Clara Paige's Plight

We received a phone call from Kyle yesterday morning informing us that 2-year-old Clara was eating peanuts in the car on Thursday after Kyle had picked her and Milo up from daycare and she had aspirated some peanut. Kyle could tell that Clara had suddenly become quiet and could hear that she was having a difficult time speaking and breathing - she was wheezing. Kyle pulled the car over to check her out. Clara seemed to be able to breathe pretty well by then, but he and Emily decided to have her checked out at the ER as a precaution. 

The ER doctor discovered that she did, indeed, have peanut in her lungs so he referred her to Sacred Heart Children's Hospital in Spokane. They took her there yesterday morning to have the nuts removed. 

Here she is prepped for surgery. She looks happy here, but I'm sure she is clueless as to the pending surgery.

Fortunately, the pieces could be removed by endoscope so no incision was needed. Here are the peanut chunks removed from her lungs.

Thank goodness for modern medicine.  A few hours after the surgery, I asked Kyle how Clara was doing and he said that she is perfectly normal now, but that she was a little angry when waking up from the anesthesia.  Poor darling! I'm sure glad that she is ok.

41st Anniversary

Jared told me recently that he had joined a "Toastmaster's Club".  At a recent meeting, he had to get up in front of the group and speak about what advice he would give his 10-year-old self today if he could. I don't know why, but I've been thinking about that a lot lately. What would I tell my 10-year-old self today if I could. Among other things, one thing I would tell myself is not to get married two days after Christmas. It, really, was the only time we could get married because of Alan's dental school schedule (unless we wanted to wait an extra 5 months), but it really isn't a great time to celebrate. I'm still waiting to celebrate last year's 40th anniversary. The 40th anniversary, in my mind, is a big milestone and I wanted a nice get-away, but it hasn't happened yet. 

On our anniversary this year, a mass exodus took place of Stott's and Stronk's leaving California and I was left to clean up the house and catch up on my church duties. I had received "Happy Anniversary" greetings by Alan and family members early in the day, but after a very busy day, I had practically forgotten that it was our anniversary until Alan came home from work with these:

A dozen beautiful red roses and a beautiful card!

Thank you so much, Alan! I love you more today than I could ever imagine. You complete me. Thanks for marrying me 41 years ago even though it didn't take place at the perfect time of the year. I love you!

Celebrating Christmas - 2016

For Christmas this year, we were able to have everyone here except for Kyle's family. We missed them, but understood that they couldn't be here and they were able to have their own little Christmas for the first time in their own new home.

One reason they couldn't be here for Christmas is because Emily was involved in a holiday musical show called "Traditions of Christmas" in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Kyle & Milo attended opening night.

I wasn't able to see the show, but I heard that she did an amazing job.

We were unable to hold our own Christmas until Cheryl & Parker arrived about 2 pm. By then, everyone was anxious to get started - especially Ethan, Ella, and Olivia. As the saying goes, good things come to those who wait. 

Group photo taken after opening gifts.

Since we had just purchased a new car a couple of months ago and I needed a new computer in early December, Alan and I decided not to give each other much.  However, I did get a ukulele from some of my kids that I can't wait to learn how to play. It should be a lot of fun. Getting used to the tiny frets after playing the guitar for so long will really take some getting used to.

For Christmas dinner I made something I have never prepared on Christmas day before. I made BBQ pork strips. They turned out perfect and were a hit. I also prepared twice baked potatoes, fruit salad, crescent rolls, mixed veggies, and slush, with pumpkin squares for dessert. All in all, it turned out to be a great meal and I appreciated all the help I received from family members in the preparation and the clean-up afterwards.

The day after Christmas we went to the shooting range just past Mojave to practice shooting our guns and try out new ones. Parker got a semi-automatic monster of a gun, but I was too afraid to use it. You can feel the concussion from it when you are standing close when it is fired. Eric got a teeny handgun, but we couldn't shoot it because he forgot the bring the ammo for it. Oops!

Rulon Beesley (Nicole's father) and McKay Allred (Nicole's brother-in-law) joined us. It was extremely cold and windy, but we managed to have some fun.

Ella tried her hand at a couple of guns, but I don't think she enjoyed shooting that much.

Ryan shooting a handgun

Alan shooting at clay pigeons with our shotgun.

 Ethan trying out Grandpa's 22 pistol

Kyle's family got to do something unique the day after Christmas. They got to go on a two-horse open sleigh ride. This is certainly something we cannot do around here because, obviously, we have no snow. It certainly looks like a lot of fun!

The tail end of a horse isn't so beautiful, but that snowy landscape sure is.

Holiday Hostess

Believe it or not, I have a fear of having to host events, unless it is for immediate family or close friends. It seems I lack hosting skills and I feel anxious about having to prepare for and execute an event. 

This year the staff asked if the office Christmas party could be held at our house. Without consulting me, Alan told them that it could. For the past several years, the celebration took place at a restaurant. No house to clean, no decorating, no cooking, and no planning at all was necessary. Just drive to the restaurant, eat, pay the bill, and leave all the dirty dishes. Easy peasy! This year, that would all change.  Although I thought that having it at our house would make it a lot more intimate and it would be much easier to converse and spend time getting to know each other better, I felt pressure at having to provide a perfect evening for everyone. There would be 13 in attendance.

Instead of curling up into a ball and hiding like I felt like doing, I accepted reality and went to work on trying to provide a perfect event. With Jane's help, I came up with some ideas for table decorations, hors d'oeuvres, drinks, party favors, etc.

 I took pictures of the tables before the party started. 

 Everyone loved the centerpieces and the little Christmas stockings that held the utensils. All in all, things turned out real well.

Fortunately, the event was catered by Famous Dave's Barbecue Restaurant in Palmdale. It was delicious and it was nice not to have to worry about cooking a meal.

(Left to right - Lee, Jack, Alan, Emilee, and Kareem)

(Left to right - Kathi, Janene, Mark, Kayla, Juan, Heather, and Joe)

I forgot to take a picture of the table with the hors d'oeuvres (meatballs and spinach & archicoke dip), cake balls, and drinks (slush, egg nog, and water) but you can kind of see it behind Alan in the picture above.

After dinner, we played games, opened gifts, and had dessert (brownies w/ice cream). It was a lot of fun. Everyone seemed to have a great time.  They even said they want to have it at our house every year.  GULP!  I wasn't expecting that.

Merry Christmas!

December's Year of Dates

December is here and Alan and I have opened our very last date night of the year.  Our chest of gifts now sits empty.  So sad!

Our last gift is not something that we can use this year, but we look forward to a time we can use it in 2017. Here is what we got:

We got tickets to LPAC. Anyone who is not from Lancaster won't know what LPAC is so I will explain. It stands for Lancaster Performing Arts Center. They are host to a number of special performances each year. We just need to pick the one that we want to attend most and go for it.

It is sad to see our year of dates come to an end. We have really enjoyed each and every date and have looked forward with anticipation to the first day of each month so we could open another gift. 

Once again, I want to thank the staff for the perfect gift of a year of dates. It has been an amazing ride - one we will never forget!  

Thanksgiving in Ladera Ranch

We had a quiet, but very nice Thanksgiving this year. Cheryl and Parker wanted to host it, so we drove to Ladera Ranch on Wednesday morning. Jared drove over from Mesa, Arizona later that same day. Prior to Jared getting there, the four of us decided to go on a hike near the Stronk's home that was a big ravine with a river at the bottom. Hard to describe. I wasn't really prepared for hiking, so my shoes weren't ideal, but I managed to survive it.

Terrain we were hiking

Such a beautiful day for a hike!

It is tiny, but Parker is holding a snake that Cheryl found in the river.

On Thanksgiving day, Parker smoked the turkey. He had never done this before so he was experimenting. Well, I can tell you that the experiment was a success. The turkey was moist and delicious.

Jared requested that I bake the rolls I make each Thanksgiving and Christmas. Eric's family also made them in Utah, along with pumpkin squares, and sent out these pictures asking if anyone was jealous. 

Ryan (always health and diet conscious) commented that they needed more spinach.

 So we added some spinach to our rolls.

The day after Thanksgiving, the five of us piled into our van (along with our five bicycles - three on the rack and two in the back) and headed to Dana Point. Alan and I love riding our bikes at the beach. It is one of our favorite activities and having Jared, Cheryl, and Parker there with us made it even more enjoyable.

(Cheryl is not pictured - she took the photo)

It was such a fun day. Being in Orange County for Thanksgiving made me want to retire there instead of Utah...at least for a few hours. I believe we will still retire in Utah, but the Southern California beach areas are certainly very tempting. Climate wise, you can't beat it!