Christmas 2007 Part Two

I thought I'd post this separately from the rest of our Christmas adventures.

Half an hour after the family left, Matthew decided to jump off his bed, over a hurdle, and onto the floor. He hit the hurdle, turned to see what hit his foot, landed on his arm, and the rest is history.

We ran into the bedroom after hearing him scream, "I broke my arm!" Sure enough, it was obviously broken.

Three hours later, we returned from the ER with a splint and an unset arm. Matthew slept on a rollaway bed in the family room, and I slept by him on the couch.

We returned to the hospital this morning to have an orthopedic surgeon set his arm. He is now parked on the couch, sipping rootbeer floats, and watching movies I normally can't stand. He'll have his fill of Yu-Gi-Oh today, but we figure it's the least we can do for him.

He was a brave little soldier, and said that he knows why I tell them to not jump on the bed. A hard lesson learned, I guess, but he'll be okay.

It was interesting to ponder my thoughts while waiting in the ER. I sat in the waiting room and by Matthew's side, listened to him moan, and felt complete peace. Although he was injured, I knew he would be okay. Although the trips to the hospital racked up yet another medical bill, I wasn't worried because we have good insurance. I listened to the crying, coughing, and chaos surrounding us, and was happy to know we'd be returning to our home soon. We have a happy home, full of love, and that's all that matters.

Holding Matthew's hand as he fell asleep and seeing my wonderful 9 year old son reminded me of a Christmas morning nine years ago when he was born. The gifts under the tree remained unopened as we held our new son and reveled in the miracle of life. Santa Clause was completely forgotten, and we focused instead on the birth of our savior. I can honestly say that Christmas, 1998 was the best Christmas I have ever had. This year, as I reflected on how fortunate we really are, I again felt grateful for the blessing we have. Injuries are only small hiccups on the road of life, but sometimes they remind of us of what's really important.

Christmas 2007 Part One

Yesterday was a wonderful, relaxing day for us. We managed to hold the little guys at bay until 8:30, and then we dug into the presents. Some of our favorite moments:

Nicole received a dolly stroller. She immediately threw a teddy bear into the stroller, buckled it up, and proceeded to run/slide back and forth down the halls. When we opened a sleeper for her, she ran/slid into the living room, grabbed the sleeper, threw it over the teddy bear, and peeled out into the hall again, running full speed toward her bedroom.

Scotty was "Santa" this year and handed out the presents. He knows how to read, so he spent lots of time searching for his own gifts under the tree! His favorite gift - Anakin and Count Dooku Star Wars figures and a Jedi fighter.

Matthew is the proud new owner of Heelies (aka bone breakers) and a skateboard. While he was acclimating to his new shoes, he repeatedly forgot that if he leaned back, the wheels kicked into gear. It was quite funny to watch him while was talking. One moment he stood beside us, and the next his voice came from somewhere on the floor. It was Matthew's ninth birthday, as well. Although he celebrated it last October, it is still hard to believe our baby Matthew is getting so old.

Sierra spent most of the day playing with her new epet German Shepherd. She enjoyed walking him, feeding him, and teaching him tricks. We enjoyed the fact that her pet is hairless, voiceless, and only requires batteries to keep him alive. She also added substantially to her Littlest Pet Shop collection.

Dallin ate his weight in candy today, and asked repeatedly to have his chocolatey hands washed. He happily bounced from one set of toys to the next. His standard expression was, "Oh, wow!" He enjoyed opening his presents as much as playing with them. His favorite game was Cooties, and he liked his new Spiderman action figures.

Matt and I simply enjoyed the season, and happily traded off taking naps throughout the afternoon.

We had a big ham dinner with my family. All in all, it was a great day.

November/December update

I sent this out via email, but decided to post it here, as well.

The most recent news is that Matt finally had surgery to correct severe sleep apnea. He had his tonsils out, and the doctor cauterized / removed his adenoids, uvula, and the back of his tongue. Matt has not slept much in two days, but we're optimistic that someday he will be happy to be alive again and this pain will all be worth it.

I felt myself growing restless these past few months, so I am in the middle of writing a children's book (I'm thinking of actually trying to publish it - I've heard rejection is good for the soul), singing in our stake Christmas choir, and I just finished repainting the girls' rooms. NIcole is now situated upstairs, away from our bedroom.

Sierra is having a great year of school. She entered the reflections contest and WON! We collected her trophy and Target card this week, and her entry will go to the district level. She is so excited to have a real trophy on her bookcase, and we're proud of her for writing such a creative story.

Matthew, when we actually see him, is also enjoying school. He brought home his best report card ever. Matt rewarded Matthew and Sierra by taking each of them and a friend of their choice ice skating. I was sure they'd come home with somebody in a cast, but they all survived with minor injuries. Matthew has decided that reading is lots of fun and came home with a five pound Harry Potter book a few weeks ago.

Scotty is adjusting to school five days a week. He prefers to stay home with me. I had no idea how hard it's been for him to leave until he burst into tears on Monday and said he doesn't want to leave the house, he wants to stay with me. Lucky for him he was sick with the flu and I let him. We spent some quality time decorating our Christmas tree and reading.

Dallin. Hmmm. He's four, and he's definitely Matthew's little brother. He let's us know what he wants, when he wants it, and in what color dish. Dallin is learning his letters and writes random words across papers, then wants to know what it says. He gives me presents daily of wrapped up pieces of cut up paper (shavings are always strewn across the floor) with pictures of happy people. I love this age - he is still happy cuddled up in my lap, but is quickly learning that we live in a big, exciting world and he wants to be a part of it.

Nicole is growing WAY too fast. She comes up with new words daily. Her first sentence came last week. She said, "No, Matthew. Stop it!" We were so proud, and Matthew deserved the reprimand so he laughed. She calls the bird "Baby". When it's time for bed she trucks off to her big girl toddler bed and says "Night, Night" in a very high voice. Sometimes she disappears in the morning and we have to find her. She seems to prefer sleeping in Matthew's bed, so as soon as he vacates it, she fills his spot with a big grin on her face. And oh, the messes! She's in the running for the most destructive child yet, and we thought that race was over a long time ago.

Last night I took Sierra, Matthew, and my brother Jim to a Jazz game (Matt politely declined coming). Scotty quickly found the score board and gave me minute - to - minute updates on the score. Every time the Jazz made a basket, he cheered. I glanced at him halfway through the game, and would have cried if nobody was around. My cute little five year old was curled up on his seat with a huge gallon size bucket of popcorn, a drink, wearing his new Jazz T-shirt. Matt let him wear his Jazz hat. He was the picture of a very happy, content child. Sierra sat on the other side of me, happily examining her tooth, which came out midway through the second quarter. She ate ice cream till her stomach hurt, and chose the game over a friend's birthday slumber party. I love the fact that our children all love sports. I never dreamed I'd be taking two of our kids to a game, without Matt, and love every minute of it! We also appreciated Jimmy coming so I didn't have to walk from the car to the Delta center in the dark and snow with two children. He didn't seem to mind!

Well, I guess the next update will be in about six weeks when/if I finish the family Christmas newsletter!

Bye for now!

Heather

The Perils of Technology

Please look below this post at the picture of Dallin on the computer. I had no idea how accurate "Destroying" really was! Last weekend, we lost both our cell phones AND the computer - within 48 hours. We lost pictures, all our word documents, and any software we didn't have backed up. Long story short - - - we are very happy to have our pictures saved on Wal-Mart.com, hope the new phones will last longer than the old ones, and will consider letting Dallin on the computer again - in about three years! Grrr.