January 7th Nathan's birthday

Nathan all decorated

Tuesday was Nathan's 40th birthday.  Sara got up early and took the kids to school and took Nathan a decoration, some crazy glasses and a dozen donuts.  She came back about 9:30 a.m. and brought Maggie to us.  She had to get some errands done and get ready for the party that evening.

In Nathan's room before the party.  Sara, Maggie, David and Nathan

Maggie was all excited to go to the gym because she had such a good time the day before, but Larry was worrying about getting some things done on the car so we could drive home the next day.  So Maggie and I went to visit Nathan while Larry went to get the oil and tires checked on the car.  Nathan was at the Care Center with his wheelchair decorated with balloons from the care center and the glasses that Sara had brought him.  He said the care center had also brought him a cupcake and sang Happy Birthday to him.  Maggie and I visited for awhile, all the while she was telling me that she wanted to go to the gym.  We finally went to lunch.

In Nathan's room.  Nathan, Larry, Isaac, Sammy behind David

Maggie wanted to go to Chick-fil-A for lunch so I went and bought her the menu she wanted, Chicken nuggets, French Fries and Root Beer.  She tried to get me to take her inside but we went home to eat.  When we got home she did not want the Root Beer.  Said she did not like it! She must be four.

We went for lunch and then we decided to go to the gym.  Maggie was so excited and when we got there they told us that they do not have the day care from 1-4 there.  She was so disappointed and so were we because we couldn't go to the gym.  Larry went to get some things done before we left the next day and Maggie and I went to see Nathan.

Sara, Nathan, Melinda Steadam, Bishop Alonzo

That evening Sara bought Pizza for all of us to eat at the care center and they brought the presents that they had for Nathan to open about 5:00 p.m.  They had bought him a bunch of comic books to read.  They were not typical comics however.  One was a book in comic format.  Sara had also got cakes and water and stuff to decorate a little so when dinner was over about 6:30 p.m we started getting things ready for the party that Sara had planned for him.  Nathan's Bishop Alex Alonzo came a little early and helped us carry things to the dinning room.  They party started at 7:00 p.m. It started slow but it was steady all night and there were about 30 people.  Nathan seemed to be enjoying the party.

Lighting the candles on the first cake.

Nathan blowing out his candles on first cake

Second Cake lighted with big 40 candles

Friend from mission brought a Portuguese Calvin and Hobbs

Friend from the ward that Nathan had helped.

Teresa Johnson from the ward with Nathan

The Hoffer's from the ward talking to Nathan

Mike Trolinger giving Nathan a card

Friend from Social Work Master;s cohort

Sister from the ward talking to Nathan

Sarah Christensen talking to Nathan

Jan 6 and before

Maggie and June at Nathan room.

Today was the first day of school for the kids here.  Sara and the kids got home yesterday in the evening.  Sara had lots of errands to do so we volunteered to take Maggie.  Maggie is so much fun.  She has an exuberance that is exciting.  She talks a lot and has a lot to say about my little ponies but it is sometime hard to understand what she is saying because she does not enunciate all things correctly yet.

Nathan standing by himself from his wheelchair

When Sara left at 7:15 a.m. I thought I might get to go back to bed for a while but I had only laid down for 10 minutes when I heard Maggie whimpering.  So I got up and tried to help her with the things that she needed.  We got some breakfast and she wanted to watch a movie called My Little Pony:  Equestria Girls.  While she watched the movie Larry and I got dressed and had breakfast.

We were ready by 9:00 a.m. so we went to the gym first.  Maggie was able to go to the nursery there.  We did not stay long, only an hour, because we needed to go to a weight watcher's meeting at 10:30 a.m. in Schertz.  So we only walked for the time that we were there.  Maggie liked the Barbies and the Barbie doll house that they had in the nursery.

Nathan standing by himself from his wheelchair

I might mention here that it was bitter cold today.  Maggie did not want to wear her big coat when we left so I let her walk out to the car with just a sweatshirt on like she wanted but took the coat.  When we got to the gym she did not fight me about putting it on for the rest of the day.  It was 25 with a wind blowing that Larry said made it feel like 13 degrees.  It was 70 on Saturday and beautiful.  Then it dropped to 44 Sunday with a wind so it was pretty cold that day but today was almost as cold as Utah.

Maggie, Sara, and Nathan enjoying dessert

At weight watchers Larry had lost 8 lbs on the new program Simple Start and I had lost 4.  I was surprised because it seemed to me that we had eaten a lot.  Simple Start restricts you to certain foods though so it is a little frustrating for me.  You do not have to count points but you do have to stay to certain foods.  Sometimes I would like to be restricted to the points and be able to eat from a wide range of foods.  But I liked the fact that I could eat more bread on the Simple Start.  Actually Simple Start is just a marketing plan to emphasize the Simply Filling technique that Weight Watchers has had for some time.

The weight watchers ladies were so good to Maggie.  They let her have a book and a pen so she could write on it and they were passing out samples of the weight watcher's brownies and when she wined for another brownie the gave her two.  They also got her a clipboard with paper to draw on when she got tired of the book.  She thought she was pretty special and I was impressed.

Isaac, David and Sammy waiting for their food

After that we went to see Nathan.  He was excited to see Maggie after a week.  He was also excited to show us that he could stand up from his wheelchair and stand there for several minutes all by himself.  We talked for the hour and then went back to the house when he had to eat lunch so we could eat.

Before we went to the house though we had to go shopping.  We had eaten all the food that we had purchased last week and some of Sara's so we needed to get some.  It was fun shopping with Maggie.  When we started going into WalMart she started to say she wanted another My little Pony.  Then as we went through the isles of the store she wanted something on all the isles.  We made it out with only buying her cocoa, Strawberry Milk, and an apple.

June and Larry waiting for dinner

After we had eaten we went back to see Nathan.  We had decided to take the family out to dinner for our present to Nathan so he could get out again.  As the 7th is Nathan's birthday and Sara has a party planned at the Care Center for him we opted to take them out for Family Home Evening on Monday.  We spent some time at the Care Center looking at the menu for Chili's online as that is where we had decided to go.  That way Larry and I knew what we wanted before we got there.

Maggie and Sammy

Sara and the boys met us at the Care Center and we had a good discussion for a while and Nathan showed them that he could stand on his own by the wheelchair.  Then Sara and David and Maggie left to get some reward coupons that Sara had for Chili's and to get some cash for the taxi.  We stayed at the care center with Sam and Isaac until it was time to go to Chili's about 5:30 p.m.

/We had a good dinner at the restaurant.  We even shared dessert and had the servers bring Nathan a treat and sing to him. Larry and I took the kids home and put them to bed after that.  We watched a couple of episodes of Bones and then we went to bed.  Sara followed the taxi home and spent some time with Nathan before she came home.

Maggie coming out of her castle she got for Christmas

Going back in the week for the days that I did not post these are some of the highlights. 

Isaac enjoying a smoothie

Sunday was special because Nathan bore his testimony at church.  He went to the front and they had a microphone that they could bring to him.  He said that he knew that God loves us and that the church is true.  He said that he knew that Joseph Smith was a Prophet and many more things.  I think that he really affected many at the ward.  Several bore their testimonies after that and mentioned how Nathan had helped them in various ways.  One lady in Relief Society told me that he has been a unifying force for the ward.

Sara and the kids came home in the afternoon.  I didn't understand why they didn't go to see Nathan when they got back but maybe I don't know how it feels to live with the problem everyday.  After we went back to visit, Sara went up in the evening to see Nathan.

David, Sammy, and Isaac playing after returning home.

Nathan has been trying to learn to write again.  This is one page from therapy

Friday and Saturday I cannot remember anything that was special except that when I went to WalMart on Thursday night I must have dropped my Visa Card.  I got a notification on Saturday morning that my bank account wanted to know if some charges are valid.  When I first looked I thought that they were things we had purchased but then we realized that there was a $200. purchase on Saturday at WalMart and we had not been near WalMart.  I still thought I had my card so I went to look for it to call customer service and realized that I did not have it.  Anyway there was about $500.00 in purchases that had been made since Thursday night on my card.  So I had to cancel it and call the police that evening.  It was the third time that week that we did not make it back to the care center to see Nathan because of some problem.  I told him that I was not making this up.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday

New Year's Eve started by Larry and I turning off the alarm and sleeping in until 8:00 a.m.  Then by the time we had showered, prayed, read, and eaten breakfast it was almost 10:30 a.m. so we decided to go see Nathan before we went to the gym.

Nathan was in Physical Therapy.  He was doing a leg exercise when we entered.  You could tell he was not happy.  He stopped and just sat there.  I asked him if he needed to do more.  He told me that he didn"t know that he was waiting for her (the therapist) to tell him.  She, of course, was waiting for him to do some more leg moves.  Then they took him to try to walk.  He got really agitated because they wanted to hold onto him and he told them he could walk 196 ft at the VA and did not need someone to hold onto the walker and him so tight.  They have a belt that they put around him so that if he falls he will not crash that they hold on to.  I could tell that they had only planned for him to walk across the room but they revised the plan when he told them how far he could walk.  He is walking really well.  He is able to hold up his body much better than three months ago.  He walked to his chair and then they all closed in on him again when he wanted to sit down and he got angry with them.  He was ranting about how they do not need to help him.  I reminded him that he need to talk to them politely.   He then started ranting about how they do not tell him when they want to have therapy and that he needs a schedule.  He was very belligerent.  And told them this several times although it seemed to me that the original reason was that he didn't want them to get so close.  He repeated himself several times and Larry and I tried to calm him down and explain that he could talk to them instead of yell.  He told me the day before that people think that he is yelling when he is just talking.  I told him to remember that and that this was one of the times that he was yelling.  He finally started to calm down.  I said to him is therapy over or are you going to try to do something else?  He sat there for a few minutes and decided that he wanted to do more.  So they took him to stand by a table device to help him stand.  He calmed down there and began to ask questions about the view he could see from the window and to talk about his hands and their limitations.  When he finished standing he apologized to the therapist.  She told him that she was sorry also but that he had to realize that this was her first time with him.  I think that he is just having a hard time adjusting to the change of facilities and he wants everything to stay the way it was at the VA.

We went back to the room and talked for a while and then Larry and I went to the gym to exercise and to get lunch before we got back to the care center to celebrate New Years Eve. Nathan went to lunch.

I have been reading the book Les Miserables as I walk on the treadmill at the gym.  It is fascinating all the things that happen in the book that did not get included in the play and movie.  On this day I read about how he confessed and left but unlike the movie there were consequences and he was caught and tried and went back to prison at Toulon before he got Cosette.  He had to escape from prison again before he could go and get Cosette.

Nathan snacking and playing monopoly

We have been trying to do the Weight Watchers Simple Start.  It is different from regular weight watchers in that you can only eat certain foods but you can eat all you want.  I like that I can eat all I want to but it is very restricting on the foods you can eat.

We got back to the care center at about 3:30 p.m.  After talking with Nathan some and getting help from the Dietician at the care center, so we could have a table to play on, we began to play "Dr. Who Monopoly".  That is the version that Nathan and his family own.  I asked him if it was he or Sara that first got so excited about Dr. Who.  He said that he had started watching it when he worked on the border with the immigration fence.

Larry waiting for a player to move

We played for about two hours before it was time for Nathan to eat.  We had brought our own food because we became aware that we could not eat with Nathan because of calories.  We ate some of our food while Nathan ate his.  He has a man that sits at his table and every time we have been there he is on the right side of the round table from Nathan.  We had positioned the Monopoly table so that Nathan could just turn around and eat where he usually does.  This older man began inching into where Nathan normally sits.  He was making it so that Nathan could not sit at the table without going completely around about 4 tables.  I asked him if he would move back so Nathan could sit at the table.  He said nothing and did not move.  I had to leave for a few minutes and Larry said that while I was gone the CNA had asked him to move and he started shouting that he had been at the care center for three years and he was not going to move for anyone.  I got the impression that unknowingly Nathan had taken over his position at the table when he arrived and the man was upset because of losing his territory.  Fortunately the other man at the table moved to the right and Nathan was able to move in there and eat.

Larry rolling the die

Shrimp is one of the foods that we could eat so Larry got us two shrimp rings.  We ate one and shared one with Nathan.  He said that it was fun.  We also had popcorn but that seemed to cause Nathan some problems.  We had fruit like apples and pears and bananas and Dr Pepper diet caffine free for all of us and Nathan ate some of his after eating dinner.

We resumed our game and played and watched the ABC Dick Clark's New Year's Eve party with Ryan Seacrest on the big screen in the dining room.  I got ahead really soon and seemed to have lots of money.  I was even able to buy houses for two different monopolies before Nathan got tired at 8:30 p.m. and wanted to go to bed.  He always gets up about 6:00 a.m. so he is tired by 8:00 or 8:30 p.m.  We cleaned up and told him good night and went home to the house here.  We watched a Bones and then went to bed ourselves.  We are getting in a rut but we like it.

Wednesday started about the same and continued for the morning into the afternoon.  When we got back after lunch Nathan had just got out of the shower.  He had been on a walk earlier with the Bishop of the ward trying to figure out if he could ride in his wheelchair to church.  There is sidewalk about 1 mile of the 2 miles it is to church.  They had surmised that he could turn into the Residential neighborhood that was across the street and find side walks there.  Later Larry went and drove through the neighborhood and found that there were not more sidewalks and that it was further that way. But Nathan says it is not so busy in the residential and he could ride on the street so he is still considering it.

He also was wanting to get registered with the Viatran a bus for handicapped that only costs $1.75 one way to ride.  He looked it up on the Ipad and showed us the application.  It sounded like a good alternative to the taxi but then Larry noticed that it does not operated in Windcrest and that is where the church is.

We talked for about 2 and a half hours about this and that and finally it was time for Nathan to eat(6:00 p.m.) so we told him we would go eat and come back after we ate.  Sometime during the afternoon we noticed on Facebook that Maren and Landon were flying out to Utah on Thursday.  So we decided we will have to go home a little faster so we can see them.

When we got to the house the door would not open and anything we tried did not work so we texted Sara and asked her what she thought we could do.  After offering us several suggestions all that did not work she said that she could not help us.  Somehow we had looked the doorknob lock and the security alarm will not work to unlock that and all the keys she had left were locked in the house.  We had no choice but to call a locksmith.  Larry found one on his phone and called they said that they could be there in 15 minutes to a half hour so he told them to come.  In the meantime I went to Wal-Mart because I had to go to the bathroom and it was the only place I could think of.  I was also hungry so I bought some bananas and Dr. Pepper and Clementines and then went back.  This way Larry did not get low blood sugar and I was not hungry.  They finally showed up but by the time we got in and had eaten it was 8 :30 p.m.  I tried to text Nathan to tell him what had happened but decided that he was in bed.  He saw it in the morning but I felt bad that twice now I had told him we would come back and then did not make it.

This morning started out just like the last two days except that we got up at 7:00 a.m. and it was colder and windy today.  We got to the care center about 9:30 a.m. and Nathan was talking with the Speech Therapist.  Apparently she is working on helping him to pass the swallow test for thin liquids and she had given him some water.  He told me before that they had determined that he could drink milk without the thickener.  Larry and I were worried about who "they" were so we were relieved to find out that it was someone who knew what they were doing.  She also mentioned that they had talked in meeting about Nathan wanting a schedule and not wanting therapy after dinner.  Nathan said that he would give them until Monday to implement it before he talks to them again.

We talked to Nathan again for awhile about a lot of things.  He is getting very articulate and bringing up a lot of bigger words.  Before we knew it it was time for Nathan to eat lunch so we headed for the gym.  I ended up reading a lot more from Les Miserables today and so I did the elliptical longer and walked longer on the treadmill.  It was the part where they explain why Marius was with the rebels which is not explained in the movie.  Then we went home and ate and watched an episode of Bones.

While we were home Judy called and said that John had had a mini stroke called a TIA and so they would not be coming over tomorrow to stay with us like we had planned.  It is worrisome because when Larry looked it up online it said that often it is a precursor to a stroke.  This time his face became numb but he was not damaged in any way.  Too close to home for comfort.  We will stop on our way home but we will miss visiting with them here. 

When we got back Nathan was reclining in his chair and watching an episode of Dr. Who on his Ipad.  He sat up and we began to talk.  I was tired and started to yawn and pretty soon he was yawning too.  I suggested we go for a walk outside even though I did not want to go far because it was still cold and I had left my jacket home.  Larry said that he was going to go and wash the car.  So, Nathan and I went out the front door with him.  It wasn't too bad in front so we determined that we would go around the care center.  We went to what I think is the south and when we got to the end of the building it was much colder.  As neither one of us had jackets on we decided to be whimps and go in.

We began talking again and Nathan kept yawning and I kept wanting to lay down on the extra bed.  After a while I suggested that we both rest for a few minutes.  He leaned back in his chair and started his movie and I lay down on the bed.   A little while later I heard Larry come in and Nathan began talking to him about getting him some restaurant food for tomorrow.  I listen to that for a while and then I hear Larry say you should show that to your mother so I sat up and asked what.  They showed me that they had figured out that Nathan could practice standing by standing up to the dresser or standing up to the bar in the bathroom.  They had a good talk.  I thought it had been about a half hour since I laid down but they informed me it was an hour and a half and that it was time for us to go home and eat and Nathan had to go to dinner.  I was thinking I should go to sleep more often as that is the most Larry has talked to Nathan in all the trips combined probably.

On the way home I noticed that Kirsten had messaged me on Facebook, about the time I had gone to sleep, wanting to know if we wanted to skype .  I talked to her for awhile there and told her to message Nathan.  Then about that time Nathan texted us to let us know that he had found Larry's phone still there.  I told him that Kirsten wanted to skype and had probably messaged him on facebook so he said he would contact her.  He did and he said when we got back that they had a good talk.

We went home and had a yummy dinner, watched Bones and then went back to the care center but Nathan was already in bed.  He had his Ipad on his lap and I asked him if he wanted me to move it.  He said that he always sleeps with it so he can play games in the morning while he is waiting for help out of bed.  He has been saying that it is hard to roll over in bed.  Now I know why.  It has nothing to do with his limbs being stubborn. It is his Ipad lol.

Sunday and Monday

Sara left early in the morning before we got up.  They always as so quiet when they leave.  We got up read our scriptures, said prayer, ate breakfast, took showers and got ready for church and by then it was past 11:00 a.m.  We left for the care center to see Nathan and to take him his shoes.  When we got there at about 11:30 we realized that we had forgotten the shoes.  Larry went back to get them.

We had asked Nathan to see if we could eat lunch with him and they said yes.  So after a few minutes Nathan and I went down to the dining room and ate lunch a little early.  It was a good lunch.  Dressing, turkey, gravy, green beans, and pumpkin pie.  Nathan said that he had to tell them no tea or coffee when he came and I had to tell them no tea that day.  At first I thought it was juice but it wasn't juice.  Everyone in Texas drinks ice tea so they thought I was weird when I ask for something else.  We finished before Larry got back so we got his meal for him and took it to the room.  He got back just as we were leaving the dining room.  We got Nathan's shoes on him and by that time the taxi was there to take Nathan to church.

When we got to church the person driving the taxi said that we would have to call in for a pick up.  So I initially texted Sara asking her if she was going to call about the pick up.  I realized later that I was saying will you call but at the time when I did not get a call I called and ordered a pick up at 4:30 p.m. when Nathan said he wanted it.  Later in church Nathan got a text saying that Sara had called an ordered a Taxi for 5 minutes after 4.  I realized that we had two calls in for the same place and so I tried to call in and change it but until 3:30 p.m. my phone was not making the call.  It was so frustrating.  But I finally got through and cancelled the taxi for one of the times.

Nathan had lots of people from the ward come up and let them know how happy they were to see him.  One couple even told them that they would be coming over for Family Home Evening if it was okay with him.

It was good that we took the later time because a girl in Nathan's ward spoke the last few minutes of the Combined 5th Sunday meeting bearing her testimony of the gospel.  In that she mentioned that she had fallen out of a helicopter and had brain damage.  She was now up doing things normally.  Immediately after the meeting Nathan went up to talk to her.  He seemed to be encouraged by the fact that she was now "normal" after a brain injury.  She said it took her 3 years to recover.

We went back to the care center and began to try to Skype with Kirsten.  For some reason it would not work on my computer so Nathan brought it up on his Ipad.  We had a really good visit with Kirsten and Taylor.  Nathan was talking well and we had a good time.

We had decide to stay for dinner with Nathan rather than go back and fix something so we did.  Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and a bowl of potato soup with bacon. Nathan also got pears but we did not but when we went to pay the kitchen help just said not to worry about it.  After that we decided we could not complain about the food.

Then we contacted some of the other brothers and sisters and Nikki replied back on Skype and we had a good talk with Lexie, Ashton, Abbie, and Myles for a while.  In the meantime Nathan had got tired and so he did not talk as well as he did with Kirsten.  We went home and finished up the nightly ritual of having to watch Bones at least once.  Not a good Sunday activity.

Today we went to Weight Watchers after the regular rituals.  It was a new meeting place so there was just us and one other person that stayed for the meeting.  We both gained weight so we ate too much for Christmas or their scales are different.  The talked about the new Simple Start program where you do not have to count points so Larry got really excited about that and decided that is what he wanted to do.  Later in the afternoon he went and got the foods we needed to eat on that plan.

We went home to eat lunch so we would stay on plan.

By the time we got to the care center it was about 12:45 p.m.  Larry decided that he wanted to go to the AAA office and get a map and stuff for our trip home so he left me to go with Nathan on a trip to the doctor.  The mobile ambulance that was supposed to pick him up was late.  They were supposed to come at 1:20 p.m.  They did not come and finally I went to the nurses and asked if they knew if we were supposed to come and be in the lobby and if they were there.  They called the company and they said that they were in transit.  I went back to Nathan's room to wait.

While I was waiting Nathan was working on his blog.  He had been working on it since we got there.  I could tell he wanted to work on it so I just sat there and watched him as he typed out his blog one finger at a time.  I wondered if anyone could possibly realize how much work he puts into the blog.  I wonder if anyone knows how hard it is for him to keep going when everything is so hard to do.  He works so hard everyday just to keep going.

The mobile ambulance finally came about 2:00 P.M.  The driver was all apologies, said he had not received the call until 1:28 p.m. so I am assuming that he didn't get the call until the care center called.  In the morning they had said that maybe Nathan would not get to go in his electric wheelchair.  He was upset about that some but when the nurse called she told them they needed a wheelchair unit.  I might be wrong but it appeared that initially who ever ordered the transportation did not bother to order a wheelchair transport.  But when it came that is what it was.

We got to the VA a little late for his appointment.  Maybe 5 minutes but they said he was okay.  I was expecting maybe a 5 minute appointment because the last time this doctor had examined him in the VA he came in asked him a few questions and was gone before that time was up.  But I forgot this is the VA outpatient.  We went in and sat in the waiting room for a while.  Then they took him back to a room and had him read some lines.  Then they took him to a wheelchair accessible room to have him read some more lines.  I kept asking if they needed the papers that the care center sent but they said when he sees the doctor.  I finally figured out that this was not the doctor.  Then they said that we would have to go to an area to wait to see the doctor.  While we were there a man brought Nathan a piece of paper with his sons name and telephone number on it.  He said that his son was in the Polytrauma center with Nathan.  Finally he got in to see the doctor.  I recognized him as the doctor I had seen before.  I was surprised though that he recognized me as Nathan's mother. 

The doctor said that Nathan's eyesight was doing very well and that it had not changed much in the last while meaning it had stablized.  He said that his eyesight was 20/20 with his glasses and he really does not have much of a problem because he only wears his prescription glasses occasionally.  Most of the time he wears the sunglasses that help to protect his eyes from the glare and I found out those are not prescription.  He kept telling Nathan he was really impressed with his progress and actually I was too.  He could talk so others can understand him and he took care of the whole visit himself.  I would not have needed to be there but he told me he has glad I came.  The doctor explained that Nathan is missing some vision in the upper right section of his vision but he said that the eyes are making good accommodation for it.  After a few minutes more the doctor took us out to the waiting room again and it was empty.  The nurse called the mobile ambulance and he was finished about 4:00 p.m.  By the time they picked us up and got us back to the care center it was about 10 minutes to 5:00.  I told Nathan I was going home to fix dinner and would be back later.

Because Maren had bought us a Bountiful Basket for Christmas and part of it was a Mexican basket we had about 10 tomatillas to use.   Larry loves Chile Verde and I had found a recipe for pork chile verde online when I had googled how to cook tomatillas.  I knew he would like it and he had gone and bought some pork so I could make it.  I started to make it and everything was fine until I realized that Sara's food processor had not worked for me earlier.  I put the food in and it still would not work.  So I took it out and looked up the book for the food processor on line.  I could not see that I had put it together incorrectly so I was frustrated when it still did not work.  I saw a number on the booklet that you could call for service.  I called and explained what I had done.  The person had me test some different parts of the food processor and each time the engine worked.  However when I put the lid on it did not push the lever down that was supposed to make the thing work.  I figured out I could work it with a butter knife holding down the part that was not pushed far enough.  But by the time I had figured this out and finished the Chile Verde it was 8:30 p.m. and Nathan gets tired at 8:00 p.m. so I texted him and told him why we did not come back.  He saw it the next morning.  He did say that the family from the ward came and played the game with him and they had a good time.

Christmas and Beyond

Nathan and Sara looking at the book that Chiska Compiled

Christmas Morning I was surprised that the kids did not get up earlier.  We set out alarm for 7:00 a.m. with instructions to call us if the kids wanted to open their presents.  The alarm went off and when we texted Sara that we were going to breakfast she said that they were already there.  So we all ate breakfast and then we went back to their room and began to open presents.  I thought that Santa had dropped his whole load there.  We played until about 11:00 a.m. and then decided that rather than have Nathan go back to the care center then we would take him home and figure out how to get him in the house.  So we ordered the taxi to take him to the house.

Quilt that Chiska made

One of the things that got opened that morning was a quilt that was made by Chiska Williams from the fabric that was sent to her when she started the Group on Facebook, Nathan and Sara.  They also had a book with pages from people that had contributed fabric with messages to Nathan and Sara.  One of the messages even had cash in it.  There are pictures of Nathan and Sara looking at the book and of them holding up the quilt.

David playing at the hotel.  Maggie in foreground

When we got to the house he rode in his wheel chair through the garage as close as he could get to the door from the garage to the kitchen and Sara carried him on her back as a human walker and then we got him to the rolling desk chair that they have and he sat in that.  He seemed to like rolling around the house and looking at different things.  When he noticed something that was different he would ask about it.  He really seemed to enjoy seeing the dogs again and they seemed to enjoy him.  All though at first Hercules didn't seem to know him.  But, considering that he is about 90 in dog years that was not too unusual.

Isaac playing with his new nook

I thought that Santa had dropped his whole load at the hotel but I was wrong.  The kids had just as many presents to open at home as at the hotel.  We had a good time opening the gifts there and then everyone began playing and watching movies.  BJ and Holly had sent them Despicable Me 2 and Monster's University so we watched those for a while.

We had one scare.  Nathan was trying to watch what Isaac was doing with a game and leaned over the couch arm so far that his body flipped him out of the couch and onto the ground.  He could not get up so Sara and I attempted to pull him up.  I am sure that Sara did most of the lifting because I could hardly lift him.  He was soooo heavy.  We finally got him back in the couch after about two lifts but I felt like a real whimp.

Maggie with her Flashlight Bunny

Sammy trying to charge his nook

Getting Nathan to the bathroom with no handrails was also a job.  We were able to roll him in the chair but it would not go through the door so Sara had to pick him up and act as the human walker again and help him to the toilet.  Once he gets there he cannot pull down his pants himself so I had to go that and then he was able to go.  Getting him back was as complicated as getting him there.  It would be good if Sara could put in some adaptations but if she even puts in a few things here then she loosed her VA money which is $60,000 so she has been hesitant to put in any of the things he needs at this house because she wants to save it for a future house.

Sara fixed a great dinner of Ham and Funeral Potatoes with green beans.  She had also made cookies the day before and we had that and fruit for dessert.  It was a great ham that the Lions Club had got them for part of the sponsorship of their family for Christmas.

I didn't know that they have handicapped accommodated taxis

Nathan with Roxie

After dinner we got Nathan in the Taxi and followed it to the Meridian Care Center, Which is where he is staying right now.  It is a fairly nice care center and has a sign in the front that says it was voted #1 care center in San Antonio in 2013 but it is not like the VA Poly-trauma Center.  It does have a smell to it and Nathan has to go to a common shower to take a shower.  The room is very small and he is not required to share with someone else like most of the other patients because his wheelchair takes up so much room he would not be able to turn around.  The bathroom has the bars he needs but it is old and not very esthetically pleasing and much smaller than the one at the VA.  The Doctor at the center is working with Sara to get him to a place that is a rehabilitation center because this is a skilled nursing facility and they do some rehabilitation with him but he says it is not challenging like at the VA.  They have yet to pick him up and take him to the VA like they said that they would.  We looked around and went with Nathan to dinner and did visit for a while and went home about 8:00 p.m. because he said that was his bedtime.

Thursday we got up at 7:00 a.m.  We got ready and did prayer and scripture and then went to the Golds Gym close to their home with our visitor passes.  Then we went to visit Nathan.  Sara and the kids came about the same time and we all had a good time visiting together.  We went home for part of the afternoon about 3:30 p.m.   We just hung out at the house and ate for awhile and then I realized that I had promised Nathan that we would go back to the care center.  I texted him and asked if it was too late because it was 7:30 p.m. and he said that he was still up and would like us to come so we went over.

Sammy and Isaac playing at home

We had a good talk at the care center.  Nathan is talking so much better but he says it is not easy because he has to articulate so much to be understood.  He has some problem that is common in stroke victims that makes his emotions hard to control so he spent a lot of time explaining how he sometimes gets upset and crys or laughs inappropriately and it is hard for him to control once it starts.  He is trying hard to control it but Sara says that there is a medicine they can give him for it and she thinks that he needs it.  He is quite concerned about it because people are telling him that he is yelling and he does not think he is yelling at people but then once it started it is hard to stop.

We left the care center at about 9:00 p.m.  We thought that we would try to find our way home but we got lost and ended up in Universal City which is just next door to Converse.  We were just turning on our GPS when a policeman pulls Larry over for speeding.  It seems that they have a 30 mph on their mainstreet and we were going 42.  Larry was really upset.  He told the guy that we were lost but of course that drew no sympathy.  We are supposed to go to court on Feb. 12 so that will be interesting.

Sara trying to unwrap the doll ponies

Sara spent the evening dying her hair and doing things with her kids while we were at the care center.

Friday we went through the same rituals as Thursday in the morning because we had promised Sara that we would tend the kids for her in the afternoon so that she could get her hair cut and do a few things that she needed to do.  Larry did help her get her van to the repair shop in the morning so she could get some things repaired before they go to St. Louis to visit her dad on Sunday.  We thought we might get back to the care center that night but it did not turn out that way.

I spent most of the afternoon working on our budget so that we would know where we are.  Larry spent most of the afternoon watching Bones on Netflix.  I watched with him.  The kids spent the afternoon playing on their electronic devises and with their Christmas presents.  It was really cute listening to Maggie and Sammy playing with the Castle that she got for the Christmas to go with some type of standup pony dolls.  It is always fun to listen to their make believe as they talk.

Gingerbread houses the kids made before we came

Sara made some bean soup for dinner with the ham that we had for Christmas dinner and then she went out again.  This time she took Maggie with her and they had a good time running errands together.  They came back about 9:30 p.m.  Larry went to bed but I stayed up looking at the internet about Kathy Reich the inspiration for Bones and then Facebook.  I should have been working on this.  I also tried to connect my active link for Weight Watchers but the website would not work.

This morning I slept in and so did Larry because I turned off my alarm.  We got ready and went to the gym.  Then we went to see Nathan.  He was just finishing up lunch when we got there.  He had not gone to rehabilitation today and his bed was not made but he was in good spirits.  We had a good talk about a lot of topics.  He is still concerned about his lack of control of his emotions.  We stayed for more than an hour but then we needed to go get Larry some lunch.

When we got to the house Sara and the kids had left.  She had activate the alarm and it went off.  Larry did not know what to do so we got the number in late.  Luckily the person who called the house took the fact that I was the mother-in-law and only called Sara.  Sara had really worked hard to get the house clean while we were gone.  She was trying to get it cleaned before she leaves tomorrow.

Terrarium that Larry and Leslie sent the boys when Nathan had his stroke

Sara went to see Nathan so they did not get home until about 3:30 p.m. We ate lunch and watched a Bones.  I think we are addicted to Bones!!  Then we went back to visit with Nathan for a while.  We stayed until 5:45 p.m.  We have been  able to have some good talks with Nathan this time.  He is more there cognitive and less emotional than before and he is trying so hard to figure out how to deal with the problems of the stroke.

Sara wanted to go to a party with some friends tonight so we are babysitting again for her.  Boys are watching a movie.  Maggie is asleep. We are watching Bones.

Christmas Eve 2013

David, Isaac, Sammy, and Maggie as we arrive at the hotel

Tonight has been an exciting night.  We arrived in San Antonio about 3:30 p.m. after spending the morning at John and Judy Trolinger's last night.  We did not know what Sara had planned for the evening so we were pleasantly surprised to find out they had decided to have Nathan come for the night.  Because he cannot go to the house because of lack of handicapped facilities  Sara and Nathan decided to take the money they got from Wounded Warrior's project and go to a hotel at the river-walk in San Antonio.  I was amazed but at the same time excited at the prospect of having Nathan with his family for Christmas Eve.

Waiting in the Lobby for Nathan to get there and Sara to check us in

After we finished some projects at the house we left about 5:15 p.m. to meet Nathan at the Hotel.  Sara does not have a van to transport him yet so she has to call a taxi to transport him because of ADA regulations.  We got there and got checked in before he came.  After getting settled in the rooms then we went to the river-walk and went to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner.  It was cool because they told us it would be a 30 minute wait and then they got us in within 10 minutes.

As usual the Riverwalk was beautiful with the Christmas lights

We had a good dinner despite the fact that Maggie fell asleep and David looked like he did not feel good but he said he was just tired.  Nathan was able to take the stuff that they use to thicken his drinks and was able to drink Root Beer for the first time since the stroke.  Larry and I shared a steam pot called Joe's Bean Bake.  Usually they have good seafood but the lobster that I got looked like he was a little disable.  Not much muscle.

At the end of the meal Sara got out her card to pay for the meal just as the manager came by and told her that another patron in the restaurant had offered to pay all of our bill for us.  They wanted to be anonymous but they paid for the whole meal.  It was great that someone would do that for us.  I am sure it was because Nathan was with us and had his wounded warrior backpack and hat on.

Waiting for dinner

Then we went back to the hotel and when we were getting on the elevator a person  came up to him and told Nathan thank you for serving and that they really admired him.  Nathan started crying.  I am not sure why but I am sure he appreciated it.

Still waiting and Maggie is going to sleep.

We went back to the hotel with our emotions high and appreciative for all that people do for Nathan and his family. When we got back we downloaded a game to my phone called Stack your States for Sammy.  It is a geography game so it has some redeeming value.  Then we gave the kids their presents.  I was worried that David would not like anything that I had for them but he seemed genuinely excited about the Illustrated Stories of Shakespeare that I got for all of them.  Maggie was so excited about her pink teddy bear with blanket that we got for her and Isaac was excited about the legos.  Sammy just wanted to play the game so it all worked out.

After we opened presents we all watched the Christmas story on the new lds.org bible videos and then Sara also played a video about how to bring the Christ back in Christmas and we had a family prayer.  Then the kids all started getting ready for bed.  It has been a good Christmas Eve for our first day with Nathan and his family.  So grateful we had the opportunity to come and spend this time with them.  Thanks John and Judy for paying for our trip!

For once a good smile

In front of the Alamo

The Christmas Tree at the Alamo

Maggie loved the Cinderella looking carriages they had at the Alamo

Trying to get a picture of our hotel, The Fairfield Inn, I didn't realize I was also getting a picture of everyone else going to the hotel.

 

December 20th

Today was the last day of our LDS Employment mission.  We got up at six as usual and got ready to go with all our routines. Nathan texted me about 6:40 a.m. so they get him up early in this new place.  I texted him back but he didn't answer me after a while.

We had only received about a half inch of new snow from the night before but it was still in the trees like it had just fallen.  We are supposed to get another storm tonight adding 1-3 inches so we will see.  I posted some pictures of the snow on Facebook and told Maren to show her children what a winter wonderland looks like.

We went to Sam's club to get a fruit tray to take so that we would have something to eat if they brought treats to the mission, which they did.  We also took a lunch so that we could make it until 2:00 p.m. because we needed to be home for the appraiser of our home for the refinance loan so we couldn't take the early lunch like we usually do.  When we got there they had a book for us, "When the White House Comes to Zion" that the missionaries had all signed for us.  It will be a great remembrance of our work there.

Larry left for about and hour during the mid morning and went to the post office to have them hold our mail for the three weeks we will be gone.  Then he also came home and got a check that Mom had given us for Christmas to deposit it in the bank.  So we have barely enough to get to San Antonio

While we were there Senator Hatch's office called me.  A Zenock Bishop (that sounds like a Book of Mormon name!) called and said that I should probably get hold of the Texas Senators about Nathan's placement and retirement.  They said that they would forward the information to Senator Conoyn.  Later he emailed me and said that Senator Conoyn's office would contact Nathan and Sara to see what they could do.

It was a really slow day today.  We only had about 6 people in today.  The computers were really slow also.  It seemed like it would take three minutes or more to load a new page.  Despite that I got all of my people done except one.  When we were getting ready to leave at 2:00 p.m. Frank, our boss, told us and Julie McKinstry to just go home because it was so slow and he kept the Hendersons.  Everyone gave us a hug, even Frank our boss, and told us we were welcome back any time.

The appraiser came and when he was leaving Larry asked him if he was going to be able to get the appraisal done so we could sign our papers Saturday and he said no it would be Monday or Tuesday so I guess that we will have to sign when we get back or have them email the papers to us to sign.

We went to the gym after the appraiser was here.  We stayed for about and hour and a half.  When we were walking they had a breaking story on the news that a judge in the Utah district court had declared that the Amendment Three to the Utah Constitution was Unconstitutional under the US Constitution 14th amendment.  The third amendment was  an amendment that declared that marriage was only between a man and a women in Utah.  Because the judge did not grant a stay hundreds of gay couples were going to the court house in Salt Lake City and getting legally married.  I was deeply disappointed with our society.  Larry was mad and continues to assert that Obama is the Anti-Christ and that the judge was one of his minions because he was appointed by Obama.

We came home and had dinner.  Then Larry announce that he was going to watch a "Bones" marathon on the TV.  I teased him and asked him what he was going to do when he got on the mission and could not watch TV.  He said he was watching it now so he would be ready when the mission comes.

We watched a couple of episodes of "Bones" and I wrapped some presents while we were doing that.  I also tried to get in a little walking.  I keep wanting to study a little about Kathy Reich the person that "Bones" is patterned after but I didn't.

We read our scriptures about 8:00 p.m. because we have to get up early tomorrow.  Actually we are reading "Preach my Gospel"  the missionary manual of the church to prepare for our mission.  It is a really inspirational book.  Larry went to bed then and I got up and walked for another half hour hoping to meet my goal for active link.  I watched the news on another channel while I walked and it was pretty much dominated by the same story again this evening.  They are now saying that it is going to snow on Sunday so that is not good news as we are leaving that day. 

I recorded my food and inserted the active link in the computer and I received 5 points for my efforts.  Don't know why it was so easy to get 5 points today and it is so hard sometimes.

December 19

It is a winter wonderland outside today.  It was snowing when we woke up and we had about 2 inches.  It snowed all day until about 6:00 p.m.  When we were outside shoveling tonight it was beautiful though.  Several of the neighbors bushes with lights on were covered with snow and it created a beautiful effect. 

Larry kept getting phone calls today about our refinance loan.  It seems that it finally was okay-ed by the underwriters so they said that we should be able to finish up before we leave for San Antonio.  That was good news.  But Larry had to find a few things for them and then the Assessors finally called and said that they are coming tomorrow.  So that was a good thing.

We went to the gym today in the morning but we only stayed an hour because we hadn't taken a book to read .  We like to watch "Bones" while we walk and the TV that they had at the gym was having problems therefore TNT was not being broadcast.  So we came home and watched an episode at home while we texted different people and worked on things on the computer.

I was hoping to go get Christmas presents for the rest of the grandchildren but when I subtracted the checking account we barely had enough money for the trip to San Antonio.  Maren had told me that she had gone into www.mine.utah.gov and found that I had some money that I needed to claim so I went in there to see if I could claim it but when I got in there it was another Donna Christiansen from Vernal, Utah that it was going to.  It was also going to Bryan Christiansen who was Emily Christiansen's son, who I think is Nathan age, so he must have married a girl named Donna.  They are no relation.  So I looked up Emily and she was on Linked In so I sent her a message about it.  But I could not get the money.

Sara put a message on http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/nathan74 about all the problems she has been having getting Nathan a good place to be and get the rehabilitation he still needs.  She is also having a lot of problems getting the retirement that he needs.  I got so frustrated that I texted my brother Larry Jenkins again and asked him if he could find a lawyer in San Antonio that could help Sara with the problem.  Later when I was going through my emails I noticed that there was a way to email one of our senators from Utah so I tried the same thing for Orrin Hatch and emailed him asking how I could get some help.  When I told Larry he said that I should email Rob Bishop our representative because the representatives work with that kind of thing more, so I did that too.  Hopefully we can find some help with this problem.

Kirsten and I texted back and forth today about the family party and BJ called to see if they could use the car when they come over at Christmas while we are gone.  We got several Christmas Cards today and one was from Mom.  She put $100.00 in the card so now I can go get a few more presents.

After we ate dinner we got ready to go see the Stake President about our mission papers.  We had a good talk and he was excited that we were going.  He told us to pray for the apostle that will choose where we are going to go and which mission we will serve in so that he can know what is good for us and the people that we serve.  He said that he will finish filling out his part of the papers tonight and submit them to the missionary department tomorrow.  He seemed to think that possibly it would not take as long as they say because we have an early availability.

We came home and shoveled all the snow on the walks and the driveway.  It took us an hour so we figured that we did not need to go to the gym.  Then we  watched another episode of "Bones" while I entered my food in the Weight Watchers app.  We read scriptures and said our prayers and Larry went to bed.  I was just going to enter my activity link information but when I checked it I only had 3 bars and my goal is 4 so I paced while I watched the news.  Then I put the information in and I had my 4 pts so hopefully I will have a new goal reached in the stats for this challenge.

Well getting too tired to think so good night!

December 18th and before

Lately I have not been able to get myself to stay up late to write because I am usually not writing until about 11:30 at night so I just haven't done it for three days now. 

The last thee days I have been able to get at least 4 activity points for Weight Watchers with my active link.  I have decided that I have an awfully high baseline because I can go to the gym and work out for more than an hour and I still do not make my baseline until about 4:00 p.m.  Today I finally made it at 2:00 p.m. and I got 6 points!  I was moving around a lot today because I was out shopping for Christmas presents for my grandchildren.  I decided that was the most important thing that I could do because we are leaving for San Antonio on Sunday.

So the morning was composed of our usual routine.  Get up, read scriptures, say prayers, hug, eat breakfast and go to the gym.  I walked for about 2 miles and then did 10 minutes on the elliptical and worked on 5 machines mostly for my legs today.  When we came home we ate an early lunch and then I made some salsa from some frozen tomatoes that I had from the summer.  Kirsten came by and got a nut cracker so she could crack some nuts for Jon.  Then Larry left to get tires for the car for the trip and to get it checked out.  I was going to work on curriculum and then decided that I needed to mail some of the presents I have from here and get presents for the ones that will be at the party on Saturday.  So as I mentioned before, I went out for the afternoon and went to several stores but finally found a pink Teddy Bear for Maggie and some Legos for the boys.  I also mailed the presents to Jeff and Jakes's children so they might get there for Christmas.

Tonight we went to talk to the Bishop about our mission papers and what we have to do to be ready.   He said that he has to sign that we understand that we might not go were we requested and we told him that we understand.  We were instructed to call the Stake President about our interview with him so that it is completed and our papers can be submitted before we leave so we did that tonight and we may know when we will meet tomorrow.  The Bishop is so excited for us to go.  He asked us several times if we had any preference but we left that up to the Lord with the request that we go to San Antonio.

Monday we got up and did the routine.  Then we went to Weight Watchers.  We both gained weight but we weren't surprised because we had so many bad days the week before where we over ate.  I was kind of in a funky mood because of that but we made a commitment that we would buy some free foods like fruits and we have done better this week so far.

Maren called about 8:00 a.m.  She was frustrated because the thread in her needle kept breaking.  I told her to change the needle because she had tried everything else.  Then I went in the kitchen because she had hung up.  I said to Larry that Maren wanted to know what to do to keep the thread from breaking as she sewed.  He said, "She needs to change the needle."  I thought he was pretty smart.  We went on eating and then it dawned on me that Larry did not know anything about sewing.  I asked him how he knew that she needed to change the needle in the sewing machine and he said.  I heard you tell her that in the bedroom!

After Weight Watchers we went to the gym and worked out for about an hour and a half.  I felt like I had really worked out but I did not get my baseline until about 5:30 p.m.

Nathan started texting me in the morning about 6:50 a.m. and we talked off and on all day by texting.  I was impressed by the things that he wrote on his blog at http://www.iamnotdeadyett.blogspot.com/.  I told him that even though he felt like he was in a coma and did not remember what was going on around him that we felt like he was cognizant and he would blink his eyes to answer things.  He posted a comment about that tonight.

I called Misty and Nikki to figure out which of the books I had purchased for their kids needed to go to which children.  Their kids along with Ryker got the most books because they posted wish lists on the Usborne books website. Then I spent most of the afternoon working on getting our checkbook balanced so that we knew how much money we had.  We were disappointed to know that we only had about $269.00 left for the trip and for some of the presents we needed to get.  But it always feels good to know where you are and have some money left over.

For Family Home Evening Larry and I wrapped all the books and got them ready to send to the grand kids.

Tuesday morning we went to the Bountiful temple after we went to the gym.  We ended up being the witness couple again.  It was awesome.  It makes it so I pay better attention.  I felt like the spirit told me that I didn't need to worry about the money so much but that was Satan working on me to discourage me.  I have been able to see how to accomplish things that yesterday seemed impossible.  We did not get home from the temple until about 4:00 p.m.  I did a name that I had found that Nathan reserved before he was married.  Larry did one of the last of the ordinance cards that we had printed with the data base that Judy gave us.

We fixed dinner and cleaned up. Kirsten came by for a few minutes to get her Christmas money.  She had Taylor with her.  We haven't decorated much but we did put out a few things and Taylor was completely enamored with all the new things that we had out.  She had to show her mother each one.  It was fun to watch her.

 I watched some news and then I went to work until 10:00 p.m. working on the Marketing Curriculum.  I am so frustrated because it is taking so long.  Larry went to the gym for a while.

After we read scriptures for the evening and said our prayers I decided to walk because I had not gone to the gym with Larry in the evening.  I watched an NCIS on On Demand while I paced back and forth and was able to get in enough walking to get me to 4 points.  Kirsten called when I was walking to find out about Smart Wool socks so I talked to her again for a while.  It was midnight before I got to bed so I set the alarm for 8:00 a.m. and we slept in.