March was an annoying suckfest for most of the month. Not all but definitely the first part. We started out with snow which needed to go. There were cancelled track practices and missed vendor nights due to the crappy roads and black ice. That alone did not get the month off to a great start. But then Tyler was still miserable with his eye situation and being partially blind. It was stressful to say the least! At the first of March the big dark patch in Tyler's eye was still there and showing no signs of dissipating. It really bothered him to use his computer at work. The eye strain was causing him to have bad headaches.
I finally convinced him to buy an eye patch to help with that. That might have been the most hilarious part of the month. LOL. It did help with his eye strain so that was good. Then just when his eye was starting to heal; it hemorrhaged again. He had to go get another eyeball shot and then get a shot in the other eye that looked like it was *about* to hemorrhage. His doctor decided that Tyler needed laser surgery on both of his eyes ASAP. Diabetes is also a GIANT suckfest.
Waiting to go back for eye surgery.
Tyler had his first laser eye surgery mid-month. They lasered his good eye. They can't do surgery on his other eye until the bleeding stops and the floaters and dark patches go away. If all goes well the next surgery will probably be some time in April. Thankfully this eye surgery went really well. Tyler checked in for surgery at 6:30 am. From check-in to checkout the whole process was maybe 2 1/2 hours. Not too bad. His doctor felt like the procedure was very successful. Tyler came out with just his eye taped up; not with a giant eye patch that some of the other people were coming out with. He felt well enough to want to go grab some breakfast at The Grain Shed. Ha ha!
Tyler worked from home the next day and after that his vision and life were back to normal. Pretty miraculous. The only weird thing was that the surgery affected the shape of his pupil so that it looked like he had a cat's eye. It eventually went away after about a week but was a little disconcerting at first. LOL. He is a trooper.
Add to all of this eye business...three family cars broke down...THREE!! Two with very expensive repairs. It all started with Reilly's car breaking down. Her repair was quite expensive and so Tyler and I loaned her the money to pay for it. Two weeks later our suburban broke down and the repair was triple the cost of what Reilly's repair was...ugh. Our car broke down on March 15th. Beware the Ides of March!! Then at the end of the month Ailey's car died. Kam and Ailey's boyfriend Luke replaced the battery and it worked okay for about a day and a half and then it died again. This time it was the alternator. Ailey managed to get it off the road and parked in a BYU-I parking lot. She called Kam who left work to come to her rescue. Can I say for the millionth time that I am so glad that Ailey has Kameron with her in Rexburg!
In a very strange twist of events...my cousin Jaymon ended up fixing her car. Yes, a cousin from the family that we are currently estranged from fixed her car. Our kids have run into this cousin a few times and he has always been nice to them and wanted to make sure that they had his phone number if they ever needed anything. Kam decided to put that offer to use for an auto mechanic referral. This cousin is a lifelong resident of Rexburg so Kam asked him if he could recommend a place to get the car towed to. My cousin said that yes he could...his house. My cousin ended up helping Kam tow the Camry to his house and replaced the alternator. Kam, Ailey, and Kam's girlfriend Erin spent several hours at his home visiting with him, his wife, and daughter and enjoyed their time there. We appreciated his help. Tyler had the parts waiting for pick up at the auto parts store and thanked my cousin for his assistance. Can we say weird plot twist?
For some extra fun Beverly had her yearly vet appointment and vaccinations. The vet now charges more than double for the exact same services as last year. More like double and a half. Annoying. In happier news...Beverly is healthy and at a perfect weight. All of those walks have paid off and she is finally excited about a walk instead of sitting down and refusing to budge partway through a walk and making us carry her. She also turned 5! We sure love this diva of a dog!
We had another funeral this month. :( This time it was a woman who used to be in our ward and the mom of a friend of mine. Connie went to high school with my mom and so did her husband. It was another very beautiful and inspiring service. Her children told the best stories about her.
Then my dad called me to tell me that my Uncle Clayton (his brother) had a massive stroke. He survived. It didn't affect his speech but it did affect the right side of his body. My dad seemed pretty shaken by this news. This is his younger and only brother.
Things with Reilly were difficult for a few weeks. Adult children, parents, and siblings still go through rough patches. There were issues with all of those groupings. Things got better and then worse and then better. Life is like that sometimes I guess. It's good to keep perspective when the drama hits. It's also good for Tyler and I to keep a sense of ourselves and our own identities and realize that we have our own lives to live. We are watching our children's life stories unfold and they are watching ours and all interesting stories have ups, downs, and conflict. Thankfully we all got through it. But it also definitely sucked.
Bryn had track all month. Bryn ran 5-6 miles 5 days a week. She's enjoyed getting outside and running again. Although one day she fainted at track. We think she wasn't hydrated enough.
Kameron got the flu and was sick for about a week. I had a migraine that lasted for several days. Tyler got a 24 hour stomach bug and we ended up missing our dessert night with friends and that was a bummer.
**Things that made a stressful month less terrible:
-Laughing HARD with friends in unexpected places.
-Sunday naps
-Trying to position myself in any patch or ray of sunshine that I could possibly find no matter how fleeting.
-Comfort food and treats
We tried a new Indian restaurant and holy moly it was amazing! We also found a place here that sells authentic Southern pimento cheese. It's the best that we have had since South Carolina. There has also been too many nights of homemade malts and my banana cake with brown butter frosting.
-Going to the gym regularly because of said comfort food and treats.
-Going on LONG walks
-Watching TV
This is something that I very rarely do but this month we watched MANY episodes of New Girl to laugh and many episodes of All Creatures Great and Small to decompress and several episodes of Apples Don't Fall to displace our anger as we hate watched it. The book is so much better!
-Reading
Last year it felt like I was only reading mostly mediocre books but this year I have read a lot of really good ones. It was nice to be transported to another time and place when feeling discouraged and depressed.
-Deep cleaning
I scrubbed, organized, and aired out our house. Goodbye bad energy.
-Gardening
Cleaning out flower beds is so satisfying as are seeing the flowers that I planted last fall start to come up. Yay hyacinths!
-Filming hilarious (to us) TikToks with Bryn that she and I sent in our family chat.
-Sleep
Sometimes just calling it a day and going to bed early.
-Going to the Temple.
Tyler and I had a really special...dare I say it...miraculous...experience at the temple this month.
-Looking for Rainbows
Nearly every single time when things got pretty bleak and depressing a rainbow showed up. We took it as a sign of things improving. We saw a lot of them this month. At the park. Over our house. At the temple.
Right around mid-month things started to turn around for the better. The sun also finally decided to make an appearance and it was so needed. We even had several days of 70 degrees and above. One of Tyler's good friends from high school came to town on business and he and Tyler had fun getting together. It improved Tyler's mood during the height of the eye drama. Thank goodness.
Joel and Tyler
St. Patrick's Day
St. Patrick's Day was on a Sunday this year and Tyler and I were both speaking in another ward. Bryn stayed home and decorated for the festivities.
Our dinner was delicious! We made my mom's corned beef and cabbage and her beer bread. We also had my grandma's green punch and a rainbow cake for dessert.
I LOOOVE this meal!!
We had a great meal and talked to the kids. Jonathan, Kameron's best friend all through elementary school, middle school, and high school, is getting married this summer and asked Kameron to be in his wedding. He is marrying his high school sweetheart who is also a friend of Kam's.
After our St. Patrick's Day dinner we went on one of our favorite walks with a beautiful view. The weather was so nice and all the sunshine was making us so much happier. I really think that I am solar powered. LOL. The next day while the weather was still so lovely; Tyler's boss gave everyone a half day off work to "enjoy the sunshine." Tell me you live in the PNW without telling me you live in the PNW.
Bryn started her practicum at her old elementary school. I pick up Bryn and her friends Alice and Saige every Thursday at 11:20 am and drive them to the elementary school where they each volunteer in a different classroom for their child development class. Bryn had to apply and be accepted. She works with Kindergarten kids and with HER old kindergarten teacher. Her friends were assigned to other classes. They all LOVE it!!
One of the couple goals that Tyler and I set for 2024 was to attend more EVENTS. Spokane hosted the 1974 Expo World's Fair and it will be the 50th anniversary in May. Our museum is starting to have some different exhibits about Expo '74. We went to check out the first small exhibit. They will be adding more and more in a big build up to May. I'm excited to see all the old pictures and displays from that time. I was at Expo '74 but as a 2 year old in a stroller.
We also attended Ham on Regal which is a non-profit, original musical/comedy show written and performed by our high school's parents and staff. It brings in so much money for our school. Usually over $100,000 every year! It's a big deal and rehearsals start almost a year before the week long performance. Quite a few of our friends were involved this year. It was rather mesmerizing to watch people sing and dance who you would NEVER expect. It was a fun night! Our children have forbidden us from ever participating in this event. LOL. No worries.
Church wise there was a lot going on. I had a Leadership Meeting that turned out to be VERY cool! Right before the meeting we got an email with some very specific directions for the meeting. When I got to the stake center it was packed. It turned out that it was a Regional Stake Leadership Meeting: Colville Stake, Spokane Stake, Spokane North Stake, Spokane East Stake, Spokane West Stake, Spokane Valley Stake, and Mount Spokane Stake were all there. 7 Stakes in total. Only Stake Presidencies, Bishops, Stake RS Presidencies, Stake YW Presidencies, Stake Primary Presidencies, Stake YM Presidency were invited and that was it...no secretaries even.
We had very strict instructions. We had to enter in one door and go to our stake table and get a name badge that was waiting for us to allow us entrance into the chapel. I knew that an Area Seventy would be there to speak and preside at the meeting. That Area Seventy was Elder Hal C. Hunsaker and Elder Adeyinka A. Ojediran who was the first Seventy called from Africa was there too. He is currently the second counselor in the North America West Area Presidency. But then just as the meeting was about to begin...in walked an Apostle of God. Elder Neil L. Anderson. Jaw Drop. It was an incredible meeting. I felt like everything that was said pertained to me personally. It was really powerful. The whole family was super excited to hear all about my meeting. Kam and Ailey both called. It was a really cool experience. I wish I could've taken pictures. This was all that I got. My BeReal from the parking lot with my name badge.
It was an amazing meeting!
Later that month our Stake completely upended how our wards were doing things. 5 wards and one branch are now configured in what they call a "Barbell" configuration. Which is that two wards *kind of* combine. One ward has Sacrament Meeting first...then they combine all the youth/Primary kids for 2nd hour...and then the 2nd ward has their Sacrament Meeting. They don't combine their RS or Elders Quorums second hour. Those stay separate. But on the Sundays of YW and YM both wards combine and the Primaries combine and on the Sundays that are Sunday School the youth Sunday School classes combine and the Primary combines every week. So 5 wards are doing this and one of the wards combines with our Swahili Branch and does the same thing. This has turned out to be pretty cool but it also caused a bit of an upset and ruckus trying to get it sorted out. It's still complicated.
All the YW/YM Presidencies and leaders got released in all the wards. All the youth Sunday school teachers got released in the wards. All the primary presidencies and primary teachers got released in the wards. Then Presidencies were called for all of these groups. It was a big ordeal and it happened very fast. We had some Primary leaders who were very hurt and sad to be released and not called into the new combo presidencies. My friend Jen (who is the Stake Primary President) and I went around to all of the Primary leaders in our stake who had been released and went to their homes to talk to them, thank them, and brought them flowers and a card with our love and appreciation. We went to so many homes and talked to so many wonderful women. It was a long but good night!
After that we as a Stake Primary Presidency tried to divide and conquer and be in all of those barbell wards for a few weeks while everything got sorted out and on track. I was never in my home ward in March except for on Easter. Thank goodness this merging of youth and primary wasn't happening in all of the wards in our stake. Our building and the two wards that meet in it didn't merge into the barbell shape. Another ward in a different building was spared too. It's been a wild ride so far but has been so amazing for the youth and the primary kids.
In other exciting news...the Idaho Spuds are all still in love. Kam and Erin and Ailey and Luke went on a double date and had a very fun time! Kameron and Erin facetimed us afterword. They both said that they had fun and that Luke is perfect for Ailey. Kam really likes Luke. Yay! It is not easy to win big brother's approval. Ailey called later that night after Kam and Erin and said that she and Luke also had a lot of fun with them. Ailey loves Erin. Win-win!!
The difference between daughters and sons...couple picture editions:
This is what Ailey sent me.
This is what I got from Kameron. LOL.
Ailey made the decision that she wanted to receive her endowment and go through the temple. We totally support her decision. Church leaders are now encouraging college age kids to go through the temple after high school graduation. I think it is a great idea. How nice to have access to the temple when making life's big decisions. Ailey got her official temple recommend and scheduled her session over Bryn's Spring Break so that we could come down and go through the temple with her. We made our travel plans and got all of the things that Ailey would need for the temple. I bought myself a new temple dress for the occasion. The last one I bought was also the first one that I ever bought. LOL. They last forever.
Tyler's mom is majorly cleaning out her house. She had several very sentimental items that she asked me if I would want. That was very sweet of her to think of me. Plans are in the works for her 80th birthday party in June.
The month concluded with Holy Week and Easter. We are actually home for Easter this year so I decorated. It feels like it has been a long time since I decorated for Easter. The kids had Lamb Day at Seminary. It's the kids favorite day of the year! I love this tradition and it is such a good reminder of the Easter season and Passover.
Bryn performed and competed with her high school orchestra at a music festival. They scored very high! She also had her Spring Orchestra Concert. They sounded great!
Our stake had an Easter Musical Fireside and Bryn was a narrator. She did a great job with that too!
Ailey started at new job in Rexburg so she will be staying for Spring Semester and going to school AND working full time. Kameron is staying in Rexburg for Spring Semester too. It's going to be weird when school gets out for the summer and it is only Bryn at home. Although it was really weird last year when Ailey and Kameron were out for their "summer break" at the start of April and were home for five months! I guess it is weird all around.
Bryn got invited to her friend's Haylee's Quinceañera. That was very exciting! This was our family's first quinceañera. Bryn and her friends had such a great time! They got all glammed up and danced the night away at this beautiful fancy party while also learning so much about her friend's cultural traditions. It was a very cool experience for Bryn. She loved it!
Karson continues to be the cutest little guy who is growing up so fast! He also continues to like to call his Lovey whenever he gets ahold of his mom's phone. LOL. I love it! In the blink of an eye Easter was upon us and then Spring Break. I will do a post for both of those. So despite March starting off pretty terrible, it ended up okay and I am grateful!!!
