The End of 2012

The year is over, well almost and what a year it has been.  One of the questions we often get asked is how we do it.  Honestly, I don't know.  I have faith that the Lord will help us get through what ever trials we are given.  Then I just try and get through today.  That is really all that is asked for us is to get through today.

This month has brought some extra challenges for us.  We were in the ED with Sarah on the 23rd.  Luckily it wasn't because of a fever.  She has twisted her ankle on Saturday, and since she is a HemOc patient, she isn't allowed to go to the insta-care.  She got an X-ray and there was nothing broken.  She limped for a few days, but is mostly fine now.

Sarah did start on a fever on Christmas Eve.  I thought that it was a mirror of the year before where I spent the time Santa came in the ED in Utah, with Sarah.  Luckily this year, her fever subsided before the 8 hour mark and didn't break 101F.  Even though she fought the fever for both Christmas Eve and Christmas, we avoided a trip to the ED.

Christmas was different.  It was our first year as just our family.  We decided to stay home and we had a good time together.  We started a fire on Christmas Eve and sang songs and talked about Christ and how the birth of the Savior was seen by the Nephites.  We held many of my traditions that I grew up with on Christmas morning.  We hanged sheets so that the girls couldn't see into the tree.  We had breakfast with individual boxed cereals, grapefruit and oranges, and hot chocolate.  The kids had to help clean up and we read the Christmas story from Luke.  Then the kids got to go into the room with the Christmas tree.

We got a piano as a family.  We just need to populate sheet music to play and lessons for everyone but Nate. It will be nice to have a piano in the house again.  It took Gus a few presents to realize that there were toys behind the wrapping paper.  Once he did, he loved to open the presents.  He got a number of cars and a track for them, as well as a few sound books that he reads multiple times a day.  Sarah got a Zuzu pet to match one Lilly got one as part of our Disneyland trip.  Lilly got a Luigi Lego cart that she got to build and it went by itself.  Jess got a Kindle Fire as well.  It was a fun Christmas and a start of new traditions.

Lilly and Sarah playing with Christmas presents

This year also found me not teaching at Deer Valley.  It was brought home the day after Christmas when I didn't have to get up early to hit the slopes.  It has been relaxing to not have to work during a vacation, though I did put some hours in at the office this past week.

Jess did provide excitement the end of this week.  On Thursday, she had a fall in the garage and hit her knee hard on the cement.  She was in pain and went to the doctor's on Friday.  They sent her for an X-ray but it didn't get back to the office before the end of the day, so we don't know whether it is broken or not.  Some of Jess's friends used in the medical field and had a knee immobilizer and walker that they let Jess borrow, to help with the injury.  Those help and allow Jess to get around without as much pain.  It also has put me in charge of most of the house.  Hopefully it will still be standing when Jess gets better.  ;)

Thanks for all the love and support.  We are amazed at the compassion that is still shown to us in our trials.