Jazz Bonanza

News from home:

1. It’s kind of been a slow week. Dad has been working really long hours and he’s tired and burned out. He’s just had so much to do and it’s not going to let up anytime soon. 

2. I’m wondering if Steve feels a little bad about how much Dad is working because he gave Dad some really good Jazz tickets on Tuesday night.  Ty and Blake and Dad and I went for dinner and the game. We had a great night out. Ethan got to do baptisms for the dead with his quorum, and the littles got to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa. Everyone was happy! Dad also had 4 tickets to the Jazz game on Friday because he is coaching Jr Jazz, so he took Ethan, Jett and Tate that night. Dad says the Jazz are fun to watch this year because they were not expected to be good, but they are pretty scrappy. I was pleasantly surprised that they had male dancers doing hip hop with the Jazz dancers for half time. It was awesome!

3. Ethan got in to see Dr. Tyson this week. Dr Tyson said is is NOT normal for his knee to be swelling so much at this point in his recovery. So he ordered another MRI to see if the knee has been further injured. Unfortunately we have to wait another week and a half until we can get in for the MRI. Ethan was really discouraged to find out that if surgery is necessary it could be a 4-month recovery.  So we stopped at Pace’s Dairy Ann on the way home and I treated him to his first ever Rainbow. He loved it.  Of course. I would never wish this on Ethan, but I will say that having him out of sports for awhile has really cleared up my schedule. Normally at this time of year I would be taking him to non-stop basketball games and practices on top of winter baseball training. I’ve got to find the poor kid a new hobby. Otherwise he’s just going to resort to baking cookies every weekend, and I’m going to gain another 20 pounds!

4. I went in for another sleep study this week. It’s been several years since I’ve done one.  It’s not the best thing in the world if you actually want to sleep. They hook you up to a million wires and then watch you all night. And then they flip on the lights at 6am and kick you out. I was considering a procedure that would help with my sleep apnea, but they require you to do a sleep study first to see if you even qualify. After talking to a few people, I’ve decided that the procedure isn’t a good option for me right now. But based on the sleep study I’m not sure I would even qualify. The technician said that my apnea results were much better than when I was tested a few years ago. So weird. Did I just have an unusually good night, or has my apnea actually improved? Who knows. I’m still tired all the time.

5. Speaking of tired…I made it into the gym three times this week. On Monday I met with the personal trainer. He made me do so many low squats and lunges, that I could hardly walk the next day. My muscles were so sore! I was able to try a couple other classes too. Hopefully this is a good fit for me.

6. Dad and I went to dinner with Matt and Tiff on Saturday. Their kids are giving them a run for their money right now. And Duke has not been doing well. Apparently his heart surgery required the use of a dye that is very hard on the kidneys. Duke’s kidneys are already under strain because of his diabetes and other health problems. So he is in kidney failure and had to go on dialysis. Dialysis is basically a medical treatment that cleans your blood when your kidneys no longer can do the job. My understanding is that Duke really was not recovering well and was in a lot of pain. I think Tiffany was worried that he might not recover at all. But his health drastically improved and he was able to be released from the hospital last week. They will let him recover for a time before he has to have two more arteries cleared. 

7. Tate came with me to do some shopping this week and I bought some new ornaments for the Christmas tree. He was sooo excited to get the tree up, so I asked your Dad to put it up on Saturday, and I’m in the process of getting it decorated. Had to make sure all of the Halloween stuff was put away first!

8. Ty got invited to St George with some of his friends to celebrate Braden’s birthday. They went mountain biking, and out to eat, and stayed up all night all weekend long. He’s exhausted!

9. Ryan Porter left the MTC and arrived at his mission home this week. And then the very next day he had an accident and fell down the front steps and had to be taken to the hospital. Poor thing. Ultimately I think the decided he has a concussion, but not a spinal injury. Sounds like he’s going to be fine, but it is a rough way to start out his mission! 

10. I talked to Tennille Forsberg the other day and asked about Cole. It sounds like he is doing great at school, and will pursue something in the medical field. She mentioned she would love to be on your email list. Her email is tennille.forsberg@gmail.com. 

I hope this is a fantastic week for you. Do you have any Thanksgiving plans? We will be at the Rawson’s this year. I hope you are able to receive these emails. I sent a lot of pictures last week, so I think I will resend just the text in case the last one didn’t arrive. I’d like to help you manage the storage in your email and photo account, so please send me the login information if you can. Also, please let me know what kind of phone you have and what kind of memory card I should be looking for. I sent you a couple of packages that should be arriving Tuesday and Wednesday from Target and Amazon, so keep an eye out in the mailroom this week.

I love you! Mom

Ps. My uncle Chris’ artwork was used in the Come Follow Me manual this week.