Phew . . that's over with . . .

I'll start by saying that I forgot to take my camera with us to Montana, so no Christmas pictures. . I'll have to see if Grandma has some pictures to share.
We drove up to Idaho Falls on Tuesday afternoon, staying the night at a hotel. We took Oreo with us and he was so good. It was odd though, being trapped in room all together with no where to go. It was actually great family time. I took refuge in the hotel hot tub, which I had to myself. . Loved it.
We made it to Montana in the early afternoon of Christmas Eve. In the Mohn household Christmas Eve is the big family gathering event where everyone gathers for the opening of gifts to eachother. We are blessed to receive an abundance of gifts from Grandma and Grandpa (Wayne's folks), which this year was the main gifts we received as a family as with our situation of my unemployment. We stayed in Montana until Sunday morning. The kids went sledding on Saturday up Skalkaho and had tons of fun. Wayne and I did not go as I was still dealing with a great amount of pain from my latest surgery (Fissure repair).
We are getting together with friends for New Year's Eve. We have never really done anything before, usually sit around until about 10pm watching the broadcasts from across the country and call it an early night.
Brendan is really loving his new Pre-School and starts Basketball on Monday at the Legacy Center. It is really hard at this point to think of putting him back into daycare and going back to work. We have both really enjoyed this time off together. Oh well, things will work out how they should.
I have not had very many more headaches lately - yeah medication and rest. I still have very little energy but trying to be more active.
May your New Years be as great as I hope for mine to be! I am hoping mine will be full of great health, employment and great family memories!

Real Quick

It's been a while, Yes, I know. Kids are all doing well. We are heading to Montana for Christmas on Tuesday for a few days.
I think this is the most sparse that our Christmas tree has ever been, but gratefully, the kids don't care! They are just estatic that we are going to Grandma's house!

Birthdays

Both Wayne and Michael celebrated their birthdays on November 11. Michael received some money in place of presents and decided to purchase a Nintendo DS and a Mario Game. He just loves it! Wayne got a hat and t-shirt and his painted house.
My mom, Laurel White, had her birthday yesterday. She was recovering from a tooth removal and spent the "drooling on her pillow." Brendan has started PreSchool at the Lehi Legacy Center and just loves it. He is going twice a week for 2 hours a day.
The weather is getting cooler and just about all the leaves are off the trees. As I was not feeling well on Saturday the neighbors came and raked the whole yard and made a huge pile of leaves (which I have resisted jumping in for 4 days now).
I went to the doctor yesterday and we are changing my medication again. It seems as if my last medication was causing the headaches so that I was having one a day. I will be on straight steroids for the next week then on some new meds. I will also be having an MRI on Tues (11/18) to check for small clots in my brain. They believe I may have a condition that is allowing unpurified blood to pass into my head from my heart. UPDATE . . NOTHING WAS SEEN ON MY MRI TO INDICATE ANY PROBLEMS. IT DID SHOW A BAD SINUS INFECTION, WHICH WAS THE SOURCE OF MY THREE-DAY HEAD PRESSURE/HEADACHE. STEROIDS CLEARED THAT UP.
Only two weeks until Thanksgiving!

Longer than before . . . .

Wayne's mom (Glenda Mohn) and sister (Kila Breault) came down last week and helped us paint the house for Wayne's and my birthday presents. It went from Pink and chipping to a great brown.

House prior to new windows and painting.

Pictures of house now -

Since purchasing the house we have put in a new railing, new door, new windows, and of course painted.



We also celebrated Brendan's 5th birthday. He went to Chuck-E-Cheese. He got lots of great toys.


It has been a while since I last blogged. I have been having a few more migraines and trying to rest.

New favorite time of year . . .

Spring had always been my favorite time of year - but now, I think I like Fall better. A few cool days, a few warm days, still some flowers blooming but now to the background of coloring hills.
As you can see from the photos, Brendan is loving his football classes. He thinks he is such hot stuff - of course he is and I encourage that I am sure. He is learning to kick off the little tee-thingie, throw the ball into the air to get points, catching, learning the terms of the game and getting two laffy taffy candies at the end.



In this one he is the quarterback, after coming up with the ball you can see the coach has to give him a shove in the correct position. Even after being shoved, he still turned around the other way and ran behind his team. Just goes to show that he has Aussie Rules in his blood - so much for those yankee rules!
My health - I can tell a diference now with my new medications. I am not near as tired and do not have near the headaches. I have had one headache in the last two weeks! I actually have a little bit of energy, which I overuse and burn off fast leaving me tired again but I am learning my new limits.

He's acing his classes!

As you may know Michael has had some difficulties in his classes with getting work done and being motivated to make it through the day. This year is his first year with a male teacher, Mr. B. We reviewed his grades last night and he was so proud. As were we.
We made the decision for me to stay home and focus on my health. I pretty much sit in a stuper daze with the effects of the medications. I saw a new neurologist for a second opinion. Dr. Pamela Vincent in Provo. She has a great new plan for me. I am stopping the medication I have been taking since my hemiplegic migraine and I am on a new regime of medications for four weeks. I am starting to feel a difference in the way I feel. Still have no energy and bloated. One of the side effects of the old medicine was weight gain - - lovely.
I enrolled Brendan in Itty Bitty Football that starts next week. He is really excited and carries around a football.
Afton is doing well in school but a bit frustrated that Michael's grades are better than hers.
Wayne is taking on a little more to make up for my loss of income. Another shift or two and tracking another boy who will be released from the boy's home. Which means that the boy will be living on his own and will have to call Wayne to check in several times a day.

Been a while. . .

Well, I went back to work on September 11th. I am working for Farmers Insurance Litigation division in Salt Lake. First few days were great, getting to know everyone and my job . . . then the migraines kicked in again. I have never felt so absolutely horrible in my life. I couldn't call in sick . . how could I? I think the best way to explain how I looked is a drug addict that was coming off a high and in need of a boost. (I only know addiction from what I see on "Intervention" so that's to what I refer.) I ended the week without a headache, but taking it easy and not doing much to avoid getting another migraine.
The kids are doing great in school. We have always provided lunch money for the kids to eat a hot lunch at school, but dang, that crap is expensive! Ok, not if you think that they get a hot meal for $1.50, but that adds up and I think that PB&J will become the lunch of choice for a while.
I am glad the weather is cooling down. The leaves are starting to change on the sides of the mountains, which is great. We will be having our house painted this next week which will change our house from pink to tan/brown.
Brendan is looking forward to his birthday next month and is eagerly deciding on a final decision for his present.