Poor Mom

On Friday, September 24, 2010 at about 10:40am, my mom was hit by a car.  She was a pedestrian and was about five steps into the intersection when a dark coloured Chrysler Intrepid that was making a left turn, turned right (meaning precisely) into her, hitting her on the left leg in the knee area.  She bounced up onto the hood and then down into the road.  (I really don't like the image this gives me in my mind!)  There were lots of witnesses there and people to help mom as they waited for help to arrive.  She says it took forever to finally get in the ambulance because they were being so careful with her neck and back.  Fortunately, the only major injury turned out to be a broken leg that required surgery and pins and plates etc.  Not that a broken leg for mom is an easy thing, but when we think of how much worse it could have been, we are grateful that it's only a broken leg.  Her artificial hip was just fine and her back too.

These pictures were taken the day after the accident.  The only stitches mom needed (apart from the surgery) were these two little ones beside her eye.  Lots of bruising all over her face and most of the left side of her body too.

This pictures shows the big black velcro cast and part of the scraped up ankle.  I took a close up of the ankle just so mom could see what it looked like.

Chelle visiting Grandma and mom showing off her IV. 

No one in the family knew about the accident until hours after it happened.  Dad was vacationing with Uncle Ervin and mom gave the police her home phone number (but she thought she had given out dad's cell number - she was a little befuddled - understandably so!).  So it wasn't until much later that evening when the hospital phoned dad's cell that we got the news.  Rich and I had been on a date and were just about home when dad phoned us and told us the news and asked us to go check on mom.  So I quickly fed the baby and we headed back to town - about exactly 12 hours after the accident.  (What is that, a paradox - "about exactly"?).  Anyway we were able to see that although she was hurt and drugged, she still seemed normal and had a sense of humour.  She was able to use Rich's cell phone to talk to Bec and dad.  Bec was able to send out emails right away to let others know the details.  And I'm sure it was reassuring for dad to hear that she still sounded the same!

Flowers, chocolate, good reading - everything you need to make your hospital stay more pleasant!

Oh, and a poster to liven up the walls!

On Sunday evening we all went in as a family to visit Grandma.  She's getting better but now she is suffering from weak spells and bouts of vomitting.  My personal opinion is that she is suffering from effects of the pain medication.  She'll probably be in hospital for a while yet.  And now for my delights from this entry:  I have lots of them!!!  I delight in having a loving mother, I delight in the kindness shown by so many people, I delight in the medical technologies we have and I delight in the knowledge that Families are Forever.  So even if I had lost my mom from earth last Friday, I still have her for eternity!!!

Kenzie Turns One

I know - hard to believe, but sweet baby girl is a year old already.  September 9, 2010 started with Grandma and Grandpa being there to help celebrate (they had slept over the night before - in their van outside because we have no extra room in the house!).

Okay I think my camera setting is off by a day because this was her birthday morning - the birthday girl wouldn't wear her pajamas all day!!!  Grandma and Grandpa gave her this gift, and she liked playing with the tissue paper, but she was in no hurry to open it - probably because she had no clue what a present was!  You can see that Grandma and Grandpa's attention was elsewhere because she wasn't doing anything except being cute!  The gift turned out to be a cute little pull puppy that makes Kenzie giggle like crazy.  The grandparents left by noon, but it was sure nice to have them visit for awhile - made the day extra special!

This is the puppy and these are some of her other gifts.  We did a really quick gift opening session between people getting home from school and work, and before rushing off to volleyball practice and the Ward Corn Bust.

"Do I really get to wear those outfits?  I'll be SOOO cute!!!"  We got those for her in Kalispell but she had to wait til her birthday to get them.  I especially love her in the green butterfly outfit.

She loves her new animal magnets (so does Jordyn) and spends a lot of time standing at the fridge and the dishwasher ripping them off and throwing them on the floor.  Sometimes she puts them back, or else she transfers them to other areas of the house.  We find little piles of magnetic animals all over the place.  But at least they are distracting her from opening the cupboards!!!

So after the gift opening, we went down to the Stake Campground for our Ward Corn Bust.  It was pouring rain the whole time but was still a delicious meal.  Katia was going around to everyone saying "It's my baby sister's birthday today!  She's ONE!!!"  And as for the birthday girl, she just slept in her carseat, on the table for the whole time.  I wish I had brought my camera to take a picture - she looked so sweet and relaxed with her cheeks all gushy and squishable.

I had to take a dessert to the dinner, so that was the extent of my culinary skills for the day.  So we got sneaky and brought a cupcake home from the dinner.  Jordyn ate the icing off it because sweet baby didn't need all that extra sugar - let the diabetic have it!  No, dessert tables like that at the ward dinner are hard on Jordyn with her Celiac Disease.  There is not much she can eat.  The icing at least didn't have flour in it so we let her have that and just give her more insulin.  So the rest of the cupcake made the perfect birthday cake!!!

She was a little worried about the whole flame thing at first!  But then she reached for it just as we blew it out and then she let out her evil chuckle and made us all laugh.

It didn't take Kenzie too long to figure out that she liked the taste of her birthday cupcake, and soon all that was left was . . .

. . . a nice pile of crumbs.  She played with them for a while and then I think we probably let the dog finish them.  Lacie likes to sit under the high chair and wait for things to fall.  She does a nice job of keeping the floor clean, so once in a while we like to reward her!

Kenz has become a real blanket girl.  She drags the light pink one (on the right) around with her everywhere and always wants it - when she's awake and sleeping - which makes it hard to find time to wash it.  So I got her the new white one (it came with a soft monkey) for her birthday.  She just seems to love the feel of the soft fleecy blankets.  Now she can at least have one blanket while the other is in the laundry.  Whenever she gets her blanket she snuggles in to it and says "Ahhhh!"  It's really cute, especially when the blanket is on your shoulder.

Getting to enjoy the new soft monkey too - and the old blanket.  I think it was a nice first birthday for the sweet lady.  And for the record - she doesn't seem too close to walking at all.  She will stand alone, and sometimes take a step or two before the lunge into whoever's arms are prompting her forward.  But I'm in no hurry to have her walking - she gets into enough mischief just crawling around!

And one final shot of the birthday girl . . .

Isn't she precious!!!  Which brings me to my delight:  I delight in my baby - everything about her and the joy she brings into our family!

Chelle Flies

September 6, 2010 (Labour Day) was the day that Chelle flew from the nest.  We attended the town pancake breakfast in the morning, then Chelle packed up the rest of her things.  Chelle and I went in first to go grocery shopping (had to fill that empty fridge!), and the rest of the family came a little later and started to unload her things.  By now we were all starving so . . .

We went out for a nice family dinner at Moxies - one of my very favourite restaurants.  (And yes, I had Beef Vindaloo!)  While we were waiting for the food to arrive, we all kept going around and around the round table talking about memories we had of Chelle.  What a wonderful trip down memory lane that was as we all reminisced together.  That will be a tradition that we need to do with each chickie as they leave.  I should mention that all the girls, and some more than once, kept going to the washroom because they love the bathrooms at Moxies - fireplace, TV, comfy chairs, etc.  Funny girls!!!

So after our lovely dinner together, we went back to Chelle's new nest and . . .

We took a whole bunch of pictures - Chelle with each person in the family and then some group shots.

Rich and I with our 18 year old.  It hardly seems possible that we are old enough to have a child leaving home because we look so young and spry!!!  It seems to me like she should be around 10 years old!

Now I know what you're wondering!  Where is Kenzie through all this?  Take a look . . .

Yup - she's sleeping again!  It looks like she has pretty much slept through the whole flying out of her biggest sister.

So then Rich and some of the girls said their goodbyes - they had to get home for a VB practice for Jas.  Carlee, Jordyn and I stuck around for awhile and helped another roommate move in.  I just wasn't in too much of a hurry to leave and it was fun to sit around and watch Chelle work!  She was assembling her bookcase with her lovely pink ladies tool kit (a grad gift from our bishop!).  So we eventually left and Chelle was happy to see us finally leave!  I had no tears at this time - they'd all been shed earlier in the day.  This was how her room looked when we left . . .

Someone has a little bit of work to do!  The garbage bags are all filled with clothes.  Chelle insisted on no help with anything, but I was sneaky!!!  I put the shoe rack in the closet - teeheehee!  I wonder if she even noticed?

So then I went grocery shopping for the second time that day and we went home to figure out how to rearrange the space at home now that Chelle was officially out of the nest.  I love that she is gone and experiencing life on her own, but still so close to home.  I remember when I left home and phone rates were still very expensive.  I communicated with home through letters - the kind with an envelope and stamp.  I communciate with Chelle daily by texting, emailing, facebooking, phoning and soon, skype, and I've seen her three times since she left.  I crave to know how she's doing each day and what she's filling her life with - although some times I'd prefer not to know that she went to bed after 5:00am!!!  How did my family bear it when I left home?  And that leads me to my delight for this post:  I delight in the technologies that allow me to still be a part of my daughters life, and I delight in my memories - those already there and those still to come!

 

Kenzie's Messes

Kenzie seems to feel that it is her duty to take all the DVD's off the shelf multiple times each day.  She thinks they look better on the floor.  If we pick them up, she'll take them down again within a few minutes.  So we got smart.  We started putting her baby books in front of the DVD's so she'd get busy reading and forget about the taking the DVD's off the shelf.  Sometimes it even works!!!  But mostly there will always be a pile of books and DVD's on the floor.  Thankfully she only seems to be interested in emptying the middle shelf.  We've all just learned to ignore the pile and step over it.  Now we mostly just clean it up when she is napping or at night time - it's Carlee and Jenna's full time job!!! 

Isn't she a little monkey!!!  However, if we catch her in the right mood, she will help us put them back on the shelf - that way she can pull them off again sooner!  We had a little video of her pulling everything off, but after two hours of trying to upload it and it still not happening, I decided just to post a picture instead (couldn't wait any longer - girls needed the computer for homework). 

My delight in this is that she is a happy and healthy girl, with a physical body that allows her to do things like this.

Chelle Gets Ready to Fly

September brought a new experience for our family - our first little chickie left the nest.  This was an exciting time for Chelle, but bittersweet for me as it meant that I would probably never have all my chicks under my roof again.  But that's all part of the plan right - how else am I ever gonna be able to grocery shop for two again?  Anyway, bear with me on my first attempt at posting pictures and all that stuff.  Let's look at my chicks new nest!!!

This was taken on Sept 1 - the day they got possession.  Rich and I went to check out the place with Chelle and see if a queen size bed would fit in her room - it did.  She's holding the keys in her hand in case you can't see that well!  It's a great location as she can walk to the college and institute.  Let's continue on with our tour . . .

Oh good - the newly cut keys do work!!!  Chelle has two roommates - one being her best friend Angi.  And yes, they stay up way too late talking to each other.  The other roomie is Lindsey, another local girl who is a year older (and wiser)!  Oh, yes, back to the tour . . .

Wow - it's a bedroom!!!  Won't this be fun to fill.  And this bedroom even has a closet but I'm not gonna show you that picture because it's not too exciting.  Moving right along . . .

Welcome to the kitchen, dining room and living room!  It's a cute little cosy space.  The doorway out is there by the stove, and the hallway past that leads to a bedroom and bathroom.  The other two bedrooms are on this side of the living room.  And yes, that is Kenzie sleeping in her carseat. I guess we had her with us too!  Okay, lets do some more snooping . . .

Oh the poor starving student!!!  Don't worry - on the day she moved in I took her shopping and we spent almost $200 on groceries, not to mention staples sent from home.  The cupboards are no longer bare!  All her stuff has a green sticker on it - the roomie identification system!

A few days later we took the biggest load into her nest.  Loaded up the cargo trailer and off we went (well actually it was just Rich and Chelle on that trip).

I must say that getting Chelle's stuff out of the house certainly made things a little more comfortable for us.  Now it was only three girls in one bedroom instead of four, and the chairs fit around the table much more comfortably.  (This is of course because we sold our house in July and moved into Gramma's and Grampa's house for a year while building a new home - so we were in transition too).

A few days after this, Chelle and I went shopping to find her the perfect bedding for the queen size bed - she'd always been on a single before (and it was usually one half of a bunk bed so she couldn't take that with her because we were using them).  We went to many different places and she finally found what she was looking for in Winners - and there were actually three sets that she really liked so it was nice that she could choose her favourite.  We also bought her a five shelf bookshelf that she didn't want any help in assembling.  So then we went back to her place to make her bed.  Let's take a peek at that . . .

Wait for it . . .

Waiting . . .

The suspense is killing me . . .

Ahh, here it is . . . finally . . .

Isn't that totally Chelle?  It even has two more pink pillowcases that we hadn't put on her pillows from home yet.  So it is indeed a girlie mound of pillows.  She loves it!!!  And now for one final picture . . .

This one shows a little more of her room - see, there is a closet!!!  And there is her lovely orange chair - it's gonna be one bright room!  I'm in the doorway with the camera.  She has her dresser to the right and then her desk by it.  And on the left side will be her new bookshelf once it's assembled.  She's got the biggest room of all the girls, but the smallest closet.  Tune in another day when we hopefully can see the finished bedroom!!!

And I'll sign off with my delight for this entry:  I delight in my biggest chickie, Chelle and the exciting time of life this is for her, and all the opportunities awaiting her!

Grad 2010

The May long weekend was graduation weekend here in town.  And yes, I realize May was a few months ago, but I hadn't started my blog back then, and I do want to document this milestone in our lives - our firstborn graduating from High School!!!

The whole process began with choosing the "perfect dress".  Chelle found her dream dress at a trunk show in November.  I couldn't attend the show with her because we had a sick little 2 month old baby at the time (bronchiolitis) and I got sick too - that was a nasty three weeks!  But when Chelle tried on "that dress", she knew it was the one for her.  So we ordered it from Beautifully Modest and it was delivered right here to our town - very convenient!!!

So, lets take a peek . . .

. . . so pretty!!!  It's tangerine!!!  The bodice was stiff with the boning and all the beadwork.

Let's see a little more . . .

. . . don't you love the sleeves!!!  The little dots on the skirt are actually tangerine and pink sequines that glistened when she walked.  They got more spaced apart further down the dress.  Her arm is blocking the flower.

And now for the whole dress . . .

. . . wow!!!  That's a ten layer skirt - we counted them all, plus the crinoline!  Such a fun dress to wear as you'll see later on!

Chelle looked radiant!!!  Cousin Jaime did her hair - some little rhinestone clips in there somewhere!!!  And that's all her hair, no extensions like lots of other girls added on.

So, she was all ready to go and now for the date to arrive.  Sam was a little late - something about locking the closet that had the tux in it???  But he showed up looking very dashing and they looked great!

And don't the flowers just finish the outfits perfectly?  Baby carnations and greenery and ribbon for Chelle's wrist and a bigger carnation for Sam.

So they left to meet with a bunch of friends for taking pictures together.  The weather was perfect!!!

Olivia, Michaela, Chelle, Talia, Kaylee, Dakota, Adrienne and Angi

Cute faces girls!!!

And add in the dates . . .

. . . striking their 007 poses!!!

And now off to the school to do the Graduation Class Photo.

MHS Class of 2010

Now off to the Auditorium to do some posing and pictures and visiting before the Banquet started.

One corner had a swinging seat.

One corner had a little bridge and outdoorsy things.

Cousins - Grady and Richelle at grad.  This corner was a bench in a gazebo.

The theme was:  A Moment in Time

We had clocks everywhere - this was a big one on the stage with all the grads names on it. 

 (I say "we" because I was part of the decorating committee and helped to brainstorm decorations, make decorations, and decorate.  At one time, we were up in the genie, up high, hiding the flags that usually hang from the ceiling, when the battery died and we couldn't get back down.  So Shirley and I hung out, up high, for about 15 minutes til they could find an extension cord to get us powered up again!  Anyway, that's why I'm pointing out all these decorations!!!)

Big Ben!

Chelle with her parents!!!  Seriously though, don't we look too young to have a graduate?!!!

More decorations!!!  We made all 12 of these pillars in our garage.  I love how the stage had the railings in front and a staircase going up.  There were also wooden clocks on every table that a tealight candle showed through a velum clock face - it added a lovely glow.  Each grad got to keep the one with their name on it.  And the ceiling was draped with 100 foot roles of gold and silver plastic (table covering plastic).  That was fun to put up!!!  You can see a bit in this picture.  It lowered the ceiling and made it look lovely!

More friends!  I had to include this one to show the duct tape outfit.  CJ and Adrienne's complete outfits are made out of duct tape, even the shoes and accessories.  They were in a contest and didn't make the finalists but it was sure amazing to see!!!

So after the banquet and toasts/replies, it was off to the other gym for a quick change into caps and gowns for the Graduation Ceremonies.

Chelle walking in to take her place on the stage.

And receiving her "Candidate for Graduation" fake Diploma from the principal.

After the ceremonies, they all got changed again back into their formal wear for the Grand March.

Chelle surprised us big time by . . .

. . . doing a perfect twirl when she got to the very center before coming down the center isle.  The whole audience let out an "Ahhhh!"  Lots of people commented for days how they loved the twirl.  One mom summed it up nicely by saying, "There was a girl who loved her dress!!!"  And thanks to whoever took this picture and forwarded it to me!

Good buddies - Angi, Talia, Chelle

So then it was back to the other gym where the banquet tables had all been cleared away and the DJ had set up for the dance.

The daddy/daughter dance.

Dancing with Sam and making the dress twirl!!!  Look how it sparkles!  And look at that tiny waist!!!

Tara, Carson, Chelle, Sam, Spencer, Kaylee, Eric, Dakota, Jordan, Cassidy

Yeah - what a fun dancing dress!!!

Best friends and future roommates - Angi and Chelle

And back home again after the dance, making the dress look like a cupcake!  They all got changed into comfy clothes and hung out all night at the movie mill, playing games, mini-golfing, watching movies, eating, and then had a very early morning pancake breakfast.  Then they slept for awhile before heading off to other activities, while Rich and I went to help undecorate!!!

I delight in my daughter Richelle!!!  I'm so glad that we could get her her dream dress so that she could feel like the princess that she is.  It's delightful to watch her grow up and mature and we're excited for the next chapter of her life.