Adam's Summer Update

Alright, alright...we're off to blogpost #2 in our person-by-person update series here on the blog.  This post will be catching us up on what our Adam is doing!  As is usual with my kids, he doesn't sit still often, so it's been a busy summer for him.

Here are the bare-bones basics of what he's up to, then I'll add a little more detail about each below that: 

1-He's currently taking a spring class
2-He's currently working full-time at the FSY office on campus
3-He has two side gigs, in addition to his full-time job
4-He's been really into hiking lately. 

1- He's currently taking a spring class.  

So, he officially declared his major as "computer engineering" this past year, which he realized is a long major, and would require him taking spring/summer classes just to stay on a 5-year graduation plan!   This spring he opted to take a psychology class that would fulfill a general education requirement.  He had taken an AP psych class back in our homeschool co-op, so  he didn't find the course material very hard, but he was dismayed to find out upon opening the syllabus for the first time, that this class would require 13 written papers during the course of the 6-week condensed spring schedule.  Paper writing is not his favorite thing, but he has officially completed his coursework now and should be completely done with it all  in the next few days.   Hallelujah for him! 

2-He's currently working full-time at the FSY office on campus.

FSY is a HUGE employer of BYU students in the summertime and they recruit pretty hard in the Provo area.  I would say close to a quarter of our YSA ward has some kind of employment through FSY this summer.  Adam had worked as an FSY counselor before his mission and was applying to be a session coordinator for this summer.  He ended up getting hired as an assistant coordinator, before being offered his current job, which is logistics specialist for the Provo sessions.  It was exactly what he was looking for...part-time and flexible during the school year and full-time during the summer.   It's definitely stretched him in good ways (like becoming proficient at spreadsheets) and is giving him a good boost on paying his own rent this upcoming school year!    He gets to work with some great people and he likes knowing he is a part of something that is making a difference! 

3-He has two side gigs, in addition to his full-time job

He didn't get his FSY job until winter semester, so to  earn money for groceries and other incidentals, he started donating plasma during fall semester.  There's a donation center not far from his apartment and he found that donating didn't affect how he felt, so he's been a very regular donor for several months now.  I personally find the whole process fascinating.  I've been a regular blood donor for 35ish years now, but have never been paid a cent for it.  It's wild that there's enough of a market for plasma that they can pay that generously.   

His second side gig is one that he's just recently taken up.   He's always appreciated a good pair of Nike shoes in his wardrobe and was definitely hoping to someday serve near the Nike headquarters while he was on his mission in Portland, but that never happened.   But, he has since discovered that if you can buy a pair of just-dropped limited edition Nike shoes, you can turn around and sell them at a good profit.   He's just figuring out all the ins and the outs of it right now, but he recently sold his first pair at nearly double what he paid for them!   

On his way to the post office to ship his first sold pair

   Nike doesn't release very many pairs of the limited edition shoes, so it's a bit of a crapshoot on whether you can get your hands  on a pair (and one pair of a design is all they allow), but he has since procured two more pairs that he anticipates will also sell for a hefty profit.  I think he's enjoying this new side gig a little more than the plasma donating one.  

4-He's been really into hiking lately.  

Between his full-time work and his fast-paced spring class, his summer schedule has not left a lot of free time on his hands, but  something that he is prioritizing this spring is hiking in the mountains on Saturdays.   I say I like to hike too, but not like his hiking.   His type of hiking is 10-12 mile hikes up  in the mountains with a few thousand feet in elevation gain!   He usually hikes alone, because he doesn't know anyone who wants to hike that intensely, plus, as I previously mentioned, many of his friends are off on FSY adventures in other cities.   Glen did join him on one recent voyage though...

When he's alone, we have a system, where he tells us where he's hiking and he checks in  along the way, so we know he's safe.  Surprisingly, he has found that he has reasonably good coverage on most of the trails...even high up in the mountains.    He did injure himself one time, which caught him unprepared...

But he now carries a first-aid kit with him, along with a boatload of water!  

So far he's hiked Big Baldy Loop, Provo Peak, Khyv Peak, Battle Creek Loop, Lake Hardy, and some other smaller ones... 

We love finding all these amazing pics in the camera roll... 

And we love that it exhilarates him!  It clearly is something he very much enjoys and we live in a great area to explore the outdoors.   

Okay, these are the main things keeping him busy right now, but I thought I'd throw in a bonus item for your enjoyment!  

BONUS ITEM:   He recently allowed his head to be shaved as part of his calling!  

He's the Institute rep for his YSA ward.   You've probably have never heard of that calling before, but in a BYU ward, it's actually a pretty big deal.   I didn't really know how big of a deal until we started serving in our own YSA ward a couple months ago, but let's just say that it's quite the weekly social event, they get amazing teachers for it, and the biggest chunk of the stake budget goes to providing food at Institute each week.  President Nelson (our modern day prophet) has given some amazing promises at how participating in Institute will bless lives and Adam's calling requires participating in ward council,  attending and helping at institute each week, and HYPING it up, so people actually come.   

Right at the end of winter semester, somehow the promise was made (with the help of a friend) that if his ward's attendance reached a certain threshold at Institute that week, that he'd allowed his head to be shaved.   They exceeded that threshold (by a good deal more than they'd had there all school year) and his head was shaved!   

I don't think he actually likes his hair being that short, but he took it all in good stride, and decided it was worth it for the cause!    His hair is growing back nicely now...

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Stay tuned for more updates in the series coming soon...

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Our Hermanita (Ellie) Update

Hello, hello!   I hope you all are having a wonderful June!   I'm here on the blog today to start  a person-by-person series of blogposts, because it feels like there's a lot happening amongst our family members right now...way too much for one long blogpost!     I figure I will start with the youngest first...

Ellie hits her 6-month mark on her mission next week, which is kind of wild to me!   As per usual with my missionaries, it's gone incredibly slow, yet incredibly fast at the same time.  Thankfully, she seems very happy and, from our perspective, the Spanish seems to be coming along well and doesn't  stress her out too much.   

She served in the same area (Oxnard) for her first three transfers and just got moved to a new area (Santa Barbara) this past week.  We haven't even talked to her yet, so we have no idea what she thinks of her new area and new companion.  She's really loved her first few companions, though, so we are hoping this next one will be good for her too.  

Her  mission hugs the coast of California just north of Los Angeles, so I imagine that most of her areas (if not all) will have Pacific beaches in them.  As full-time missionaries, they obviously can't get anywhere near the water, but  sometimes on p-days they go down to look at the beach from whatever safe distance falls within mission rules.  They like looking for dolphins and seals, and just feeling the ocean breeze on their skin.  I think Ellie really enjoys this proximity to the beach, even if she can't fully appreciate it at this stage!  

On p-days, her district usually plays pickleball, volleyball, or basketball, but occasionally they go thrifting.  She's never been a huge sports player, but she really likes expanding her wardrobe in the bargain bin at the thrift store!  It sounds like they also do a fair bit of trading outfits among the other missionaries and  I have to laugh at how few of her clothing items I recognize in her photos.  😂

These three girls have been Ellie's roommates and also have become her good friends.  She was a little sad when Hermana P and Hermana W got moved to their own apartment this past transfer, but they were still in the same ward and area, so they happily still got to see each other regularly.

LEFT TO RIGHT:  Hermana P, Hermana W, Hermana C, and our sweet Hermanita!

There's currently a lot of stress among the Hispanic people in her area, but she is finding great joy in serving them and sharing the gospel with them.  So far, none of the riots have spread to where she's at, though there have been protests in her new area.  

We are so incredibly proud of our Hermanita's decision to serve a mission and share her light with the people of California.   She has hard days, but we know she is making this world a better place...one day, one person at a time!   

Old Friends and a Few In-Between Things

 Have you noticed that it's been pretty nonstop around here for the last couple months?  Yeah, me too.  With kids at home, my life used to be pretty nonstop all the time, but as the kids have left the house one by one, the pace has slowed down a bit.  There have even been times in the last few years when I worry that I'm missing something, because life is so NOT busy.   I've thought long and hard about finding a job, but just haven't felt like that was the right thing yet, so I am sometimes floundering a little as I search for the most effective/meaningful way to spend my time.   But then I have periods of time like the last couple months have been and I am grateful a million times over that I have the incredible privilege of choosing to stay unemployed at this stage of my life, because I can't imagine one more thing to do on my already long list.  Plus I really, really love being flexible enough to be available for the grandkids' calls and visits and I think our new BYU callings would be very challenging if I worked full-time too.  

So, I finally have a few minutes and, here I am, blogging about a couple of the in-between things that I missed mentioning here on the blog, because they happened amongst the myriad of other "bigger" things (like  our busy new callings, Emma's graduation, the work conference in Saint George,  our trip to Alabama, and Emma's injury/surgery).  

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I am not convinced that Utah will ever truly feel like home  to me, but I'm coming around to the idea that it's certainly not a bad place to live.  Besides the epic scenery, I love that old friends actually come to visit (or move here too).    If we moved away from our community here in Utah tomorrow, I am 99.99% convinced that not a single person we've met here in Utah would ever come visit us, no matter where we lived (even if it were a mile away), so the fact that I have friends that  call when they come to visit sometimes, makes me incredibly happy!   

  Heather and Kelly are two of those good friends.  Heather recently moved nearby and is now a part of my book group, which I love.  Kelly is so good at keeping in touch, something I'm not the greatest at, so I extra appreciate her efforts and I loved seeing her, along with Heather, when she came to town for her daughter's recent graduation from BYU.  

Speaking of graduation, when we were out celebrating Emma's, I  randomly ran into this cousin of my sister-in-law, Karey,  who recognized me from my blog.  Haha!  I am fully aware that she was a regular blog reader from way back when I actually attempted humor and had a lot more funny stories to share, but it did make me feel cool to be recognized all these years later!   If you ever meet / see me in the real world, please come talk to me and make my day!   

The day after all the excitement from Emma's graduation, we celebrated my 52nd birthday!   Emma made an AMAZING cake (gluten free of course)...

which was as delicious as it was cool looking!  

I'll do a catch-up post for every member of the family soon, since there's a lot happening in most of their lives, but I think I'll finish this blogpost up with a few more pictures of some Virginia friends that recently came to town.  Kim's son was performing in a BYU production of High School Musical, which provided the perfect, last minute excuse for a trek to Provo to gather with old friends!  

All of these women are dear friends, but, besides running RAGNAR together nearly 14 years ago (see photo below), I feel like I have a special connection with each of them.    Amy is a fellow grandma to Lucie and Oliver, Kim is the mom of one of Adam's best friends growing up, and Heather is a fellow Minnesotan with whom I have a lot of shared experiences.    Finding  this old picture of us was a blast from the past and brought back a lot of carefree memories from the couple of months right before Spencer was diagnosed with leukemia and our world was forever rocked!   These women were right by my side during that challenging time!  

RAGNAR, September 2011 {l-r:  Cat, Me, Amy, Kim, Paige, Heather}

 We had to get a photo with just us and the B family, since we're practically related now that our kids have been married to each other for 7 years!    

It made my whole week to see them all again...💗

And now I need to get back to my long list of things to do again.  Thanks for tuning in today and stay tuned for more updates coming soon!   

A Change of Plans

Emma has spent the last several months training for an upcoming triathlon later this month.   She was working hard and getting her mileage to where it needed to be, when about 10 days ago, we received a phone call from Emma while we were on our morning walk.   She very calmly explained that she  had gotten in a bike crash about half-way between our home and Provo and that she needed medical attention.  We knew it was something because she's not one to ask for help often, but she was so calm, we honestly didn't think it was that bad.   We were about a mile and a half from home when the phone call came in, so we immediately turned around and booked it as fast as we could back to home.   Once there, we grabbed the car keys and took off for Pleasant Grove, where we frustratingly hit road construction along the way.    

We felt badly about how long it took us to get there (probably 45ish minutes from the time she called), and, looking back, we wish we had asked a friend to come pick us up from our walk, so we could have at least gotten home faster, but that's only in hindsight we thought of that.   When we finally arrived to the site of the crash, we were grateful to find a kind lady, that had happened across her on the trail, had waited with her until we arrived.  She had even gotten a blanket for Emma when she had started shivering...I think at least  partially from shock. 

Long story short, I took her to the hospital where we learned that she had broken her collarbone in two places!   They called it a Z shaped displaced fracture, which means that the two ends were displaced  with a small fragment of bone lying loose in between.

They don't operate on collarbones very often, but Emma's break was severe enough that they recommended surgery for a (likely) quicker and less complicated healing process.  In the meantime, they put her in a sling, with orders to wear it day and night, only taking it off to bathe. 

Thankfully, other than the banged up collarbone and a few minor scrapes, she was totally fine.  Her collarbone bruise, though, was pretty epic as far as bruises go. 

She stayed at home with us for a couple days while she figured out how to live one-armed.  Some of the most difficult tasks included getting dressed, putting her hair up, and taking her sling on and off, but, with practice and a few adjustments, she figured out how to do everything other than putting her hair up on her own.   She is also not allowed to drive.   After she was a bit more independent, we brought her back to her apartment, so she could be more active in the social life of her ward.   

 

 Her surgery was scheduled for Wednesday, so Tuesday night, we headed to Provo to pick her up after she finished up a temple trip with her ward. 

 

But because she can't drive and they picked the Payson Temple to attend, rather than the Provo City Center, we ended up waiting longer than we expected for her.   So we made sure to impress all the young students as thoroughly as possible, and walked around BYU campus at 10:30pm in our pajamas!   Yes, we are cool like that. 

Eventually her and her friends returned to Provo, then we headed home and got some fitful sleep, then we brought her in for surgery on Wednesday morning...

During pre-op, the anesthesiologist commented on her red hair and said he'd take that into account when administering the anesthesia.   We laughed, because, while we still think of her as  having "reddish" hair, it's much less red than it was when she was young!   

Wasn't she the cutest?!

We had always heard about redheads possibly needing more anesthesia during surgery, but didn't know that was something actually backed by research and science until the anesthesiologist mentioned it.   We were impressed at the anesthesiologist's attention to detail and were only disappointed that we didn't hear a report back as to whether she actually did require more than a non-redhead of her size would have required. 

The surgeon said the surgery went smoothly and she now pretty much has a bionic shoulder.   I have no idea what kind of imaging this is, since it doesn't seem to show bone, but this is what the surgeon showed me when reporting to me about how it had gone.   He said that the plate goes along the top of the clavicle and the screws are holding the two displaced pieces in  place.  The area in the center of the plate without screws is where the loose bone fragment is.  It was too small for screws, so that's wrapped into place with some kind of surgical string (if I understood that correctly). 

She still wears the sling full-time for two weeks, but she should regain her mobility more quickly with the surgery and she already has pretty significantly reduced pain than when everything was all disjointed in there.    She stayed at home with us for a few days, which is something we (and the dogs) very much enjoyed...

And now (five days post-surgery), she is in California!   It is a graduation trip she planned with her friends long before this accident happened.   We were a little unsure as to whether the doctor would clear her for air travel so soon after surgery, but he gave it the thumb's up!   I probably warned her a few too many times about how she needs to take it easy, not push things, and to listen to her body, but I have confidence that it will be the fun celebratory experience she helped plan.    She's a little sad that her trip, especially her day at Disneyland will be a much different day than she'd envisioned, but she is happy to be there!   And that's a gift she's embracing-- all things considered. 

Maybe I can talk her into doing a write-up on her trip when she gets back!    Have a great week, friends!

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