Enjoying the Calm

The past two days have been relatively calm. I really appreciate when that happens. Both mornings had one incident in them where J got mouthy or argumentative & was disciplined for it. This morning he was actually sent to his room for some time out time. I don't send him to his room as a punishment. Rather, I let him know that is a place for him to relax and calm down. Once he is calm & realizes what he has done, he is able to rejoin the activities upstairs. If the incident was very severe, he is not allowed to come back up until I tell him he can. There have been times in the past where the calm-down time in his room was not so calm. We have a few small holes in the walls to prove it. Thankfully, that has gotten better.
Today was spent going to the dr for his weekly treatment for the warts on his fingers and foot, and to Pocatello for another appointment. His regular dr. has been treating the warts on his thumb on a monthly basis since December and they kept coming back. He finally referred us to the dermatologist (who actually lives in our ward). I think we may be starting to see some progress. These warts were on his thumb that he use to suck. I thought they were calluses, but when the first dr saw them he identified them, then explained how lucky we were that they did not transfer to J's mouth. He has had to send a child or two to Primary Children's to have the warts lazered out of their throats. That was exactly what J needed to hear to cure the thumb sucking! We do feel blessed, tho, that no warts were transferred to the mouth!
After our visit to Dr. Wray, we grabbed some lunch at Taco Bell. J's favorite is the Crunch Wrap Supreme. My favorite is Chicken Chalupa Supreme. I got two of those because I knew exactly what was coming. He wanted to taste mine. Once he did it was a hard decision of whether or not to trade half of his crunch wrap for my second chalupa. That happens a lot. He also downs his drink extra fast, then thinks he can drink mine. We are working on that. What's his is his and what's mine is mine, unless each offers some to the other.
As we ate lunch, we were rushing home to get something for someone who would be stopping over later while we were gone. I placed it by the door, ran back out to the car, and away to Pocatello we drove, for our Developmental Disabilities Services Reassessment appointment. (Say that fast several times). J went with an HS worker out in the community while I sat in the appointment going over his plan from last year and helping to make a new one for the coming year. That took just over two hours. Now that I know more of what to expect, we were able to tweak certain things so we can, hopefully, see more progress thru out the coming year. We have met some great people who come into our home and help J with various things to encourage growth and progress in his development. That meeting took up the better part of our afternoon. By the time we got home, I was beat. Thankfully, (this time) John had a dinner appointment so I got by with just fixing Macaroni & Cheese with hot dogs for supper. I try really hard not to fix boxed stuff, or prepackaged food, too often. I have found that the extra preservatives they put in the food to make the shelf life last longer, affects J in a negative way. He seems more agitated and uptight when given a lot of processed foods. I have always loved canning and preserving our food, but even more so now, and have learned to put up all sorts of new things. I have expanded my horizons greatly in that area.
Red Dye is another one that I have noticed has an adverse effect on J. Do you know how many drinks and foods have that in them? Doritos are one, and many sports drinks and soda pops. Of course, those are not very good for anyone because of the amount of sugar in them, but J still likes them for treats. It's a constant for me to stay on my toes and watch that stuff.
Wanna know what is a great sensory activity that calms my boy down A LOT? Playing in the mud. Occasionally I will posts pictures on Facebook of him playing in the mud. He has his own designated mud hole out in the garden area. That is his spot. And it is an All or Nothing kind of activity for him. I mean, in the hair, in the ears, all over the entire body kind of activity. The clean up isn't always pleasant. There are rules he must go by in order to retain this privilege. He is only allowed to play in his underwear. More than one set of clothes have been ruined. Underwear is cheaper to buy than shirts, shorts AND underwear. And when he is done he must shower off with the sprinkler before being allowed in the house to the main shower. Nearly all traces of mud must be removed, and he cannot get water or mud on me in the process. That is a challenge, because the water gets quite cold coming out of the well, so that has a tendency to overstimulate him. However, I observed last week that he was much much calmer the remainder of the week, after getting to play in the mud just twice. I think it is worth it to me. Now if we can just get him an above ground swimming pool, I think my sanity my be preserved for the summer. lol

As I was sitting here this morning, thinking back on yesterday, I realized it wasn't really too bad. There was only one real confrontation and that was in the late morning when I asked J to turn off the t.v. when his movie was over. He then decided to change the movie & I caught him trying to find another show on netflix to watch. Because he turned off the show he was watching, he now had to turn off the t.v. He thought he could go back to the original one instead. That is one struggle we will have this summer, I am afraid. He would have the t.v. on all day long if I would let him. But I don't like that. I don't think it is good, or healthy, and I like him to find other things to do. I have allowed a really bad habit to form that I am trying to break now.
Another issue we are trying to work thru with him is nighttime sleeping. I feel so bad for him. He falls asleep pretty fast at night but then is woken up with a headache, and lately, stomach or chest cavity pain. I have taken him into the dr. and we've even been in the ER trying to figure out what is going on. We know his oxygen sats are dropping in the night, which I mentioned in yesterday's post. When I was exchanging his oxygen tanks out at Lincare last night, I was visiting with the lady there & she suggested putting him on oxygen all night long, to see if that helps with the headaches. Technically, because of his sats dropping like they are, he really should be on oxygen all night. We tried last night, but he didn't like the mask elastic around his head so he took it off. I thought I had some nasal canula tubing, but I remember cleaning a while back and getting rid of them because when we tried them before, he hated them. Now he wants to try that instead. So back to Lincare I get to go again today to get that & try. I put the fan in his room for the first time this year because the nights are getting warmer. I think that noise is comforting to him. Once I turned that on, & got him to sleep finally, he slept all night. It is a process. We just try and try again, until we figure out what works. Even then, that may only work for a time, so we try again.
Today is a busy day. He has his HI worker (Habilitative Intervention-for Developmental Disability Services) for 2 1/2 hours, then Camp Hippo from 4-5:20, then Scouts this evening. He does like having things to do. Days that we stay home and don't go anywhere he is constantly asking to go somewhere else. I don't like being on the go so much. It is a balance.
Hopefully today will be another good day, with minimal meltdowns.

My life with Autism, FAS and FDS

I obviously am not much of a blogger. But something has been on my mind quite a bit lately, and I think someone even suggested to me, that I should keep a record about my days living with Autism, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and Fetal Drug Syndrome. I posted, quite some time ago, of how we got our sweet boy thru foster care. He is a joy in our lives & we love him so very much. But it is not easy. Somedays, not. at. all.
To keep this post from being way too long, I will just post about yesterday. Some days are really really good, and some days are not. Some are somewhere in between. I am still trying to decide what yesterday was.
It started out pretty good. John was gone, so J was sleeping with me. It is a comfort to him (and to me), and it is much easier. When John is gone at night there is a lot of stressing and worrying and little sleep. I like my sleep. By letting him sleep upstairs with me, we both generally get a good nights sleep and I am not running up and down stairs all night long.
So, even tho he slept well all night, he still woke up at 6 am. I convinced him to go play out in the living room quietly so I could catch a few more zzzzz's. At 7 I woke up and found him playing with his legos and watching a movie. I proceeded to get things done to get ready for church. While I showered, he found his church clothes, got dressed, and got his church bag ready. I was thinking to myself, 'what a great morning. Things are going pretty good.' I wanted to get to church a little early to make sure he was prepared to pass the sacrament. It was only his second time. With John not there to help him, I needed to talk to one of the other boys to make sure they could keep watch and help him if he needed it. We didn't make it quite as early as I had hoped, but still a couple minutes before start time. I got him settled where he needed to be and went back to sit down. Not long after he came back wanting his church bag. I told him he couldn't have it up there where he was sitting, that he would have to wait until he was done. Then I opened up the bag. Instead of the usual paper and pencils to draw with, that we have been trying to move toward, there were two hero factories, and a big bag of sunflower seeds. That's what I get for not checking the bag before we left the house. Since I wouldn't let him have the bag, he got upset and would not go sit back up with the other deacons. He was mad and was not going to do what he was suppose to. I finally just ignored him and let him think about it for a minute or two. He decided he would go back up. We made it thru the sacrament with relatively few incidents.
During Sacrament Meeting, he usually sits on the floor facing the bench, to play with his legos, or draw. Yes, I know. He is 12. He should be sitting up on the bench by now for the whole 70 minutes. But hey! We have got him sitting up during the sacrament, and especially now that he is passing, so I feel we've accomplished much. Baby steps!
About 10 minutes before closing time, he decides he is tired and tries to lay down, under the benches. 'No. You are too big for that.' (he is 5'8" tall and 190 lbs). That mildly upsets him, but we manage to get him sitting back up. (KC and Jordan had come up for the weekend, so they were sitting with us, helping me out.)
Once Sacrament Meeting was over, he knew he must go to his 'old' class. That is the Primary class he has been going to all year. Until January, he will continue to go to this class. Then he will move up to a Sunday School class. After the Primary class, instead of going into Primary for Singing and Sharing Time, he is suppose to go to Priesthood with the other Young Men. I had been asked to sub in Primary, leading the music, and John was not here to coach him to go to Deacons Quorum, so I just told him he could come into Singing Time with me. I THOUGHT he would be good. Nope! First, while they were waiting out in the hall for class change, he went into the Young Women's room, licked his hand, and rubbed it all over the light switch. One of his babysitters saw him do it and chased after him, but he got away from her. She told me what he had done. Sigh!
Next, once in the Primary room, he would keep calling out to me from the back of the room. He was bored. He wanted to play on my phone. He wanted to go out in the hall. He wanted to come sit up front by me, etc. Thankfully, I didn't have a whole lot of time for singing time, got it done, told the pianist I was leaving, and asked the Primary President to please lead the closing song for me. And we left! Still, not a really bad day, so far, but he was getting the idea that I wasn't very happy with how he was acting.
For the most part, the rest of the afternoon wasn't too bad. He played pretty good, unloaded the dishwasher for me without too much complaining, because Jordan helped him, and wasn't too sassy and rude to me when talking to me. I was still counting my blessings.
After KC and Jordan left to go back to Utah, he decided he wanted to go for a bike ride. He wanted to ride down to the subdivision and back (about 3/4's of a mile one way). I thought he would be ok so I was going to let him, but when I told him he could NOT go into the subdivision, that he had to just turn around and come back, he decided he didn't want to. (I am figuring out his motives for wanting to do things. He wanted to go find friends to play with. Nope! Not happening without permission first.) He finally talked me into going for a walk, so he could ride. I needed some motivation so off we went. I am trying to get back into running, so it was good for me to get out & go.
On the way back home, he rode ahead. He was doing good staying on his side of the road and not all over it, until a pickup came up behind him. Thankfully she was still a ways behind him when he heard her coming and darted over to the other side of the road. In his logical mind, he needed to be on the other side of the road so he wouldn't be in her way. After she passed by him, he crossed back over tho where he was suppose to be. I am so glad she wasn't closer to him. when he darted across. When I got home I had to go over 'the rules' again with him, that he stays on the side of the road. The cars will go out around him. That is a constant with him, going over the rules. The same ones, over and over and over and over again. We don't remember well.
Still thinking the day was a pretty good one.
While on the phone to my sister, he asked if he could jump on the trampoline. Of course! I knew eventually water would be involved, because he thinks that is the only way to jump on the tramp. That was ok too, but next thing I knew, he was standing at the door with soap all over him. I quickly got off the phone and started quizzing him about the soap. First, it was just on the tramp. Nope! Sorry, I'm not buying that one. Then it was just a little bit. Try again! You got that expensive bottle of body wash out of the shower didn't you? 'Yes.' And you used up the entire bottle didn't you? 'Yes.' Ugh! So much for the good day! I made him shower off with the sprinkler to get the worst of it off, then come into the shower for the rest. Yes, grass got tracked in clear thru the house, because I had just mowed the lawn the previous day. (The tub was filled with grass too).
The rest of the evening went pretty good, because he knew he had upset me & I wasn't happy. When bedtime came, I was able to get him into bed without too much incident, altho he kept stressing over when Dad was going to get home and why wouldn't he get to see him until morning. We finally got him to sleep, & I came upstairs to relax & wind down.
About an hour later I heard him cry out so I went down to see what was wrong. His head was hurting. We deal with that a lot. I thought we had them under control, but they've been starting up again. It doesn't happen until after he falls asleep. We have done a couple of all-night oximeter tests, testing his O2 stats while he is sleeping. Apparently, his sats are dropping at times, while he's asleep. I am wondering if this is causing the headaches.
Anyway, we got the oxygen started, but this one seemed to be a little worse. I don't know if that was the case, or he was just worrying about when Daddy would get home. Just when I would get him settled down, about 15 minutes later he would cry out again. Then, his 'heart started hurting'. It pains him in his chest in the vicinity of his heart. I tried everything. Oxygen, oils, Melatonin, rubbing his back, more oxygen, even taking him for a drive in the car at midnight, hoping to relax him enough that he could fall asleep. I think we managed to accomplish that goal about 1:30 this morning. I have no idea what is going on, and neither does the doctor.
So, that is just one day. Actually, not a really bad day, considering. There have been worse days. Puberty is rearing it's ugly head. He is beginning to act like a pre-teen, with the sassiness, and attitude, but with the mentality of only an 7-9 year old. Some things he is age-appropriate in, but most things, much more delayed. And did I mention the arguing? Oh, the arguing! I have already raised 4 teenagers. But you can reason with them, for the most part. This child? No. It doesn't happen! He argues with me. And argues with me! You know I just don't know anything. He does. No matter how many times I tell him to stop arguing, he will do it again. He sure is able to push buttons!
I don't write this to garner sympathy. I do it, I believe, to start keeping record of what happens daily. And, if it helps a few people understand what it is like living in our home, then maybe that accomplishes something too. I think it helps me, most of all, to put it down into words. That is my way of dealing with it I guess. I really don't mean to blab my problems to all the world. It is just me. I have to find a way to deal with the stress so I can be more of a benefit to him. His sensory level is super high. Even when I may not think I am stressed, he will sense it. So I try hard to stay as even keel as I can. I do my very best not to baby him. I am trying to teach him he has daily chores to do, to contribute to the family. I try to help him understand I am not here at his beck and call. If he wants me, he must come to where I am. We are trying to teach him good and proper manners when around others, and to be kind and respectful. But it's a process. Some days I think we are getting it, other days, not at all! It seems, lately, too, that his sensory overload button is stuck. Everything overstimulates him, and so much faster than usual! Just having his brother home, with his girlfriend, is overstimulating. Taking him to town is overstimulating. Going to church, with all the people there, in one building is overstimulating. I just keep hoping, and praying that this too will pass. That one day he will grow out of it, or learn how to control it. Just like I hope for all the other things that he may learn to control one day. It's the only way I make it thru, sometimes. Hope.
Oh yeah, one more addition to the post. I went into the use the back bathroom this morning. I don't go in there often, but just had cleaned it a couple of weeks ago. The floor didn't feel very clean. Yep! There was pee on the floor, dried, around the toilet, on the lid, on the back of the toilet, probably on the wall too. We aren't careful where we aim. But hey! At least I finally have him remembering to flush after he uses the toilet, most of the time. And he can finally wipe his own bottom after a bowel movement. That's progress. Right?

My Rant

I am going to rant here for a few minutes, so if you do not want to hear it then stop reading now! But if your curiosity gets the better of you & you want to know what I am ranting about, then, by all means, read on.
I heard a story this morning of a family in need of some compassionate service (in the way of meals brought in) for a few weeks. In the midst of this story a statement was made that the teenage child in the home did not even know how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Are ya kidding me?!?! Seriously??? That made me think back and have cause to be thankful.
Growing up on a ranch, I was an outside girl. Every moment of every day, when I had the chance, I was outside; playing trucks on the hillside, building forts along the creek (hiding from the pigs that roamed out there), making a playhouse in the loft of the old barn or riding my horse or the motorbike out thru the fields. Every chance I got I was out 'helping' my dad irrigate, drive tractor or just tagging along. Even when we had 'work day' for school I would gladly work out in the yard cleaning up the bushes and flower beds. Then when I was 11 my world changed a bit. My big brother, who was on his mission, was diagnosed with cancer. My parents were gone for quite a while. When that happened, I got to go stay with neighbors or friends (that was FUN!). But once Mike was brought back to Salt Lake for treatments my dad came back home and Mom stayed down in Salt Lake with Mike. Since Dad was home, I could stay back at home, but then I needed to learn how to do some of the basics around the house, like laundry and cooking. Mom would write me letters in detail, explaining how to sort the clothes (I pretty much already knew how to do that from just watching her) and how much soap to put in and what settings to wash and dry them on. Sometimes my Grandmother was there to do it for us, but most of the time she was up in Hat Creek with Grandpa. Life had to go on, you know.
When it came to cooking, I cringe now to think of the things my poor dad had to eat. I knew how much he loved meat, potatoes, and gravy. I so wanted to cook that meal for him to show him how grown up I was. Now, we made our gravy a little different than most people. It was a white gravy made from bacon grease, flour and milk. I called a neighbor/cousin to ask her how to do it, but she was a little unsure also so....I made the attempt. I knew you melted the bacon grease in the fry pan, stirred in the flour, then added the milk. What I didn't know was you needed to let the bacon grease and flour brown for a few minutes to break down the flour and make a paste. Then add the milk, stirring as you go. I just  pretty much did it all together at once. The gravy was horribly lumpy! The meat didn't turn out too bad, but I'm sure it was very dry and lacked any seasoning at all. Bless my sweet dad's heart, he still raved over it, how great it was going to taste. As we sat down to the table to eat, a knock came at the door. In walked our neighbor, my dad's best friend. "We were just sitting down to eat. Would you like to join us?" said my dad. All the while I was trying to catch his eye to tell him NO! I knew the meal was not fit to feed a friend. Of course he eagerly said yes and sat down with us. I was mortified! Nothing was ever said about that meal being awful, or horrible or inedible, but right then I decided I was going to make sure I knew how to cook better to make it up to my dad!
Now for my rant....when I got to college I was shocked at how many girls I met who had no clue how to do ANYTHING for themselves. They did not even know how to go to the store to buy personal items for themselves, let alone turn on the stove, make ramen noodles or wash their clothes. The dorm mother had to teach them. I must say, they were extremely excited to be learning these things, but at the age of 18 they didn't know how???!!! Really??? How sad. I made another vow to myself that my children would not be in that boat! They would leave home at least knowing the basics, if nothing else.
By the age of 5, Brittany at least knew how to turn off the stove if I was outside & couldn't get in right then. She also was skilled at vacuuming! By the age of 9 Mataya could follow a cookie recipe and make cookies all on her own when I was too tired after a day of teaching at school and was pretty much passed out on the couch. BTW-I would use that on my Foods students, who were 7th and 8th graders. I told them it was pretty sad my 9 year-old could show them up when it came to making cookies.
On her mission, Kim is very knowledgeable about how to live on a budget and know how to prepare simple, but good foods that don't cost a lot. At college, KC is the apartment chef and doing an excellent job at it.
So...Mothers....teach your children the basics! Teach them how to be independent while you are there to watch them so, heaven forbid, you don't have to do it thru a letter and let them have to learn it on their own. Granted, trial and error are great tools, but it sure is nice to have mom stand alongside you, helping and giving pointers. Mission presidents, future spouses, mission companions, roommates and your own children will thank you many times over if you do. I promise!
End of rant. Now you can return to your regular programming.  :) Have a great, teaching day!

Homemade Onion Rings

John & I are getting more & more where we find something at a restaurant that we really like, then come home and try to fix it here at home. Sometimes we get it spot on the first time and sometimes it takes a few tries. That is the case with onion rings. We LOVE onion rings, but I like the ones, like at Rupes, that have a crunchy, corn meal-type breading on them, not the smooth breading. We have tried several different recipes. FINALLY yesterday, as I searched the internet, I found a couple of different recipes that looked good. I got the supplies, combined the recipes, and made the best onion rings yet! I think they are even better than Rupes! BTW, Rupes is our local fast food joint that is very similar to A&W. Great food but rather expensive. SO----here is the recipe.

Onion Rings

1 lg onion, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 1/4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. dry bread crumbs
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. buttermilk
3/4 c. dry bread crumbs

Heat oil in deep fryer.
Separate onion slices into rings & set aside. In a small bowl mix together flour, 1/2 c. bread crumbs, baking powder, and salt.
Dip the onion slices into the flour mixture until they are all coated (this dries the rings out so the batter will stick); set aside. Whisk the egg, milk and buttermilk together and add enough of the flour mixture to it to make a batter, not too runny but not too thick. May need to add more milk during the process.
Dip the floured rings into the batter to coat & shake off excess batter. Then dip in bread crumbs & coat well.
Fry in oil 2-3 minutes or until brown. Drain on paper towels.
Can sprinkle with season salt after frying, if desired.
Makes about 3 servings

I promise you these will be devoured in no time at all. You will hardly be able to wait until they have cooled enough to put in your mouth.

I Am So Blessed!

While Kimberlee was living at home we would be having a conversation and the words to a song would pop into my head that were related to the topic we were talking about. It would almost always be a country music song. She often made fun of me for comparing my life, or hers, to a country song. Well, guess what....here we go again.

All last summer and fall I could not get a particular song out of my mind. I really felt (and still do) that it applies to me. You may have heard it. It is Martina McBride's "Blessed." These are the words:

I get kissed by the sun each morning,

Put my feet on the hardwood floor.

I get to hear my children laughing

Down the hall through the bedroom door.

Sometimes I sit on my front porch swing,

Just soaking up the day.

I think to myself, I think to myself,

This world is a beautiful place.

(chorus)

I have been blessed.

And I feel like I found my way.

I thank God for all I've been given

At the end of every day.

I have been blessed

With so much more than I deserve,

To be here with the ones who love me,

To love them so much it hurts.

I have been blessed.

Across the crowded room

I know you know what I'm thinking'

By the way I look at you.

And when we're lying in the quiet

And no words need to be said,

I think to myself, I think to myself,

"This love is a beautiful gift."

(chorus)

When I, when I'm singing my kids to sleep,

When I feel you holding me,

I know.....I am so blessed.

And I feel like I've found my way.

I thank God for all I've been given

At the end of every day.

I have been blessed

With so much more than I deserve.

To be here with the ones who love me.

To love them so much it hurts.

I have been blessed.

Anyway, the chorus is probably my favorite part because of the words. I do thank my Heavenly Father every day for all He has blessed me with. For a time, last fall, I was having difficulty falling asleep at night. My mind would get racing with all the things I needed to be doing the next day or upcoming week and I could not relax. One night these words came into my mind so I started thinking of all the things I was blessed with. It didn't take long to relax and fall asleep. That became my habit each night.

Today in Relief Society our lesson was on how much we really mattered to our Heavenly Father, and how important each one of us is to Him. The sweet sister giving the lesson commented on how her life had become somewhat stalemate and how she didn't think she really mattered to the Lord. This last year she has had some profound things happen to her that made her realize how important she was to Heavenly Father and how he had been carrying her thru her life. I thought of that and also of how I get trolling along, so super busy and caught up in my every day things that I forget to continually communicate with Heavenly Father each day. After a time things will get so bad (in my mind) that I do not think I can go on another minute or I just don't know how to handle a certain situation at home and I am reminded...I just need to ask for help. He is always there waiting to help me if I will just ask. And help He does!!! Invariably, things will turn around and be better. Or I am just at peace enough that it helps the situation.

I am just truly blessed! My last blog post here was about our busy year last year. What a year it was! But soooo many blessings! It was a year filled with such wonderful and positive things. Even my mother's passing was such a blessing. She is now free of her earthly body and reunited with her eternal companion and many other loved ones. My brothers and sisters and I had the opportunity to work together to help her just before she passed and to also plan her funeral and spend time together. For me, the time was not long enough. I so enjoyed being in Edward & Kathy's home, (the house I grew up in) visiting with them and getting to go see where Tim and Barb live and visit with them. That visit definitely wasn't long enough! I don't get to do the visiting I would like to very much because Jud keeps me quite busy, but this time was great. I hadn't been up to my hometown of Salmon for a number of years, so going up there was so good. I realized I need to take the kids and go more often. Of course, now it is really only Jud at home. KC is here too, but he is hardly home and will be jumping ship soon. Still, I hope we can make more trips up there and maybe even have the older kids and their spouses tag along to come see the beautiful place I grew up and all there is to enjoy up there!

Just so many blessings! I love where we live here in Blackfoot. I remember when John was transferred over here. I cried. I loved living in Magic Valley, in Rupert. I really didn't want to leave there. And to live in BlackfooT?! Who wants to live there??? I mean, really! But, boy was I ever wrong! We were so blessed to move into a fabulous neighborhood and an even better ward. The friends we have made over the years have been so great! I hope I never have to leave here. Many times I have expressed the desire to live farther out in the country and not so close to town, but now I realize how blessed I am to live close to town, mostly because it is close to the hospital when we have needed to be when Jud has his seizures.

I am blessed to have really really good kids! And now I am blessed to have two fine sons-in-law. I am blessed to be able to do foster care for the state of Idaho. Especially to be able to care for these sweet little ones who come into our home. We have a sweet little almost 3-year old in our home right now. I hear about the home he came from, and I think of the homes and situations of all the other little ones we've had in our home, and I think how blessed I am to have grown up in the family I had. No home is ever completely perfect, but my home was close. Sometime I will have to blog about my home life growing up. It was great!

And now, I look back at my writings here and think...Life is just great! I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and am blessed to have the knowledge I have of a loving Heavenly Father who helps me every day in all I do. Isn't it awesome? I also am blessed, because of this membership in this church, to be married to my best friend, not just 'until death do us part,' but for all eternity! So cool!

These are just a tiny portion of some of the blessings in my life. What about you? What are some of your blessings? I think, for this year, we should all concentrate mightily on the positive things in our lives. Even when something bad or tragic happens, let's try to find the blessings from it. I learned from my father how good life can be when you concentrate on the positive. I challenge you to do just that.

As my beautiful missionary daughter says..."Have an action-packed day (week, or year!)!"

A Year in Review

I didn't get Christmas cards & letters out this year. I think it was because I was busy getting wedding announcements out and used the postage for that. Instead I have opted to post a year-in-review here on my blog. I must say, it has been a rather eventful year for us.

January--not too much happened this month aside from John doing his traveling for work and also his birthday.

February--another month of travel for John, but also finally received the much anticipated mission call Kim had been waiting for. On the 25th, at 4 p.m. she found out she had been called to the Tennessee Nashville Mission and was asked to report to the Mission Training Center in Provo on May 25th. John and Brittany were on the phones listening as she read the letter. Her Franson Grandparents and her Grandma Tolman were here with us as we opened the letter. Two days later we celebrated Kim's 21st birthday.

March--spent making plans getting ready for the garden, making the new 'hoop house' greenhouse for the garden and also traveling to Utah for the start of several of Brittany's baby showers.

April--another baby shower for Brittany, here in Blackfoot, more getting geared up for the garden and attending the Logan Temple with Kimberlee as she goes for the first time. Our dear friend, Lis, rode down with us and Brittany & Scott and Scott's parents, Richard and Connie, met us there from Salt Lake. We sure do appreciate how supportive Richard and Connie are with all our children and not just Brittany. Kim also had a close friend and her husband travel down from Blackfoot to attend with her. Grandpa & Grandma Franson were also there.

May--starting the countdown to a busy month. Kim gave her 'farewell' talk in church on the 15th. She did fabulous! After church we had a get-together at our house to celebrate Kim's new chapter she was embarking on and to celebrate Mataya's upcoming graduation. We had a wonderful turnout of family and friends and really appreciate all the support they give our family. That was also the last family gathering my mother attended. She was admitted to the hospital 4 days later with an unidentifiable infection.

The 17th was Jud's 8th birthday so, of course, we had to have a party and celebrate that!

On the 24th John, Kim and I headed down to Salt Lake to stay overnight with Scott & Brittany prior to taking Kim to the MTC. Brittany rode down to Provo with us the next day. The drop off was quite funny, actually. All along the street there are pairs of 'Elders' (young men attending the MTC for training prior to serving in their assigned countries or states). These young men are there to help the new missionaries unload their luggage and direct them where they need to go. As we pulled up to the curb and I got out and opened Kim's door, one of the Elders greeted me then saw Kim and said, "Oh. A Sister Missionary." Within seconds there were a half dozen Elders gathering at our car. All were eager to greet her and 'help' her unload her luggage. Once our hugs were given and goodbyes said, John, Britt & I got back in the car and headed out of the parking lot. Brittany kept chattering away, which I was grateful for, but then just stopped talking all together. That is when I lost it and started to cry. 18 months seemed like a really long time at that point.

John & I traveled home that afternoon and the next day I was in Pocatello talking with the Hospice nurse, trying to work out the details of Mom's release from the hospital to go back to her apartment at the assisted living center where she had been living. She was unable to take care of herself, even to the point of feeding herself or sitting up in bed on her own.

Friday, the 27th, was spent in preparation of Mataya's High School graduation that evening. It was a really nice evening. She got all graduated and spent the night at the school at her 'all night party.'

June--The last few days of May and the beginning of June were spent on the phone a lot talking with the Hospice nurse and family keeping updated on Mom's condition. The first weekend she was back home from the hospital she rallied and did very well. We thought she was on the mend. By tuesday of the next week she quit feeding herself and pretty much quit eating all together. By that weekend she couldn't be left alone so my sister, Jane, brother, Edward, took time from their busy lives to come stay with her 24 hours. I was able to go down a couple of times to relieve them so they could go home to take care of things there. Finally, on the 9th she gave up the fight and returned home to Heavenly Father. During the time Jane & Edward stayed with her and the rest of us came to visit her there were some precious moments we were able to experience and share with her.

We had Mom's funeral in Salmon on the 17th. We left Jud in Rigby with Grandma & Grandpa Franson. We knew it would be too hard for him to understand all that was going on and it would just be too much stimulation for him with all the events that had been unfolding up to this point. He did fabulous with Grandpa & Grandma and we were able to relax and enjoy our time in Salmon.

After all this, we were on the wait for our first grandchild to make his appearance. Finally, on the 23rd he decided it was time and Stockton Heinz Sawatzki made his appearance in this big, wide world. Brittany did great through the entire labor and delivery process. I think Scott even made it through with minimal stress. :)

June is the month of mine & Scott's birthdays and Brittany & Scott's anniversary.

July--another month filled with activities. The weaken of the 4th started off with Judson's baptism on saturday. He's such a funny kid. It was so great to see him be so excited for his baptism. We were unsure of how much he understood about it all but so happy to see that he knew this was part of what he needs to do and to be so excited about it. After the baptism, before he & John got out of the font, he turned to the crowd, gave a big grin and two thumbs up.

On the 4th we had a barbecue with some of the Franson cousins. Then, later that week we celebrated KC's 17th birthday on the 8th. On the 9th John, Taya, Judson and I went over to Raft River and Burley for the annual Tolman Family Reunion. There is a family in Raft River that has turned their yard into a big play area with two giant slip-n-slide water slides, a mud/volleyball pit, a couple of pavilions, a huge zip line and a candy cannon made from an air compressor. We were there for about 3 1/2 hours and not one time had to worry about where Jud was or if he was getting into trouble or mischief. He LOVED the water slides and spent the entire time running up to the top, sliding down, and going back up again. We could hardly get him to stop long enough to eat.

This month Mataya moved down to Salt Lake to live with Brittany & Scott so she could babysit Stockton for Brittany when she had to go back to work. We also attended our Corbett Family Reunion in Riverton and had Stockton's baby blessing in church the next day.

August--we hosted the John & Kathy Franson family reunion here at our house on saturday the 13th. That was a fun time having family here and letting the cousins just run around and play.

The rest of the month was spent enjoying the garden and getting ready for school to start. It is also the month of Brittany's birthday and John & I celebrated our 24th anniversary. We also make another trip to Salt Lake to help Mataya move into her apartment for school.

September--started off the month with the Eastern Idaho State Fair and Mataya's birthday. Brittany, Scott & Stockton came up for the weekend and Mataya and her new boyfriend, Kaleb also came up from Salt Lake. Mataya was getting ready to start school at the LDS Business College.

I decided to enter some things in the fair this year and got 2 blue ribbons and one red. I made a crocheted baby blessing outfit with the dress, bonnet and booties, plus a little girl's sundress & hat and another little girl's dress with a white pinafore over top. That was pretty fun to see those ribbons on what I had done. Made me start thinking of what I can do for next year.

After the fair it is time to concentrate on all the canning and cleaning up of the garden. That is quite a chore in itself.

October--I think the most exciting thing that happened this month was Mataya getting engaged to Kaleb Klingler. We have been so happy for her that she has found such a wonderful young man who loves her and treats her so well. They are so perfect for each other and very cute together.

KC has managed to keep quite busy with school and work. He is on the Student Body Student Council at school and works at a local restaurant. If he isn't working he is busy going to the ball games.

We also did really well with our pumpkin patch and had a lot of fun letting people come and wander through and pick their own pumpkins for Halloween.

November--worked on wedding preparations, dress shopping and the start of bridal showers. We also enjoyed Thanksgiving Dinner at our house with John & I, Mataya, KC, Jud and Grandpa & Grandma Franson.

December--More bridal showers and wedding preparations, along with Christmas shopping. John, Jud and I went up to the hills to find a Christmas tree and had such a fun time. It was good to let Jud play in the snow. Wish we could get some here so he could have more fun in the white stuff. He sure does love playing in it.

Christmas was great. We had Mataya & Kaleb here with us. Jud was so excited he hardly slept all night long. Finally at 5:30 KC came up and asked if we could get up because he didn't think he & Taya could keep Jud down there any longer. By 6 a.m. all the gifts were opened. We went to church that morning, then came home and cooked dinner and waited for Kimberlee to call so we could Skype with her. Oh it was so fun to get to see her and talk to her. She is doing so good and looked awesome. How grateful we are that she chose to serve a mission and teach people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have seen so many blessings come to our family because of her service. She is such a beautiful young woman, trying so hard to do what is right. We are quite proud of her.

Mataya and Kaleb were married on the 29th in the Salt Lake Temple. The night before we attended the Jordan River Temple with her for her first time going to the temple. Both days were just wonderful and beautiful. Their wedding was so awesome! We had such great support from our family and Kaleb's family. The reception that night was very well attended. It was a steady line of guests greeting the bride and groom for almost 2 hours.

Now we are looking forward to 2012 and all the fun and blessings it will bring. John & I are already thinking ahead to the yard and garden and what we are going to do. We had such success with our first greenhouse that we are going to build another. One we will fill with tomatoes again and the other we hope to fill with watermelons. Our watermelons did well and were sooooo yummy. We hope to figure out to grow a bumper crop so we can sell them and share the goodness with others. We are also excited to keep the pumpkin patch going again this year with maybe some more improvements to make it a little more fun for people to come pick out pumpkins.

Happy New Year Everyone!!! Make it a year full of purpose and service and positivity.