Time for an Update

The blog was getting boring so I decided it was time for an update.

School has started for everybody, including college-age students.  I walked across campus the other day just to see if I saw anything amusing. I ought to take photos of girls that wear skin-tight leggings with no long shirt and then post the pictures on FB and say, "Girl-- go home and put on some clothes." I saw quite a few of those and they were not a pretty sight to behold. However, I did find things that amused or pleased me.

Bikes -- so many bikes on campus!

How about this shirt? It wasn't even 9/11. This guy was about a foot taller than anybody else so he really stuck out.

 Class break - students coming out of the religion building. There are a lot of kids on campus.

 Dance major?? And a guy holding a bright red umbrella on a nice day with no hot sun and no rain? My first thought was that maybe he is allergic to the sun. Why else would you use this?

 This is a very typical scene at BYU -- a dad or mom pushing a stroller, taking a baby to class or meeting the other parent to switch places.

 I couldn't believe what this old dude did.  The parking places for motorcycles was full but he was determined to get his scooter in there anyway so he rode up on the sidewalk amongst the students and then went off the curb to squeeze his scooter in the opposite way. And it was a warm day. He had a jacket on. He was just weird. (And probably lazy.)

Anyway, so much for the school stuff.

Life has become very busy once again in our household since Ammon is back in school. Here's what the schedule is like here:  I wake up at 5:30 every morning and get myself ready. If I have time, I make a milkshake for Ammon (his favorite is vanilla - 2 scoops of protein powder, Nutrene Jr. milk, Carnation Instant Breakfast packet and a little powder sugar). I wake him up at 6 a.m., cath him, dress him and get him in the kitchen by 6:15 to start the long process of eating. At 6:50 he has to be finished eating whether he's eaten much or not because he has to brush his teeth, wash his face and comb his hair. Then we put on his microphone and send him out the door at 7:00 a.m.  I leave with him. Jim fixes breakfast while I fix Ammon and myself a lunch. We have family prayer, read the Book of Mormon for a few minutes and we're off. We have the same schedule every day. We all drop into bed by 9:30 or 10:00 dead tired.

Ammon is trying really hard to eat. It's a laborious task for him. I catch him stopping and taking a huge breath, giving a long sigh and then he digs in again. Chewing is difficult for him and he is very, very slow. Give him enough time and he'll eat a decent amount but if we are in a hurry, then he gets very little to eat, especially in the mornings. He has more difficulty with the early hours and being really alert so it's harder for him to eat enough before he goes to school. He has definite likes and dislikes with food but I'm really proud of the effort he's putting in to try a little of everything. He eats bird-size portions. Some days at school he can't get more down than one 8 oz container of the Nutrene Jr. drink and maybe 3 crackers and cheese or a half a sandwich of butter and honey or jam before lunch time is over. I worry about it a lot. So does Jim. If we push Ammon too much, he gets upset and will push his food away and say, "Fine. I'll just starve because I don't care." But we have to push and we have to keep him alive. It's a whole new world for us. Jim keeps reminding me that Ammon's like a tiny baby that has to learn how to eat. Tonight he ate about a 1/3 cup of spaghetti (including some hamburger) and he liked it. I was proud of him. The doctor did a blood draw two weeks ago to make sure Ammon's general health was ok - everything but the protein levels looked really good. The protein levels are borderline. We have to bulk that up. He has lost two pounds since he started eating without the pic-line supplements.  We're working on it.

Ammon also had an ultrasound tonight to see why there is blood in his ureter. The radiologist noticed fluid in one kidney. We will have to wait for the doctor to let us know what he thinks is going on. Maybe it's reflux, which isn't a good sign. Maybe it's something else. One kidney looked great but they didn't see any kidney stones. I think we'll end up at PCMC to see the urologist but hopefully not. Ammon doesn't act sick so hopefully there is nothing to worry about.

Ammon is taking video production this year and he loves it. He's on his way to becoming a movie director! He is also taking Financial Literacy from his Uncle Paul. We may take him out of that class if they don't give Ammon a peer tutor. He is taking US History and seems to really like this class. He also has English which he loves this year, Seminary from Bro. Johnson (who he loves), choir which he loves and some other special ed classes.All in all, he loves school. Now if he can just keep up with the pace.

Work is crazy busy for me since we are in the throes of football. I average about 40 orders every other day plus all the other stuff I have to do. There is rarely a quiet moment right now. That is very typical of this time of year for us at work. I do get to go to Oregon in October for a 3-day conference so that will be a great break. I'm going with one of my good friends that is also in Purchasing.

Dad has been busy putting up a trellis of sorts to tie up three grape vines he planted this year. He has also been a great help to me in making salsa. We've made a lot, bottled peaches from our trees and bottled raspberries. We have more tomatoes than we know what to do with. He's been giving them away.

In the bad rain storm we had last Saturday, we discovered a hole in our roof. It leaks into our kitchen at the end of the table near the glass door. It doesn't just drip - it leaks. We have hired a guy in our ward to fix it but he can only do it on Saturdays because he works full time with the National Guard. I hope it doesn't rain much more in the next few days. It's been an insane two weeks with rain in Utah!

So that's what's going on with us. Nothing very interesting or exciting.