Back in the Saddle

So here we are back at home starting a new term at school and just getting our groove back. A few highlights from the week.

Marcus and I went and checked on Grandpa several times since being back. Tuesday we went just because it had almost been a week since we left. Then Thursday he needed a donut pillow and some more chocolate milk so Marcus and I went shopping and then to visit Grandpa. Marcus asked for a treat while we were shopping and picked out a bag of M&Ms. He sat at the table getting two colors of each M&M and then giving one to Grandpa each time. It was cute. And at one point Grandpa was concerned Marcus was giving him all his candy and handed me back one of the M&Ms and told me to put it back in the bag for him. 

Thursday evening we went to the kids school for the Chinese New Year celebration. The kids had a good time.

That evening my Mom also told me it was probably time for Grandpa to get a haircut so I called Friday morning and scheduled an appointment then I went over that afternoon by myself to take him to get his haircut. I enjoyed my visit although he was a little more confused this time around and kept wanting me to take him somewhere, anywhere. He asked me where Grandma was and I told him she'd gone to heaven and he said, "oh yes I remember now. I miss her, but I'm not ready to go yet." I said that's fine Grandpa we're not ready for you to go yet. Then when I got home Steve had showed the kids the picture of Grandpa's haircut and Marcus met me at the door upset that I had gone to visit Grandpa without him -- oops.

Steve and I enjoyed going to the temple Friday evening with our ward and even grabbed some yummy Crumbl cookies on the way home for dessert. Ellie had a birthday party that evening and went ice skating for the first time and had a great time. Steve and I also managed to sneak away to ski today just the two of us for a bit. We did 6 runs (almost the whole mountain) and my legs were feeling it. When we got home Andrew noticed we had our ski gear on and said, "What you went skiing without me?" That kid would ski any time you'll take him. :) It was nice to just get out of the house and put aside my every day worries for a bit and the kids were good to look out for each other. Life is good!

Third Times the Charm Sun Valley

With all that happened over Christmas break Mom & Dad weren't for sure they would be up for the Sun Valley trip this year so we decided to invite my siblings and there families. We thought it could be a good rest and recovery time for everyone since Christmas break was so chaotic. And we were so excited when they all said they could come.

I'm not going to lie I was having a rough week and feeling the pressures of life and like I couldn't get everything done I needed too. Steve is such a trooper because he often gets the brunt of my frustration but is patient and understanding. While I was at the youth activity Wednesday night, he packed up everyone's clothes (I had them bring them down so they were gathered), gathered the ski gear, and put on all the skis on top, so Thursday morning we ate a quick breakfast, loaded the cooler and then the car (the cooler needed to go on the bottom because we were hoping to ski the afternoon when we arrived). We thought we would get an early start on things, but we all slept in and it was glorious. So we finally hit the road about 9:30. The kids played in their activity backpacks, read books, and then eventually I turned on a some old Jetson cartoons that had us all laughing for a bit. The roads were kind of drifting outside of Twin and I was tired so I closed my eyes and relaxed (not quite sleep), but it still felt good and it was probably good because then I was stressing about the road conditions. We pulled into Dollar Mt around 1:30 got our tickets and gear on and hit the lifts about 2pm. Marcus tipped over at one point and said "I'm just going to rest here."

Then we went back to the rental house got unpacked and settled a bit before everyone else arrived. Friday morning we took our three oldest to ski Baldy. It was really windy at the top so we stuck to this little section of Cold Springs we like, but you have to do a lot of pulling on a flat section there that is annoying. We were trying to meet up with Rita and Todd, but they were having problems getting their passes. Finally we connected at the Seattle Ridge lift. The kids were tired at this point so we told them we were going to ski down and to the bottom and head home so they skied down with us which was fun then they took a rest in the lodge there. After lunch at the house the kids all put on their snow gear and went outside to play and they played for hours.

Jolee and Joe came over for a bit and Aunt Rita visited for a bit that evening (after hot tubbing with Stan at the community hot tub -- Stan & Denice booked a little condo this year since we were at capacity with everyone else). It was a nice evening.

Saturday, Jan 18 we spent a majority of the day at Dollar Mt together. Steve was helping Anson learn to ski. Dad took an adaptive ski lesson on a ski bike. Venessa skied with her girls and took Enzo for a couple of runs on the magic carpet. And my three just skied and skied and skied. I had brought leftover pizza, flavored milks and some peeled cuties to enjoy on the patio. It was a little overcast in the morning but right after our lunch break the sun came out and I sat with Enzo and Marcus playing for a while basking in the sun while everyone skied. It really is a great learning hill and still fun for everyone. I really enjoyed the snow cross course they had setup and did it several times when I was out on the slopes.


It was also Dad's (Stan Buckley) 64th birthday so we came home and had cake and ice cream (that Aunt Rita brought over earlier that week). The kids sang happy birthday and a rendition of "Lila Got Run Over by a Snowboarder" where they kind of poked fun of Uncle Jakey for snowboarding. ;)

Sunday we did a Come Follow Me lesson with all the kids and just relaxed. At one point in the afternoon I was so tired I could not even get myself to move. Jake and Marcee when snowshoeing at BCRD a groomed trail. They had gone Friday out behind the house but the snow was so deep they were sinking up past their knees with the snowshoes on (Ellie went out and hiked around with them a bit that day too -- pictured above). When they got back they offered to watch the kids so we could go but honestly I couldn't find the strength. Finally after some food I felt good enough to go so Steve and I went out on an adventure and had fun (although I came back with a blister on my heel that will haunt me for another week😆).

That evening we were all a little too tired for games so I suggested as adults we watch a movie once the kids go to bed and I suggested watching Spiderman Far From Home and guess what nobody had seen it yet -- that's a miracle. So we all enjoyed it together and then went to bed really quite late. Monday Steve took our three older kids to Dollar Mt and Jake and Anson to do a few more runs. Nessa, Mom & Dad, and Jake all hit the road around 11:30. Marcus was sad to lose his playmate Enzo, but we also enjoyed some quiet moments before our crew came back at noon to get us and head home. It was a good weekend to get away and spend time with our extended family together. I mentioned that it had been 5 years since we had done it last (Bear Lake 2015 when they were supposed to do their century bike ride) and Jake said so we'll do it again in 5 but then it hit me that Ellie will be graduated by then -- YIKES!! so much to do and so little time before she leaves our nest, gotta keep enjoying moments like this! 💕

WIRED

Ellie got braces. She still has baby teeth, but the orthodontist thought it was time. She has a canine tooth that was lined up to come in then went crooked so he's trying to manage things. She'll need to get her last 4 baby teeth pulled next month right before her next ortho appointment then in May she'll have oral surgery for that canine tooth and probably get her wisdom teeth out at the same time. . .poor girl a lot going on in her mouth right now, but doesn't she look cute with braces and she finally got to choose colors (silver and aqua) from the color wheel she's been eyeing the last 6 years of appointments ;)

Lila had her first VEX Robotic team competition and Steve was a trooper and spent the day with her and the teams there trying to help. Lila's team tied for 2nd in the skills challenge portion and Steve gave her some helpful tips to prepare for the next competition.

Steve and I were asked to help chaperone the regional youth dance that evening, Jan 10th. It was the first dance Ellie was eligible to attend so she started texting a bunch of friends in our ward, from school, and from Centennial (where she attended last year). She has a friend Tyler who has been asking for a while if she was old enough to attend the youth dances so he was on board to go and one of her best friends Isaac wanted to go but the girls in the ward got together and went separately. So I left early to be there for the chaperone meeting and Steve waited for Ellie to get home from tennis change and then picked the boys up and came to the dance. The boys were a good crew for her to go to her first dance with because they were all willing to go out and ask other people to dance and challenged her to do the same. They also danced together once or twice each. Then the group of girls her age came up and started talking to me about this boy they wanted to ask them to dance so I helped them move closer and taught them to open up their circle and to keep eye contact that would help invite them to ask. They giggled but it did eventually work with a little intervention from me. ;) At 10pm Ellie said she was tired and Steve said, "she's not wired/conditioned to stay up this late." and I said, "yes, and I like it." So I took her and Isaac and Tyler to get a milkshake and then drove them all home while Steve stayed to help with cleanup. I think we all had a good time (it would have been nice if Steve and I could have traveled together but thus is life).


I told Marcus he couldn't turn 4 and still wear diapers and that if he learned to use the potty we would have a birthday party. So we've been working on it and he's been doing great -- finally found the right motivation. Now he just needs to learn to pull up his undies ;)

 

Lila had precomp on Monday where they perform all of their dances in front of judges (the studio pays) to help them know what areas they need improvement on. Lila had a great time and they did pretty well (they have scheduled one extra "clean" practice for her jazz dance).

Kicking off the Year

New Year's day right after breakfast we went by to visit Grandpa Elwood Olenslager "Woody" and check on him in his new location. I know Venessa and Matt had been by a couple times this week to make sure he is settling in but I needed to follow-up with some paperwork too. Marcus packed up his bag full of toys and we took some chocolate puddings to enjoy with Grandpa and we spent over an hour there just visiting and playing games and we even got Grandpa to throw a yo-yo (wish I had snagged a picture of that).

Then we had a light lunch (since we ate a late breakfast -- I was trying to catch-up on sleep). Then we decided to take the kids to Urban Air. Some of our friends had told us about how much fun it is but it is really expensive. Well they happened to have a deal over the winter break that was 50% off for a family and included a pizza and a couple of snacks so we went for it. I called Venessa and she was going to meet us there later that afternoon, but we went ahead and headed there around 2pm. The boys had some build up energy they needed to get out so this was a good place to go they had trampolines, ball pit ninja warrior like course, little kid playground, ropes course, climbing stuff, and a sky coaster.

Andrew like the climbing stuff a lot and spent most of his time there. Marcus was in the little kid playground most of the night. While playing with Enzo on the large trampoline he got a really bad bloody nose. I thought someone was watching them but it turns out they wandered off to the big trampoline area and when I went to find them he was just coming out of the area crying wiping his nose on his sleeves -- there was a lot of blood and I was worried, but we managed to get it under control and apply a cool cloth to it while he enjoyed some M&Ms then he ran off to play again.

We ate our pizza there and the kids and Steve played for hours. We finally had to drag everyone out at 7pm so we could go home for bed (Mama was still tired and it was past the boys bedtime).

Thursday, Jan 2nd Steve took the kids skiing while I cleaned up and organized the living space on the main floor (hadn't been done since break started -- whew. and my tree is still up probably the longest it has ever been up). Then I drove Marcus up to ski a couple of runs at the end of the day. He's starting to figure out turns, but Steve said this time he was being funny and kept reaching down to scoop snow off of his skis and eat it. While they were doing those last few runs I took the girls to Mimi and Grandpa's Mt Green place to clean off their driveway and make sure everything was ready for them to come back for the weekend.

Friday Steve was called in by a customer to work so thus ended our break. He went to work. I took Lila to Vex robotic club to practice for their upcoming competition. While she was there I went to get a much needed haircut. Then the weather was nice so I washed the van and plan to do the Tesla soon.

Saturday Steve did some more work from home while the kids and I worked on a few projects around the house and yet at the same time didn't really pressure ourselves to do too much because we realized break was ending soon.

We now have 9am church. So Sunday, we were up early and getting ready. I left our sacrament meeting a little early to go attend church with Grandpa Olenslager. It was a wonderful service and I enjoyed it very much and the RS President called him by name and said she had been there during the week to serve them waffles and strawberries which was another comfort to my parents to know that there are such wonderful people looking out for him. When I got home we had a little lesson to kick off our study of The Book of Mormon this year. Then I ran to a quick meeting. When that was finished we spent the afternoon eating treats and teaching the older kids to play Settlers. They got the jr version for Christmas and we've enjoyed it a lot -- it's a simpler and quicker version which is nice but this afternoon we had time to play a long game and I really really enjoyed it and so did the kids. It was a good note to end our break on. Now we're all dreading the early alarms in the morning.

Ringing in a New Decade

So there has been some debate in our house if 2020 is the start of a new decade or the end of the old. . .Steve thinks it's the end of the old but I found it kind of funny because he was just explaining to the kids a couple of days ago how you really count starting at 0 so I think he can't have it both ways. ;)

I gassed up the van in Rupert as it had been back and forth several times transporting Grandpa to Utah and while I was at the gas station I took pictures of the "beet" on the square. They are going to light it up and count down to drop it at midnight.

When I got home Steve had picked up some chicken wings from Wingstop because Ellie is trying to eat everything she's not supposed to once her braces are put on next week (he asked if she wanted them for Christmas and she said, No so she's been frantically eating all of her hard candies and things that are on the do not eat list). After dinner the kids did their traditional balloon pop with jokes and money.

Then we did this jiffy pop on the stove Ellie got from the youth gift exchange and the kids thought it was great to hear and see it pop and expand. Then we ate the popcorn while we watched a short show on Disney+ and then a New Year's countdown to do our confetti poppers and watched some fireworks from London which was super smokey so we turned on a drone show from Shanghai which was cool to watch.

The kids were real troopers and did the decorating and balloon prep while I was driving back from Idaho. I didn't buy glasses like I normally do and I forgot about the sparking sodas and Japanese sodas I had bought to drink. . .It's all good we had fun being together and I love my family who made the best of some crazy circumstances and my siblings who all pulled together to make a lot happen over a week (I don't think we've texted as much in a lifetime as we did this past week). So here's to 2020 knowing we're stronger together and accomplish anything with the Lord's help.

Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer

Walking home from our house Christmas day

Ok -- not really but after lunch she did get a phone call from Grandpa's facility in Idaho requesting/demanding she get there right away to sit with Grandpa even though a deal had been previously made that there would not be additional help on Christmas day. So she was upset and in a hurry to leave. We had her call Jake who went over to sit with Grandpa until they could get there. Then as I was shutting the door behind them I could hear my Dad yell, "Denice" then screaming and I opened the door to see my Mom face down on the pavement and so much blood. She missed the last step and hit her face. Dad was saying her teeth were all over the ground and I ran to grab towels for the blood and yelled at Steve to come up and help. Lila took the boys downstairs so they wouldn't see what was happening. Steve dialed 911 while I helped try to calm my Mom & Dad and notify my siblings that there had been an accident and to please pray for Mom.

When the ambulance arrived Mom was sitting and doing better they checked her out but then said we could drive her to the ER so Steve hurried and through some clothes on so he could take them. They went to new hospital just down the street from us and my sister happened to be down in the area and pulled in just at the same time they did. Steve said it was not too busy there and everyone was really nice and helpful. The x-rays and CT scans showed that nothing was broken which was good, but unfortunately they did not have a dentist or oral surgeon they could call in so around 8:30pm they sent them to McKay Dee hospital to see the dentist who was doing rounds there. The dentist tried to take care of one tooth that was bent and not allowing her to close her jaw properly and Steve said he could tell that was painful. Then he set up an appointment for them with the oral surgeon the next day.

Now I was a ball of nervous energy and I took it out on the girls rooms. They had no place to put their Christmas presents because their rooms had been overtaken with stuff. So I went down and overhauled their rooms. Three bags of garbage later and some things relocated things are back to a good and clean place for them.

Steve got home about midnight after driving Mom & Dad back to their home in Mt Green. We went to sleep tired emotionally and physically, but grateful because it could have been worse.

Thursday, Dec 26th Steve got up and ate breakfast then drove to Mt Green to get my parents to take them to the oral surgeon. The oral surgeon was hopeful he could do implants that day but when he got in he realized that there was too much bone damage so he had to do a bone graft which set back her timeline to get implants but they took an impression to make a flapper and that should be ready at her next appointment on Jan 6th. I drove up to pickup Steve from Mt Green and we visited with Dad for a while. Mom was resting. Marcus said, "yeah, Mimi fell down the stairs and hurt her face. I feel so bad." So cute to see a little 4 year-old show empathy too. We picked up some dinner as we drove home -- some yummy Costa Vita.

Friday I called my cousins Matt & April and told them we were considering moving Grandpa down here and asked if they would like to come tour the facility with us. I also arranged for all the paperwork to be ready for my Mom to sign so we could start the move process. The tour went well we picked out a room and Matt & April expressed their desire to help care for Grandpa.

Saturday my parents decided to go back to Idaho and we took the kids to the aquarium one last time before our membership expires.

Half way through we got a text from our tennis carpool friends and we realized we would have to book it home to get Ellie ready for tennis so we took in the last part kind of fast -- my bad but a lot has been going on. I'm just glad we got to go enjoy it a little.

Then Sunday, December 29th at 5:30am I received a call from my Dad. He explained my Mom was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. He found her at 4am she was seizing her had a stroke and then she laid there unconscious -- Dad thought she was dead. He explained Jake was on the way to meet them at the hospital and he was calling Venessa next. I was so emotional and in a state of shock. I asked Steve to pray because I didn't even know how to form words right then. We knelt beside the bed and Steve prayed for my mother and father and all the doctors and that we could know how to help. Then I let Steve go back to bed while I tried to keep my mind off of stuff by organizing pictures, checking the mail, reading a book. I reached out to Nessa and we both agreed we were going out of our minds. She was ready to just drive up to Idaho, but I felt like I needed to stay and figure some stuff out. Then Jake called to give us an update -- he asked me to get on top of moving Grandpa and see if we could make it happen. So I sent texts to the administrators here apologizing for bothering them on Sunday but needing to know when we could move Grandpa. We began coordinating his move and caring for Mom & Dad. It was a little like the riddle of getting the fox, chicken and grain across the river because we needed a vehicle not to tall that would be difficult to get Grandpa in and out of and a truck to move his belongings and yet leave everyone in the right location for their assignments.

Nessa left with Nate Sunday in a truck to help out with Dad and Mom and to be ready to haul furniture. I stayed back to wait until the move was set. I finally got word around 10am Monday that the bed we had been waiting for would be there that day and we could move Grandpa in any time. So Steve, Matt, and I loaded in the van and headed to Idaho. As soon as we got there Jake called me and wanted me at the hospital so I left them there to pack Grandpa up.

I made it to the hospital in time to be there to get the discharge directions and help take my Mom home. The first 24 hours were rough as her body had been through a lot. She was a little unbalanced and nauseated and having some memory issues that had me worried. They think it was a med interaction that caused the seizure so I was being super strict on what I would let her take. The next day she was doing better, more stable on her feet and remembering more things which I took as a good sign. So I did a couple loads of laundry and lined things up so I could travel home as it was New Year's Eve and my kids wanted me home.

I could feel the love and prayers from so many friends and family because my mind was clear in knowing what I needed to do and giving me strength because I was tired. We didn't sleep at all that first night home from the hospital but I was able to drive home without being drowsy and enjoy some time with my kids before dropping into bed in exhaustion.


Oh, did I mention I signed up for Disney+ in the middle of this so the kids had fun watching some old Disney shows while we were out and about helping.

Christmas Cheer

Now that the kids were out of school and Christmas is just a few days away we were excited to find ways to do festive things together. Saturday, Lila had a 4 hour dance session to clean up one of her comp numbers. So I dropped her off and then went to the temple. It was a lovely morning. When I got out one of my young women had been on my mind so I texted her and took her to get a treat. Then when I got home Steve and I finished getting a few neighbor gifts ready and went for a stroll around the neighborhood (it was lovely weather to do that which was frustrating for Steve because he wants snow for skiing ;). Then we played a game and took Ellie to tennis.

Sunday, December 22nd we had a beautiful sacrament service with music and the Christmas story from Luke 2 read. Then we changed our clothes and went up to hang out with Mimi and Grandpa and Nessa and her family (Jake was in Orem with Marcee's family). Grandpa came out and gave everyone their traditional Christmas pajamas.

The kids stayed the night. Steve and I came home and managed to wrap Christmas presents. This is unheard of -- we're usually up late Christmas Eve wrapping and wrapping and wrapping, but with the kids gone we took advantage and watched some cheesey Christmas movie on Prime. Then Monday morning we went back up to Mimi and Grandpa's to have breakfast with everyone, Jake and his family could be there that morning. So we had breakfast then everyone parted ways and went back to regular Monday activities. When we got home the kids noticed the presents under the tree and got excited!

We convinced Steve to leave work early so we could go see the Christmas lights on temple square (we thought it would be good to go since temple square is going to be under construction for the next 4 years). The weather was lovely and we ran into some friends from Idaho and our neighborhood. We had a good time and may have followed Marcus in a couple of circles as he chose which way to go a couple of times. ;)

 





















Marcus fell asleep on the way to temple square -- he was tired from his adventures at Mimi & Grandpa's :)


Christmas Eve I woke up with a little head cold so I was feeling a little sluggish. Steve decided to take the older 3 skiing at Snowbasin which I think is great -- it's a good day to go, but we're still getting used to having season passes and planning ahead is not happening so I can't line up sitters and go with them. It's all good Marcus and I played some games and watched some Christmas shows. Then Mimi and Grandpa stopped by on their way to tour the new Assisted Living Facility down the street from us (they need to move Grandpa -- the facility they have him at in Burley has asked them to now provide 24hour nurse care on top of the facility care and the cost is sky high). Steve and the kids picked up burgers from 5 Guys on their way home and we ate with Mimi and Grandpa and then opened some crackers we got from a couple of cute sisters in our ward we visited earlier in the month and took a ham and fruit basket too.

Inside the crackers were crowns and whistles that were each different notes so you could play songs. We played a few Christmas tunes and had some fun (my feet made it in the picture ;).

Then we watched the new video The Christ Child: A Nativity Story and then sent the kids to bed. :)

Christmas morning Marcus was the first to wake up. I went and got him and he snuggled in bed with Steve and I for a bit until we heard Andrew who walked down the stairs holding his hand up to block his view of the Christmas tree and treasures. Then we sent him down to get the girls.

The kids each got a camera from Santa Claus. Each one was different and unique. And Santa Claus accidentally left a picture on Ellie's camera during test mode -- yikes, oops ;)

I helped Andrew make presents for each of his siblings including unicorn headband pictured right. Ellie drew the boys a picture of their favorite animal pictured above.

Lava lamp provided lost of entertainment.

Then we enjoyed a lovely Christmas lunch with Mimi and Grandpa.