Grandma

Last month was a hard month for our family. On February 18th, I went to Utah in order to take a mini-vacation and spend some time with my boyfriend and my family. However, the week prior, grandma had a fall in Yuma and hurt her knee. Mom and Uncle Jeff flew down there to drive her back to Logan, as she is stubborn and refused to see a doctor in Yuma. The plan then became that I would shorten my trip by one day so that I could bring mom back home with me. This meant that I was going to be able to introduce my boyfriend, Juan, to grandma and grandpa.

I got into Utah at 3, stopped and picked up Juan and headed over to see grandma and grandpa. Grandma was able to visit with Juan and ask him several questions. He then left to go pick up his son and so I sat down with grandma, grandpa and mom and chatted. Grandma and Grandpa were giving me the 20 questions about Juan. Grandma then tried to readjust herself and slid right onto the floor. This was about 5:40. I quickly called Uncle Jeff to come and help get her back up. Grandma laid back to rest a little, and within minutes we were calling 911 because something wasn't right. She was reaching out as if to ask for help, and her eyes were huge. She then laid back and seemed to go to sleep. However, mom was kneeling beside her trying to get her to respond. I even took my turn. When the paramedics arrived, it didn't take them long to realize she needed a lot of help. It didn't take them long to need to start CPR and intibate her. At this point, dad was calling and I was trying to fill him in. And then, I had to call Jen and let her know what was going on, and to have her call the family. The paramedics took her to the hospital and did all they could, but her heart was done. The next phone call I had to make was to Kim (Jen's phone was buys), to let everyone know that she had passed away, at 6:45. They figure that a bloodclot broke free from her knee and went to her heart. In a short hour and five minutes, I went from laughing with grandma to saying goodbye. My mini vacation quickly became unreal. I spent the next days in shock, and trying to help as much as possible. She was laid to rest on the 23rd.

Even today, I cry at the drop of a hat. Watching grandma receive CPR and get intibated, not something that I want to remember. What I do want to remember is the moments rigt before. I spent years not being able to see grandma, and so I feel privileged that I was able to be the grandchild who was with her as this all took place. I would give anything to not have the CPR memory, but I would not give up the moments before. Grandma is a wonderful woman, and I know that she is no longer in pain. I am so thankful that she did not have to suffer, and that her death was extremely quick. She is no longer in any pain, and she is watching over all of us. I am so thankful for eternal families, as I know I will be with her again one day. Hopefully not too soon! :)

What I got out of this experience is to slow down. I have decided to take a break from school, for a few years. I don't want to miss anything with my children, and I want them to remember me as having fun with them, not as always doing homework. I have stopped taking work home with me and I have started living a stress free life. I am also looking forward to, and dreading, Christmas. I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to learn grandma's candy making tricks. I now feel that it is my job to pick up where she left off. I want to fill her shoes and make all the Christmas candy for the family. Big task, I know, but I am just as stubborn as her and I will be able to do it!

Flag Football

Kim was so sweet and called me to inform me that I might be coming across as just a little proud of my boy. Well, Kim, I have to say that you are wrong. I am EXTREMELY proud of my little boy. Side note on that statement, he isn't exactly little anymore.

After last year in flag football, I couldn't wait for this year to start, and neither could AJ. He had no problems showing us all what he is capable of. AJ made at least one touchdown at 10 of his 12 games. He was quick to grab flags, and after I spoke with him about sportsmanship, he was extremely nice and handed their flags back to the kids. He learned a lot this year, and he can't wait until next year for tackle football. I asked him if he is sad that football season is over and he said no, because he wants to play tackle football. Next year he will start with flag and then tackle will start. I do believe that this is his nitch. I couldn't be prouder, and I am really sad that the season is already over. Well, not everyone is sad about it. I'm guessing that the parents who sat near me and heard me screaming my head off are happy they don't have to listen to me anymore. Yes, I'm one of those moms :)

Here are a few highlights of Super Saturday:


They didn't get his flag and he made a touchdown


Different time, can barely see his head, but he is making a touchdown!


Nobody can beat these cousins!


I know, he's awesome, another touchdown...


This was him getting ready for the game :)

New Job

I know that I have not taken the time to write much, but I have been busy at work trying to make a good impression on my bosses. It must be working, since I just received a pretty awesome job promotion.

I applied for Life Skills Trainer there a couple months ago. Then, waited forever and ever for them to decide to do interviews. Finally, I got my chance at an interview. I know that I did awesome at the interview, but the waiting was killing me. You all know how patient I can be. Finally, the day I had court for the kids, my boss pulls me aside and lets me in on a huge secret. She is applying for a job in Baker and her position will come open here if she gets that job. On top of that, she told the bosses that I would be the best replacement for her. Knowing this, I suddenly don't care about the Life Skills Trainer position. So, I patiently wait a little longer until last Friday when I get the unofficial job offer. Then, yesterday, I received the official offer. So, yesterday it started getting announced at work that Carolyn Anderson is the new Family Care Coordinator (FCC). Am I excited, heck yeah! Am I nervous, heck yeah! Can I do it, heck yeah! FCC is a pretty important position at Lifeways. I run meetings daily. Not just one, but several. I will be coordinating all the care needed for the kiddos on my case load. I will have 40 families on my case load. I will be working from 8 - 5, daily. Yep, getting a raise that will be official tomorrow. As well as some other benefits.

On a side note. I have finally received my grade for my capstone. I got an A-, so pretty excited about that too. And lastly, I am applying for a masters program. I'm going to be doing that online, pretty much the only way I can go to school, work full time and juggle the lives of three busy kids.

I just wanted to fill everyone in on my latest news :)

Love you all and thanks for all your support. I couldn't do this without you.

Oops!!!!!

Ok, so I have been a little slow at posting on here. My bad, lol. I have been pretty busy with my new job, school, kids and dating. School is going great. I am almost finished with my degree and then I will start working towards my masters in social work. I want to make a difference. As for work, I am loving my new job! I love working with children and I even love the behind the scenes stuff. I am moving up there, as well. They are training me so they can use me as soon as I get my degree. I am really pushng to finish it by the end of March.

My kids, as usual, are keeping me very busy. AJ loves school, and Bryce is loving kindergarten. Chance can't wait to start school, but mainly so he can go with his brothers. And finally, I am dating. I know this does not come as a surprise to anyone, lol. I don't have much time to date, but I am having fun, lol. Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that I have not disappeared and still here. I'm looking forward to sports stuff, so that I have much more interesting stuff to write about :)

Happy New Year

Well, it's a new year which means a new start for everyone. I have been thinking about it and have decided that the most important resolution I can make might be able to be made into a family thing. Not just my family, but everyone's.

I am challenging everyone to read the entire Book of Mormon this year.

Anyone up for the challenge?

Foot Surgery

What was supposed to be an hour and a half surgery took three hours. I was only supposed to be asleep, not under. Well, everything started out just fine. I went to sleep just fine, but then apparantly I started moving around too much, so they put me completely under. To make it all worse, Dr. Jolley found a lot wrong with my foot. There was a bunch of arthritic spurs in my foot, there was a freshly broken bone that he removed, and basically my foot was completely trashed. No wonder it hurt so badly to walk on it. Here is a picture of my xray. It shows that there were two plates put in, instead of the one he was planning on. He said that the rep who brought in the plates took some pictures and if they turned out good, he is going to get me a copy of them.



Here is a pic of the foot after it had been cleaned. There is still some saline solution on it.



Here are a couple pics from before it was cleaned. Pretty nasty!



As anyone who knows me can imagine, I had a hard time looking at my foot. The nurse said I got really green when I was looking at it. Thank goodness she was cleaning it and not me. Also, you can thank mom for the pictures, because I never would have been able to look at my foot long enough to take the picture, lol.

Dr. Jolley said that he remembered that I love shoes and I love my feet looking good in shoes/sandals, so he was mindful of that when he was cutting into my foot. He said that you will barely be able to see the scars and my foot will still look good in sandals. Thank goodness for that! He also said that every time he saw my polished toes, he remembered that I want my feet to look good. I thought that was funny, lol.

I am very thankful that my surgery is over. How I was walking before, I have no clue. At least it is getting better now!

Happy Halloween!

Ok, Kim, here it is!

First of all, I want to say thanks for all the love and birthday wishes from all of you. I had a very fun day, except the little incident with Chance not wanting to go back to his dad's. He was crying hysterically and did not want to leave me. Mom made sure that I didn't spend a moment alone, which I really appreciated. I got the kids for trunk or treating, and that is when Chance didn't want to go back. Oh well. I did manage to get a pic of my boys and Jen's kids.

AJ is Darth Vader. Bryce is The Hulk. Chance is Black Spiderman.

Kylee is Alice in Wonderland. Ben is a Hunter. Brooke is Jasmine.