Spring broke

We were all set to have an amazing spring break this year when all our plans were derailed.  I should have know that things just weren't going to work out because of all the little hurdles we had to overcome while planning the trip.  1st problem, the rv needed to be fixed and they had to move heaven and earth to get it done before we left.  Hurdle 1 was jumped.  Next we had to decide if we were going to go directly to LasVegas from Utah because Nate had a tactical gun course he was taking.  There was nowhere good to take the rv and we decided that it was just too much driving.  Hurdle 2 jumped when we decided to just come home and Nate would fly there.  Then we had to get his personal office moved and a massive desk built before we could take off and leave the rest of the moving to his staff.  Hurdle 3 jumped.  Next we had to worry about a rental car to get us to conference and the wonderment of no one working in the state of Utah continued when we discovered that all the rental places closed at 12 so we had to hurry our buns there to get a car.  We also had to overcome some patient scheduling problems that effected when we could leave and when we needed to be back.  It was problem after problem but we managed to solve each of them as they came along.  Oh, and I always manage to forget that we have animals that need to be cared for until the last minute when reality hits me and I have to find someone to take care of them.  Will I ever have 100 % of my brain turned on at one time?  Probably not.  So we had overcome every obstacle thrown at us.....

Friday morning arrives and we start loading up the RV because we had only gotten it back from the repair shop late the night before.  I noticed that Nate was limping around but every time I would ask him about it he would say it was nothing and he refused to go lie down for a bit to see if it would help.  Nate is the driving force behind us getting ready to do anything and we have all grown to rely on that direction.  Well, he started slowing down and hunching over to the point I couldn't take it any longer.  I finally got him to sit down and admit there was something seriously wrong with him.  He has had a hernia for well over a year that he refused to fix and it had become strangulated that morning.  I sat next to him and refused to go any further until he called the dr or went to urgent care.  We sat there for quite some time before he gave in and we went and had it checked out.  A primary dr that he knew had him come in so we headed over there for a 10 am appointment.  We were supposed to leave by 12.  He could hardly even walk by this point and was in excruciating pain.  The Dr was immediately worried because anytime there is strangulation you risk killing the intestine that is squeezed out through the hole.  She sent us over to the ER and called the general surgeon.  The surgeon was surprisingly in surgery.  Haha.  It took forever for the ER to figure out what to do and all the waiting made the strangulation recede because he was able to find a good position and relax.  When we finally finished up and talked to the surgeon it was 1 pm.  I was starving and Nate was in shut down mode.  We still had to get a few things at the store and finish packing up.  He pulled the car over and climbed in the backseat exhausted and unable to move forward.  I took him to lunch because I always shut down when I'm overwhelmed, hungry and been suffering through major pain.  I got some food in him, took one look and said "we aren't going anywhere, it's over."  Sometimes you think you are handling all the stress (a major office move) and your body says, "excuse me, no you're not."  It was going to be a cram packed hours on the road filled vacation that didn't clear his mind because there was too much to worry about back home.  So.......

 I had heard about this place that a man with down syndrome owns and I decided that was where we were going for our first official day of our staycation.  I showed the kids his youtube video to prepare them for the awesomeness they were about to discover.  But, before we headed out to breakfast Ethan and Jordyn were being so darn cute.  Ethan was helping his sister  to ride this skateboard thing.  It melts my heart when I see my kids being so kind to each other.  Anyway, back to breakfast at Tim's, his motto is food is food, but hugs are better.  He gives the most amazing hugs to everyone that comes in.  To make up for the fact that we didn't get to take the rv on vacation and she was all ready for action, we took her to this diner.  Let me tell you, Tim can brighten anyones day.  You get greeted with a hug and showers of compliments on anything he sees about you.   The kids got their hugs and he escorted us to our table and then went to greet others.  Well, Emma was still being a bit grumpy....so being the crazy, embarrassing Mom that I am, I called Tim back over and told him that she needed another hug because she was still grumpy.  Oh he played it so well and got a smile on her face and then he went up to Jordyn and told her that she was his favorite and that he loved her.  He was also loving on Ethan.  My 2 little ones have the biggest hearts and so I'm sure he was attracted to that.  He then realized that I was the only one who hadn't received a hug yet and told me it was my turn.  This is no obligatory, stiff, lets see if we can hug by touching as little of each other as possible, hug.  No, this was a full on I love you and I'm going to hold you tight pure hug that could cure the world.

The great thing about not going to Utah for spring break, is that I actually got to watch all of saturday's general conference because we weren't on the road and picking up a rental car etc...  It was really nice and I so enjoyed conference.  It was so powerful and so many things that I had been thinking about were talked about and I thought, I'm not crazy, I'm exactly in line with the gospel.  I loved it.  Sunday morning instead of heading to the conference center at the crack of dawn with the kids, we cuddled up and watched it on the tv wishing so badly that we were there like we had planned.  Sunday was so good again and Nate and I were air fist bumping each other several times throughout the conference.  I make the kids take notes and then we talk about them between sessions.  It is so interesting to see what each person picks out of the talks.  I love it.  It's kind of a little barometer of where my kids are with their testimonies by what they pick up on in the talks.  

The rest of the break we ice skated twice with friends and cousins and went to the movies and I even took Jordyn out for a special treat, a pedicure.  At dinner the kids tried making their lips going in different directions like I can and it was hilarious.  It's the only thing I've got on them.  Every single one of my kids, including my husband can roll their tongue and my kids cannot understand how it is possible that I can't... well, exhibit A, it's like them trying to get their lips to do what mine do.  You can either do it or you cant but it is sure fun watching people try.  Because we stayed home we were also able to go check on his sister that lives here.  She had been not feeling well and having some health issues but wouldn't let her husband call anyone over to help him give her a blessing.  He had been praying and trying to figure out for 2 weeks what to do about it and we just showed up at their house and answered that prayer for them and Nate was able to help give her a blessing.  Most of the time we spend making plans and the Lord says, that's nice, but here's what I need you to do instead.  So, although we didn't get to do what we had planned, Nathan was able to relax and help get his office set up, we got the most amazing hug ever, got to watch all of saturday's conference, spend some quality time just having fun with the kids and help a sister in need.  We also learned that our kids aren't exposed to healing blessings enough because Jordyn didn't know what the oil was all about, gotta fix that.  All in all, I would call that a success!