woke up bright and early.  I took Garrett and Cali to school, then came back and took Cecilia and Jarom to school.  As I was waiting to pull out of the middle school parking lot, I rear-ended the suburban in front of me.  Not what I needed right before my surgery!!!  I exchanged information with the lady driving, and hurried home with lots of things I needed to do.  I called Kelsy and told her to not worry about watching the kids that day -- that Ladd would handle it.  Then I noticed I'd missed a phone call from the hospital.  So, I called them and they asked if I could get there in a half an hour.  So, I had a quick shower, and Ladd came home to drive me to the hospital.  James and Ruby were both home from school because of being sick, so they babysat the kids during my surgery.  When we got there, they took me back, got a urine sample to make sure I wasn't pregnant, asked me lots of questions, put in my IV with one little poke, and then other people started filing in to ask me more questions.  When Dr. Rogers came in, he felt where my burr was on my big toe and found two there.  Then, after the surgery, he said he found even more there.  I was told I was rather lucid after my surgery when Dr. Rogers came to talk to us afterwards.  After getting up to go to the bathroom and eating some food, they let me go.  Ladd picked up two movies -- The Croods and Whitehouse Down.  He also picked up some Café Rio for Ladd and I and an extra meal to divide amongst the kids.  I was put to bed immediately to elevate my foot and ice it.  That night, we watched White House Down, ate pizza, and then Ladd went to the BYU basketball game with dad Olsen.  It was rather frustrating for me because no one wanted to do the helping of me or the helping of the kids.  Oh, and after we got home from the hospital, we got a text from the woman's husband saying her back was hurting her -- so Ladd had me make a claim on our insurance.  It sounds like we're in for a ride on this one.  While I was making my statement, all I could hear in my mind's eye was the nurse telling me after surgery to not make any legal and binding decisions for the next 24 hours!!!  I couldn't get to sleep until four in the morning because my medicine wasn't covering my pain very well.  So, I only got about three to four hours of sleep that night.  On Friday, I had a huge headache, but by Saturday that was gone to be replaced with my lower back killing me.  The medicine didn't touch either of those ailments for me.  On Saturday, Ladd did lots of shopping.  Lena had a birthday party to go to for Cameron Hicken.  Cali went with Ladd to help pick up the shirts for her Homecoming Dance.  Ladd went over to Lane's house and then Chad's house for the BYU football game and then to play a game -- and he took Mckenzie.  He set it up so Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia would each take an hour to help me.  The trouble with that was my pain levels weren't being managed by my pills and there was more time and stuff to do than just three hours worth.  I was pretty frustrated by the time he finally came home.  I had to call my doctor's office to get help with getting more pills, because at the rate I was going through them, I wouldn't last the weekend.  Luckily, it has settled down since then.  This morning I was in tears just trying to get a bath.  Our tub is set up so it's easy to prop a left foot up out of the water, but not the right foot.  And, the doctor had given me a cortezone shot in my left heel like he said he would, and I was amazed at how good it felt until I tried to have a bath.  My left foot had to be the good one without the support of the insert or my shoe, and it's hurting even now.  Jarom and James and Lena and Alyssa and Shalyn all stayed home from church.  I worked with James on his Faith in God and we got him almost done!!!  Jarom and James sure didn't get along and then we had numerous problems with Lena and Alyssa.  Lena put glue all over her sheets (maybe that was after church while Ladd was at choir).  Shalyn had a really messy diaper that had her bottom extremely sore.  So, she was crying quite a bit.  I just feel so helpless and clueless.  I have to try to talk people into helping me with the little children's problems, guessing all the while what really needs to be done with them, and then wondering why they are still not happy and trying to do that all over again.  Ladd seems to do really well when he is here -- he's just been gone a lot this weekend.  Ladd led the choir in "Jesus, Lover of my Soul" at Sacrament Meeting today.  I really wasn't thinking when I arranged to have us sing it this weekend!!!  Ladd said it sounded fine!  It seems like most of our children are sick and coughing up a storm every few seconds.  Dr. Rogers had his office call and arrange for me to come in sooner tomorrow.  So, it looks like Ladd will be taking me to the doctor's office tomorrow morning.  After calendar tonight, Cecilia came in to admit she'd missed a huge calendaring item.  Evidently, it's winter color guard tryouts this week -- all week long.  It will make it a long week for her.  I just want all of us to get better!!!  Mom Olsen and Kristen are coming to help tomorrow and Tuesday.  That will be a huge help!  Hopefully I can do this!

Catching Up part 2 -- October!

October started off with a bang!  Shalyn had her six month well-check visit during the day, and Jarom had a medicine check-up after school.  Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia had marching band practice as usual.  Jarom went to the Shakespeare Night at the Middle School for a drama assignment.  James had scouts and Cali and Cecilia had YW's.  Wednesday, the 2nd, was Lena and Alyssa's preschool fieldtrip to a local farm that we could get a free pumpkin and go through a corn maze and have a hayride.  Kelsy came along with Ashton and Vivian so she could help me.  It killed my foot to walk through the dirt in the corn maze.  I was very done when we left.  The girls also got to go down some fun slides while there and pet some farm animals.  After school, there was marching band practice for Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia.  I went to James', Mckenzie's, and Ruby's parent teacher conferences.  That was the first time I personally met with their teachers!  On Thursday, it was Mckenzie, James, and Ruby's turns to have their pictures taken.  So, I also took Lena, Alyssa, and Shalyn up during the day to get their pictures taken as well.  Cali had a well check after school with Dr. Edwards.  Then, the oldest three had marching band practice again.  On Friday, Ladd watched the BYU football game.  On Saturday, I took Garrett and Cali into the lab at the hospital early in the morning to have their cholesterol tested.  Garrett thought they'd be taking a pint of blood, and Cali didn't seem to understand that she was having her blood taken.  Both seemed surprised, though, when it was all done so quickly.  The person who took their blood was the lady who had messed up so badly with my arm one time, and treated me like a live experiment!  When I saw who was going to draw their blood, I started praying for a positive outcome for Garrett and Cali!!!  Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia had a marching band competition in Herriman while the rest of us watched general conference.  Ladd went to pick them up early so we could go down to Mapleton for the Priesthood session/ice cream night despite the fact that they can now watch it on the TV!  Sunday was more of General Conference.  On October 7th, there was more marching band sectionals for Garrett and Cali.  I had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Rogers. He started me on physical therapy that same day.  Physical therapy consisted of having electrodes hooked up to my incision site and electrical stimulation sent through my foot for 10 minutes.  After that, I was to soak my foot in a hot, vibrating tub for 10 minutes.  The electrical stimulation is not my favorite!  It reminds me too much of the electrical test I had to take shortly after Shalyn was born to find out I have mild neuropathy in both feet and carpal tunnel in my left arm.  I don't remember what we did for FHE that night. . . .  Tuesday, the 8th, Keen and Savannah flew in for them to go to the MTC the next day, but we couldn't go see them since Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia had a competition at BYU, and Ladd, Jarom, and James all had a service project at the Hicken's and Gheddes's house that night for YM/scouts.  On Wednesday, Garrett and Cali had to be to Westlake early in the morning because the marching band was being featured on one of the newscasts -- as well as other parts of Westlake High School.  When it was time to take Lena and Alyssa to preschool, we decided that preschool wouldn't work for any of us.  Rachel's daughter would only go to preschool when it was at her own house, and it wasn't worth it for just Sharee and I to do preschool for our three children.  It would mean rotating every other week and neither of us were willing to put that much effort into it.  I decided to try to still do preschool with Lena and Alyssa, but I've really let that slide.  I did buy them some preschool books.  Hopefully, this year we will get them both to complete all of their books at least!  The oldest three had marching band practice as per usual.  Thursday thru the next Monday were considered Fall Break.  On Thursday, I took Garrett to get his braces put on his teeth.  His appointment was supposed to be right after his birthday, but they shifted it back to this day.  I had physical therapy at Dr. Roger's office.  Garrett and Cali went on a date with Kaleb, Parker, and Connor.  It took Corin stepping in to make sure the car arrangements would work for everyone and that they had something worthwhile to do since it was raining and going to cornbelly's wasn't going to work that night.  They ended up bowling and eating pizza at the bowling alley, then going to Chad and Corin's house to play some games.  It was fun that they all could have a date night together, AND, it was Cali's first date!!  Ladd and I went to the temple to do sealings with the Olsen's and went out for ice cream at a Wendy's off of 106th So. afterwards.  Ladd also worked on the last bedroom downstairs.  He's trying to get it finished.  Yeah!!!  Friday, we went up to the Zoo.  I used my scooter, and was quite tired after all those hills.  Feeding Shalyn was a trick as well -- she's mostly on a bottle now.  After the zoo, we went to Zupas.  The kids thought they were all in heaven.  I think we overwhelmed the Zupas staff, though with as big our order was!!!  Alyssa wouldn't eat anything.  Otherwise, everyone seemed to like what they ordered.  The only exception would be Mckenzie.  She liked her salad and took a couple of bites of her sandwich before it was time to go home.  She eventually had others eat her sandwich because she didn't realize and/or like the cranberry sauce it had on it!  :)  We watched Iron Man 3 that night (I think Mckenzie watched Epic in our room with a few others -- she usually has to watch something else to stave off nightmares).  Saturday morning, Ladd took the Primary kids and Jarom to go pick out pumpkins in our ward garden for the Primary Pumpkin activity.  Then, we got ready to go to the sand dunes down near Delta.  Cali drove most of the way there and some of the way back.  She only has 1 and 1/2 hours left to drive to finish everything up so she can get her license!!!!  Ladd was intent on watching the BYU game and the kids all just wanted to relax, so I went to my England Leeds Mission reunion by myself.  I learned that President Wigglesworth is a Stake Patriarch!  We talked for a bit about that since my dad is a Patriarch as well.  I was reminded that night that I really don't "fit" into that group of people.  I'm convinced that President and Sister Wigglesworth think I'm nice, but aren't fawning over me like they do others.  Oh well.  It has always been thus.  It was still nice to see them.  There weren't very many other people there that I knew very well.  Certainly not any of my own companions or the Elders I served with.  Sister Wakefield was there, though.  I served with her for a week while Sister Wiese trained a brand new sister since Sister Tack (who was supposed to train her) was sick.  I still remember being dragged into President Wigglesworth's office on a preparation day in our p-day clothes amongst all the new sisters and elders and President Wigglesworth calling Sister Wiese to be a temporary trainer.  As we stood to go out, he asked us if that would be okay.  Sister Wiese said that she'd do her best, and I added, "But President.  What am I supposed to do?"  He looked at me blankly as if realizing that I was a loose end he hadn't even thought about.  Then, he proceeded to give me several possible scenarios with the firm statement that the only thing I couldn't do was to live in the flat I'd been living in with Sister Weise while she was training.  Boy did I feel unimportant, invisible, and overlooked.  I suppose it was part of my growing and stretching that I needed to go through.  I decided that I would take Sister Wakefield as my companion and we would work in my same area since we would be walking.  I slept on a mattress on the floor that whole week.  The first day, Sister Wakefield informed me as we left the house that she wouldn't do any "OYMing's" -- in other words, talking to people on the street.  We were asked to do 10 of those a day to be obedient as missionaries.  So, I did them all myself that whole week.  All I remember from that week was walking long hours, listening to her talk lots to me, and any missionary work that we did, I did it myself.  That week was when my feet started hurting me in earnest -- probably my bone spurs even back then.  When I did see a doctor about my feet there in England, all he asked me was if I was pregnant.  I still don't see the corollation!  Anyway, when I saw Sister Wakefield at the reunion, Sister Wigglesworth whispered in her ear that I was the mother of 10 children.  Sister Wakefield mumbled something that sounded like, "Of course she'd be the mother of 10 children.  She's so peppy and enthusiastic!"  I guess that's her impression of me from that one week all those years ago!  I personally don't see what being peppy and enthusiastic has to do with being the mother of 10 children.  :)  On Sunday, Garrett had another presidency meeting before church.  On Monday, we watched Epic and Now you see me.  Tuesday, the 15th, we found ourselves embroiled once again in our hectic life.  I had physical therapy after school on top of marching band.  Then, the four oldest had YM/YW's and James had scouts.  On Wednesday, Jarom had a choir exchange while Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia all had marching band practice.  On Thursday, I had a physical therapy session, and I had Kelsy watch the three girls.  Evidently, Shalyn cried the whole time.  I guess she's in the stranger danger stage now!  Mckenzie had tumbling.  Garrett stayed afterwards to try to take one of the math tests he failed.  Once again, the oldest three had marching band practice till late at night.  On Friday, Ladd and I went to Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia's last football game so we could watch their pre-game show that Cali leads, and watch their competition show that they've called "Our Town".  They've been doing extremely well this season.  It was a very cold night sitting on those metal bleachers.  We left after their half-time show was done.  On Saturday, the 19th, Jarom and James had BYU POWWOW, Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia had a competition up in Idaho, and Ladd, Mckenzie, Ruby, and Lena had their Primary Program Practice.  For an hour and a half, I only had Alyssa and Shalyn there with me.  Rather strange!  Cali had gotten up early to go to the temple with the Laurels (since she's a Laurel now!!!) at 4:30 a.m.  Ladd watched the BYU football game.  Afterwards, I talked Ladd into taking me to Sizzler's in celebration for our 18th anniversary.  We decided that from here on out, we needed to stop eating out on our dates since it doesn't help me lose my weight very well.  I think I've regretted it since then.  It seems we don't know what else to do on a date!  On our anniversary, the 20th, it was the Primary program.  All of the kids did remarkably well with their parts.  Lena's voice could be heard over everyone else's voices during the songs.  I got the feeling she was trying to sing her loudest and very best so she could be heard.  And she succeeded.  We all got many complements on how distinctive Lena was as a singer (or yeller)  :)  I gave Ladd some gifts with a note thanking him for the time we've spent together and so forth.  So, Ladd pulled out the latest Percy Jackson book and gave it to me as a gift first making sure all the other kids knew I would get first dibs.  The oldest four all made quite the fuss, and kept giving me jealous looks.  On Monday, I sent Ruby to school with treats to celebrate her birthday at school -- a totally random date I picked and put on the calendar.  Garrett and Cali had marching band sectionals and I took Cali over to UVU so she could attend a concert for school credit.  The rest of the family had most of FHE without us.  Tuesday was a particularly long day!  I met with one of the counselors with Garrett to try to get him out of the math class he was in to go into another teacher's class.  I went visiting teaching with my new partner -- Tara Jenkins to visit Maryam Cheney and Alicia Zimmer.  It was like night and day to me.  Maryam's home was spotless with candles glowing around the room.  Lena and Alyssa just sat there and played quietly (for them).  Then, we went to Alicia's house.  She'd forgotten about us coming, and proclaimed her dirty house "still pretty clean".  She has three dogs, a cat, and some fish.  Lena and Alyssa wouldn't obey me, and seemed very out of control.  It was a powerful lesson to me on the affect our environment has on our behavior and attitudes!  After school, I once again had physical therapy.  I met with Dr. Rogers after I was done.  We talked about my progress.  He told me to still do physical therapy, to put my inserts in (after I got my cast off, I finally got some new tennis shoes that were size 10's!  The only ones that would fit onto my foot!), and then told me he could shoot some medicine in that left foot when I had my right foot surgery done.  It sure hurt to have those inserts in!!!  But eventually, it worked its way out, and feels better now.  Marching band practice and activity days happened while I was gone.  It was Jarom's band concert and Garrett and Cali performed with the marching band for the last performance of the concert.  On the 23rd, Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia went to the morningside for seminary before school.  Garrett had to leave the morningside early because drumline was supposed to play for something.  He left his lunch somewhere, so he was very hungry and distraught when he got home from marching band.  Cecilia had a color guard clinic that went very late.  And, Jarom had his choir concert that night.  Garrett had tried to get all the signatures so he could get out of the math class, but his current math teacher wouldn't sign it.  Garrett sat and cried through dinner.  He'd had such a rough day.  When I went to pick Cecilia up, I started telling her about it, and I could tell she didn't think very much of it, but when I told her that Garrett had been crying, it sobered her up, and she voluntarily turned over the Percy Jackson book over to Garrett as a peace offering.  I don't think she told Garrett why she gave it to him, but I thought it was a very nice thing for her to do for Garrett.  On Thursday, Ladd took Garrett in to school to talk to his math teacher, and got him to sign the paper for Garrett.  Yeah!  Go Ladd!!!  Garrett said his math teacher put a lot more credence to Garrett's request once Ladd showed up to talk to him!  I had another physical therapy session.  This time, Mom Olsen met me at a nearby park and watched the three girls there while I went for my half an hour physical therapy session.  I guess Shalyn didn't realize I was missing till the very end, but she ended up crying for the rest of the time once she realized it was grandma singing to her instead of her mom!  It was Mckenzie's Halloween party at tumbling that day after school.  And, marching band practice as usual!!!  On Friday, I went out to Mapleton to pick up $300 of meat that dad Olsen had just brought home after butchering his beef cow.  After I got back, I took all the kids to the Halloween party at Ladd's work there in American Fork.  We had a hard time getting everyone dressed, but we finally made it.  The kids really enjoyed themselves.  You could tell that Fidelity had gone to lots of effort for it.  Ladd watched the BYU game afterwards.  On Saturday, Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia had their Mt. Timpanogas marching band competition and Jarom went with his band on a fieldtrip to go see them perform.  Cecilia was given a last minute solo at the first of their show where she went on the field all by herself as if trying to find the place to have their town.  So, Ladd and I took Ruby, Lena, and Alyssa to go see their show.  They did such a great job!!!  It's really improved since the first of the season.  Ladd went to a BYU game with the Olsen clan.  I had to do all the shopping, cleaning and bathing by myself.  Sunday, the 27th, it was Young Women's in Excellence.  Cali gave a talk I didn't know she had to give.  She did a great job!  It was fun seeing all the displays.  On Monday, Garrett and Cali had marching band sectionals.  That night, we did our family Halloween party except Ladd spent all his time downstairs working in the bedroom downstairs instead of having fun with us.  Tuesday after school, I had another physical therapy appointment.  James and Jarom went to a 100 year celebration for the scouting program.  Cali and Cecilia missed their YW's because of marching band practice, and Garrett didn't have YM's.  On Wednesday, there was marching band practice as usual, and then it was the Westlake Band Bash concert.  Jarom performed in it as well as Garrett and Cali.  After we all got home, I stayed up until 12:30 a.m. helping get Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia packed for their last and final trip for this year's marching band season -- for the State and Bands of America competitions.  As a result, I didn't get much sleep.  Ladd took them to their buses early on Thursday morning.  I had a physical therapy appointment during the day.  So, I arranged to have mom Olsen watch them again at the park, but then later cancelled my appointment because I was so tired.  But, then I couldn't get a hold of mom to tell her, so I had to load the girls into the car anyway so I could go meet her and tell her we didn't need her to babysit.  I was tired and lacking patience that night for Halloween.  James went with a friend trick or treating.  Mckenzie went with a friend trick or treating as well.  Ladd took Ruby, Lena, and Alyssa out trick or treating.  Jarom answered the door all night and handed out candy.  And, thus ended October 2013. . . .

P.S. -- Our Halloween costumes consisted of this year:

Garrett--Tonto and a Percy Jackson character
Cali and Cecilia -- matching Little Red Riding Hood's
Jarom -- a black caped character
James -- a scary masked dude as well as a detective (which I told him made him look more like a mobster)
Mckenzie -- a pretty witch
Ruby -- the queen character from Epic
Lena and Alyssa -- fairies
Shalyn -- Robin (as in Batman and Robin)

No one asked me, but I had my response all ready in case someone did ask me.  I was an opera singer in disguise.  :)  Ladd dressed up in cowboy gear when he took the kids trick or treating!

It's catch-up time!!! (September 2013)

Wow!  The last mention of our calendar was September 1st, 2013.  It's now November 9th!  Miles of moments have gone by in that amount of time!  I hope I can even remember all of it.  Here it goes!

September 1st was Labor Day, and once again, Alyssa and Shalyn stayed at home with me.  I felt completely worn out by the end of the day when I finally had helpers once again.  That week, Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia had some form of marching band every day that week including another football game.  Young Men's and Young Women's on Tuesday night along with James' 11 year old scouts.  On Wednesday, I had preschool at my house.  A bit of a challenge to get my house clean enough for visitors, and then, only one other boy came.  One mother dropped out completely, and the other couldn't even get her daughter to stay.  Mckenzie had tumbling on Thursday for the first time.  Evidently, she did a front flip on the first day of Tumbling!!  She was supposed to do a forward somersault at a run.  Instead, she did a front flip!  Go Mckenzie!!!  By this time, the ward finally figured out that I'd had surgery, and so they started sending in the calvary to help, thankfully!  Jenna DeYoung took Lena and Alyssa on Friday morning for a playdate.  It was a much needed break for me!  I was able to go to the bathroom and take a bath!  Wahoo!  What freedom!  In the evening, we took Jarom on down to Adam and Kelsy's house to listen to Kelsy's brother sing for us.  It rained a little bit while we were there.  I worried about getting my cast all wet, but it turned out just fine.  On Saturday, there was a football game and Ladd took some of the kids to help do service up at the church.  I think I did the shopping by myself, but I used the handicapped motorized carts as much as I could.  Those machines are fun to ride!!! 

September 9th, Nichole Parker was supposed to watch Lena and Alyssa, but she didn't remember.  So, we hunkered down for a long day, once again.  Marching band sectionals for Garrett and Cali were after school and Cali had to attend "Thor's Council" as the marching band representative.  I can't remember what we did for FHE, but we had it.  Tuesday was a busy day!!!  Nicole watched Lena and Alyssa in the morning for me which allowed me once again to have a much needed bath!!  We had marching band practice for Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia, a birthday party at Discovery Park in Pleasant Grove for Damon.  I took James, Mckenzie, and Ruby to that party, and ran to Target to do some shopping during the party.  Mckenzie missed activity days as a result.  James had scouts, and the oldest four had YM/YW activities.  After we got dinner and everyone else off to what they needed to go to, I went to Walmart to buy me some much needed clothes!  On Wednesday, we had preschool at Sharee's house.  That was challenging trying to get the girls all loaded into their proper car seat enough to go and come back!!  Much less to maneuver the steep stairs!  Cecilia had school pictures.  There was marching band, of course.  That night, I had a Deliberate Motherhood retreat.  Many of the main authors were there, and each of them re-capped what they'd written about.  When it was Saren's turn to talk about organization, she asked why we would need to be organized.  I raised my hand and said so we could find things.  There were some chuckles over that.  Then Saren went on to have me stand up and be introduced as the mom who had 10 children and also talked about how most of her material on organization had come from me.  Then as she went on, she kept saying, "Well, Sharla Olsen said _____."  She referenced me numerous times during her presentation.  Enough, that I was worried the moms there would ask to drop by my house to see how to keep things organized!  Somehow, I feel like I've been put up on a pedestal, and I'll fall off soon!  On Thursday, Jarom had his pictures taken.  Marching band and tumbling both happened.  I think this was the day that when I tried to go pick up Mckenzie, I drove over a pile of HUGE rocks that had been piled up on the road by some silly person.  Mckenzie helped my clear the road a bit.  It wasn't convenient with my cast on at all!  And, I think I damaged the underside of the car in the process.  UGH!!  Friday was another football game for the oldest three.  And, Ladd and I went out for a date.  Saturday was a busy day!  I did the shopping again.  Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia had a day long practice for marching band -- a drill camp.  Ladd took Jarom, James, and Mckenzie to Miller's Sports park with some tickets he had won in a raffle at work.  Garrett went on a date with Courtney Fowler and doubled with Kaleb and Kaleb's other cousin on his side, Kali.  It seems like they didn't do anything they'd planned on doing because of rain, and they drove around for awhile.  For Ladd and I, it was the Stake Conference night session.  Sunday was Stake Conference.  We celebrated Garrett's 17th birthday that night.  On Monday, Garrett and Cali both had sectionals for marching band.  Garrett had a trash can practice after that, and then the Family Night marching band show concert was upon us.  We all went.  Their show is awesome!  It's really fun to see Cali do her dancing solo in the middle of it, and see Garrett's fancy footwork as he maneuvers his big base drum around the field, and the naturally beautiful grace Cecilia has as she twirls her flags around the field!  September 17th (Tuesday) was Garrett's official birthday.  He went into his first period class to find his desk all decorated with Happy Birthday signs and balloons.  He had tried to ask several girls to the homecoming dance, and finally, the third girl answered him that morning with a Styrofoam ball stuck with lots of dum, dum suckers saying, "I'd be a dum, dum if I didn't go to homecoming with you."  That was sitting on his desk as well.  Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia had their first marching band competition that night, so they all got back late.  Jarom and James had scouts.  The next day, Lena and Alyssa had preschool at Rachel Seguin's house.  After school, Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia had marching band practice and I had Garrett and Cali's parent teacher conferences without them.  After marching band practice, it was the Homecoming parade for Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia.  The kids and I watched the parade.  On Thursday, Mckenzie had Tumbling.  Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia all had marching band practice again.  I went to Jarom and Cecilia's parent teacher conferences without them.  On Friday, Lena and Alyssa were going to Michelle Davis' house to give me a break, but they were both sick, so I cancelled with her as well as the doctor's visits for Shalyn and Jarom.  Garrett had to play in the Homecoming Jazz Festival, and then it was the Homecoming Football game for Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia.  I'm assuming Ladd and I went out to eat and we also picked up Garrett's corsage from Deanna Weirholt.  Saturday, Ladd took Garrett to his flight simulation that Ladd had given to him as part of Garrett's birthday gifts.  Garrett had Homecoming Activities for the rest of the night.  Ladd went to the BYU game.  I did shopping and baths, etc.  On Monday, the 21st, I too Alyssa and Shalyn in to see Dr. Foster.  James stayed after school at Gage Bentley's house so they could work on homework together and play afterwards.  He started doing that most every Monday and Wednesday.  That has really taken some pressure off of me, and helped James get his homework done as well.  Yeah!  Ladd took me to Dr. Roger's to get my cast off.  My leg hair was surprisingly long and dark.  It looked ugly to me.  Yuck!  And, I had to get stitches out.  I think I went into shock.  It wasn't fun.  And, Dr. Rogers couldn't get my tennis shoes over my foot, so he put a doctor's "shoe" over my foot.  Then, he said I could walk on it.  I must admit, I put lots of pressure on the front part of my foot instead of my heel.  :)  Standing there, waiting to set up a few appointments and set up the date of my other surgery, I found my right foot was hurting beyond what I could stand!  I'd been wearing a flip flop on that foot to go along with my cast on my left foot.  It was a bit of a shock to suddenly be wearing my tennis shoe with the insert on my right foot once again.  Garrett and Cali had marching band sectionals as usual.  Michelle Brydson brought a meal in for us that night.  On Tuesday morning, I took Shalyn in to see the doctor.  It turns out she was dealing with croup.  He gave her a shot to help her heal better.  The after school activities were all the same for a Tuesday -- activity days for Mckenzie, marching band for Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia, YM/YW for the oldest four and scouts for James.  On Wednesday, I went in to talk to one of the counselors with Garrett to get him moved out of jazz band.  Evidently, he was asked to be in there so he could play the cow bell and other easy percussion instruments.  He didn't even have music for him to play.  We figured it was a waste of his time, so we pulled him out after the term changed.  We also talked to her about him getting moved out of his math class.  His teacher really didn't teach very well, and Garrett was having a hard time understanding all the math concepts as a result.  That morning, Lena and Alyssa went to preschool at Rachel's house again.  Sharee Thompson picked them up to take them to preschool for me.  James stayed after school at Gage Bentley's house again to get his math done, and the oldest three had marching band practice as usual.  Thursday, the 26th, I had an IEP for James.  It turns out they felt like he didn't need to be in remedial reading, etc. anymore.  I was confused, and quizzed them about everything, but in the end, I agreed and said he could be pulled from it.  After school, I took Garrett to his well-check visit.  He needed to see a urologist, the eye doctor, and get tested for high cholesterol.  Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia all had marching band practice that night.  Mckenzie had tumbling.  I went to a Relief Society activity and dinner at the Mcleary's house that night.  It was hard to maneuver up and down the stairs balancing my meal all the while trying to be so careful walking and babying my foot.  On Friday, the 27th, we all drove down to the lake to have James' long overdue Arrow of Light ceremony.  As part of the ceremony, they shot a flaming arrow into the lake.  It was cool.  It was also quite awkward for me to walk on the dirt and rocks still healing as I still was.  Ladd watched the BYU football game afterwards.  On Saturday, Cali and Cecilia (?) went to the temple at 4:30 in the morning to do baptisms for the dead.  Later on, Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia all went to their marching band completion -- the Nebo one.  They swept and even beat Timpview!!!!  They did so awesome!!!  Ladd and some of the kids went to collect some sod from the Stake Center while I did some shopping.  Then, I went to the General R.S. broadcast in the evening.  September 29th was fast Sunday because of general conference coming up.  Garrett had been set apart as the Secretary in the Priest's quorum, and had a presidency meeting before church.  And, Cali had her birthday interview with the bishop before church as well.  Monday, we celebrated Cali's birthday after she and Garrett got back from sectionals.  That turned out to be our FHE for the night.

Some Ramblings

When it rains, it pours, right?  Friday, August 29th, I woke up with diarrhea and a sick tummy and so did Alyssa.  We cancelled Lena and Alyssa's play date, and then dragged ourselves thru the day.  Alyssa threw up one time.  I was full out asleep on the couch and woke up to see Alyssa standing close by with throw up coming out of her mouth.  What a way to get the adrenaline going!!!  I grabbed the bucket I had handy and we managed to keep the mess manageable.  Poor Alyssa!  Ladd came for lunch and brought bananas, crackers, and yoguart (among other things).  We talked for awhile.  Evidently, Ladd's team has been out performing all the other teams.  Go Ladd!!!  He's worried that might change quickly because ten of his top performers are wanting to transfer to other positions.  After Ladd left, I started to feel a bit better, but Alyssa's diarrhea has gotten worse since then.  At night, Ladd called me from Walmart, so I walked him through what I could think of for our shopping list this week.  YEAH!  I didn't have to go!  He kept saying "hi" to people we know.  One of them asked him where his date was, and he said he was talking to her!  :)  Usually, I can plan on missing several vital items when I go shopping.  This week it was Tylenol.  What a week to miss that one!  I find it takes both Tylenol and IBProfen to get complete relief.  My heel just feels overly bruised right now.  Usually it takes ten hobbling steps for my foot to stop feeling so painful, so bruised, and so broken.  I keep getting cramps in my calf, but I can't do much about them.  And, wouldn't you know, my ankle feels like it's on fire when I step on my foot.  Then, every now and again, I get what Dr. Rogers referred to as "Zingers."  I suppose that could be my nerve causing havoc.  But, boy!  Do those zingers hurt.  They remind me of that test I had at the neurologist shortly after Shalyn was born.  He electrocuted me and tried to see how my nerves responded.  Those zingers feel like zaps of electricity shooting through me.  Not fun!  Especially when they happen consecutively one after another!! 

Yesterday, Ladd took all the kids except for  Shalyn and Alyssa to Miles' baptism in Payson.  After the baptism, they went to Sherilyn and Nate's new place they're renting in Spanish Fork.  They had a potluck dinner, then went to the homestead in Mapleton to watch the first BYU football game for the season.  BYU played Virginia.  Evidently, the game was postponed for a couple of hours due to rain and lightening allowing all of them to play various games and talk amongst themselves.  I stayed at home with Alyssa and Shalyn.  I feel like I changed between 20 and 30 messy diapers -- some of them runny enough to roll down Alyssa's leg.  I've tried to get her to eat bananas, but she's tired of them already.  And, if it has any stringy parts or brown parts, she won't touch them.  I also did the dishes and the laundry.  I played a couple of games with Alyssa and helped her play with her kitchen and some playdough.  I hobbled after her as best I could.  She watched lots of TV!   Shalyn's been eating, sleeping for maybe ten minutes, then waking up unhappy.  So, I finally tried to feed her a bottle yesterday.  She downed three ounces and was out for a couple of hours!  Victory!   Ladd got back with the kids between 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.  Then he headed over to Chad's to play more games.  I guess he hadn't had enough playing time.

Today, I stayed home with Alyssa and Shalyn again during church.    Tomorrow is the Olsen reunion and I'm wondering if Alyssa will be well enough to go.  I guess we'll see if I stay home with her for a fourth day in a row!!!  At least these days have been quiet days minus Lena's hurrying and yelling.  On Friday, while I was stuck in the Little Girl's room, Lena pulled Shalyn out of her pack 'n play three different times.   AAAAGGHH!!!  Lena says Shalyn is just so cute!  I agree, but it's not a reason for Lena to pick her up when she's been told not to pick her up!  And not to mention somehow finagling Shalyn out of that pack 'n play!

I have such helpers!  I love watching Garrett helping Shalyn.  This morning, he took a few minutes to take a pink sparkly headband off Shalyn's head that Lena had shoved on Shalyn and untangle it before placing it carefully back on her head.  He helped get her dressed a couple of months ago when she was three months old.  When I saw Shalyn, I took a few moments to check the size of the shirt and pants he'd dressed her in.  Sure enough, they were 12 month old sized clothes!  I chuckled about that one.  And, then, a few babies ago, Garrett showed true talent in putting a diaper on the baby -- backwards.  He did admit it was a bit hard to do. . . .

Ladd has been showing his love of experimenting in the kitchen lately -- taking advantage of me being laid up.  He made meatloaf with pickle juice.  It wasn't bad!  I didn't even know he'd put pickle juice in until he admitted it.  :)  Then, he made enchiladas the traditional, hard way.  He made pulled pork and chicken, then rolled up tortillas with some meat in them and cheese.  He had a can of enchilada sauce that he put on some of them, but he decided he wanted a change on one of them, so he spread some plain tomato sauce over the top.  James is so used to me tearing the tortillas up and mixing it all in together that he came in to ask me if they were really called enchiladas.  :)  Friday night, Ladd put some breaded chicken fingers with some hot sauce and BBQ sauce.  He added chopped up onion, garlic, potatoes, and some cream of chicken soup over all of it.  Then, he added jalepeno peppers with the seeds as a last gesture.  He said it would've been better if the chicken hadn't been breaded.  :)  I love it when his plans come together!  He's so excited and focused and creative when he's in the kitchen!  And, the kids love helping him.

What a Whirl!!!

After we got back from Oregon, we found ourselves twirling through a number of huge endeavors creating memories as we went.  What a whirl!!!  I started everything off with a visit to my Podiatrist.  We decided that my inserts weren't making the grade, so I signed myself up for surgery on my left foot to take care of the bone spur on that foot.  On the 15th, I visited my neurologist for a follow-up on my "going numb randomly" syndrome.  He said everything looked about the same (I didn't mention much about how my face is going to sleep more often now).  That night, we celebrated Jarom's 13th birthday.  The next day, we started marching band full force.  And, we got the oldest four ready for their pioneer trek experience.  They were gone the 17th to the 20th.  It was strange to have them gone.  It was quiet and minus drama.  It was full of James teasing his younger sisters, though!  When Garrett, Cali, Cecilia, and Jarom got back from their pioneer youth conference, they had lots to share.  It's marvelous to hear my children say they felt the spirit the whole time.  I loved that part!!!

On the 22nd, Colorguard camp for Cecilia started and we took Garrett and Shalyn to the doctor.  Shalyn is growing well.  Yeah!!!  The next day we were supposed to take Jarom to the doctor, but I forgot.  I did manage to get Mckenzie to her big Stake Activity Day, though.  We went to Mapleton to enjoy it's Pioneer Celebration and rubbing shoulders with Ladd's family all day on July 24th.  The next day, Cecilia went back to her Colorguard Camp and Garrett started his Drumline Camp.  That night, we squeezed in a birthday celebration for Mckenzie.  She's nine years old!!  On the 26th, I took Alyssa to get her hair cut by Tara and I came away with a haircut, too. (Lena had assaulted her hair once again with some scissors.)   Both Mckenzie and Jarom both had their well-check visits back to back in the afternoon.  Later, Mckenzie went to Whytney's birthday party.  Ladd and I took a quick date during her party.  Saturday morning, we had the ward pioneer parade and breakfast.  I missed the parade and got the next to last scone.  It was rainy, so no one stayed a long time.  Ladd, Garrett, and Jarom all had a Stake Priesthood Meeting on Sunday morning.  That night, Mckenzie and Jarom went over to Trisha and Jamie's for a sleepover. 

Band Camp for Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia started bright and early on the 29th.  Because of the sleepover, we only had half of our kids there during the day!  Weird!  On the 30th, I let Jarom babysit so I could go to the temple.  I did initiatories, and as I was almost done, the lady helping me said, "I don't know you, but I feel like you are someone very special."  I cried all the way home.  It was just what I needed to hear, and Heavenly Father knew that she would be his messenger for me that day! 

Our next adventure was getting ready for the River Run.  I was able to talk Melanie and Nicki and Connor into coming with us, as well as Adam and Kelsy and their family!  We left on Thursday morning.  We dropped off Mckenzie's registration for tumbling as we left.  We travelled up there just fine.  We thought most everyone were possible no shows, but they all showed up!  And, since most of them were planning on leaving on Saturday morning, they all insisted on being the ones to ride the river each time because they didn't have as many times to go down.  Ladd was assertive and stood up for our own brood.  But, I'm sure most everyone felt like they didn't get to run the river as much, but that's what happens when you decide to go home early!  Maybe we ought to go a day earlier then?  As a result, there wasn't anyone left for Ladd and our crew to go down with on all those extra runs we were supposed to be able to have because we were staying later.  And, we had to finish cleaning everything up.  Yuck!  Thankfully, many of them pitched in to help us pack up some of our stuff before they left.  True Olsen service!!!  I didn't get to go down at all, and I babysat lots!  There were some crazy moments for sure!  Hopefully others were able to have fun as a result.  Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia were all sad to not go down the river once again as a result of Marching Band.  On the way home, we found Adam and Kelsy had blown their second tire on their camping trailer.  They had quite the adventure lasting till Sunday night as a result.

The next week, Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia all had Pre-Game Camp on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  They got out with enough time for the Hinton Family Reunion to officially "start!"  Ladd and I were in charge this year.  Ladd provided a wonderful support role this time around, so I felt the heavy burden of decision weighing on me from time to time.   Wednesday night, Mom and Dad, Dustin and Nicki and Melanie arrived.  I went shopping with them at Costco before they headed off to eat dinner and go to rest at their hotel.  I took the food home, and the next day, with Melanie and Nicki's help, we cooked some of the food for the reunion.  In the afternoon, we played some games and measured our feet and filmed some of the children's "talents."  We got ready and went to the temple and were able to see the new temple film.  We got back really late.  Friday morning, we found that Rick and Tiffani had driven through the night and were remarkably awake!  Friday and Saturday's activities are all mixed up in my brain since I scrambled them around several times and then once again when Friday and Saturday actually began.  We had a Basketball "clinic", a children's talent show, and a night in Review that morphed into a technical "can you hear me now?" with Darren and Accalia as we tried to Skype with them.  We played Genealogy Jeopardy.  We had family pictures and ate cinnamon rolls at the park.  We did presentations on various topics (conflict management, internet safety, food allergies, fun video apps, romanticism, and estate planning).  Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia interviewed the children similar to "Children say the darndest Things."  We played the "word" game as well as animal charades.  We had a business meeting.  And, we deep cleaned the church.  We viewed some of the interviews and looked at lots of fun pictures.  We ate meals that were N.E.M.O. approved and tried to find some empathy for food allergies.  On Sunday, we attended our church services in our ward.  We played "Spontuneous" with Dustin and Nicki before everyone went their separate ways.

On August 13th, Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia all had marching band, and Mckenzie had a swimming party at Sister Haerring's pool for activity day's.  On the 14th, a number of activities were scrunched in on top of Ruby's birthday celebration.  I helped clean Sister Manning's house and Cali and Cecilia had a fundraiser at Culver's for Colorguard.  We celebrated Ruby's birthday after we all got back.  The next day, we had Ruby's well check visit, Vista Height's open house, and the Cheney's movie night for Mckenzie and Ruby.  I got a call from the hospital saying I needed to be at the hospital by 8:30 a.m. the next morning.  I tried to clean up the house that night.  On the 16th, Garrett took me over to the hospital for my foot surgery.  They took me back right away.  They had me change (Garrett left in a hurry after they mentioned that I needed to get into a hospital gown :), tried twice for an IV, then a stream of nurses and doctors came into my area to ask me questions.  For each one, I asked them only two questions:  1.  How long I would need to pump and dump for Shalyn's sake, and 2.  Would they please make sure I didn't remember the surgery at all!  When it was time to roll me out, they put a shot of stuff in my IV, then three minutes later, I found myself moving onto an extremely thin table still wide awake.  They put an oxygen mask on me and the next thing I remember is seeing the nurse walk into my room (different room) with some apple juice with Ladd on her heels and a blue cast on my foot.  Ladd took me home and we managed to get Ruby off to a birthday party (with the gift in tow!) and Cecilia off to Colorguard pictures and Cali and Cecilia off to their campout/Mt. Timpanogas hike.  I must say, Ladd did it all.  The doctor ordered me to keep my foot elevated and iced for three days.  I was not prepared for that!  Our family was not prepared for that!  But, in true Olsen fashion, Ladd stepped up and came through for all of us.  He didn't make it back to work on Friday, but he did make it to the store and tackled meatloaf for dinner (he put pickle juice in one of them on a whim -- hilarious!).  Saturday was the Fidelity BBQ and FUN RUN.  Ladd took the three boys and four of the girls leaving Shalyn behind to hang out on the bed besides me.  Cecilia came home in the early afternoon.  Cali came home sometime after Ladd and the other kids got back, and then Cali cleaned up and went to a friend's party.

On Sunday, James was throwing up, so he stayed home from church with Shalyn and I.  Ladd led choir for me.  On Monday, Garrett had a trash can performance and Ladd took me to my three day post-op check up with Dr. Rogers.  I used a crutch to help me hobble into the Dr.'s office.  So, on the way out, he prescribed a medical scooter for me on account of the "lots of little ones" at home.  Ladd took the kids shopping at D.I. and then took James, Mckenzie, and Ruby to the Elementary Open House.  James has Mr. Emmett for 6th grade this year.  Mckenzie has Mr. Allred as her 4th grade teacher, and Ruby has Mrs. Bradley for 2nd grade.  We squeezed FHE into the evening as always. 

Tuesday dawned bright and early.  Ladd went to work as usual, and we started our school routine.  I started Cecilia, James, Mckenzie, and Ruby on the piano and I even fed Shalyn while I did all that.  However, as a result, Lena and Alyssa took advantage of the new schedule and multiple distractions to make a mess in the kitchen.  They tested my ability to follow through on discipline continually until the other kids got home from school.  I was exhausted and in pain by the end of the day.

Wednesday was my terrible, horrible, no good very bad day.  The house was already a wreck.  I'd already discovered it was incredibly hard to do any housework with me hobbling around and harder if I had to drive a scooter to wherever I had to go carrying whatever I needed to carry.  20 Point turns aren't fun either.  And, the scooter doesn't do cross country or mine fields!  I wasn't able to put my weight fully on my foot yet without quite a bit of pain.  I focused on piano again in the morning, so Lena and Alyssa helped themselves to saltine crackers so that there were crumbs all throughout the upstairs.  Mckenzie threw up right as she was supposed to be leaving for school.  She'd spent quite awhile spinning on the computer chair and made herself sick just because "it was fun."  So, I had her stay home.  I had tried several different options for trying to find someone who could watch my three girls while I went to a preschool meeting.  It seemed insurmountable to get myself and my scooter into the 15 passenger van without adding my three little ones into the equation.  No one was able to help me.  Ladd finally said he would come, but when I called him just before, he said he could only be there for a half an hour.  So, I told him to not come and decided that Mckenzie would babysit for me.  The house I went to had at least five steep stairs, and thankfully, some other moms helped me into the house.  The meeting lasted an hour and a half.  When I finally got back in the house, I saw Lena's blanket spread out on the floor.  There was a big yellow spot on it.  I asked what had happened and Mckenzie said she didn't know, but Lena informed me it was ramen noodles that had spilled (through the blanket into my carpet, I must add) (evidently, Mckenzie had made Ramen Noodles for herself and Lena had helped herself).  I noticed that Alyssa had opened about 10 packages of Austin crackers onto my kitchen floor.  Mckenzie gratefully handed me Shalyn.  She said Shalyn just cried if she was left on the floor, so she had held Shalyn a good portion of the time.  Shalyn was in just a diaper.  I asked why and Mckenzie said Lena had changed her diaper (Lena's four, folks!).  I asked Mckenzie if she had tried to stop Lena, and Mckenzie said, "Yes, but she hit me -- lots of times!"  So, I deduced that my four year old was bullying my nine year old.  I decided to be thankful they were all safe and alive and remind myself that's what I got for letting my nine year old babysit for me! (As a plug for Mckenzie, she normally seems more competent than my 16 year old son!!!!). That night, Ladd enlisted the aid of the kids to put the house back into some semblance of a home.  And, I made some changes.  I hid all crackers.  I decided that reading would come before piano.  And, I realized I would need to follow Lena and Alyssa around and take care of their needs in the morning to make sure they didn't have time to make messes.  Thursday went lots smoother.  I was trying to actually do some dishes in the morning.  I decided that Ladd's focus was back on work, and since there weren't any others that seemed to be able to help me, I would just need to get better faster.  So, I said a little prayer in my heart, and the next time I went to step on my foot, it didn't hurt and so I spent quite a bit of time that day trying to practice stepping on my foot.  Heavenly Father's tender mercies!

Friday, the 23rd of August, my foot was hurting a little, so I was resting as the older kids were heading off for the bus.  Cali was running behind as usual, and in her rushing, she left behind the picture money that she had to have for pictures that day.  I figured I had two choices I was willing to choose.  I could wait and hope I could find someone that could take the money over to Cali in time.  Or, I could take Jarom to school and have him be my runner to find Cali.  So, I chose to take Jarom to school.  He helped me locate Cali and we saw Cecilia in the process.  And, Jarom was guaranteed to be at school early enough to see a counselor about switching from foods to drama.  When I got back, Shalyn was VERY hungry (going all night and an extra hour than usual will do that to you!), so I changed her diaper, and as I was carrying her and riding my scooter (extra difficult, I may add!), I heard Alyssa say from the bathroom, "I need to go to the bathroom."  My heart sank.  I chose to hope for the best and simply sit down to nurse Shalyn.  I looked down the hallway to see Alyssa sitting on the toilet holding a baseball sized wad of toilet paper.  So, I asked Mckenzie to step in and help her.  Mckenzie got started and said, "It won't come off!  It's hardened on!"  I closed my eyes in dismay and yelled, "You'll have to use wet wipes!"  She'd taken off a messy diaper.  :(  Mckenzie cleaned that up for me and when she went to put a diaper on, Alyssa insisted on having on a swimmer diaper instead.  When I asked her if I could get her dressed, she said, "No."  Then, she came over, leaned over me, and took Shalyn's hand and started hitting me with it.  When I told her to stop hitting me, she said, "I'm not hitting you.  She is!"  Smarty pants!!!  A few minutes later, she fell and came to me for consolation.  So, I was holding Alyssa and Shalyn.  James was teasing Mckenzie and Ruby and they were arguing with him instead of getting ready to go to school.  Finally, in frustration, I yelled above the din, "Who is ready for school?"  They didn't hear me or answer me, but Alyssa raised her hand immediately!  I told Lena to go get dressed, and she came back with several layers of shirts and shorts.  It's getting to be her signature trend lately!  Later, while I was talking on the phone, I muted the sound on the TV.  I forgot to turn it back on.  Lena said, "Mom, would you turn the noise back on?"  I agreed.  It is just that.  Noise.  The rest of the day was a continuation of the nightmare.  Garrett and Cali had a party that night.

Saturday morning, Ladd took Cecilia at 4:30 a.m. so that she could go to the temple with the Miamaids.  Later, I took Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia for a major shopping spree at Walmart.  It lasted for a long time.  That night, there was a Seminary Dance for Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia.

Sunday afternoon, we went to Mapleton.  Monday morning, I got a call from my visiting teacher asking if they could visit me that morning.  I said yes, but groaned inwardly.  I started working on cleaning up the house so it was ready for their visit.  And, Mom Olsen  and Kristen walked in the door.  They made it happen!  They stayed until my visiting teachers left, but I was well on the way to having a clean house!  I should have rested for the rest of the day, but I did more with the cleaning.  So, my house was clean, but my foot didn't feel so good!  Cecilia did an awesome lesson on honesty.  And, we watched TinTin. 

Tuesday, the 27th, Mom Olsen came again and helped me for a couple of hours.  One of my visiting teachers took Lena and Alyssa for a couple of hours so I was actually able to have a bath!  And eat!  Mckenzie had activity days and Ladd and I went to the Court of Honor where James got his Tenderfoot and 2nd Class badges and Jarom got his Star and his Life!!!  There was a huge storm, and I hope my cast didn't get too wet in all the rain.

Wednesday, Lena, Alyssa, and I were supposed to go to the park to meet the other preschool people, but I talked them into coming to my house instead!  Yeah!!!  I worked hard before they came and had my upstairs clean!  However, by the early afternoon, I was hurting quite a bit.  I did manage to clean out our oven (the meatloaf had boiled over -- according to Ladd).  Thankfully, Ladd took Garrett and Cali to their Back to School Night. 

This morning, my foot was still quite painful, so I've tried to stay off it as much as possible.  Lena and Alyssa went to my other visiting teacher's house, so I was able to have a bath once again!!!  Garrett's consultation for getting braces was this afternoon.  Looks like that's what we're going to do!  AAGH!  He's going to get braces on September 19th -- two days after he turns 17!!!  He's working towards Homecoming already, and it's two days after he gets braces!!!

Since school started, Garrett, Cali, and Cecilia have NOT had marching band on ONE of those school days -- and that was the first day of school!  Marching Band is gearing up for its first football game performance tomorrow.  And, the whirlwind continues. . . .

Oregon and Washington or bust!!!

Our trip up to Oregon went smoothly if not casually.  We started off at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, July 3rd and stopped every couple of hours to feed Shalyn and give our bottoms a rest.  We, as a whole family, decided to take the middle seat out so that we could fit all our "stuff" in the car without having to bring our trailer.  Without the trailer in the picture, we could use all four drivers.  That being said, all of us and our "stuff" were literally squeezed into place each time we got in and out!  Early in the morning, we stopped at a rest stop for a couple of hours to let all of us sleep.  Ladd really didn't get much sleep that night.  When we woke up, we drove to another rest stop that put us at more of a breakfast-y time, and ate cinnamon rolls in the cold morning.  The rest stop happened to be in "Ladd Valley" and had some remnants of the pioneer age for us to look at and read about.  Lena and Alyssa promptly fell down once they got out of the car several times each so we had a strict "do not run!" policy while there.  I had forgotten a spatula to aid the dishing out of our cinnamon rolls, so I used my hands.  Ladd slept most of that stop, and it was Garrett that took over the driving next.  We had been getting calls from various interested Olsen parties starting at 10 p.m. on July 3rd.  We had several more calls before we arrived.  All of the calls went something like this, "Where are you?!  When do you think you might get here?"  "We thought you'd be here before this!"  It must've been hard to continue their proscribed activities and plan for our abstract arrival.  Our trip there seemed very laid back and enjoyable.  Perhaps it was because Ladd spent some of his time in the back with the kids.  Or, perhaps it was because the children all knew they had chosen to be squished!

We finally arrived at the Forson Ranch somewhere around 3:30 p.m. on July 4th.  We were hustled down to agate beach (to the river that runs through their property) via four wheelers so we could join in the festivities.  We got there with just a few minutes to spare before we started moving onto the next activity.  The kids swam in the river and hunted for "gold" (gold painted rocks!).  We cleaned up and went back to the main house to be hosed off prior to jumping into the swimming pool.  The adults started the BBQ.  Alyssa took to the water like a duck!  She kept climbing out, and jumping in regardless of anyone prepared to help her once she popped back up out of the water.  One of the times Lena came back after running to the bathroom, she jumped into the water without her life jacket and was quite surprised when she sank to the bottom of the pool.  Luckily, Ladd was on top of things.  He grabbed her and pulled her out of the water and put a life jacket on her.  Quite the natural teaching moment!  Lena saw the importance of life jackets for her time of life and skill level!  After swimming and eating, we got ready to go see the fireworks "in town."  It was quite the procession.  We had five cars with all of us squeezed into one of them.  Shana seemed to know what was happening, but I don't remember getting very many instructions from her regarding our time watching the fireworks.  It turned out that we had to be dropped off, and as such, we grabbed a few things out of the back of the van, but without coordinating between Ladd and I or with our children that all rode in different cars, we were pretty unprepared for that night's activities.  I've never been cold during the 4th of July fireworks, but we all were freezing that night.  Dad and Mom Olsen and Sherilyn had brought a tarp for warmth.  I had my jacket, and Shalyn had some blankets.  One of the little girls had a jacket (I think?), and we had some camping chairs.  As the sky grew dark, we grew colder.  I started feeding Shalyn, and Ladd had Lena and Alyssa sit on his lap to help him stay warm.  Presently, Shana came over to see how we were doing.  She had her coat on and had laid out some blankets on the ground for the kids to sit down on.  She saw we were all freezing, so she had us hover together and share blankets.  Even with my jacket, Shalyn snuggled up next to me with her blankets, and a blanket draped over me, I was VERY cold.   And, despite the friendly atmosphere, the cold night, the loud and blinding fireworks, I couldn't stop myself from slipping into slumber.  I remember drifting off to sleep with the thought that I was supposed to watch the fireworks go through my head and pausing to squint at the next flash of light and booming sounds.  Then, I'd think, "it's much too bright!"  And send myself succumbing to the pull of my tired eyelids once again.  So, for the first time in my life, I slept and froze during the fireworks on July 4th.  :)  Either we weren't THAT cold, or we were THAT tired!!!!  (Ladd had the same experience there as I did!)

On Friday, we packed up to go to the beach.  We found the parking lot full, so most of our stuff got carried down by the kids or others who were able to help.  Ladd thought a van was going to leave, and stubbornly sat there waiting for a full half an hour before they left.  We tried to fit where they had been, but couldn't get there for fear of getting stuck in the sand.  Finally, Ladd parked up the hill and we walked down with the rest of our stuff.  We had a very enjoyable day at the beach.  We tiptoed in the water, searched through the tide pools, built humongous sand castles, and climbed the nearby sand mountain.  We ate, counted kids, and talked with one another.  We got back very late.

One of the drawbacks of Shana's family, Sherilyn's family, and our family all sharing the same three bedroom two bathroom home was the lack of bathroom options.  It seemed there was always a line to go to the bathroom and a rush to see who could jump in the shower first.  So, it was a test in futility to get all the youth and adults ready for an early morning temple trip the next morning.  Most of the adults thought I should go as well and leave all the little kiddos in the capable hands of Amanda, James and Brigham (all 11 year olds) with Kristen and Dane to help out, but it didn't seem to make sense to me.  Besides, I was nursing Shalyn, and she would not wait 8 hours between feedings.  So, I chose to stay behind and watch the little ones (all 14 of them) by myself.  Sherilyn had prepped Amanda so she could watch Max by having her sleep in the same room as him and making sure his diapers were handy.  I had seen everyone off around 5 a.m., and tiptoed back to my bed, hoping the little ones would all sleep for awhile longer.  Max started howling just an hour or so later, and since Amanda didn't seem to be aware of him, I hurried into their room and grabbed him, laying him down by me on my bed.  That seemed to do the trick and he went right back to sleep, tossing and turning as a little one will.  I didn't get much sleep after that.  Eventually, my three youngest woke up as well as Max and we went out to see who else was up.  I found Brigham and Hope and Levi playing cards.  As the other children wandered in on their own time, the older ones joined the card game leaving me to keep the smaller children from getting lost, making a mess, and bothering Shalyn.  Somehow, we made it through breakfast.  Kristen seemed extra tired (I don't blame her -- she was sleeping on the couch and we all came into her "room" when we got up -- much earlier than when she would've chosen for herself!).  Dane involved himself in a computer game and ignored us as much as possible.  Amanda dragged herself out of bed last of everyone and didn't seem to notice Max that much.  Between Alyssa, Max, and Shalyn, I changed quite a few diapers.  We tried having people go outside after breakfast, but it didn't seem very safe for the littlest ones, and harder for me to keep track of everyone -- especially when I was nursing Shalyn.  So, we tried to put on a movie, but finding a satisfactory choice for both older and younger children was challenging.  Finally, I aimed for the younger children, and was able to keep most of them entertained while I cleaned up breakfast, followed Max, and got a snack ready for everyone.  James, Amanda, and Brigham seemed frustrated with my attempts to get them to help follow Max around or help keep the peace.  It just wasn't the fun thing to do!  When the first couple of cars finally came back from their temple trip, I explained I hadn't known what to do for lunch and the kids were all hungry.  Then, I retreated to feed Shalyn and take a much needed (and deserved?) nap.  After some downtime (while some of the ladies went shopping), we gathered everything up and travelled to their quarry amphitheater for an outdoor program celebrating mom and dad Olsen's 50th wedding anniversary.  Each family took their turn acting out some of the stories of when they met or had during their life together.  Shana's family acted out how they went to a devotional at BYU together and how dad Olsen would tape each of their double dates and then listen to what the girls had to say about the guys when the guys went to get their food.  Trisha'a family acted out how they fit the whole family into their little Datsun.  Sherilyn's family acted out how their unborn children guided mom and dad into meeting.  (Miles held up a sign saying "Little Angel" and then insisted he was LADD! :)  Our family acted out how dad Olsen turned mom Olsen down during a dance competition (he was one of the judges).  We also acted out how they "lined up" during picture taking.  After the skits, we ate cake and ice cream.  The cake was a beautiful cake with the Salt Lake Temple spires on it with the words 50th Wedding Anniversary written across it.  We cleaned up and hauled everything back and tried to get baths and showers done to prepare for church the next day. 

Mom and Dad Olsen, Kristen, and Jamie and Trisha with their three youngest children left for home early that morning.  The rest of us got ready to go to church.  It turned into a frantic rush just to get ready in time for the half hour drive for church.  Sherilyn took her girls down to the bunkhouse to use the shower there and free up the shower at Shana and Guy's house.  She left Miles and Max behind with instructions for Miles to get dressed.  They just played.  It was Miles' birthday.  When Ladd and I and Shana and Guy and our children were all dressed and ready to go, I asked Shana what we were going to do with Miles and Max.  Sherilyn wasn't back, and I didn't think Miles would watch Max enough to keep him safe.  And, they weren't dressed for church.  I'd asked Miles where his clothes were and he'd told me they were in the car that Sherilyn had with her.  Shana took a look at Miles and Max and you could see her brain working overtime.  She said, "We'll just find them a different shirt at least" as she headed back into her bedroom to look for something.  Suddenly, Miles piped up, "Oh!  I just remembered where my clothes are!"  He charged back into his room to find them just as Sherilyn drove up.  We took that as a sign we were free to go to church.  During the testimony meeting, I was nursing Shalyn and I heard Shana (or Sherilyn?) bear their testimony about going to the temple and what a neat experience it was to be surrounded by family at the temple.  My first thought was one of confusion.  We hadn't gone to the temple!  And then I realized that my memories wouldn't ever be of going to the temple because I had babysat instead.  It was a sad realization for me.  I don't regret babysitting, but I didn't get to be at the temple with all of our family.  We celebrated Miles' birthday with a chaser and a birthday cake Sherilyn and Shana made from scratch after church was over.

On Monday, Sherilyn and her children left for home.  We were all lounging around after breakfast and Shana realized that Brigham had invited some people over for a swimming birthday party for him and Dane and hadn't told Shana what time they were supposed to be arriving!  Everyone jumped into hyperdrive and pulled a birthday party together in the spur of the moment!  They swam in the pool and ate hot dogs and celebrated with brownies and ice cream.  Savannah, Cecilia and I spent time reading books during that time so we weren't very social or helpful.  Later, Shana and I talked while she cleaned her bathroom.  After dinner, for FHE, Ladd did a spiritual thought and we watched "The Great and Powerful Oz."

Tuesday, we packed up as fast as we could (which took far too long!!) and headed for Washington to see Darren and Accalia and family.  It seemed to take us forever to get there.  We finally reached the ferry at Bremerton.  What a fun experience that was to enter Seattle that way!!  The kids had a blast looking for all the jelly fish in the water and taking in all the sights.  After the ferry, we eventually got to Darren and Accalia's house.  Darren gave us a tour of their house.  Accalia got home from the store and Darren rushed off to a missionary discussion.  After dinner, we got everyone settled and talked for awhile before scripture study.  Ladd had crashed by then.  So, I made sure everyone had a place to lay their head that they were happy with.  There was plenty of room for us to choose.  The next morning, after yummy chocolate chip pancakes and scrambled eggs, we packed up and headed for Snoqualmie Falls.  We spent a couple of hours there with Darren and Accalia and their cute family.  Our children seemed to enjoy running around together.  Ladd and some of the kids perused the visitor's center and I was forbidden to look in the bag that held the treasures from their purchases.  We hugged and said our goodbyes to Darren and Accalia and their family sometime in the afternoon, and headed on our way.  Our trip back to Utah was similar to our trip out to Oregon.  We stopped briefly at a rest stop North of Ogden in the wee hours of the morning.  We pulled into the gas station at Smith's around 9 a.m.  We were all so very tired.  Ladd pleaded with all of us to take just five minutes to help clean out the car before we rested.  A couple of hours later, we finished pulling the last bit of stuff out of the van.  We were back!!!