What a month! It was full of good and bad!
Elementary school fun run fundraiser.
Rebecah started our month off on the wrong foot....literally. She had returned from her concussion on a Tuesday and on Thursday she fell during practice and hurt her ankle. The coach and athletic trainer thought she had sprained her ankle, but suggested we get it checked out "just in case." It was broken. Luckily, Joseph was finishing work just as I picked up Rebecah. I dropped Rebecah off at the hospital and Joseph took her to the after hours orthopedic clinic. A few hours later she came home with her foot in a splint. She was hurting with only Tylenol for pain! After the first few days taking Tylenol she was starting to feel better. Sadly, this fall ended her soccer season prematurely. Rebecah had a CT scan which showed two different breaks in the base of the tibia at the growth plate. This resulted in surgery five days later to place two screws in Rebecah's ankle.
Getting home and settled the night of her fall.
The next day convalescing on the couch with some ice cream.
Celebrating my 43rd birthday. The day was spent being a mother and preparing for surgery the next day. It probably wasn't my most fun birthday, but that's life when you are an adult.
We had to report to the outpatient surgery center at 6:15 in the morning. We had Covid tests and once the results came back negative we were allowed in the building and the real fun began. I tried to prepare Rebecah for the day except for one thing....I didn't tell her how much an IV hurt! The nurse was amazing and he just inserted the IV without much chitchat before Rebecah could get nervous about it. Next time she'll know what to expect and it might be a little more traumatic.
Prepped and ready for surgery!
Surgery went well and we were home by 10:00 in the morning.
Some of Rebecah's x-rays before and after the screws were put in place.
Ten days later Rebecah had her post-op appointment where her splint was removed and she was moved to a boot. She is still non-weight bearing so even though she has a boot she has been on crutches. I have been taking her to and from school every day since managing the stairs on the bus would be tricky and we don't want her to fall again. She has her boot on for three weeks, but she can take it off to shower and exercise/stretch her ankle, but not walk on it.
You can see the two small incisions where the screws were placed.
The rest of our month was much more fun!!
Eden's 6th birthday! I can't believe Eden is 6 years old!! She is getting so big. I love that she is still a mama's girl and likes extra hugs and snuggles. She loves school, her teacher and seeing her friends. I tried to make sure Eden's birthday was special even though it was sandwiched between Rebecah's surgery on Tuesday and me leaving on a trip on Thursday.
I took a four day trip to Rochester, Minnesota, for Grandma Zimmerman's memorial service. It was so nice to get away and be with my extended family. Miriam and Phoenix were my only sisters that could make it, but it was still nice to see them and Mom and David.
My flight got in to Rochester about 10:45 AM so I had a few hours to kill before Mom and David arrived. It was a blustery day and not pleasant for walking, so I just hung out in the lobby of the hotel which was plenty big. Once Miriam joined us we went out for dinner at The Hubbell House. As you can see from the picture it has been around a long time...1854! Some famous people have eaten at this place...Dwight D. Eisenhower, Roy Rogers, and Mickey Mantle to name a few. The food was really good and they are famous for their onion rings and garlic toast which we tried! My mom ate here occasionally with her family when she was growing up. She, David and Grandma ate here when Mom and David visited in June.
This is the building where my mom was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The building has since been sold, and it's now a Jewish synagogue.
Cemetery service for Grandma.
Mom with her brothers, Rick and Steve.
I loved the collage of pictures that were on display for the visitation. So many memories from these pictures! I also liked seeing some pictures that I had never seen before or didn't remember seeing. Like the pictures of Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Garlock with the pictures of their nine children and spouses and Grandma's high school graduation picture.
Seeing my cousins and their families was fun. It's hard to believe we are all well-seasoned adults with kids of our own.
This sweet boy is Teddy. He and Lincoln would be fast friends! He was standing next to me in a picture and the next thing I know his little arm is circling my waist! It was the sweetest thing.
Mom with some of the funeral flowers.
The memorial service was really nice. Uncle Rick, Mom, cousins Christina and Eric all gave wonderful talks and shared some special memories of Grandma.
Family photo after the memorial service.
Mom, Miriam and me with Char, one of Grandma's sisters. It was fun to listen to Char talk and tell stories. She sounds a lot like Grandma and some of her mannerisms reminded me of Grandma, too.
After the memorial service we took one last drive through Rochester. We stopped at the house where my mom grew up. Grandma and Grandpa had this house custom built and I loved visiting at the house. The current home owner was so friendly! The house is still referred to as the "Zimmerman house" even though Grandma and Grandpa haven't lived in this house for over 30 years. The owner was kind enough to let us walk around the yard and even step inside the back door. The owners had recently done a remodel of the kitchen and they said that they saw my Grandpa's signature on some of the studs and inner workings of the house!
We walked at Silver Lake. It was at this lake where a goose bit my finger when I didn't give out bread fast enough. If my memory is correct, I think I was about three years old when this happened. After a nice walk along Silver Lake we drove by the towne house where Grandma and Grandpa lived for 15 years, and Bridgeman's, what used to be an ice cream parlor where my mom had her first job.
One last family dinner! We ate at Pescara, the last restaurant Steve and Jackie ate at with Grandma in early August. The food was delicious.
I flew home on Lincoln and Annika's 8th birthday! I didn't want to miss their birthday, but it was important for me to attend my Grandma's memorial service, too. I'm glad it worked out where I could get home late afternoon on their birthday.
Muffins for breakfast.
Since Lincoln and Annika turned eight they were old enough to get baptized. Grandma and Grandpa Coffey were able to come for their baptism and had tickets purchased before we knew when Grandma Zimmerman's memorial service would be. I did a lot of praying that my flight would arrive on time so I could make the baptism so it wouldn't have to be postponed where Grandma and Grandpa would miss it! It all worked out. Joseph and a few of the kids picked me up from the airport and we went straight to the church. The kids opened their presents and then we ate a quick dinner before getting ready for the baptism.
Grandma and Grandpa made birthday treats for the kids!
We forgot towels at home so I raced home to pick up towels and to change my clothes. I got back 10 minutes before the baptism was supposed to start. I helped Annika quickly change and then we took some quick pictures. In the hustle and bustle I forgot to get pictures with Joseph's parents at the baptism. We didn't get any pictures of their visit and I regret not documenting that they were at the baptism.
The baptism was well-attended and we had to move the service into the chapel to accommodate everyone. Our good friends, the Dolsons came to support our family, as did Eden's kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Corl and her daughter Elizabeth. Mrs. Corl also taught Lincoln and Annika in kindergarten. It meant so much to me that our friends and Mrs. Corl would attend the service. I made sure they were seated up front near our family because they feel like family! It was a nice baptism service and I felt the Spirit.
While I was out of town I missed the last soccer game of the season. Lincoln and Annika had a great season and had a lot of fun.
Rebecah attend "Futures Night" at the Varsity girls soccer game. It's a night where all of the younger soccer teams are recognized as future varsity players. Rebecah went on crutches, but I was glad she could go and have this night with her team.
Rebecah also went to support her soccer team from the bench during their last two home games.
We have had a lot of rainbows this fall and at both games we saw pretty double rainbows.
Last football game of the season!
I told Lincoln and Annika that I would make them a delayed birthday dinner and dessert since I couldn't do it on their birthday. We "celebrated" a week after their birthday with their official birthday dinner and dessert.
Matching pajamas!! Now that my kids are older I wanted to get matching pajamas with them. I guess plaid pajamas are popular right now at school so kids frequently wear pajama pants to school. Anyway, Kimball was willing to match the pants, but not the shirt.
Eden and Lincoln were both recognized this month for kindness in their classrooms.
The younger kids and I attended two different Halloween activities. One at school and one at church. The school "track or treat" was a lot of fun. We walked around the track at school collecting candy from different booths. The kids loved seeing their friends dressed up and I had fun walking around with my friends. School activities are so much better now that I'm friends with the parents of the kids' friends. The next night we went to the party at church, but I didn't get any pictures there.
Lincoln and Annika with Brooke.
Eden and Mackenzie
Thank goodness for Joseph! I'm not a Halloween fan and we would never carve pumpkins if it was left up to me. It isn't a priority, so I always forget!
The school had a half day on Halloween. The kids enjoyed fun parties at school.
Kimball stayed home this year so he could work on homework and catch the Browns football game. Rebecah, even though she's on crutches, went trick-or-treating with some friends from church. Her friends would help her collect her candy and she had a great time.
Trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. I took the kids around the neighborhood while Joseph handed out candy. As mentioned above, I'm not a Halloween fan, but I had a change of heart this year. Of the neighbors that passed out candy, probably 90% of the houses were empty nesters or elderly couples. I thought it was interesting that this was the demographic that was giving out candy. As I thought about it, I realized that one reason they might give out candy is to stay connected with the neighbors and community. With some of the elderly I felt badly interrupting their evenings, but when they saw it was me, they actually stopped to chat for a moment after giving out candy. One man in particular had a sign on his door asking us to help ourselves because he had a cat that he didn't want to run out the door. Well, I waved to him and said a loud 'thank you' when he saw us from his window. When he realized it was me, he came to the door, opened it and chatted! I also thought that perhaps some of these elderly people need the social interaction to keep them alive, and giving candy to the kids that come by helps them socialize in a small way. Anyway, I'm sure my experience isn't true for a lot of neighborhoods, but it helped me appreciate my quiet little neighborhood that is lacking in kids, but full of sweet grandmas and grandpas giving out candy!
Getting annual physicals and flu shots!
Eden went to a birthday party for one of her good friends. She saw a lot of friends from preschool at the party and that was a lot of fun! Eden did fall and refused to use her arm for much of the rest of the day. She wouldn't extend her elbow. Joseph said it's called "nursemaid's elbow" which means a dislocation of the radial head. Anyway, after Eden favored it the rest of the day and into Sunday morning Joseph took matters into his own hands and put Eden's bone back in place. It hurt her, but after it was over, she could extend her arm and it stopped hurting!
I have been so grateful to be married to medicine this month. Since Joseph knew the right people he saved steps in getting Rebecah's ankle taken care of in a timely manner. I also feel like the surgeon gave us more personalized care since Joseph is one of the PAs that work at the practice. I'm also grateful that he could fix Eden's elbow, so we could avoid an emergency room visit.
