Lucky Day 11-11-11

A couple of weeks ago, Jeffery realized it was time to find a specialist with experience treating Horseshoe Kidneys. He explained his situation to three different doctors and asked for a recommendation. Independently, all of them came back with the name Blake Hamilton. Even though he is out of our network, Jeffery went for a consultation November 1st and was pleased with the time Dr. Hamilton devoted to understanding this particular case. He ordered a medical test and scheduled a follow up visit November 8th. At the second appointment, he suggested a course of action to solve several causes of pain: one surgery using robotics and laparoscopic ports to correct an obstruction of the right ureter and remove stones (taking approximately six hours), and a second surgery a month later to remove stones from the left side. Jeffery wanted to know if it could all be done at one time, but the doctor said it would take too long. They agreed to proceed as soon as they could get an operating room with a six hour time slot at the Huntsman Cancer Center (they have the robotic equipment.) That very afternoon the secretary called with an opening for November 11 or November 21. Jeffery decided sooner was better.


We arrived at the hospital at 10 a.m. to check in before the procedure at 12 noon. The facility doesn't look like a hospital, more like an upscale hotel. We waited and waited. At 1:30 p.m. we were informed the operating room would be busy until 3 p.m. I brought grading to keep me busy, and I watched as the Family Waiting Room emptied. I was surprised at 7:30 p.m. Dr. Hamilton came out holding two specimen cups. He told me they went in with a scope to look at the left side and decided to pull out as many stones as they could. Some were too large, so they broke them up with laser lithotripsy, and cleaned out the left side. (Most general urologists perform shockwave lithotripsy, which Jeffery has had twice since we moved to Utah. Dr. Hamilton believes shockwave lithotripsy should not be used on patients with horseshoe kidney because the debris falls back into the kidney and starts new stones.) Then they worked on the right side with the robotic equipment. He detached the ureter, removed six LARGE stones, trimmed a narrowed area of the ureter, repositioned the ureter so it wasn't being pinched by some vessels, and reattached the ureter. Bottom line, Dr. Hamilton believes they removed ALL of Jeffery's stones in one visit.

Somehow, Jeffery ended up in the Presidential Suite. Dr. Hamilton said, "If John Huntsman were a patient, this would be his room." It is a large corner room with huge windows overlooking the valley, has inlaid woodwork on the cabinets, beautiful tile work in the bathroom, an adjoining room with a sofa bed, chair, and a wall of cabinets with a microwave oven and its own tv. There is also a small foyer outside the suite with a sofa and desk. There are kitchen, laundry, and shower facilities for families across the hall. You could host a family reunion here. I had lunch in the restaurant upstairs and recognized the decor from a wedding reception post online. It wasn't your typical cafeteria. I'm talking chefs, gourmet bread and a carving station. Patients are not given a checklist of meal choices. Instead they order from a menu and call Room Service. I complimented Jeffery on his choice of hospitals, and he said the doctor chose. My reply, "If I were a doctor, I would choose this hospital too."

We appreciate all the prayers and support from our friends and family.

Do I Look Like a Grizzly to You?

Some of you have already heard my news, if so, you don't have to read any further. I've been waiting to create this post for a week now, hoping to sign some official documents to shed a little reality on this dream, but I'm going to make it public anyway . . . I HAVE BEEN HIRED AS AN INTERN TO TEACH AT PAYSON JR. HIGH, home of the Grizzlies!

The last requirement to finish my degree is to student teach or accept an internship. Student teaching is two months at a junior high and two months at a high school with a gradual transition of responsibility. An internship is a first year teaching contract for half-salary with complete responsibility the first day of school. The number of internships varies due to staffing needs in the local districts. Last year there were only two. Everyone plans to student teach, then if you are interested and an internship opens up, you interview with the principal. I interviewed for three before the semester ended and didn't get hired. I felt like a failure. I let my adviser know that I was still interested if another opportunity came up, but accepted that student teaching was the route I would take. Then my adviser called, I interviewed, and the principal offered me the job!

Even though I haven't received the "new hire" packet from the district yet, I will get to see "my" classroom, meet with the other Family and Consumer Science teacher who teaches the foods classes and the teacher I am replacing who taught the sewing/clothing classes. These two share responsibility for teaching a seventh grade required class called Career and Technical Education, or CTE. CTE introduces students to career options and technical skills in the Family and Consumer Sciences as they rotate through units in Foods and Nutrition, Child Development, Sewing and Careers during one term. (The other term covers Business/Technology units taught by other teachers.)

Everything about returning to college and starting a teaching career has required faith. Here is another step into the unknown, trusting this is the path intended for me.

Five Little Rubber Duckies Birthday Party

We started off making ducky visors.


This game combined a couple of ideas, waddling (or shuffling) with the duck feet while trying to step on the "lily pads" (I know they are philodendron leaves, but they have come in handy since making them for a safari party) to bring back an egg without using your hands. Everyone found gummi worms in the eggs at the finish line.


Lauren once again acted as birthday artist and saved the day by creating a duck bean bag toss game.

We played a funny version of Duck, Duck, Goose, not everyone completely understood the rules. They loved fishing ducks out of the pond (rubbermaid box) with a net to choose a prize. The water and duckies kept them occupied even when prizes were no longer involved. I tried to start Pass the Duck (like Hot Potato) but when they realized people got "out", they lost interest.


Our snacks included duck beaks (Pringles), duck legs (Cheetos), and duck food (snack mix with gold fish crackers mixed in).


Of course we had to float duckies in the punch!


These ice cream ducks would have been much easier with different sized scoops! I ended up shaping these by hand and rinsing my hands after each section. Brrr...


This whole idea started from these adorable little birthday ducks that a friend gave to us. The bathtub cake is not my best work, but thankfully the birthday girl thought it was great!

This momma duck was sure glad we planned the party on one of the few dry days amid weeks of rain.

Welcome Spring!

We put out a wreath we had in Encinitas, but it's dark purple color scheme got lost on our black door. We decided it was time to replace it, but couldn't find anything decent that wasn't outrageously expensive. So we bought some silk flowers and created our own. Yeah, I'd say the color pops on the black background


Jeffery's been bitten by a gardening bug. Take a look at his square foot gardening adventure! We looked high and low to find the same variety of orange cherry tomatoes that our neighbor in San Diego introduced to us. (He doesn't like other cherry tomatoes, only this "Sugar Sweet" variety.) Tomatoes and peppers were the only seedlings we bought, the rest are from seed: peas, cucumbers, butternut squash, beans, red potatoes, sweet peas, green onions, cilantro, beets, carrots, spinach, and lettuce. The red potatoes in the middle box have really taken off. Soon we will hang netting on the galvanized frame for the sweet peas, beans and peas to climb on.

The Glad Game

We really like the old Disney movie Pollyanna. This little orphan girl looks for the good in people and difficult situations. Like everyone, we have challenges, but try to look for the positive. Here are some of the good things that have happened to us this year. . .

Good News 1 - Preschool. In September of last year, I submitted an application for Della to go to preschool. In December I got a call saying there was an opening. It has been a great transition as she gets ready for kindergarten.

Good News 2 - Wow, another semester over. It was intense and worth it. I spent half my time in the David O. McKay Building and the other half in the Joseph F. Smith Building (above.) Completed in 2005, the Joseph F. Smith Building replaced the Smith Family Living Center. Thanks to the support of my husband, I earned my best grades ever. All I have now is student teaching in the fall. I applied for December 2011 graduation, but was disappointed to learn December graduates are "invited" to participate in the ceremonies in April 2012. I've already waited this long, I guess I can hold out an extra four months.

Women donate hair for good cause | Universe.byu.edu

Good News 3 - Roofio's wavy tresses have made her famous. She was quoted and photographed in the Daily Universe for donating hair to Locks of Love.


Good News 4 - Scholarships! Generosity is amazing. We were all jumping up and down when we were notified of our awards.


Good News 5- Mission call/Temple. Melinda submitted her papers to become a missionary and received a call to serve in the Farmington, New Mexico mission. She went to the temple this week. We appreciated the love expressed by our relatives who joined us. She reports to the MTC in July.

Good News 6 - Kindergarten. I was driving to the university one day and saw a marquis at an elementary school. It stated kindergarten registration was that day and the next. I determined to find a computer and look up the school Della would attend. They too were holding registration the same two days. Daddy and Della hot-footed it over there and got her all signed up.

Our cousin, Ebeneezer...

I would like to introduce you to Jeffery's cousin, Scrooge, i.e. Richard Wilkins. He has played this role at the Hale Center Theater for over 20 years and we were never in the right place at the right time. I always said, "Someday I'm going to make it to a performance." Someday finally arrived somewhere between finals and Christmas. Of course we anticipated being biased toward the main character, but the whole performance and venue were fantastic. We were disappointed Della wasn't old enough to meet the theater's age requirement, but that just means we will have to go back next Christmas.

Alice in Wonderland

Emma was in the middle school musical, Alice in Wonderland. She was a fish, an un-birthday guest and a towns person. Almost every school day she stayed after school for 2 hours practicing. She made a whole bunch of friends and had a good time doing it. At the last performance on Saturday, the teacher was acting weird. On Monday the cast found out she had her baby early Sunday morning. Emma now hopes to be in the next musical.

Ice Skating

A rare occurrence happened on Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, everyone was free for a little family time. We had a hard time choosing an activity the whole family would be interested in and able to do. We decided to try ice skating at Seven Peaks and were glad to have gotten there early before the crowds. Della was a natural! The rink had some child-size "walkers" made of metal tubing to give kids some support as they learned how to get around on the ice. Toward the end Della got to use one of these "walkers." She didn't really need it, but it protected her a little from the speedsters.