Our Fourth and Climbing Kyhv Peak

Between lots of out of town visitors, planning for some upcoming travel, some health stuff with my Mom, two of our kids moving, and some other random time consuming responsibilities, life has been a bit chaotic lately.   For a while, I kept hoping that things would calm down once we got past a few certain calendar items, but now it's looking like the pace is about to escalate even further.  And on an indefinite basis.   As such, it's definitely going to be harder to find the time to sit down and blog, however, I still have the desire to keep up with it, so here I go adding blogging to my to-do list, so it actually happens in between all the other things!  

This blogpost will be all about our Independence Day happenings.   

Glen and I decided to take advantage of his day off and do some hiking in the mountains.  We log a lot of miles in a week walking around our community on our morning walks, but it's actually pretty rare for us to venture into the mountains.  It's mostly time and a little bit of an intimidation factor that keeps us away, so the holiday was a perfect excuse to set all that aside and hike Kyhv Peak (formerly known as Squaw Peak).  

Adam had told us that it was the perfect hike for someone at our level (generally fit, but not super into hiking mountains).    

Some of the uphills were definitely challenging, but with views like this along the way... 

we did our best to enjoy the journey...

The view from the top was lovely in all directions...

And it was fun that we arrived to the peak at the same time as some college kids who'd toted a flag up there for the Fourth.   They were kind enough to let us take a few pics with it, so we felt a little extra festive.

I slipped in some loose gravel on the way down and ended up with a minor sprained ankle.  Luckily, it wasn't too bad and I was able to make my way to the car without difficulty.  The pain didn't actually set in until later and I did end up hobbling around for a bit, but I'm back to 100% again now, so thankfully it wasn't too bad.   

Because of my hurt ankle, we just hung around home the rest of the day while I put my foot up.   Despite the injury, I consider the hike a success and we would totally recommend that hike for someone looking to hike a mountain without committing to an all-day adventure!   

 And that was pretty much a wrap for our Fourth, so here's a look at other family members' experiences.  

Cami and family had just barely moved to Rhode Island a week or two before, so they spent the day in a cute New England town, just exploring and enjoying the old town vibes, including a parade and fireworks!  

Lucie was a little cutie pie in the festive clothes I'd sent in a package for the occasion ! 

 

Emma did a little hike with her friends...

And went to the balloon festival...

Adam had to work during the day, but spent the evening with friends...

Ellie (currently known as Hermana G) didn't do much in the way of celebrating that day, but this photo is dated July 4th, so shows a little glimpse of the amazing things she was up to that day!  

I have no pics of Spence from that day, but he did have the day off, so I'm sure it was enjoyed!  

And that is all for this blogpost.  

Have a beautiful day!  

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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An HxP Trip to Malawi

 JUNE 2022:  
I don't know how we raised 3 kids into adulthood before hearing about HEFY {now known as Humanitarian XP} for the first time.  Adam is the one who came home talking about it after hearing about it from friend sometime in early 2020.   HEFY / HxP is basically a humanitarian experience for youth that has programs all around the world, where they do sustainable service projects in local communities and also do some sightseeing in that part of the world.  Both Adam and Ellie were instantly intrigued as soon as they heard about it.   

Adam went full speed ahead with planning and earning money for a trip to Guatemala for summer 2020.  You will not be surprised to find out that that trip (nor any other HEFY trip) happened that summer...

Then came 2021 with high hopes.   Ellie was old enough this time around, so she threw in her lots and ended up getting assigned to a trip in Ecuador; Adam got Thailand.   They were both very excited, but COVID was still very much a factor, so it remained touch and go about how things were going to go down. Ellie actually ended up getting to go to Ecuador and had an amazing time exploring the Galapagos Islands and helping to build a women's center.     She helped make and sell homemade facemasks to fund her trip.  

Adam's planned trip to Thailand, on the other hand, ended up being quite the roller coaster.  First he got switched to Colombia for COVID purposes.  Then the Colombia trip ended getting canceled for political unrest.  And that's how he ended up in the US Virgin Islands for his trip. 

 It wasn't as exotic as he'd hoped, but it did end up also being a great experience helping to paint an orphanage and do some playing on the beautiful beaches there.    Sadly he ended up dislocating his shoulder while playing, but he was okay (after a trip to the ER) and was able to still help with some of the work after his injury.   He sold cookies and got a job to help fund his trip. 

 

So, when 2022 rolled around, Ellie was excited to sign up to go on another trip.  This time she got assigned to the Southern African country of Malawi!  

Getting her ready proved to be a little stressful with the traveling we did in the weeks leading up to the trip (Spain and Hawaii) and with all that was going down with my Dad at the time, but, with the help of Heather, we were able to get things squared away eventually. The most stressful part was the visa.  For  whatever reason, her visa application didn't get approved immediately like most of the others' did.  It sounds like the HxP had to pull some strings to get it to go through, but thankfully it happened. 

The participants put away their phones for the entirety of the trip, so while they're gone, the only contact us parents have, is what the trip leader posts on the trip instagram page. That meant that while they're gone on their trips, I am absolutely glued to Instagram looking for any update I can find that mentions or shows a picture of Ellie...

Rather than reinventing the wheel, I thought it might be easiest to just post the screenshots from Instagram exactly as I saw them....

They worked and played hard....

And got to go on a safari {the second one of her life}...

When I asked Ellie what some of her favorite memories were, and here's what she said:

1.She absolutely loved the Malawian people --there were tons of kids all around the worksite and they helped them with the work, played with them during their breaks, and brought so much joy to their days,  There was a young girl of about 11 (named Inafi (?)) who, each morning upon their group's arrival to the worksite,  would run up calling for Ellie and give her a big hug and tell her how much she missed her.

2. She absolutely loved all the animals they saw on their 3-day safari experience.  They stayed in a safari camp, where there were monkeys everywhere.  They'd hover around the tables waiting for scraps to be dropped or thrown their way and then go through the dirty dishes after meals looking for any uneaten treasure.   One day, during mealtime a group of elephants walked nearby.  They went out to get a closer look and were taken off-guard when they came around a corner and were only a few yards from the elephant group.   The elephants seemed as surprised as Ellie and friends were and both started backing away at the same time.   One of her favorite memories was   a very sketchy hippo boat tour  they went on.  There were hundreds of hippos, swimming all around and even underneath the boat.  Her favorite memory was of seeing a hippo open its mouth wide and snap it shut quickly, like a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos.  Hahah. 

3.  Ellie also loved how cheap the souvenirs were and came home with a whole bunch.  :) 

4.  Ellie loved attending the LDS ward there and loved that they got to participate in it fully.  Ellie gave a talk one of the Sundays she was there and fellow trip members gave prayers, led the music, played the piano, taught lessons, etc.  It was a very cool experience for them to be a part of and she loved getting to know the people better.   

5.  She really enjoyed the cliff diving.  

6.  She loved the camaraderie they experienced on the bus drives. 

Some more notes from Ellie:  

 Each trip has two young adult and two parent leaders who come along as chaperones.  Ellie didn't really connect with the parent leaders, but the young adult leaders were amazing.   The female young adult leader actually had been a missionary in Virginia.  She never served in our ward, but we definitely remembered her from her serving in wards in our same building. 

Looking at her pictures, it was hard not to reminisce on our trip to Uganda in 2019/2020....Honestly, I wished many times over that  I could have gone with her...

Unfortunately, I didn't feel like I could commit with the uncertainty with my Dad's health and getting Adam ready for his mission....

I am a firm believer that these kind of experiences can be life- and perspective-changing...

...and I am very grateful that Ellie was able to have this kind of experience.    

If you (or your child) has an opportunity to go on a trip like this, I HIGHLY recommend it!  

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