We also enjoyed a whole week's visit from my Mom. It was such a treat. Considering the hardship we had been facing with Grant the past two months, I wondered if we should cancel our yearly pre- Christmas get together. I wasn't entirely in the mood for shopping or baking. In fact, Grant's behavior had gone from bad to worse and Blake and I were distressed to say the least. But thankfully, during Mom's visit, we were able to get in to see our friend who is a Developmental Behavioral Pediatrician and he along with a team of specialists evaluated Grant and helped us with medication management and therapeutic tools to implement. The past two months have been something else.... I don't know that I've faced anything quite like it! But we are feeling hopeful now. We are making progress. Grant is working so hard to overcome his struggles and we are so overwhelmingly grateful that he was able to get professional help. Tomorrow I meet with the team at school to decide about evaluation for special services and/or accommodations. Grant's struggles have been so much on my mind that there has been little room for anything else. But with my Mom in town, I felt a little distracted and we were able to accomplish a ton of Christmas preparation! We enjoyed shopping, baking, Christmas lights, packaging neighbor gifts, attending a beautiful OCMCO Christmas concert, making gingerbread houses, having a grinch party! Complete with movie-watching, Grinch treats and Grinch music! Grammy made us a yummy Thanksgiving feast! We created a donut wall, we baked cookies and wrote christmas cards for light the world! We went through our closets and donated clothes and toys! We really and truly enjoyed our time together and felt very blessed to have such a fun distraction amidst a challenging time.
In other news, we sure enjoyed our week off of school! I must admit, in the old days, I would plan each day out and no one had any choice but to fall in line and go about my daily schedule. Now that the kids are older, I grieve that schedule! Everyone has such a strong opinion! Kids want to be with friends, or they want to do this or that! They aren't along for the ride necessarily anymore! It's been a change to say the least. But we managed to find things that would suit everyone in our little tribe. First and foremost! CHRISTMAS decorating! I needed all hands on deck for this and I was so grateful to all the kids for their help. We made cookies, listened to music and sang songs whilst we put up the trees, the nativity scenes and sprinkled christmas decor throughout every room. It literally took an entire day. Heaven help me when it's time to take it down:( We hosted such a fun Friendsgiving night! LOVED this evening of good food and good friends together playing sports, talking, eating and having fun together. We visited Old Town to dip candles and pick out old fashioned candy and visit the train station. We hosted a sleepover for the young men of our ward that turned into a party for our whole family. Dane, Grant, Anna and Evelyn all enjoyed playing sports, swimming, roasting marshmallows and hanging out with your awesome group of young men. When it came time for their "campout" of course no one wanted to go sleep outside so I found 20 young men asleep in every nook and cranny of our house. It was a fun night! Blake took the kids to the movies one night while Evelyn and I had a special night downtown seeing Wicked with Amy and Jocelyn! LOVED THIS night so much. We really had a great time. Such talent! Such awesome music! And in-n-out to start it all off. What more could a group of girls ask for?
At the beginning of the week, Grandma came down to watch the kids so Blake and I could go to Las Vegas for the weekend! We were not sure it would really happen until the last moment because of Grant's issues with separation. But the kids worked together with Grandma to help Grant feel safe and ok with our leaving. I don't know that I've ever been more grateful to Nancy or to my own kids for their sacrifices and their love for Grant. I really so desperately wanted to go on this trip with Blake - just for the weekend! It was something I needed! But I also knew that we couldn't leave Grant unless he was stable. So, I felt SO SO grateful to Grandma and the kids for being willing to struggle through a hard time to make it happen for us. And it was just such a great little vacation. I slept, read, worked on projects, ate out, went to the movies, talked with Blake for hours. We loved every minute! While we were gone, the kids and Grandma replanted my front porch succulents that had died and made it all look so beautiful again. SO thankful! They went to the movies, to Boomers, out to eat, to church! They had a blast.
Thanksgiving Day was a special treat this year! Grandma and Grandpa hosted dinner and it was beyond delicious! Beautiful table settings, delicious turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, creamed corn, salad, stuffing and rolls! Stacy brought a special dessert in honor of Evelyn's birthday and we all stuffed ourselves silly with apple and pumpkin pie! We played a few fun games, watched football, and called Geraldine! We relaxed and enjoyed each other's company. We missed Stacy and Troy, but felt so very grateful to be together as a family!
I already reported a little on Grant and Evelyn, so I'll just say here that Grant also performed in Beauty and The Beast. Grant was cast as Maurice (Bell's father). He memorized his lines and learned his part thoroughly. He was so cute, despite the fact that he really was struggling with life in general during the time period of the play. We were certainly proud of him for pushing through. Grant finished his football season and made it to the highest level of playoffs. He's had such an awesome team and been such a great player. He loves football and keeps trying to talk us into tackle football. No way that's happening!!!! This month Grant made out like a bandit! In our attempts to help him go to school, he earned a fun day at Legoland with dad! He also spent the day at the Wild Safari Park with Grandma! Overkill? Maybe! But we were desperate! Grant played in a few tournaments along with Dane this past month and they both were outstanding. So proud of their efforts at the close of their soccer season! Grant sacred a hat trick on the last game of his tourney and Dane won 2nd place on his team for MVP. He was hoping for 1st, but he'll take second any day! Coach Conner had some awesome things to say about Dane in his coaching report. I'm so proud of that kid.... I tell you. He is so responsible with his homework and grades. He checks them weekly to make sure he's staying on top of things. This past week he wrote a short story for English and really put his whole heart and soul into it! Grandma sent us a story Blake had written around the same age and we laughed our heads off. School is very important to Dane. He was heartsick to miss last week for an endoscopy to check out his esophagus (related to his sore throats). Unfortunately, it bruised his throat badly and he's had a heck of a week recovering:( Poor guy has to go through life with a sore throat and we've tried EVERYTHING but are not finding the answers. I told him I wouldn't give up. Even though this last procedure didn't provide the answers, we'll keep moving on to figure it out! A highlight of the month for Dane was his trip to the LA Collaseum to see USC verses Notre Dame with Grandma and Dad and Braxton. Grant was supposed to go but had strep throat! The day was so special for Dane. He loved every moment and decided for his birthday he doesn't want any gifts. He just wants to go to another game! SO cute.
A highlight for me this month was going on the Ellen's 12 days of giveaway show!!!!!!!! Heather and I had a blast and could not believe our luck when Lin Manual Miranda was the guest!!!!!!!!! Too good to be true! And we won 2 round trip tickets anywhere in the US, 2 night 3 day stay in Las Vegas, $500 gift card to Top Golf, $300 gift card to Stub Hub and other little gifts as well.
