Mom's Face

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES
Remember Mom's black eye from earlier this year?  Well now we have more to report.  I'm sure she's talked to most of you on the phone about the carcinoma that was removed from her cheek.  But you have to see the photos to really understand.

It's looking better now and the stitches come out tomorrow, so we'll have some more photo updates.

Nose Flute Christmas Jingles

Well it was ward talent show time again, which means it was time for me to not this this talent under at bushel and wow the crowds with my nose flute-ing.

Rachel Lately

Let's review my last few months in picture form, since words are less pretty than pictures.

Halloween! I was a bird for school then a card dealer for trick or treating. Mark and I bought that dealer hat in high school and, to my knowledge, have never ever used it. Until today. Well...until that day a few months ago. 

My roommate got married! What a joyous occasion....for her.

Thanksgiving! Mom, dad, and I went to Virginia. We partied and ate poultry. 

This is my first prize drawing, displayed proudly above my fireplace! Okay the truth is that I was the only one who voted. And I was the only entry. And I made up the competition.

I baked something! And people ate it! I didn't, but that's because I hate yams...but word around the table was that they were good. Two words...butter and brown sugar.

In other news, I'm moving to a new apartment. For those of you who have been to my sa-weet place here in st. george, you can kiss it goodbye (well, no you can't) because I'm moving in with another friend who lives less than two miles away. That will be fun but challenging because A) I live in a sa-weet place here in st. george, B) my new place is half the size of my current residence, and C) I don't do well with change. Like actually I hate it. So I'm trying something new to build character or whatever. 

I don't have a picture to go along with that long schpiel so instead, I'll entertain you with this hilarious treasure of an unsuspecting young man who had no idea he was practically eating my boogers. 

So You Want to Be a Missionary

A post from the desk of Bruce

Dear Family,

I do not claim to have great wisdom, but I do have some experience from which to draw knowledge and understanding. I have a goal of writing an occasional essay for submission to the family blog. This is my first attempt. I call it, So You Want to Be a Missionary.

In our High Priest quorum meeting last night (after the stake priesthood meeting) our stake president spoke of opportunities for senior missionaries. I know that serving as a missionary with your spouse is a distant goal for most of you, but hear me out on this. At least three things must be in place for that opportunity to become a future reality.

1.     Monetary Considerations. Being Debt-Free and having sufficient funds set aside is necessary to be able to serve. Travel, food, insurance, housing and transportation are expenses that continue during a mission. The condo that we bought  (on a whim) could provide that money for Ann and me if we elected to sell it.

2.     Health. Maintaining good health by eating correctly, exercising often and getting adequate sleep is necessary to be able to serve as a senior couple. I remember when I was in my late 30’s. I read that maintaining a constant caloric intake for ten years would increase my weight by 30%. The calories necessary to sustain a 35 year old were more than adequate for a 45 year old. Because of metabolic changes of aging, fewer calories are required to keep my weight. If I wanted to be 195 pounds in my mid- 40’s, and 225 at 50, all I had to do was maintain my present eating habits. That is less than 6 pounds per year. Scary!! I decided that I could eat healthier foods, take smaller portions, and keep a very active lifestyle. So I cut the grass, walk often, stay busy and avoid the couch. I try to go to sleep early enough so I don’t feel groggy the next day. I use Sunday for the purpose it was created.

3.     Testimony. Maintaining good gospel study habits, personal prayer and attending church, conference, etc., are essential to gain and keep a testimony. Preparing for Sunday school and priesthood lessons by reading the lessons prior to meeting allow us to participate in and enjoy out classroom discussions. We are better students because of that preparation.

The time passes so fast. The last 10 years has gone in a flash. The next 10 will go faster!  Make the changes, if necessary, to be where you want to be in 10 and 20 years.

A "Thumb"-what disturbing tale

Warning: This post contains graphic photos of a wound.  Viewers who have passed out during the delivery of their children or on hospital tours may want to look away.

The Sunday after Annmarie's huge Austen Land surprise party (see pics in another post soon), we were having dinner with our friends the Field's and I offered to cut some cheese slices for our Philly cheese steak sandwiches.  My friend has a mandolin and I wanted to try slicing it on that.  It's a Pampered Chef brand so it's a nice one, but mandolins aren't really made for cheese slicing because there's too much friction.  I struggled with a few slices and broke the nail on my thumb.  That should have been my warning to pick up a knife and cut the cheese the sensible way.  The next slice was really stubborn and I was holding the cheese too close to where I was cutting it and cut a big chunk of my thumb.  I was lucky that I didn't take off the whole fleshy part of the fingertip, about 1/4" was still attached.

 I knew right away I needed to go to the emergency room; it was deep, painful and wouldn't stop bleeding.  My friend insisted that I eat dinner first, then I had to drive myself to the ER down the road as Jason was at a priesthood meeting and Annmarie wasn't feeling well and didn't come with us.

At the ER I was admitted right away, but I had to wait for an x-ray to make sure I didn't hit any bone and then wait another hour for the doctor to come stitch me up as the ER suddenly became busy.  Jason eagerly left his priesthood meeting when he got a text from our friends and joined me to wait for the hour. 

In the ER before stitches.  On the right is the small part that wasn't cut.  By the way, the ER doc stitched me up over my lap on some blue towels (not the plastic-backed kind) and my dress was covered in blood.  I went home, soaked the dress right away and the blood came out.  But seriously?

 The doctor numbed the area with several injections using a tiny needle, which, I can honestly say hurt as much as childbirth.  Unfortunately, after all the painful injections, I felt the first and last of three stitches.  The top of the wound was right along the nail bed and I couldn't get a stitch there.

Sunday after coming home from the ER.  See the three stitches?   

I was advised to have the stitches removed after a week to 10 days and so I made an appointment with my plastic surgeon who had removed a mole on my leg.  He was disappointed in the quality of this doc's stitches indicating she had sewed cut flesh to old flesh instead of cut flesh to cut flesh; the healing would be prolonged and scarring would be bad.  Scarring is clearly important to plastic surgeons.  So he had me wait another 2 weeks before removing the stitches.

Three weeks later I am ready to have the stitches removed.

Now the stitches are gone but my thumb is misshapen and doesn't have a lot of feeling in the tip, except when I bang it on something it seems to hurt a great deal more than a regular thumb.  I have a really hard time buttoning stuff and dialing.  Good thing I don't text.  The plastic surgeon said I may or may not get the feeling back.  He also said he could take care of the bad stitching job and scarring if I wanted to come back in 6 months, have the wound recreated by cutting it open and have it stitched the proper way.  I'm thinking 'no.'

After stitches had been removed, see the misshapen lump at left.  The old skin will continue to dry and peel off.

I'm supposed to keep it moist for the next few months.  I've gone through a lot of the expensive kind of fabric fingertip band-aids.  Oh, and those are clean dishes in the background, okay?

August report in September

In early August, Edward turned 7 and we had his first birthday party with friends! About a month before, we were chatting about things and I asked him what kind of cake he wanted. In previous years, it's been a dinosaur or snake, so I design a template on my software, print it out and carve the 9x13 cake to look like that thing.

This year he said, "Minnesota," because that was his favorite state that week. I let him think on that for a few weeks and asked him again. Despite the fact that his favorite state had changed to New Mexico or Iowa by then, he still wanted his cake to be Minnesota.

This was the template.

This was the cake. I got some help from a friend in the ward who took a cake decorating class this summer.

Then the little boys assembled! (Three other pairs of brothers came.)

And they fought over who got to eat Lake Superior.

Each family got a gift bag decorated with the states the boys were born in. 

Gift bags included candy bars, glow sticks, and giant adhesive mustaches.

We told our boys they could wear theirs on the airplane (after they got past security, so as not to arouse suspicion). 

We flew through Salt Lake and dropped off the bigger boys with Evan's Mom, and then Evan, Roger, and I flew up to Spokane for a job interview for next year. It went well.

Then we flew down to Boise and joined the elder Allans at the cabin where Edward and Frederick had explored, found bird bones, identified ponderosa pines, and played in the river with appropriate supervision.

We spent a bit of time in Twin Falls and then came home with three weeks to make the biggest decision of our married lives. It took four weeks. Everyone involved was very patient with us. In the end, we felt that anywhere we chose would work out well for us, and we might as well have the added advantage of living near family.

So, next July we'll be moving to Twin Falls, Idaho so Evan can join his Dad's practice.

We're doing well now.

Since last we met...

The Brown's have had a wonderful summer, including our travels to Nauvoo and a visit to Connecticut and Rhode Island to see Mark and Cadence.
After Nauvoo, we had the task of completing our Summer Calendar listing all 42 activities our family desired to accomplish before the summer was over.
We really packed a lot into July and August including new activities like making homemade ice cream and August Fools' Day, and old traditions we've been doing for years like ice cream volcano and shark day.

Hawaii day

D.C. Chinatown

Lake day

Two beach trips

In the midst of all this activity, I determined that I might be pregnant, and a home test confirmed my hunch.  After a few weeks, and without any signs or symptoms of a "healthy" pregnancy, ie. puking, nausea, unusual tiredness, etc.,  I concluded I was having another (4th) miscarriage, and called my midwives to be seen and have that hunch also confirmed.

As I've told some of you, after my 3rd miscarriage I had a blood test done that determined the state of my eggs.  The test found that I had a low number of eggs and the ones I have are poor quality eggs that would result in a 80-90% miscarriage rate.  Basically the fertilized egg never divides properly and terminates itself around 6 weeks.

On July 31st, our 18th anniversary, I saw the midwife, who did the usual blood test, but then, sensing my anxiousness to know, suggested I get an ultrasound that afternoon.  As I waited for my ultrasound appointment by myself (Jason couldn't get off work in time to come with me), I was overcome with emotion, having seen empty uterus pictures before and knowing what lay ahead.  I said a silent prayer to be able to accept the results of this ultrasound.  When the technician came to get me and asked why I was crying, I said, "I already know the result of this procedure."

We began the procedure and almost immediately she announced, "There is a heartbeat!"  At 7-1/2 weeks the fetus, the size of a grain of rice, had a beating blood vessel (not actually a heart at that stage), but I was able to see it and again flooded with emotion.

I've since started feeling nauseated all the time, but thankfully and miraculously--when compared to my other pregnancies--have not throw up at all.  I think my body is too old and tired to puke.

I've since had more tests and another ultrasound and I'm at low risk for chromosome and genetic disorders despite my age.  The new blood tests they can do now to determine chromosome anomalies  can also tell you the gender at 9 weeks!  I am due on the Ides of March and wanted to let everyone know about our miracle pregnancy and baby.

13 weeks, 7 cm, unknown gender

P.S.
This baby and Annmarie will be 17 years apart in age, the same as Mark and me.  This baby will be named "Finito" or "My Parents Are the Geezers Over There".

Update on Temple's

Ephraim had an interview with a PA school in Mesa, AZ yesterday. Today as he was at the airport coming home he got the phone call accepting him! So we could possibly go to Arizona next summer.  We are still waiting to hear from schools in Dallas, TX and Madison, WI before we make our decision, but this school seems to be a good fit for us so we are very happy that we have it as an option.

Just wanted to pass on the good news!

Eventful Week: A really long post

Hi all!  I wanted to share the posting joy and tell you about our eventful week.

Backing up a bit... on July 22nd we had a grandma playdate.  We hiked to Ensign Peak in Salt Lake City to raise our banner stating our promise to honor our family name.  We all signed the banner, and you can too sometime.

What a view!



Then on the 24th of July, we went with Grandma and Grandpa to the Spanish Fork parade.  Dad likes to see the high school alumni on the floats because he recognizes them and tries to shout to them. For example, "Hey, Gus! That's Gus. He can't hear me. None of those guys can hear anymore." There were pageant queens, horses, bagpipes, tractors, army vehicles and candy. Everything a parade should be.

After that we went to Bridal Veil Falls for a picnic and a splash in the mountain stream.

Moving on, Isaac and I went with our friends down the street on a little trip across the country.  My friend Kristie flies cheap, so she wanted to take her son Jacob to the Sacred Grove before his baptism.  Jacob wanted a buddy, so Isaac and I were invited.  It was an adventure since flying standby means you can't count on everything working out.  But Kristie is an ace at the travel game, so things worked out great.

Airport shuttle, feeling great.

Long Beach airport, CA - on our way (sort of) to NYC

We took a red-eye flight to JFK, then flew over to Rochester, so we were pretty tired when we started our sightseeing.

Began at the Palmyra Temple

Joseph Smith Farm home. How did they fit so many people into such a small space?  Now people have garages bigger than this house.

EB Grandin Print Shop - It took a lot of hard work to publish the Book of Mormon

Isaac led us straight up the Hill Cumorah.

We thought a lot about Moroni.  His earth life was pretty bleak, but his post mortal life has been better.

The Peter Whitmer farm where the church was organized. It's a special place.

We got a good deal on a hotel room where we could relax for the night.  We swam the next morning in the pool until check out time.

The Rochester airport had this cool kids section with foam toys.  The boys had a great time.

Following along with the safety instructions.

In NYC we got a slice of pizza pie.  It was delicious--best airport pizza.

We headed back west.  We flew to Las Vegas, spent the night at a little hotel there, then left early to go to Long Beach, and then back home to Salt Lake.

Playing cards in Las Vegas.  Go fish.

In Long Beach we rented a car for a few hours so we could go to the beach.  It was too cold to really swim, but we splashed in tide pools, found sea critters, and played on the rocks. Isaac and I felt so happy to be in the Pacific ocean again.

We made it home in time for his baptism on Saturday.

Ephraim did the baptism, Dad did the confirmation.  It was a sweet experience.  We wish you all could have been there.

And then on Tuesday I got ankle surgery.  So now I'm just laying around in bed popping pain pills.  I'll be off my feet for two weeks and then they'll give me a cast and I'll be on crutches for about a month. So we've been having lots of fun around here!