Canyon breaks his back . . . AGAIN!

If you told me this move was going to be this hard, I wouldn't have believed you.  It seriously was just one thing after another.

The VERY FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL . . . . I got another phone call from the school asking me to quickly get to the school because Canyon has been in an accident.

This one WASN'T Canyon's fault!  On the playground they have a toy they call the mushroom.  It's a round set of monkey bars that the kids can hold onto & hang their legs (for pull ups), but it spins which is great fun.  I guess a bunch of kids latched on to the mushroom while the recess monitor (who is a full fledged police officer mind you) began to spin them at super fast speeds.  Canyon started yelling that his hands were slipping & to slow down, but the adult spun it faster.  Eventually, Canyon's grip couldn't last & he flew backward off the mushroom & landed on his back shoulders.  All the air was knocked out of him & he couldn't move.  The school told him to get up & walk it off, but Canyon #1: was gasping for air & #2: couldn't get up.  (I was FURIOUS after hearing this account from both Canyon & the other kids on the playground).  Eventually an adult picked him up & helped him walk to the office.  They tried to convince him to go back to class, but he told them he wanted me to come pick him up.

I made it there & I could tell the minute I saw him laying on the nurses bed thing that something was wrong.  He told me that it hurt so bad that there were shockwaves going up & down his back & that he couldn't move it.  I mentioned to the office that he had a previous back injury & that I needed to get him to a hospital to make sure he was ok.  I could tell they were really nervous about that.  I honestly think they knew the school was at fault this time & were worried about what I would do.  They encouraged me to get him to go back to class & that it wasn't a big deal.  I know my son & something was wrong.

I signed him out & went directly to the hospital where my momma instinct was proven correct.  He had a new fracture in his T7 vertabrae. . . ANOTHER BROKEN BACK!  What in the world?

We spent over 12 hours in the hospital this time & they referred us to another hospital for treatment.  That hospital refused to touch him because he was so young & referred us to Primary Children's Hospital who couldn't see us for a week.  I called the school to let them know he had a broken back & they were SCARED.  They knew they were wrong in every single thing they tried to do.  I kept Canyon home for about a week until we could get him cleared through Primary Children's.  His class sent home several notes of encouragement while he was out of school.

Primary Children's was able to do a write up & action plan for returning to school (like we did with his previous break.). Not a great way to start the school year at a brand new school.  He was out of school for a little bit, then we took baby steps forward allowing him in school with restrictions & specific rules.  Then finally in mid-October he got the full thumbs up to be back to normal again.

Since then we've had several doctor & specialist appointments.  They are wondering if his bone density is bad or if we're missing something medically that is causing him to break so easily.  SO far, all tests have come back clear, but we see an endocrinologist in March to do some further digging.  Honestly, he's just a crazy active kid that plays hard.  I hope that's all it is, but we will continue to try other things just to be sure.  The doctors here in UT have been great.

 

The Sky is Falling!!! . . . . . & more house improvements

Near the end of August, some new friends invited us over to play some board games at their house one evening.  At about 9:30 at night, my teens called me saying water was dripping from the ceiling & that there was a big bump.  They were terrified.  We rushed home to find 2 big water pockets dripping water all over our couch, carpet, & walkway areas.

I swear everything that COULD go wrong with our new rental HAS gone wrong.  There was definitely a water leak somewhere.

Trek popped the bubble to let out all the water out of both areas, then we had to lay down tarps & buckets to catch the remaining drips.

The entire ceiling was buckling & you could see it.  We called our property management company & they said they'd come look at it on Monday (this was Friday night).  We ended up turning off our water just in case it was a water leak & literally spent the weekend WITHOUT WATER.  This was not our house & we didn't want to do any damage to the ceiling, walls, or wherever that water was coming from.  We ended up using neighbor's bathrooms, & had to buy water from the store for cooking & washing.  It was SUCH a pain.

The property management company never came on Monday & we called again & they said they'd put in a "work order" for it (which we were learning meant a few weeks down the road.). I was DONE.  We called them every 2 hours for 2 days straight until they finally sent a company out to look at it.  The company was FURIOUS this wasn't treated as an emergency.  Our property management is the WORST.

Meanwhile, while we waited for someone to look at & fix the ceiling, Trek built a nice mud room into the closet next to the back door.  We took the doors off the closet & added the back, hooks, & shoe rack.  It's beautiful now.  We love it.

Then Trek & Craiger fixed the stairs in the garage.  They faced to the left making it so that 0 cars could actually park in the garage. . . they took up all the room that the bumper of the car would stick out past the garage door so it wouldn't close.  I swear to you this house is so hilariously bad when it comes to design.  They took down the stairs, moved them up against the wall of the garage, & rebuilt the stairs extending forward from the door rather than sideways so that you can actually pull the van into the garage now.  It was such an easy fix & makes all the difference.

When the plumbing company came out to look at our leak, we had SO much water damage In the ceiling & walls.  It was really sad to see.  They drilled 2 holes in the ceiling where the water bumps had been to air it all out & to try to figure out where the leak was.  They were able to turn the water back on & found that it wasn't a water leak, the A/C's furnace was completely eroded, un-workable, & the condensation from it was dripping all over the ceiling above the living room.  What a mess.  Now we had water, but we had 2 horrible holes in the ceiling & a broken A/C.

We finally were able to get the homeowner involved in this mess.  The property management refused to give us his contact info even after asking for it several times, but a broken A/C would cost a TON so the plumbing company asked to speak to the homeowner & luckily he did it while he was at my house & I was able to talk to him for the first time.  We exchanged phone numbers & email addresses & now we talk all the time.  It's SO nice being able to go directly to him.  This property management company here is a nightmare, but the homeowner made sure the A/C was fixed completely within 2 days.

 

First Day of School

After getting our things from the movers, then moving Lorien into her apartment, we had one Sunday to rest a little bit, then school officially started for Lorien, Trek, & all 4 kiddos at home.

My high schoolers were kind of excited that they didn't have to wake up at 4:30 to get to seminary by 6am.  Here in UT Seminary takes place during the school day so they are loving getting to sleep in like everyone else.  They are SO excited about their new school & can't wait to dive right in.

Craiger started 7th grade & he is excited because his school is a 2 minute walk from our front door.  He is excited about all of his classes & the new things offered at his new school.  It's going to be a great year for him.

Canyon started 5th grade, his last year of Elementary School.  He's excited to be the "big kid" at school & help all the new kindergartener & 1st grade students.  He gets to go once a week & read to the kindergarten classes & that has been such a highlight for him.  He loves his school & his teacher & the kids in his new class.  It's going to be a great year.

Trek started his first day as a U of U professor of military science as well as the commander of the detachment up there.  He LOVES his job.  He says it's the best thing he's ever done in the Air Force & that makes me happy.  I love seeing him love his job.

First day of school photos with all of my kids' new friends.  There's some great kiddos here.

 

Lorien & her Apartment

The day AFTER our household goods arrived, was Lorien's move in day for her apartment at UVU.  That whole weekend was such a blur because SO many things happened.

I left my kiddos & Trek at home to start unpacking our house & drove down to Orem & spend the entire day with Lorien getting her settled & unpacked into her apartment.

She learned VERY quickly that "less is more" when moving into a college apartment.  She learned how to organize & simplify her things so that everything would fit.

My little chef had to learn how to fit all her kitchen supplies into 1 cupboard & 1 drawer (which is SO hard when you cook for a living!)

She was excited that she had a desk next to her bed to study & do homework.

She met her roommate for the first time & I think they're going to get along pretty well.

The apartment complex was offering Cafe Rio & lemonade for dinner for all the residents moving in that day so we grabbed some, & had dinner together in HER apartment.  I'm so proud of my kids & all they are accomplishing in their lives as they grow into adults.

 

Taya & Chick-Fil-A

So. . . not only did we have movers moving us in, & 2 back to school nights, but Taya started her first day working at Chick-Fil-A that day as well.  WHAT A CRAZY DAY RIGHT?

This is Taya's first job & she is SO excited about it.  Chick-Fil-A is a great company & we are excited for her to be part of the Chick-Fil-A team!

(I snuck some pictures of her working on her first day.)

 

Back to School Nights

Of course the exact same day our household goods arrived, it was back to school night for 2 of my kids.  After Trek returned from the hospital, I had to swap with him. . . he watched & helped the movers while I took Canyon to Back to School Night.  I ended up having to call Lorien & had her come up to take Craiger to his back to school night since I was with Canyon & Trek was at home directing the movers.  It was a crazy day.

Canyon was SO excited about his new school & his new teacher.  He is in 5th grade this year (his last year of elementary school) & is SO happy to be part of the "big kid group."  We absolutely LOVE his new teacher this year.  She is the best of the best.

 

It's FINALLY HERE!!!

After having an "expected date of June 25" on our household good shipment, we finally received it on August 18, almost 2 months late.  This whole move was such a mess from start to finish that I was SO happy to just have my things again. . . to sleep on a REAL bed (for the first time since May 1st).  The kids started school 3 days later so I had 3 days to get their clothes & school things unpacked & set up. . . & boy was I excited to FINALLY have my kitchen things so I could cook again.

Of course, moving day would be complete without some sort of adventure.  As the packers were pulling boxes out of the crates, somehow one of them left a crate lid propped up against the truck & as Trek was crossing off numbers of boxes, the crate lid fell over on top of him.  He put his hand up just in time to save it from hitting his head, but a nail from the crate lid when straight through his hand & ripped it between his pinky & ring fingers.  Blood gushed everywhere (we now have a bloody driveway).  When he showed me, it looked like his pinky was hanging to the side because of where it ripped through his hand.  Ugh.

Still being brand new to the neighborhood, we had to knock on a neighbor's door & ask if he'd be willing to take Trek to the hospital so I could continue working with the movers at the house.  Sweet Bob was more than willing to help.

After a few stitches, his hand was as good as new.  I was amazed at how small the injury actually was.  It was sliced through at just the right place that I was worried he might lose his pinky seeing it hang like it did, but once it was stitched up, there was barely even a cut.  Our bodies are so weird & amazing.  Thank heavens for doctors who work their magic.

Hooray for being able to officially MOVE IN!