Twenty Three Days!

Twenty three days until school is out! May 29th is the last day of school. I wish I were one of those people that doesn't keep track. But, frankly, I'm just not... In twenty three days I will be free from all work responsibilities until mid-August!!! (except for the 10 or so summer days of summer work I signed up for). This will be my first summer with no major school or work obligations. It is hard to imagine so much time that will be open.

My parents came to Utah last week for my sister Kelsey's graduation. It was great to have them around. We went out to dinner at Tucano's and the Bombay House while they were here, and they had fun with graduation ceremonies, hiking, and shopping. I am so grateful they could both come!

Despite the fact that I've been feeling a bit under the weather yesterday and today, things are going well. Vance and I are planning fun things this summer like going to sand dunes, boating, southern Utah, hiking, family reunions, etc. I'm excited for it all.

Lastly, I'll have to post two of my latest sewing projects. First, is a baby blanket for little Jared (Kelsey and Ken's little boy coming soon). Also, I'm working on a quilt for a twin sized bed. It's going to be awesome!

It has been a great month

1. Peter has recovered very well from heart surgery. During the surgery, the doctors decided to repair his valves instead of replacing them. He is now ready to return to school tomorrow and I am so grateful that he is better.

2. I was able to visit the some of the family last week in Wisconsin to see Mom, Dad, Ruth Ann, and Peter. Peter and I were able to drive to Chicago and meet Joe, Carrie, Sawyer, and Hunter (whom I had never met!) at the Children's Museum. Hunter is a beautiful boy and a great addition to the family.

3. Vance and I had a fun trip in Las Vegas and visited two of his sisters and their families. We stayed with his sister Janessa and her husband Jeremy with baby Kayla as well. His family was a lot of fun to be with. We got to go hiking and experience downtown Las Vegas. Here are some pictures from the trip!

Surgery Day is Here!

Peter's rescheduled heart surgery is tomorrow, Friday, April 3rd. Peter's doctor assigned to his surgery was called to be involved in a heart transplant for a baby during the night prior. So the surgery never happened on March 18th. Tomorrow morning at 7:30 A.M., his pulmonary valve will be removed from its place and replace his aortic valve (that will be forever removed). A transplant valve will be used to replace the pulmonary valve. He'll be on a heart and lung bypass machine. This way the heart and lungs don't have to work... a machine will pump and oxygenate the blood for his body while the doctors can work their magic! This is of course, what I've heard second hand of what will happen...

We are all very excited and yet anxious as well! It seems to occupy many of my thoughts these days. Keep him in your prayers...again!

My Wonderful Little Brother Peter!

My little brother Peter is going to Milwaukee Children's Hospital tomorrow for his second open heart surgery. It will take 4-6 hours to repair his heart, meanwhile he'll be on a heart and lung bypass machine. Below is a simple diagram of the heart. I believe they are fixing areas in his aorta and the valve next to it.


Peter is most excited about the room service. He jokes that he's going to push the button every two minutes. He also is excited to play X-Box (specifically their Star Wars games), have his own TV, access to a computer, great cafeteria food, and of course receive lots of attention. He also tells my mom how he won't have to do so much work around the house...

Please keep him in your prayers and pray for the doctors as well!

Lately

Recently I attended a Cinderella Ball. There was a fancy dinner, unforgettable entertainment, and a dance. It was so fun dressing up. I honestly believe that the way we dress can influence how we act and feel. So if I dress more nicely, I definitely am my better self. If I am in some Saturday garb, I feel and act a bit lazier. What do you think? Here is Vance and I.


Mary and I work together at the same elementary school. She's a second grade teacher. One of the best parts of my work day is lunch, because I get to sit by all my work friends and chat, and talk with adults! The buzz around school is all the budget cuts our district needs to make by the end of the year, and for next year as well. I never thought the downturn of the economy would affect me, but it has. School supplies, aid time, and possibly even salary increases will be cut.

Thanks for a Great Birthday!

Last night a couple of friends and I were playing with her new MacBook. We enjoyed taking a few pictures with the neat backgrounds. This was right after our soccer game, so we are a bit dirty, but oh well!


























Also, thanks to everyone for the great birthday. It was the best!!! I am blessed by the thoughtfulness of my friends and family!

Highlights that I must mention:

Hiking Ensign Peak
Lunch at the Blue Iguana in Salt Lake
Surprise dinner from Vance, with my sister and two of his sisters there
Party with friends in the evening (Cake, balloons, streamers, singing nice words said, etc.)

Winter in Utah

It has been cold, cold, cold. Work has been busy lately too with so many meetings, paperwork, scheduling on top of therapy. But of course that's all part of the job, even though the best part is the actual therapy. Today was a fun day. A paraeducator, Melody, who helps me has made a couple hundred speech bucks. Each of the students (not the preschoolers, they're a bit young) gets one speech buck for coming on time to speech. They also can receive one for completing and retuning their homework. At the end of the month, they can use their "money" to buy from the Speech and Language Store!! Yipee. They can buy marbles, small erasers, tiny pieces of chocolate, jumping frogs, chinese finger traps, mini frisbees, mini candy bars, etc. It is kind of fun. It seems that this system has been the most motivational. Kids were getting bored of the stickers. One even said, "no thanks," last week! I laughed and knew the stickers had to be done away with! Funny. The kids at school are great to work with. They are all making progress.

What else has been happening? I learned a good lesson on bargaining last week. It is worth it! Ask for discounts and deals, and then bat your eyes girls!!! Getting the Nissan an oil change, manual transmission fluid change, tires rotated, etc looked to be pretty expensive. But just asking to have discounts sure did the charm, and then pulling out my nifty Jiffy Lube VIP card for an additional 15% discount was AWESOME. Seriously, you can save a lot of money by just asking.

A Kenmore sewing machine was a big present for Christmas this year. Yes, I am a sewer now. The last quilt I made was in high school, for one of the 20 hour Young Woman Medallion projects. Mom helped me make a couple dresses, skirts, blouses, then too. This week I got all the fabric to make a quilt. It has black and white prints, with different patterns along with blue prints. It is going to be great. The only setback I have had was a few days ago, when I was ready to thread the bobbin, I realized I'm missing the accessories pack, which has the parts to help you work the machine. It'll come in the mail.....

Finally, other exciting things going on are the two babies on the way in the family. My sister-in-law is having a C-section this weekend, and my sister Kelsey is already 18 weeks along with her first. It is an exciting time.

Here are some other pictures of the happenings here:




We built a snow fort. There are still remnants of this fort six weeks later. Yes, this is basically the same photo!


Giving Vance a haircut. Kelsey looks happy, I'm interested, and Vance frightened, and rightly so when I had the scissors! In the end, it was a VERY good haircut.



Also, two weeks ago my family and I met in Orlando, Florida. We spent the entire week at the DisneyWorld parks (Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, and Epcot. The 50-60 degree weather was nice too. It was a fun experience. We stayed in a nice condo in Orlando on some water, went out to some nice restaurants in the evening, slept well, etc. Could you ask for a better vacation? Pictures will come soon.