Today we had a fun time at church. We went to Kirsten's ward and watched the Children's Sacrament Meeting presentation. Taylor is in the Sunbeam class (the three years olds) she had a small part along with her friend Taisha that has been going to church with her. When it came time to say their parts both she and Taisha were too shy to say the part into the microphone so the teacher said it for them. They both did a great job of singing "The Spirit of God" and the primary had taught them hand movements to go with the song and she raised her arms so high and did the hand movements. I love the Children's Sacrament Meeting presentations. The Primary had a great program planned and the spirit was there. We went with Kirsten to Sunday School but when she had to go teach Young Women's we came home.
Nathan has been texting me quite a bit lately. He texted me this afternoon and I was able to talk to him for a while. Then he decided to read. He texted me a lot last weekend and on Friday. I think that he gets bored and needs something to do on the weekends. But he is also dealing with some depression about all the things that he still needs to learn. And I think that sometimes his mind is confused because it is not yet healed. Sometimes he texts me to find out what he should do about a certain situation. Sometimes the answers are not easy. He also misses the kids and Sara when they cannot come up to the center.
John and Judy called and wanted Larry to bring back the trunks that he has that belong to them so they said that they would pay for us to drive them down. We decided to go for Thanksgiving so we will leave on the 25th or 26th. Even though we just got back from visiting with Nathan and Sara we want to be there all the time to see how things are coming.
Larry and I are attending Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University on Tuesdays, it has been a nine week course. We have spent a lot of time going through our finances and trying to get out budget to work for us. It is a nine week class. Every week when we attend I want to have all my kids there to see what is being presented so they will not end up as financially strapped as we have been.
We went to a presentation on Wednesday about a firm called the Legacy Group. We liked what they had to say so we asked for an appointment. We are now working on refinancing our house to a 15 year fixed term mortgage. That is something that is recommended in the class. We have tried to do this in the past while the interest rates are low but we could not qualify because of our income. But since Larry got his VA pension we can go through the VA for the loan and we can qualify because of our income. It will save us thousands of dollars. Heavenly Father is really blessing us because of paying our tithing. We are hoping to get the refinance done before we go to San Antonio again.
I decided to go with my cousin Merrilee to weight watchers on Wednesday nights. It has been fun to go with her and see her family more and I have learned something new about the program at each meeting the last two weeks. Larry and I usually weigh together on Monday mornings. I was excited to lose 1.6 lbs. this week. I only have one more pound to go and I will have lost 40 pounds! I am also getting excited because I will be at goal weight after I lose another 6 pounds. But the way I lose weight that could be another six weeks away.
I have also been spending the afternoons on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday writing the marketing curriculum that I agreed to write for Northridge Learning Center. I am getting closer to the end but it has been an overwhelming project for me. I have learned a lot about Marketing though.
Friday's we have our LDS Employment mission. We had training on the 18th but then on this Friday we just worked with our clients. It was really slow this week. Not a lot of people coming in for some reason. I guess by Friday they are getting tired of looking for a job. We will finish this mission in January and we decided that we will not ask for an extension. We would like to go somewhere on a mission.
Last Saturday when we went to help Mom we did a google + hangout with Nathan. I thought that she would enjoy seeing him but the talking was so buffered that it was hard for her to understand him and people just look funny when they are hanging out with an IPad. It was dark at the time and he looked different than he does in real life. But I think that it was good anyway and it gave Nathan a chance to see Mom. He cried quite a bit when he first saw her, but later he was able to get control of his emotions.
Yesterday at the Family Search Center I was able to find some information on two of, my first husband, John's aunts and their families and some new stuff on his Grandfather on his maternal line. I was able to save it in the source box but I still need to attach some of it. We only had one person come in yesterday and he knew what he wanted to do so it was a quiet morning. Larry and I also took the application papers for the loan there to work on so we could drop them off on the way down to Mom's. The lender we are working with is in Draper.
Last night we got to tend Ryker. He is really a smart guy and is so fun to tend. He likes to play with the bucket of miniature cars downstairs and we watched Despicable Me. He also likes to see the ecards on Blue Mountain so he is not hard to please. The first thing he says when he comes in the door is "I want to see puppy." There are two yappy birthday cards with dogs on and he really likes both of them. But he also likes several others once we get started. He also loves the wii so he wanted to play the Ninetendo 64 because it looked like the wii to him. We had to have Larry show us how to get it going but then it went pretty good. As usual I did not do well at that game! But I guess that is because I only play it when the grandchildren or children want me to so I don't get in much practice.
Larry and I have felt like we have really come a long ways with our health. We would recommend Weight Watchers to anyone. We are walking about 4 miles a day and found out that we can also walk down town and still get in the same walk. It is exhilarating to both of us. We walked down to main street and went to a movie and got something to eat and then walked home last Friday. Several times we have walked to Bowman's and got a few groceries and then walked back. It is really showing up in our health. I have been able to cut down on the pain pills I take and Larry is so much better in keeping his Diabetes in control. Sometimes I just feel giddy about it. It is hard to believe that Larry and I retired for our health and could hardly walk around the block and now we are both feeling better.
Well, I did not take any pictures this this week so you will just have to go with the written word.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Sunday, October 13, 2013
We're Home!!
It is good to be home although sometimes I want to go back to San Antonio because it is colder here. It hasn't been really cold but walking in 40 degree weather requires a sweat shirt and gloves for me. Larry has not pulled out his coat though.
We had a good lesson in church on the importance of the prophet. I think that is one of the things that makes our church unique that we believe in continuing revelation. That makes it possible for us to know what is important to us today in following the doctrine of Christ. Many people criticize us for things that past .prophets have said that appear to be contradictory but that is the beauty of our system. What the current prophets say is the most important and they will always preach the doctrine of Christ.
Today was the primary program. It is always one of my favorite programs. There were a lot of people at church today because of that and a set of twins that was recently born in our ward were also blessed so they brought in family also.
I wore my hair in a pony tail today and wore my jacket that makes me look skinny over my new dress and so several people finally noticed that I am losing weight. Brother Peterson said he voted for the pony tail when I told him I was trying to decide whether to keep it or to cut my hair in layers so that it would curl better. He said it made me look 15 years younger so it was great to have a compliment day from him and several others.
Some of the family are fasting and praying for Kyle because the scout master has lost his record of what he has passed off and Kyle does not have a record so he may not be able to get his Eagle. We are praying that the record can be found. But if the Lord says no then we will have to accept that. Kyle thought he had passed off up to his First Class but they have no record of him doing anything.
Our grandson Ethan got his Eagle a couple of weeks ago. He really did a good job. His parents, Daniel and Michelle, really went all out for the court of honor and it was a nice affair. Hopefully I can post some pictures that we took of his court of honor.
Yesterday we worked at the Family Search Center. I was able to help a couple of people with problems they had with the way the pedigree was showing that was incorrect. I also found a census with Larry's grandfather that they called Daddy Jack living with an Uncle and Aunt in Montana in 1910. Larry was not aware of that. I looked up some things on the Uncle, James Ferris, and found on one census that a George Ferris was living with his family in the 1870 census. He was much older than the other children so I am curious if that was his dad's brother but I have no information on the parents of the Father so I was not able to find anything yesterday.
In the afternoon we went down to help Mom. Keith was there with Caleb and we were able to show them and Mom the pictures of Nathan that we just took last week. Annette came while we were there and we were able to have a good conversation before we left, after we worked at vacuuming and dusting etc. Annette was in for the blessing of Weston and Deanna's new daughter today.
Friday was our first day back from San Antonio. We had our LDS Employment mission. I was able to make 4 placements so I felt good about that but I was able to help a sister that I have been working with for sometime get a good lead on a job. That felt good and I hope that she gets it. The Spirit was really there helping Friday. I think it was because I was more sincere in my prayers that day. Sister Mckinistry was not there as they were going out of town so Sister Alvey came in for the afternoon. She is really a spitfire at 86 and she is so much fun. She was excited because she had had twin great grandbabies born the day before. She was also sad because one of them had stopped breathing for a few minutes so she was in the NICU. We talked about that and everyone was excited to hear about how Nathan was doing now we were back.
Friday evening we walked and watched TV and worked on the budget. We spent too much in San Antonio and I had made two mistakes that totaled $328.00 so it was not a good night. But we will be okay. We still have things to sell.
Thursday was a bittersweet day. We were excited to come home but the week with Sara and Nathan and the kids had just flown by so fast. We went to the Polytrauma Center in the morning after packing. Nathan was in Occupational Therapy. He was working on taking off and putting on his socks and shoes. He was able to do it but it took several tries. I just count my blessings every time I see him having to work so hard to do a simple task. He has learned to put his own shirt on again but he is still learning to put on the shoes and socks and his pants. By the time he was finished with that we had to say goodbye. He cried and said it had been too short for him also.
After we had left the hospital we had to hurry and get something to eat and get to the airport. Larry wanted to try one of the Mexican stands by the side of the road. We tried one and they only sold their tacos etc. by the dozen and half dozen so we went to another. We had to wait fifteen minutes for the food and it wasn't that good. We got home so Sara could take us to the airport about the time we had wanted to be at the airport. Sammy and Isaac had early out that day so Sara had left the Polytrauma Center to get them and then we were going to leave. Maggie of course did not have preschool on Thursday, so we were able to say goodbye to them at that time. We said goodbye to David in the morning because he is in middle school now so he is in a different school.
We made it to the airport fine and were able to get checked in once they realized that they had canceled our reservations when they transferred us to Delta the week before. But it didn't take long so we made it on the flight but were late for our priority boarding. Oh well! When we got to Houston we thought that we would have to go a long distance to our next flight but it was in the next section over right there where we deplaned from the first. That was easy.
Erick and Heather and Ryker picked us up from the airport. It was fun to see them but it was noticeably colder than San Antonio. We had a good ride home talking about what had happened with both of us.
Wednesday we went to the Polytrauma Center after getting ready in the morning. Nathan was just finishing up Recreational Therapy in the courtyard playing bocci ball. Larry knew what it was but I had never heard of this game. I played one round with him and won but it was beginners luck. Then we went to what we thought was going to be occupational therapy but it was a double with physical therapy. We had scheduled a hangout on Google plus with BJ for 11:00 am and so they were very accommodating and scheduled his occupational therapy for the afternoon and worked on his physical therapy then because the physical therapist was leaving later. They had him up on all fours for a while working with his arms and legs and shoulders. His knees got tired after a half hour of this so they had him lay on his belly. They had him bend his legs up backwards towards his bottom and it was surprising. He is usually stronger on the left side but he had to really work to get his left leg to lift up and his right side was just coming up with ease. They worked on that for about a half hour or more. Then they had him slide along the edge of the exercise mat sitting up and stand up by the walker. Sliding is going well but it still takes him quite a bit of time to accomplish, maybe 5 minutes to slide 10 feet. Then they had him walk with the walker over to his wheelchair. Right now he has to be held with the belt because sometimes he cannot get his bottom to stay up. He is just learning to coordinate the movement of his arms and legs and body and it is a lot to focus on when you are having to open up new synapses in the brain. Again it makes me so grateful for the things that my body can do that I take for granted. He walked 27 ft. mostly by himself with a wheelchair behind him just in case but he did not need the net and his therapist said she was doing minimal helping.
I tried to get some exercise each day by walking in circles around the exercise mats and walking in circles in Sara's kitchen/family room area. But Larry said I was driving everyone crazy on that day and Judy was frustrated with it also so I finally quit.
We actually got Google hangout to work on Google + and Nathan was able to see and talk to BJ. I was surprised to see that he did not talk more on the visits that he had with his brothers and sisters. But we were able to get it to work on my computer. He and BJ talked for about 45 minutes and had a good talk.
John and Judy had to leave at noon that day because the prescriptions they had ordered were in and they didn't want to take a chance that something would happen to them.
Larry and I left for lunch and went to Larry's favorite, when we are in a place where they have it, Jack in the Box. Driving down Larry noticed that the car was heating up. We ate at the restaurant and then we began to think about what we could do because we did not want to burn up the engine. I called our insurance and they said that the insurance follows the car so if we were in someone else's car we were not covered. Larry tried to lift the hood but couldn't so we were trying to figure out if we should call Sara. Then Larry suddenly gets out and lifts the hood. He told me later he prayed about it. Anyway we determined that it was the radiator was dry and the van was low on oil. We took our cups and carried water from the rest room and filled up the radiator and we stopped and bought some oil and the problem was solved we thought but when Sara took us to the airport it was leaking so we told her that she better get it checked.
We missed Nathan occupational therapy with the work on the van but she told us the next day they worked on putting on shoes and socks. She recommended that he get some half socks to make it easier.
We decided to walk down to the courtyard with Nathan. It was so fun to have him all by ourselves and just talk. We talked about all kinds of things. It is so good to be able to talk to him and not have to struggle to understand what he is saying. He is pretty proud of his kids and liked talking about them. He also explained how hard it is to have so much to still do to get his body working better. He also mentioned that it is so good to be able to eat again after not eating for 4 months.
Sara and the kids came in about 3:30 pm and she stayed so the kids could get some exercise for a few minutes. She was excited because she had been to parent teacher conferences and Sammy had done his writing that day. She said that he usually refuses to write even though he can write. The handwriting she showed us was very nice. I was impressed because she told us several things that this teacher was doing to help Sammy like she lets him lead when they wake somewhere and they are supposed to do what Sammy does, so if he sticks his arms out they did the same things.
While we were sitting there Nathan called his sister Maren and was able to talk to to her and Brinlie and Landon. It was good to hear them talk but the connection wasn't very good so I think it was hard for them to understand Nathan.
That night we took the kids to McDonald's for dinner and home and got them to bed so Sara and Nathan could have some one on one time.
I typed up what had happened on Monday and Tuesday but I lost it on Sunday. I am trying to reconstruct it now more than two weeks later so I am having a hard time. That is why this was not posted on Sunday. Sometimes computers are so frustrating. I lost 2 hours of work when I tried to post the pictures and this is the first time I have had time to work on it again.
Tuesday Nathan was able to walk 15 ft with a walker and the therapist holding him with a belt. It was exciting. I was able to follow him with a wheelchair just in case he needed to sit down but he made it the whole way with no sitting down and the therapist said that she gave minimal help. He worked really hard before that working on other parts of the body.
Tuesday Mike Trolinger came up to see Nathan and to see his parents also. We went to lunch at Golden Corral and were able to have a good visit with him while Nathan started speech therapy. Apparently the speech therapist is heavily involved in helping him learn to eat again. She was showing him how to move his head back and wanted to know if he could cut his meat. He had mainly been eating the meat by picking up the whole piece and biting off pieces so they got him a rocking knife to cut his meat with.
We went back to the Trauma Center after lunch and were able to spend some time talking to Nathan. He called Kirsten and talked to her for a while. She was excited to talk to him but just before we talked to her BJ had texted us and ask us if he could contact Nathan the next day on Hangouts and so while he talked to Kirsten he was trying to sign up for Google+. This is typical Nathan behavior. He used to do things before when he was talking to you on the phone so I guess that is confirmation that he still has the same personality.
We took left about 5 pm and went home so Sara could go to the hospital and be with Nathan one on one. She made some yummy tacos and we did things with the kids and put them to bed.
Monday Nathan worked on some exercises and walked on the bars with the physical therapist. The occupational therapist often works with the physical therapist and they go for two hours.
Sara got home on Sunday night late so we let her sleep in and took Maggie with us to the hospital. We went for lunch to Joe's Crabshack with Judy and John. Maggie was hesitant about the big shark they had hanging from the ceiling but when I told her that it was just pretend then she relaxed. It was fun to go there and have some time to relax.
We went back up to the hospital for the afternoon. Sara came up after the kids got home from school. They decided to stay with Nathan for a while. The kids were watching the Crood's again that Kirsten had sent and they wanted to have Family Home Evening. We wanted to spend some time with Judy and John so we left them at the hospital and went with Judy and John.
We went to a place called Logan's Steak House. We had a good time talking about Family History and eating. John and Judy said that we eat to fast, that we need to enjoy our food. We were not aware that we were eating fast. It was a fun night and we had a good time. When we got home Sara and the kids were already in bed.
We had a good lesson in church on the importance of the prophet. I think that is one of the things that makes our church unique that we believe in continuing revelation. That makes it possible for us to know what is important to us today in following the doctrine of Christ. Many people criticize us for things that past .prophets have said that appear to be contradictory but that is the beauty of our system. What the current prophets say is the most important and they will always preach the doctrine of Christ.
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| The first snow fall on the mountains |
I wore my hair in a pony tail today and wore my jacket that makes me look skinny over my new dress and so several people finally noticed that I am losing weight. Brother Peterson said he voted for the pony tail when I told him I was trying to decide whether to keep it or to cut my hair in layers so that it would curl better. He said it made me look 15 years younger so it was great to have a compliment day from him and several others.
Some of the family are fasting and praying for Kyle because the scout master has lost his record of what he has passed off and Kyle does not have a record so he may not be able to get his Eagle. We are praying that the record can be found. But if the Lord says no then we will have to accept that. Kyle thought he had passed off up to his First Class but they have no record of him doing anything.
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| Ethan being presented his Eagle |
Our grandson Ethan got his Eagle a couple of weeks ago. He really did a good job. His parents, Daniel and Michelle, really went all out for the court of honor and it was a nice affair. Hopefully I can post some pictures that we took of his court of honor.
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| Ethan pinning his parents |
In the afternoon we went down to help Mom. Keith was there with Caleb and we were able to show them and Mom the pictures of Nathan that we just took last week. Annette came while we were there and we were able to have a good conversation before we left, after we worked at vacuuming and dusting etc. Annette was in for the blessing of Weston and Deanna's new daughter today.
Friday was our first day back from San Antonio. We had our LDS Employment mission. I was able to make 4 placements so I felt good about that but I was able to help a sister that I have been working with for sometime get a good lead on a job. That felt good and I hope that she gets it. The Spirit was really there helping Friday. I think it was because I was more sincere in my prayers that day. Sister Mckinistry was not there as they were going out of town so Sister Alvey came in for the afternoon. She is really a spitfire at 86 and she is so much fun. She was excited because she had had twin great grandbabies born the day before. She was also sad because one of them had stopped breathing for a few minutes so she was in the NICU. We talked about that and everyone was excited to hear about how Nathan was doing now we were back.
Friday evening we walked and watched TV and worked on the budget. We spent too much in San Antonio and I had made two mistakes that totaled $328.00 so it was not a good night. But we will be okay. We still have things to sell.
Thursday was a bittersweet day. We were excited to come home but the week with Sara and Nathan and the kids had just flown by so fast. We went to the Polytrauma Center in the morning after packing. Nathan was in Occupational Therapy. He was working on taking off and putting on his socks and shoes. He was able to do it but it took several tries. I just count my blessings every time I see him having to work so hard to do a simple task. He has learned to put his own shirt on again but he is still learning to put on the shoes and socks and his pants. By the time he was finished with that we had to say goodbye. He cried and said it had been too short for him also.
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| Some of our fall leaves. I thought this was interesting because the leaves on the inside were yellow and the leaves on the outside were red |
We made it to the airport fine and were able to get checked in once they realized that they had canceled our reservations when they transferred us to Delta the week before. But it didn't take long so we made it on the flight but were late for our priority boarding. Oh well! When we got to Houston we thought that we would have to go a long distance to our next flight but it was in the next section over right there where we deplaned from the first. That was easy.
Erick and Heather and Ryker picked us up from the airport. It was fun to see them but it was noticeably colder than San Antonio. We had a good ride home talking about what had happened with both of us.
Wednesday we went to the Polytrauma Center after getting ready in the morning. Nathan was just finishing up Recreational Therapy in the courtyard playing bocci ball. Larry knew what it was but I had never heard of this game. I played one round with him and won but it was beginners luck. Then we went to what we thought was going to be occupational therapy but it was a double with physical therapy. We had scheduled a hangout on Google plus with BJ for 11:00 am and so they were very accommodating and scheduled his occupational therapy for the afternoon and worked on his physical therapy then because the physical therapist was leaving later. They had him up on all fours for a while working with his arms and legs and shoulders. His knees got tired after a half hour of this so they had him lay on his belly. They had him bend his legs up backwards towards his bottom and it was surprising. He is usually stronger on the left side but he had to really work to get his left leg to lift up and his right side was just coming up with ease. They worked on that for about a half hour or more. Then they had him slide along the edge of the exercise mat sitting up and stand up by the walker. Sliding is going well but it still takes him quite a bit of time to accomplish, maybe 5 minutes to slide 10 feet. Then they had him walk with the walker over to his wheelchair. Right now he has to be held with the belt because sometimes he cannot get his bottom to stay up. He is just learning to coordinate the movement of his arms and legs and body and it is a lot to focus on when you are having to open up new synapses in the brain. Again it makes me so grateful for the things that my body can do that I take for granted. He walked 27 ft. mostly by himself with a wheelchair behind him just in case but he did not need the net and his therapist said she was doing minimal helping.
I tried to get some exercise each day by walking in circles around the exercise mats and walking in circles in Sara's kitchen/family room area. But Larry said I was driving everyone crazy on that day and Judy was frustrated with it also so I finally quit.
We actually got Google hangout to work on Google + and Nathan was able to see and talk to BJ. I was surprised to see that he did not talk more on the visits that he had with his brothers and sisters. But we were able to get it to work on my computer. He and BJ talked for about 45 minutes and had a good talk.
John and Judy had to leave at noon that day because the prescriptions they had ordered were in and they didn't want to take a chance that something would happen to them.
Larry and I left for lunch and went to Larry's favorite, when we are in a place where they have it, Jack in the Box. Driving down Larry noticed that the car was heating up. We ate at the restaurant and then we began to think about what we could do because we did not want to burn up the engine. I called our insurance and they said that the insurance follows the car so if we were in someone else's car we were not covered. Larry tried to lift the hood but couldn't so we were trying to figure out if we should call Sara. Then Larry suddenly gets out and lifts the hood. He told me later he prayed about it. Anyway we determined that it was the radiator was dry and the van was low on oil. We took our cups and carried water from the rest room and filled up the radiator and we stopped and bought some oil and the problem was solved we thought but when Sara took us to the airport it was leaking so we told her that she better get it checked.
We missed Nathan occupational therapy with the work on the van but she told us the next day they worked on putting on shoes and socks. She recommended that he get some half socks to make it easier.
We decided to walk down to the courtyard with Nathan. It was so fun to have him all by ourselves and just talk. We talked about all kinds of things. It is so good to be able to talk to him and not have to struggle to understand what he is saying. He is pretty proud of his kids and liked talking about them. He also explained how hard it is to have so much to still do to get his body working better. He also mentioned that it is so good to be able to eat again after not eating for 4 months.
Sara and the kids came in about 3:30 pm and she stayed so the kids could get some exercise for a few minutes. She was excited because she had been to parent teacher conferences and Sammy had done his writing that day. She said that he usually refuses to write even though he can write. The handwriting she showed us was very nice. I was impressed because she told us several things that this teacher was doing to help Sammy like she lets him lead when they wake somewhere and they are supposed to do what Sammy does, so if he sticks his arms out they did the same things.
While we were sitting there Nathan called his sister Maren and was able to talk to to her and Brinlie and Landon. It was good to hear them talk but the connection wasn't very good so I think it was hard for them to understand Nathan.
That night we took the kids to McDonald's for dinner and home and got them to bed so Sara and Nathan could have some one on one time.
I typed up what had happened on Monday and Tuesday but I lost it on Sunday. I am trying to reconstruct it now more than two weeks later so I am having a hard time. That is why this was not posted on Sunday. Sometimes computers are so frustrating. I lost 2 hours of work when I tried to post the pictures and this is the first time I have had time to work on it again.
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| Nathan walking with the walker |
Tuesday Mike Trolinger came up to see Nathan and to see his parents also. We went to lunch at Golden Corral and were able to have a good visit with him while Nathan started speech therapy. Apparently the speech therapist is heavily involved in helping him learn to eat again. She was showing him how to move his head back and wanted to know if he could cut his meat. He had mainly been eating the meat by picking up the whole piece and biting off pieces so they got him a rocking knife to cut his meat with.
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| Judy Trolinger, John Trolinger, June Presser, Larry Presser, Mike Trolinger, Front: Maggie Christiansen, Sara Christiansen, Nathan Christiansen |
We took left about 5 pm and went home so Sara could go to the hospital and be with Nathan one on one. She made some yummy tacos and we did things with the kids and put them to bed.
Monday Nathan worked on some exercises and walked on the bars with the physical therapist. The occupational therapist often works with the physical therapist and they go for two hours.
Sara got home on Sunday night late so we let her sleep in and took Maggie with us to the hospital. We went for lunch to Joe's Crabshack with Judy and John. Maggie was hesitant about the big shark they had hanging from the ceiling but when I told her that it was just pretend then she relaxed. It was fun to go there and have some time to relax.
We went back up to the hospital for the afternoon. Sara came up after the kids got home from school. They decided to stay with Nathan for a while. The kids were watching the Crood's again that Kirsten had sent and they wanted to have Family Home Evening. We wanted to spend some time with Judy and John so we left them at the hospital and went with Judy and John.
We went to a place called Logan's Steak House. We had a good time talking about Family History and eating. John and Judy said that we eat to fast, that we need to enjoy our food. We were not aware that we were eating fast. It was a fun night and we had a good time. When we got home Sara and the kids were already in bed.
Tuesday, October 08, 2013
San Antonio
Today we have been in San Antonio for 4 days. Sara went to a concert in Austin with some friends and so we were babysitting all weekend. No one is really a baby so it was not too bad.
When we got there on Thursday afternoon Nathan was excited because he had finally passed a swallow test for solid foods and he was able to eat regular food. They told him he had to take smaller bites though and chew them up good. He still cannot drink liquids though so they give him this nectar substance like drink for his water and drinks. He drinks soup through a straw. He is a lot happier being able to eat and he is gaining a little weight because he had lost too much weight on the feeding tube.
Friday we went to see Nathan after dropping Maggie off to preschool. She attends a preschool that is run by a Methodist church in Universal City and it is really nice. She attends two days a week. Wednesday's when she goes then Sara is able to run errands and Friday when she goes then Sara is able to have some one on one time with Nathan. This Friday however Sara left for the concert after she dropped off the boys to their schools, so Nathan got us.
Larry's sister and her husband, Judy and John Trolinger, came down from Ingram, Texas and are staying here in San Antonio and they meet us at the hospital each day.
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| Nathan learning to walk |
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| Therapists working to help Nathan position his hands |
Standing up is equally as hard he has to concentrate on where his feet are and how far he has to lean forward to be able to stand up and where his hands are placed but, considering when we were down here three months ago and at that time he had to be lifted with a machine to stand he has come a long ways.
Three months ago he also was just learning to transfer from his wheel chair to the bed or a mat with a board. Today he was able to transfer from his chair to the exercise mat without a board and he is able to move himself to the right or left while sitting all with great effort. His right side is harder to work with than the left.
We have not been able to attend the other therapies yet but hope to be able to do that before we leave.
Friday we needed to pick the kids up from their schools about 3:00 pm John and Judy wanted to go get something to eat about 12:30 pm so we went out to go and luckily we took the van that Sara was letting us use. It had driven fine in the morning but when we started to go at noon we had a flat tire. We called AAA and got the tire changed and then took it to a Discount tire to get it fixed. By this time it was 2:00 pm and we barely had time to grab a bite to eat at Jack in the Box (One of Larry's favorites) and start to get the kids because we had to be at the visitor center of Randolph Air Force Base at 2:40 to get a pass on base and we were at least a half hour away.
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| Nathan standing on his own for a few seconds |
We arrived at the base at 2:50 pm and just as we were getting there I realized that I had left my license at the hospital in my computer bag. We went in to get the pass but they thought we wanted a pass I guess for a long time because they were saying that they could not give us a pass. When they finally understood that we just needed the pass for that day to pick up the kids from school then they gave Larry a pass because he was driving but by now it was about 3:10 pm. So we were 15 minutes late for picking up David and Then about 20 minutes late for Isaac and Sammy and about a half hour late for picking up Maggie. The preschool had called Sara to ask them where we were and Larry had to go in to pick up Maggie because you had to have a license to pick her up if they did not know you.
Larry and John went to get the tire put on. He left his phone plugged in because it had died. I thought he would be back in about 20 minute but it was about 3 hours before he and John returned. John had no phone so we were frantic wondering what was taking so long. The kids were hungry but I had no money because Larry had it and so we raided some of Nathan's treats and ate the fruit we had taken to the hospital. They survived but just barely. It turns out the tire looked like it had been intentionally poked with something like an ice pick and Larry had to buy a new tire. When he got there they had not even picked up the tire from when we left it 2 hours ago. Frustration!!!!
The rest of the evening went better. We visited with Nathan with the kids and then took them home to eat and go to bed. We asked David where was a good pizza place and he directed us to a Little Ceasar's that has way better pizza than the one's we have been to in Kaysville area.
Saturday and Sunday we took the kids up to the hospital to watch conference with Nathan. We were able to set the computer up so it showed on his TV for all of us. All though there were times when Nathan had to help us figure things out which shows that his thinking brain is fine. John and Judy even watched a lot of conference and considering they are not members of the church that is a big deal. Sara had packed a conference bag with lots of goodies and things to do in it and I had printed off the activities on the lds.org website so we were able to keep the kids relatively quiet and focused but it was a challenge. We were able to hear most of the talks but I am looking forward to going back and reading or watching them because there were potty interruptions with Maggie and Sammy interruptions trying to safe guard the equipment and of course it was more fun to talk about their toys and such than be quiet. But, it was all fun and we enjoyed it.
Between conference sessions we went to McDonald's on Saturday and went to the outdoor alcove they have for the patients at the hospital and played Hide and Seek with the kids on Sunday after eating a picnic we packed. We got lots of Weight Watcher's activity points for both days.
Sara got home late last night so we suggested that after she took the kids to school she stay home and rest. We took Maggie with us. Nathan was way disappointed so I had to apologize to him. He was upset for a while but he soon got into his therapy. He is talking soooo much better than last time. It was so hard to understand some things that he was saying last time and now you can just understand him. He does still have a deep voice though. I am sure talking has helped him to feel better emotionally. He is doing better about not getting upset so easily this time also. He still gets emotional when we tell him some things but he seems to be getting over his short term memory problem that caused him to be upset and angry before.
He did a lot of the same things in Physical and Occupational Therapy today as he did on Friday. He was playing a Wii game in Recreational Therapy. They have a machine that they can pull him to a standing position and then help him to sit down slowly. He uses it to use the bathroom but they were using it today to help him stand to do the wii game. He no longer has to have the diapers on and is able to use the bathroom using this machine. He has learned to feel when he has to go which I imagine is a great feeling. He did not like being changed when we were here three months ago.
Erick and Heather had made a video of some of the Family Reunions that we had this summer with people giving Nathan messages of encouragement. When it came they were not able to get it to play in the DVD player. This afternoon we tried it in my computer and he was able to watch it. He cried when some of his cousins told him that they expected him to be there next year. He seemed to really enjoy it.
Sara came up with the Boys this afternoon. They put on the movie "The Croods" that Kirsten sent to Nathan. This is about the 3rd time that they have watched it since we came. They all seemed to be enjoying having Sara back so Judy and I took sometime to talk about Family History. They went to get treats so they could eat with Nathan and then we all went home. Larry and I went to dinner with John and Judy so Sara could have some time alone with the kids like she wanted. When we got home they were all in bed.
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