Mon. 1st--We started out July with a bang...literally! Cooper was attending EFY (Especially For Youth) at Texas A&M the first week in July. As we were walking across campus, we got nailed by a huge thunderstorm that came out of nowhere. It was a bone-soaking gully washer! Even if I owned an umbrella and had it with me, an umbrella would have been utterly useless. The wind was whipping up horizontal sheets of rain. It's pretty lame getting drenched, but what's worse is walking into a building where the air conditioning is cranking at 65 degrees! We froze--teeth were chattering! Fortunately, Cooper didn't let it slow him down as he attended this historic session of EFY--the first one held at Kyle Field in College Station. And...Cooper later learned from the director that it was the BIGGEST EFY session outside of Utah. Cooper had a roommate he didn't know but loved, he auditioned for the variety show and made it with his card magic and said the whole week was an even greater spiritual experience than the year before.
I was a little nervous about taking Cooper up on campus by myself. I've never been there. But we stopped at the Institute first for some ice cream and a member of the stake presidency told me that EFY had rented out a parking garage and told me how to get there. It was super easy. As I pulled up to the ticket dispenser, ready to receive my parking stub, Cooper said, "Mom, the gate is up. Just go in." Oh, cool. I guess they rented it out, not to charge us, but as a courtesy. Thinking about what President Hull had told me earlier at the Institute, I shrugged my shoulders and we went in and parked.
After I got Cooper settled, I walked back to the suburban and climbed in, when I noticed a small piece of paper on my windshield. It was a parking
ticket! I didn't notice any tickets on other windshields so I was a little confused as to why I had one and they didn't. But I didn't have time to think about it either because I needed to get to the grocery store.
*After I went to HEB, I came home to Calvin and JJ beaming with pride. They excitedly told me they had caught a fish in the water drainage area of our neighborhood. It was a bluegill. They used the tupper ware container to corral the fish into their trap. Gotta give them props for using their resources and thinking "outside the box."
They were so proud of themselves. So I documented the event and then told them to set the poor fish free.
*Later that night, Jared and I went on a walk around our neighborhood. We came back in through our garage and I let out a loud "OH NO!!!!" when I saw my suburban. There was a huge DENT in the back passenger side of the bumper. Someone must have hit me! But when?? I only went to two places that day. Texas A&M campus/parking garage and HEB. Then I started to question myself. Maybe I hit someone when I was backing up and didn't even realize it? I was so disappointed. I try so hard to take good care of my things...especially 12-year-old dream vehicles.
*After our walk, Jared went to sit in his recliner and it broke--in the exact same place the other recliner did that we had to get rid of last August. That made Jared think it wasn't a coincidence. So he and Jake took a closer look and discovered that the posts that connect the back part of the chair were put on backwards so they weren't locking into place. Once that was corrected, the chair was stable and good to go. Which means we probably got rid of a perfectly good recliner last year. *sigh*
Tues. 2nd--This alert came up on our weather app. So that's what hit me and Cooper the day before...the beginnings of a tropical storm. Very isolated, too!
*Karcyn was a doll and made breakfast for us--delicious GF pancakes made out of coconut flour (my early attempts at using coconut flour were so disastrous, Cooper won't touch GF pancakes anymore--good thing he wasn't around) and avocado smoothies.
*Calvin pulling a Tom Sawyer and fishing in the drainage ditch (ew) using a stick JJ found, a very large fishing hook and some thread that Calvin just helped himself to.
*Calvin watched our neighbor's cat while they were on vacation. They left her cat food in a container on the counter. She must have been mad at Calvin because she pushed the container off and sent cat food flying. It was a good lesson in responsibility for him. He did a great job sweeping it all up.
Wed. 3rd--Jared's ENT office was welcoming a new doctor who recently graduated, Marshall Snow. He also happens to be a member of the Church. AND...his wife, Elise, served her mission in Hungary! I know how hard it is to move in to a new house with small children, so I arranged to take her three older kids for the day so she would be able to make as much progress as possible and to give the kids something fun to do. They played at our house for about five hours. When I drove them home, I took them dinner. One less necessary task for them to have to worry about. Karcyn and Abigail enjoyed painting pictures together.
Thurs. 4th--Happy Independence Day! We spent it doing one of the family's favorite things--fishing! (We trusted that Cooper was having a good time at EFY). We didn't get ourselves out to the lake until 11:30 and it was so hot. I was worried the fishing would be disappointing in the heat of the day. And I kicked myself for forgetting to bring sunscreen. Not cool. Thank goodness we had hats.
Karcyn has been putting worms on her hooks for awhile now.
And she was kind enough to put one on JJ's hook, too, so he could start fishing, while Jared rigged the other fishing poles back at the shore.
And it didn't take long before Karcyn caught the first fish of the day!
Then JJ caught a fish!
And then JJ got his hook snagged in the brush along the shore.
But Jared saved the day
and the lure without even getting wet!
And the fish kept biting, so the kids kept reeling them in! We were only out there for a couple hours (in the blazing sun) but it must have been a holiday miracle, because the kids caught a record number of fish that afternoon!
Karcyn decided it was time to learn how to take the fish off her hook so she could keep on fishing without having to wait for Jared. Way to rock that independence, Girlfriend, on Independence Day. :)
Success!!
The two Jareds.
Karcyn not only got the first fish, probably the most fish, but also the biggest fish--a catfish!! It was the only one caught that day. It was a beaut! She had a blast reeling it in!
Jake and Calvin were trying another spot.
But decided Karcyn and JJ were having much better luck and so they headed to the dock to join them.
JJ decided it was time that HE learned how to put the worm on his own hook! And he did!
Jake and his bluegill!
Calvin hitting the sweet spot.
That's a BIG fish, JJ!
Haha! Little brother, big fish. Big brother, little fish! :)
JJ caught a small minnow or something on his line. It was smaller than this one and we joked that it was so small it could be bait. The next thing we knew, JJ was casting his line again with that fish on it, hoping to catch something bigger! He thought that was a pretty good idea!
*I chuckled when I came across this reminder from the EFY team (prior to Cooper's session) to help us prepare. I love the last bolded sentence:
The dorms do have air conditioning. Haha! Funny to me that they'd even have to clarify, but I guess if you aren't from around here, it's a legit question.
Sat. 6th--At dinner, we go around the table and ask everyone what the best part of their day was. Not surprisingly, what someone shares snowballs from the comments of others. It's hard to keep this family on track! What's worse, however, is when Jared is the one taking us off the beaten path. He was doing that on this day and though it was funny and harmless, I smacked him playfully and said, "Just stop talking! You're distracting everyone." He put on his best puppy-dog eyes and looking sadly dejected and chagrined, he set the kids off in more fits of laughter and extra comments. Which was ALSO distracting. So then I playfully smacked him and said, "Just..." and then at a loss for some demanding words, I said the first thing that came to me. "...just...stop existing!" And then it was all over. The kids were so far gone in fits of laughing and giving me credit for the ultimate roast (even Jared conceded that was well played) that there was no getting back on any track. It no longer existed.
Mon. 8th--Karcyn decided to try and make some more bookmarks that she learned how to sew in her class at the end of June.
*For Family Home Evening, we decided to have a discussion on baptism and help review those important points since JJ's baptism and his interview for that were fast approaching. One of the questions Jared asked JJ was, "Why did Jesus go to John the Baptist to get baptized?" The answer is because John had the proper priesthood authority to perform the baptism. But JJ, very seriously replied with, "Because his last name was Baptist?" And we all got a big kick out of that!
*Jake and Cooper had a couple errands to run later that evening. Calvin and JJ wanted to go with them, so they made it a boys outing. Jake treated them all to big drinks before they came home.
When Jake asked JJ what he wanted to drink, he said..."water." Jake double checked to make sure he heard correctly and JJ said, "Yes. Water." So JJ got an extra large, 44 oz. big gulp of ice cold water, not soda like his brothers. :) Made his mama proud!
Tues. 9th--Jake's friend from high school, Isaiah Reza, chose to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This was also the night of Jake's long awaited sleep study and in order for Jake to be able to do both, Isaiah made sure to schedule his baptism at 4pm. We were so grateful! Isaiah asked Jake to speak about the Holy Ghost. Jake gave a wonderful talk about the power and importance of this gift. He spoke like a true missionary as if it were just the two of them in the room together. I was very touched by Jake's message.
*At 7pm Jake had his long awaited sleep study--finally!! Though once it arrived, Jake was feeling a bit anxious. What if they found nothing over the course of the two studies? I told him that we would just wait and see but I was confident that this HAD to tell us something because his sleep patterns were so messed up. Honestly, we didn't really want them to find something during the night (sleep apnea, restless legs, snoring, acting out dreams, etc.) because if they did, they wouldn't test him for narcolepsy--which, after all of our research, is the answer we were expecting.
The special tray o' goodies that helped the doctor get all the wires and probes attached to Jake. It was quite the process.
This is a really good sport!
Nighty night!! They put him to bed around 10pm and I went home.
*At the beginning of July...
Wed. 10th--Jake called around 7am and said the sleep technicians didn't find anything during the night and they were going to begin the daytime study for narcolepsy. He had to take five 20 minute naps every two hours. He had two chances (out of five) to fall into REM within those twenty minutes which would prove he had narcolepsy. For people who have normal sleep patterns, it takes up to 90 minutes to get into REM as your brain prepares you for this deep sleep. By the time I got there, around 9am, Jake had just finished his first nap. They told him he could NOT, under any circumstances, be in the bed unless he was sleeping. So he had to sit in the chair or walk around the facility until his next nap. I brought Jake a breakfast burrito and some chocolate milk for breakfast. He sat in the chair next to the bed and I sat on another seat across from him. He caught me up on what it was like during the night and during that first nap. Jake was the only one at the sleep center and the staff was wonderful. We appreciated both night and day technicians.
When it was time to get Jake ready for his second nap, around 9:45, I went to the lobby for the next 20 minutes. John, the technician came to get me when he was finished. I brought some cards with me, so we played a couple games of Manipulation (similar to Rummikub with cards). We were just getting ready to start our third game when a man in a white lab coat appeared at our door. He introduced himself as Dr. Spencer. He explained he's not usually at the sleep center at all during the day or very often and said he just happened to take a peek at Jake's tests as he was passing through. And then, without warning or fanfare, he said, "It's obvious he has narcolepsy." [
Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that affects the control of sleep and wakefulness. People with narcolepsy experience excessive daytime sleepiness and intermittent, uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep during the daytime. These sudden sleep attacks may occur during any type of activity at any time of the day.] I let out an audible sigh of relief and put my hands on my heart. I looked at Jake and then told the doctor, "Thank you SO much for telling us. This is such a relief to finally know!" So many thoughts were running through my mind. Mostly gratitude and relief. Gratitude that we stuck with our gut and waited to get this daytime study done when it was so tempting to do the sleep study test at the end of June. Gratitude that we found out before the study was even finished. In fact, I asked the doctor about that. We weren't supposed to get our results for another two weeks. Dr. Spencer explained that Jake went into REM within minutes in his first two naps--which fulfilled the two chances he needed and he aced them with flying colors! And in fact, Dr. Spencer told us that Jake went into REM within ONE minute the previous night. So after barely closing his eyes, he was in the deep dreaming sleep, skipping all the other important non REM sleep steps. Dr. Spencer said Jake would only need to do two more naps, not three, just for formality since they already have the proof they need for the study. Dr. Spencer is actually a pulmonologist, but does a little bit of provider care in sleep medicine in College Station. He's the only doctor in our hospital network that does. He said he'd be happy to do what he could to help Jake, but felt a doctor who specializes in narcolepsy might be the way we'd want to go. We got his card and appreciated his honesty. Though we did move ahead to set up an appointment to get the official results on July 23rd. Jared and I would be out of town, but Karole would take Jake for us. John came in a few minutes after Dr. Spencer had left and said, "So you got to talk to the doctor?" We told him yes and that we were so grateful. John said that when the doctor saw the results he was like, "Whoa. Do you think they'd want to know now?" John told him that we'd probably really appreciate that. He was right!!
If nothing else, Jake felt ENORMOUSLY validated!! He had already done extensive research on narcolepsy since arriving home six weeks previously and he jumped right in on the medical discussion with the doctor who seemed impressed Jake knew as much as he did. Jake knew he wasn't "faking" his symptoms, though if it weren't for his kind companion, who would tell him, "Dude, you look trashed," Jake sometimes wondered. But now there was finally an explanation to grab a hold of. As his mom, I never knew that just "knowing" what was going on with Jake could cause so much peace and joy. And can I just take a moment to give huge kudos to the European Area Mental Health Adviser in Germany who spoke to Jake the week he came home about his symptoms. Just by listening to Jake explain how he was feeling, Dr. Dewey told Jake it sounds like he might have sleep apnea or narcolepsy. But based on his age and weight, apnea was highly unlikely. Dr. Dewey is the one who suggested Jake undergo a sleep study. Jake had that info and it was passed on to his mission president who then let our stake president and bishop know. If he hadn't suggested a sleep study, I'm not sure where we'd be in this process. We might have come to that conclusion ourselves, but by that time, the sleep study probably wouldn't have been scheduled until August or September. It is truly remarkable to me that Dr. Dewey nailed this diagnosis on the head just by talking to Jake over the phone. Truly miraculous and we're so grateful for his inspired insight.
During Jake's final nap, he experienced sleep paralysis for the first time. He woke up from REM, but his body was paralyzed and in the pitch black room, he started hearing scratching noises around his head and even felt tugging on the blanket around his feet and legs. Yet he couldn't move. Couldn't yell, couldn't turn to look, couldn't see even if he wanted to. His heart was racing so fast his chest ached. And so he prayed. Prayed that the nap would be over fast and the lights would come back on. It was utterly terrifying. When John retrieved me from the waiting room, he told me Jake had experienced an episode. When John first went into the sleeping room, Jake couldn't get out of bed, then he couldn't stand. He was trembling. Poor thing. It took several minutes for Jake to feel calm again.
As we left the sleep center, we stopped at the chapel and took a picture of the beautiful stained-glass scene of the hope that Christ gives to all.
*Jake bought a movie projector and was trying out different ways to get a screen set up for us. JJ helped him nail the sheet to the fence.
*Later that night, we went fishing! Dr. Wright (who Jared works with) has a friend who has a big pond that is overrun with fish. They need people to get as much of the fish out as possible. As in, please catch them, then toss them on the bank. Because they were going to be blowing it up with dynamite to get the fish population back down. I guess they wanted people to enjoy fishing while they could. The property was up the road 35 minutes or so near Hearne. Jake and JJ fell asleep on the way.
The road once we left Highway 6.
A very "Texas" thing to see on the side of the road.
Driving along a very narrow bridge of land to get to the other side of the pond.
Let's do this!! (It was about 5:30 or 6pm and it was roasty toasty.)
Calvin and his lucky fishing hat from South Africa. And his new fishing pole.
Cooper was the first to head out and the first to catch a fish!
This fishing was a little tougher without a defined place to stand out of the bushes, but that didn't stop JJ.
Using his new mad skills to get the hook out.
Cooper and Jake on the bank.
Calvin and Jared.
JJ in a bit of a tangle. A pretty big one. He pulled back a little to hard on his line--a figure eight and two wraps through the eye hole with one little tug of the fishing pole. Grandpa Hough used to called a bad fishing line tangle "a dee-lux maximum override." But daddy saved the day and got JJ back in business in no time.
There was a lot of surface debris on the pond, as illustrated by this catch that Jake pulled in. There's a fish under there somewhere!
Found it! ;)
The two Jareds sporting Texas A&M gear.
My "swamp thing" fish.
Though not as swampy as Jake's it was definitely bigger!
Just look at that moisture on me...100% humidity=lots o' sweat!!!
It was a good night for fishing!
And the sunset created a beautiful evening at dusk.
Me and my boys! (Karcyn chose to attend an orchestra field trip to Grand Station for bowling, laser tag and arcade games after her summer rehearsal.)
The fish they caught together. Jake threw the cast, JJ reeled it in. :)
Sat. 13th--Those of us 12 and older, went to the Houston temple to do baptisms for the dead. We were excited to attend again with all of our eligible children and because they all found names of their ancestors to baptize and confirm. This was the gorgeous sunrise at 6:14am when we left the house.
On the drive to the temple, all the kids slept and I searched for doctors in the area who might specialize in narcolepsy. I found a sleep medicine physician in Austin, Texas, which is much better than Dallas, Temple or Houston. I signed up online for a new patient visit just to get that ball rolling and then I would have to follow up on another day to see if he was in-network with our insurance.
We had a FABULOUS experience at the temple that morning. Karcyn assisted by helping us all get the appropriate clothing. Jake baptized her first and then she got everyone towels when we came out of the font. Jake baptized Cooper then Cooper baptized me. Jake and Jared did the confirmations and then again, Karcyn was invited to assist one of the sister temple workers, and look over our family name records to make sure they were done and accurate. Karcyn got to serve in so many ways that day. It was really awesome!
*We started to notice a change in Jake almost immediately once we got his diagnosis. His appetite started coming back. Meaning, he was making his own food
and eating it without any outside motivation. I didn't have to make his meals and stick them in front of him and then sit there giving him mommy stink eye to make sure he actually choked something down. Obviously there was some mild situational depression happening, causing Jake to lose his appetite. Other than being super tired all the time, that was the only "negative" we noticed in Jake since he came home. And wow. I am just in awe the way he has navigated these crazy, unknown waters. He has inspired me with his spiritual and physical resilience! I'm cranky with less than 6 hours of normal sleep and he had hardly any sleep for
two months and yet he continued to smile, serve, work, study, build, learn, organize, teach, and play.
Jake decided to make us this Hungarian dish "rakott krumpli" that translates to "stacked potatoes." I even managed to find some authentic Hungarian paprika that is used in this dish one day when we just happened to pop into Kroger--not my usual grocery store. That was a culinary miracle! Jake said the Texas version of the stacked potatoes wasn't too bad considering the sausage, sour cream, seasoning, and cheese are clearly not the same, but he claims we at least got the "idea" of the dish. I thought it was tasty. You layer cooked potatoes, hard boiled eggs, onions, sausage and the sour cream sauce (that you make "to taste" with a special seasoning) and cheese until it won't fit anymore or you run out of stuff to layer and then you bake it.
Sun. 14th--Our first Sunday in our new Greens Prairie Ward (formerly CS3 where I was the RS president before the boundary change two years ago) was July 7th and it was Sacrament Meeting only because the bishops were still trying to figure out the membership in their units and all the callings were in disarray. By just having Sacrament meeting, it gave the bishoprics more time to see who was in their new ward and to extend callings. The 14th of July was high council Sunday. I was scheduled to speak in Bryan 2nd Ward (now Briarcrest). But weeks ago I had asked President Sharp if it would be okay for Jake to speak in my place instead since the topic was on missionary work. He loved the idea. Jake was going to speak in that ward, except another returned missionary from the Briarcrest Ward only had that Sunday to report on his mission, so they moved Jake out and assigned him to speak in our ward instead, which was a treat. There was Young Women after Sacrament meeting and as it turns out, NONE of the YW leaders were going to be in town that day. My good friend Melanie, the YWs President, texted me with her dilemma and asked if I, as the Stake YWs President, would teach the lesson that day. I agreed and told her I'd bring my counselor, Allison, with me. Since it was going to be the very FIRST time the young women would be meeting as the new Greens Prairie Young Women, we decided to have the YW fill out "get to know you" surveys for the leaders to read when they returned. And for the remainder of the time, I chose to do a big spiritual thought about the way the Lord organizes the Church across the world, touching on why we have wards and that changes to wards will continue to come and we brainstormed what those reasons could be. (There were a few girls from my CS1 ward that were *really* struggling with going back to this other ward so I hoped to help them understand that this is just a part of being members of a living and growing church.) We also talked about mission calls and how first, a young man or woman is called as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and secondary to that is an assignment to labor in a certain place. WHERE you serve is not the important part, though it is exciting. And the last part of the mission call states that it is "anticipated that you will serve for a period of..." so many months. I explained how we are all missionaries because of the covenants we made at baptism. We wear a spiritual name tag to represent the Savior, and He, through our Stake Presidency, had assigned us to labor (for now) in the Greens Prairie Ward. I also made it a point to use Jake as an example--how he got the ultimate boundary change. He never dreamed he'd have to come home early from his mission in Europe, but he did and he is rolling with it like a champ. He's not moping or whining. He is happy and positive and is making the most of all his waking moments. We discussed a few more things like what it would look like and feel like when we were unified as a young women's organization. I felt good about the message I presented and the things they shared, but wasn't so sure how it was received. When Melanie checked in a couple days later, she kindly shared that a couple of young women happened to be at her house and without any prompting from her, they both said that they had a really great lesson on Sunday. So...that was nice to hear!!
*We returned home from church for a quick bite to eat for lunch and then Jared and I turned right around and went back to the church for an interview with President Hull. He's also the director of seminary and institute. The scheduler who set up the appointment said he wanted to speak with "Jared and his wife." Hmm...so most likely a calling for Jared. But which one? Seminary? Not likely...they just called all new teachers. Though something could have come up. Elders Quorum presidency again?
Neither of us were prepared for what President Hull spoke to us about. First, he said the meeting was an exploratory one to feel things out and see what we think. The stake presidency had a calling they wanted to extend to Jared, but needed to know a few things first.
President Hull talked about how they are trying to build up and support the outlying branches in the stake and how they have members from Bryan/College Station assigned to serve in the branches to help bolster those units. The Caldwell Branch was one that currently needed attention and they wanted to call Jared into the Branch Presidency. Jared told President Hull that he grew up in branches, so he's familiar with how that looks and feels. He also served as a branch president on his mission and as a counselor in our ward bishopric in Oregon. As part of this new calling, if Jared accepted it, President Hull said that our whole family would attend the Caldwell Branch--to help lift and support the other organizations (young men, young women, primary, etc.) and offer service. That meant that Cooper and Karcyn would attend mutual in Caldwell each Wednesday. Caldwell is about a 35-40 minute drive from our house. This would add more miles on our cars and require us to use more money for gas. The stake wanted to make sure that our kids would be okay with taking a leave from being a part of the youth/children's organizations here in College Station and assimilate in with the Caldwell members and wanted to know if the sacrifices of travel time and a larger gas budget wouldn't be a strain on our family. Obviously, it would be a sacrifice in both cases, but isn't that what living the gospel is all about? Making sacrifices, sharing and giving of our time, talents, and even gas money to build the kingdom of God? Jared and I said it would be no problem. Our kids are not shy. I also recognized a previous blessing, orchestrated by God, that while serving in the Stake Relief Society and Stake Young Women presidencies, I took my whole family with me to the Caldwell Branch on several occasions. They know us all by name already. We were very happy at the prospect of becoming members of the Caldwell Branch and felt confident our children would be happy with it, as well.
It was about ten or fifteen minutes into our conversation, however, when something dawned on me all of a sudden. I asked President Hull, "If you need the family in Caldwell, how am I going to minister to the other units as Stake Young Women's president?" President Hull smiled knowingly and said, "Yeah, that's the third thing. We're going to have to release you from your calling." My eyes grew wide. I was not expecting that at all! He said they were really sad that it came to this, but explained the stake presidency felt they needed Jared more. I understood and was happy to give him the opportunity to love and serve and minister. But then I said, looking at my fake watch, "Man, I can't seem to hold on to a calling for much more than a year." President Hull agreed but told me he felt it was because I have such a capacity to love others that I can serve anywhere. Moving forward, Jared and I would first be called as stake specialists to serve in Caldwell and then we'll be called and set apart for our branch callings. We told President Hull we wouldn't be in town (or country for that matter) the following Sunday, so we'd have to delay being sustained, etc. until Sun. July 28th (the day after we got back from Iceland).
We left the meeting with President Hull, who said he'd be contacting our new bishop, Steve Courtright right then, to let him know about this change. As soon as we returned home, we privately told Jake and Cooper about the stake assignment our family was receiving. Cooper was a little sad. We were just moved back into the ward that we started in when we moved to College Station. He was excited to be back with those guys and with Bishop Courtright. So I could understand that. But, he'll still do seminary in College Station because that's determined by where you go to school. We told Cooper to pray about the calling to find out for himself if this is what the Lord wants us to do. We decided to wait until after our trip to tell the little kids because they still had one more Sunday in the Greens Prairie ward before we'd be going to Caldwell.
Before the day was over, I had to indulge in an ironic chuckle. When I was talking to the young women that day about the reasons why you would go to a different unit (ward or branch) in the church, getting an assignment from the stake presidency was not on my list! But I thought it was a very fitting message. It doesn't matter where we are, so long as we are willing to serve!
*I really like this message.
Tues. 16th--This adorable young lady on the left is Jaa'lah. She started investigating the church back in the spring and knew someone in our CS1 ward so I saw her once or twice. In April the Relief Society President told me she was going to assign my mother-in-law, Karole, to be Jaa'lah's ministering sister and she wanted me to be Jaa'lah's ministering companion so I could "show her how it's done" once she was baptized, which was scheduled for the beginning of May. Unfortunately, she didn't get baptized in May, but Karole and I have done what we could to keep tabs on her. The wards were all switched around the end of June which actually put Jaa'lah in a different ward and me and Karole in another one. We decided the three of us needed to do lunch and catch up so we met up at Jason's Deli that week. Jaa'lah is AMAZING! Her faith and inner beauty is so inspiring to me. Jake was speaking in her new ward in August with one of the high councilmen and asked her if she would go there so I could ask her how he did. She said she would. She was actually planning to attend her new ward that coming Sunday. So I snapped a picture of us and sent it to a few friends that I know in who attend there so they could be looking for her. :)
*5pm and only feels like 112 degrees. No biggie.
*Family bowling night. Jake captured the littles and wouldn't let them go. (Just hold that pose for a few years. :)
*I took the suburban and the estimate I received from the insurance company for the bumper repairs to a local auto body shop. They looked over the estimate and the damage and said the repair looked uncomplicated. They wouldn't know for sure though until they took it apart. Since we were getting ready to leave town, I asked if we could schedule to fix it after we got back and they said that was fine. So we set an appointment for Monday, July 29th. It would take about three days. We could have gotten a rental, but since it was summer, I figured I could probably survive without it.
Wed. 17th--JJ's baptism was scheduled for his birthday, 8/11. But that was done when we were in the CS1 ward. So I checked with my friend, Steve Courtright, who was our bishop in CS3 and is our new Greens Prairie bishop if that day/time would still be okay. He said it was and we set up JJ's baptism interview with him right before we left for Iceland because there were wouldn't be much time once we got back to get announcements out and get the program approved, etc. He was gracious enough to meet us on the 17th at 5:30, right after class (that he taught at A&M). The first thing he said was how excited he was that we were in his ward again and how much he missed our family. I smiled tentatively and said, "Yes, so are we" to keep up the charade because JJ still didn't know about us going to Caldwell. And I started to wonder if Steve did. About two-thirds of the way through his discussion with JJ, Steve left his office and went through a connecting door to the next room to get something. As soon as he was out of ear shot, I turned to Jared and quietly said, "I don't think he knows." He agreed and said, "I don't think so either."
Someone's gotta tell him. It was a bit reminiscent of the conversation with Kristoff and Anna in "Frozen" when Olaf was explaining how much he loved summer. :) At the conclusion of the interview, I asked JJ to step out in the hall for a second and I turned to Steve and asked, "Have you spoken to Pres. Hull lately?" He kind of hesitated then Jared clarified, "Since Sunday?" Then I said, "We've been assigned to the Caldwell Branch--effective immediately." Steve smiled sadly and let out a sigh saying he heard it was a possibility. He said we'll be amazing out there and told us how great President Foster is and said that in a couple days it'll probably hit him and then he'll cry. Haha! I'm sad that Cooper won't get to be in the Priests Quorum with him either. We were all looking forward to that. Steve had been the counselor over the Deacon's Quorum when Cooper was the only deacon. So it would have been fun for them to start and end together. But it just wasn't meant to be. Steve is the best. We just love him and are honored to call him friend.
Thurs. 18th--Karcyn took a couple of special piano lessons offered by her teacher during July. They were an hour long and they focused on composing and playing special pieces. Karcyn's piano teacher used to be a Roland piano dealer and has 5 or 6 pianos in her living room! So they played a couple duets with Mrs. Utermark on one piano and Karcyn on another. Jake came with me to listen. He was totally geeking out from all the pianos. And leaned over and asked if HE could take piano lessons again.
The piece Karcyn composed and played for us.
Karcyn and the amazing Rebecca Utermark.
*After the mini piano recital, I dropped Jake off at our friend's house so he could mow it before they came home that night, while Karcyn and I ran a couple of errands. Jake was finishing up as we were headed back to get him, so the timing worked out beautifully. Less than two hours in the sun and mowing totally knocked Jake off his feet. He couldn't stay awake for the 10 minute drive home. And nodded off several times later that day. I was anxious to see how the meds would affect him and how long it would take for them to do so.
*Yes, yes and YES!!!
*July 19th through the 27th, Jared and I spent in Iceland, visiting my parents on mission number 6! It was one of the
most incredible places I've ever been to. More to come on that.
Tues. 23rd--The only notable thing that happened at home while we were gone, was Jake's follow-up appointment with Dr. Spencer to get his "official" sleep study results back. Dr. Spencer said that Jake was the worst narcolepsy case they've seen in a few years. He told Dr. Spencer that we had an appointment with another doctor in Austin the beginning of August to hopefully get started on meds and that we appreciated all he did for us.
*Cooper spent Thursday through Saturday (25th-27th) at Sam Houston University for Young Men's Camp and had a wonderful time!
Sun. 28th--After getting home at 10pm the night before traveling all day from Iceland to Dallas to Austin and then the 90 minute drive home, we reunited ourselves with the kids, told them about going to church in Caldwell and then dropped into bed.
I had gotten a text from both President Sharp and President Hull telling us that they were not able to connect with the current counselor in the branch presidency to release him from his calling which meant they couldn't sustain Jared to his calling that morning. But they would still be setting us apart as Stake Specialists, which was no problem. That gave Jared an extra week to kind of recover and get back into the swing of things anyway.
Jared had Cooper drive the two of them to church that day since Cooper would need to know how to get there every Wednesday after that for mutual and I drove the rest of us in the suburban. Because church is from 10-12, with a 40 minute drive home AFTER we get out of the building, I packed up some small snacks for the kids to eat since lunch will be later than normal for them. We were running a bit behind because as we were headed out the door I realized, Jake, who was attending the Young Single Adult ward with his friend, Isaiah (who was recently baptized) would be home before us and would need a way into the house. Before leaving, I had to double check the house key and then take it off my key chain for him. Finally, the three kids and I were on our way and about five minutes from home, I realized with great frustration that I had set down the bag of snacks in the front foyer when I was getting the key off for Jake and never picked it back up. And we didn't have time to turn around and go back. Darn it.
Everyone at the branch was happy to see us. I reassured, Audrey, the YW's president that it was surprise visit and that she didn't forget me coming. We were sustained AND set apart that day for our callings as stake specialists. It makes you feel good when you hear people quietly cheering with excitement that you'll be in their unit with them. :) Quinn and Jennie Linford and their three young girls had been called to be Stake Specialists in the branch two weeks before we were, but were set apart with us. The funny thing about that, is that Jennie was my stake YW's secretary! In fact, she went to the branch on the 7th and when she told our presidency about this new change in a text, I was thinking, "Yikes! I may need another secretary." Little did I know we'd be going with them!
I appreciated the high councilman's words in my blessing when he set me apart. Among other things, Brother Morgan made it a point to tell me that the work I did in the stake YW for the past year had not gone unnoticed and that I have touched and influenced lives through the eternities. He also blessed our children saying they would grow and flourish with their opportunities to lead and serve and share their talents. And he said that we and our vehicles would be protected during the extensive traveling to and from the branch.
After that was taken care of, Jared went to gather the kiddos and before I could leave the room, Jared popped his head back in and said, "Jenn, the burb has a flat." Oh brother. The little boys had already gotten in and I guess it was Karcyn who noticed it. I was going 80 mph (speed limit is 75) on our way there and didn't notice ANYTHING off or weird about the steering. It must have happened after we got here. Which was crazy, because while it wasn't severely flat, it was substantially flat given that only two hours had passed. I was so grateful that it didn't happen while we were driving to church at that speed.
Fortunately for us, the amazing Quinn Linford (our new YM's president), was super prepared and had an electric pump in his car. He brought it over and they plugged it in and started pumping up the tire. Even with it being electric, it would still take some time for the tire to be reinflate. Cooper was in the Civic, getting ready to head home, when I flagged him down. He was patting himself on the back for successfully navigating a gauntlet in which the cars were parked. There are only 5 or 6 actual parking spaces in front of the rented building. The rest is gravel and grass and we just do our best with the "free-for-all" parking. I told Cooper not to leave because we might need the car to transport people home. We told him to come park over in front of the building and wait. He actually drove toward the suburban, which was in the second to last parking spot and there was another car on the end, which Cooper couldn't see. So we told him to back up and park in the first open one. While he was doing that, I turned my attention back to the suburban and the guys who were talking (and sweating...it was SO hot) when all of a sudden I heard a small crunching sound. Before I whipped my head around, I knew exactly what had happened. Cooper hit a car! His eyes were like saucers and it was like time froze for a second while he and I exchanged horrified looks. Then he crumpled into the steering wheel. He was devastated. His first accident.
I looked at the damage. Our car fared just fine really. Nothing a little buffing couldn't fix. Just looks dirty.
But the other car...not so much. Ugh. Man. Cooper did to this car, what someone did to mine. Just on the opposite side. Insurance said my repairs were going to cost $998 (from insurance) plus the uninsured driver deductible, which was $250. I mentally prepared myself for this repair to cost us the same.
First, we needed to find out who this car belonged to. Given another week or two in the branch and I could tell you, but since it was our first official day, I hadn't had time to make those connections yet. I asked President Foster. The car belonged to a sweet old lady (who I am actually 9th cousins with) named Mary McKisson. She was in a self reliance class. We went to quietly pull her out of the class. I told her what happened and I was so sorry and that we would pay to have it fixed and that Cooper was pretty upset. In fact, as we looked out the hall window to the parking area, Cooper had parked our car next to hers and we could see his head still on the steering wheel. Sweet Mary was worried about Cooper and asked if he was alright. I said he would be, but couldn't face her to apologize just yet and hoped she understood. I've never been in this situation before, so I got her insurance information (because isn't that what you do?) and said I would call my insurance company in the morning about the next steps.
All the while, my kids and Jennie's kids were inside playing and some of them were lamenting that I had forgotten the snacks. Yes. The irony was not lost on me. The one Sunday when we are actually stuck at the church building and I have no snacks for my kids. I think Calvin and JJ eventually found something to munch on in the nursery. But Karcyn couldn't eat them. Fortunately, she's pretty forgiving.
It took longer to pump up the tire than I thought, but it looked like they were wrapping things up so I told Jennie they were done and that she could finally take her little girls home. I felt SO bad that they got stuck at the church, too, during lunch and nap time. As Jennie and I walked toward the cars, we learned that as soon as they were doing pumping the tire, the guys heard a loud "hiss." There was a nail in the tire, but the head was busted off, so there wasn't anything holding the air in. So...it was time to put on the spare--the 12 year old spare tire, that has never been used. In fact, I had no idea how or where they got the jack. It really was a mystery and was quite the process. Thank goodness three heads are better than one! Jennie and I went right back inside to get out of that heat.
I got the guys some water (it was dangerous to be out in that heat and sweat and not hydrate) and after an hour, they finally got the spare tire on. I asked Jared if he and Cooper would follow me in the car. I was a little worried that spare tire might disintegrate in the heat or with any kind of use. It was looking a little beat up and had wear spots on it from where it had been attached to the underside of the vehicle all these years.
And off we went back to College Station...hungry, tired, hot and thirsty. And maybe even a little jet-lagged.
The tire seemed to be doing okay. I didn't feel anything off in the alignment or pressure. When we were about 20 minutes from home, we got off a ramp near the airport and merged onto one of the last roads we needed. Cooper did a great job following me and the speed limit. He's pretty good about watching his speed.
As I came down the ramp, I noticed an A&M police vehicle in the far left lane as I was merging a bit ahead of him in the far right lane and I thought, "They'd be nice to have around in case something happened to our spare tire." The next thing I notice, the cop is behind Cooper with his lights on. Cooper pulled right over, as did the cop. What the heck was happening?! Cooper was following me and I couldn't imagine why he was pulling over. But I didn't stick around to find out. We kept right on driving.
We were about a mile from our neighborhood, approaching the small town post office, when out of my left peripheral vision, I notice a brown, cotton-tailed bunny hopping across the road. Karcyn, our resident animal lover, saw him too at the same time and yelled, "RABBIT!!!" to warn me. Trying not to hit the rabbit as it kept hopping across the road, I stupidly swerved ever so slightly. The bunny was alive and fluffy the last I saw, and in my rear view mirror it was furry and flat. Noooo!!!! I had killed a bunny. Ran over it like a piece of paper. We didn't even feel it. Now I had guilt. Some-bunny was now without a dad or brother, mom or sister. I crushed its hopes and dreams. Karcyn was quiet. I've never knowingly killed an animal in my car before and I was surprised by how it affected me. I turned to her and said I was really sorry. She quietly said she understood.
I just wanted to get home.
Without any more drama!!!!
Finally, we got to the house. And actually, less than five minutes later, I was surprised when Cooper and Jared showed up behind us. Cooper had a piece of paper in his hand raised high over his head as he entered the room and announced, "I got a warning." He certainly dodged a bullet there. Cooper exclaimed, "I just wanted to come home and have lunch!" I hear ya kid. Apparently, the ramp that we were coming down is 50 mph and it stays that way until further down the road when it turns to 55 mph. While that was news to me, I don't go over 30 mph as I wind my way down the ramp, but I do accelerate to merge with traffic. I guess the cop clocked Cooper at 65 mph. When the officer came to talk to Cooper, Jared leaned over and said that we had a flat in Caldwell and was following his wife home to make sure the car was okay. He figured it was worth a shot for sympathy points, perhaps. Jared is legendary for getting out of speeding tickets. The policeman needed Cooper's info and Jared's because Cooper was a minor. He came back to the window and told Cooper he'd just give him a warning and a life tip: Don't pass a cop on the road.
Someone shared the trauma of the last leg of
our trip home and then we were milling about trying to get lunch and get church stuff put away. I noticed JJ had gone into the half bathroom which is near the dining room and as we were all in that area, doing our thing, Cooper called from across the room, "What's for dinner?" Before I could answer, JJ's voice from behind the bathroom door hollered, "Probably rabbit soup!" Everyone laughed, but me. I couldn't believe it. Sweet little JJ just threw his mom under the bus (with the dead rabbit). And at the same time, I had to give him props for his clever roast. ;)
*After lunch, we settled into the living room and told the kids we'd give them their souvenirs from Iceland. Karcyn got a bracelet made out of green and purple glass beads and black lava beads from the volcanoes. The colors represent the northern lights. And she got a stuffed puffin. JJ got a bright green T-shirt with the black outline of the country and the name "island" (for Iceland) on it. And a stuffed Icelandic horse with a long mane. Calvin got a blue water bottle with a volcano on it that says "Iceland" and a white shirt with Iceland printed on it three times. Jake got four or five different Milka chocolate bars (his favorite from Hungary--even though you can find them here in the states, you can't find the same flavors) and a cool pair of blue socks with iconic figures from Iceland on them. Karole got an Icelandic candy bar and magnet from one of the water falls we visited. We saved Cooper for last. While I was happy with all our purchases for the kids, his gift was my favorite. And I prayed he would see the epic-ness of it as well. While in Stykkisholmur on the Snaefellness peninsula, we were in a gift shop and I found some small bundles of yarn in a basket. I was intrigued because this was the first shop I had been in where I saw such a commodity. I picked up one of the bundles and read the handmade label. It was yarn that was from Icelandic sheep and the yarn was traceable back to one specific animal.
The owner gave a small picture of the sheep and some information about its personality. This sheep was named Astrid. And I knew immediately that I needed to get this for Cooper. #1) He loves to crochet. How cool would it be for him to crochet something, especially if he wanted to sell it and could say that it was made out of local yarn with traceability to a specific Icelandic sheep? #2) He loves the "How to Train Your Dragon" movies, especially the fiesty Astrid, so really, it just seemed like destiny that he have this yarn. There were two bundles of yarn from Astrid--her color being rare as she is only a couple out of 400 in her herd with that color wool. The small bundles were $20 each. We got Cooper two of them and hoped he'd think it was as cool as we did. He did! And he crocheted an Astrid star that very afternoon!
Mon. 29th--I had an appointment at 8am to drop off the suburban at the auto body shop. But because of the unexpected flat tire, I needed to take it to Discount Tire first. I called the shop to let them know we'd be a little delayed. Cooper followed me in the car. Discount was pretty busy and told us it would be about an hour. So we ran to Lowes and bought our own tire pump--to keep in the suburban. Just in case! While we were in the parking lot, I connected with our insurance broker about the fender bender. Because of Cooper's age, the best course of action would be to ask Mary to get an estimate of her damages so we'd know how much money we're looking at. If the estimate is under $600, then we could probably pay for it ourselves and not run it through insurance. But if it's much more than that, we might want to consider using the insurance. The risk we run, of course, is having our rates jump once they are determined next year. After being reminded of the accident, Cooper was a little sullen. Since he hadn't had breakfast, I suggested we go to the new IHOP that just opened for breakfast and had him tell me all about YM's camp. I was happy when he perked up. We went back to Discount to get to the burb and they did recommend replacing the spare, which we expected. Fortunately, it was only $93 and the repair was free! Then we were headed to the shop to leave the suburban. I dropped Cooper off before heading to the grocery store and came home just in time to take Cooper to the orthodontist to get his braces off!
The BEFORE:
But he wouldn't give me an AFTER until later that night and it was super silly.
Calvin received a gift card to Walmart from Christmas and bought what I think was one of the smartest purchases ever...a ping pong set with a net that you use on your dining room table. We've had a lot of fun with it and decided we needed to have a ping pong tournament for Family Home Evening. It was a single elimination tournament.
First match: Dad vs. Calvin.
Jared won--and decided to use the paddle on Calvin's bum. Haha. He was kidding of course and got the reaction he wanted.
Next up: Jake vs. Cooper.
Cooper won (if you couldn't tell).
Karcyn, JJ and I also played. But it came down to Dad and Cooper. The second son of the second son. :)
The best part was watching Jared be silly as he over exaggerated his squats and stances and his facial expressions when he hit the ball. The video footage had us in tears.
Jared lost, but was definitely the best part of that game. :) Karcyn and JJ were thoughtfully creative and made this trophy for Cooper--"for being the Hough family T. Tennis Champion!"
Jake trying to play ping pong with a monkey on his back.
*Enough said!! Hahahaha!
Tues. 30th--Elise and Marshall Snow (the new ENT surgeon at Jared's office) invited us over to their home for dinner. It was so kind of them. We are very grateful for their friendship and the dinner was amazing. I can't wait to eat some of her Hungarian dishes that she learned how to make when she served her mission there. They have a six month old baby named Everly. Calvin is our baby-guy. He loooooooooves them so much. He got down on the floor and had the best time being her center of attention. Jennie Linford has an 18-month-old named Melanie and Calvin sometimes coaxes her over to our row during church so he can play with her. It's so cute to see this soft side of Calvin.
Wed. 31st--This was the first night Cooper would be driving to mutual all the way in Caldwell, with Karcyn. After the fender bender in the parking lot, I was a little anxious about them traveling. But I remembered what Brother Morgan said when he set me apart for this calling. That our children would be blessed, that we'd be safe and our vehicles would be, too. So I let them go. And they got there and back without any problems.
