Summer Part 2 with photos

 Our summer is flying by.  We didn't make a summer vibes list like we did last year but we've basically done all the summer things we would hope to do.  I usually spurge in the summer and get the girls random popsicles to try.  They had never tried fudge bars before (my bad) and love to open the freezer and see what new popsicle I have decided they should try.  Our favorite summer treat this year has been homemade frosted lemonade.  

We really don't have much time left.  Usually the schools here start somewhere around the 12th of August but this year it is starting a week later.  We have already gotten a new backpack for Lissy, new shoes, and a few items of clothing.  Piper is the only one that needed school supplies so she and I went and got those as well as a new backpack.  She was using Isaac's backpack that he had for a few years.  She decided that his backpack was her exact vibe so when he left she swiped it.  She didn't even care that it was a little worse for wear and made it her own.  By the end of last year though it had seen its final days so she purchased a new one this year--black or navy?  that was a hard choice for her.  We also got her a few items of clothing.  It's interesting to see how their styles evolve.  Felicity has been hanging out with her friend Savanna all summer who is 11.  Savanna has a middle schooler's style and so Felicity is gradually morphing into a more mature 9 year old style, which I don't exactly love.  I actually really like Savanna, she is a kind, good girl, but yesterday Felicity hung out with the twins down the street who are also 11 but much less mature and I was happy to see them playing dolls instead of coming up with transitions for their videos.  The twins are not as nice as Savanna but they like participating in things that are more appropriate for Felicity's age.  

I mentioned in the last post that it's been a rough patch for Eli.  The last month in particular has been emotionally charged and full of uncertainty.  I'm not going to go into the long story but basically, a large boney growth, or benign tumor, was found in his nasal cavity.  Surgery was scheduled quickly and discussions with the stake president and medical team at the MTC led to Eli having the surgery on Monday but still starting home MTC on Wednesday.  Surgery went smoothly and and the surgeon is expecting no scar tissue and no further problems.  Recovery has been tough.  I'm not sure what recovery for this is normally like but Eli is really miserable.  Wednesday was the worst day and home MTC was really hard for him.  I ended up taking him to the ENT (his girlfriend's dad) and he said that Eli had too much packing in his nose so he took the packing out and after that, blood finally started to flow.  Until then, he hadn't bled much but he was also had terrible swelling, making his eye swollen shut and crazy pressure behind his eye.  Yesterday, Thursday, was better and I really thought maybe he was starting to recover but he texted me last night from his room, late, with a fever of 101.2.  He's had a fever since the surgery but last night was the highest its been.  I haven't seen him yet this morning but I'm hoping he is a little better and that we see rapid improvement.  

And because my body seems to always want to claim attention, I found out yesterday morning that I need a root canal today.  After Eli's surgery I mentioned to Mike that my jaw was a little sore and that my gum might be a little swollen.  I had a routine dentist appointment scheduled for next Thursday but the dentist called yesterday and said they had a cancelation and would I like to come in in 45 mins?  So, I went, mentioned the tender spot and suddenly I am getting a root canal.  The endodontist called as soon as I got home and said they could get me in this morning.  I guess it's all a tender mercy because I didn't realize my tooth was so bad and had the pain gotten worse, we might have been on our way to Utah or even worse, having the root canal the same week Piper was getting her oral surgery done.

Which, leads me to the other thing happening this month.  Piper has a tooth that fell out over a year ago and the permanent tooth never came in.  It's roots are now almost fully developed so it's not going to come down on it's own.  The oral surgeon will go in and put a bracket on it and then it will be pulled down gently each month until it's in place.  Unfortunately, her 12 year old molars also haven't come in.  I told the dentist, and orthodontist, that molars coming in slow is normal for our family but after looking at her scans it seems like her molars aren't ever going to come in on their own because her wisdom teeth are coming in at odd angles, blocking her molars.  One wisdom tooth is actually directly on top of the molar.  So, poor girl has to have all four wisdom teeth removed and that stubborn tooth brought down. She's really nervous about it and I'm nervous about the amount of school she is missing right away.  She (and Lissy) will miss a day of school to get tested for a learning disability plus if we all go to Utah to take Eli, then her oral surgery and finally, she has a bunch of warts that need to be removed.  I'm assuming it will be difficult for her to walk for a few days so I'm not sure if she will miss more for that as well.  

I guess we are all kind of a mess right now.  My best attempts to take care of issues my children have in a timely manner haven't worked great.  I had hoped to get it all done over the summer and definitely did not think we would be getting a tumor removed right when Eli was starting his MTC.  It feels like we are all needing to learn how to roll with things even when our best efforts blow up in our faces.  We are resilient and this will all pass.

Finally, while we do have a lot of things to deal with right now, it isn't all bad.  We will have a farewell gathering on the 15th for Eli.  It will be his p-day and we will have people over to say goodbye with root beer floats.  Then, he has his farewell talk the next day.  Soon after that we get to celebrate Mike getting promoted to Colonel and we will have a small gathering for that as well.  It's not a normal thing to celebrate promotions publicly with parties, I think, but it is normal, and expected, in the military.  And then, last but not least, Isaac will come home.  So, we have a lot of moving parts this month but we also have some opportunities to celebrate.