The Golden Foot

"

One day there wasn't a "Tard Cart" available so I pushed Jon in his wheel chair and he pushed the cart. It was quite the sight!

Jon broke his right foot in June while walking.  He went to the Dr and got a walking boot.  He didn't slow down though and kept working at Walmart unloading trucks.  He soon learned that walking boots are not really made for walking.  It wore a sore on his foot.  Being a diabetic this was not good. It became infected immediately.  He was hospitalized in July for 4 days.  Then for 6 weeks after that we returned to the hospital every day for an  IV infusion of antibiotics.  He also visited Wound Care at the hospital at least 2 times a week.  The infusions were kinda fun for us.  I was on summer break so I would go with him.  We read a lot of good books together as we sat and waited for the IV to do its job.  Jon also became a favorite patient, because he would come in and take his own vital signs and prep his infusions spot for them.  They even let me get the IV going a couple of times.  I wouldn't say it is something we would want to do again, but we did make some good memories.  Jon's foot still isn't completely healed.  The infection is gone, but there is still a bit of a sore.  He goes to Wound Care once a week and gets the sore treated and a new cast put on.  His favorite color of cast has been a neon green.  It almost glows in the dark.  He has a neon shirt and jacket that match it.  (Jon has a style of of his own.  Things that don't match or are taboo are okay for Jon because he is Jon and gets away with wearing whatever he feels like.)  The foot is still broken and there is a possible surgery in the future to help the tendons hold his foot the right way.  We bought a knee scooter to help Jon get around.  He has had a lot of fun with it. I won't be surprised if he continues to ride it even after his foot is healed.  He really wants to motorize it.  To me that is just another hospital visit waiting to happen!  The closest thing he is going to get are the motorized carts at Walmart.  We call them "Tard Carts."  I know it is really disrespectful, but now that Jon has ridden on them many times. I don't feel quite so bad.  Jon has really tried to make the most of this.  It has been hard for him to be down and out for so long.  In my next post I'll tell you about the blessing in the way of a job that we received.

Our Quest for Kids

Jon and I both want kids desperately.  We are not able to physically have kids of our own right now.  So, we have been pursuing the chance to have foster kids in our home.  This is a long process, but hope it is moving more quickly now.  We are supposed to be starting a class this week.  I'm not sure how it all works, but I'm hoping by the time the class is over, we will be ready to accept kids into our home.  We have tried to take this class various times, but something always happens.  I am wondering if it is Heavenly Father's way of making sure the timing is right, or if we are supposed to prove this is really what we want to do.  Anyway- we start a class this Wednesday.  The class is a month long and includes 27 hours of class time.  In our quest to become foster parents we have made a great friend.  She has been a foster parent for years and has adopted most of her children through the foster program.  One night in July I got a call from her.  She had found out about a grandma that had been raising two of her grandchildren. She had decided that she wanted to be grandma instead of mom.  She was looking for a couple in Idaho Falls who wanted to adopt her babies.  Our good friend hooked us up.  Everything went so well. We fell in love with little Joey and Serenity.  Joey was 3 and Serenity was 1. We spent a few blissful weeks with "our kids."  They started calling Jon dad.  We had a great relationship with their grandma.  Unfortunately, when it got down to the nuts and bolts their grandma didn't have he right kind of custody to be able to choose who she wanted to adopt them.  The state of Washington took them back, and they are now being adopted by, I hope, a loving couple in their own state.  My heart broke more than I had ever felt before.  Jon and I shed many tears and held each other many hours as we grieved the loss of "our kids."  Sometimes something will still remind of of those blissful times and we will look at each other with tears in our eyes and wonder why it didn't work out.  Through this experience I have learned many lessons:  1.  Jon is the most tender hearted man I know.  2. I can feel a small sliver of what the parents of the children we will foster are feeling. 3.  The Atonement comforts.  4. Priesthood blessings are a source of comfort.  5. Prayer gets you through tough times.  6.  Life does go on. 7. Even if you don't know if something is going to work out, you can still put your whole heart into it.  You may end up with a broken heart, but you won't have any regrets.

I'm Back!

So I haven't posted for almost a year now.  I stopped posting when I realized I was posting for the wrong reason.  I was posting in hopes to show everyone  that all was hunky and dory in my life, that I was now married, and we were living happily ever after.   Let's get real now!  Life is hard!  Happy ever after doesn't mean things don't go wrong (in fact sometimes it seems that more things go wrong than right)!  Now that its a year later, I look back and thank my Heavenly Father that everything in my life hasn't always been hunky and dory and that life has been hard.  I am who I am because of these hard times.  In the last year Jon and I have done a lot of adjusting and coming to understand each other better.  I have come to see more clearly what an incredible man I married.  In my next few posts I'll share some of this year's experiences and the lessons I've learned.

Getting Ready for Christmas!

Christmas is almost here.  Jon and I have had fun getting ready for Christmas and meshing our different traditions. We decided to buy a new Christmas ornament to put on our tree to mark our 1st year together.  It is of course a "bell."  -- a jingle bell.  I wrote our names and the date on the bottom of it.  I think it is a tradition we will make, to buy a bell for the tree each year.  Jon has been like a little boy at Christmas.  He is so excited about buying gifts, but he has a hard time keeping them a secret.  I am afraid that by the time Christmas morning comes I will either already have all of the things he bought me or at least know what they are.  It worries me about how he going to keep Christmas secrets from our kids some day.  I am doing the 12 days of Christmas for him.  It has been fun to watch him open a little thing each day.  They are cheap and corny, but it has been fun.

Nieces and Nephews

Jon has quickly become one of the favorite Uncles in our family.  He loves to play with the kids.  If we don't get asked to babysit he is asking or planning a time to go over and play.  They love him!  I think its because he is part kid.  He rough houses with them.  We spent some time with Jorgen and Ahli at Leo's Place for Ahli's friend's birthday party.  I think Jon had just as much fun as the kids.  We've had Cole, Kyle, and Breanna over and played in the leaves.  Their favorite thing to do is to use Jon as a Jungle Gym.  If Breanna is crying Jon can get her to calm down much faster than I can.  Jon and I took Haylee, Jorgen, and Ahli to the school carnival.  Afterwards we came back to the house and the girls and I made crafts while Jon and Jorgen watched Cars 2.  It used to be when I would walk into the house my nieces and nephews would yell "AUNT JEN" like they were excited to see me.  Now they yell Jon's name, or if he isn't with me they ask, "Where's Jon?"  Aunt Jen comes in second place now!

Owning a Home is WORK!

Tree limbs hanging above garage.

Jon has taken on a big project.  We didn't realize what a big project our trees would be when we bought our house.  The south side of our home has a beautiful Elm Tree that hasn't been very well maintained.  Some of the branches were hanging over our garage and scratching the roof when the wind blew.  Jon borrowed Wayne's chain saw and with help from Randy, Wayne, and Jon's Dad they successfully cut down the intruding branches.  It turned into a project that we thought would take a couple of hours on a Saturday to a 3-4 day job with lots of enlisted help.  We are so grateful to our supportive family who stepped in to help us out.  I am especially grateful that there were no major injuries as a chainsaw was used, ladders were climbed, and huge branches fell from the sky!

Emotion Bowl

September 30, 2011- Jon and I went to the Emotion Bowl this year.  Neither of us had been since our Senior year 12 years ago.  Since we live so close and hear all of the games we decided that we would either be part of the game by hearing it from our house or actually being there to enjoy it.  We didn't think to go early because we were within walking distance.  By the time we got there the only seat available was in the student section.  This meant a night of standing to watch the game.  It was well worth it.  It was fun to see all of the excitement and cheer for the obviously superior Skyline Team.  They didn't let us down.  We won 50 to 34.  The goal posts are a beautiful blue!