~CTR - Choose the Right

I gave Noah a CTR ring for Christmas and he has faithfully worn it every day since. At the first of the year all the kids in his CTR 5 class got rings. He told them he already had one and didn't need another. A week later Noah was the only one still wearing his.

Noah's dr. asked if he was wearing a special ring and he said, "yes, that's my CTR ring. It means Choose the Right." She just smiled and said, "oh."

Adam and I have been Noah's primary teachers for the past month and a half. Last week we had 10 kids in our class. It was great! I loved being primary president, but there's nothing like being hands-on every week. I know some people like to have a break from their kids and they refuse to teach primary because they have their kids all week at home. I feel blessed that I get to see Noah learn and grow in the gospel, even if it's only for a short moment.

I love my calling!

WARNING! This is a very long post, but interesting

This is Verdene. She is 82 years old, (I think). For the past two months I have been taking care of her. Actually we've been her live-in care and company.

The week after we moved in she got shingles on her head and left side of her face. She was in terrible pain, crying in the night and really needing some Divine help. (Thank goodness for the priesthood. In a few days time Adam had given her several blessings.) After going to urgent care and getting some good drugs a few days later I noticed that the left side of her face was drooping. Her eye wasn't closing all the way and when she smiled the left side of her mouth didn't move. I thought she had a stroke. STRESS! I called her family and they immediately took her in. She spent the night in the hospital while the dr.'s ran lots of tests. The results were that she did not have a stroke, but it was nerve damage from the shingles. More medication and eye drops every half hour to keep the bad eye moist. At this point I was giving Verdene medication 5 times a day. Basically I was providing 24 hour care.

That same week, she walked into the living room and I noticed blood on her hand and what looked like flesh under her fingernails. Worried, I asked where the blood came from. She said that her leg hurt. So with permission I lifted her pant leg and found that she had scratched a 4 inch long, 2 inch wide, hole in her leg. Basically it looked like hamburger, no skin left at all. I cleaned up the blood and the wound as well as I could. I had her clean up her nails and the blood on her hand and then I called her family. Another trip to urgent care. More medication. Now I also needed to put ointment on her leg twice a day and keep it bandaged. Verdene had been to the dr./urgent care/hospital, 4 times in one week (or something pretty close to that). Poor lady.

During this same time Noah got sick with two infected lymph nodes and a severe ear infection. I bet no one knew that I was a nurse in my spare time (although I didn't have any spare time at this point). So I was also giving Noah medication too!

Verdene has gotten better and after Noah being on antibiotics for 20 days (the first dose didn't work) he's better too. But, our time has ended with Verdene and she is moving in with her daughter. She's having a hard time, thinking of leaving the house she's lived in for 46 years. Lots of tears and reminiscing, but I hope she'll be okay. She's a very sweet lady.

Where are we going? Well, I think we're going to stay at Jeremy's (my brothers) for the next few months. Yes, besides becoming snowbirds (don't be a hater), we are also nomads :) It's not something I'm proud of, but I'm hopeful that consistency will finally come when we get back to Alaska.

The past two months have been weird and I've lost touch with most of the outside world. (I still love all my friends and family. I haven't forgotten you). Being with Verdene has reminded me of how much I miss my grandma. She died two years ago, Feb. 12th. Sometimes it hits me so hard I find little tears rolling down my cheek. Thank goodness I know I'll see her again.