Here's the new blanket

I sat down on Saturday and made myself a new blanket using the material from Hawaii. Kent and Justin helped me set it up on the frame so I could tie it. All done, and now the kids are asking me to make each of them a new blanket.

Front of the blanket.
Back of the blanket.

Repost: Natalie's Day

Today was the big day for Natalie. Monday was the prep day for her procedures… not a good day here. The first medication we tried made her vomit, so we called the doctor’s office and he told us to try another one. That didn’t go over well either because “it tastes so nasty.” We resorted to a third medication after that, and by the time we were done she was very unhappy with the entire experience… especially me.
We had to arrive at the hospital at 7:30 a.m. I am definitely not a morning person, and neither is Natalie. However, the nurses were great, and kept her totally at ease. She even got to go to the nurses’ gift room and select a stuffed animal. Her doctor had a very calming presence so that helped tremendously. He’s very friendly and laughed at her jokes so that made Natalie really happy. When she went back I grabbed breakfast from the cafeteria. When I was done I went back to the waiting room, and her doctor came out 10 minutes later and gave me the rundown of her procedures. (Everything went well, no complications.) He was able to eliminate two possible diagnoses, and he will call me in a few days with the biopsy results. Then we will discuss changes in her treatment plan.

Here is Natalie before the procedures.

I went back to Natalie's room shortly after we spoke. She was really uncomfortable and crying pretty hard when I got there. It took her nearly an hour to calm down. I felt so bad for her. She would let me stroke her hair or rub her back every so often, but then she would get really mad and throw my hand off. Whatever helped her get through it was fine with me! Her nurse gave her a bit of medication at the end of her crying jag, but she was already feeling a lot better. I do think that helped her calm down even more. After that she got back on the bed, had her IV removed and got a purple Popsicle for her troubles! Natalie after she was done. Her lip was all bloody on the left side from some of the instruments.

Once that was all done she got a ride on a wheelchair to the car, and was a little sleepy on the way home. As soon as we got home she shot right up and was fine from then on. Grandma Susan came over with a small Frosty after we got home.

Natalie with one of her nurses (Linda, I think). She loved getting a ride in the adult wheelchair!

As a reward for being brave, she and I went out for a girls' night. She wanted to get pedicures and go to dinner. However, she decided at the last minute that she would rather see a movie instead. She and I went to see Igor (I hope I never have to see that movie ever, ever again. She liked it, but I had a really hard time sitting through it.), then dinner at Arriba. She did not even want to go to bed tonight!

A little too close to home

Yesterday while Natalie and I were at the hospital Kent called me. One of his co-workers never showed up to a customer appointment on Monday, and he wouldn't answer his phone. The customer got worried, tracked him down and called the office to let them know what was going on. It turns out that on Sunday evening Kent's co-worker had been booked into jail on several charges including attempted murder. (Read the story here.) Kent said everyone in the office was totally shocked, and it was totally inconsistent with the man that they knew. Kent has gone to several appointments with him, and said that he is one of the nicest guys he has ever met... or so he thought! I feel really bad for his family. I can't even imagine how hard this must be for them. And I'm so glad that the victim is going to recover. I pray that both families will get the resolution they need.

Is this really news to anyone?

Put this under things that make you go, "Hmm."
Clay Aiken is gay. This is just such a surprise. Who knew?
(Um, I think that would be anyone who has ever seen or heard him.)
I thought it was hilarious when I saw this online yesterday. Someone felt that this "announcement" was newsworthy. I think everyone already knew this so it really wasn't news, was it? Aren't there more important things to report? Seriously!

Drew- the Daredevil?

This kid! In the last month he has done several things that make me question whether or not he has a death wish.

1. Just before we left for Hawaii he stuffed a BB in his nose and had to get it removed.

2. Right after Hawaii he jumped from the third or fourth stair and face planted on the tile at the bottom of the stairs... resulting in a HUGE goose egg on the left side of his forehead.

3. On Tuesday he and Justin jumped on the trampoline together and landed at the same time. This caused Drew to fly into the air, landing on the trampoline with his arm extended to help brace himself for the impact. In doing so he hurt his elbow. Our neighbor, who is a paramedic, checked it out (because after hearing him cry for 4 hours I thought maybe it was something more serious and was on my way to the ER). The paramedic gave him the all clear. All night long Drew cried and cried and cried, and his arm was bent close to his body the whole time. I know this because after he woke up screaming at 1 a.m. I went to to his room and brought him to sleep in ours so I could keep an eye on him.

The next morning I let Drew and Kent sleep in while I dropped the kids off at school then went to the gym. When I got back from the gym he was still holding his arm funny and couldn't extend it. When he tried lifting it up he couldn't go far before crying out in pain. I decided to take him to the doctor. After talking to his pediatrician they recommended that we go to urgent care who has an x-ray machine and could take care of him much more quickly. We were the only people there so he got seen right away. The doctor thought that maybe he broke his arm near the elbow so Drew got x-rays done. The doctor said that he didn't see a break but it appeared that he dislocated his elbow.

This is when I think, "Oh crap. It's going to be like getting immunizations. I'm going to have to hold him down, trying not to get hit or kicked in the process, and it's going to hurt like ____."

It took three tries to get the elbow to go back into place. Drew was screaming, kicking and hitting the whole time. The doctor left after each try to give Drew a chance to calm down. Each time he left Drew was crying and crying. When he would calm down he said, "Mom, I not like dat man. Him's hurts me. I want you tell him go 'way." About that time the doctor would return and Drew gave him the look of death. When the doctor would work on his arm he would try desperately to get him away, then beg me to make him stop (talk about feeling guilty), then he would bury his face in my chest when the doctor left his room and cry for several minutes because it hurt so bad. After the elbow finally went back into place the doctor gave him AND me a gift certificate for a free ice cream at Chick-Fil-A. Which is where we went for lunch immediately after we finished.


This is him eating said ice cream. He was still careful with his arm (notice it's still down and close to his body) because it was really sore. He couldn't bear to have anyone touch it until Friday. Now he seems totally fine. I just asked him if he's going to do anything else to get hurt. He says no, but he said that after incidents 1 and 2. I guess he's just more of a daredevil than the other 3 kids... I hope he doesn't do anything too serious! I don't know how much more of his "bravery" I can stand!

Justin's ordination

Today Justin was ordained to the Aaronic priesthood. He had his interview with the bishop last Sunday so we were all set for the ordination today. My mom, dad and step-mom, Kent's dad, mom and step-dad and my brother Allan were all able to come to the church to participate in this special day with him. He was presented to the ward this morning in sacrament meeting and he was a little surprised that he was called to the stand. Brother Hawks asked him how a deacon was like a boy scout. Justin looked completely freaked out, and then Bro. Hawks told him that they both always had to be prepared. (left to right) Don, Ann, Justin, Maryann, Allan, Trevor, Susan, Natalie, Kent, Drew, Julie, Lenny and Duane

After church the ordination was performed by Kent. We took a few quick pictures afterwards, and then we came back to the house for lunch. (I ended up following this guy in front of me who was driving like a TURTLE, and his top speed was no greater than 5 MPH below the posted speed limit. A long line formed behind me, but I don't know if they could see the sedan in front of my SUV so people probably thought I was the slowpoke... it reminded me of a story involving this same person driving the posted 15 MPH for miles and miles during construction at the Hoover Dam... causing another LONG line of cars... I won't say who it is, but look at the first person in the above picture on the left.)

Bro. Endrizzi, Bro. Cook, Bro. Hawks, Justin, Kent, Duane and Allan (my little bro)

Holy cow! My eldest child is 12!

The birthday boy himself... the picture of cool.

Wow! How did this happen? I swear it doesn't seem like it's been 12 years since Justin was born. It was a very difficult pregnancy. I started spotted at the beginning of my second trimester, and by the end of that trimester I started having contractions and started to dilate. I had terrible acid reflux, and my doctors told me to take Tums or Rolaids. (They didn't do anything, and now they give pregnant women real medicine. I'm so jealous!) I developed severe pre-eclampsia so my kidneys were shutting down, I had a hard time breathing and my blood pressure sky rocketed. My body didn't work right, and I woke up one morning with so much excess water that my feet and legs were like silly putty. You could poke them and it would stay depressed for 10 minutes before the indentation went away. The swelling didn't go away until Justin was 2 weeks old. Towards the end of the pregnancy the pre-eclampsia got so bad they were worried that I was going to have a stroke. (In the hospital my BP was almost 200 over 120.) I had to go on bedrest because of the pre-term labor and pre-eclampsia and on medication to stop my labor at 28 weeks. I had several trips to the hospital to get the labor stopped. After all that, during the last 4 weeks of my pregnancy everything stopped working and I ended up having to be induced. My doctors were sure that I was going to have him early because of the pre-term labor, and he ended up being overdue. So instead of an August baby I had a September baby. That was not cool!

The delivery wasn't any better. It was long and difficult due to his large head size, and the fact that my epidural didn't work... either time. OUCH! I was so tired towards the end of the delivery that I passed out between each contraction. (I guess being up for 2 nights in the hospital in labor will do that to you.) When he finally came out the doctor lifted his arm up and had him wave to me. I smiled, said hi and went back to sleep.

Despite the horrible pregnancy, delivery and recovery I feel so lucky and blessed to have Justin. He is such a good boy. He helps out with the other kids, and truly feels empathy for everyone. He doesn't want anyone to feel lonely or left out. He plays with the other kids' friends and helps them feel welcome. If someone is new at school he seeks them out and tries to get to know them. He does his jobs usually before I have to ask him to, and he is just a cool kid. I love this boy!

Natalie's face is back to normal in time for Justin's birthday. She only has a few bite marks to remind us that it even happened. She really was happy it was Justin's birthday, but she isn't a morning person!

Trevor and Drew yuk it up for the camera. I'll have to post baby pictures of these 2. The only difference is the eye color.

Mosquitoes and a fall

I took her to see our favorite doctor to check her face out. He didn't think it was anything more than allergic reaction, and to continue giving her Benadryl. At least I was doing the right thing! He said he didn't see any pink eye so I was able to send her to school on Tuesday. I'll take another picture tomorrow and post it. She looked much better today. I think she'll look even better in the morning. Yea! We still have a TON of mosquitoes everywhere after all of the rain from the HUGE monsoon storms. I kill several every day. They really seem to like me and Natalie. The boys all have mosquito bites too, but they are just little dots.
Lately Drew jumps from the second or third stair to prove how tough he is. I keep warning him that one of these times he's going to fall and get hurt, but he tells me he's "not gonna get hurt." Tonight his luck changed because while I was at a baby shower slipped and fell. I got home a few minutes later, and Kent was lying down with him. I took a look at the goose egg that had already formed over his left eye, and put an ice pack on it. He told me that the stairs rolled over him. I don't know how that's possible, but that's his story and he's sticking to it! I'm hoping that the swelling will go down by morning. He just came downstairs and said he has a headache so I'm going to stay up with him to make sure that he's okay. So far he's acting normal, but I want to make sure. Better safe than sorry, right? My poor baby!

Here's Drew on Friday. This bump shows up better in picture than it does looking at him. You can almost see a bruise in the picture. He still insists that he stairs rolled over him, and he didn't slip. At least he doesn't have headaches!

Becka's Marathon

Hi everyone,


Kent's sister, Becka, is in training for a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Her goal is to raise $4000, but her minimum donation is $3200. She only has 1 more month and is at $700, so whatever you can do to help would be greatly appreciated. Here is her web page where you can track her progress and make a donation. Thank you! http://pages.teamintraining.org/los/nikesf08/rmontgomery

Becka, Natalie and Maryann in August 2007

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.
I'm training to participate in an endurance event as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!
Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission.

Okay, she is seriously freaking me out!

Kent put Natalie to bed last night. While he was in her room, another mosquito landed on her face, and Kent killed it. I don't think he got to it quickly enough, though, because she came to me at about midnight, and could hardly open her left eye. This morning it's even worse. It looks like she's gone 12 rounds with a prize fighter. I think I'm going to take her to urgent care this morning to make sure it's not going to swell completely shut. Yikes!
Then if that wasn't bad enough the boys came down this morning and took one look at her and their eyes almost bugged out of their heads. Trevor came up to me and whispered, "Mom, Natalie is freaking me out. She's so scary. What happened to her?" I'm proud of him for whispering this time because he usually just says whatever, whenever and to whomever is around. This can lead to some very uncomfortable situations.
This picture is last night shortly after midnight. Yowsa! She looks like an alien!
The second is from this morning after 2 doses of Benadryl, and after I applied calamine lotion and 2 cold compresses. Ouch!