Disneyland Day 3

 Our 3rd day of vacation wasn't just at DL. Amazing, I know. We actually do take our kids to see something in the world other than Mickey Mouse. We went to Crystal Cove. It was beautiful. I love the beach. And we pretty much had this one to ourselves. Emma was a little unsure of all the jumping little bugs (which is funny to me because she is my nature girl), so she wasn't too keen on the idea of staying longer than a couple of hours. Jer took the kids to a couple of little tide pools to look for creatures, but it was a little high and there wasn't much to be found. Erin was a little disappointed about having to leave the sea shells there for others to enjoy. I'm actually thankful that some of the beach is considered a state park and remains awesome.

 Of course, after the beach, we went straight to The Crab Cooker. Oh how I love this place. It is a Johnson favorite, but Jer and I are always introducing it to everyone we know. So, if you are one of the lucky friends that have been there with us, wait till you hear what Erin did.....

 .... She sat there.... and didn't eat a dang thing! Look at that amazing grub and she wouldn't even try it. We ordered extra cheesy potatoes... and there's buckets of butter... and she refused. So when the rest of us were done stuffing ourselves, we went to McDonald's for Erin. Can you believe her? Food was pretty much an issue with her the whole time we were on vacation. Such a pill.

 

We did find that she loves frozen bananas. As do I. But there is just this picture that I can post here. (Though I've heard that a certain someone has been showing another frozen banana picture to a handful of people). 

 And, yes, even on our beach day, we went to DL and California Adventure. It was Friday so we had to go experience the street party ElecTRONica. It was awesome. They start with a little performance on the street and then move it back by Flynn's Arcade. It goes for hours with music, clips from the movie, video games, arcade games, drinks, a laser show and dancing. This would be my kind of place if I didn't have 3 little rug rats with me. I didn't want to embarrass them so I stood still... trying very hard to not party with the rest of the lunatic DL freaks.

Disneyland Day 2

 Erin has been to Disneyland lots, but has never gotten an autograph book (I think Jer and I put our foot down on these a while back when they started determining how and where we would spend our days in the park). Even though I hate that you have to wait in line to see characters now (not like in the olden days when they would all just be wandering the park), it was fun to see her get excited about having her picture taken with them. And, yes, we even waited in a few lines for her.

 Erin kept telling us she didn't want to see anymore movies - she just wanted to ride rides. But, we talked her into the Bugs Life movie and it was great. She was my entertainment this trip.

 Josh bought a penny collection booklet and just about filled it while we were there. They had fun finding the penny smashers and adding to his collection. Erin had to be the one to get it out of the machine every time. And, Josh sounded like he was celebrating Cargo Pant day every day with his change stash in his pockets.

 This little vending machine is in Monsters Inc. I think they should start packaging "snacks" like this. Just say what it is - sugar, salt and fat. Then maybe I won't be as tempted.

 It was a good thing we went to both Disneyland and California Adventure on Wednesday and Thursday because it got so busy on the weekend! The kids got me to go on Mickey's Fun Wheel. I hate Ferris wheels. I am afraid of heights. I don't like being in those cages and no one being buckled in. We got to the top and the kids thought it was funny to trade seats ... ugh. I was not okay. So to keep my mind off of the little poops, I took pictures of the Cars construction from up top. Hopefully you can see what I am talking about. So much of CA is under construction right now, but the biggest area is behind Tower of Terror where they are working on the new Cars attraction. The mountain is on the right side of the picture. It is 15 stories high. I can't wait for it to open.

Disneyland Day 1

I know it seems silly to post a picture of the hippo in It's a Small World, but since this was my first time riding this attraction in a bazillion years, I had to share. It seems like it has been closed forever so every time we go down, we don't get to ride through and get the song stuck in our heads for the remainder of the trip.

We finally figured out that it goes so much faster if we leave our house at 3:30 in the a.m. and drive straight through. Well, with one exception - we did stop in Mesquite for a breakfast buffet. It was great. I will admit, I was a little worried about whether or not the kids would actually sleep on the way down. But, they did okay. All three of them slept for most of the drive and Jer and I were able to listen to Harry Potter on cd (thanks to our awesome friends that let us borrow them).

We got to Anaheim around 1:30p.m. and checked into the hotel. We dumped our crap and started our vacation. We walked over to Subway for a quick lunch and we were in the park by 3:00p.m. It was great to be there on a Wednesday night with so few people and 90 degree weather. I so was not going to complain about the heat after our lame weather in Utah this Spring. It felt so nice to let the sun beat down on my face. Ahhh.

Of course, we stuck with tradition and went right to Pirates of the Caribbean. There's something about the smell of that ride and the walk through the line... love it. This was our first trip to DL without a stroller/toddler. We didn't have to take turns on rides and there were only two that Erin wasn't tall enough for. It's amazing how much you can do in five or six hours when there's none of that stroller parking and ride swapping going on.

I actually spent some time curling Erin's hair the first day. Notice how the humidity took care of that? I didn't bother doing anything special with her hair the rest of the trip.

So there's a sneak peak of our trip. I am going to have to do it in several posts so hopefully ya'll don't get annoyed with all my Disneyland pictures. I can't ever leave any out. :)

Former Federal Agent?

Saturday Josh had a soccer game in Vernal, Utah. And, if that is a fun road trip for the family, then Phillip really is a former federal agent. Oh my gosh it was a long day. We left the house at 7:30a.m. (yes, on a Saturday) and got to the soccer field (if you can call the elementary school grass a "field") a little before noon. I don't think it normally takes that long to get there, but we were driving in a major snow storm for the majority of the the way. It was a doozy of a game. I had wondered how the reffing would go - love the locals. They play by different rules there apparently. A "hand ball" is legal - it must be because they had about fifteen of them that the ref didn't call. And, they don't believe in handing out cards. Josh was in the keeper box for the second half. He went out to stop the ball and was kicked in the head (twice) by the same kid. Did I mention that Josh is the keeper and he was in the box? Where we come from, that would be a red card. I had a few words for the ref (which I think embarrasses Jer), but what is a mom to do when her son is on the ground with a head injury? Josh doesn't cry. And he doesn't get mad very often. He did both. Ugh. But, in the end we got the big W so red card or not, at least it was worth the long drive to timbucktoo. We went and ate lunch in a little diner on Main Street and then headed home. It was almost 7 by the time we got back and we were all beat. Why does a long drive do that? Weird.

Anyway, on to all the crap we've been busy with (thus, the lack of blogging).

 Coloring Easter Eggs

 Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Egg Hunt at the B's 

(from left to right {top} front row: Erin, Atley, Bryson w/ Gpa, Bryn, Bree, Gauge {top} back row: Emma, Josh, Kailee, Alexa)

Easter Sunday at the J's

(left to right: Livvy, Elliot, Noah, Seth, Trey, Aiden, Sadie, Cameron, Emma, Hanah, Erin, Josh, Collin)

Scott Family Portraits

March Madness

Abby, Emma, Ella

I am good at this lately. Good at not blogging for a super long time and then trying to figure out where to begin with all the crap I haven't blogged about. I used to at least blog once a week. Now I am trying to cram a whole month into one post. So my March is all jumbled up in my head. I will attempt to organize it so that this isn't just madness. I am sure it still will be, but let's give it a go. March 5 was the Thanksgiving Point Xtreme Competition for Emma's clogging team. I love watching cloggers. I'm actually kind of a brat about the whole thing. My favorite part about clogging competitions is the bad outfits. Emma's teacher actually has great taste and makes sure our dancers don't look like Beverly Hillbilly's. Other teachers try and miss the boat - big time. Hopefully the girl in the Egyptian outfit realizes it's her teachers fault, not hers. Ugh. So Emma, Ella and Abby did awesome. It's so fun to see the girls slowly break out of the shells they've been hiding in for so long. They took FIRST place in their age group. And this really isn't one of those "everyone gets a trophy" kind of competitions. Gag. The best part was at the end when the dancers all go up on stage together and do clogging style line dancing (or whatever those electric slide type moves are). They don't have to go up, but it's fun for them to all "show off" a little. And, crazy as it sounds, our girls actually participated.
From Soccer Mom to Clogging Mom (April, me, Karen)

If I am remembering right, Emma's Birthday was next. March has always been her month, but this year we have really dedicated it to her. She is my number 2 child. I am a number 2 child. Sometimes I wonder if this is why Emma and I butt heads so much... are we too much alike? It's amazing how easy it is for that "middle child" to sometimes get pushed to the back burner. I have been guilty of this with her and maybe I am trying too hard to make it up to her. I don't know. I just know that right now I have a tender spot in my heart for this little ten year old. She is awesome. She has been "blessed" with the gift of anxiety. Sucks. Truly truly sucks. But, she is amazing and has already learned to overcome this challenge. Last year at this time we were just getting on her roller coaster. She ended her third grade year with six weeks of absences and weekly visits to therapy. A year later, she is loving life and school and friends and is a top student. She is dancing and taking guitar lessons and has become so independent. It would be logical to give credit to medicine and doctors, but I actually believe there is more to it than that. I have said many prayers on her behalf and I have seen her change and learn and grow in ways that I wasn't sure were possible. I should know by now that all things are possible.

This is Emma holding baby Bryson. She is a baby lover. She always has a babe in her arms. This was at Grandma B's. We celebrated Bryn's big day and Emma's all at once. Em was funny - she was acting weird the whole day but when I talked to her about it, I realized she was uncomfortable with all the attention being on her. She makes me smile.

This is at Grandma J's. We are crazy and did both sides of the family all in one day. Again, Emma wasn't sure about the attention and it took me standing on my head to get her to smile. She was excited to get a new Madame Alexander doll from Grandma!

Emma decided to get a room makeover this year instead of having a Birthday Party. Even though I still took her Birthday shopping and she was spoiled the whole month, now that it's two weeks later she is questioning her decision. She is a stinker. I think her room turned out darling and we had fun shopping, but of course, there are things she thinks we left out. I have been calling her Dudly for the last two weeks 'cause I swear she counts the gifts to make sure there's more than there were last year.


Above is the before. It looks like a coffin, I know. It's actually her shelf on top of the bed with a sheet over it. I just almost forgot to take a before picture. The room was blue before for Josh. I'm excited about the pink she chose even though it took three layers of primer to cover up that blue.

So there is our month in a shell. There's so much that I haven't blogged about. If you ask Jer, it's because I've been too busy at all my church meetings. Lol. Hopefully I can get caught up now that General Conference and Girls Camp are pretty much planned (he keeps giving me crap about planning General Conference since our meetings go so long).

keratoconus = cornea transplant

Before:

"We see through the cornea, which is the clear, central part of the front surface of the eye. Normally, the cornea has a dome shape, like a ball. Sometimes, however, the structure of the cornea is just not strong enough to hold this round shape and the cornea bulges outward like a cone. This condition is called keratoconus." (WebMD)

The picture above is Jers' eye just a couple of hours before he went in for a cornea transplant. It's a pretty good close up of his "bulging" cornea. He found out a few years ago that he has keratoconus. In the last 3-4 years, it has become extremely frustrating for him. Because of the shape of the cornea, a contact wouldn't stay on his eye. There are lot's of studies being done including everything from a contact with a hard center and a soft outside ring to eye drops. Unfortunately, regardless of all the different things a doctor can try, eventually a cornea transplant is necessary.

Jer went to Dr. Mifflin at the Moran Eye Center (U of U). Our first visit with him was only about a month ago. He suggested Jer have the surgery in his left eye immediately and in the right eye within about a year. We had anticipated surgery in the left eye, but were hoping the right eye wasn't that advanced. So, yes, he will be going through this again. Sad.

After:

This is a picture of Jer's eye about 42 hours post cornea transplant. There was a lot we didn't fully understand before the surgery. It is outpatient surgery so we didn't figure there would be all the standard post op pain and recovery. Silly us. It's a transplant for heavens sake. Needless to say, it has been painful and frustrating for Jer (to say the least). He is trying hard to be the tough guy and returned to work today (only 7 days after the surgery).

This is him the next morning (last Thursday). It had only been about 12 hours since the surgery and we were headed back up to the hospital to have the patch removed. Once the patch is removed, the drops and meds start.

These little items are constantly with him. He actually has a little bucket now with all the goods so that he can haul it around with him (considering he pretty much only goes from upstairs to downstairs right now - it's not too bad). There are three drops that have to be done every 4 hours (waiting 5 mins. between each drop). Then Lortab and Aleve for pain and inflammation. The patch and tape that will be his sleeping buddies for 4 weeks. The little rice bag that goes from the freezer to his eye (swapping it out every couple of hours). The tear drops are needed several times a day to keep the eye from drying out (these have to be done between the other drops). The tissue is for the constant watering of the eye. The allergy meds were only for the first day - the anesthesia caused serious itching (and it didn't hurt to help with the sleeping). Then those snazzy shades he got at the hospital that will be his closest friend for the next several weeks. His phone and the remote are there, but haven't really done a lot of good. He is still sick of sitting in the dark and bored out of his mind.

So, the surgery was done on February 23. Today is March 2. One week post op. His eye still looks like I gave him my right hook a couple of times (though it is starting to yellow). The redness on the eye itself will be there for several weeks. The stitches (all 16 of them) will stay in for a long time. They will look at removing them after 90 days, but even then will only remove one at a time. It will take about 6 months for his eyes to adjust and for the doctors to know what his sight is. The donor tissue can be rejected by his body at any time so the steroid drops will probably be a never ending thing.

Whew. Crazy. Right now he probably wouldn't tell you it was worth it. I will. That next morning when we were sitting in the dark at the hospital and they were checking his sight, he was seeing 20/80. I cried. I am still in awe with modern medicine and am so thankful for every single person out there that is a donor on their drivers license. This is what it is for when they ask you if you want to be a donor. It means my Jer get's to see the world again like he did when he was in 4th grade. It means he won't be in constant pain and he will be able to see well enough to drive again. It means more than words can say. I'm also thankful for all those smarty pants doctors that can perform such a surgery (and call it fun 'cause these procedures are the best part of their jobs). Everyone at the Moran Eye Center has been amazing.