January 2015

The month is gone…

We took the kids to SLC for a wrestling tournament that had 2 parts to it.  Hunter and Dallin both wrestled and took first in the “True Beginner” portion of the tournament.  It was a fun trip.  We swam – Trish and Matthew came up and brought their girls, we went to the Aquarium before we came home – the kids loved that.  We also did temple square and were able to see all the lights on the final night they were going to be on.  The kids loved that.  The visitor’s center was “So amazing” – they hadn’t been to the SLC visitor’s center before.

I was battling what was diagnosed as Perioral Dermatitis that whole week….it was very painful and the prescription that I had to be on was one that lasted 30 days.  My chin was a disaster.

Later in the month we took Hunter and Dallin ( and one of Hunter’s friend’s, Tysen) to another wrestling tournament in LaGrande, Oregon.  This was also a fun tournament.  We let Gwendalin and Tyler stay with Trish and Matthew at home for this over nighter…and they got to play with friends.  The boys did well, they were pleased with their efforts they both took 2^nd place. 

Overall the month was busy and fun.  Hunter seems to be struggling with school, social life.  Travis and I are concerned on a number of levels for him.  We constantly butt heads, we are struggling to be respectful (well, Hunter is) – he is lost.  We finally got him in with LDS Social Services to see a counselor and see if perhaps he can help him navigate through this hard time.  It is awful as a parent to watch your child struggle so much and not be able to do anything about it.  We just try to love him and help him in whatever ways we can and hope that the Lord will make up the difference.  It’s hard, REALLY HARD.  I don’t know that I would ever jump on the parenting ship if I knew how hard it was going to be.

MRI Nap Time

I had been having trouble with my back again the Tuesday before Christmas.  I could hardly walk at work….my foot would catch the floor and I would almost trip, my leg hurt to the core and so on Christmas Eve I went in to the doctor to have him check it all out again.  He put me on a steroid and a pain killer for when the pain is really unbearable, which I used several days in a row.  So today I had an MRI to see what kind of soft tissue damage (if any) is going on.   I wasn’t nervous about the MRI at all, in fact I looked forward to having to lay still.  And I fell asleep for the duration of the procedure.  It was such a nice mid-day nap to be able to have.  Hopefully, they can tell me conclusively what might be going on that flares and causes to much pain.

MRI

Best nap every during an MRI to see what might be going on with my back.  I highly recommend it.

Salt Lake Slam

Travis had been looking up different tournaments for the boys (especially Hunter) so that they could get some mat time and some more experience and more wins (Hunter) to build confidence.  There were 2 parts to that tournament a regular tournament with all kids and then one that was “True Beginners” (wrestlers that have only been wrestling 2 years or less).  Both Dallin and Hunter took 1^st place in the true beginner tournament.  In the regular tournament Dallin wrestled 4-5 times all very hard matches (against 2^nd graders) , he rivaled all 3 rounds each time but ended up only winning 3 matches and losing 2.  He was not happy, but it was good experience for him.  Hunter lost both of his matches in the regular tournament, but not because he got pinned….he held his own all the way to the end.  He has made such amazing progress.  They are both really fun to watch wrestle.

Trish and Matthew came and brought their girls. Matthew helped coach Dallin and Hunter.  The kids swam at the hotel, we ate at golden corral and we went to the Salt Lake Temple on the last night of their “Christmas Lights” display…they loved it.  Saturday after the tournament, we took them to the aquarium and spent some time looking at the sharks and the other aquatic life.  They seemed to enjoy that as well.

Old Soul

We got home from SLC tournament and were getting ready for bed tonight.  We had scriptures and family prayer and then I went to make my rounds tucking everyone in.  I got to Tyler’s bed and he was crying.  Obviously I was concerned so I asked him what was wrong.  Here’s hour our conversation went:

Tyler:  I didn’t know I was supposed to repent every day.  What if I forgot something and didn’t repent and now I can’t go to heaven?  (all of this while crocodile tears are streaming down his cheeks)

Me: Oh buddy, it’s ok.  Everyone is just trying every day and even me and dad aren’t perfect.  We still have to repent every day when we make mistakes, and you didn’t know how it worked yet.  What matters is that you have a good heart and Heavenly Father sees that in you – he sees that you are so upset right now and he is happy that you want to be so good.  I promise you will still go to heaven if you keep trying.  You just have to keep trying your hardest, and now that you know you should try to repent every time you make a mistake, you can try to do that.

He seemed satisfied at that point, but I felt awful.  I was in tears by the end of the conversation.  He is the sweetest gentlest soul.  I’ve told many of his teachers that he has an “old soul” – and he does….just wise and wants to be good so bad.