Christmas 2012

Another fabulous Christmas at the Ashby house.

Lights at Temple Square

It has been years since we have made it to Temple Square during Christmas time.  I don't know if it was because we were there on the Saturday before Christmas or if it is always like this.  SO MANY PEOPLE!  It makes it hard to enjoy anything when you are walled in with thousands of other people.  

It was fun to go with the Sabey's and Grandma Roberts though.  We were all crazy together. :)

Recital Mania

It wouldn't be Christmas time without a whole lot of recitals. 

Whitney at her piano recital.  She did amazing as usual.

Lindsey at her tumbling recital.  She has mastered her back walk overs.  You go girl!  She wasn't feeling well and ended up with a fever later that day, but she still did a great job.

The Sabey girls take dance at the same place so we go to see them perform as well.

Cassidy at her Voice Recital.  She did a great job, even though she was sick.  

Jazz Game

We took the kids to their first Jazz game.  The kids has a blast.  Our only downfall was when Cassidy, Lindsey, Grant and I went out to get a drink, a guy started throwing up all over the floor, right behind us.  It splashed all over the back of Cassidy.  Poor Girl!  YUCK!

Ice Breakers

Aaron coached Whitney's volleyball team again this fall.  They are both having a lot of fun.  It has sparked an interest in the other kids as well.  Dad may just have his hands full coaching lots of teams soon.  Luckily they can't start until the third grade.

Happy Birthday Cassidy

If you know Cassidy at all, it won't come as a surprise that she chose to have a "Rock Star" party this year.  

 They all decorated star shaped brownies.

They decorated their own guitar and I made them their own microphone. (Glittered foam ball stuck on a dowel stick)

Karaoke and dancing.  They also watched "Barbie: Princess & the Pop Star"

Of course, flowers from Dad!

Our dear friend, Lori Richards, asked me if she could make Cassidy a birthday cake this year.  Since her party was right after we brought Grant home from the hospital, this was a huge blessing.  I am so awed by her.  This is a lot of work to decorate a cake.  What a wonderful woman.  I hope I can be more thoughtful of others and think of things that really would be helpful when they are in times of need.

Casssidy's actual birthday was while we were at the hospital.  We recruited Aunt Katie to make sure that Cassidy had a great day, even if Mom and Dad were not around.  Katie picked the girls up from school and took them back to her house for a makeover and a movie.  (Tinker Bell, Secret of the Wings)  Then I was able to meet up with Katie's family, Grandma & Grandpa Ashby and the girls at Golden Corral for a birthday dinner.  (We won't mention that I accidentally went to Chuck a Rama, so I was a little late....I had been at the hospital for three days, I was tired! :)

Thanks everyone for helping make Cassidy's birthday special!

One week later

All of the many prayers said for Grant have definitely been answered. He is doing amazingly well. If not for the visible scars, you would never know he just had surgery a week ago.

I'm still trying to keep him doing quiet things. We are coloring lots of pictures, painting, Legos, target practice, video games, movies etc. He has way more energy than I do.

For Halloween we set him up on a bench on the porch. He handed out the Halloween candy to all the kids. His sisters took a bucket around for him. This is the way to do it. :-) All the candy, no work.

I am getting more hugs from him than I used to. I was worried this would alter his personality, if anything, it has made him even sweeter and more funny. We just love this guy. We are so grateful that he is doing so well. We are also grateful for all the cards, gifts, meals and help that has been given to us. Thank You!

We are home!

Grant was released today. Now the challenge is going to be keeping an active 5 year old down. He doesn't have a lot of restrictions, just keeping his feet on the ground for the next three months. So no bike, tramp, slides, climbing on furniture etc. Wish us luck!

We brought his mattress into our room for a few nights. I'm a little paranoid still. I'm following him around ready to catch him if he falls.

The girls were really happy to see him when they got home from school. It's nice to have our whole family together again.

Thank you everyone. We couldn't have survived this without all the prayers and encouraging comments. They strengthened us when we needed it most.

BTW, This is posted by Heather, the pictures were on Aaron's phone. You can probably tell since I don't write as well as he does. :-)

A great afternoon for Grant

We have heard from many people who have said they are reading this blog. We are overwhelmed by the love and support of our friends. For those who don't know much of the story of why we are in the hospital, Grant had a series of cysts that the plastic surgeon says was the largest he has ever encountered. They spread from inside the skull near the brain up to the tip of his nose. These were benign dermoid cysts that were essentially skin cells that never quite developed right during fetal growth. They would have continued to slowly grow if not removed, which would have caused many problems. We were very blessed that one presented itself on the tip of his nose where we could detect the problem. By removing all of them, there is really no chance for any recurrence.

Well from there you know the story on this blog of the pretty extensive surgery to fix the problem and of the rough few days of recovery. As Heather mentioned In her last post, about mid day today Grant turned the corner. He is now fine managing pain with just Tylenol and Ibuprofen. His eyes, though still a bit swollen, are open and he is making up for lost time and fun.

Today we played video games, went for a wagon ride around the hospital, painted pictures, did playdough, played the piano, talked to people on the phone, shot styrofoam cups with nerf darts, and watched a movie while eating popcorn. It has been an amazing and very happy turnaround. We thank all of you for your prayers and acts of kindness. One of the many touching things we received today was a package of roughly 100 hand made cards drawn by the children in primary in our ward. Grant had a great time going through them and he felt so special that so many people are praying for him and writing emails, notes and cards.

One final thing we did at Grant's request was to draw a map of the United States, including a compass which is very important to him :), and show where the big storm is coming and talk about any of our friends who might be in the path of the storm. We remembered to pray for all of you tonight too. Please be safe.

What a difference 15 minutes can make

Grant woke up similar to yesterday. Eyes wouldn't open, he just grunted and moaned, not happy.

They took out his drain this morning. They had given him some Versed to help him get through it. He fell asleep after. I left and grabbed some lunch and brought it back to the room to eat. When I got back, his eyes were open, he was laughing, talking, joking and shooting darts with dad. Our friend Tiffany gave him a new dart gun. Dad was setting up cups and targets and he was having a blast. He is a completely different kid from the past few days. I've missed my Granty. It is such a relief to have him back.

Hoping to go home tomorrow.