Thanksgiving and a trip to the ED for Grandma Rip, November 25, 2017
What Did I Do with my Time lately?
We had an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving. My mom and dad accepted our invitation to come to Driggs to have Thanksgiving. They originally were going to drive from Blackfoot on Thursday morning and stay overnight. They ended up driving up on Wednesday early evening. They stayed Wednesday night and Thursday night! Oh, how we loved to have them here!
They are the sweetest, most fun and pure people! They truly are some of the best people I know. They came Wednesday evening. I had my sweet Derek and Breanna here from college, my Nikole from college, and of course Elizabeth and Carl. My parents just sat right down with us, they feel like they are at home, in my home. I love having them here.
They talk to each of my children. My Dad has always had a great sense of humor. He jokes with each of my children, and with my mom and Blaine and I.
I so appreciate how they try to get to know each of my children better. Especially as Carl is 14 and Elizabeth is 17 - and our others are older -- my parents still try their best to reach out to them.
I prepared a lot for Thanksgiving at my house. I love holidays and i love having my family home and together. I had requested to be off work on Wednesday - I have a ton of Paid Time Off, and I have a sweet boss who allows me so much flexibility when I want to be with my family.
On Wednesday, my day off, I woke up bright and early. I could have slept in, but Blaine said I was so excited about Thanksgiving. I had asked my mom to bring shrimp cocktail, a tradition my Grandma Williams always did. I asked Breanna to bring a mini pecan and pumpkin pie. So, I got up and made a cranberry salad, which my Grandma Williams always made. It's a jello-type salad, so it has to set up for a good day. Then I boiled the sweet potatoes, Nikole had chose them. She actually made the recipe I have had for quite a while. She peeled them, added all the yummy ingredients and we put htem in the fridge, to bake the next morning, and to put the marshmallow topper on then. I made the traditional green bean casserole, with the onion topping, put it in the fridge to bake the next day.
I had my big turkey Blaine got me from Broulim's, with my turkey bucks, so it was free. I left it frozen and planned to cook it all night, from bedtime Wednesday to Thursday morning, on slow in my roaster pan.
I planned on just Stove Top Stuffing, since that is what my mom usually made. I had a friend tell me that was almost a sin, not to make homemade. I do love my niece, Ashley Anderson's home made stuffing, but not enough time this year.
So, I really had a plan for everything and had time to spend playing games and visiting when mh parents and college children arrived. Nikole had come home with me on Monday evening. We had a tooth/gum appointment on Monday afternoon in Idaho Falls with Dr. Moulton, and her classes at BYUI were canceled for Tuesday, so I just brought her all the way home. She is always great to have around, and helpful. I knew I would wake up Thursday morning and make the home made rolls. I wanted to make pie, early in the week, but Blaine begged me not to, said it would be too much, and he was right. I bought a chocolate cream and a coconut cream, and I had baked my own cherry pie, which was my parent's request.
So, we all woke up Thursday morning, had a light breakfast, and I started the rolls first, then made sure the cream pies were out of the freezer, then went back to setting a beautiful table, then put the sweet potatoes, green beans in the oven, finished the rolls, the turkey was done by 10. Everything was ready by 1. We ate and loved it.
Before the meal, we were mostly sitting in our living room. Blaine asked us each to say something we are thankful for. He had me go first. I wasn't quite prepared, so I said basic things like being thankful for our wonderful family, my country, the gospel - I usually am emotional and cry, but I didn't. But then when my Dad went, he talked about how grateful he is for his heritage, for his parents and ancestors, for how much they sacrificed --- and he cried, so of course I cried. My mom's was soft and sentimental, then Nikole's turn came. She caught me by total surprise. She got up from across the room, walked over by me, put her arm around me, and spent 3-5 minutes bragging me up - she told how much she loves me, how much she appreciates me, how much I do for her, have done for her and my family, etc. All of the others were pure, sweet and tender, too. It was a special time and now memory.
My parent's ooooed and awwwwhed over the food. They thought everything was wonderful.
After the meal, some people had a nap, my mom and I worked on some Christmas and other projects from a Relief Society Super Saturday. My mom cut out a fleece poncho for Nikole for Christmas, that I need to sew. I finished a Christmas wreath I've had for a year to make.
The men had a football game on.
We talked and had fun. We watched a movie in the evening, a movie I can't remember the name of right now. It's about a teenaged girl who got a rare disease that made her go blind and affected her mental status. It was about a member family. It was good. It made us all cry.
My parents got up fairly early Friday morning and headed home. When I spoke to them later, on the phone, they both just raved over the Thanksgiving dinner. They especially loved the cranberry salad, which is so funny, because it is their recipe! My Dad swore I made it different, he thought it was so good, but I really followed the recipe. They also thought the green bean casserole was grand. I just used the same recipe I thought they use with the Campbell's soup and all. Anyway, it melted my heart that they liked it all so much. They loved my home, my family, thier visit here. Oh, how I love them.
Amongst all this, we had a big health change with Blaine's mother, Helen. I had to go check her out on Wednesday evening, I couldn't decide if she had a stroke, or if the one new medication she had taken 2 of was making her dizzy, and forgetful, and she couldn't walk straight, but the one thing that I worried about was her R arm was like it was paralyzed. She had been in to the doctor, or Anna Gunderson for neck pain. They had tried 2 different medications for that without relief.
I went up to her house, praying that I would be guided by the Spirit. She is somewhat hard to assess, because her baseline is difficult - she is very hard of hearing, so sometimes she answers wrong, because she can't hear your question, she's always talked about many different things at the same time, so she is confusing to talk to, and she rambles. But this night, I was worried about a stroke, with her right arm problem., so I felt like she should go to the Emergency Room and be checked out.
After hours in the ED, with Blaine, they did a CT of her head, some X-rays of her bones, a urine dip and blood work. She ended up with only a UTI Urinary Tract Infection, but it must have been a whopper of one. I had forgotten that in elderly ladies, they do get UTI's easily, which does cause dizziness, disorientedness, etc. So, she had some IV antibiotics and then came home with some pills to take.
Meanwhile, Mike and Tracey, Clint and Sherry, and Ken and Tammie had come to her house for Thanksgiving. So, they were all worried.
In a nut shell, I've had a spiritual time with all of it. At one point, Blaine was concerned enough about his mom that he asked if I would let her move in with us, if she couldn't stay by herself.
It's interesting how Heavenly Father's plan works, it was interesting how all those siblings of Blaine's were here to see how Helen is when she is sick.
I had a spiritual talk with Helen as I assessed her and made the decision to have Blaine take her in to the hospital. Derek and Blaine tenderly helped her get her shoes on and loaded her in the car that Wednesday night.
I had spiritual talks with Nolan and Debbie, who had come early, with Ken and Tammie before the left, with Tracey and Mike today, before the left. They all appreciate all Blaine and I do for Mom and what we've done all these years living close by.
It turned out that I needed to go through her medications, which are many, weed out what she doesn't use or is not supposed to take, put all the medications into new pill cubicles that you can put all the Monday pills in a box, then the Tuesday pills, etc.
We had a lot of Heaven's help and guidance.
I can't write it all, but it was a fairly stressful few days, but now tonight, she is back home alone, we are in our own home, Mike, Blaine and Carl gave her the sacrament today, after we got home from church, Blaine and Mike gave her a blessing, I feel like she is back to almost baseline.
Blaine and I now think that she can stay in her home for this week, we will check on her even more times per day, I sent Blaine up with a baked potato and hamburger topping and a yummy green salad. Blaine said she devoured it. I thought she would. But we hope and pray she will be ok now.
Blaine's siblings have been tender, supportive and kind. I love them. They are some of my best friends.
So many wonderful things have happened. I just don't have time to write them all out.
Sweet Nikole has to have a yucky gum-tooth surgery this coming Friday, Dec. 1 where the actually remove gum from the roof of her mouth and put it on 3 patches of her teeth, where her gums are so receded that the root is almost showing. I feel half-sick over it, but am grateful Dr. Moulton is a good dentist and we loved him and his staff. She has to take an antibiotic, starting Wednesday morning, take an anti-anxiety and one other pill both Thursday night and Friday morning, an hour before the surgery. Bless her heart. My blessing comes over and over true, that I can use my nursing education to bless others, including my family.
Elizabeth is stressing over writing essays for her BYU-Provo application. She wants to get in so badly. She cut her down to her waist long, gorgeous hair, up to about her arm pits. It is still pretty.
Carl has been training for Cross Country, still, looking forward to his trip to Florida, with Coach Gleichman for the National Junior Olympics race on Dec. 9. He will leave on Dec. 7.
We put up our Christmas tree last night, decorate it today, after church and all the Grandma Rip events.
Our ward was great today. I love the Gospel, I love Young Women's, we are doing Light the World, with the church, where you do 25 days of service. We have lots going on this week, a trip to the temple to do baptisms on Tuesday, a High Priest Christmas dinner on Friday, we get to watch A Christmas Carol on Saturday, Mangers and Singing in Victor Saturday, looking forward to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional next Sunday, we are helping do a 12 Days of Christmas for family in our ward - the young mother lost her own mother to cancer recently.
Poor Heather and Brandon had a challenging trip to California for Christmas. We were all happy to get them back home to Kentucky.
Blaine's Uncle Francis is not doing well. He has blocked bowels and now is he bleeding frank red blood. He and Aunt LaRue are in Utah, at Huntsman's cancer center.
We had an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving. My mom and dad accepted our invitation to come to Driggs to have Thanksgiving. They originally were going to drive from Blackfoot on Thursday morning and stay overnight. They ended up driving up on Wednesday early evening. They stayed Wednesday night and Thursday night! Oh, how we loved to have them here!
They are the sweetest, most fun and pure people! They truly are some of the best people I know. They came Wednesday evening. I had my sweet Derek and Breanna here from college, my Nikole from college, and of course Elizabeth and Carl. My parents just sat right down with us, they feel like they are at home, in my home. I love having them here.
They talk to each of my children. My Dad has always had a great sense of humor. He jokes with each of my children, and with my mom and Blaine and I.
I so appreciate how they try to get to know each of my children better. Especially as Carl is 14 and Elizabeth is 17 - and our others are older -- my parents still try their best to reach out to them.
I prepared a lot for Thanksgiving at my house. I love holidays and i love having my family home and together. I had requested to be off work on Wednesday - I have a ton of Paid Time Off, and I have a sweet boss who allows me so much flexibility when I want to be with my family.
On Wednesday, my day off, I woke up bright and early. I could have slept in, but Blaine said I was so excited about Thanksgiving. I had asked my mom to bring shrimp cocktail, a tradition my Grandma Williams always did. I asked Breanna to bring a mini pecan and pumpkin pie. So, I got up and made a cranberry salad, which my Grandma Williams always made. It's a jello-type salad, so it has to set up for a good day. Then I boiled the sweet potatoes, Nikole had chose them. She actually made the recipe I have had for quite a while. She peeled them, added all the yummy ingredients and we put htem in the fridge, to bake the next morning, and to put the marshmallow topper on then. I made the traditional green bean casserole, with the onion topping, put it in the fridge to bake the next day.
I had my big turkey Blaine got me from Broulim's, with my turkey bucks, so it was free. I left it frozen and planned to cook it all night, from bedtime Wednesday to Thursday morning, on slow in my roaster pan.
I planned on just Stove Top Stuffing, since that is what my mom usually made. I had a friend tell me that was almost a sin, not to make homemade. I do love my niece, Ashley Anderson's home made stuffing, but not enough time this year.
So, I really had a plan for everything and had time to spend playing games and visiting when mh parents and college children arrived. Nikole had come home with me on Monday evening. We had a tooth/gum appointment on Monday afternoon in Idaho Falls with Dr. Moulton, and her classes at BYUI were canceled for Tuesday, so I just brought her all the way home. She is always great to have around, and helpful. I knew I would wake up Thursday morning and make the home made rolls. I wanted to make pie, early in the week, but Blaine begged me not to, said it would be too much, and he was right. I bought a chocolate cream and a coconut cream, and I had baked my own cherry pie, which was my parent's request.
So, we all woke up Thursday morning, had a light breakfast, and I started the rolls first, then made sure the cream pies were out of the freezer, then went back to setting a beautiful table, then put the sweet potatoes, green beans in the oven, finished the rolls, the turkey was done by 10. Everything was ready by 1. We ate and loved it.
Before the meal, we were mostly sitting in our living room. Blaine asked us each to say something we are thankful for. He had me go first. I wasn't quite prepared, so I said basic things like being thankful for our wonderful family, my country, the gospel - I usually am emotional and cry, but I didn't. But then when my Dad went, he talked about how grateful he is for his heritage, for his parents and ancestors, for how much they sacrificed --- and he cried, so of course I cried. My mom's was soft and sentimental, then Nikole's turn came. She caught me by total surprise. She got up from across the room, walked over by me, put her arm around me, and spent 3-5 minutes bragging me up - she told how much she loves me, how much she appreciates me, how much I do for her, have done for her and my family, etc. All of the others were pure, sweet and tender, too. It was a special time and now memory.
My parent's ooooed and awwwwhed over the food. They thought everything was wonderful.
After the meal, some people had a nap, my mom and I worked on some Christmas and other projects from a Relief Society Super Saturday. My mom cut out a fleece poncho for Nikole for Christmas, that I need to sew. I finished a Christmas wreath I've had for a year to make.
The men had a football game on.
We talked and had fun. We watched a movie in the evening, a movie I can't remember the name of right now. It's about a teenaged girl who got a rare disease that made her go blind and affected her mental status. It was about a member family. It was good. It made us all cry.
My parents got up fairly early Friday morning and headed home. When I spoke to them later, on the phone, they both just raved over the Thanksgiving dinner. They especially loved the cranberry salad, which is so funny, because it is their recipe! My Dad swore I made it different, he thought it was so good, but I really followed the recipe. They also thought the green bean casserole was grand. I just used the same recipe I thought they use with the Campbell's soup and all. Anyway, it melted my heart that they liked it all so much. They loved my home, my family, thier visit here. Oh, how I love them.
Amongst all this, we had a big health change with Blaine's mother, Helen. I had to go check her out on Wednesday evening, I couldn't decide if she had a stroke, or if the one new medication she had taken 2 of was making her dizzy, and forgetful, and she couldn't walk straight, but the one thing that I worried about was her R arm was like it was paralyzed. She had been in to the doctor, or Anna Gunderson for neck pain. They had tried 2 different medications for that without relief.
I went up to her house, praying that I would be guided by the Spirit. She is somewhat hard to assess, because her baseline is difficult - she is very hard of hearing, so sometimes she answers wrong, because she can't hear your question, she's always talked about many different things at the same time, so she is confusing to talk to, and she rambles. But this night, I was worried about a stroke, with her right arm problem., so I felt like she should go to the Emergency Room and be checked out.
After hours in the ED, with Blaine, they did a CT of her head, some X-rays of her bones, a urine dip and blood work. She ended up with only a UTI Urinary Tract Infection, but it must have been a whopper of one. I had forgotten that in elderly ladies, they do get UTI's easily, which does cause dizziness, disorientedness, etc. So, she had some IV antibiotics and then came home with some pills to take.
Meanwhile, Mike and Tracey, Clint and Sherry, and Ken and Tammie had come to her house for Thanksgiving. So, they were all worried.
In a nut shell, I've had a spiritual time with all of it. At one point, Blaine was concerned enough about his mom that he asked if I would let her move in with us, if she couldn't stay by herself.
It's interesting how Heavenly Father's plan works, it was interesting how all those siblings of Blaine's were here to see how Helen is when she is sick.
I had a spiritual talk with Helen as I assessed her and made the decision to have Blaine take her in to the hospital. Derek and Blaine tenderly helped her get her shoes on and loaded her in the car that Wednesday night.
I had spiritual talks with Nolan and Debbie, who had come early, with Ken and Tammie before the left, with Tracey and Mike today, before the left. They all appreciate all Blaine and I do for Mom and what we've done all these years living close by.
It turned out that I needed to go through her medications, which are many, weed out what she doesn't use or is not supposed to take, put all the medications into new pill cubicles that you can put all the Monday pills in a box, then the Tuesday pills, etc.
We had a lot of Heaven's help and guidance.
I can't write it all, but it was a fairly stressful few days, but now tonight, she is back home alone, we are in our own home, Mike, Blaine and Carl gave her the sacrament today, after we got home from church, Blaine and Mike gave her a blessing, I feel like she is back to almost baseline.
Blaine and I now think that she can stay in her home for this week, we will check on her even more times per day, I sent Blaine up with a baked potato and hamburger topping and a yummy green salad. Blaine said she devoured it. I thought she would. But we hope and pray she will be ok now.
Blaine's siblings have been tender, supportive and kind. I love them. They are some of my best friends.
So many wonderful things have happened. I just don't have time to write them all out.
Sweet Nikole has to have a yucky gum-tooth surgery this coming Friday, Dec. 1 where the actually remove gum from the roof of her mouth and put it on 3 patches of her teeth, where her gums are so receded that the root is almost showing. I feel half-sick over it, but am grateful Dr. Moulton is a good dentist and we loved him and his staff. She has to take an antibiotic, starting Wednesday morning, take an anti-anxiety and one other pill both Thursday night and Friday morning, an hour before the surgery. Bless her heart. My blessing comes over and over true, that I can use my nursing education to bless others, including my family.
Elizabeth is stressing over writing essays for her BYU-Provo application. She wants to get in so badly. She cut her down to her waist long, gorgeous hair, up to about her arm pits. It is still pretty.
Carl has been training for Cross Country, still, looking forward to his trip to Florida, with Coach Gleichman for the National Junior Olympics race on Dec. 9. He will leave on Dec. 7.
We put up our Christmas tree last night, decorate it today, after church and all the Grandma Rip events.
Our ward was great today. I love the Gospel, I love Young Women's, we are doing Light the World, with the church, where you do 25 days of service. We have lots going on this week, a trip to the temple to do baptisms on Tuesday, a High Priest Christmas dinner on Friday, we get to watch A Christmas Carol on Saturday, Mangers and Singing in Victor Saturday, looking forward to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional next Sunday, we are helping do a 12 Days of Christmas for family in our ward - the young mother lost her own mother to cancer recently.
Poor Heather and Brandon had a challenging trip to California for Christmas. We were all happy to get them back home to Kentucky.
Blaine's Uncle Francis is not doing well. He has blocked bowels and now is he bleeding frank red blood. He and Aunt LaRue are in Utah, at Huntsman's cancer center.
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