Catching Up on the Past Few Months . . . . .

We have been so busy around here that I haven't had time to sit down and blog. But it is time and so I am going to do my best to catch up on the last 3 months.

January - January was a mostly non-eventful month because Erick started school and Ryker and I tried to find ways to have fun and pass the time without him. It was a typical January with snow and cold for Logan and everything was status quo for the month until the 25th and on a warm, beautiful Saturday evening, Ryker asked to go outside and ride his bike. So I took him out and Erick headed inside the apartment to start his homework for the evening. We were outside a total of 5 minutes when Ryker tried to execute a turn too sharply and tipped side-ways on his bike landing on his right side on concrete. I tried to get him up and back on the bike but he wouldn't stop crying so I took him and the bike back to the apartment, where Erick and I examined him only to find a raised bump on his arm. Yup, you're right, he broke his arm. We ran him to the ER and the staff was really awesome at getting us admitted quickly and getting started on all of the procedures that had to be done. Ryker spent more time howling about having to see a doctor (he hates doctors) than he was about the pain in his arm. After the x-ray came back, it was determined that he broke the radial bone in his right forearm and it was a bad enough break that they had to sedate him to set the bone and then soft-cast him because of the swelling. The whole thing was 2 hours long and by the time that we left, Ryker wanted to stay and play with the doctors (the meds were really awesome). So we brought our child to the ER crying, and then left for home with our child crying because he wanted to stay and get more attention, popsicles and talk to the doctors.

February - February was more of the "let's get used to the cast thing" month. Ryker's arm was so bad that we had to see an orthopedist to monitor the healing. After 6 days in a soft cast, it was determined that the swelling had not gone down enough to hard cast him and so we had to wait until the 6th of February to get a long-arm cast. This presented us with some problems - clothing, bathing, eating, going to the bathroom, washing hands, etc. And not only problems for us, but for Ryker adjusting to not being able to move his arm, itching, and not having fun or getting wet. We had to go to the doctor every 2 weeks and after each visit, we'd run to the store to get him a treat for being so brave. The orthopedist told us that if Ryker had been any other person, we would have ended up in surgery because of the break, but because Ryker is so young, they felt he could heal fast. After 4 weeks in a cast, he was removed from the long-armed cast to a short-arm cast, but that required using the saw and Ryker was terrified. However, he's loved picking out cast colors. (see pics below)

In the midst of all of this drama, we had my nephew Taylor Chapple's robotics competition up here at USU, where we got to visit with family and then go out for some Aggie Ice cream, which was one of Ryker's and my favorite days. And then we got to celebrate Valentines' Day. We try to decorate our apartment for each holiday by putting up window clings, hanging dangly type decorations and watching movies like a Charlie Brown Valentine. Our sweet neighbors brought us some heart-shaped sugar cookies one weekend, so we made some of our own, frosted them and took a bunch to all of our neighbors. Ryker really liked helping cut out the cookies and then make the frosting. He really likes the frosting more than the cookies, and it is the same thing with cake.

In our home for Valentines Day, we try to do small gifts and treats for each other and so we did it this year. Ryker received some candy and a book, Erick received some candy and a book that he already had so we returned it and he used the money and a gift card we had received to buy himself an Arduino (computer programmed item); I received some fake florals and a Michael's gift card to make myself a floral arrangement for our home and some Twizzlers.  But the best part of the day is the meal that I make every year; last year we had German, this year we had Greek and it was so yummy. We had chicken kabobs and a Greek veggie salad that was so healthy and so yummy and then we had English Triffle for dessert (I know it's not Greek, but I wasn't going to make Baklava, that's my sister-in-law's department).

On Presidents' day weekend, we headed down to Layton and Kaysville to move all of Erick's left over belongings out of his parents' home. They were called to serve a mission in San Antonio, Texas and were leaving on March 9th. So being that it was our one day to get down and take care of it, we made the drive. Ryker hung out with his Aunt Anne, and Erick and I moved his stuff to my parents' basement for storing until we can either sell it, store it, or figure out what to do with it.

March - March is always a busy month for us. Both Erick and I have birthdays during the month and then you throw in Spring Break, St. Patrick's Day, and Erick's parents' mission farewell.  Erick's birthday was a really small celebration because it fell on a Sunday and he has been really busy with his Masters Degree courses so there wasn't much we could do during the week. I made him breakfast the Saturday before and then we had agreed that he and I would combine our birthday spendings to buy a sewing machine. I really felt like he needed something on the actual day so I bought him a home-design magazine and some treats and those were his presents. Then I made his favorite birthday meal for this year - cheese ravioli, green salad, fresh fruit, and garlic bread. We finished off the night with some lemon birthday cake and some Aggie Ice cream. 

My birthday fell on a Monday and right at a time when Erick had so much going on. However, my sweet husband found some time to take me and Ryker to lunch at Chili's and then he gave me a beautiful card and some Twizzlers. I took Ryker to the park to play and then visited with my sister Corri, who had traveled up with some Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory caramel apples for Erick, me and Ryker. We had homemade Indian food for dinner and a banana cream pie for dessert before getting a quick Family Home Evening lesson in, and then the day was over.

St. Patrick's day was mostly uneventful but was as fun as it could be. I got up early and made us green pancakes for breakfast and then it was corned beef and cabbage for dinner. We all wore green clothes and had the St. Patrick's decorations up, but that was the extent of it. It is my Grandma Farley's birthday and so we made sure to wish her a happy 89th!

Erick's parents' farewell was wonderful. We heard them speak and then went to their home to have a luncheon where we got to visit with a lot of family members. Then the immediate family stuck around until 6:00 p.m. to be with June and Larry as they were set-apart. This mission was a miracle. Erick's brother Nathan had a brain-stem stroke last April and was lucky to survive it. However, he has been in Veteran's re-hab centers down in San Antonio, Texas since then. Unfortunately with other things going on, Nathan needed some help and June and Larry felt like they wanted to serve a mission and do it down in Texas so that they could be near him but still serve. They filled out their paperwork and acknowledged that they knew the Lord could call them anywhere. When they got their mission call, it was to San Antonio Texas, working in the mission home during the day and working as service missionaries to the local wards in the area they would be living in at night. This was perfect because they are able to help Nathan and serve their mission - miracles! When the Stake President set them apart, he blessed them with some very wonderful blessings and promised them that their family would also see blessings from their service. It was hard to say goodbye to them and it has been really hard to explain to Ryker why he can't see Grandma June and Papa Larry for awhile. But I know when they get home, Ryker and Erick and I will be ultra excited to see them.

Larry and June Presser at MTC pointing to their Mission

April - We're just getting started, but hopefully tomorrow Ryker will get his cast off. The bone has been healing slowly and it's no wonder with how rough Ryker likes to play and move around. He's been telling us that he wants to go camping and swimming this summer and we've told him that his arm has to get better first, so hopefully we'll see his cast come off and we can stop hounding him about keeping his arm clean and dry, and we can stop getting beat to death with it when he gets mad at us.

1st Hard Cast

2nd Hard Cast

3rd Hard Cast (lasted 5 days and then
he threw-up on it and we moved on to . . )

4th and Hopefully Last Hard Cast

Erick's been so busy trying to finish up his three Masters classes and so he has been working at school and work all day, every day, including Saturdays. By the 30th he will be done and we will actually get to see him and do things with him! Yay!

We just finished watching General Conference and loved every minute of it. Even Ryker has been asking us if he could watch more Conference. We tried to make it a good experience for him by playing with him while we listened and he loved it so much he wants more. This could be the beginning of a beautiful tradition.

 

Erick and I have started the DASH Diet to lose some weight and to be more healthy. So far, we are liking it but we've only been on it these past 2 days. I got a cookbook with recipes and they are really yummy. I've been going to a gym since Presidents' Day and I've lost a few pounds but I really want to ramp up my efforts and drop a half of myself! We'll see how it's going by the end of the month.

Well, that's it in a really big nutshell. I will try to do better at keeping up with the blog and posting more pictures of our adventures.