May 2011 Piano, Violin, Braces and Cast Removal

On Sunday, May8, Paula Johnson held her usual end of school year concert. It was Mother's Day, but we had it anyway. Paula has always been a blessing to our lives. I've written of her often. I don't play the piano that well, but I made it a goal to give my children music lessons. I always thought that it is one gift from Heavenly Father that you can take with you to heaven, and you can use it to bring joy to others all your life. Elizabeth and Nikole are thriving, under Paula's teachings. We took a little trip away from her while she was in South America, but now, two years later, we're back under her tutilage, and it's wonderful.

You'll also see Carl with his little violin. He started taking lessons from Miss Melanie (Moulton) t his past fall. She has a points system, where if you earn 50 points by practicing, you get to get into her treasure chest. She says he's gotten in by far, more than any other student! He's a gifted, little musician. He also had a recital recently. Nikole, Elizabeth and Carl are showing their awards they earned.

On Tuesday, May3, Nikole got braces on her teeth by Dr. Hillam of Idaho Falls. She's like most young people, I think. She was excited to have them put on, now not quite as excited to have them. This is a shot of her, prepping her mouth, wide open, for the braces that day.

And here we have Elizabeth at Dr. Brown's office, with Nurse Stephanie, starting to saw the last of the two casts off her leg. This was in April, so she was almost done with her leg regimen; only four weeks of a walking boot to go!

Girl's Choice Dance Fall 2010

Derek was asked by Jasmine Woolstenhulme to attend the Girl's Choice Dance in the fall of 2010. They are both Juniors.

Skiing at Grand Targhee February 2011

Heather poses somewhere high up on the mountain.

Derek is the "Cool Cat" in his fancy Redskin-like hat below.

Nikole poses by the lodge.

Heather 29, Nikole 12, and Derek 17 take a breather.

Here's Blaine, decked out in the infamous cow/farm suit.

The whole family, except Eizabeth, who had broken her poor leg, and Mom, who stayed home with Elizabeth, had the chance to go skiing at Grand Targhee. We don't get Season Passes, so this was great.

Heather and Nikole smile big

Carl ended up getting sick on the windy ride up to Targhee, so he didn't have much fun.

Here's the fun hat that Derek got for his birthday. You know we are "Redskins", right?

Our family decided to go skiing together at Grand Targhee when Heather came home from BYU-Provo over President's Day Week-end in February. We don't buy season passes, so it was really fun to be together. Mom helped teach beginner skiers with Driggs Elementary School's Winter Sports Program, so she had free passes we could use.

Derek and Heather have always been close, but this year of getting Derek thinking about colleges, and the realization that Heather and Derek probably won't see each other for a few years, if they both go on missions, like they think they will.

This is the back of the Suburban, loaded with our ski stuff.

This is a sampling of the not so popular old ski boots we still have around.

On Tuesday, February 8, 2011 our sweet little Elizabeth, had a ski accident and broke her right tibia. That's the bigger bone on the bottom of the leg, in front. It is a spiral fracture, meaning it wraps around the bone. Dr. Brown said she also has a small fibula fracture across the bottom of the bone, by the growth plate. Elizabeth is in 5th grade. She was in the red class this year, meaning one from the top level, I am told. It was the end of the day, she was skiing down St. Joseph's bowl on Dreamcatcher during the free time, skiing with her friends Tanner Huff and Kirsten Eck. We still don't really understand what happened, but she ended up taking a tumble, which the ski patroller saw from above. When she didn't get up, he skiied to her and found her with her foot facing the wrong direction!
I had been helping Driggs Elementary School with their winter sports program, teaching beginners. That particular day was quite cold. Elizabeth and Carl usually ride home with me, but that morning, Elizabeth had asked if she could ride the bus home. Carl's face was red, so I decided to leave about 1/2 hour ealier than the bus. I had just gotten down, almost to Alta, when I received a call from Alisha Horrocks. She said she thought Elizabeth was hurt, but that she thought I was with Elizabeth. I told her I wasn't, she said she'd check things out and call me back. She called back and said it was my Elizabeth, and asked if I wanted an ambulance or if I wanted to come back up. I wanted to come back up. We ended up canceling the ambulance, but I hadn't realized that the ambulance was almost up there. I ended up passing it on it's way back down when I was almost back to Grand Targhee. Carl was in the back, and after a while, he asked me why I kept saying, "Judist Priest" over and over? I hadn't realized I was doing it.
I found poor Elizabeth in the First Aid area. She was started and sad, but her fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Davis was ther with her, along with the ski patrol guy. They had her leg packed up. The patroller and I loaded Elizabeth into our Suburban. Carl and I felt sad for her. We started the long drive back down.
We got to the hospital, had the x-rays, found the spiral break. She didnt' need surgery, but had to be anesthetized, so they could "put it back in place, manuall". She couldnt' keep her oxygen sats up, so we didn't get to go home until about midnight.
The first week was very hard. First, we couldn't keep her pain under control, then we had to get anti-nausea medicine, then she had to learn to use the wheelchair and crutches. For the first week and a half, she wasn't tough enough to lift her own leg, which has a hip to toe splint on, by herself, so I held her leg up while she limped around the house.
Now, we're almost two weeks out, and she did go back to school last Monday, she has learned to use the borrowed wheelchair, she can now lift her own leg, so she can use crutches. At two weeks, she will switch from the splint to a cast the same size for two weeks, then supposedly a cast below the knee for 4 weeks, then a walking boot, so it's a three month recovery plan.
We have been amazed at her classmates. They help her so much. Tanner and Kirsten have stuck by her. They wheel her around, bring her lunch to her, stay in at recess and play on the computer. We're grateful that the ski patroller found her quickly. We're grateful for her nice fifth grade teacher, who is trying very hard to accomodate Elizabeth.
In the photo, you see Elizabeth with all her gifts from friends and family who love her. You also see the fancy crutches she and Grandma White put together, so Elizabeth could be fashionable.
We think we're going to make it!

GG White

This is a picture of all my Mom and Dad's grandchildren. My parents have three children and nine grandchildren. They are some of the very best Grandparents I know. This was Christmas 2010, at a party they hosted in their home.

Patriarchial Blessing

A couple of weeks before Christmas Break, Blaine gave the Family Home Evening Lesson on Patriarchial Blessings. It was good, and I kind of wondered why now? But, Derek was listening closely, and Blaine's purpose was realized, when Derek decided to get his Patriarchial blessing during the break, so Heather could be home to be with him. Heather had told him that whenever he decided to have it, she wanted to be there. He called our Stake Patriarch, and set up the date and time.
You have to know that Derek is an extremely wonderful youth. He is true and faithful in all things. He is smart, athletic, kind, fun, quiet and nice looking. And he has always been good to his mother, so she loves him dearly.
At any rate, Nikole was invited to go with him for the blessing, along with his mom and dad and his older sister. This is a snapshot of us right before we headed over to Patriarch Kunz' home in Cedron.
It was one of those spiritual events when you feel like if you opened your eyes during the blessing, you would see the angels, including many relatives that have gone before, we surely felt them there.
One of the shining star moments in the life of a parent and the child.

Snowflakes

I brought an idea of a new twist on the basic snowflake. These are 3D and time-consuming to make, but they turned out great! Artists in the making.