17 October 2008

Spa Vacations are the Best!

Today began our glorious holiday. I have not remembered what it is to travel without children and to be self-indulgent and really go on break. We are staying at this gorgous inn, way, way off the beaten track called the Red Rooster Inn. http://red-rooster-inn.com/welcome2.htm
We have the best room in the inn, and it has a gorgeous view and the sun rises over the Sopas Valley and is stunning.  We're staying in the Lavender Room (and it really DOES smell like lavender, with home-made lavender, and wake-em-up-mint soap and fresh lavender in the bathroom). Here's some pix of the room:










This picture is of the view out of our bedroom windows:

We also bought the "spa package" which included a massage at the Splendor Mountain Day Spa (a local's favorite). Tomorrow, we'll be visiting the Yampa's Vapor Caves and the renown Glenwood Springs Pool. We are also considering visiting a castle...

We ate at a "local's choice" restaurant called "The River" and it was great. John had citrus crusted halibut, and I had a warm spinach/walnut salad with bacon, feta cheese, and a specialty basalmic vinaigrette. Dessert was amazing. John had the smoothest raspberry sorbet, and I had a bourbon-sweetened pecan pie. It was the best pecan pie I've ever had.

We're having a great time, and I hope those who are with my children know how much we appreciate them!

16 October 2008

A Day of Adventure

Today started out with an adventure. Jack got to go have a CT scan... Mama got up, after much harassing by Dad, and then Dad took Jack to UVRMC and Mama went back to bed. Jack was thrilled that Dad got to be with him when he had his CT scan, which was 2 scans, one of around his head about his ears, and the other of just his L ear. Jack was a bit nervous, and a bit worried. However, he loved the gizmo (what is it about Phippen men and gadgets?) He loved watching the CT machine spin around him. 

After Dad and Jack got home, they woke Mama back up by throwing Max at her. Dad got Xandri and Asa out of bed, and we all started to get ready to go. Daddy took everyone, to start with. He left Xandri and Max at Jackie & April's. Then, he, Jack and Asa and met Aunt Kim (Rasmussen) at IKEA. Then he met Aunt Jen at McDonalds in Lehi. Then, we joined up and drove Max and Xandri's gear and met Grandma Max at her office at Coldwell Banker. Then we were on our way. It was 11:48, just short of noon.

We got to Moab at 3:45pm and met with our friend Sherry and walked around her new property in Moab (we even saw "schmooder," which is a "supercalifragilistic word for "nasty stuff.) We talked about her new house, visited her old house, and saw the cutest newborn Dachshund puppies (they were only 2 days old!!) We left Moab after getting take-out from the Moab Diner.

We have finally arrived at the Red Rooster Inn up a lovely canyon just past Glenwood Springs. Tomorrow begins the Spa Retreat. I'll take some pictures and post those, too.

15 October 2008

Jackson's Hearing

Today Jackson visited the ENT. They have determined there is a growth behind his eardrum that is benign (Cholesteatoma:http://www.entkent.com/cholesteatoma.html), and it's probably congenital (it's been there since birth and has grown to the point where it no longer allows for sound conduction.) He will have a CT scan tomorrow (Thursday, 10/16) early in the morning. They are looking at how large the growth is, how far in they will have to go, and how much damage it might have done to the bones in his ears. 

Jack will have surgery (cholesteatomy) next Thursday, 10/23 at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.

He will also probably have to have reconstructive surgery on the bones in his ear later in the year based on the damage the growth has caused. The growth is benign (non-cancerous), but it's acidic and can damage the delicate bones in the ear. If his bones need to be reconstructed, he won't have hearing until then, but his hearing should be restored at that point.

We'll know more as we go along, but this is our current update!

14 October 2008

Where Your Heart Is

Luke 12:13-15
Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."
Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?"  Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

We readily agree that our lives should not be about our possessions.  But Jesus warns us to watch out and be on guard.  How does living with a short-life mindset help you be on guard against greed? As you’ve thought through this over the last two weeks, are there possessions that you’ve recognized as overly important?

I have very few objects that I consider "irreplaceable." However, since my Aunt Kim's house burned down, I have often wondered: what would I want to save? I've tried to keep my pictures backed up in more than one spot. I don't think I have any pictures that I couldn't replace. So even my scrapbooks are replaceable. I could replace all of my knick-nacks... except the casts I had done of my children's hands. I never did get one done of Max's hands because every time I called to schedule it, I got an answering machine! That is kinda sad. I do have foot prints of his feet, and that's the first time I got newborn foot prints. However, are they irreplaceable?

I have the chairs from Brenda that I love... but I haven't started petit-pointing them, so they are not yet irreplaceable.

I do have some very special antiques (the hutch from my parents, my mother's sewing machine cabinet, Grandma Meek's mirror, crystal from Grandma Herrick's house), but they wouldn't be worth running into a burning house for.

I have some paintings that are valuable, but also not irreplaceable. I guess I'm doing OK on not placing items above people. I did cry the day that Asa smashed the crystal bowl from Grandma Lizzie's house. I also got angry with Xandri for breaking the heads off my Willow Tree figurines (for the second time), but I don't think I was obsessively or punishingly angry. I guess I'm doing OK at not valuing items.

I certainly am never planning to retire! I am not counting on a retirement; I know that I'll have to work as long as I can to keep health insurance. I'm just counting on God to keep me here. I've had to let my "issues" go to God, because I can't do anything more about them. I can't bear the stress sometimes of being sick all the time, always being on-guard about what I eat, what medicines I take, etc. I just have to let it go and trust that I will have faith that God will keep me here as long as He needs me here.

Looking Toward Economic Future...

Pastor Rich sent us this
Luke 12:16-21
And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
 "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
 
There is wisdom in planning ahead, in being responsible with all that God has entrusted to us.  The issue is focus.  Think for a minute:  do you trust in your retirement plan, your investments?  Or do you trust God? We all, I think, immediately say, “I trust GOD!!!”  But the events of the past few weeks ought to reveal where our trust really lies...

I have been listening, raptly, to the rise and fall of the Dow. I remember panicking when my 401k was cut in half in 2004, and it had only recently recovered what I lost then. It will be the same with this crash. Interestingly, more and more, as I am uninsurable, I have come to the conclusion that I shall never stop teaching unless I can not work any longer. If I am incapacitated in some way, then I'll quit, but I'll go out fighting.

I've had to "let it go to God." It's all I can do at this point.

Ira Allan

John was in Mapleton yesterday surveying his projects, and he saw this sign. He took the picture, JUST FOR ME, and brought it home. We were delighted to see that Grandpa Ira was also honored with a sportspark in Mapleton---AND, notice the maple leaves! It's Mapleton, thus the maple leaves. Funny, though!
Go, Grandpa!!

12 October 2008

Radioactive Woman

10 days ago, I had a thallium stress test on my heart. It turns out that my heart should be good for at least 15 more years: my valves and heart look great. This is great news for me. Since then, my family has been on a roller coaster as all of the medicines, etc. I've been on have been adjusted.

I takes something like this to remind me how much my health affects my family. My house is a wreck (and not because my husband isn't helping, but because he has had to be both of us). My "simple" cold became something very major. My blood sugar is completely out-of-whack. Being sick isn't just about ME; it affects my entire family. It reminds me of the old saying, "When mama's sick, ain't nobody happy!" and that's really true around here.

As a quick update: despite the housing market, the stock market, and the lack of real estate sales, my husband still has a job that he loves! He is also cleaning out the trash in our back yard. We've determined to get our house engineered, and over the winter get the house ready to rebuild. We'll start the major work in the spring. Hopefully by then, we'll know what the stock market is going to do...

Jack has a new Primary teacher who says he's the best of all her students! And, he's back to shouting at his siblings. It turns out that being the oldest when mom is sick is stressful on the oldest child, too. He is doing well in school. He's a good reader; he's working on his math and loves his teacher.

Xandri continues to terrorize her siblings; she thinks Max should be held all the time, and Max feels like she is his personal strait-jacket. Xandri is a dress-up queen, and she loves styling her hair! Who knew THAT day would come?? She loves headbands and bows, and she'll let me do side-pony tails and poofs. She's the glitter, nail polish, etc. queen. I got a girly, girl, and it makes me deleriously happy. I know that the day she starts stealing (and ruining) my shoes, I'll have gotten my comuppance from what I did to my mother's shoes.

Asa's speech is so clear I am beginning to believe he's learning English at pre-school. He's a motorcycle fantic. He loves Cars (the movie), trucks, and all things with engines. He uses Tinker Toys... to make motorcycles. He, Jack and Max play cars virtually all the time.

Max is sad that we have finished nursing. I am too! It's sad when the baby isn't a baby anymore. He's so big! He likes to pus his cars around (he makes a "th" sound as he does so). He rearranges shoes, and drives them around like they are cars. He loves pulling daddy's socks out of the sock drawer, and he's really starting to talk. He says: "mama," "dad," "no," "mine," (in some variation--it's not quite clear yet), "Hi," "this," and "Asa" (in some form) and "Jack" (in some form). He also knows the meanings of all sorts of words. "No" from Mama makes him laugh. "No" from Dad makes him cry. He also cries when you say, "Let's go to bed." He's great at "snuggle" and "hugs" and he understands "kisses" and sticks out his tounge appropriately. You gotta be careful with him. He's into "french" kissing. You get slobbered by him, but at least you know you're loved.

That's the update!