APRIL 2022

 ERIKA RUNNING FOR SBO
Erika was so brave to do this.  I was so proud of her.  She really stuck her neck out there and if you ask me, should have one.  She would make an excellent SBO.  She unfortunately didn't make it and Morgan did, but I am so proud of her.  I really think the accomplishment is running for office, not making it.  She did it!  I was really glad she took that opportunity.  We've decided that this will give her more one on one time with Kate next year and also more time for the fun things she wants to do outside of school.  I hope she tries this again.  She did awesome!  4-1-22

ERIKA 7TH GRADE SHOTS
On top of not winning SBO, she had to go get her 7th grade shots on Friday too.  Kind of a bummer.  She was totally brave about it and didn't even hardly flinch!  We had to celebrate with Keva Juice on the way home.  4-1-22

BRISKETT
This ended up being a pretty hot item!  I think we had 49 orders at $12 each this week!  Pretty awesome!  Nate busted his butt and took care of all of it without me too.  He's getting really good at this stuff.  4-1-22

DATE NIGHT
We went to Chili's and then to see the movie The Lost City.  It was a nice relaxing evening.  I was really grateful for it.  We have noticed more and more how much we need these dates every week.  It's been a great time for us to regroup.  We're both really looking forward to our week long vacation here!!  It couldn't be at a better time!  The movie was entertaining, but not my favorite.  Sandra Bullock is way too old for Channing Tatum.  Kinda weird.  And I don't like naked bum movies.  4-1-22

CONFERENCE WEEKEND
First talk in and already feeling the good feels!  The overwhelming feeling for me- Heavenly Father loves Kelly!  I just can't imagine that first talk not being a comfort to her.  No matter what she chooses with the mission thing, she can gain confidence from the words of our Prophet.  And really, if he loves Kelly that much then He probably loves the rest of us that much too :).  Love that!  There was so much in this first session that will carry me through this trial right now.  I'm so grateful for that.  4-2-22

We had an awesome Conference this time.  I loved it!  Lots of talk about missionary work.  Lots of talk about doing what matters, really focusing on what we need to be doing.  Strengthening our spirits and being prepared for harder things to come.  I hope I am doing what I need to do.  I keep trying to think of ways to more fully keep my covenants.  I haven't thought of anything yet.  

We went up to Ruth's for Nate's smoked brisket and food and the Women's session of conference.  They had one of the sisters conduct for the first time.  That was cool.  I loved the talk about bossing your brain.  I need to remember this and keep it with me.  I want to keep the negative, discouraging, distracting thoughts out.  It was nice to be with everyone.  Charity and Kelly came as well.  It was a nice time.  

Sunday we had the girls here and creamed eggs on toast of course.  It was so nice.  Everyone ate snacks and treats and paid such good attention.  I was so proud of our kids!  Even Sadie wasn't too much of a distraction.  Molly was taking notes on her little packet.  Jack slept a little, but for the most part but was so attentive and even had some thoughts to share later.  Erika was busily writing in her journal the entire time.  I think she was really inspired this conference.  I was so proud of her.  Everyone was listening so well.  I was really grateful that I was able to listen.  It's always sad when it's over, but we have a lot to work on and so many new talks to study!  Pretty excited about that!  4-2-22--4-3-22

NATE'S TIME OFF
We had a really nice time having Nate home Saturday and Sunday so far.  We had him with us at the women's session and then Sunday evening we were all able to go on a walk together.  Met the Brenchleys finally.  That was nice.  It was just really great to have him home.  4-3-22

SPRING BREAK- DAY 1
We had such a great spring break!  I was so happy that we had planned things and that all went well.  It's been a while since we did that and scheduled Nate's time off during it as well... it was just perfect!  We decided to make it a grandparent themed Spring Break.  Monday was just us, lazy and playing with friends most of the day.  Kelly had a dentist appointment and there were some other little errands to run, (going to the sketchy CBD oil store for Kelly, and Hobby Lobby for a hoodie and then Pretzel Maker) but for the most part it was our- relaxing day.  Erika and I did have to drive Kelly home that night and we had fun doing that.  Everyone had family night without us.  It was a nice day.  We watched How to Train Your Dragon that night before bed.  4-4-22

KELLY
A little update.  So a couple weeks ago, Dr. Brumley- the Integrative medicine doc- suggested that Kelly might have CRPS.  We've kind of researched the heck out of it and found that it really does sound like what Kelly has.  We're not for sure, but it's actually been kind of nice to think we know what it is.  We read that CBD oil can be helpful and since I had already talked to Barbara Farnes about the stuff, it was easy for me to wrap my head around getting some for Kelly.  We went to the "sketchy" store on Monday and picked some up for her to try.  Not sure how that will go, but willing to see.  We also decided a new hoodie was in order.  We made Kelly a hoodie that says, "This girl is on fire CRPS awareness".  I really think it's helped Kelly to have a possible diagnosis.  I'm glad about that.  

On Tuesday, we found out there was a cancellation opening for the endocrinologist we've been very anxious to see- remember we have an appointment scheduled on July 21st- huge eyeroll!  So we were pretty thrilled about that.  I was slightly less thrilled because I wasn't exactly sure what she was going to be able to do that we weren't already doing with the Aspire NP, but hey, it's not like we could turn it down.  Even though it was kind of a pain for Kelly to get work off and come down.  

Back on Monday, the Pain Clinic finally returned Kelly's call and wanted to schedule her appointment, but when I told them she might have CRPS they told me that if she actually does, she can get in sooner, but that if she doesn't, it's going to be June before they can get her in.  They wanted me to be able to prove that she has it, but too bad- we don't have an official diagnosis yet!  All I have is an opinion from a NP in an integrated medicine clinic.  She made me feel kind of stupid and insisted that I should be able to get documentation from her that she thinks Kelly could have CRPS, and then they would schedule her sooner.  I really don't know how I'm going to get that.  I was very frustrated because the only referral Dr. Brandley had given them was "ankle pain, leg pain, and migraines".  I'm not even sure where they got all that.  Probably just looking at her history and the stupid x-rays Dr. May (sports medicine took).  So irritating.   And when Kelly called them, they called back and said, "that's not the referral they had given" yeah right.  So whatever.  I asked them to call in and say, "possible CRPS", but who knows if they are capable of doing that. Ever since the Heart and Rythm doc appointment, I've had very little faith in that Internal medicine doctor's office.  Why they even have migraines on her chart is beyond me!  I asked them to remove that a long time ago!!  Ugh.  Anyway.  So there's that.  Hopefully we can get Kelly into the Pain Clinic in June.  4-4-22

SPRING BREAK- DAY 2
One thing we definitely got enough of during spring break, was sleeping in!  Like WAY in!  It was so nice!  9:00 ish most mornings was about the time we would roll out of bed.  Kinda nice.  So Tuesday was our Grandpa Hatch day.  He had to work, so we killed the early afternoon with some swimming at the Rec Center!  This was a lot of fun!  I was shocked at how packed the place became by the time we left.  It wasn't too bad at first, but they were not letting people in by the end because they had reached capacity.  Even when the boys went out to go to the bathroom, they weren't letting them back in.  Kinda funny.  Weird.  I liked it when my dad came and chatted with me in the hot tub!  That was nice.  I was able to tell him about the stuff with Kelly.  We finally got crowded out and decided to get home and showered before hanging out with Grandpa.  We had wanted to do ultimate frisbee but it was just too cold and windy so we switched it to Chair Soccer at the church.  Grandpa brought his "friend" Jo.  This was a lot of fun.  The kids had really wanted to teach Grandpa how to play so that happened.  He was actually pretty good at it once he got the rules down.  He's pretty agile for an old guy.  The kids loved this part.  After that, we headed up to Grandpa's for a bbq.  Steve showed up shortly after we did so that was fun too, we don't see him as much anymore.  We overstayed our welcome there and then came home for a movie and bedtime.  4-5-22

ENDOCRINOLOGIST AND PAIN CLINIC
So a lot of things were not working for us for this appointment.  It was really difficult for Kelly to get work off, and then since I told her it was in Bountiful, and that's where I was headed before realizing it was actually in Salt Lake, we were a half hour late for her appointment.  We got the usual frustration from the reception desk, and the "you'll have a shorter appointment" comments, to be expected, but even after they her weighed, blood pressured, and ready to go in the room, the doc was STILL ten minutes late!  So rude!  And then she had the nerve to tell us that we would have a shorter appointment.  Well no duh!  And even shorter now that you are late!!  I didn't say that of course, just thinking it.  I thought it was really unprofessional.  This is the second doctor that Dr. Tew recommended who was extremely late coming into the room.  Just saying.  So she came in and proceeded to tell us that Kelly's calcium (based on the referral from Dr. Tew) was not very high.  She had some funny calculation that involved timesing the final number by 1 that she performed on the calculator on her computer- BAH!HA!!!- to show us that Kelly's calcium is actually 9.9 not 10.7.  Yep.  We went all the way to Salt Lake to hear the same thing Dr. Tew had said a month ago about her calcium.  If only they had just refused to see her.  Course I probably would have been bugged about that too.  But anyway.  So after she told us that Kelly's calcium isn't actually high, she proceeded to suggest some tests (24 hour urine and blood work) that would determine if Kelly indeed has a genetic predisposition to high calcium, where her body just functions on higher levels.  To which I asked, "Oh, could that be causing pain in her whole body? or what would that mean?"  My favorite answer of the day, she said, "Well, literally nothing.  It would just tell us that her calcium is normally a little high and that's why.  Then she could tell doctors why it's high." HAHAHA!!!  Oh great idea.  Let's waste a bunch of time and energy on THAT!!!  No thank you.  She was kind of annoyingly not even touching the fact that Kelly is in pain.  She didn't want to talk about the CRPS (which may be because she doesn't know anything about it, in her defense), but would only address the not high calcium and her amenorrhea.  Which she wants to run her hormones to figure that out.  So nothing we haven't already done with Dr. Brumley.  What a huge waste that was!!  Then we went downstairs and waited some more to get the dumb jug for her 24 hour pee sample, which we talked about later and decided it wasn't worth doing.  So that was that.  The big endocrinology appointment we were so excited for was a big, fat, dud.  I am SO GLAD that we went to the Integrated medicine place.  That has been the most productive thing we have done yet.  Hopefully we can ever get the results from that back and be able to start treating Kelly.  One of the tender mercies through this whole thing was the phone call from the Pain Clinic on the way the to Thanksgiving Point.  They called to say that they would allow us to make the appointment on the 16th (only a week and a half away!) if we can get that documentation from Dr. Brumley that she could possibly have CRPS.  So that was pretty exciting!  I don't know if I can actually get the documentation, but hopefully they forget about it and let us come anyway.  She will be seeing Pain Doctors there, which is awesome and they should be able to give us a little clarification on the CRPS idea.  I don't know.  This was a huge blessing though and really lifted our spirits after the dumb appointment with endo.  4-6-22

SPRING BREAK- DAY 3
Wednesday started out with Kelly's Endo appointment for she and I, while Nate and the kids drove up to Nate's mom's house.  They were able to help her with some things around the house- she had a list of assignments for everyone when they got there :).  I love that Jack's was to get the vacuum unstuck from under her bed ;).  She unloaded a bunch of Easter stuff as well, which Molly and Sadie loved!  Kelly and I were able to get up there before too long and we all drove down to Thanksgiving Point for the Museum of Curiosity!  This was pretty fun.  I think the older kids, even though it is geared toward the younger ones, even enjoyed it!  It's fun to watch Sadie and Molly play :).  It was a little crowded which was a bummer, but what did we expect :).  I loved when we were all gathered in the water world and Sadie and Molly got brave and were splashing water on everyone :).  That was cute.  This was a fun activity, so grateful Ruth took us there on her membership!  We stopped at Panda Express on the way home for some lunch and ate it at Grandma's house.  We all vegged there for a bit before heading home so Kelly could hurry off to her stuff.  It was really fun that we stole Kelly that day and that we had her with us.  When we got home we watched Apollo 13 and then the Jazz game.  This was fun little moment for Jack and I- we spent a lot of the time watching cake and Mr. Beast videos on YouTube together :).  He was fun to watch with.  4-6-22

SPRING BREAK- DAY 4
This was the day I took Bradley to go get his running shoes :).  We went to Wasatch Running and took Sadie with us.  This was really cute because Sadie was just out of her shell the whole time we were there.  She loved the running mat and loved talking to the clerk helping Brad.  She asked Brad his name and after he answered, Sadie quickly added, "I'm Sadie, I'm two!"  It was so cute!!  We got him the exact same shoes he had a couple years ago ;).  If you find a winner... It was a fun time.  Then it was time to go down to get Grandma Hatch for our mini golf down in Sandy!  We went to Mulligans!  I was so excited!  It's been so long since I went there.  It wasn't near as exciting as I remember it, but the kids had a blast!  Even Sadie made herself some fun.  She really didn't want to have anything to do with the golfing.  She liked climbing on the fake rocks and stuff though.  Everyone was doing really well, having fun, taking turns, it was really pleasant!  Jack got birdies on his first few holes- I think he might have won if we had been keeping score.  Cute little guy was pretty proud of himself.  We all had a great time.  It was extra fun when on about the 10th hole, Nate showed up from work!  He had had to work his overtime shift, so Thursday was the one day he went to work.  We were glad to see him!  We finished up at Mulligans and then headed to Grandma's for some egg decorating, hiding and hunting for eggs, and then some pizza.  Brad and Grandma drove the few seconds to Little Caesar's.  I was seriously shocked to see them back when they came in!  With pizza!  It's literally like two minutes away, driving.  That would be horrible for us.  It was a fun time.  We needed to get back in time for Brad to go play basketball with friends and Luke was kind of aching to play with Jaxx, so we came home.  If the Maughans hadn't been on their trip to the Redwoods, the other kids would have been aching to play with friends as well.  But we did get a lot of fun sibling time in this week because of that.  I kind of liked it.  I think we watched another Jazz game that night... Jack and I got some more YouTube videos in :).  It was a nice, fun day!  4-7-22

SPRING BREAK- LAST DAY
Friday was our last day of spring break.  It was Jake and Grace's wedding day!  We slept in, then quickly tried to clean up our house and get packed.  It was kind of a mad dash when we realized we were going to be picking up Kelly on our way, so we needed to leave an hour earlier than planned.  But we made it work!  We got out the door with plenty of time.  Picked up Kelly and had some lunch at Cafe Rio.  Everyone was cheerful and got along really well all through the drive and everything.  I was really grateful for that.  Sadie was a little grumpy on the drive, but that's to be expected.  We got to our hotel- which was really nice and big! and cheaper since Nate had a discount!- with plenty of time to spare, bummed around a little, and got dressed for the civil ceremony.  This was just for the adults, so we gave Brad and Luke instructions for taking care of everyone.  We were going to have Brad go get some Tums for Jack, he was having some stomach pain again.  But his pain went away after we left.  The kids did an awesome job watching themselves during that and then even got all dressed up and over to the reception by 6:30!  I was so proud of them!  We had a great time at the wedding.  I was only slightly bummed for Grace's family, by how the actual ceremony went.  I am not sure why her Bishop was the way he was, and I don't want to criticize, but I do think he should have been slightly more professional.  He was late, forgot his notes, used his phone for the words, and during the pronouncement of them being husband and wife, mentioned that technology wasn't working.  Face palm.  I mean, I get that the civil ceremony isn't the most important part, but to her family, that was it!!  So I was a little bummed for them.  But the rest of the night was great.  They had amazing food for dinner.  The kids got there just in time for the dancing!  We loved the cute messages that Grace had in the music- so cute!  That was so much fun!  Nate had requested the slide and they got way into it and then way into all the other music too!  We stayed longer than we thought we would and then hurried back to our hotel for some swimming.  I think it was close to 10:00 by the time we got down to the pool.  Luckily this pool was open 24 hours!  We swam and sat in the hot tub til midnight!!  It was so much fun!  We chatted and made friends with some of the people in the hot tub.  Arizonans and a guy who really liked talking about his six sons and daughter- mostly his son who got a 31 on the ACT and still went to BYU.  Hilarious.  We were happy that the Taylors were there with us and that we had planned that so perfectly to be able to be at the same hotel with them.  It was great!  We loved it!  Late late night though!!  Made for some more sleeping in the next morning.  4-8-22

SATURDAY
We didn't have anything until the sealing at 3:30, so we knew we needed to kill some time.  Nobody was interested in swimming some more since they didn't want to have to shower again, so we had breakfast at the expensive- they totally messed up on Nate's omelet, we were all bummed for him- restaurant downstairs.  Then after some more bumming around, we went to the Aquarium.  This was a highlight.  Everyoen seemed to have fun there.  Lots of hands-on stuff to do and some cool things we'd never done before.  I loved watching Erika with the porcupine Rufus.  Sadie wasn't too happy with the bird cage.  I loved when she was yelling at the bird that, "That's not a ladder!" as he hopped up her pant leg.  It was fun to watch everyone enjoying this part of our trip.  When it was time to go we turned the van over to the kids, went into the visitor's center to get dressed, and then headed into the temple!  I am still just a little shocked that we were able to just turn things over to the kids.  Kelly and Brad this time, but letting them navigate and find a place to eat and get everyone food... then be back to the temple in time for pictures after... I was really proud of them!  So cool that our kids are so capable.  We went into the temple, Nate was in charge of helping Becky with the wheelchair and we got to sit and relax for a minute before going into the sealing room.  I loved this part.  This is when it hit me that I was in the temple :).  Not rushed, just sitting there, able to feel the spirit.  I was able to pray a little and talk with Heavenly Father before the sealing started.  This was a beautiful sealing.  I loved that the sealer chose to mention that ALL marriages are sacred.  Not just temple ones.  And that what makes a temple marriage so sacred is that it is eternal.  I loved that especially after the ceremony the day before.  It's important to remember that all marriages are sacred.  They had a beautiful sealing.  Jake and Grace are adorable.  We froze through pictures outside and then it was time for the dinner.  They had some delicious food (smoked pulled pork- not as good as Nate's :) ) and we all pigged out before heading home at 7:00.  It was a pretty long and quiet ride home.  We took Kelly to her apartment and then got home around 11:00.  Felt later, but we did it!!  I went and laid down with Sadie and didn't get to bed til another hour or so.  But such a cool week!!  We really lived it up which was nice!  It's been a while since we did anything like that.   4-9-22

JACK AT THE DENTIST
Rough day for Jack at the Dentist.  Had to get two cavities filled and a tooth pulled!  He did not enjoy that at all.  He does think it's pretty funny that Dr. Morgan pulled his tooth out without him knowing and made the funny joke, "Are you ready for me to pull that tooth out?"  "Well too bad, I already did!"  He keeps telling everyone about it :).  Jack was pretty much in pain all day.  So sad.  We got him some chewable ibuprofen, still not doing so good.  It was rough.  Luckily, when Molly's friend Kenzie came over, he was feeling much better and was able to play with them and do funny things to make them both giggle a ton :).  Super cute!  Glad he was feeling much better the next day also.  Just not liking the taste of his naked gums in the gaping hole his tooth left.  4-11-22

TEMPLE CLOTHES FOR KELLY
Kelly and I and our entourage (Jack, in pain from the dentist; Molly and Sadie) all went to Beehive Clothing on Monday to get Kelly all suited up for going through the temple next week.  I'm so beyond excited about this!  I know Kelly is too.  This went way better than I thought it would, as far as picking out the stuff goes.  When I went there were lots of things to choose from, all sorts of decisions, not anymore!  Kinda nice!  But she did get to pick out some garments and then a dress!!  I LOVE the dress she chose!  So pretty!  And I think it was even somewhat comfortable on her!  She looks so pretty in it!  I seriously can't wait!  I could have done without the whining from little people, the running around, and the craziness with my card/Brad's card switcheroo... but Kelly was a good sport and didn't seem to be too bothered by it all.  Good girl.  And we got all of her stuff!  She's all ready to go!  Can't wait!  4-11-22

FHE
For Family Night it was Sadie's lesson, so we had Sadie call on everyone to tell their favorite thing from General Conference (I know this was weak- I keep meaning to have her learn a story with pictures, etc, but life is crazy right now.  This was the best I could do on short notice.)  It actually ended up being pretty nice and everyone commented and shared- it was a good reminder of all the good things we heard.  I need to read some of them!  We played the game where we stand in a tight circle and pass a marker behind our backs while the person inside the circle tries to guess who has the marker.  Nate's game.  Super fun.  Lots of laughter and fun for that.  Then my treat- chocolate chip cookies.  Of which I ate way too many.  So dumb.  But it was a good night.  I'm so glad my kids like family night.  They don't let us miss it.  4-11-22

NOAH'S FIRST TRACK MEET
Nate and I hurried up to Syracuse High a little early to watch Noah run his mile.  He did a great job!  We were so proud of him!  He PR-ed by like 11 seconds getting a 5:52 time.  So awesome!  4-14-22

YW DODGEBALL
We got to have our first of two weeks of dodgeball.  I was so excited!  I love dodgeball.  We didn't have a huge turnout from our ward, but it was still really fun.  I'm loving having this Sports Assistant calling with Erika in there.  It's been a lot of fun!  4-14-22

KELLY PAIN CLINIC
This appointment didn't really meet my expectations.  There were some good things about it, but for the most part, I was really disappointed.  They seemed like they were listening and like they were considering all the things we were saying, but as soon as Kelly mentioned that she had googled her symptoms all attention went out the door.  Not to mention they still have that dumb referral from the internal medicine doctor referring her for "ankle pain, foot pain, and migraines".  She made that after glancing at Kelly's health history and seeing that she had an MRI on her ankle which we still have no idea why Dr. May requested she have that.  So many annoying things brought up- that's probably the worst thing about these appointments is that we have to keep revisiting these screw ups and that they continue to have an impact on her situation.  Very frustrating.  So anyway.  They felt around a little, poking and prodding Kelz.  She told them where things hurt, but was not expressive enough I guess because they determined that she is not in enough pain.  Not sure how they arrived at that conclusion, but her tears when they left the room would say otherwise.   They also ruled out the CRPS diagnosis which seems strange since it's kind of a last resort.  And pulled up erythromelalgia on Google (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!) to tell me that's what they think she has and read what it is to me.  They couldn't be more wrong, or more dismissive in this "diagnosis".  Not to mention she doesn't really have the symptoms of erythromelalgia.  And there's almost no information about it.  I don't know how you could rule CRPS out!!  They said that because she can walk, because it started in both legs and feet, and because she is able to be touched without writhing in pain, she doesn't have CRPS.  Well, after consulting the fb group, there were at least 30 people upon hearing Kelly's symptoms who agree she has it and testified that they have it in more than one limb and that they are still able to carry on their lives and jobs and stuff.  So anyway.  Left us feeling a little unsettled again.  We both feel like the CRPS diagnosis just feels right.  We're okay considering something else that seems more like it, but this dumb erythromelalgia is not it!  They also referred her to a psychologist and a neurologist.  The psychologist can get her in next week, which is good, but the neurologist can't see her til May 30th. That was frustrating too.  We've already seen a neurologist.  If we need to go back and see a bunch of the specialists we've already seen then what have we accomplished already?  Nothing?  So annoying.  And I'm not willing to wait that long.  Barbara had told me all about her functional neurologist last week and I had watched  a video of him doing some interesting therapies on people with CRPS, so I got bold and called them and made an appointment for Kelly to see him.  That will be on the 3rd.  It was nice that Heavenly Father made that happen so easily after the let-down of the pain clinic.  They did prescribe her some Nortriptyline which kind of bugged me at first because we have said we don't want to medicate her, but again, they weren't really listening.  I figured we may as well give it a shot.  I don't know why, but we were both willing to try it.  So maybe that was a good thing.  I don't know.  I asked about ketamine injections and that ketamine would help us determine if it was CRPS, and she didn't think that was a bad idea, but wasn't super supportive of it either.  I don't know why we need to figure otu if it's not CRPS when they already told me it wasn't (huge eyeroll) but whatever.  Next!!  4-15-22

NOAH'S FIRST JOB INTERVIEW
Noah has taken initiative this past month and went and picked up a job application to Cherry Hill, filled it out, took it in and got to go in for his very first job interview this Friday!  Pretty amazing!  I'm really proud of him.  He's only 14!  They said they will let him know in a couple weeks if he gets the job or not.  Pretty cool though!  4-15-22

BRAD TRACK MEET
Brad ran his 110 hurdles at the Farmington meet while Kelly and I were at the Pain Clinic so I couldn't be there, but Nate was and he said Brad did great!  I was hoping to catch his 300 hurdles on my way home, but he ended up with a sore calf from his 110 and decided not to ruin it more.  So he didn't run the 300.  Kind of bummed, but just because I wanted to watch him do it :).  I'm glad he's taking care of himself this year.  4-15-22

NOAH'S ORCHESTRA CONCERT
We got to go to Noah's orchestra concert tonight!  Such a great job!  I loved the songs they played and I loved watching Noah and knowing that the beautiful bass line was 50% his creation :).  There's only two basses, so...  He is doing a great job!  I love that he is really doing this!  He's done great!!  4-15-22

DATE NIGHT
Nate and I tried to squeeze in a date night, but after all the chaos and confusion that evening, we were finally able to go get the Easter stuff and then to Habit at the last minute (So of course they were bugged at us for coming in).  It was rushed and we were very tired, but it was good to get out.  We both feel like our date nights are crucial right now.  I'm glad we are making them a priority.  Life is crazy right now.  4-15-22

EASTER SATURDAY
We had soccer games in the morning and then we skipped out on the Maynes Family Party where they went down to Thanksgiving Point and looked at the Tulips and the Light the World display.  We just weren't feeling it this week and needed some down time instead.  We weren't going to be able to give it the time we had wanted, especially with how pricey it was going to be.  But we did miss seeing everyone and were bummed there is no longer a fun egg hunt for the kids.  Times are changing.  But we had a nice day taking it easy.  Charity and Kelly came down in the evening, in time to decorate eggs with us!  This was fun and it was nice having them with us.  We played Fish Bowl for a bunch of rounds that night as well.  It was so cool!  I loved having everyone together and making time for us!  Kind of like our own little Easter Party.  I like that we are able to do these things.  We were happy the girls chose to come down from Logan too.  We watched a movie and went to be really late!  4-16-22

EASTER SUNDAY
This was a great Easter!  We made it happen!  We had juggled a lot of things and with Nate in the Bishopric and having meetings and such had to rearrange some of our traditions, but overall, I feel like things went really well and that we were able to enjoy the holiday together.  Nate actually ended up calling in to work so we got to have him home for all of it too.  We started with baskets in the morning.  I told the kids they had to be in Sunday clothes before they could start hunting, and a few of them found their baskets before church, but the older kids all ended up waiting.  Church was great!  Even the Easter music went okay thanks to our youth who participated.  Not sure how that was going to pan out.  We've had an interesting time with our new choir director, but I must admit that a few visits from her and I am starting to see her in a different light.  I have more patience for her weirdness :).  I kinda like her.  When we got home from church, everyone found their baskets.  We noticed that the Easter bunny must have come while we were at church because there were eggs all over the backyard!!  SO MANY EGGS!  The kids had so much fun hunting for eggs and helping the little ones hunt for eggs.  Some of the eggs had money in them!  That added a little element of excitement for the big kids.  Funny that Sadie got most of the money ones! HA!  Thankfully, she was more than happy to share, she just kept a $1 that she wants to "save for ice cream" HA!  So cute.  We decided the only way to have creamed eggs on toast was to do it for dinner, so that's what we did and it ended up being awesome!! Charity had needed a blessing that evening, so we all got to be there for that.  Then Bradley was feeling extra stress as well and requested one.  Then Molly asked if she could have one.  And then it was my turn :).  It was a beautiful evening with everyone.  It was such a great weekend though!  I really can't complain.  I loved it!  It was a much-needed change of pace.  4-17-22

FHE
We had a lovely Family Night this week.  Jack taught us and had us make Resurrection rolls as his lesson.  I was so proud of him!  He had all the details about Christ being covered in spices and the analogy with the cinnamon and sugar.  He did a great job remembering all that he had learned at his Adventure day activity earlier int he week.  Super cool!  We had the rolls for the treat and played the Cupcake game as Sadie's game.  It was a great time!  4-18-22

KELLY PSYCHOLOGIST
She went!  I was so proud of her!  And she must not have hated it because she scheduled another visit.  Pretty cool.  4-19-22

PLAYGROUP
Playgroup was really awesome this week!  Barbara Farnes came!  Made me so happy to have her there.  Actually, Cathie Nybo had come too along with Tammy Pickering who usually comes.  It was such a different dynamic and I really loved it!  4-20-22

KELLY TO THE TEMPLE
This was one of the best days of my life!  Right up there next to getting married, giving birth, my kids' baptisms... just AWESOME!!  I totally loved it!  Kelly chose the Logan temple, so we made arrangements for Sadie and the other kids to stay home while Nate and I (and my mom) headed up to Logan.  Everything went so smoothly, I was so grateful for that.  We met up with Kelly, took a few pictures of her in front of the temple.  We greeted Grandma Ruthie, Jen and Becky.  Then Kelly and I got to head in there.  I loved this time with Kelly!  I really loved how she was the only doing living endowment that session so she got the royal treatment.  I loved it!  The ladies there were so sweet and friendly.  I loved hearing all the instructions and loved witnessing Kelly doing all of these things for herself.  I was so proud of Kelly and this decision to go to the temple.  I loved sitting next to her in the temple and being able to be there for these covenants and ordinances.  I loved seeing her beautiful face after going through the veil and being able to hug her and chat with her in the Celestial room.  So beautiful!!  Such a special, precious moment.  She did awesome and enjoyed it so much.  I was just so proud of her!  Afterwards we went to dinner at Costa Vida.  Charity and Caleb joined us for dinner.  As well as all of Kelly's friends she had invited to the session also joined us.  I love that she has such wonderful friends and that she had them there for support.  Good friends!  I loved meeting them.  Especially Clayton who went to Indian Hills Middle School as well as Alta- he's that much cooler now :).  I got to hear Max say, "I'm in the zone, Sullivan".  And I loved seeing Kelly with them all.  She's having so much fun up in Logan and doing so many new things.  So cool.  We got home really late!!  The kids had done so well without us.  They're getting really good and dependable.   4-21-22

DATE NIGHT
After slaving over drumsticks, sausage and potatoes for his catering Friday, Nate still made time to take me out :).  We went to Blue Lemon for dinner :).  It was a nice break from the day.  It's been a really great week, but also very busy.  'Tis that time of year!  We're buckling up for the next six weeks of crazy!  Glad we don't have a senior this year though, this is our year off :).  4-22-22

BRAD'S JUNIOR PROM
Brad took a senior this year, Sierra.  I loved hearing all his plans this past week and they went on a fun paint-balling date where he and Brandon went and got cammo clothes to wear for it.  It sounded like he had a really good time last night!  They had dinner at Liam's house, then headed to the dance.  I loved talking with Brad about the night on our walk tonight.  He liked the girl, she was really nice and fun to be with.  And I think he had a great time!  I can't wait to see the pictures!  They had a wedding photographer so I'm sure they'll be great :).  4-23-22

BRING YOUR KID TO WORK DAY
We had two days available for Nate to take the kids, so we divided them all up and the first day was Monday for Bradley and Erika.  They woke up early, did Come Follow Me with us and then left for "work"!  Sounded like they had a really good time, almost like it wasn't even work! HA!  just kidding.  Basketball, Ping pong, getting constant compliments on your height and size, sounds more like play than work ;).  4-25-22

NOAH PR-ED AGAIN
Noah had another track meet, apparently his last, and got a 5:48 time on his mile!  A new PR!  We've been so proud of him and all the hard work he has put into this!  He was really wanting to do hurdles so hopefully he can pick that up next year.  4-25-22

KELLY
So I got the date wrong for her allergist appointment.  So dumb.  It was nice that Kelly was running late and when I called to tell them they informed me that it's next week.  So that was probably really irritating for Kelly to come all the way down here on her day off.  But the good thing was- I got to hang out with her!  Like all day!  I loved it.  We had a little shuffling to do with all the other things that needed to also happen, but we were able to get her some more garments and then pick up Brad and go to Costa Vida for lunch.  We took a little nap.  And made it over to Noah's track meet!  It was so nice!!  Then the miracle of getting an earlier appointment for the functional neurologist!  That was pretty exciting too!  Only problem is that it was for the next day.  She needed to get back home for her game Monday night and then come BACK down here for the appointment at 10:00 am.  Kind of a pain.  She expressed not really wanting to drive all by herself, so I came up with the plan to drive her in the prius up to Logan, watch her game, let her hang out with her friends while I catch up on Heartland and then drive back home.  It was the perfect plan.  I was so grateful for the time to talk with Kelly and help her out a little.  Her team lost which was a bummer, but it is so fun to watch her coach.  She does an excellent job!  4-25-22

CHARITY
I was so happy when Charity decided to come to Kelly's lacrosse game Monday night!  I got to sit there and hang out with Charity the entire game!  She was so much fun, cheering, screaming, hating on the other team's parents with me- HA! just kidding.  She is good company.  We ended up getting to spend a LOT of time together.  I was glad!  We went down to Five Guys for dinner, then sat in the car talking until she had to go get smoothies with Isaac.  It was such a nice conversation and really memorable time for me!  I needed that with her!  It was hard to say goodbye.  4-25-22

FUNCTIONAL NEUROLOGIST- KELLY
So this was a big day!  Big appointment!  I was really looking forward to this one and it did NOT disappoint!!!  Are you surprised?  I am!  It actually went so well.  We loved all the lectures on the brain and it's functions.  We both share the same love for this kind of stuff.  We were happy to have Dr. Smith listening to both of us.  Not dismissing Kelly's pain or making her feel like she is faking.  It was nice that he didn't rule out CRPS, but agreed that it very well could be.  He doesn't care about labels though and wants to just treat the problems, which is AWESOME!  He did some cool things, measuring Kelly's rib expansion and teaching her some relaxing breathing techniques.  Then looking at her pulsating pupils.  We remembered Kelly's concussions.  So crazy!  Apparently those are mild TBI's.  We learned that she is sensitive to light and sound and that can be remedied with some sunglasses with tape over the middle.  Binasil Occlusion glasses.  Who knew.  Felt a little silly but even Kelly said that she felt different with the glasses on!  I'm so excited for all the things he might do with her :).  Hopefully this can help if not cure her.  He is convinced he can cure her, but I will have to see it to believe it :).  Great guy though!  We really liked him and felt very comfortable.  Even with all of his teasing.  It was a nice casual atmosphere!  Such a difference.  Kelly's gotta clean up her diet, get more sleep, do the breathing 10 times a day and wear the glasses 15 minutes every night.  Hope she can keep it up!!  4-26-22

LUNCH WITH EMILY
When Kelly and I got home, I rushed off for lunch with Emily.  We went to Zupas and it was a much needed break from life and good recharge with Emily.  I loved it.  4-26-22

NATE AND BRAD FISHING
It was sophomore testing day so Brad had the day off.  He chose to go fishing with Nate- they both loved that :).  4-27-22

30 MINUTE ZOOM CALL WITH PEGGY WALLACE
So this ended up being very informative while being extremely expensive.  Had I but known.  But we were finally able to go over Kelly's hormones with the hippie doctor #1.  Apparently, Kelly has the hormones of a 58 year old woman!  She's postmenopausal according to the numbers.  Kind of a bummer.  She needs estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, some B12, more healthy fat to bring up her cholesterol, etc.  It was a lot to take in.  I'm hopeful that this will help with her situation a little.  At least get her periods back, which is so funny to want.  Kelly seemed very overwhelmed with all of the information and seemed to shut down a little, but I think we got this!  4-27-22

TRACK MEET FOR DAVIS AT CLEARFIELD
This meet was very poorly hosted.  I'm just gonna get right to that.  Kind of disappointing, but the boys did great!  Nate, Sadie and I all headed up there for the 110 hurdles which they both did great on!  I think Bradley got first place in his heat!  They both got PRs!!  Then we came home, got the littles and then back up there for the 300 which they both did!  This was Luke's first time doing the 300 hurdles!  I was so proud of both of them!  They both did so great!  Funny but not funny, they didn't move the hurdles up for the boys, after the girls' hurdles, so the boys were pretty bummed about that, but they still did awesome!!  PRs if they counted :).  4-27-22

BIRTHDATE MATTERS
I was looking at Kelly's hormone lab results a little more closely and noticed her birthdate was WAY OFF!  The lab had it down as 6/2/1963.  I called and told the ladies at Aspire.  They left me a message saying that the lab said the 0 probably just looked like a six.  HA!  What about the 1 and the 9 then???  Such a cop out.  Thankfully Aspire got a new lab result with the ranges changed for her age, and there were a few things that were no longer an issue.  Kinda funny, kinda not.  We'll see how it goes.  4-27-22

MOON PARK WITH HEIDI AND THE KIDS
I took all the littles who didn't have YM/YW activities (or the track meet) which was Erika, Jack, Molly and Sadie, to Moon Park.  We'd heard about the new playground and wanted to check it out!  This ended up being a really nice time!  Heidi and I got to talk and the kids got to play!  It was great until all heck broke loose :).  Not really, but there was a moment where the three littlest were crying at the same time!  Kinda nuts!  It got dark and we decided to go home.  But it was a nice time!  4-27-22

THURSDAY
This was not my day.  It didn't help that I had a dream that morning that I started my period and then first thing when I woke up, I had!  Ugh.  It was a big day that I wasn't wanting to do with the cramps and headache I had.  It was our second go to work with dad day so Luke, Noah and Jack all went with Nate to work bright and early.  That did cut back on my trips to the schools, but not a ton.  I took Erika to orchestra at 7:45, came home, got the girls all ready to go, took Molly to school (she had her performance for the school, so she went in the morning), picked up Erika for the dentist.  We sat there while Erika had her dental work done, just Sadie and I.  Then it was time to take her back to school and head on up to Ogden to pick up CD's of the imaging Kelly has had done over the past year!  This was actually not too bad, but didn't quite pan out.  I got the CD of her MRI on her ankle (that stupid waste of money, thank you Dr. May), then headed over to McKay Dee Hospital to get the others.  I was pleasantly surprised that our parking spot wasn't a mile away and that we were able to get to Radiology pretty easily.  I said a little prayer of thanks for that.  Sadie was an angel too.  Unfortunately, it was going to take too long to get them printed before needing to pick up Molly from school.  So that was a bummer.  But we came back, got Molly at 11:30 then went up to the High School for Bradley and took HIM to the dentist.  He had his cleaning.  We sat there with him and watched Mulan :).  He had three cavities that he is insisting were just watches, but they were watches six months ago, so .... But we finished with Brad and took him back to school and then headed down to Nate's work to get Luke and Noah.  Luke's dentist appointment was next.  Sadie and I sat and watched more of Mulan while Noah and Molly sat in the car.  Then it was time to run Noah to track.  Then back to the dentist for Luke.  And then home!  I was totally going to crash when I got home, but then I remembered the CD up at McKay Dee.  So I left Brad in charge and hurried up there.  I couldn't believe the stack of papers reporting on her imaging.  And I was pleasantly surprised with all the images they were able to give me from other hospitals!  I thought I was going to have to go trapsing around everywhere she'd been to get them all!  That was a nice little surprise.  I was pretty done when I got home.  Nate was nice to share some of the meat he made for Windridge's PTA with us for dinner.  It wasn't my day.  But I did it!!  And we all survived.  It was a nice little tender mercy to find out Kelly was not having any pain all day and was so thrilled for her date with Clayton to the Jazz game.  Unfortunately we lost which was a total bummer for all of us.  But I can't wait to hear how her date went!!  4-28-22

KELLY'S DAY OFF FROM PAIN
Kelly had a whole day with no pain.  I got so excited and hoped it was from what we had just started with the functional neurologist, but the pain came back with a vengence the next day so it wasn't.  But I can't let it go unrecorded.  There was a day with no pain.  It was the day she got to go to the Jazz game with Clayton.  I wish I knew why the pain was gone and wish we could some how duplicate it, but it was a great day for me, probably for Kelly as well.  So grateful for little things.  4-28-22

MOLLY'S KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM
Molly has been so excited for April 29th!  It finally came and it was spectacular!!  We were all very excited!  Molly picked out the prettiest outfit and let me trim her hair the night before as well as curl it and put in a pretty little braid this morning!!  She looked so beautiful!!  I was slightly bugged (huge understatement) that we didn't get very good seats.  I mean she was, of course, on the front row and we were like 4 rows from the back in the wrong place to see her.  So that was agitating.  But I was THAT MOM and made my way up the middle aisle and took some videos and pictures.  It was nice then :).  She did such a great job!!  I was so proud of how well she knew the songs and all the actions.  Not surprised in the least, because she takes these things very seriously, but so proud!  She is such an amazing girl.  She did great on her part as well!  She had the second to last line and said it so well.  So fun!  We are so blessed to have her in our family and have her as our daughter.  I was beaming as Mrs. Piper was pointing out how well she sang and how well she has grown this year and all that she has accomplished!  She is really pleased with the progress she's made and with how much she has learned and has really loved teaching her!  I'm so glad she had Mrs. Piper!  She is very excited for First grade!  I think it's going to be so much fun for her.  She loved the cookies after and taking pictures with everyone.  I should have gotten one with her and grandpa!  It was so nice of him to come!  4-29-22

BRADLEY LIFETIME DOG HOUSE
Brad got to go be a model for another lifetime ad.  This time it was a video and it was for a dog house! He got to drive Austin, Molly and Raegan all up to Hooper for this one.  Sounded like it went well and they got home about a half hour before I thought they would.  Pretty fun!  I like that he gets these opportunities.  Mainly for the money, but kinda cool too!  4-29-22

DATE NIGHT
Our date looked a little different this week.  We were really loving the ribs Nate smoked for his catering Friday, so we just had those for dinner and then since there is not a single good movie out that we haven't seen, we drove Becky's food down to her and stayed to visit for a while.  We brought Sadie with us as well, so you can barely call this date night :). HA!  But it was a good evening.  I enjoyed the time to talk with Nate and Becky.  4-29-22

KELLY FLARE UP
Good feeling gone.  Friday, while we were at Becky's, we got a call from Kelly.  She was in tears from pain.  This has got to be one of the hardest things.  I have no idea how to help her, I have very few suggestions for relieving her pain mainly because I have no idea what her pain feels like, and she was two hours away!  It is nice that she has all these awesome guy friends who can give her blessings and all the support from her friends, but it kills me.  I wish we could get rid of this pain for her.  4-29-22

DAVIS INVITE- MEDAL #2
This was an exciting track meet!  It was fun to hear all the plans leading up to it and I even volunteered to make some baked potatoes for the staff and coaches.  It was great.  Minus having to juggle the three soccer games with the track events, but somehow, they didn't collide too much!  It was miraculous!  The real exciting part was watching Brad run all his races.  He did the 110 and the 300 and did such a great job!  We were so proud of him!  He had been signed up to run a relay, but then for some reason didn't, but then around six o'clock that night he texted me that he was about to run the medley!  Surprise!  Kinda funny.  And then another surprise- he got third place!!  Pretty awesome!!  I was so happy Sadie and I were there to get pictures of him in his medal and on the podium.  Kinda cool!  4-30-22

SADIE IS SO ADORABLE
I was quickly getting Sadie and I out the door to go to Brad's last minute race, but needed to find out about the Adult session of stake conference, so I buckled Sadie in and ran over to ask Lisa, who was also getting in her car to go.  She quickly answered my question and I ran back to the van.  When I got in Sadie goes, "Where were you?" and I said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I just needed to talk to Lisa real quick, but I'm back now!"  And Sadie said the cutest, little, soft, but higher pitched, run-on sentence and I have been in love with it ever since.  She said, "I was getting hot in the car and you went to talk to Lisa you so silly!"  She wasn't mad, but you could tell she wanted me to know that that wasn't her favorite and turned it into the sweetest little moment!  It was so adorable!  I apologized of course and we went on our way :).  4-30-22

ADULT SESSION OF STAKE CONFERENCE
I made it to the last 45 minutes of this meeting this year.  It was a mad dash to get dinner on the table and I was trying not to make it stressful, so I didn't get out the door until about 7:10.  But what I got in the meeting was great!  I loved hearing Meritt Jacox's talk- she is such an amazing teacher.  I felt like she was the reason I was at that meeting.  There was another talk about a woman who lost her husband not too long ago that really touched me and made me realize how good I have things right now.  It was a good night.  I came home in a great mood and played a game and watched a movie with the kids.  4-30-22