Bryndee did it!

Bryndee made JV cheer at the high school. Yes I did say high school, my little girl will be going to high school next year. Am I really that old? She has been working really hard and her hard work paid off. Only 2 freshmen were put on the JV team and Bryndee was one of them. I have mixed feelings about this new phase in our lives. I am excited for her and the new experiences she will have, but yet I am going to have to let her go out on her own more. Not to mention how busy this will make her and me having to drive her everywhere, but good grades are promised and we will keep her to it. Good job Bryndee we love you!

What happened to things calming down?

I should have never opened my mouth and said " Now let things slow down so we could live a normal life". That simple phrase caused havoc on our family. About 2 weeks after my surgery, I started feeling really good. In fact I sent Ron with Kymber and Porter to Safford to help his mom with some things around her house. On Saturday April 13 I woke up feeling kinda weird. As the morning went on I started to get really uncomfortable on my right side. I thought I must have over did it the day before. But the feeling became painful. There was no relief to the pain I was having. I called Tara and asked her to come over and help with the kids, and called Cherai and had her take me to the hospital, and called Ron and asked him to come home. Four painful hours later they finally gave me drugs through an IV and did a CT scan and discovered a very large Kidney Stone that was stuck right above my bladder. The hospital I went to did not have the right kind of DR. to treat me so I had to take an ambulance to Banner Desert. Once I reached the hospital, and they saw the size of the stone they determined that I needed surgery to remove it. So on Sunday April 14 I went under again to remove the stone. The Dr decided I needed a stint ran up to my Kidney to help me pass any other stones that might be lingering. Honestly the stint was the worst part of the whole ordeal. I can feel right where it is at, and it is not very comfortable. I get to go in today and have it removed. Happy Day. Once again I am so grateful for wonderful people in my life. Thanks Rosalie for dropping everything and coming here to help with the kids. Sorry you got sick while you were here, I hope you are feeling better. And like before thanks to Tara who is always willing to step in and be my kids 2nd mom. We are so lucky to have you so close by. And thanks to wonderful friends and neighbors and family who kept me in their prayers, wasted their Saturday morning to come and give me a blessing, and kept my family fed. Sorry 9 is a lot to feed. I am very anxious to start feeling better and get my energy back. This whole ordeal really taught me to appreciate my health. Even though we are not sure what caused this, I am very aware of what I put in my mouth. Hopefully my family and I can make an effort to become healthier. We will see. :)

What a wild few weeks we have had!

The last month for my family has been crazy! I don't even know where to start, I guess from the beginning so here we go...I told you about our trip to California and Disneyland and we had a wonderful time. We were supposed to come home to a relaxing spring break, a week to get caught up on missed homework and hanging out with friends. No such luck. On March 19, 2008 we were surprised to hear that my nephew James got married. He married his love, Tabathia. We knew they were getting married but were not sure when. We are excited for him and his new adventures in life. Tabathia had a little girl from a previous marriage and now James is a daddy. We are already enjoying the stories of James' adventures as a daddy. We are all anxiously awaiting the time we get to meet the two newest members in our family. Welcome Tabathia and Olivia.

James and Tabitha March 19, 2008

On that same day we got a call in the evening that Grandma had died. It was bittersweet news. We will miss Grandma dearly, but are so happy to know where she is and that she is with Grandpa again. I am so grateful for our Heavenly Father's Plan, it is truly a plan of happiness!

Grandma on her birthday!

During our spring break all of my family except Ron caught a terrible virus. It was the one that gave you a terrible sore throat, and an awful cough. If you came into my house all you would hear is coughing in a chorus. It actually became quite funny to listen to it. Ron and I would wake up to one of the kids coughing and we knew exactly which one it was. We can tell their coughs better than we can tell their voices on the telephone. Grandma's funeral was going to be here in AZ so most of our family had to travel and have a place to stay. Cassie stayed with her sister-in-law, Leslie stayed with her mother-in-law, and Mom, Dad, and Stacey stayed with me. They were brave to come to a house with so much coughing and so many fevers going on. I was quite nervous for them to come to my little house with my large family, but everything worked out. Thanks to Bryndee, Porter, and Ellie who gave up their rooms and beds to accommodate everyone. On March 26, 2008 we had Grandma's funeral. It was wonderful. Because Grandpa's body was never found, we never had a funeral for him. Grandma's wish was to have a memorial service for Grandpa at her funeral. It was such a nice service. Grandma and Grandpa had 3 kids, and 12 grand kids. At the funeral all kids and their spouses and all grand kids were there. We were trying to remember a time when all the grand kids were together and I don't think anyone could come up with a date. After the funeral, we went back to my house for a luncheon for all the family. We really enjoyed catching up on everyone and their family and their lives. What a wonderful family reunion we had in honor of Grandma and Grandpa. That night all my sisters and Bryndee got together and played cards till late in the night. We had a really good time together again. The next morning everyone would be traveling back to their homes so they could be back on the road Friday this time to Colorado to be with Leslie's son Jake to go through the Temple and to be at his farewell. Jake has been called to serve in the West Indes Trinidad & Tobago French speaking mission.

The LaRue girls (Cassie, Stacey, Tara, Andrea, and Leslie)

After the funeral and before the luncheon, I had to take Taralee into the doctor's office. Her coughing was still very deep and she had been on breathing treatments since California. She would wake up choking at times because of the flem she had. Taralee was going to accompany me to Colorado and our flight was scheduled for Friday morning at 6:30 am, hence the reason for concern. Taralee's breathing was OK just alot of flem, but what we didn't realize was she had a double ear infection. Because of the pressure on the ears caused by flying and the fact that I was still sick (I had also gone to the DR and got a heavy duty antibiotic for a sinus infection and an inhaler to help with my breathing), Ron and I felt it was better for Taralee and I to stay home. It was a hard decision to make, but in the long run I believe it was the right one.

Jake at the Denver Colorado Temple - What a terrific missionary he will make!

My family said Jake's farewell was wonderful. He is already a missionary, by inviting at least 20 of his friends that are not of our faith to hear his talk. I was told the spirit was very strong and he did a wonderful job. I am sad I did not get to be there with him. Sunday after the farewell my Mom and Tara took a flight back to AZ (my Mom lives in Utah) so my mom could be here to help out my family while I was in the hospital. On Tues. April 1, 2008 I was in the hospital to have a hysterectomy. Luckily the antibiotic helped out and I was well enough to have the surgery. Everything went well and I was in my room starting to recover by 1:30 pm. At 2:30 pm Ron had to leave me at the hospital and have a MRI done on his head. He had been having terrible migraines for 3 weeks. The Dr wanted to make sure there was nothing developing on his brain. We got the results and everything is clear. The Dr said his migraines were a cluster kind of headache and they would go away soon. I am happy to say that they have gone away. The only problem is we don't know if and when they will come back, and what causes them. I came home from the hospital on Thurs to a spotless house and a tired Mother. My mom has never experienced Ellie before and was a little nervous after the nail polish incident. She got a lesson in Ellie 101 and passed with no major incidents. She even had time and energy to give Torie a perm. It looks wonderful! Thanks Mom for being here to help Ron and I really appreciate it.

Torie happy to get a perm from grandma!

Saturday and Sunday April 5 and 6 was General Conference. What a wonderful Conference it was! I was proud of my kids they were pretty good at watching all 4 sessions. Porter got to experience the Priesthood session. At first he was a little sad when he realized he had to watch to 5 sessions and the girls only had to watch 4. But after it was over he told me he loved it and can't wait till Oct. Maybe it is because he gets to go out to dinner after with just him and Dad. During the Sunday afternoon session, Tara was playing with Taralee and discovered she has her first very sharp little tooth. She is such a good baby she never complained while it was cutting through. This now brings us to this week. I was a little nervous having my Mom gone and Ron and Tara gone to work and the kids all at school. This left me at home with Ellie and Taralee. I am not suppose to pick up anything, or do anything. I was not too worried about Ellie, all I needed to do was lock all the doors in the house and she was confined to the family room and her bedroom, not too much damage could be done in these rooms. I was concerned with Taralee, and her needing to be picked up to be put her in her bed, and being held while feeding her. But thanks to a neat little travel bed I found everything went alright. This bed is basically a little box that has a mattress in it. It can be put on the ground so I can just drag her blanket over to the bed and lift her in while still in a sitting position. As far as feeding her I drag her blanket over to the couch, sit down and lift her up to my lap. It has all worked out great!

Taralee in her "box"

I am recovering pretty well from my surgery. The hardest part is not doing anything. But I am told by many people that if I will be careful in the first couple weeks the recovery is much better. I am also told that after all is said and done I will be surprised at how lousy I felt before. I have to say I have wonderful family and friends. I received many visits in the hospital with cards and flowers, numerous dinners brought into our home, wonderful friends that take my kids so I can lay down, and a wonderful Mom, Sister, and Husband that have picked up all the slack I have left behind. Thanks so much I love you all. Now please let things slow down so we can live a normal life (if you can call the Derricks normal).

Did they peg me or what?

If you can't read the caption it reads: Seven children...and one demented adult!!!!!!