Word.

The truth is, I'm a little scared. I would have had the elbow surgery over and done with by now if I'd had any choice in the matter. But I didn't.

I saw Dr. Widmer today. He says my injury might not be as bad as we first thought, but it is still very, very bad. (It might not be an actual terribe triad after all––just the next thing to it.) But he thinks it should heal up well after surgery, and physical therapy, etc. I am registered to go into surgery this Wednesday; I will find out the exact time tomorrow afternoon.

And after eleven days of pretty constant aching and, occasionally, some severely sharp pains, I am decidedly ready to have it taken care of. But Bruce might not be able to be with me, which makes me sad. And, despite having anxiously anticipated my repair job for almost two weeks, I am a little scared.

The Terrible Triad

Yesterday was a very long day for me.

First of all, I woke up around 3:30 a.m. and was never able to really fall asleep again. This is because I've just gotten started on another really big sewing project: costumes for Uintah High's next musical, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I did not go into this enterprise very enthusiastically (in fact, there may or may not have been some kicking and screaming involved)—because I have a lot of creating and sewing to do in only about thirty days. But as I've started imagining and then sewing I've had some really awesome ideas that I am very excited about (despite all the work). So when I woke up at 3:30 for my nightly bathroom run, these great ideas, and the equally great puzzle of how to bring them to fruition, kept me awake for the rest of the day.

Ooooh! What's all this?

Second, as I was heading to the high school to pick up Kaylie from rehearsal and to fit a couple of costume pieces to some kids, I slipped and fell on the ice. I dropped all my work in the snow and for a minute I was afraid that I might have ruined a satin gown from my Pianoforte collection that I was taking to use for a size-reference. Arghh!

And third, after going to bed around 1:00 a.m., and sleeping very badly for a very little while, here I am: awake again at 3:41 a.m.—according to my computer.

Now you might think that those things warrant the name of The Terrible Triad and, taken together, they are pretty obnoxious. But, no.

See, when I fell on the ice I landed directly on my right elbow. It was intensely painful! And I was angry that I fell down, and I really was worried about the dress that I dropped. But I figured I'd haul myself and all my stuff up and get to the school anyway. That (not very) comforting thought lasted about two seconds. My whole right arm was throbbing, and tingling, and hurting, and completely useless. I managed to get myself off the ground and into the house—leaving my precious wares on the driveway. Ruth Ann very kindly ran out to bring my things inside.

This dress. I thought that if it fit well I might be able to use the bodice pattern. But now I'm thinking probably not.

My right arm didn't want to do anything; it was just kind of dangling there. So I slipped out of my coat, lifted the sleeve of my sweater, and had a look. Dislocated for sure. (Ruth Ann and Hannah confirmed my hasty diagnoses, Hanna having dislocated her elbow just last summer.) I was sure I would have to go to the Emergency room; unfortunately I was the only grown-up in the house with a driver's license. And, besides all that, all I could keep thinking was that I don't have time for an injury like this right now; I have way too much to do!

After a series of phone calls Bishop Goodrich and his wife Tara came to drive me to the E.R. Fortunately they were not busy in the emergency room (probably because smart people were staying off of the ice). They took me back for a look-see pretty quickly. Tara went back with me and, in between ten million x-rays, talking to the doctor, and a CT scan, she and I had a nice visit, chatting about our families, childbirth, and whatever else we ladies like to talk about.

I just have to say that the x-rays and the CT scan were nasty. The technician, Joe, was super nice, and he was extremely gentle with my arm, but that limb of mine did not take kindly to changing positions. The pain was there while I was holding my arm still, but it was not terrible. But whenever any of my arm or shoulder muscles contracted it was excruciating—a lot like labor, actually.

Well it turns out that my elbow was actually broken. Great. But the first x-rays showed that it was not dislocated. Weird. I was sure  that it was dislocated when I left the house; it looked completely wrong.

Here's the deal—The Terrible Triad: I not only 1. broke my elbow, but I also 2. wrecked my ligaments which 3. made my elbow pop in and out of joint no matter how gently or carefully it was handled.

Aww! Look at my pretty bones! My pink arrows are pointing to little bits of broken off bone. They say I shattered my radial head.

By the time I was finding this out Bruce had arrived and switched places with Tara. (He had been performing in his very funny play, probably only half an hour into it at the time I fell. He got to me at about the time I went for the CT scan.) While I had been chatting and even joking with Tara and the nice staff at the ER, I was able to cry with Bruce there. My pressing worries? The costumes, and what am I going to do with myself while this heals?

Well, Dr. Anderson delivered the bad news that he would have to put my elbow back in place and splint it. Then I yelled! They tugged and pushed and pulled on my poor, sad arm but the really painful part was all the squeezing of my muscles. I'm telling you, it was like being in labor—from the level of pain, to the squeezing and almost biting Bruce's hand (I realized what I was doing just before I actually clamped his hand in my teeth), to the noise I was making—sounds I have not made since Jessica was born. (Although having a baby is more fun because when it's all done you get a baby. All I got out of this was a splint.) It was a huge relief to hear and feel my elbow pop back into place. I have never ever broken a bone before, but now I really did it. :-/

Then I cried on Bruce some more while they went to talk to their amazing, extra-highly-trained orthopedist...who said it is so bad that he wants me to see an elbow specialist at the University of Utah. Yes, I will need surgery. Away from home. And who knows how long it will take to heal? And what will I do while it's getting better? And what about my costume designs—will I have to give up on them?

I foresee more pain, the aggravation of being very dependent (while trying to use my left hand for everything when I am so right-handed that I almost wonder how I can even play the piano), and boredom, boredom, boredom ahead of me. A Terrible Triad indeed!

Happy Birthday, Jason!

Today is this handsome guy's birthday.

Jason Daniel North was born on January 16, 1995.

about two weeks old

While I was pregnant with him I worked on making Lindsey's blessing dress—I had already had a boy, and I had to get ready for my girl. But, really, the entire time I was embroidering her dress I knew that this baby would not be wearing it. :-)  We also had Lindsey's name picked out. About two weeks before Jason was born Bruce and I thought we should probably choose a good boy's name—"just in case." We had narrowed it down to either Jarom Evan, or Jason Daniel; I think we chose the right name. (In case you are wondering, I did make Jason a blessing outfit that was not a dress.)

Jason's blessing suit
The pants are actually a deep blue, not black.

Isn't he cute?

As with his older brother, Michael (my first baby), my water broke at home in the wee morning hours (at about 4:30 a.m., just before Bruce's alarm clock went off so he could get ready for work. Bruce was pretty happy when I told him he'd better call them and say he couldn't go in that day.) I thought I would have time to take a shower (as I did with Michael), but quickly decided that was not the best plan. Instead, we got Michael out of bed and bundled him off to Melanie's house, then drove straight to the hospital as quickly as Bruce could legally get there (in a snow-storm besides). Jason was born at about 6:30 a.m. And I totally fell in love with him—and I still think he is pretty awesome!

Jason is responsible, and takes his role in the world seriously. But he's also playful, has a fun sense of humor, is an award-winning dancer, and is just fun to be around.

Hahaha! I love this picture.

I did not comb his hair like this.
It's just what Jason's hair wants to do.

Jason has always loved music.

Jason loves his family

Jason has always had a thing for hats.
(He looks pretty good in a hat, too.)

One time we took all our kids to a "modeling agency" (that's what they called themselves on the radio ad. Actually they were an expensive modeling school). They really liked Jason, saying he looked like "the All-American boy."

Jason loves the outdoors, and he's earned both the Ranger Award and Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America.

Jason loves the gospel. He graduated from seminary, and then served a full-time, two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in British Columbia, Canada.

I'm pretty proud of my fantastic son. :-)

Happy Birthday Jason!

Merry Christmas! 2016

Well, Christmas was three days ago, and I am finally writing about it. Ah, well; I did need some recovery time, right? Because this year Christmas time was pretty hectic––more than usual.

Ryan made this chest for himself in his woodworking class. He and Bruce are just putting the hinges on it so we can use it as our Christmas tree stand this year.

We don't have enough space to put up our 7 1/2 foot tree, so we only put up half of it. Can you see the nice cherry-wood chest under all the decorations?

Every year the kids draw names and make home-made gifts for each other; this year we did the name-drawing in September––or maybe it was August, before Jason and Lindsey went to school. They usually make some really cool gifts for each other, and it's been the favorite, most anticipated part of Christmas for us the last five years.Anyway, despite drawing names so early, none of the projects really got worked on until the last two weeks or so before Christmas. Here's why:

From September through December 14 we spent most of our spare cash and time getting Brandon ready to leave on his mission. With a shopping list of two or three suits, a dozen shirts, several ties and socks, two pairs of sturdy dress shoes, two to four pairs of slacks...  And that's just the formal stuff. He also needed clothes he could wear while doing service projects, p.j.s, personal items... A lot of stuff; I don't remember it all. Fortunately we had help from family to get the things he needed. But we still spent a lot of time shopping (we went to Salt Lake two or three times to get most of his stuff). That did slow down the Christmas projects this year.

The next deterrent in starting the Christmas gifts was a sewing project that I was commissioned to do for a friend. Allen Steckler was so happy with the shirt I made for his character (Tumbleweeds) that his wife decided to buy it for him for a Christmas present. Then she asked if I could make her a matching shirt to go with it. I knew I couldn't start on it until after we took Brandon to the MTC, but I said I'd do it. And, frankly, it turned out pretty fantastic. Rana (Allen's wife) was sure that this would be the favorite Christmas present for her hubby. :-) (I'll add a picture when I get one from Rana.)

I finished the cowboy shirt on December 20. Then the home-made Christmas projects began in earnest. Some had already been started, and (obviously) Brandon had made his gift before he left, and Ryan's gift to Brandon was finished and packed into his suitcase before he left, but there was still a lot of work to do in only five days. Despite the craziness of creating six home-made gifts in less than five days (plus some shopping and a lot of wrapping to do), the presents turned out awesome, and Christmas was pretty fantastic.

On Christmas Eve we finally baked a few walls for our traditional gingerbread house, but having had only four hours sleep the previous night, I was a little cranky about the whole thing. And when I realized we'd have to make more dough and bake it, we abandoned the gingerbread house. Maybe we'll still make one for the new year, since I do have all the candy for decorating it.

We did  have a nice Christmas Eve dinner, and tasty snacks. And we sang Christmas songs around the piano with the Ray family; our two families separated to do our own thing around 10:30 or so. We Norths played a game of Mormon Bridge; the best part of the game was when Bruce and Jessica decided to swap cards so they could each win (or lose) a hand and so win the bid they'd made. It's kind of a family thing for us to try to get away with cheating at games occasionally. Mostly at Scrabble. But Bruce has never cheated at cards––until a few nights ago, on Christmas Eve. Unlike Kaylie, or me––or Jessica, for that matter––Bruce is not very good at cheating. He was laughing so hard, and turned so red I thought he'd burst a blood vessel. He was super funny!

After our very funny card game, we watched a video of the Christmas story from the Bible (from the LDS Church's new-ish Bible videos). Well, most of the family watched; I fell asleep on the floor. At 1:50 a.m. the children were tucked up in their beds, probably not fast asleep, and Bruce and I went to finish wrapping a few forgotten presents, and help Santa fill the stockings. We finally got to be around 3 a.m. on Christmas morning. Then Kaylie knocked on our bedroom door at 6 a.m.  She is just like me.

Jessica's awake, but it looks like Lindsey is still trying to wake up.

We put the traditional breakfast into the oven, and then started on the presents:

Look at Rachel's happy face! She found a set of buttons from  her favorite show, RWBY, in her stocking.

Bruce got a didgeridoo.

Jason got a new hat–which he immediately put on, and wore for most of the day.

The entire family got new pillows.

Everyone got some nice stuff, but the home-made gifts––and trying to guess who made what––are always the favorite part:

Brandon made a pair of pajamas and a sword for Jessica.
Jessica started brandishing her sword as soon as she unwrapped it.

Rachel made Jason a tie-rack, and a hand-painted snake tie.

Lindsey made Michael a set of pillowcases with the Overwatch (a video game) symbol on them. She also made him some candied pecans, which I covet. (Bruce is just silly.)

Kaylie carved the pages out of an old book to make a box for Lindsey.

Jason made Rachel some p.j.'s, and a body-pillow with the RWBY rose symbol appliquéd on it. (Rachel was in RWBY heaven this Christmas.)

Jessica made a wallet for Kaylie.

Michael made a blanket for Ryan; the design is Toothless (the night-fury) peeking through some leaves.

And here's Brandon, showing his gifts! Ryan made him the journal (which is open, and is being used as a background for his other presents). 

And, as a surprise, Bruce and I both got home-made gifts too!

Ryan made this beautiful chess box for Bruce.

And I got what felt like an empty little box, but it had a picture of the beautiful cherry-wood chest in it. Ryan gave it to me!

Everyone was really happy with what they got, and happy with what they gave each other too, which is even better.

Breakfast finished cooking just as we finished looking at our presents. Blueberry-stuffed French toast, a breakfast quiche, and yogurt with berries and whipped cream. Yum!

After breakfast we all got ready for church––Bruce is the choir director, I am the choir pianist, and the North and Ray families make up about 1/3 to 1/2 of the ward choir. We had a nice meeting, and then the rest of the day to spend together at home. (Although I spent about three hours napping.)

Brandon and his companion, Elder Suggs

Brandon called us at 4:45, and we got to talk to him for half an hour. Yay! He is doing well; he is happy; he is learning Hungarian (they only speak Hungarian in the classroom); and he told us how to say "I am Elder North." (I don't remember the word for "I am," and probably couldn't spell it anyway. But it is backwards to what we say: "North Elder I am." Cool.) He shared a sweet testimony with us before we said goodbye.

We spent the rest of the day hanging out together, playing games, and talking. We had a very nice Christmas.

And now, even though it's three days late, I say Merry Christmas! to you too. I hope it was as good as ours was. And much happiness for the coming New Year.

On His Way!

It's been a pretty busy month. Not just because of Christmas... In fact, I've done most of my Christmas shopping online.

No, we've been busy getting Brandon ready to leave on his mission. Shopping, shopping, and more last-minute shopping. Visiting family; having family here to visit us...  Lots of stuff! It's been a weird combination of running around like crazy people, and just waiting.

Last Sunday, December 11, Brandon spoke in church. We were afraid that we wouldn't have any family here because of the weather and the three-hour drive up from Salt Lake. But Bruce's sister Marilyn and her husband James came out, and Grandpa North came up with Michael, and Scott and Emma (cousins). They came to church with us to hear Brandon talk, then we had lunch together and visited. We were really happy to see them! Of course we were so busy being happy that we forgot to take any pictures. :-/

Oh! We actually we did get a picture of Brandon and Michael together before everyone left. :-) (Because Michael thought of it.)

Then we were on the final, final countdown. On Monday Brandon brought the suitcases up from the basement and we started packing. And realizing that we had more stuff to buy. On Tuesday I finished packing his bags for him; that's the last time I'll be doing that for at least two years—maybe the last time ever. And, on Tuesday morning, I also finished wrapping all of Brandon's Christmas presents so they could get packed into his bags too. Only Brandon will know if he is nice enough to wait until Christmas morning, or if he is naughty enough to open them ahead of time. ;-)

The Van Picture
We take a shot like this almost every time we go on a major trip.
It looks so empty with no Michael, Jason, or Lindsey there!

On Tuesday, at 4:30, we all went to the stake president's office so that he could set Brandon apart as a missionary. President McClellan gave him some counsel, and a blessing, and then Brandon was officially a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

me, Bruce, Elder Brandon North, President McClellan, and Bishop Goodrich

Then we all went back home, Brandon and changed into driving clothes, and the kids said their goodbyes.

These two brothers have shared a room since Ryan was a baby.
Will Ryan miss Brandon, or will he be thrilled
to have his own room?

hugs from Kaylie, Jessica, and Rachel

Brandon had to report to the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo on Wednesday, December 14. That's about a 3 1/2 hour drive for us. And we still needed to pick up a couple more things for him that we couldn't find in Vernal. So we decided to spend Tuesday night in Salt Lake at Bruce's Dad's house. Did we think to take a picture of Brandon with Grandpa while we were there? No. Of course not. :-/  (Sometimes we are kind of dorks about the whole photo thing.)

Wednesday morning I cooked the last breakfast that I will make for Brandon for two years. Not that I cooked him breakfast all that often (he was just as likely to cook breakfast for me). But the last home-cooked meal idea did cross my mind that morning.

Then Bruce and I watched him open a Christmas present—we wanted him to have this one available right away.

because if you're leaving home for the first time—and going to Budapest, no less—you should have a camera!

Brandon will have the companion picture to this one—a photo of Bruce taking a picture of Brandon taking a picture of him taking a picture...

We got Brandon's bags back into the car and went to buy his shoulder-bag and his passport carrier. And then we had an hour to kill. So we went to my mom's house, but no one answered the door or the phone. So we went to see some friends in West Valley, but we didn't have much luck there either. So we went back to my mom's house, and this time she was available—and she was glad we stopped by. And we were too!

This kind of looks like I did a bad Photoshop job,
but Grandma really is that little next to Brandon.

Then we met up with Bruce's dad (who took us to lunch) and missed another photo opportunity. And finally we drove down to Provo. When we got there we were met by a nice young missionary (whose name I've already forgotten), who helped us unload Brandon's stuff and who would guide him where he needed to go.

Nice Elder... ?
Maybe Bruce will remember his name.

A hug for Mom...

A hug for Dad...

And then he walked away, and we won't see him again for two years.

I did surprisingly well. I teared up a little, and that was it. Probably because from Provo we were headed to Ephraim (a 1 1/2 hour drive) to pick Jason and Lindsey up from school for Christmas break. (Um, didn't take pictures of them either.) And from there we made the 3 1/2 hour drive back to Vernal. And then I went to a tap class that night. So I was too busy to be too sad.

But yesterday (Thursday) I did kind of mope around all day and didn't get much done. And I was very sad to go to Ryan and Kaylie's Christmas choir concert last night and not have Brandon there. (And looking at all these pictures is making me a little sad too.) It is hard to send one of your kids away for the first time, even when you're glad for what they are doing.

But we got our first email from him last night! (With "I live!" as the subject line.) That was a super nice surprise! Here's what he said:

"Um, hi. I am at a loss of what to say. I was just made District Leader and Senior Companion. I don't really know what that means, but that is what is going on. It is super fun, hard, and frustrating, in that order and decreasing in potency with each one. I love you, can't really think of what to say.

Sorry that this is short, but this is all.
Love you
Brandon."

So he's doing all right; he's busy, and he's mostly enjoying it so far. Yay! I'm proud of Brandon! And it will be exciting to hear how things go for him.