Still With the Boot

People have been stearing clear of me today.  I went to the doctor thinking I would be getting my stitches out and transitioning to a postop shoe.  No.  I'm still in the boot.  I still have stitches.  My mood is pretty nasty. The thoughs of going to Phoenix tomorrow in a boot are killing me.

Seniors had the day off school today since the juniors were taking the ACT.  Jake spent the day watching movies.  Allegedly these movies were for one of his classes.  Caroline took the practice ACT test with the rest of the sophs then did a little shopping.

Craig is busy at work and then on Tuesdays he goes to baseball practice with Isaac.  Sam also had baseball practice.  Today he told me he wished he had more baseball practices.  He's having a really fun year. 

The most exciting thing of the day was the release of MLB The Show.  A great moment for Sam and Isaac.

Slippery Floors

Today I am digging out.  I decided to be all better from my surgery today.  It doesn't quite work that way.  I'm marginally better though.  I didn't even take a nap, unless falling asleep sitting up for 10 minutes with the dogs counts.  Craig was nice enough to leave the kitchen spic and span for me today, so there wasn't much to do.  I washed my sheets and made my bed...hopefully to keep myself from taking a nap.

My cleaning lady came today.  She is a sweet Mexican woman named Grasiela.  The only problem is she leaves the wood floors really, really slippery and I'm not sure what to do about that.  The first time someone takes a nosedive though I'm going to be forced to get a new cleaning lady. 

The Boy in Fuji

We heard from the boy in Fuji today.  He's such a jolly missionary.  A tender mercy I didn't quite expect.  I expected a little bit of negativity, but we don't get much.  We get happy times, happy faces, happy stories. 

He's skinny.  Maybe I should go to Japan for a bit.  He's had a string of difficult companions.  Transfers are next week on his birthday.  I'm hoping he gets a happy American missionary who wants to work hard.  I sure do treasure my Sunday night e-mailing sessions. 

I heard Craig bore a great testimony at church today.  I got out of bed for a few hours.  Progress.  Caroline had a planning meeting with her dance group for the next girls' dance.  I have no idea what girls do at their endless dance planning meetings. 

Worst Day Yet

I can see that the deadening shots have finally worn off because I'm having pain with a vengence today.  Luckily, Craig came home midday so he and my mom have been able to help me.  The kids allegedly did their chores--although how am I going to know if they ever did.  I took the dogs potty this morning and didn't leave my room again the entire day.  Whenever I am sick, I always think about the scripture in the Book of Mormon that talks about opposition.  I'm grateful for the times of sickness or pain because they always help me appreciate the times when I am healthy and pain free.  Opposition is a great thing.  I'm grateful for all the help people gave me today and looking forward to moving forward from here. 

Stranded

I am definitely doing worse today than I expected.  I was able to get the kids off to school, only because the deadening shots haven't entirely worn off.  Then I was pretty much stuck in my bed the entire day.  My mom checked on me and fixed me lunch.  The kids all went to the semi-final basketball game (Bountiful lost to Orem) and then went about their various business.  Today was a struggle.  Sam didn't have a ride to his basketball game so I had to go without my pain pills for several hours in order to drive him.  By the time 11:00 rolled around, I was in a lot of pain and pretty frustrated.  I definitely underestimated the recovery time for this procedure.

Foot Surgery

I have been looking forward to this day for quite some time.  I have a tendon in my foot that has been causing me a lot of pain.  In fact, it hurts all the time.  Today is the day I it gets fixed.  After the kids headed off to school, Craig drove me to the doctor.  They were a little behind, and when my turn finally came, it took them awhile to get me sedated.  Apparently, after putting me to sleep, I kept trying to kick the doctor, making it difficult to do any kind of foot surgery.  Haha, they had to put me under a little deeper.  They cleaned out lots of scar tissue.  Here's hoping I've seen the last of my foot problems. 

Craig had to go to New York City today, leaving me to the mercies of my kids, my mom, and some nice neighbors who brought a good dinner. 

Superior Student Section

Today we attended the state quarterfinal basketball game between Bountiful and Herriman.  Bountiful's student section has a reputation for being very supportive of their team.  They cross lines here and there, even possibly making a few mothers cry (we were kind of hard on some of the WX kids).  They are generally very loud and they do research so they can tailor their cheers to specific players and their girlfriends.  Jake seems to be one of the leaders of the pack.

After the game we celebrated Jake's birthday with a few of his friends.  We served a crowd favorite:  Puka Dogs.  The weather took a major turn for the worse while we were eating, making it difficult to get to our basketball games tonight in the dumping snow.

Salmon Challenge

Today was the long-awaited salmon challenge.  Isaac doesn't really pine for nuts because he hasn't tasted them, but he pines for salmon and shrimp because they are foods he loved, but then developed an allergy to.  It's been hard on all of us because we all enjoy salmon about once a month for dinner.  Isaac's shrimp and salmon numbers have been getting better though so Dr. Broadbent decided we could try a salmon challenge.  I grilled a small piece of salmon and we went to Dr. Broadbent's office to eat it.  Isaac ate a very small bite, then we waited for 15 minutes.  He ate a slightly bigger bite and we waited 10 minutes.  This patterned continued for a few hours until Dr. Broadbent was satisfied that he PASSED.  We are all excited--mostly Isaac.

Ironically, we planned to have salmon for dinner to celebrate, but Dr. Broadbent said Isaac couldn't have anymore today--she didn't want to overload his system.  The rest of us enjoyed it though.  It came out of the oven hot and golden.  Yummy.

This boy asleep on the couch at 6:00 p.m. is Jake.  He is completely wiped out from church responsibilities, school, officer duties, and the weekend incident.  He looks all little and dependent when he curls up on the couch and falls asleep in the middle of the day.  I wish he were still little and dependent. 

Mondays

Mondays are pretty low-key around here.  No one really has lessons or practice.  It's a good way to start the week.  Hopefully because there aren't a lot of scheduled things, people are getting a jump on the school week.  But probably not.

I have been really trying to make Mondays more productive.  The week goes so much better if I do all the grocery shopping and meal planning today.  This week was a good week for that.  Hopefully I won't have to make another trip to the store this week.  I've been really working on emergency preparedness and food storage the past few months, so as I peruse the ads each week, I try to use Monday to pick up sale items that will work well on our food storage. 

I mailed Evan's birthday package today too.  I think we did a good job of sending some great stuff.  We sent some food he enjoys, some new exercise bands, a Sacramento Kings t-shirt that says, "Got Jimmer?--We do!".  He'll like that.  We also sent candy.  We usually send things in a flat-rate box so no matter how much the box weighs we pay the same price.  It's worth it to stuff it to the top.

The first game of the high school state tournament was tonight.  My foot hurt, so I stayed home, but Craig took the kids and went to watch.  We won pretty easily.  Jake is pretty much the leader of the student section, so it's fun to watch him lead the cheers. 

Jake also spent a good part of his day giving more statements to administrators and school police about the weekend's activities.   Since this is a public blog, I don't want to go into a lot of detail, but Jake did absolutely nothing wrong.  He was a victim in an incident that involved mainly threats.  We would like to see the boy who made the threats punished, but all we can really do is give statements and wait for an outcome.

Confiscated

Unfortunately, sacrament meeting today was completely lost on me.  I was so distracted by the weekend's happenings and my kids were super irreverent.  In fact, I had to confiscate four iPhones.  I would have confiscated Craig's phone too, but Isaac said I didn't because "Dad has all the money".

After taking all the phones away, my lap shook with text messages the rest of the meeting.  I probably should have just called it a day at that point, but I had to teach primary.

We watched the Oscars tonight.  Lame.  Lame.  Lame.  Okay, Billy Crystal was pretty funny, but c'mon, a mainly silent movie wins everything?  I think there should be a new rule.  If a movie about baseball is nominated for anything, it should win.  Period.  The End.

We heard from Evan tonight.  He's as happy as ever and loves Fuji!

Weird Day

Today was kind of a wierd day.

I never left the house.

Craig ran around running errands, buying baseball bats for the boys, did my grocery shopping, got a movie for us to watch later.

Caroline spent her afternoon and evening with friends.

Sam went to the BYU basketball game, last home game of the season.

Isaac went to basketball practice at 10:00 a.m. and came home at 10:30 p.m.

Jake went to the WX girl's choice dance.  Weirdest thing of all.  He went with his friend, Cassidy, but left alone because an old boyfriend thing turned into a great big thing.  Wish I could be more specific.  Let's just say, things are still getting sorted out.

It's probably good that I wasn't awake when Jake got home.  I got the filtered version from Craig the next day.

Worldwide Deacon's Championship

Tonight was the famous world Championship Deacon's Tournament.  It just happens that it is always held at the Mueller Park Stake Center.  The tournament takes place on a Friday night in February.  Games start around 5:30 and go to around 10:00.  There are eight teams, it's double elimination.  Blink and you'll miss something because things move pretty fast.  We had a good team this year.  In fact, we were so good, our coach said, "the second best team in this tournament is our bench".  We only had to play three games to be crowned World Champion Deacons.  We never even lost a game.  We thought about losing a game on purpose so we could play more games, but decided an umblemished record in the tournament would be great.  Here are some of the boys killing time between games.  

We came to our house afterward to celebrate with banana splits only to find a house full of unauthorized teenagers (Caroline) that were put out on the street in about 60 seconds. 

Visitors for Scriptures

With Craig back in town, we found a minute to read scriptures all together tonight.  It's hard to catch everyone home.  In fact, Sam came home from baseball just as Jake was about to go study math at his friend's house.  So we grabbed Jake and read a chapter in Alma.  Part way through scriptures, I noticed Caroline had invited some visitors to read with us.

No One Died

Craig has been in Tampa this week with his partner, Terry.  Craig was traveling with Terry when my dad died.  Craig was also traveling with Terry when my brother died.  You can see why I might not want Craig to travel with Terry, or at the very least why I  might want to keep my kids home from school and locked up in the house for the duration of their trip.

They were supposed to land in SLC tonight around 8:30, but had a weather delay that put them into Salt Lake City at 12:30 a.m.  I texted Craig and said, "at least no one died", to which he responded, "that's what Terry and I were thinking".  Sort of funny to joke about, but sort of not.  So glad to have him home!

Isaac had two basketball games tonight and the older kids had a fireside given by an astronaut.  Jake had to conduct again.  He's worried that people are going to think he trolls for firesides to conduct.  Haha.  If he didn't do such a good job, people would stop asking him to do it.

Next Dance

We've been so worried that Jake wouldn't get asked to the next dance--it's girl's choice.  Jake is always one of the last people asked.  Not.  I'm actually surprised he didn't get asked the day after the Valentine's Dance.  Anyway, he got asked by Natalie Giles, a cute girl that tells Caroline she's going to marry Jake.

Caroline also asked someone to the dance today.  He's going to be three days shy of his 16th birthday, so we're waiting for word...

Craig is still in Tampa.  He enjoyed a great steak tonight at one of our favorite places.  Wish I'd been there.

And this.  This is the way I feel each and every day when I think about fixing dinner:

Precedents Day

Today is actually President's Day, but I saw someone on Facebook call it "Precedents Day" then I started thinking, wouldn't it be great if this really were a day of precedents?  Kind of like a new year's resolution do-over, because I know a lot of my resolutions have gone out the window.  So, I'm going to set a precedent to be better, appreciate my husband more, be a way better mother, yell less, be more positive, you get the drift.  I have so many things I can legitimately choose from.

Craig had to go to Florida today.  Too bad Spring Training games don't start for a few weeks because he's a few blocks from the Yankees training facility.  He's working hard on a case with his partner, Terry.  Unfortunately, he was out of town with Terry with my dad died and then again when Scott died.  Terry is bad karma.

Today was a great day off school, housework, baseball, church, work.  We went out to lunch, spent time with friends, ran errands, went to a Jazz game, slept, went to a movie, watched a movie...we didn't all do all of these things, but all of us did at least one!

Sunday Games

Sam has played mostly on baseball teams that are mainly Mormons.  This year he is on a team that is mainly Catholic.  He's enjoying this team as much as any he has been on, but the change in primary religion, brought a change in tournment schedule.  Before I figured out what was going on, we were signed up to play on Sunday in the President's Day tournament.  We felt that since baseball is a team sport and Sam was so valuable to his team on defense, we were obliged to play.  We did have rain, but no one got struck by lightning.

We won the first game and lost the second game on one pitch that turned into a 3-run home run.  We found out later that the two teams we lost to made it all the way to the finals.  We could have beat either team, so that's hard to swallow.

When we figured out we wouldn't be playing on Monday, we decided to drive home.  Craig has to go to Florida and that was best for his schedule.  Also, I've been taking pain pills for my foot and I obviously can't drive on pain pills. 

We heard from Evan on the way home.  He had another great week, but cut his own hair.

Jake's Birthday

Today is Jake's birthday, but he's celebrating without us.  Caroline got him a pretty cool cake.

We had a free day in St. George, so Craig and I ran some errands in the morning.  Then we visited with our friends, the Stobbes, who were also in St. George for the weekend, then Sam had practice in Mesquite.  After trying several spots for dinner, but meeting up with really big crowds, we got Jimmy John's take out.  We ended up filling up our day.

Caroline went skiing with her friends today.  They seemed to have a great time.

First Game of the Season

Today was the first baseball game of the season for the Parrys.  I'm so, so excited.  Sam's first at-bat ended in a double.  Unfortunately, because of base running mistakes, the third out was made at home on the hit, so it didn't help us very much, but it should have.

So we lost the first game and won the second game.  Sam never sat out, which was something I worried about because he was joining a new team.  We played our games right in front of some pretty cool red rock formations.

We enjoyed take-out from the Pizza Factory after the games and the boys did a little hot tubbing.

Since there was no school at home today, Jake and his friends went skiing.  They got to meet a former Ravens player who was wearing his Super Bowl 2002 ring.

Shenanigans

Tonight we played WX in basketball for the last time this year.  The fans had a "white out" and Jake and his friends were up to their usual shenanigans, leading all kinds of cheers to vex the other team and their fans. Some of the cheers were probably not very nice. I had someone in the crowd tell me that Jake is the ringleader.  Hmmmm.

Caroline and her friends were also in there somewhere, blindly following Jake's lead.  It's a good thing he mostly uses his powers for good.

The rest of us waited around for Sam's deacon's game, which the other team didn't really show up for.  So, Isaac got to play for the other team.  I thought Sam could have passed to Isaac a few times, even though they were playing for different teams. 

Then we headed for St. George, getting on the road around 8:00.

Another Week of Basketball

Tonight was another Wednesday filled with basketball.  Fortunately, Sam didn't have a game and the rest of the games were at different times, we were able to attend them all!  The Priests won and will be going to region.  This is Jake's last hurrah, so that's fun.  Isaac's rec game was a rough and tumble win.  Isaac's comp game did not go as well, and we lost to a good team.  Lots of preparations going on so we can leave for St. George tomorrow.  I'm so excited baseball season will be underway soon.

Valentine's Day

Is overrated.  And exciting this year.  The school called mid morning to say that Isaac was having a lot of trouble breathing.  They tried me a few times, then Craig a few times, considered calling an ambulance, then got ahold of us.  I took one look at Isaac when I got there and drove him straight to the emergency room.  He couldn't even finish a sentence without gasping for breath.  After a chest x-ray, his pain slowly began to resolve.  His pulse/ox was excellent at 99 percent.  It's never 99 percent.  He also had no wheezing, so it was pretty weird.  Some of the possible disagnoses were pneumothorax or positional lung problems.  Finally, Isaac was dignosed with something called a "precodial catch".  The doctor explained that it comes on suddenly and feels like a crushing pain, almost like a heart attack.  It hurts when breathing in.  And it resolves on its own.  All of these things happened.  I think a precordial catch is when part of your lung gets pinched.  Anyway, it made for an exciting Valentine's Day.  The only exciting thing that even happened really except for a few scattered cards on the doorstep for some of the kids.  Craig got me some dark chocolates and a card. 

Globetrotters

Tonight was the annual Globetrotters game in Salt Lake City.  Craig got four tickets and took Sam, Isaac & Monte.  They enjoyed it and just like always, the Globetrotters won.  Isaac was a little annoyed to learn that the Globetrotters had a girl on their team this year. 

Jake volunteered at the hospital today.  Caroline did a little homework.  That left me to my various lists of things to do today.  It was a quiet night around here until the basketball peeps came home.

Sick Day

Today we heard from Evan.  He couldn't be happier.

I was too sick to go to church.  In fact, I fell asleep when everyone left and woke up when they come home.  Much needed.

We had meatloaf for dinner, a fan favorite.

The Grammys are on and Adele is tearing it up.

The End.

Dancing Shoes

In the morning, Isaac and his two skiing sidekicks, Josh and Peyton, put on their skiing shoes and hit the slopes at Park City.

Then later on, Caroline and Jake put their dancing shoes on and attended the BHS Valentine's Dance.  Caroline went with Josh Calder, a very handsome and polite boy.  Jake went with Camree Smith, one of his cute officer friends.

Because Jake is an SBO, Craig and I are lucky enough to chaperone.  It's so fun to be greeted so warmly by Jake and Caroline and all their friends.  I wouldn't trade these two great kids in for anything:

Relief Is In Sight

Today I finally went to the doctor again about my foot.  Since we have done almost every conservative treatment we can, we have decided to try surgery.  I'm counting the days until March 1.  Dr. Anderson is going to go in and release the tendon.  Recovery doesn't sound too bad, especially realizing I was willing to have my foot completely cut off to stop the pain.

Craig and I went to The Vow tonight.  It was a cute little flick--not that great, but not terrible either.  I like endings that tie things up a little better. 

More Meds

Today we went to a long awaited doctor appointment with Dr. Broadbent.  Isaac's last blood tests showed his allergy scores related to shellfish had gotten a little better.  He really misses shrimp and salmon.  He's never really had nuts so he doesn't miss them, but the fish allergy was a later onset and he enjoyed eating it before it was taken away.  Today we did some skin testing to see if the blood tests were right.  Isaac was tested for lobster, crab, salmon and shrimp--he was most interested in the salmon and shrimp.  His salmon tests was good enough that Dr. Broadbent said we could have a food challenge in her office.  In a food challenge, Isaac gets to eat the designated food at Dr. Broadbent's office and then she observes him over a period of time.  If he doesn't have a reaction, we can reintroduce the food.  Unfortunately, his lungs aren't healthy enough to challenge right now, but maybe in a few weeks.  He also had a breathing test yesterday and when I asked the nurse how it went she said she thought it was pretty bad, but Dr. Broadbent said it was "a good test for Isaac".   I guess that shows how low our expectations should be.  Dr. Broadbent said she would consider a shrimp challenge down the road, but it would have to be given at Primary Children's Hospital.

Because his lungs were so bad, Isaac was started on another daily maintenance medication, bringing the total to five--a little bit discouraging.  I thought overall the appointment was pretty positive, but Isaac left in tears.  I guess the shrimp was bringing him down. 

He's a tough kid!

Sam had a great church game tonight.  Fun to watch.  We are still undefeated.

I went to bed in tears because my food pain has gotten so bad.  It's so discouraging.  I want to exercise and be active, but my heel hurts all the time.  I have a doctor appointment tomorrow though.  Hopefully I'll learn something that will help.

0-fer-3

We had our usual slate of basketball games tonight.  Isaac had two games, Jake had a church game, and Sam had a game.  Sam and Isaac have been undefeated in their comp games.  Tonight we faced tough teams.  Jake chose to skip his church game.  Isaac had a rec game first and lost by two.  I had to miss Isaac's second game because it conflicted with Sam's, but Isaac's comp team lost by two.  They played a tough team that pressed and even after a big comeback, we came up just short.  Sam's game was exciting too.  Sam hardly sat out at all and they were definitely outsized.  It was close, but we lost by four.  They had a tall Asian boy that was pretty good--we called him Yao for obvious reasons.

Craig had to go to Las Vegas for some meetings so we did it on our own.  Caroline had young women's and instead of his game, Jake made cookies and took them to some people who needed a little pick-me-up.

The Wizard

Craig scored some tickets to a baseball fundraiser last night.  He took Jake and Isaac.  They got to meet The Wizard, Ozzie Smith.  He is in the Hall of Fame as a St. Louis Cardinal shortstop.  He used to run out of the dugout and do a front flip on the way to his infield position. 

Isaac and Jake were nice enough to get four baesballs signed so they could share with Sam and Evan.  Sam had two baseball practices tonight and he's getting ready for a tournament, so he didn't go.

Caroline finally, finally decided on what to wear to the dance.  Just in time too, the dance is in four days.  She had a choice between a long black dress and a short purple one.  She chose the purple, which made me really happy.  I'll post pictures soon.

Bad Sign

Today I was lucky enough to take Sam shopping for a new suit.  After watching the deacons pass the sacrament on Sunday, Craig decided Sam need a suit.  I've been resisting because he's on the verge of a growth spurt.  But Sam has been struggling a little bit with life, so I decided he needed a pick-me-up.  He told Reed, our friend who owns the Mr. Mac in Bountiful, that he wanted black with pinstripes.  I encouraged Sam when we got there to try on a few different styles.  Sam surprised us both when he chose a charcoal suit with a window pane pattern.  He looks amazing.  I'll post a picture when it's altered.

Isaac was struggling with his breathing again tonight.  After a breathing treatment at home without much improvement, we called his allergist/asthma-ist.  She gave us a few ideas to try.  Sadly, she also gave us her home and cell phone numbers.  I think this is a bad sign.  Isaac may have to start steroids again if he doesn't improve in the next few days.  I asked Dr. Broadbent what the max number of times a year Isaac should be on steroids.  She said 1-2 times.  Isaac has been on steroids five times since October.  Like I said, a bad sign.

Super Super Bowl

The Super Bowl was awesome this year.  It had drama.  A drive to win at the end of the game.  I didn't love the teams playing--Patriots & Giants--but enjoyed the game.  We had a grilled cheese bar with lots of meats and cheeses, chips and dip and root beer floats.  Becky & Max, Doug & Linda, and a few of Jake's friends joined us.  The Giants put together an 80-yard drive with under four minutes in the game to score the go-ahead touchdown.  Eli Manning was the MVP.

Now we have a mess to clean up.

Evan wrote during the Super Bowl so we got to give him some updates.  He sounds amazing.  He is happy in Fuji and can see the mountain from his window.  As senior companion, he has big plans for getting the work going.  We're proud of him.

Raising Isaac

Craig and I started our Saturday with a temple session at the Bountiful temple.  A great place to be.  Lots of other people thought so too.  I was glad afterwards when Sam and Jake got home from their scout "campout" (inside someone's cabin) and the four kids I have left at home were all under one roof for a bit.  We busied ourselves running errands and doing chores to be ready for the big Super Bowl tomorrow. 

Craig and I had a fabulous dinner of Thai food with our friends, the Beckers, and our friend, Cindy.  We love to have Cindy along wherever we go.  Great conversation and lots of laughs.

We came home to find Isaac struggling.  His chest hurts, his throat hurts and he's coughing a lot.  It's hard to raise Isaac.  Not because we don't love him.  We love him a ton.  But so many times I can't decide whether or not he needs to go to the emergency room.  I have to rely on how I "feel", which means I'm trying to let the Holy Ghost tell me whether he needs to go to the hospital.  I really try to "listen" and then react to how I feel.  Tonight he had two breathing treatments and only felt marginally better.  He's oxygenating pretty well even with a wheeze, so we decided to wait and see if he gets worse.  Hopefully I'm doing the right thing.

Bad Judgment

Jake and his friends attended the 4A state drill competition today in Provo.  Unfortunately, Jake tried to go around a school bus in the high school parking lot on his way out. When a small truck goes up against a bus, the bus always wins.

Bountiful took state again for the fouth time in a row.  They are always glad to have support.  In fact, they have asked Jake to represent them in the Mr. Brave contest as Mr. Drill because he is so supportive.

Caroline went to see Dr. Broadbent to get to the bottom of her recent allergic reaction.  We might never know what caused her reaction.  Her skin testing went well and she's been cleared to restart her allergy shots.  While we were at the doctor, Isaac texted me a picture of his eye and asked if Dr. Broadbent could diagnose him and prescribe something:

Obviously, he has pink eye.  Since he was contagious an couldn't hang out with a friend tonight and Craig had to work late, Isaac and I went to a movie, Red Tails.  We quite enjoyed it.

New Carpet

Happily, our new carpet went in today.  It's almost not worth getting new carpet when you realize you have to move all that funiture.  We only had to do two rooms, but the console in the family room is really, really heavy.  Both the family room and Caroline's room look great.  I'm pretty good at that color picking stuff. 

Went to a movie with Cindy today.  We love afteroon movies.  We decided to stop and get a Coke to smuggle into the movie in our purse.  Cindy went ahead to buy popcorn while I got the tickets.  When I came around the corner to refreshments, Cindy's purse was all laid out on the counter and everything was soaking wet from her spilled Coke.  I, of couse, started laughing really hard.  In fact, I was laughing so hard, Cindy volunteered to the worker that I too had a Coke in my purse.  She tattled on me, but the worker didn't really care. 

Sam and Isaac hitched a ride to Provo tonight with Sam's friend.  BYU played Gonzaga in basketball, a big game with NCAA tournament ramifications.  The downside:  The game was on ESPN an didn't start until 9:00 p.m.  It was a late night, but the boys enjoyed a win and said it was one of their favorite games.

Cannery

This morning Red Sox tickets went on sale.  We are trying to get tickets to the game against the Yankees celebrating the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park.  We wanna be there when Fenway turns 100.  Some of us will be cheering for the Red Sox--probably most of the group since Evan won't be there to even out the cheering.  The rest of us will be cheering for the Yankees.  Sam will be the lone person who won't care too much.  I suspect he'll cheer for the Yankees.  We're excited that Uncle Ryan will be going with us, even if he is a Red Sox fan.  Luckily, we got right in on the ticket sale and got bleacher seats for two games. 

After the internet ticket sale, I buzzed up to Ogden to help at the cannery.  Let's be honest, I was only helping so that I would be allowed to buy some product at the end.  Today they were making (and selling) beef stew.  It was medium fun, but nice to come home with a box of stew for our food storage.

Tonight we had basketball games again. 

Tuesday Driving

Tuesdays are crazy days for driving.  This is usually how it goes:

1.  Sam stays at school for the girl's basketball game (see BASS below).
2.  I pick Sam up at Millcreek, bring his baseball gear, and drive him to the high school for practice.
3.  Isaac needs a ride to St. Olaf's where he meets his ride for baseball practice, which is downtown.
4.  I pick Sam up at the high school at 6:15 (not always done at 6:15, so bring a book) and run in home, where he quickly shoves something in his mouth before...
5.  Sam needs a ride to his other baseball pratice which starts at 7:00.  I either drive him and his friend down at 6:40 or I pick them up at 8:30.

I feel like I don't have a minute to myself during those two hours.  Craig goes straight to Isaac's practice from work, so it's all up to me...when will Sam be 16?

Sam and his friends at Millcreek have started a group:  B.A.S.S., which stands for Bountiful Athletic Student Section.  They are mischief makers at the girl's basketball games.  They do lots of loud cheers and barely escape trouble from Mr. Muna.  They often infuriate the opposing crowd and just as often infuriate their own cheerleaders because more people pay attention to them than they do to the cheerleaders.  Someone flipped them off this week.  But they have a blast. 

Mt. Fuji

Today I had to run downtown to Pottery Barn, so I went to lunch with my better half.  We enjoyed Italian soda and thin crust pizza.  I had lots of garlic on mine, so I'm going to smell for awhile.  Then when I went to Pottery Barn, they were closed for Inventory.  Lame.

Finally at 10:30 last night we heard from Evan.  These last two transfers have not been great for him.  His companion is not a hard worker.  In today's e-mail he could hardly contain himself.  He's been made a senior companion and transferred to...Mt. Fuji, one of the most beautiful places on earth.

He could not be happier.  I'm so excited for next week's letter--I hope he has lots of pictures.  He was also happy because he played in a stake softball game and hit two home runs and two doubles.  He was voted MVP of the game. 

Dinner Guests

Today was a regular Sunday.  But we did have a fun dinner.  We invited our friends the Johnsons to eat with us tonight.  Keith has taught Jake, Evan, and Sam how to hit baseballs (he did a great job).  Now he is the manager of the Salt Lake Bees.  He works in the Angels organization, so Sam loves to pick Keith's brain and find out all about what's up with the Angels.  We had a great time visiting with Keith, his wife, Malena, Kory, his son, and Mya, his daughter.  Fun people to be around.

Usually by now (it's 9:13), we have heard from Evan.  He writes us some time on his Monday morning, which is Sunday evening for us.  Today we haven't had anything.  It's transfer day, so I'm starting to wonder what's up in Japan.

Jimmer Is In Town

Jimmer came to town this weekend.  He's a King now.  In fact, they were selling t-shirts that said, "Got Jimmer?" on the front.  And "We do!" on the back.  Craig bought four tickets to the game and took the boys to see Jimmer.  He did alright.  He wasn't amazing, but had a few amazing moments.  He had a chance to tie the game with a long three-point shot with four seconds left in the game.  He shot an air ball.  Unfortunately, there were a lot of Utah Ute fans at the game who decided that since Jimmer had once played for BYU, they hated him.  They boo'd every time Jimmer got the ball.  I think that's pretty low budget.  I have never and would never boo for Andre Miller or Andrew Bogut.  The Jazz won, but I wanted the Kings.

Craig washed all four cars today.  We kind of just worked around the house today and caught up on some things. 

Dress Shopping

I was so tired this morning from sleeping (or not sleeping) at the hospital.  I decided to lay down after the kids went to school and woke up three hours later.  Kind of a lost day really.  Jake took a ski day and described the snow as "sublime".  In the afternoon, Caroline and I went shopping for a dress to wear to the Valentine's Dance.  We took her friend, Breanne, and her mom, Jenny, with us.  We had a great time.  We spent a long time at Nordstrom and tried on lots and lots of dresses.  Caroline settled on two to bring home and choose from.  We also got some shoes at DSW.  Craig wondered why she needed new shoes.  He doesn't get it.  Here's the amazing dress:

Haha.  You'll get to see it in two weeks just like everyone else. 

I found this hilarious picture on Facebook.  It looks like Jake and his friends have really been working out:

The kids are off tonight watching Bountiful (hopefully) beat WX.  Sam is a friends.  And Craig and I are home all alone.  

Free Ride

I went to an afternoon movie with my friend today.  Other than being freezing and having to wear my scarf around my ears, it was a great time.  The movie was sad, but we expected that.  I quite liked it:  Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. 

Caroline had her allergy shot today and an hour later broke out into hives everywhere.  Then her lips got a little bit swollen and her throat and chest were tight.  I immediately went into "anaphylactic shock" mode.  I've had lots of practice with this!  As I called 911, I gave her a shot of epi in her thigh.  Then we were off on our "free ride" to the hospital.  Acutally it probably wasn't free.  Here's my view of the ambulance:

When we got to Primary Children's, we were shown to the Resuscitation Room.  By then, the crisis was really over and Caroline was breathing fine.  The ER Chief told me I did everything exactly right.  I even threw some sweats and my iPad into my purse, so I was ultra prepared.

Unfortunately, though, we had to spend the night in the Rapid Treatment Unit.  It's hard to sleep in a hospital.  I heard Caroline's machines beeping all night long. 

Isaac was the most interested in the whole event since he's very experienced at this.  He was on his way home from skiing when she got sick, so he called later and asked for a description of all of Caroline's symptoms, then he compared what usually happens to him.  It was funny.

Carpet Choices

We have a lot of great carpet choices for Caroline's room.  Craig is also letting me sneak in new carpet in the little upstairs family room.  The carpet Caroline liked the best was going to be $1500 just for her room.  To be fair, it was my favorite too, but I just couldn't justify it. 

Four basketball games tonight.  I may or may not have gotten in trouble at one of them.  The refs at Isaac's game were soooooo bad.  I really only said a couple of things, but at one point they stopped the game and asked me if I thought I could do better.  I said I thought I could. Craig thinks I should have said, "Stevie Wonder could do better than you're doing".  I'm gonna be good from now on and forever.

Busy Busy

Today was seriously the busiest day.  I felt like I didn't have time to breathe.  Craig was busy too.  He's working on a big case and might have to work into the night.  As usual, Jake was only home for an hour or so after school before he went back for an activity.  Tonight was region drill.  Sam and Isaac both had baseball practice.  I ran lots of errands.  I had fun hanging out with Stacey and Hanne for an hour getting pointers on some knitting.  I paid it forward by helping my visiting teachers for an hour with some crocheting. 

The best part of the day was Caroline getting asked to the Valentine's Dance.  She's already planning her shopping trip to look for a dress.  She is exccited to be going with Josh Calder.

Stocking Up

I have decided to make this the year of preparation.  I'm making sure our food storage is up to snuff!  I know someday we'll be glad we stored food, medicine, blankets and other miscellaneous useful items.  Today I went to Smith's and bought things on their add that were a really good deal.  I got Jell-O, pasta and soap for $1 each. 

Craig spent last night and all of today in St. George for a hearing.  Caroline and I had tickets for "Game's Afoot" at Hale Centre Theatre.  Even though it was really snowing, we made the trek to West Valley City.  Coincidentally, my mom was there so we sat with her after intermission.  The play was a riot.  Caroline and I always enjoy a good play at Hale Centre.

News From Japan

Evan wrote an awesome letter this week.  He had an amazing week.  He was invited by President Baird to a leadership conference this week.  He was told that the top 20 missionaries in the mission were invited and only two of them, Parry and Ellsworth, were junior companions.  His confidence has been down some because Japanese has been so hard to learn, but this conference perked him right up.  He said he learned a lot to help him be a better missionary and teacher. 

Jake left church a little early today because he caught "Ravenitis".  Unfortunately for him, he answered his phone when Craig called and told him to come back for Priesthood.  Sam was put in the Teacher's Quorum Presidency today.

After church we went home and watched two really good football games.  The Patriots beat the Ravens when the Ravens missed a short field goal with 11 seconds left in the game.  This was after the Ravens dropped a TD pass in the end zone to win.  Then the 49ers lost in overtime to the Giants.  I had sad boys.  Sam is a Niners guy and Jake and Isaac are Ravens fans.  We watched most of the second game at The Mother Ship.  This is usually what happens when we meet up there:

Craig left in the early afternoon for St. George.

Flood

Today was a very weird weather day.  I woke up to the sound of pounding rain.  It didn't let up for hours.  Around midday, Caroline mentioned that her carpet was damp.  Well, the "dampness" quickly turned into a flood.  We called Uncles Ryan and Steve and recruited Jake and Sam.  The six of us moved everything out of Caroline's room as fast as we could.  Caroline isn't too excited about her room being located to the sewing room for a few weeks until we can get the leak fixed and new carpet in. 

In the afternoon, the rain turned to snow and within minutes, road were treacherous.  Craig and Isaac had gone skiing at Park City with the Hales and they barely made it out of the canyon before it closed. 

After shoveling patrons out up at the Bountiful temple, Jake and his friends made a pretty creative snowman.

Jake drove around with "Alfonzo" the snowman in his truck for a few days until it melted and a picture was even featured on Channel 5 News.