Spring Break and Other Happenings

Spring Break in Rochester should never have the word spring in it.  Maybe it should be called Winter Break #2.  Let's be honest, Spring doesn't arrive until May in Rochester.    

 Our ward had a Friday activity at the local fire station so I took Samantha and JD.

 JD and I went to Samantha's Valentine party.  It was really cute to watch Samantha hand out her Valentine's and see her interact with her classmates.

The library was one of our frequently visited places during the winter! 

 For "Spring Break" we didn't do anything too special.  We ventured out to get frozen yogurt and do some errands.  I will say it's not the easiest thing to bundle everyone up in their heavy winter coats and boats.  It probably took us more than 15 minutes to get out the door.

We watched some movies (surprise, surprise) and kept warm under the fuzzy red blanket.  In this picture, Samantha thought the light was just too bright for her little blue eyes, so she was very upset.

 I heard giggling in the other room and when I came in, I found JD with paint all over his face.  Samantha said that she was giving him a mustache.   I've never seen a mustache on a forehead but I guess painting on your little brother's face was super fun!



Tommy's 7th Birthday

 Tommy turned 7 on February 23rd, 2014 which was a Sunday.  Tommy was the first one up that freezing cold morning.  He asked if he could open his presents early.  So, just Lee and I watched him open his presents.  He requested an Oreo cake and the Skylanders Giants Wii game.  It's always a good thing when you can make birthday wishes come true.  Grandma Karen took care of the Skylanders part and making an Oreo cake was quite easy.  As you can see from the picture, the weather was still freezing and snowy so we went to church and they played his new Lego Creationary game when we got home.

 Tommy is a really good kid.  He loves basketball, extra positive compliments, playing outside, riding his bike and Nutella sandwiches.  He can be pretty intense about things though.  We're learning that he's a perfectionist and highly aware and concerned about what others think of him.  These qualities can definitely be amazing but can also cause difficulties.  The move from Indiana to Rochester was probably the most difficult for Tommy.  He's not that into change and he really liked his best friend and neighbor Taiyo in Indiana.  Tommy excelled academically in first grade.  His classmates called him "The Writing Machine".  He's always had really great handwriting and developed a niche for writing stories this past year.  In Math he was really good at geometry and taught the class how to make a geometric shape with blocks and then draw it.  I know I'm biased but his shape was by far the best. 
We love Tommy so much and we are glad he's part of this family.   



Kassie got her ears pierced



Freezing your tooshie off

This past winter in Rochester has been "the worst winter Rochester has seen in over 20 years".  That's what natives here have said.  It was bitter cold with wind chills in the high -20's and lots and lots of snow.  Lee and I did a lot of shoveling!  I kind of don't want to shovel snow for a very long time!

The kids only missed one day of school because the city is amazing at keeping the roads clear.  Here is a picture of them waiting for the bus when it was -25degrees.  Luckily the bus picks them up right in front of our house.   

 Samantha only had preschool two days a weeks so we were home.....A LOT!  We just had to be creative!  Here is Sam J playing animal preschool with her stuffed animals. 

 Yes, we stayed in our warm pajamas past noon and probably all day! And we didn't do our hair.

Nasty 

 Samantha would feel brave only once in a while to venture out in the snow.  It was almost too cold to play in it and Sam has issues with certain parts of clothing that are essential to playing in the snow, like snow bibs and socks and underwear.

JD had his first hair cut.  The Lyle Lovett do wasn't looking so good.  

Samantha and I would snuggle in my bed with the mini heater blowing on us.  She only fell asleep once but we loved snuggling.

 Honestly, the kids watched a lot of TV this winter.  I'll be the first to admit it!  Netflix can be a very bad thing.

I chopped off my hair and it was completely unplanned and out of the blue.  (Winters like this past one can make you do crazy things.) 



Christmas in Rochester

Kassie and I went to Lowes to pick out a tree. We ended up picking out a medium sized one.  Lee thought we'd come home with a small one, so he was a bit surprised.  JD did ok with the ornaments.  We put the Christmas decoration buckets in front of the tree to block little hands.  Actually, Samantha was probably worst with stealing ornaments.  She thought they were prefect little toys to play with. 

We made gingerbread houses.  I got a special recipe for the icing that was pretty good.   

 Lee of course made a three story house with a basement with no problems. 

 Tommy wanted his perfect which didn't happen.

 Kassie made a non-traditional ginger bread house.  She thought she did a pretty snazzy job.

Samantha ate most of her supplies but did manage to build a small house. 

Christmas stockings made by my grandma and aunt.

Christmas dinner 

Christmas morning there was lots of snow on the ground, surprise! (We weren't really surprised.)

I made cinnamon rolls the fast easy way.  I bought frozen dough and let it rise over night.  I totally cheated!  They were yummy!



My thoughts, one year later

 As of March 2014, I am completely off of all my heart medication and have a clean bill of health.  It's amazing in so many ways that I am healthy and alive.  Doctors are still baffled by my case.  This past year has been really difficult but it also has been a blessing.  Despite being really sick, I was still able to accomplish so much because I was surrounded by an amazing group of friends and family.  My wonderful friends did so much for us and made it possible for me to put our house up on the market and move with 4 kids.  They helped pack my house, painted for me, watched my kids, packed the truck and cleaned my house before we left.  I still feel so overwhelmed with gratitude from all of their service.  The year of recovery and "taking it easy" wasn't easy.  For the first six to eight months, I was supposed to keep my heart rate below 100 and the medication made me tired and groggy. 
Once we got settled in Rochester, in August of 2013 I met with a new Cardiologist.  I had another Echocardiogram and a stress test.  My echo was "interesting".  The ultra sound tech almost gave me a heart attack.  She said she thought she saw a spot on my heart and rushed out of the room to get the Radiologist.  I was freaking out quietly while I waited for the doctor to check my heart.  It turned out that everything was fine!   My new Cardiologist said I should remain on heart medication until one year at least but he did say I could exercise and not worry about my heart rate.  I was disappointed a bit but glad I didn't have any restrictions. 
As the month of December approached, I started to focus a lot on what happened but not in a bad way.  It was mostly more thoughts of gratitude for my life and for all the service we received.  We celebrated JD's 1st birthday and we all felt so thankful that the little guy was healthy too.  The dates in December were important.  I would say, "just 12 months ago I was in the ICU on ECHMO", or "today is December 18th, I came home from the hospital today".
Now one year later it's kind of like it never happened in some ways because JD and I have no ill effects from what happened.  All I have is a small scar on my neck which is hardly noticeable.  I do think it's something that shouldn't be forgotten.

 It was a miracle.