Special Olympics, Solo Ensemble, Snow, Sea Quest, Promposal, Dancer

It has been two and a half weeks since our last update.  Here’s what we have been up to.  For the President’s Day holiday the kids and Aaron had it off.  I had some free tickets to Sea Quest we decided to use.  Aaron and Daniel are not big fans of Sea Quest, but they still went along to humor me.  We got there as they were opening.  Our first activity was to feed the birds.  I find if you get there first thing the birds are pretty hungry and want to eat.  Daniel and Aaron sat this activity out since they don’t really like birds--especially Aaron.  He absolutely HATES birds--haha!  He didn’t really even like watching us or taking the pictures, but he did it anyway because he loves me--haha!

They put bird seed in your hand and the birds would fly down and eat out of your hands.  There were a few aggressive birds that would peck at your skin if you ran out of seed so it probably is a good thing Aaron and Daniel sat this one out--haha!

Since it was a holiday things were going to be busy.  We decided to hit the end of Sea Quest and work backwards so avoid the crowds as long as possible.  The first 20 minutes we were almost by ourselves and it was awesome, but as we worked our way to the front things got pretty busy.  We enjoyed seeing the fish:

The sting rays--we even got to feed them.

Sarah liked taking pictures of them:

We stopped to pet the iguana:

Again Daniel and Aaron weren’t fans, but they did stop for a photo op:

I think this place is pretty cool so I was right alongside Sarah and Noah petting and feeding the animals:

We got to let the fish nibble our hands:

They really LOVED Sarah’s hands:

We pet the pig:

However, it didn’t last long because this bird was in the same room and started loudly cawing and wouldn’t stop.  At that point Aaron made a very hasty exit to the next room--haha!

Watched the snake slither along the glass:

Afterward we stopped and got a yummy Mexican lunch.  Aaron is quite the gringo--or at least that is what Josh says.  Josh says a true Spanish person does not eat flour tortillas, but Aaron doesn’t like corn tortillas.  Josh is going to try and convert him to corn tortillas when he gets home, but for now Aaron is team flour tortillas all the way. I took this picture to show Josh what he will be up against when he gets home--haha!

Sarah had a band festival last week.  I had to work and couldn’t make it, but Aaron was able to go.  Sarah is on the front row playing the flute:

Last Saturday was our Stake’s Women’s Conference.  There was a service project Friday night and then Saturday morning they had three different class periods with different topics you could attend followed with lunch.  I wasn’t able to make it Friday night--I had such a bad headache.  I spent the night laying down with an ice pack on my neck and eye.  Thankfully, although the headache was still there Saturday morning it was manageable.  It was a nice way to spend a morning.

Josh will send us pictures of people he gets to interact with.  He sent this picture the other day.  The poor lady was so tiny compared to Josh--haha!

We have had a few snowstorms lately.  The one last two weeks ago was large.  It took some time to shovel/snowblow the sidewalk, porch and driveway.

So glad Aaron snowblowed the driveway:

Daniel’s car needed some repairs so we took it in last week.  That meant I had to drive him around since he didn’t have a car.  That was a pain.  Last Monday we were talking with Josh on my phone but Daniel needed a ride to work.  I left my phone with Sarah and Noah and we talked on Daniel’s phone while I was driving Daniel to work:

We finally got the car repaired and I don’t have to be Daniel’s chauffeur driver anymore--phew!  Speaking of Daniel he asked his date to Prom the other night.  He enlisted the help of Sarah and Noah to build his ‘promposal’.  Here they are working on it in the kitchen:

His girlfriend sent this picture when she got his ‘promposal’ after she got home from dance:

Last week I had to drive down to Gunnison (2.5 hours drive one way from my house 157 miles one way) twice.  Once was for a TB testing clinic on a Tuesday at the prison.  Luckily, I just work with the staff not the inmates.  Then I had to do the same trek again on Thursday to read the TB skin tests.  I was nervously watching the weather, but thankfully, it didn’t snow too bad on the days I had to travel.  I get to do it again next week.  DOH!!  Let’s hope the weather will still cooperate.

Although Sophie just turned 7 she still loves toys with squeakers.  Although they don’t last long because she destroys them pretty quickly, she still loves a good squeaky toy.

Sarah and Noah had a solo/ensemble competition this past week.  They both got to move on into the next round which was pretty awesome.  Noah did a mallet duet with a friend and Sarah did a flute/clarinet trio with two other friends.  I was excited to get the email letting me know they made it to the next round which will be this upcoming Thursday.  

If they pass that they will move on to the district competition.  Keeping my fingers crossed!

We have a herd of deer that wanders around our area.  We are pretty built up with houses and neighborhoods, but there are still some open spaces where they frequent.  We saw them as we were taking Matthew home Sunday evening last week.  This was two minutes from our house:

Saturday night as I was running Sarah and Noah around where they needed to be I noticed this sign in our yard.  Sarah got picked to be ‘Danzer of the Week’ by her dance studio.  I almost missed it since it was quite the blizzard as I was pulling out of the garage--haha!

Here’s Sarah’s headshot:

Here’s what her dance teacher wrote about her:

Wahoo, Sarah!

Matthew had his first Special Olympics basketball tournament this past Saturday.  Matthew has been so excited for this!  It was held at the U of U athletic facility.  When he got there he was wired.  His poor staff had a hard time reigning in all his energy.  Matthew did make sure to get a picture with Miss Utah and Mrs. USA:

He got there about 9 am, but his first game wasn’t until 11:40.  We got there about 11 and he was still all over the place.  He would bolt off down the super crowded hallways to show everyone how fast he could run with his ‘Daddy long legs’.  This place was crowded so it was amazing he didn’t run into anyone and knock them over.  When he got told he can’t do that he would take off down the other hall to show everyone else how fast he could run.  He never sat down so someone always had to be by his side because he would bolt or wander off otherwise.  He did drag everyone over to meet his parents whether they wanted to or not.  He was a ball of energy.  We did find out the floor above us had an indoor walking gym that went around the top of all the basketball courts.  I decided to give his poor house manager a break and took him up there to walk the track.  The walking track was shaped like a figure eight.  I wasn’t walking fast enough for Matthew so I told him he could go on ahead and run around until he met up with me further down the track.  He took off.  However, as soon as he got out of comfortable hearing range of me he was a stinker.  This track went around different work out equipment and there were other regular U of U student runners/walkers on the track as well.  Well as soon as he got pretty far ahead of me he started yelling out at the other runners/walkers on the track, “WATCH OUT!!!!” way before he was going to catch up to them.  When they heard that they would get startled and turn around just to see Matthew running up by them to pass them.  He was too far away for me to tell him to stop so I just had to cringe while I watched him run around the whole track yelling, “WATCH OUT!!!” really loudly at everyone.  We did one lap before I caught up with him and made him go back downstairs.  Crazy kid!!

I think everyone was excited for Matthew to finally play one of his basketball games to hopefully get some energy out.

They played against a lower functioning team and Matthew realized that somewhat.  He made a few baskets then he would start passing the ball to the other teams' players.  It was sweet.  He played one more game after that.  His team won a silver medal and will be playing at the state level in a few weeks.  He was pretty pumped.  I don’t think he ever calmed down the whole day until the ride home.  His staff was exhausted at the end of the day.

While Matthew was at the Special Olympics they had a few sponsored booths you could visit.  Matthew got a free pair of really nice Saucony running shoes.  That was AMAZING!  These are the same shoes Josh uses to run and they cost around $100.  That was awesome!

Here’s his medal.  He emailed Josh a picture of his shoes and medal because he was so proud.

Speaking of Matthew two weeks ago for Sunday lunch I made him some quesadillas.  I also made him a protein powder shake mixed with milk for a drink.  We are trying to get Matthew to gain some weight since he is underweight.  He ate and drank all of it.  A few hours later I hear, “MMMMMMOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!” from downstairs.  I answered and asked what was wrong.  Well I guess that protein powder shake didn’t agree with him and although he made it to the bathroom he didn’t make it to the toilet when he threw up EVERYWHERE.  Let me tell you it has been YEARS since I have had to clean up vomit.  Luckily, Aaron was home so cleaned it up together.  Also it was our good fortune that I have a ton of K-95 masks that we wore while cleaning it up so we didn’t have to smell it.  Chunks were everywhere.  It was bad.  I am just glad it was inside the bathroom with hard surfaces which made it easier to clean than carpet.  It was still really icky, though.

A few weeks ago we met again with Vocational Rehab and Matthew’s job coach to set things in motion for Matthew to get a job.  The job exploration will take at least two to three months to look at Matthew’s strengths and interests and then find a company that would need his specialized talents.  We are starting that process this Friday.  Matthew is so excited. 

Daniel got his Wisdom Teeth out two weeks ago on a Friday morning.  He was feeling okay and wanted to go out with friends Saturday night.  I told him if he felt well enough and went out with friends Saturday night I would expect him to go to church Sunday morning.  Well Sunday morning he knew the deal he made and even though he didn’t feel the best he still went to church.  However, when he got to church he told everyone his parents made him go to church even though he just had his Wisdom Teeth out.  So now everyone thinks I am a horrible mom, but what can you do?!  He knew if he went out Saturday night with friends that was what would be expected Sunday morning. 

Aaron made some Philly cheesesteak sandwiches for Sunday dinner.  They were pretty good!

Noah is starting to get picky about his looks.  I usually cut his hair, but he didn’t want me to cut it anymore because he wanted to grow it out.  Well I had no idea how to shape it and make it look good while he is growing it out so he got sent to a stylist today for a real haircut.  She did a great job.