Snow Tubing and Teeters

 

On Wednesday the young Women went snow tubing at Eagle Island. I wanted to participate and two of the other leaders did as well which was a lot of fun. I was nervous about going, I really do not like getting hurt, but I was brave and I ended up having a lot of fun with the girls. I spent most of the time with Layne Johnson, first counselor in the presidency and it was fun to talk to her and get to know her better. We went down a couple of times just the two of us but for a lot of the night we were going down linked with some of the girls which was fun. I had the worker take a picture of one of the times we were all linked together to go down but it is not a great picture with most everyone being too fuzzy to see. It was a fun night and I always love being with the Young Women!

front five: Avery Gremmert, Natalie Pace, Elizabeth, Layne Johnson and Emily Walker

I think Avynlea was having an emotional moment and Rylee probably took a picture of her. I randomly find pictures like this on my phone and never really know the context.

I had called Mom to chat and she was outside with Ashleigh and her kids, Jeremy, Heather and Joshua and Leona. It was fun to be able to see them all and have more to talk to. Joshua asked me about my Dr visit and so I updated everyone on the prognosis. He had just mentioned maybe I should get a teeter when Moms phone died and we lost the call. Elaine Josi had one that she was giving to the DI and when she found out about my back she gave the teeter to me. I got on and took a couple of pictures to send to Joshua so he could see the I do have one. I don't use it often but maybe I should use it more to help with my back strain.

Spine Dr results

On Monday Kefford went with me to The Spine Institute to ask about my back issues. The first thing they did was take an x-ray of my back, while he was taking the pictures the x-ray tech commented on how straight my back is which I think is a good thing. I liked it because my Grandma had osteoporosis and since I am not a milk drinker I was always told I could follow her path and it has made me very nervous. But so far so good, I hope.

 

So what the Dr told me is that the disks between my lower spine, where the arrow is pointing in the above picture, are degenerating. The bottom one has completely left the building which is putting strain on the one right above it which is starting to degenerate and once that is gone it will strain the one above it and so on and so forth. I like that we have answers and can see what is going on but basically there is not much that can be done about it. He said we could do surgery to fuse some of the spine together but it is not a guarantee that it would help. Maybe someday down the road we can explore that option but for now light exercise like walking, jogging, light weights and physical therapy could be beneficial. I have been walking every day and hopefully that will help keep me feeling good. I was bummed leaving his office not having a clear path forward but hope that I can do things to help lessen the pain. 

On the advice of our neighbors, the Lambs, we bought some Japanese food from Costco to try. Arin served her mission in Taiwan and Sean served in Japan. Kefford and Avynlea went over one day and had a long chat with them, the Lambs gave her advice and talked to her about what to expect on her mission. It was a good chat and Avynlea left feeling a bit better about what was to come. 

Kefford was having me take a picture of the boxes instructions but my camera focused on him.

Happy 24th Birthday Kenedy

Kenedy went to Las Vegas for her birthday weekend and had a lot of fun being with Ty and some of her friends. I don't like not being able to be with her on her birthday but I am so glad she had a fun weekend. I put this collage together to post on social media about her birthday and here are five things I love about Kenedy..

1. I love that Kenedy got her Bachelors degree and her teaching certificate and teaches first grade. Education was always very important to my Dad and I know he is so proud of her and what she has accomplished. I love that while Kenedy does not enjoy teaching first grade that she is hanging in there and has plans to go back to school to get a degree in social work. She has been a great example for her siblings on working hard and education.
2. I love when Kenedy calls me on the phone to chat and that she likes to keep me involved in her life. She is fun to talk to and I also love hanging out with her. She makes the time and the effort to be with family and strengthen relationships and I love that she makes family a priority. Living in Utah has given her the opportunity to really be with my siblings who live there and their families and I am so glad she is an active participant in their lives. But she also has put forth the effort and time to establish relationships with her grandparents and my family in California as well as Kefford's family. She knows the importance of family bonds and has worked hard for those bonds.
3. Kenedy is beautiful and I love how she does her hair and makeup and I love her sense of style. She always dresses so cute and is so fashionable in a modest way. I admire how she does her makeup because she can make it look so natural and not like she has much on at all. Even when she doesn't do her makeup she still looks beautiful and I love when people say she looks like me because I think she is so pretty and it is flattering.
4. Kenedy has a strong testimony of the Gospel and I love watching her mature in her testimony. She gets to work with the Young Women in her ward and she loves being with them and is such a good example to them. I have always admired how she feels the Spirit and I love that she has strengthened that bond by listening when she feels it. 
5. I love that Kenedy loves to read and that we enjoy the same books. It is fun to talk to her about books we are reading and to have conversations about fictional people. I also love that she loves to watch reality TV like me and we also like a lot of the same programs which makes it fun to talk about. We usually have the same opinion about things and I love that.

Kyle and Nikki invited us over to play games Sunday night and the only photo we got was the .5 that Rylee took of Avynlea. Nikki fell asleep putting Claire to bed and so it was just Kyle, Kefford, Rylee, Avynlea and I playing Uno and we had a lot of fun.

Galentine's Party

 For Valentines Day I made Oreo Truffles for my family at home as per tradition. I made homemade cards and wrote them each a note about why I love them. I also made them strawberry smoothies and heart pancakes for Breakfast. I sent Kenedy and Ty and Rylee Valentine packages that was filled with Valentine treats for them to know I love them. Avynlea had plans that night with Bodi and that left Kefford, Rylee and I. Alison called me the day before asking if she and Bob could take us out for dinner that night which we were happy to accept. They picked us up and after some debate we went to Dickies BBQ in Star. It was delicious food and really fun company, I like that Bob and Alison work at the Temple because that means they are in MEridian more and we get to see them more. It was a fun but low key Valentines Day which was just fine.

On Saturday Rylee and her friend Avery hosted a Galentines Party at our house. They told all the girls to wear a dress, bring a dessert and they were all going to make heart shaped pizzas with us supplying all of the ingredients needed for that. Rylee spent a lot of the day cleaning the house and she did a really good job. I had to laugh when I started getting the stuff out to make the pizza dough and Rylee told me not to make a mess, yes ma'am. I was very impressed with the decorations and how everything looked but what really impressed me was the dessert table, these girls did not hold back in bringing some yummy looking desserts. 

After they were done making food and eating they went upstairs and played games and went outside and jumped on the trampoline. It was a good night for Rylee but I think she will not host another event for quite a while, it just takes a lot out of her, lol.

back row: Ashley, Rylee, Shay, Esther

front row: Mak, Avery, Kinsey, Lily

Bodi and Avynlea went out to eat and then came back here to watch a movie and play Just Dance. I watched them for a little bit, took some pictures and then went back downstairs. 

Fiddler on the Roof, Baby Shower and an MRI

I bought tickets for Avynlea, Rylee and I to go see "Fiddler on the Roof" put on by the Music Theater of Idaho. They are the same ones that did the production of Elf. Rylee forgot to get the time off of work and was not able to go so we invited Alison who happened to be available which was great. I wanted to invite her originally but I never know her Temple schedule and I think it changes as they switch shifts with others in the Presidency. The play was a lot of fun, I love the music and I love that it reminds me of my Dad. The way that Tevye, the Papa, loves his family and takes care of them is what I saw in my Dad. It was fun to be there with Avynlea and Alison and we had a good time.

Kenedy and Gabi went to Pocatello for the night to go to Lauryn Warner's baby shower. It was fun for them to take a little girls trip and to go celebrate Lauryn one of Kenedy' oldest friends, they have been friends since Kindergarten. Crazy that these girls are all married and are now starting to have babies.

Kenedy, Lauryn and Gabi

I have been dealing with lower back pain for a significant amount of years. I have a constant pain in my lower back that is sometimes easy to ignore or one I just deal with but oftentimes the pain is much worse and I have had times where I couldn't get out of bed without help and have a hard time walking. Laying in bed is ok but when it is really bad it is hard to roll over and hurts so bad. I have been to two different physical therapists and a chiropractor with no help and no relief. I have finally decided to get an MRI and go to a spine specialist to see if I can get an answer to my problem. I had the MRI on the 12th of February and Avynlea didn't have to work so she came with me. I was a little nervous about going in the machine but my biggest fear was they were not going to find anything. They had me take my bra off and wear the shirt I came in with but they had me take off my jeans and wear the one size fits all scrubs which were huge! Once I was in the machine they gave me some headphones so I could listen a pandora station and I chose Broadway. The first song was Hamilton which did nothing for me but the second song was the finale song from "Six" which made me think of when I went with Avynlea and Rylee and how much fun it was and then I started tearing up thinking about Avynlea leaving, hahaha what a baby. I had to stop that train of thought really quick so I wouldn't be bawling in the MRI machine. Being in the tube made me a little uncomfortable but my head was really close to the opening and I could look up with my eyes and see out which helped me a lot. At least I knew that if there was a problem I could reach my arms up and pull myself out. I got a report a couple of hours later with my results which was surprisingly fast and this is what it said about my problem area...

L4-L5: Mild intervertebral disc height loss. Right subarticular disc protrusion displaces and likely compresses the descending right L5 nerve root. Facet hypertrophy without foraminal stenosis.

L5-S1: Moderate intervertebral disc height loss. Central disc protrusion without spinal canal stenosis. Facet hypertrophy results in mild left foraminal stenosis.

Included Sacrum: No acute or significant abnormality identified for limited evaluation.

IMPRESSION:

Degenerative changes of the lumbar spine, most prominent at L4-L5 where a right subarticular disc protrusion displaces and likely compresses the descending right L5 nerve root. Mild bilateral facet hypertrophy at L4-L5 and L5-S1, without significant neuroforaminal stenosis.

So now we know there is a problem and I have an appointment with the Spine Dr on Monday. I am so grateful to finally be on a path where I hopefully can get the relief and healing I need for this back pain.

Susan is Kefford's receptionist and her son works for a chips company and is often bringing home chips to his family. I think Susan got tired of all the chips being at her house so she brought the chip stand along with chips to the office for their enjoyment. Avynlea is working as Kelseys assistant until she leaves for her mission and she took a picture with the chip stand for us all to see in our family group chat.

 

Happy 19th Birthday Avynlea!

 Avynlea chose Mo' Bettahs for her birthday dinner. I was very ok with that choice because it is Hawaiian food and I really love their food. I loved being out with my girls and Kefford, I kept thinking about what the next year was going to look like with Avynlea being in Japan for her 20th birthday and it made me sad. I had to stop myself from thinking about it and just focus on being in the moment and appreciating the time we do have together.

When we got home we sang Happy Birthday to Avynlea so she could make a wish and blow out her candles. Avynlea wanted confetti cupcakes and she also asked for strawberry ice cream and chocolate mudslide ice cream. Both flavors were delicious!

After cupcakes we let Avynlea open her presents. She got a pack of hair bows, a black over the shoulder bag, a Japanese Book of Mormon and a large Book of Mormon. I tried to get her the Bible as well but they were out of that size at Deseret Book and so I ordered it online but it is back ordered so it won't arrive for a while.

She also got tights, a bodysuit, a Temple slip and new dresses for her mission. I think she was pretty happy with what she got. Most of it she new about and asked for so not a lot of surprises.

5 Things I Love about Avynlea

1. I love where Avynlea is at on her spiritual journey. I love that she made the decision to go on a mission and I know she will learn so much and grow so much from the experience. I also love that Avynlea made the decision to go through the Temple and that she works in the Temple every Saturday until she leaves on her mission. Avynlea puts herself in these situations that will help her grow her testimony and I love her for that and for her example.
2. I love Avynlea's Heart. She is a genuine person and really takes care of and looks out for the ones she loves. She is loyal and forgiving and such a good person. She is kind and understanding and isn't afraid to be vulnerable, she is just a good person.
3. Avynlea is fun and always ready for a good time, most often Avynlea is the one to bring the fun. She  is the life of the party,  I love her humor and I love having fun with her. To know her is to have fun with her and to love her.
4. I love Avynlea's natural beauty. She does not wear a lot of makeup on a daily basis and I love the confidence she has in letting her natural beauty show. She has beautiful hazel eyes and her dimples are so adorable. When she does dress up a little more and put more makeup on she does it in a natural way that just highlights her beauty even more.
5. I love that Avynlea loves her family. She loves being with her siblings and talks on the phone with them all of the time. I love that she loves doing things with me and talks to me about life. She is one of my best friends and I love her so much.

BSU Basketball Game and a Temple Date with Avynlea

 On Saturday January 27th Kefford, Avynlea, Rylee and I went to the Boise Sate basketball game against Utah State. Kelsey, Brit and their older kids came as well. We have connections to Utah State because Ryker is going there and Brit and Kelsey both went to school there so we were excited for the game. I honestly went into the game not caring who won but as the game went on I found myself rooting for Boise State and was disappointed when they ended up losing. It was fun being with Kefford and my girls and I liked making the memories with home and doing fun things.

Kefford, Elizabeth, Avynlea and Rylee

On Sunday I wanted to make hamburgers for dinner but we did not have any Hamburger Buns. I didn't let that stop me and I made homemade Hamburger Buns and it was honestly pretty easy and they turned out tasting really good. It made me want to not buy buns anymore from the store and only make my own. I thought they looked really good as well, very aesthetically pleasing. 

Tuesday morning Avynlea and I went to the Temple to do a session together. I had an initiatory appointment that morning with Elaine and there were not any more openings so I did the initiatory session with Elaine and then I stayed at the Temple until the 10:00 endowment session and had Avynlea meet me there. It was a really good session mostly because I loved being there with Avynlea. It is such a good feeling to be in the Temple with one of your kids and to know they love being there as well.