Not a great start to the year...

Savannah went to the ER in January for a stomach virus (which we now know was rotavirus).  About 10 days later, she went on the backpacking trip.  We had a nice 4-day weekend over Valentine's and President's Day and ready to get back to school.  However, on Tuesday February 18th, Savannah woke up with severe pain, which radiated down her right arm and through her legs.  She was able to get to my room to wake me up at 6:30am (Alex was already on a run).  I decided to take her to the ER, but discovered she couldn't even walk out to the car.  Owen was able to carry her to the car and go with me.  She got an IV (after one failed attempt and then an ultrasound to locate a vein) and started on some meds and fluids (similar story to just 3 weeks prior except she was too weak to walk this time).  We were there for about 5 hours, and then they decided she needed to be transferred to the main hospital where they had pediatrics.  Once there, all the testing began.  She got a second IV so they could pump meds from both sides.  Again, they had to use ultrasound to locate a vein (after 2 more failed attempts - I tried to warn them about the first IV...but I guess they didn't believe me.)  She developed a fever once there.  They did blood work, urine and stool samples, chest x-ray, and an MRI that first day.  It was 10:00pm that Tuesday before she started the MRI.  She had a horrible time with that, because she had a fever (so she was shaking a little bit) and she had to lay still and flat for 1 hour and 40 minutes!  She was crying and in pain.  At one point, I thought they were done.  However, as they checked on her, they just had a nurse inject some more pain med through her IV and then sent her back in.  They did that MRI on her chest and spine (and didn't even get to the main source of pain that night, which was her arm).  I think it was pretty torturous for a child.  I don't think even a healthy adult could lay in there for that long.  They still needed an MRI on her arm, so they decided to do that under anesthesia.  That was a better experience for her, except that she developed a massive headache after that MRI.  Her vision was spotted in one eye and she had pain radiating on the back of her head, so it sounds like she got a migraine.  She also had to fast all morning, so she was already extra weak.  That was Thursday afternoon by the time they did the 2nd MRI.  She was still able to get up to go to the bathroom with my assistance, but every time she got up it made her feel nauseous and she was very wobbly while walking (it was almost like trying to help a drunk person walk straight).

Another painful part of the process was the meds themselves.  They attempted to give an antibiotic the first day to "cover the bases", but she immediately puked it up.  They were pumping Tylenol and Toradol in her system, but when injecting Toradol it felt like her arm was burning.  By the 2nd time they did that one, I was going to say "no" to getting that again, since it made her arm hurt so much for the next hour.  When they tried just the next round of Tylenol, she also complained of burning, so they figured it was the IV ports that needed to be changed.  So they removed both IV's from her arms and decided to put one new one in.  More failed attempts and another ultrasound to find the vein... they're always so confident they can find the vein without assistance.  However, when time for the next round of Toradol, it still had the same pain and burning in the new port.  That was the end of that medicine... I said "no more of that" and so they switched to an Oxycodone pill.  I think that was pretty effective at managing her pain.  She got better at swallowing pills in the hospital.

I stayed in the hospital with her for the 4 nights and 5 days we were there.  I only left for a few hours total all week to come home and get some clothes and food.  Alex offered to stay a night, but I said "no" because I couldn't do that to Savannah!  She didn't want anyone else helping her go to the bathroom, and I also knew that Alex's snoring might keep Savannah from sleeping.  One of the most annoying things about the hospital is how frequently they send people in to check on you.  They were coming every 2-3 hours through the night, so it was hard to get some good rest.  The night she had the migraine was probably the most annoying because she couldn't get comfortable and her head hurt.  We listened to church hymns and I stroked her head for a while until she finally fell asleep.  Just 5 minutes later, someone came in to announce the "shift change" and she woke up.  I had just worked so hard to get her to sleep!  Again, I spent about 30 minutes to get her to sleep and someone else came in to check her vitals.  Ugh... I know they're just doing their job, but didn't they realize how desperately she needed to sleep and how hard it was to do that?  

She had all kinds of people coming during the day - a group of about 7 nurses and doctors standing in there each day, talking about their observations and recommendations.  She hated everyone looking at her and asking questions.  She had a neurologist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, child specialist, psychiatrist, and activities person coming in.  She was a little annoyed at the timing of the activities person, who came in very cheery and asking if she wanted to go to the activities room to do arts and crafts or something.  She still felt weak and tired and had no desire to do anything.  She attempted to do some coloring on a tray on her bed on Thursday, but it made her head hurt.  I was glad to see her writing in a notebook on Friday.  She wanted to go home pretty much after the first day, but she had to stay for more tests, evaluations, and to get stronger at walking safely.  I think they wanted to make a diagnosis before she left, but they couldn't come up with anything.  They tested for all the usual things and couldn't find anything from the MRI's.  The stool sample detected rotavirus, which was likely traces from her previous stomach virus (she didn't have any diarrhea or vomiting issues this time, aside from the antibiotics that didn't stay down). Her bloodwork also indicated a common cold, which explained the congestion in her nose.  She wasn't ever coughing though.  They couldn't come up with anything that explained the pain in her arms and legs and her mobility issues.

It was a little amusing talking with the psychiatrist.  He asked all kinds of questions, probing into her personal life at home and school.  When he found out about Owen and Weston, he asked more about her relationship with them.  She grinned a little bit and admitted to having arguments sometimes with one of her brothers.  I added that it was her older brother (Owen).  When he asked more about that and things they fought about, she couldn't really pinpoint anything specific.  He then asked if Owen had come to visit her in the hospital (we had been there a few days already).  She quietly said "no".  He asked if Weston had come visit and she said "yes", because he had been able to visit for a little bit before his band concert the night before.  So it made Owen look like the "mean brother" who didn't even want to visit her (he just hadn't had the chance to yet because of volleyball).  We've been teasing Owen about being the "mean brother" now, a suspected culprit of Savannah's stress! Owen did come in to visit and messaged about how she was doing.  

Savannah had several friends and people from church stop by to see her at the hospital and at home.  She got so many gifts and flowers and cards.  I tried to gather up most of the things at home and take a picture - it shows how much love and support were shown.  The daughter of one of Alex's colleagues even used her own money to buy a whole bag full of things for Savannah.  That was so nice of her!  Savannah's young women class from church came over during part of their lesson time on Sunday to visit and bring cards for her.  

I was touched by Savannah's own compassion that she showed towards me.  Even though she was in pain and not feeling good most of the time, she was concerned about my comfort.  She was worried about my comfort sleeping on the couch. She often asked if I wanted her to order some food for me from her menu.  She made sure what we were watching on TV was something I wanted to watch.  We ended up watching quite a few home makeover shows on HGTV since we both like that stuff. It was pretty hard on me and my patience was thin at times.  At first, she couldn't even bend her elbow far enough to feed herself, so I was feeding her.  And it was me helping her get up and go to the bathroom, brush teeth, shower (the last day), wipe her nose, just sit there with her and listen to her complaints, or try to comfort.  I took on the role of being the full-time caregiver and it felt like I was taking care of an elderly person.  Savannah did have random moments of laughing out loud (even in the middle of a lot of pain) or while talking to the doctors, so I ended up laughing too.  She seemed a little loopy at times. 

It wasn't very hopeful throughout that week for an end in sight to our hospital stay, but by Saturday they said they she could go home.  We were definitely ready to get out of the hospital. I think it was hard mentally to get better with the hospital surroundings.  By Saturday her pain was managed well and she was feeling quite a bit better.  She was getting by on Aleve twice a day.  We did try skipping the Aleve one evening since she was feeling pretty good, but the next morning she was awake at 5:00am with most of the pain she had been experiencing.  That was frustrating to see it all return just by simply skipping the medicine.  After a full week, she went to church (this past Sunday) and then stopped taking the Aleve.

She still hasn't fully recovered though. It's been over 2 weeks and she still can't get up / stand up on her own.  Her core strength is still too weak for her to get up without assistance, so I'm still the full-time caregiver and have to help her to the bathroom and get out of bed.  She hasn't been able to return to school yet, so she's been doing her schoolwork at home.  She had 2 follow-up visits with the pediatrician and the blood work from this week actually showed that she has walking pneumonia.  Finally some kind of diagnosis that has a specific treatment (antibiotics)!  But we don't know if that was the initial problem or just something else she got recently.  I'm hoping it's all related so that her muscle issues can get resolved.  The pediatrician told me not to help her anymore (almost suggesting I was hindering her getting better).  However, she still needs a little help getting up.  Right there in the doctor's office, the doctor tried to get her to stand up on her own.  We sat there and watched her struggle for a whole minute and she couldn't quite do it.  So not helping at all is not the right thing yet.  

Savannah really missed Kai while in the hospital.  That was the first thing she wanted to do at home - pet the dog!

I had to miss a few different things while Savannah was in the hospital.  I missed Owen's first volleyball game and his first tournament of the season.  I also missed the 2nd game that was away the following week.  I missed Weston's honor band concert and a temple trip birthday celebration with friends.  Alex and Weston got to go to the temple.  I hate missing things, but I needed to take care of Savannah.  I did have a tender mercy that let me know the Lord was aware of me and my desires.  Alex and I made a commitment when we got married to go to the temple once a month.  We've been able to keep that commitment nearly every month except when temples were closed during Covid.  I thought this might be a missed month since I couldn't make it to the friend temple trip earlier in the month.  Our closest temple was closed last week, so my only chance was to make it to the Newport Beach Temple.  Last Monday, I got online and looked up times for Friday (the last day of the month).  There was only ONE appointment left for the whole day to serve in the temple.  Everything was already full.  I took that one reservation and knew it was meant for me.  It was at 12:30 on Friday.  I was hoping that Savannah would have been back at school, but she wasn't ready yet.  It wasn't a deal breaker.  I decided to take her with me.  I got her set up in the waiting room and did my 30-minute service.  Savannah had brought her temple recommend too, and so we asked if she could take a peek at the baptistry.  All temples have their own beauty and unique designs, so I wanted her to be able to have a look while there.  They asked if she wanted to do some confirmations, and so she was able to do a little bit of temple service as well.  It worked out perfectly.  We even got there early enough to go out for lunch before my appointment.  Now traffic back home was another story... 4 hours later we got home.  I was able to keep my commitment though, and in that moment I felt like the Lord was being my caretaker.

(I guess I made her Bear Bear book too early - she had her there the whole time and Bear Bear went in the MRI with Savannah.) 

 

Valentine's Day

The kids didn't have school on Valentine's Day, but Alex still had work, so I didn't bother to get up early to make a festive breakfast (most of us wanted to just sleep in).  I did make sugar cookies and peanut butter bars.  I sent the peanut butter bars with the kids over to a friend's house, where they had a Lord of the Rings dinner and movie night.  Alex had a late meeting at work, so by the time he got home, we had dinner and movie night with just the two of us.  I didn't plan a meal out though, so we had whatever was in the freezer that needed to be used up (and for which I didn't have enough for a family meal).  We had salmon, Yakisoba noodles, and strawberry shakes.  

 

February Backpacking

 Alex and a few other leaders took some of the girls from church on a backpacking trip the first weekend in February.  The planned trip was 2 miles in and 2 miles out, but they went extra.  Alex was a little worried about how the girls would do, but they all did great!  I think the girls were more chatty than the boys and like hanging out together, so they didn't complain. 

January Misc

I bargained with Owen to build my Lego set, the A-Frame Cabin.  I really didn't want to build it.  Alex put together his giant Shackleton boat.  

Savannah went to a birthday party with school friends.  

Owen is practicing driving now... he's been practicing for a couple of months now, so it's not quite as scary anymore.  

Savannah took a little trip to the urgent care and then over to the ER since the urgent care couldn't do lab work and such.  Her stomach and chest were hurting quite a bit, so she got some meds and hydration. She had been puking and had diarrhea for the day, with the pain starting the evening before.  Her hands started getting tingly too, so I think she was starting to overthink what was wrong.  But she did seem to be hurting and also dehydrated since she wasn't keeping things down.  So she needed some attention.  They're not quick about anything at either place though.  We spent about 5.5 hours on the whole process, and she didn't really receive any care until about 4 hours in. She got to experience getting an IV and laying in a bed with a blood pressure armband that goes off randomly.  I told her it was preparing her for pregnancy later on!  The guy putting the IV in did a good job.  The guy taking it out... not so much.  He pulled it out and it started squirting fluid and blood out of it.  He looked at her arm and said, "Oh wow! That's a lot of blood!" as he's scrambling to get more bandages to stop the bleeding.  I'm pretty sure that's not very cool when dealing with a patient, especially a child.  Luckily Savannah wasn't too shocked seeing all the blood coming out of her arm.  The lab work was fine - just a stomach virus I guess.  She was able to sleep well that night at least.

Last photo is of Weston hanging out with friends.  He's quite the social guy recently.  He has his own little "nerd herd" (Alex's school friends were called that when he was in high school.)

 

January Band Concert

The band got invited to play at a city council meeting, so that's what the first photo is from. Weston had another band concert, and this time he tried out a solo.  I don't think it went as well as he hoped, but I'm glad he tried it out.  He was having fun.  If you look closely, he does a little head bob right before his solo.  Weston had a little fan club there, with about 5 friends from church who attended (no picture because they left too quickly after the concert).  I think Weston's solo was in the song "Evening Stroll" (as part of the jazz band songs).  He played in the advanced and jazz band pieces.  The first video is just some clips from the concert, and Weston's solo is in the 2nd video.

Golden Birthday

I didn't even realize what a golden birthday was until when we were planning Jared's party last year (we had 2 golden birthdays in one year). We were too busy to have a party in December, but we finally got to celebrate this month.  Owen didn't really want a party, but I insisted since it was his golden and 16th birthday.  We really had to celebrate.  His guest list was pretty big, so we used the church gym again.  We had a nice turn-out, with 13 guests.  I think it was the first time that one of our boys had just as many girls as guys at the party!  

We did a taco bar, which was really yummy (and not too hard for a big group).  We actually had a lot of leftovers, so we were eating tacos for a few days after the party.  Drinks were an apple juice and Sprite mixture, which made a nice gold colored drink, but looked like beer in the pitchers! 😄

All the decor was gold, which looks really pretty for a party.  I put together the table centerpieces for $7.50 total, using some sparkly gold paper and gold containers from the $1 store.  I already had gold stars. I ordered gold tablecloths and utensils. We had gold cupcakes, which were easy.  The downside of parties at the church is that no open flames are allowed, so we had to step outside to sing to Owen.  The gift favors were bags of a variety of gold-packaged chocolates.  

The games... I had some fun things planned, but it turns out that teenagers mostly just need food and chatting.  It was a bit like herding cats to get them to do anything.  We eventually did about half of the things I planned.  I brought out the candy nerf gun board that we had used in a couple of other parties, but they quickly lost interest in that one.  Instead of doing the candy game, they started volleying a bouncy ball around - probably could have done that for a while.  They did a memory game that I made using pictures of Owen.  They actually liked that one more than I thought they would, since it was fun to see the pictures of little Owen.  It was pretty challenging though, because I made enough matches for 2 different sets, which each had 36 matches (meaning there were 72 cards out on each table).  I had them divide into 2 teams and then race against the other team to see who could make all the matches first.  They were able to help each other, but it still took some time to make progress with that many cards. They also played Pictionary and Reverse Charades for about 30 minutes.  

The kids don't really know how much time I put into these parties, so they probably don't appreciate the efforts, but hopefully they end up with some good memories.  It was pretty exhausting, but I'm glad we were able to celebrate Owen.  He's a great "kid" and deserves for us to make a fuss over him every now and then. I'll share the photo pages I used to make the memory game.  Pretty cute kid!

 

Temple Trips

The week of January 6th was the start of the wildfires in LA, which were devastating.  We had a temple trip scheduled for the youth on Saturday the 11th.  Many parents were concerned about driving to the temple that weekend, so the youth trip was cancelled.  However, as a family we still felt like we needed to go.  The temple was still open and we weren't discouraged from coming, so we made the drive over.  We did drive through some areas that were getting evacuation warnings, so that was a little scary.  When we got closer to the temple, we started seeing all the exits closed.  The one we usually get off on to get to the temple was also closed, so we weren't sure if we would make it.  However, we did get onto another freeway and came in a different route.  It was cool to see us coming directly to the front of the temple.  The air quality wasn't too bad, but we could see ash on the temple grounds.  

Shortly after arriving at the temple, we realized why we felt like we needed to be there that morning.  A lady had been waiting for over 2 hours for someone to come in and help her do some family names.  She had 10 names that seemed to be really special to her.  The spirit was really strong as we watched Owen baptize her, with tears streaming down her face.  Alex noticed that some of her family names were from Ecuador, so that was a bonus connection.  Owen baptized Weston and Savannah as well, doing a total of 44 names.  One other touching thing we learned from that weekend was that only 1 other group kept their temple baptismal appointment that day.  It was the youth of the Pacific Palisades Ward!  They had just lost 22 homes in their ward from the fire earlier in the week, but they still came to the temple that Saturday afternoon. That's amazing!

Our youth were able to re-schedule their temple trip to a couple weeks later, so Savannah was able to go again.  (Owen and Weston were sick that weekend.)   

 

Youth Activities

The youth did some cool things in January.  They did a car wash and bake sale to earn money to donate towards the wildfire victims.  They washed cars for 4 hours and raised $10,000!  The families of primary children donated baked goods.  (The only picture I saw from the event was my friend's picture on Instragram, so I snagged it.)  

They did another activity that involved some Fear Factor type games, along with a hike.  Weston wasn't allowed to eat the sardines apparently for one of the challenges, since he actually likes them.  

The young women painted the cover of scriptures one night.  I love Savannah's design.  

The youth had a night where they learned some Brazilian capoeira - a combination of martial arts, music, and acrobatics.  They learned some kicks and maneuvers and different stretches.  

 

21st Birthday

We celebrated Nathan's birthday a little early since he had to be back at BYU before his birthday. We had some apple pie and opened a few presents - nothing too exciting!  I chatted with him a bit on his birthday, which also was apparently not that exciting.  He had tried to use a Chick-Fil-A gift card that he got for Christmas at the restaurant on campus, but they wouldn't take it.  (I noted for future reference that the on-campus restaurants don't accept gift cards.)  He also was pretty busy with work and classes, so it was just business as usual on his birthday.  

 

OKC Thunder Game

One of Nathan's Christmas presents was tickets to an OKC Thunder vs Clippers game on Thursday January 2nd.  After we left Papa John and Grandma's house, we headed to OKC.  We stayed downtown that night right near the Paycom Center.  We were able to walk to the game from our hotel.  The kids swam in the pool and then we ate dinner at Fuzzy's Taco Shop before the game.  It was pretty cool to be at the game, with all the lights and entertainment and game vibe.  Thunder was down in the first half, but they picked it up in the 2nd half and won the game 116-98. 

OK Misc

When we travel to OK, we can count on doing certain things - eating pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, and chips, watching movies and eating lots of homemade popcorn, shooting guns, checking out Papa John's gadgets, and eating Braum's ice cream.  Buster the dog is always a hoot as well.  One of the new things for this trip was firing the cannon.  It's small but still really loud.  We had beautiful weather while there, so the kids were even playing frisbee one day.  We also looked at the sun through a special telescope.

I appreciate being able to just relax - read a book, catch up on blogging, 5-mile morning jogs down the country road, and sipping on hot chocolate topped with a marshmallow peep.  I ate way too much junk food too! Alex and the kids discovered the Dollar General store this trip, which had Lego mini figures.  They're supposed to be surprise figures, but Alex and Owen know the Legos well enough to feel the figure through the bag and know which one they're getting.  They were pretty excited about their Lego finds.  I also get excited about shopping at Wal-Mart.

We stayed through New Years, so we got to ring in 2025 in OK.  On the way out, it was fitting that we stopped for (I think) the 5th outing to Braum's.  Owen mentioned how it would be cool to have one of the Braum's hats that he saw the employees wearing.  We didn't think they'd have any for sale, but upon asking, we found out they were $2.77 each!  We ended up buying 4 Braum's hats.  Alex wasn't going to get one at first, but he decided to go back in and get one. Maybe I should have bought one too, since mine and Alex's first date was to Braum's.  True Braum's fans! 😊

 

50th Temple and Friend Reunions

We went to the Bentonville Arkansas Temple and did work there as a family early Saturday morning.  My good college friend and roommate (Jerushia) met us there and we had breakfast afterwards.  It was good to catch up with her.  We also got to meet up with Alex's mission buddy Jared and his family when we returned the rental car.  We hadn't seen Jared and Ann Marie for about 23 years.  It was great to see them too.  

Bentonville Temple was Alex and my 50th new temple together!

At their wedding in 2000

Christmas in OK

We spent Christmas in Oklahoma with Alex's parents.  Aunt Jane joined us for a couple days as well.  We traveled there in a 2024 Honda Odyssey, which was a nice ride (although not much space for luggage).  A few days before travel, we realized that our suburban wasn't going to make the long trip.  We almost bought a minivan, but then we decided to do a one-way rental.  We had to leave the dog with friends since we were short on space.  We weren't sure how we were getting back, but we ended up buying a 2006 truck from Alex's parents.  

We arrived on Christmas Eve, so our first day in OK was Christmas Day. I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and potato casserole for dinner.  We also had pie, sugar cookies, and M&M cookies.  We leisurely woke up and did presents (no early morning present opening anymore).  It was fun to watch Alex's mom open her presents, which happened to be goat-themed.  We gave her goat Legos, a screaming goat, and a book of goat quotes.  Weston got his Charmin toilet paper.  There were plenty of Legos gifted - it's funny to watch Weston open them because he always gives the box a shake before opening.  I think Nathan got a couple of the best presents.  We got tickets for the OKC Thunder basketball game vs. the Clippers.  I also gave him a book of his mission, which I had been putting together throughout his mission. 

Christmas in CA

Since we traveled to OK for Christmas, we did some of our Christmas festivities before we left so we wouldn't have to take as much stuff with us.  We opened presents from Baba and Papa and a few larger presents.  Alex got the giant boat Lego from his parents, which he knew what it was before he opened it.  I opened a Vitamix blender, which we labeled as "From Alex", even though I bought it and Owen wrapped it up.  It was funny watching Alex's reaction to what he got me! Alex and the kids bought me a Lego set, which I didn't want... but I had mentioned was pretty cool after spending an hour waiting around in the Lego store with the kids last year. I guess I shouldn't have said anything because then they thought I wanted the set.  They keep trying to convert me to being a Lego lover, but I'm resistant.

We did our traditional candlelight singing.  I recorded one of the songs so we could send it to Jared.  Nathan sang the first verse of Silent Night in Spanish, which was one of the highlights of my Christmas season.  It was fun to sing together, especially since they're more active participants in singing now. We missed Jared, but it was nice to have Nathan back with us.  He arrived home a few days prior with his friend Shawn who picked up Nathan on his way from BYU-Idaho.  It was nice he could catch a ride home from college.