Weekend With Percy

 Peirce and Michael really love to travel. Earlier this fall they went to Ireland for a couple weeks. This week they went to San Diego for a concert! While they were gone, we got to hang out with Percy. He is such a cutie. We love him. We especially love how worn out Bentley gets when Percy is here. They play almost non-stop!

Christmas 2024

Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year. Our 2024 Christmas was busy and rewarding. 

We don't really do a good job of decorating for many holidays around our house - but we definitely do a little more for Christmas Our tree had a designer approach....all silver and white (beads and tinsel, but alarmingly, no Christmas balls!) I really liked it. It was all Allen's idea but I happily went along. I loved having it up and sitting by the tree to read each day. The Christmas gifts were wrapped in paper that matched the theme as well. Allen is so clever!

All the fun started on December 22 when Jill and Chase arrived from Edmonton. Peirce and Michael also came over and there was a big sleepover in the family room (bigger people means bigger sleepovers!) It was so fun to have them here and my heart was especially happy to see everyone get along so well. Grandma Jensen also came and spent a number of days with us, which added a lot of fun to our time together. A friend of ours, Meredith, also spent time with us over the holidays.

Christmas Sunday at church was a fantastic musical program. There were a lot of songs I had never heard and our ward's little choir easily took up the challenge of the complicated music. It was really nice to all go to church togethr. I didn't want to pressure Peirce into attending and so I told to Peirce him it would be fine either way. After talking it over with Michael, happily, they decided they would attend with us. Peirce said that the first time someone said something stupid to him though he was going to march out. There was no need for that. Everyone was so happy to see him and to meet Michael. Again, a heart warming experience. 

My dirty little secret about Christmas is that Allen does most of the shopping to get us ready for Christmas. In turn, I try to do most of the cooking....although everyone helped a lot. Saturday night when everyone arrived, we had our traditional Chinese Food night. On Christmas Eve, we had a six course meal! Sunday was the regular turkey dinner and on Boxing Day we enjoyed a pot luck with friends at the church. 

On Christmas Day, we went to a movie: The Boys in the Boat. I read that book years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the movie as well (although, I still say the book was better). Our friend, Meredith came with us to the movie. I even decided to use the word "swing" from the book for my word of the year. More on that later.

Jill, Chase, Peirce and I volunteered to usher at Storybook Theatre. We got to see One Christmas Carol....which was a version of the story told by one actor playing ALL the parts. It was really something else. That takes some talent!

Allen took on the challenge from our Stake President to make sure the social needs of people we knew were met. It meant that he invited family friend over for dinner on Christmas Day, organized a Boxing Day pot luck, a young families dinner (lots of kids and lots of fun and lots of noise!) and an empty nesters pot luck. Phew!! It was a lot of socializing. LOL 

On New Year's Eve, Jill and Chase invited their friends, the Holoboffs over. We had breakfast supper and then played games. The Holoboffs are really great. We were really happy to spend the evening with the cool kids! LOL 

Being together and having everyone enjoy being together is really what made our Christmas great. We have a wonderful family.

Photo Regrets and Easter

I need to make one of my goals to be a better photo taker! Usually, what happens is that I'm so busy on those special days making food, getting ready, cleaning, and more that by the time the main event rolls around I'm tired and just surviving....and I forget to take photos!! 

On Saturday, we had dinner with the NAckroyds! It has been a long time since we have done this and I was surprised at how excited I was to have them over. I decorated the table with a yellow runner.Sad, but true.

Our menu was: turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries, fancy green beans, carrots, Thai cabbage salad, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, rice pilaf and for dessert the NAckroyds made the most amazing apple pie (with one crust!)

On Easter Sunday, Allen was asked to speak in church. He gave a really great talk on the Atonement. It made my heart burst with love and admiration for the good person he is. Jill and Chase came to our ward and Peirce listened on Zoom. What a blessing to have everyone be able to listen to his talk!

This is our family Easter dinner on Sunday photo. Sad, but true. I took the photo of the table before dinner and meant to take one when everyone was at the table, but....alas. I need to work on this!

Jill and Chase came over for Easter baskets and dinner. We had ham, scalloped potatoes, Asian cucumber salad, green beans (I love green beans) and for dessert, we made the kids share their Easter chocolate. LOL

We had a wonderful Easter even though I didn't record it very well.  

Employed!

 Peirce has had a number of interviews. Today he started his first full time job in the pharmacy industry! He is working at a place that supplies pharmacies....so if they need a compound, they make it. If they need some unusual drugs or combinations, they put them together. It's very exciting....and he loves it! 

Off for his first day!

Our Boy Is Amazing!

 We are so proud of Peirce! He has finished the in-class portion of his pharmacy program with a near perfect GPA. It was really hard at first but he buckled down and figured out strategies to keep track of all the assignments and courses and technology issues when you're learning from a distance. He is now is doing a practicum in a pharmacy. He comes home excited every day to tell us stories of things he has learned. It's so fun to hear his excitement. 

2021!! Thank Goodness!

 Well, the whole world sure seems to be ready to be finished with 2020. It was a hard year and hopefully things will start to get better. 

Last night we had a ton of snacky food and watched a couple movies. Well, I watched one then the rest of them watched another. I'm really not one for staying up until midnight....even on New Year's Eve. Ah well! 

We watched Death to 2020, which seemed appropriate! It was hilarious!! I can't believe all that has happened this year.

We had WAY too many snacks left over. I quickly cleaned everything up this morning and took it down to the food storage room. I don't mind having snacks in the house but I DON'T want them being front and center so that we snack on them all day long. It seemed to work. And now we'll have some snacks for, er, next Friday?

This sunrise this morning was BEAUTIFUL!! I plan to enjoy a lot of them this year. I guess you could say I'm pretty set on my early to bed and early to rise gig.

Today we started off the year with some great food! Allen decided to try making pancakes for the first time ever! They were amazing. He used mango kefir and coconut. Of course, there was bacon and hash brown. Yum! 

It was great to have Jill over again. She and Peirce tried making a tiktok. It made for some good laughs anyway!

I didn't really expect that Allen would make another meal, but he did! We had an amazing cajun chicken based on the dish Cactus Club serves. Yum!!

I spent way too much time scrolling through twitter to get angry over people with political positions in Alberta who took trips to Hawaii and not enough time on my bullet journal. Tonight though I made some good headway. I'm excited for 2021 and have some good goals to work on! I also got to spend a bunch of time reading today while Jill and Peirce were out hanging out with Zoe and Daniel. They had a great time together!

I'm wondering if Chico set a goal to get along with Bentley this year. THIS has never happened! They're both on my lap.

What a month!

 We have had quite a month in our house. This fall, after being sent for a couple of stress tests, it came to light that Allen had severe blockages in his heart. They gave him strict rules (no walks, no mowing, no going to the gym, nothing to stress him.....they even said don't wash dishes! LOL) as they were really concerned that he could have a heart attack. All this time they've been trying to figure out why post stroke fatigue was such an issue for him. Now we know. He heeded their warnings and went to emergency a couple times. The first time they ran a long list of tests to make sure he hadn't had a heart attack as well as check his heart. The second time he went in they decided to admit him until they could give him an angiogram. He was admitted on Wednesday, had the procedure on Thursday and came home on Friday. This was the first week of school. Teachers always talk about how there's no tired like September tired. Well, I now know there's no tired like September tired when you're dealing with school and covid and then you get to spend evenings at the hospital! ugh

The procedure went very well though and they gave him a stent in a vein that had 90% blockage. It was amazing when I saw him after the procedure. I could tell as soon as he started talking how much better he felt. We were grateful and excited about a new lease on life.

That excitement was short lived. The next Friday , one week later, he started to have a sore throat and runny nose and just generally feel terrible. I know from the workshops I've sat in at school that those are just the things to watch for. Peirce and Allen and I booked a test for Sunday morning (his birthday). We had our results by that night at 2 am. They text them to you. I was negative but Allen and Peirce were positive. Jill also got tested later that week and was negative (she lives in her own place with roommates). She had been over the Monday before for FHE.

It seems like a cruel twist of fate that he would get covid in the hospital. Who would have ever expected that?! It turned out there was an outbreak in his unit. So far his symptoms have been mild and hopefully there won't be long lasting effects. Four people in that unit have died so we are taking it quite seriously. We have been quarantining all this past week. Peirce's main symptoms are gone but still has no sense of taste or smell.

When Allen was first in the hospital my SIL, Becky, rallied a bunch of friends to bring us meals - which was really great. Our RSP subsequently organized meals for us for this past week. It seemed kind of like we should be able to cook for ourselves, but it has been nice to have these expressions of kindness while we're hold up in our house. LOL It also helps to stretch out the groceries! Allen and Peirce are spending their time on the lower two floors of the house and I'm upstairs. I get the kitchen so there's a bit of a Romeo and Juliet thing going on.....they call for me to bring food down for them often. We also have great neighbors who do runs for chips and orange juice and just keep us well stocked in treats.

I've been working from home and setting students up online when they're absent. These days, if a student is absent, it's never just one day since they have to book a test and wait for results - it's usually four days. It's been nice to be able to keep them up on their work. Last week we had some days where there were 8 kids that I was working with. Just before all this happened, my vacuum broke so I've been a little miserable about my carpets that need to be vacuumed - but Auntie Shirley saved the day and lent me her vacuum. It's amazing how a clean house makes the world a better place! Thank you Auntie Shirley!

Allen and Peirce bust out of quarantine on Tuesday as long as they're symptom free, which I'm pretty sure they will be (and as long as not being able to smell or taste doesn't count). The rule for isolating is 10 days from the onset of symptoms for anyone that tests positive. I'm stuck here until Sunday because if you test positive, you have to isolate 14 days from the time you had contact with a positive case. I'm trying to make the best of it and looking at this as a great chance to read more and putter around my house....and sleep. I've been getting LOTS of sleep!

In the end, we're sure glad this happened AFTER Allen had his procedure. If he was living on 10% blood flow and a damaged heart his might be a whole different story.

Bentley gets to hang out with the boys downstairs.

When they did the angiogram, they went in through Allen's wrist. He had quite the bruise!

I think he's trying to turn my phone off here. LOL This was one of the trips to emergency.

Oh Frank

 This is hard for me to write. My heart is broken. 

On Friday, I had driven out to Chestermere, Langdon and Strathmore to deliver some certificates to seminary teachers. On the way back, my car was overheating. I pulled over on the highway and called Allen. He came to help me and while that was happening, Frank got out of the car. He ran on the highway. Cars were swerving and trying to miss him, but he got hit. It was the most awful thing to see and I cannot get it out of my mind. The people who hit him stopped, stunned. They apologized. We knew it wasn't their fault and told them so. Allen ran over and picked Frank up. We rushed to a vet's office. Allen held him and begged him to hang on, but he didn't make it and died in Allen's arms. 

I have so much guilt. I should have taken Allen's car out there.

I should have known he would bring Frank with him and helped manage him.

I should have been able to catch him.

I should have....

I should have....

I should have....

We called Jill and asked her to come over. We went and got Peirce at work and told him. Jill and her boyfriend, Adrian, took Peirce home and I took Frank to the vet's office. 

When we all got home we sat in Peirce's room and cried. Chico came in and was uncharacteristically affectionate. I think he knew and wanted to comfort us in our sadness. Adrian cooked some food and we looked at pictures and cried. There was a lot of crying. Jill suggested we have a family prayer and thanked Heavenly Father for the time we had with Frank and for the comfort in knowing we know where Frank is and that Jesus has felt all this pain before as well. 

I don't know if I will ever get over seeing everything happen. It will always hurt my heart. My friend Lauri Bell sent me a message and I said to her that I wondered how long this would hurt so much. She said:

I like this quote by Rose Kennedy:

"It has been said, 'time heals all wounds. ' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens, but it is never gone."

I believe that is true. 

My friend, Lori T, said that the pain is part of the result of loving so much. We sure did love Frank. I can hear Allen sobbing now and then and Peirce stays in his room and it all just breaks my heart. 

We will always remember Frank so fondly. He was the happiest dog. He brought happiness to us and this all shouldn't have happened. Somehow, we will go on but we will never forget.

This is what Peirce wrote:

rescued me the day I brought you home wrapped up in your blanket. I never knew how empty my life was until you arrived. You were my most precious gift, so loving, so kind, so gentle, so full of joy. My best friend, my family, my heart, my soul.

He would nip my ankles when he was a puppy as I walked about, listened to me while I vented, held secrets I would not share with another living soul, and he loved me despite my faults and imperfections, without condition or expectation of anything in return — except for my love. He held my heart. I’ve never met a dog that was so happy and outgoing, and people noticed that about him too.

It's hard to come home knowing a wiggly dog won't greet you at the door, but I also have a sense that there's a bit of a wagging tail within myself, in his memory at the same time. His selfless, glowing spirit is captured in the hands of every human who pet him, and I am beyond lucky to be a part of his fan base. He taught me the essence of freedom from the very moment he came into my life. He taught me how to feel sovereign while even controlled at the end of a leash, how to let my ears flap in the wind, and how to live like every car trip to the vet was a drive up to the mountains. With those guidances in mind, how could I not think to myself "What a wonderful world?", and what a wonderful dog.

I would do anything to take you longboarding or hiking one more time. No one expected it so suddenly and so soon. For almost two years, you made my life so much better. Your massive paws on your tiny body were so cute. Then you grew into your paws and became the biggest baby ever.

I love you and I will never stop wishing we had more time. You were everything and more.

I love you, frank

 

Tiring Work

 Today Peirce did a one-time project with a couple friends. They had to unload this container full of HUNDREDS of tires and stack them in a warehouse. 

Sorting. Right up Peirce's alley!

Summer Hikes

This summer Jill and Peirce have been doing a lot of hiking. They have found some beautiful places!

 I love that they love to have fun together.

Week Day Hikes

Jill and Peirce are doing a good job of taking advantage of the summer weather. Today, Peirce was off and Jill didn't work until later in the day so they decided to get up early and head out to Kanaskis. It was a great way to spend a morning!!

Still Celebrating!

Tonight Peirce had another grad party. They called it Grad Stampede....a special grad party since the main event got cancelled, with a twinge of Stampede fun since it also got cancelled!

Diploma Pick Up Day

Everything has been so strange this year. Today Peirce was supposed to go to his school and they gave him a gift bag full of things like his diploma, a grad cap and tassle, a water bottle and a few other things. 

Over and out Abe!

Sunday Hammocks

This is becoming a fun weekly tradition. Relaxing and beautiful!

Drive Thru Grad

I kind of thought this was a hokey idea. It turned out to be quite a lot of fun!

The drive-thru grad was at the stampede grounds. We tuned into the event on the radio, like you do at a drive-in movie. The MC was a comedian and really did a great job. It wasn't an easy job either! Part way through it started to storm. It didn't last too long, but we had to wait 30 minutes after the last lightening strike so she got to just entertain us during that time. Not an easy job! 

Getting cued up to enter the Stampede grounds.

First stop was the photo booths

Great shoes!

Once we approached the stage the graduate and one more person could get out. Jill got assigned to run back and forth across the front of the stage to take some action shots.

Big screens!

After Peirce crossed we watched the others cross and then there was a bit of a program.

When you're so close to Village how can you not stop there?!

Then of course, pictures on Crescent Road

After, we went out for dinner to Model Milk. Everything was amazing! 

Sophie and Peirce were the guests of honor. We were happy Adrian could join us too!

That evening there were food trucks at the park near the school and a friend of Peirce's had a party. 

It was a super fun day and we're so proud of Peirce!