Temple Openhouse, Dance Recital, Strep, Overwhelmed, Hardware Ranch

I have been slacking on keeping up on things.  We have had a busy past 10 days at our house.  Saturdays Josh and Daniel are doing basketball.  Josh is doing church ball while Daniel is doing city ball.  They seem to both really enjoy it.  Josh has the height thing in his favor for sure!!  

Another thing is as Matthew is getting older we have to start preparing for adulthood.  I got to attend a class last week called from No Where to Know Where.  Wow it was pretty overwhelming.  Since these classes are for all children with all disabilities it is pretty diverse.  They present so much information that it is hard to figure out which stuff applies to your situation.  I am still trying to sort it all out.  There are so many things that you have to consider.  We have to set up a special needs trust, we also need to get guardianship over Matthew when he turns 18, we have to get his name on the multiple waiting lists to help with job placement for kids with special needs, we need to decide what we want for his graduation if he will get a diploma or a certificate of completion, etc.  There are so many more things we have to look at that I am feeling really overwhelmed as I sift through it.  The thing is we have to get all these things in place because he is already 14 years old and things need to start showing up on his IEP plan.  Hopefully, I can figure all this stuff out and not make too many mistakes.....

One thing that is nice Noah is in school for mornings is I can meet up with Aaron to play racquetball once a week.  Aaron gets three hours of fitness leave a week so he is able to meet up and play racquetball with me during the workday.  We are both pretty horrible players, but it is fun and different.    I do have to say that I have beat him the last two times we have played, though--haha!!

Once scary thing is we had our first girls camp planning meeting last night.  I can't believe that it is coming up sooner than later!!  Aaaa!  Luckily, it will be Stake Camp this year so we won't have to plan as much, but still it is crazy it has come up again so soon!!

One thing that happened last week is Josh woke up one morning saying his throat really hurt.  He didn't have a fever so I sent him to school.  He came home that afternoon saying his throat still hurt, but I just thought he had some drainage in the back of his throat because he had a bit of a cold.  The next morning he really got my attention when he woke up and was just laying on the couch all morning.  I went over and felt his head and he had a raging fever and said his throat REALLY hurt--DOH!!  Fevers and Josh don't go together well at all since a fever can lower Josh's seizure threshold.  Since I didn't want that to even be a remote possibility I called made an appointment with the doctor ASAP. I then medicated him for the fever and we waited for the appointment time.  Poor kid--even with the meds he still felt pretty crummy.  It was a quick appointment that turned out to be Strep Throat which was no surprise.  I didn't want to mess around with the pills so I made Josh get the antibiotic shot.  He wasn't too happy with me, but he ended up feeling a lot better within 24 hours despite the sore hip where the thick antibiotic injection site was.  In measuring him at the doctor's office I was surprised to hear that he was 5'9" tall.  Wow!  He is really growing!!  He has already passed me by and has his sights set to pass Aaron's 6'1" height.  Hopefully, it will take him a few years to do that, but who knows?!

I have to admit it was kind of fun to have just me and Josh time while everyone else was at school.  Since he had to get a shot I let him get a treat on the way home.  I am a bit of a pushover.  On the way home we did have to stop by Union Station for a quick visit since Josh had an assignment due that week.  For his Honors Utah Studies class he has to visit at least one museum and one historical site per term.  We had taken care of the museum, but still needed a historical site.  It was pretty empty while we were there so we didn't spread his nasty strep germs to anyone.

We took a few pictures as proof he was there.

After reading a quick history of the place we came home so Josh could rest and get better.

Sunday was nice because all of us were able to go to church together.  The last month we have had different kids sick on Sunday so not all of us have been able to go to church.  It was nice to have everyone healthy Sunday.  

Monday was Martin Luther King day which everyone had it off so we decided to have some fun.  We headed over to Hardware Ranch as a family.  The weather all morning was pretty stormy, but we made it there.  We liked walking around the museum and seeing the displays.  We also had to get a picture in front of 'Sparky the elk'.

 Measuring ourselves against the Osprey wingspan:

Matthew reading about the elk:

 

A stuffed wild turkey:

An antler you could hold and it was huge:

Since the weather was pretty bad the place wasn't very crowded and we were able to get right on the sleigh without waiting.  However, it was snowing and raining at the same time so we got pretty soaked the whole time we were out in the field.

 There were a ton of elk all around.  It was great to be able to see them so up close!  Hardware Ranch feeds the elk over the winter to try and keep them out of the Cache valley and eating the farmers hay.

 

The horses that pulled the slay were HUGE.  The picture doesn't do them justice at all!

 Afterward despite the horrible weather we drove up to Richmond to get some ice cream at Casper's.  YUM!!  Keeping things real Sarah dropped her cone on the floor within 5 seconds and two licks of getting it from the server.  DOH!!  Luckily, they replaced it for her.  I must say it is so nice that Daniel can eat ice cream along with us instead of us needing to bring a separate treat for him.  Wahoo!

 Again the weather was pretty bad so we were the only ones there the whole time we ate our ice cream.  It could also be that it was winter and no one in their right mind would want to eat COLD ice cream when it's freezing outside.....Good thing we aren't in our right mind--haha!

 It was pretty awesome because they had a special where if you bought over $5 worth of stuff you got a box of 24 Fat Boy ice cream sandwich seconds for free.  Wahoo!!

The kids had Tuesday off from school as well.  Daniel and Matthew had orthodontist appointments early that morning.  Daniel got his spacers in and will be getting a palette expander in the next week because his mouth is so tiny.  Matthew's appointment was just to check his retainer fit which still looked great.  I am so glad for the new year and our reset Flex Spending Account!!  Anyway, next time we have a vacation from school I don't think I will be making an orthodontist appointment for 8 am again....

A few hours later we decided to try our luck.  We weren't able to get any tickets for the Provo Town Center Temple open house so we decided to just show up and see if we could get in.  Luckily, there wasn't a wait for standby people so we were able to get right in.  The first stop was an informational movie about the purpose of temples and what happens in each room.  Luckily, G&G T were able to come along with us.

 It was so beautiful inside.  I was especially interested in seeing this new temple since this is the Tabernacle Aaron and I used to attend Stake Conferences at when we were first married and living at BYU.  These kids of ours are spoiled!!  Growing up we never got to go to a temple open house and walk around the inside of a temple because they weren't building many new ones.  So far these kids have been able to go to 5 open houses in the past 8 years which is crazy!!

 It really is a beautiful temple!

 Afterward the tour Grandpa T told the kids all about the old Provo Tabernacle.  Since he grew up in Provo he attended this tabernacle many times.  He really had a lot of history with this building.  He even remembers that there used to be 96 light fixtures in the main area.  He was a bored little boy who counted and recounted them trying to pass the time during meetings.  He told them a few more stories, too.

 Of course we have to insert some comic relief in our outings.  While we were walking through the temple I notice Noah kept messing with his pants.  Upon closer inspection I saw that he had put his pants on backwards.  I guess he is still trying to master the art of dressing himself....

 What a crazy kid!

Sarah had her dance recital last week.  She loves getting all dressed up and I have to admit that I like getting her dressed up, too.  Her costume this year is really cute:

Her hair is getting so long:

Here's the pre recital stretching:

One of Sarah's dances.  It was hard to get a good picture because they move around the stage so much.  Sarah is the one on the left with the long hair:

Sarah now expects flowers from Aaron after every performance.  What a spoiled girl--but I am ok with that!

New Years, Shots, Pizza Up Chuck, Movie, Baptism, Ice Skating

Before school let out for the Christmas Break I got a call from the office.  I really hate calls from the school!  Anyway, since I delayed Noah's immunizations until he was a bit older we were still in the process of getting them completed.  He was missing his last dose of the DTaP (Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus) shot.  The office called me to let me know that Noah wouldn't be able to continue in school in January until he got that shot done over the break.  Doh!!  I knew it needed to be done so I wasn't too surprised to get the call.  In addition Josh and Matthew also needed the second dose of their HPV immunization as well.  Speaking of shots none of my kids got the flu shot for this year either so I thought I would make it a family affair and take everyone to get all their shots caught up.  Luckily, the pediatrician's office was able to fit all the kids in at the same time to get their needed shots.  When we got to the pediatrician's office they let me know that the kids could get the nasal flu mist instead of the shot if they wanted that instead.  The kids all immediately agreed that the mist would be better so they were more excited to be there under the circumstances.  Unfortunately, right after letting us know about the nasal flu mist they came back and said they could only get the nasal mist if they didn't have asthma.  Poor Daniel--as soon as he heard this he got pretty upset. He was not happy to find out that he would be the only one getting the flu shot instead of the nasal mist as you can see:

 They came in and gave everyone the nasal flu spray which went ok.  Next Matthew, Josh, Noah and Daniel got their shots.  You could hear much wailing from all around from Matthew, Noah and especially Daniel--poor guys!  Luckily, everyone is caught up on their immunizations now except Sarah who just needs one more shot, but has passed the age that the pediatrician's office will give it so she has to get it done at the Health Department.  We know how to party by getting shots on Christmas Break--haha--just ask Daniel!  The rest of the day Sarah just rubbed it in that she was the only one who didn't get a shot that day.  They boys weren't too happy with her.

I was in charge of the Personal Progress Night last Wednesday for the Young Women activity.  Josh and Matthew had young men at the same time which meant I couldn't keep an eye on Matthew very well.  The young men had a pizza party.  After my Personal Progress Activity was over I went to pick up the boys so I could take them home.  That's when the Bishop pulled me aside and told me that Matthew's coat needed to be washed.  When I looked at him questioningly, the Bishop then told me that Matthew ate so much pizza so fast that he ended up throwing it up all over his coat.  **SIGH**.  I know Matthew LOVES pizza and tends to scarf things down pretty quickly that he likes to eat so I could see how this happened although it has never happened before.  It took two good washes in the washing machine to get his coat clean again.  Good thing I love Matthew!!  Aaron and I have also started rationing Matthew's food at home so he can still eat as much as he wants, but he has to do it a bit slower.  He is not happy about it, but I hope we can teach him to slow down and smell the roses (or pizza) for that matter :).

For New Year's Eve we had some friends over, the Einzingers.  It was a fun night.  In preparation for our guests we cleaned the house that afternoon.  Aaron had sent Josh and Daniel down to clean up the downstairs.  After a few minutes we started smelling  something.  Aaron went to check it out and only made it down the first two stairs when his eyes started watering.  Josh and Daniel had gotten some Axe body spray and deodorant gift sets for Christmas.  Josh and Daniel got into an Axe war downstairs and the fumes were pretty potent.  He then yelled down the stairs, "Make sure you guys don't light any matches!"--haha! At least my house would smell like Axe instead of stinky boy if I am trying to look on the positive side of things.  Anyway back to our New Year's Eve party not all the kids were awake at midnight, but a lot of them made it which was impressive.  When the clock struck midnight Josh and Hailey went outside to bang some pots and pans around to celebrate.  It was COLD so I don't think they made it too far off the porch, though.

The party still continued until 2 am that morning.  We had a lot of fun.  When we finally did get everyone to bed we assumed they would all sleep in.  Wow, we were WRONG.  All the kids got up at 8 am the next morning.  I kept asking them why, but they didn't have a good answer.  Let me just say by that afternoon everyone was 'Chuckles' for sure!!  We did go and see a movie--The Minion Movie which was pretty cute.  It was a bit busy so Aaron and I had to divide and conquer.  Aaron and Noah went and picked up the popcorn while me and the other kids saved the seats.  Here we are waiting for the popcorn and the movie:

Saturday, January 2 was my brother Bryan and Michonne's son Miles' baptism.  Miles had asked Matthew to say the opening prayer for it and Matthew was beyond excited.  It was a nice baptism and Confirmation.  Here's the Terry family side of Miles after he got baptized.

Matthew and Kade helped out in the program so they wanted to get a picture:

Sunday the kids wanted a snack so I made some chip dip.  When I turned around I found Noah dipping and feeding himself chips and dip while he was laying down on the counter.  What the life.  Too bad I didn't have any grapes he could hand feed himself,too, because then he would be in heaven the crazy kid!!

Last Monday we had a Family Home Evening and for the activity we played Uno Attack that Noah had gotten for Christmas.  It got pretty heated for parts of it, but we still had fun playing.

I found this paper in Sarah's backpack and it made my day.  In school she had to write about her Hero for a writing assignment.  She chose me.  That made me feel pretty good.  Here's the sweet paper she wrote:

I think that made more than just my day it made my week and possibly my month, too.  A lot of times I really question my parenting ability, but this made me feel a bit better about things.

I was making something in the kitchen with my helper.  Any time I get out the mixer Noah is always there to help me whether I need help or not ;).  I was making mashed potatoes and Noah was giving me baking advice.  Aaron thought it was hilarious Noah was giving me so much advice so he took a picture:  (Don't mind our puzzle we were trying to do on the table.)

Noah brought home his writing journal from school and wanted to read it to everyone that would listen.  This time it was Aaron's turn.  He is a funny kid!

In getting back to reality after the Christmas Break was rough, but we survived.  The first week back Matthew had his first in the community field trip of the year with the Functional Skills class.  He loves those so much.  He was able to get lunch at McDonald's and then go grocery shopping from the three item list I sent with him along the money.

Sarah finished her animal report over the break.  She did a report on a Gila Monster.  In addition to the report they were supposed to draw and picture of the animal and also make a 3-D model of it.  I had no idea how to make the 3-D model, but Daniel and Sarah decided to make one out of Legos.  Wahoo!  For whatever reason I never took a picture of the end result, but it turned out pretty well.

We also found out about Josh's scout Klondike Camp out which will be at the end of January.  Brrrrr is all I can say.  We are trying to get him some warm gear.  We just picked up a warm sleeping bag for him this weekend.  I hope it keeps him warm.  Josh also got a chance to give his first talk in sacrament meeting yesterday.  He did pretty well.  I think I was more nervous than he was.  His talk was on Choice and Accountability and he wrote most of it himself, too.  Wahoo Josh!

We finally have found a puppy for our family.  Hopefully this one will work out better than the last one did.  One of Aaron's friends dog had puppies and we are going to get one of them.  Before we told the family and got their hopes up we had to make sure Josh wouldn't be allergic to it.  Aaron, Josh and I stopped by to see the puppy.  We had Josh rub it all over his face to see if he would react to it, but he didn't.  Wahoo!  The puppy was only a  couple weeks old so it is still pretty tiny.  We will be able to bring it home in February sometime.  Here's a picture of the tiny puppy trying to walk:

It is part Yorkie and part Pomeranian.  I am a bit nervous to try and house train and dog since I have never done it before.  Hopefully things will go smoothly!

Last Wednesday the Young Women went ice skating for our activity.  I have not been ice skating for about 15 years so I was a bit nervous.  I was really rusty, but I only ended up falling down once.  The rest of the time was fun.  Here's the whole group that went:

While the young women went ice skating the young men had a career fair.  Aaron got to present his career and tell about his schooling and experiences for all the young men.  There was one other presenter that night, too.  I hope that got the boys interested in a possible engineering career.

It has been a busy and full couple weeks.  Hopefully 2016 will be a good year for us!!