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Tender Mercies

This week has been hard. Volleyball games, first immunizations, wisdom teeth removal, and then on top of those add two very sick kids. But even in all the crazy running around and chaos, I have seen the very tender mercy of the Lord in my life this week. Before I had my wisdom teeth out, I asked Ike to give me a blessing. I was so nervous about the procedure and being able to take care of the kids while Ike was at work and at a volleyball tournament this weekend. In the blessing, I was told that I would be able to accomplish everything that I needed to do and that everything would be fine. Well, the day before I had my teeth pulled Jackson got really sick. High fever, sore throat, the works. So I took him in to the Dr. and he had an ear infection (mild) in both ears and the beginnings of strep throat. Lots of Tylenol and antibiotics later, we went to bed. The next day I had my wisdom teeth removed and overall things went well. I was expecting to be in a lot of pain and have my mouth all swelled up for the next several days. Well when I woke up the next morning, I had virtually no swelling. I had very little pain. I was actually really fine. Then Brady woke up and he was not fine. High fever and vomiting. I couldn't get him to eat hardly anything. I spent the morning trying to get his fever down but finally after his nap, with a 103 temp I ran him to the doctor. I had to go get his prescription and then we had to do a urine sample to see if his kidney was infected. Thank goodness it wasn't! So basically it was a crazy day. When both the kids were finally asleep and I was laying in bed thinking about my day I realized how incredibly blessed I was. I had had my wisdom teeth out 24 hours ago. I should have been in horrible pain. I should have had a face like a chipmunk. But I didn't. I felt completely normal and I was able to run my sick kids all around Fullerton and clean up vomit and not feel like I was going to die. I remembered the blessing I received and being told that I would be able to do everything I needed to do. I thought about my day and realized what an incredible act of mercy Heavenly Father had shown me that day. Did I mention that Jackson was 100% feeling better? That last night Brady slept 9 hours straight and woke up without even a hint of a fever? Sometimes it is so easy to get caught up on everything that is hard that we forget how amazing the Lord is and the work he is doing in our lives.

"How can we love days that are filled with sorrow? We can’t—at least not in the moment. I don’t think my mother was suggesting that we suppress discouragement or deny the reality of pain. I don’t think she was suggesting that we smother unpleasant truths beneath a cloak of pretended happiness. But I do believe that the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life."
-Joseph B. Wirthlin
Come What May and Love It
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/come-what-may-and-love-it?lang=eng

Wisdom Teeth

I had a few cavities filled yesterday as well as having my two wisdom teeth pulled. I can't really describe how much I did not enjoy the experience. It was not painful but the feeling and sound (especially the sound!) of having my teeth pulled made me never never never NEVER want to have that happen again. I got to look at them and the one from the top had a huge tail on it. I didn't take any pictures of myself in the Dentist's office or of my teeth afterwords but here is a pretty accurate picture of how I looked going in.

I looked much calmer when I left but that was probably from all the numbing medication in my mouth.
DAY 2 and still no swelling! Yay!

There and Back Again. Part 2: Utah!

I always like going back to Utah on vacations because my life changed so much while I lived there. We had the opportunity to spend two nights in Utah on this trip. We stayed with Ike's brother's family. What I really miss the most about Utah are the mountains.

Jackson and Boston enjoy some breakfast together. Don't you love cousins???

 

Jackson discovered the joys of Jump Rope.

We even got to go visit Grandma Carr!

 Family Photo with Grandma Carr!

Utah will always be near and dear to my and Ike's heart. And because we have so much family there we will always have an excuse to visit.

Brady

Even the Toughest Football Players...

have to take potty breaks.

There and Back Again. Part 1: Oregon!

This summer Ike and I had decided we that we were not going to go on any road trips. We decided that because Brady was being born it would be unwise. Well, when my Grandfather passed away last month that changed our plans slightly. We really wanted to go to his funeral. So we decided that we would make the trek from Nebraska to Rutland, Vermont. After about a week of planning, Ike came to me and said, "If we are going to drive all the way to Vermont,we might as well drive to Oregon and see your Grandparents and that side of the family too." To which I replied,"WIGGGIDY WHHAAAAA???". This was coming from Ike, by the way, who usually puts up a fight whenever I suggest we go on any kind of long road trip. I was actually the one who was hesitant. What about the kids??? Do I want to spend that much time in the car with them? Can our car even make it? What about the money? But, in the end it was decided and we began a 20 day extravaganza of long car rides and spending some wonderful quality time with family. On the way home we were deciding if it was worth it and we both decided it absolutely was. Part 1:Oregon! We drove through Utah, Nevada and Southern Oregon to get to Eugene. This was pretty much the view once we left Salt Lake. It got pretty old after about 14 hours. But then when we finally got to Oregon, we had a ton of fun. After about a day and a half at my Grandparent's house, we drove to California to stay in a cabin and see the Redwoods National Forest. Oregon was awesome! But it was only a portion of our entire trip. Stay tuned for our next exciting installment of "There and Back Again" where I talk about the Utah portion of this trip.