October

• Chris’ schedule: Out of 31 days in October, Chris spent 10 days in St. George, 8 days in Kauai, 5 days in Wyoming, 3 days in Provo, 2 days in Colorado, 2 days in Las Vegas, and 1 day in Logan. He’s still working just a few days in Colorado here and there so thats 7 days of work this calendar month. His schedule is crazy these days… of course our schedule is always a little crazy!

• General Conference Weekend - Katie and Emily came home for General Conference Weekend… Friday afternoon to Sunday evening. We watched Conference, ate treats, went to Matt’s soccer game and enjoyed a little outing to Santa Clara to see the Pioneer Heritage Square during Sunday sessions. (Chris was working in Colorado).

• Visit from Megan and Ali - Megan and Ali were both running in the St. George marathon this year. It would have been so nice to see them come through the finish line but I was at Luke’s cross country meet and then back for General Conference with the kids. After the 6:00 session then Megan and Ali came over for a visit and wanted to see the house - which was so fun. We talked for an hour! We were laughing about how three years ago we would have NEVER thought that Ali would be in Sandy, Megan would be in Provo and I would be in St. George. So crazy! Love these friends!

• Trail Running with Dad - Matt and Luke on an early morning run with Dad. Impressed with these boys and their runs.

• My sister Amy was able to get out to Provo for a week to hang out with Mom and Dad. I’m so glad that everyone has been able to be with both of them during this time. Fun to get the report on how he’s doing from Amy.

• Stake Conference - I went to Adult Session by myself since Chris was in Las Vegas at the BYU game with his buddies. I sat next to a woman who was sitting alone and we chatted for awhile. The Seventy who was visiting said I’m going to turn down the lights to start this slideshow… now would be a good time to check the score on the game. haha. The lady next to me said, “I already have.” I said, “I have too.” She said, “My husband is at the game.” I said, “Mine is too.” It was pretty funny. The adult meeting, the 8am Sunday morning youth meeting and the main session were all wonderful.

  • We will have struggles for God is in the details and the temple will provide us REST.

  • Intentional Parenting is Gospel centered Parenting. Strive to be PROACTIVE… teach correct principles EARLY.

  • Our children may be ours - but they are really HIS.

  • ‘Men and women who turn their lives over to God will learn that HE can make more of their lives than they can.’ Pres. Nelson

  • The Lord doesn’t just want us to be obedient, he wants us to choose to be obedient. That’s why he doesn’t reward us immediately.

  • Don’t take sacred things lightly.

  • Good things happen to those who show up. It’s an expression of your faith.

  • We are going to be different. EMBRACE IT!!

  • The battle with sin is real. The devil is quadrupling his effort. Keep Christ the center of my life.

  • Just strive and be patient. The Lord knows you and will prepare you for your life.

• Catching up with Germany friends - It was so great to be able to see Megan G while she was in town for a funeral. We met up at Brittany and Dave’s house and had fun seeing their place and talking about everyone’s kids. They were excited to hear the story of how we ended up here in St. George.

• Guys Golf Trip - The annual St. George guys golf retreat was scheduled for the second week of October - way before we even knew we were moving here. They started in Las Vegas for the BYU game (Chris met up with Katie and Emily for a bit) and then they made their way to St. George. They usually stay at Shelley’s place, so with us living here Chris came home every night and the guys got a hotel nearby. They golfed and ate at all their favorites. He sure loves this golf trip every year and it was nice for me to at least get to see him at night after he had been away for weeks.

• End of Meg’s Soccer Season - Megan’s Senior night and last home game was October 4th. Chris was in Wyoming but I was there and it was so fun… and a little emotional. More details on her October Soccer post when I get it finished. Loved watching her play this season and how much everyone loved her on the team.

• Fall Break in Provo - Megan’s first State Soccer Championship game was up in LOGAN on the Wednesday before Fall Break (Thursday, October 13th -Monday, October 17th). Chris and I and the kids drove up to Logan to watch her play. Ashlyn met us up there and even though they lost, it was fun. We even went and found Chris’ Dad’s childhood home in nearby Smithfield while we were there. Neat to see it again.

  Chris dropped us off in Provo and headed back down for two more days of ‘Guys Golf Trip’ while I hung out with my parents.

  Chris drove back up on Friday night and we had a great time at the BYU Arkansas Game even though we lost. We met up with Chuggs before the game and with Cooks and Jacksons at halftime. So fun!!

• My Dad - I was able to go to two days of my Dad’s brain Radiation, which was helpful since he needs help getting to the car and then getting in to the hospital or to a wheelchair. He’s in a lot of pain still. Hard to see him decline. I love him so much!

  Saturday, October 15 - My text to the rest of the family after my visit: “It’s been great to be here the last several days. Dads doing better than I’ve seen in awhile. His biggest source of pain right now is his right shoulder and arm. But other than that, between pills every 4 hours and the added patch, his pain is being managed pretty well and they are on a good routine. Mom helps him set up food and pills for overnight and Dad has been able to set an alarm, wake up and do that on his own — giving mom a better night sleep. Apparently getting radiation into the brain causes exhaustion way more than any other radiation so he’s been sleeping a lot but when he wakes up he is coherent and not in too much pain. My favorite moments of the weekend have been when I’m sitting cross legged at the end of his bed and we can talk for awhile. He gets dressed and comes out to the table or his chair a couple times a day — but is most comfortable in his bed. He also took the time to interview Megan about a recent date and then made a quiz for the rest of the family to take. So funny. He has two more radiation sessions on Monday and Tuesday and will likely feel this same level of exhaustion through this next week. Hopefully he’ll feel a bit better after next week as he’s anxious to do some things on his computer.”

  That was true for Friday and Saturday but Sunday was a harder day. The left side of his face is really swollen and it’s hard for him to focus or see anything out of his left eye. His awake time seems to be a bit harder. Lots of appointments this week. Mom has a bone density test and mammogram and Dad has two more days of Radiation. A friend is bringing them dinner on Wednesday, which is so nice.

  The rest of the month was filled with rougher nights, more pain — mostly in his arms and more nausea. Really hard for him to move around and get comfortable in bed.

  On Wednesday, October 19th Dad signed the papers for hospice. Feels like a big step.

  Saturday, Oct 22 - My mom reported that he’s still very tired and weak and the pain wasn’t stable with the new meds yet. He needs help eating because he’s pretty shaky and the food needs to be soft so he doesn’t have to chew. He doesn’t have much of an appetite. He has a hard time getting up without help. They are going to order a bed. So sad.

  Tuesday, October 25 - Dad now has a hospital bed in his room. Nice to have the back coming up which will make it easier to get out of bed. Mom sleeps in her bed and Dad’s bed is at the foot of her bed.

  My mom texted they they just had a wonderful experience… “a Member of the Stake Presidency and member of Our Elders Quorum Presidency came to do a ministering visit. There was a wonderful spirit. They gave each of us a blessing. It was very powerful and we felt the Spirit and the love of our Heavenly Father. It was kind of a hard day, so this was extra special. So grateful for the Priesthood and our Savior and our covenants.”

  Thursday, October 27 - My mom got to go to the temple this morning for an endowment session. It had been awhile because it takes longer. Jennifer and Mike were nice enough to come over and watch Dad. He is getting more confused and more needy and can’t see well, since everything he sees is in doubles. It’s frustrating to him and he can’t talk very well. Seems like things are getting worse and we haven’t seen many positive results from the radiation. So hard. His pain is managed on 15 mg of methadone but no fentanyl patch. The oxycodone is spaced out to a little longer than 4 hours.

• Painting the House - We’ve been helping Shelley with some needed upgrades for her St. George house while we’re here. She has been talking about new light fixtures and a fan in the main living area and new blinds for quite a while so when she was here in September we took her shopping to look at cellular blinds and ended up finding a great modern fan in a model home. After two blinds stores and an hour and a half of looking she was done and ready to go out to eat. You get the idea, she said. We measured the windows, carried away and installed the basement blinds, ordered the upstairs blinds, scheduled the installer, reordered one that was cut wrong… When the fan came, Chris spent hours installing it for her. It looks great. We had mentioned to her that we would paint the main space if she was interested and she was. Nikole gave me a good recommendation of a pure white and off we went. It took two days to paint and another two days for Chris to finish up all the electrical work changing the beige outlets for white. It looks SO GREAT!! When she came at the end of the month she really liked how it brightened everything up.

• Hiking - Chris found a great hike for us to do. Perfect weather, a destination river and arch and then a desert turtle on the way out. Love it here.

• Joseph and the Amazing Techno Colored Dreamcoat at the Tucahan - I liked it so much when seeing it with my Mom, Katie and Emily that I bought tickets for Chris, Megan and the boys and they all loved it. Such a great show!!

• Dinner with the Woolleys - Bishop and Missie had us over to eat, which was really nice. Bishop barbecued hamburgers and we ate outside in their awesome backyard. It was nice to get to know them a little bit better. The kids really love Bishop… he’s been great to them.

• Megan’s Sadies Date - Megan went to Sadies with Chet. She asked him a month early just before the exciting Powder Puff football game, which was fun and memorable. For Sadies, the girls ordered matching Sadies sweatshirts and had a great time getting pictures taken and hanging out at the dance. Cute friends!!

• Megan’s BYU Application: Mercy! This is always SUCH A HUGE THING TO ACCOMPLISH. End of September and October were so full of getting letters of recommendations from English teacher, Seminary Teacher and Sis. Wyeth (best YW president out there), making appointments for Ecclesiastical Endorsements from Bishop and Stake President, and so many nights talking about Essay questions, thinking through ideas and BYU Aims and experiences she could write about in her SEVEN essays. Whew!! This year we used an editor which was especially helpful for the strict timeline she had to stick to. So nice to be done!! Early Applications were due November 1st and she got them in on October 30th.

• Hawaii Trip - Chris’ WY job gives us a $5,000 bonus for CME each year. This year Chris and I decided on a Radiology Conference in Kauai. We had a great week… relaxing and being adventurous. We got some good things planned and booked for our year of travel too… which really needed to happen. Life is full these days! So much going on. Lots of Hawaii Pics on a different post.

• First Crisp Air of Fall - I’ll admit, waking up to frost all over the golf course was a bit surprising. The crisp fall air surrounds us in the mornings but has warmed up by afternoon. Loving it here in St. George.

• Johnson Sunday to speak in church - We got home from Hawaii on Saturday evening and all five of us spoke in church on Sunday morning. I know they don’t typically do that anymore but our ward likes it and I have to say I agree. It was really bonding to have to work on our talks all at the same time and be nervous all together. Plus it really helped the ward get to know us and which kids were ours. It turned out really well. We all talked about Personal Revelation. Matt went first and talked about the basics of what Personal Revelation is. He did a great job. When he was finished he was so excited to be done that he turned around to sit down on the stand and tucked in his flexed arm with a silent ‘yes’. The half of the congregation that saw it chuckled. It was hard for me to keep a straight face. Luke spoke about Personal Revelation and Patriarchal Blessings and how he’s excited to receive his. Megan spoke about her experiences leading her here to St. George. It was such a good talk. It made me emotional so when I followed right after her it took me a minute to gain composure. I had worked on my talk earlier in the month and then spent one morning finishing it up in Hawaii. Chris did great as well and got emotional when he talked about me for a minute. : ) So nice to be done and fun to have people in the ward get to know us a little better.

Matt was excited about his costume. He and Kody from school planned to get the exact same costume since they are already twins at school every other day. So fun!

• Halloween - Turns out the three kids had three different parities on Halloween night — which we were so happy about. Matt asked me if I felt bad that we were all leaving us on Halloween and I wasn’t at all. Grateful they all have friends that they want to hang out with! Chris and I went for a two mile walk around the Tonaquint neighborhood. We bought candy but had no trick or treaters and I wasn’t surprised at all. Fun to spend the night with Chris and weird to not be hosting our annual Halloween party with friends in Cordera. It made me miss our friends! Several of them texted saying they missed being together.