Yes, they're really moving!

A little over a month ago my dad sent an email to Dallin and I, his Dallas area kids, with the subject line "Don't Panic Yet." Of course, I immediately panicked. Turns out, he was in Las Vegas for an airplane convention and had finished up with a day to spare before his flight back to Dallas. He stopped in at a real estate office and browsed some listings, then looked at a property.

It's a beautiful 4500 square foot 6 bedroom 5 bathroom home on the edge of the mountains. It's 200 yards from a Stake Center, and just 1 stoplight away from the Las Vegas LDS Temple. The real estate market in Las Vegas has been suffering for a while, and the asking price for the house was hundreds of thousands of dollars below its appraised value. They couldn't have asked for a better deal, and the location is simply perfect for them. He called my mom, who was in Boston helping Clark and Guinevere with Benjamin and their new baby Cassius. Together, they made the decision to make an offer for the home. Theirs was the first of several offers on the home submitted that day and the next day, and since they were first, they were accepted!

They closed on their new home the first week of October, just 3 short weeks after their offer was accepted. It's a done deal! They've listed their home in Plano for sale by owner on MLS and Craigslist, and they plan to move to Las Vegas on November 30, whether the Plano home is sold or not.

I'm still reverberating with shock!

We moved to Plano from Provo, UT in 1980 when I was 7 years old. I grew up in that house, only moving away for 3 years to go to college. When I married Chris, we moved to an apartment just 7 minutes away, and when we bought our home in Allen we were glad that it was still just a 20 minute drive from them. We've always had them nearby! I feel like a native Texan, but they never really have. They've always wanted to move back west to be closer to both sides of their family, who almost all live in Idaho, Utah, and Oregon.

They're thrilled, I can tell. They are going to be a 5 hour drive from Staci and Eric AND Lana and Porter, and they're going to love having so much room for people to come and visit. We'll have wonderful family reunions there and there's so much to do in Las Vegas and the surrounding areas. It's a fantastic financial move for them, because their home value is only going to go up, and that provides great stability.

Though I'm really happy for them, I can't put into words exactly how I feel about their move. We've celebrated together for nearly every holiday, big or small. They have been right there for every joy and every sorrow, and their support, love and presence is of immeasurable value in our lives. They are part of the heartbeat of our family, and we will miss them so much!!!. I know we will be warmly enveloped in love and hospitality when we get the chance to fly to Las Vegas every once in a while, but I will always be wistful of "the old days" when I could just drive a few minutes, pull up to my childhood home, run up the walk, and see them anytime.

I love you, Mom & Dad!

From Cub Scout to Boy Scout

It seems like just a few weeks ago that Ethan turned 8 years old and entered Cub Scouts, but time has flown!  He turned 11 on August 10th and began going to 11-year-old Boy Scouts on Wednesday nights.  Tonight was the Pack Meeting where he received his Arrow of Light and crossed over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts.  Yay!

Ethan has been such a fantastic Cub Scout.  He earned so many belt loops that they go all the way around his waist on his belt.  As a Webelo, he actually earned all 20 available badges.  That means he earned the "Webelo Super Achiever" award!  I didn't even know they gave that award, but it sure was neat to see his delight at receiving it!

As a girl, I didn't much get into scouts as a kid (lol).  So I wasn't sure about how to do the whole "scout" thing when we started, but it has proven to be an incredible experience for Ethan.  He has learned so many new skills, made lasting friendships with his fellow scouts, and he and I have had some great bonding experiences as we've worked on his achievements together.

Now that he's in Boy Scouts, almost of my responsibility to help him achieve his badges has been transferred over to his Boy Scout leaders.  I can encourage and support him, but they do all the teaching and projects.  I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I'll actually miss scouting with him!

Now, just 20 months until Tristan enters Cub Scouts.  I suppose I can wait. :)

20 Years

It's hard for me to believe, but 20 years ago today I fell off the hood of a car and my life changed forever in the blink of an eye.  

I was 16 years old.  That summer I had gotten my driver's license, started dating, and I had just returned from a trip touring Europe with my Sophomore year's Humanities class.  I was about 2 weeks into my Junior year at Plano Senior High School, so I was meeting many new friends and experiencing a brand new school.  I had a pretty heavy class load of honors and AP classes, but I wasn't worried because I'd always done pretty well in school.

The rest of the events from the evening of September 15, 1989 have been related to me by other people.  I don't remember anything at all from that entire day, nor from several weeks afteward.

A group of my friends had come to our house to carpool to the Plano football game that Friday evening.  We were talking and playing and listening to music from the car radios.  A few of us, including myself, were relaxing on the hoods of the cars.  I was leaning with my back on the windshield of a friend's car.  The girl who owned that car decided it was time to go to the game, so she got behind the wheel and started the engine.  I don't know if I was just playing around or if I didn't believe she was going to start driving, but I didn't get off hercar.  She began moving forward, and the momentum nearly knocked me sideways off the hood.  I flipped over onto my stomach and grabbed the windshield wipers.  I  think a friend in her car told her to stop because they saw me slipping, so she hit her brakes to slow down from the 10-15 miles an hour she was driving.

The stop caused me to fly off the car backwards about 15 feet.  I landed first on my heels, then my backside, then elbows, then my head hit the pavement and bounced.  When my friend James reached me after the fall, I was muttering gibberish.  He picked me up off the pavement and carried me down the street and laid me on my back in the grass in the front yard of our home.  I turned over onto my stomach and began mumbling and pulling grass from the yard and rubbing it on the back of my head.  I think this action caused enough alarm among the surprised teenagers that they decided to get my mom.

They told her that they thought I might need to go to the hospital because I was dizzy from doing cartwheels on the lawn.  I still don't know why they told her that.  I don't think anyone understood the situation at that point.  My mom put me in the car and drove me the short distance to Plano Medical Center, where they put me in a wheelchair and wheeled me into the hospital.  I was having seizures while slumped over in the wheelchair as my mom told the admissions nurse that I was dizzy from cartwheels.  That was when my friend Kara mentioned to her that my situation *could* have been caused when I fell off the hood of the car.  Needless to say, my mom was pretty upset with my friends!

I was admitted to the ICU because I was quickly slipping into a semi-comatose state, where I stayed for 3 days.  The impact from my head hitting the pavement had thrown my brain forward and caused a subdural hematoma.  My brain was bleeding, and the swelling was threatening my life.  They tried several treatments to decrease the swelling, but after 3 days it was getting pretty serious.  I would either need brain surgery to reduce the fluid, or they could try a fluid-reducing diuretic first, as a last-ditch effort.  My parents chose the diuretic, praying with all their faith that I could recover from this without undergoing traumatic brain surgery.  I was given a priesthood blessing by my dear wonderful father and then they administered the medicine.  

Within 1 hour, the swelling decreased dramatically and I came out of the coma.  It was a miracle!  Years later, I discovered from a neurologist who examined to my case that mine was  the only non-surgical recovery he's ever heard of after a brain injury like mine.  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was given a second chance at life, and that it was a result of great prayer, faith, and fasting on my behalf.

I had lost my short-term memory in the injury, and it took three weeks for it to come back.  They told me that I would look around me in puzzlement, turn to whoever was nearby, and ask "Where am I?" every few minutes.  Mom and Dad patiently told me the story of what had happened over and over again.  In all, I was in the ICU for 3 days and in the CCU for 10 days (I believe), and at least one of my parents was by my side every step of the way.  I have tiny fragments of memory from that time.  I remember several visits from friends.  I know that Mom spent her 39th birthday in the hospital with me.  I know that she was Relief Society President at the time, and had the 4 other children at home to care for, from Dallin at age 14 down to Staci, who turned 4 shortly after I came home from the hospital.  I even remember bits of time when my Daddy sat next to my hospital bed and read aloud The Scarlet Letter, which was required reading for my Honors English class.  Later, when I took the test on that book, I got 100%!

The outpouring of love and support for us was overwhelming.  I had many, many visitors while I was in the hospital.  My hospital room and bedroom at home were covered in gifts and flowers and balloons for months as I recovered.  I will always treasure the service and charity that so many provided to my family!  

It was a long, slow process of recovery, but I made it.  I am extremely fortunate that I do not have any permanent brain damage from the accident.  I did lose most of my sense of smell, and I had seizures for about 2 years.  I have struggled with physical weakness since the accident, and I will always be sensitive to extreme temperatures.  I wonder often if my infertility and metabolic issues have stemmed from the injury.  I will never know how things would have turned out had I not sat on that car, because I can't go back and change the past.  All I can do is learn from it.

The most incredible impact from the entire accident, though, is the change in my heart and mind.  I took so many things for granted before.  My parents, my siblings, my friends, my health and strength, my intelligence, my happiness, my belief in Heavenly Father and Jesus, and even my life.  I had the indestructibility of youth and naivete on my side, and I believed nothing could ever go wrong!  As I recovered, I discovered an indescribable passion for life.  I knew I had been allowed to stay here on earth to accomplish something, though I didn't know what it was.  I had a new lease on life, and I was brimming with love and overwhelmed with humility that it was granted to me.

I have carried that feeling with me ever since.  I am so grateful for the blessings in my life.  My amazing, incredible parents, who carried me through my trials for years and years and years.  My dear brothers and sisters (and brothers- and sisters-in-law), who strengthen and uplift me always.  My dear husband, who constantly supports and encourages me, and fills in the gaps when I can't always be super-Erlynne.  My gorgeous boys, who challenge and delight me every day.  My beloved friends, who give me unconditional love and acceptance and without whom I couldn't remain sane.  My Savior, whom I love with all my heart and who gave the greatest gift to all mankind, the gift of Eternal Life.

It has been the most incredible 20 years I could imagine.  Thanks for the second chance at my life, Heavenly Father!  I am honored to have the opportunity to live it!

Ethan Won The Science Fair!!!!!

We are so excited!!!  Ethan's had one of the best weeks EVER!

Being a 5th grader, he was required to enter the science fair this year.  We tossed around quite a few ideas before we settled on the perfect one for his project.  He built a roller coaster from foam pipe insulation and ran a marble through it to see if the marble would loop the loop in the coaster.  Here's a diagram of the coaster:

The question he was to answer was:  In a foam roller coaster with one loop, how high does the starting point have to be in order for the marble to loop the loop?

His hypothesis was that the starting point should be 150 cm high.  So Chris and Ethan built the roller coaster and tested the hypothesis by running the marble down the coaster 10 times for each starting point.  Turns out, that hypothesis was "not supported" because the intial height needed was only 57 cm.  

He did such a great job with the project!  We typed his lab journal and made sure we followed all the science fair rules and had plenty of information.  In fact, the display board at the end was SO PACKED we nearly didn't have room to fit everything on!  He worked on this project from November until Jan 22, when it was due.  Here's the finished display board:

The judging was today, and the judges even had Ethan come down and answer some questions about his project.  He was so nervous!  He thought he was in trouble or that he had done something wrong!

They announced the winners this afternoon a few minutes before the end of school.  They named the 3 Honorable Mentions, then went through the winners of 3rd, 2nd and 1st place.  Ethan had missed the fact that they were having a Grand Prize winner, so he was bummed that he hadn't gotten notice.  And then they called his name as Grand Prize winner of the 4th and 5th grade!  He told me he shouted and jumped out of his chair!  He said he felt a million emotions all at once, and that he didn't even have the words to describe how he felt.

Tristan has been home with strep throat for 3 days, so he was with me when I picked Ethan up from school today.  Ethan bolted to the car, threw the door open, and hollered "I WON!!!!"  Tristan and I were so delighted for him!  His 4th grade science teacher, Mrs. Fox, came to the door of my car and shared her enthusiasm and pride in him.  She said, "Someday, he's going to be a famous scientist, and he'll say, I want to thank my 4th grade science teacher!"  She's such a great lady, and she was truly thrilled for him, as are we all. :)

Not only did he have the science fair project due this week, he also competed in the 5th and 6th grade Spelling Bee as the representative for his class.  He did a great job, kept his cool, and even though he didn't win, he put in a great effort.  

Plus, he got his report card today and got straight A's for the six weeks and for the semester!

We couldn't be more pleased for him.  He's worked so hard to do his best, and the efforts he's put in to be a good student have helped him mature and grow into a fine young man.

Now, we get to find out how he does in future competitions with his project, because we're pretty sure he's going to compete at the Allen ISD level!  We'll keep you posted!