Hello everyone. Thought you might like an update on Austin. The surgery went very well. They reattached the retina on his right (working) eye. The surgeon said it had torn all around, in many spots. He also treated the left eye (his lazy eye) with a laser, because it showed signs of tearing in the future. This is not the same laser surgery that we're use to talking about. It is not a laser for vision. This laser seals the retina to the back of the (eye?) We arrived at the hospital at 6:15 am and were home by 1pm.
In order to "hold" the newly laser-sealed-retina in place, they filled his eye with a gas bubble that puts pressure on the retina (so it will stay in place.) The gas bubble makes it so he cannot see out of his eye. It also requires Austin to keep his head down at all times. He cannot look up, sleep on his back, or sit upright (with his head in an upright position) for 7 days. For example, when he's walking, he has to look at his toes. The bubble gradually disintegrates over a 3 to 6 week period. At that point, we'll have an idea of how good his vision will be. The surgeon also said his vision could continue to change (improve hopefully) for up to 9 or 10 months. He did say that the torn retina reached the macula. Devestating news. Science would say with the damaged macula, his vision has been permanently compromised.
But are we EVER surprised by what priesthood power, fasting, temple attendance, and fervent prayer can accomplish? We are so grateful for all your love, support, prayers, fasting, phone calls & emailing. We ask you to continue to remember to pray and fast for Austin's vision to return. He is an amazing young man who has always kept the commandments, served his freinds and family and lived close to the spirit. I pray the Lord will see fit to bless him with the ability to live a wonderfully productive life until his mission on earth is accomplished.
He needs to be able to see through one of his eyes. This will not be overwith for several months. Please keep his name in your temples!
We love you,
Laurie
Monday, January 25, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Austin
Dear family,
A lot has happened in the last 15 hours. We discovered that Austin's retina has paritally detached and he will be having surgery Friday (Jan 15) @ 7:30 am. A detached retina is very serious! Unfortunately for Austin, he only has one eye that the brain uses and one eye that the brain has turned "off." The detached retina is in the eye he uses. So you can understand how frightening this is for him to imagine any permanent damage to the eye he uses. The surgeon said this can happen to people who are extremely nearsighted, which he is. And he said it has probably been "tearing" for many months, if not years. Austin's vision became blurry in the last few days...which prompted the examination.
The same "tearing" is going to happen in his other eye (the one the brain turned off.) So they will also do a laser surgery on that eye...to seal it off so it won't tear.
Complications: After surgery, the retina could detach again, even several times, and they would keep doing the surgery over and over, hoping it will stay in place. After healing, a cataract could form on his eye which would have to be removed. Finally, his vision, even after reattaching the retina could remain blurry.
Our family is going to fast tomorrow, Thursday. Please pray for Austin! He is frightened, mostly because he only has one working eye and now it is not working. Please pray for the surgery to go well and for the retina to STAY ATTACHED! Please pray for his vision to improve upon healing (it may take a long time). And that he'll be spared a cataract surgery as well as additional surgeries.
Please add his name to your temple prayer rolls. Of course he's been administered to.
I sure love you each one. I know you are stalwart, faithful, temple-going people and your prayers and faith will make a difference! Your prayers and faith made all the difference in my outcome last summer. Thanks for your love and support!
Laurie and Joel
PS. If I've left anyone out of this email, it was not on purpose. I don't have everyone's email address. Please forward to other family members if you'd like.
A lot has happened in the last 15 hours. We discovered that Austin's retina has paritally detached and he will be having surgery Friday (Jan 15) @ 7:30 am. A detached retina is very serious! Unfortunately for Austin, he only has one eye that the brain uses and one eye that the brain has turned "off." The detached retina is in the eye he uses. So you can understand how frightening this is for him to imagine any permanent damage to the eye he uses. The surgeon said this can happen to people who are extremely nearsighted, which he is. And he said it has probably been "tearing" for many months, if not years. Austin's vision became blurry in the last few days...which prompted the examination.
The same "tearing" is going to happen in his other eye (the one the brain turned off.) So they will also do a laser surgery on that eye...to seal it off so it won't tear.
Complications: After surgery, the retina could detach again, even several times, and they would keep doing the surgery over and over, hoping it will stay in place. After healing, a cataract could form on his eye which would have to be removed. Finally, his vision, even after reattaching the retina could remain blurry.
Our family is going to fast tomorrow, Thursday. Please pray for Austin! He is frightened, mostly because he only has one working eye and now it is not working. Please pray for the surgery to go well and for the retina to STAY ATTACHED! Please pray for his vision to improve upon healing (it may take a long time). And that he'll be spared a cataract surgery as well as additional surgeries.
Please add his name to your temple prayer rolls. Of course he's been administered to.
I sure love you each one. I know you are stalwart, faithful, temple-going people and your prayers and faith will make a difference! Your prayers and faith made all the difference in my outcome last summer. Thanks for your love and support!
Laurie and Joel
PS. If I've left anyone out of this email, it was not on purpose. I don't have everyone's email address. Please forward to other family members if you'd like.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
From Sarah Warnick
Dear Orme Family,
Happy Fall....well it's almost fall....when did school start to begin in summer time! My kids have been back in school for a week now, it's nice to have some quiet time at home. Weston isn't quite sure what to make of all this alone time with Mom. Mom isn't quite as fun as Rylie was last year at playing games and being silly.
My 3 kids get on the bus a little after 8am and get dropped off a little after 4pm. It's weird to have them gone for so long. I guess it's good to have the quiet time at home also, because I started working for the first time in 11 years. I got a job writing health and fitness blogs. Mostly just any kind of copy so that people have somewhere to go to click onto other sights that sell health and fitness stuff. It's nice to be able to work at home and not worry about daycare. I am wondering when I will run out of things to say though.
We really enjoyed our summer cruising around here and there, wherever we felt like it. We stayed in Okie for a few weeks to handle cubscout camp. Then we packed up, said goodbye to David and Sundance, and drove off to Utah. We drove to Washington and stayed a week in the big empty Warnick house in Issaquah. It was really fun to play with Katie and go hiking and rock climbing and play at the property. Our old barn house has kind of been let go on the outside, kind of sad to see. On the way back to Utah we stopped in Idaho and got to go to Rachel's reception! Yay! It was good to see so many of you, and MAN can Steph and Laurie DANCE!!! Wahooo! A
fter a few weeks in Utah, we drove back to Oklahoma to see Daddy and have some doctors appointments. Our insurance doesn't work out of state. Then back to Utah again! My kids are really really good in the car! David worked on a research project for OU this summer (his only free summer of medical school) looking into how primary care doctors spend their time. It was really eye opening for him. They probably have it the worst of all the doctors, no wonder there are fewer every year. We spent our last week in Utah all together as a family. David and I celebrated our 11th anniversary and climbed Mt. Timpanogos to.... celebrate? It was pretty hard and really steep and scary at the top, but I'm so glad I did it. I've always wanted to accomplish that.
Now we're back in OK. Sterling started football and really loves it! I'm surprised because on the first day he kind of freaked out when he had to put that tight helmet on his head and didn't want anyone to knock him down. But after the 2nd practice he thinks it's really fun! Go figure. He and cousin Jackson Balkman are both on the same team with Aunt Amy's bishop and son as their coaches. The team is really coached well, there are actually around 4 coaches and they are the real deal. They've sent home a playbook to memorize, they wear all the gear and do full on tackle football. This is different from the flag football league they have in Spanish Fork.
Sterling turned 10 on the first day of school! I still can't believe he is in 5th grade! He invited his whole class to another race car birthday party. We made a track outside and had RC mania. It was lots of fun. Sterling got a guitar and is excited to start lessons. Alexis started 3rd grade and will finally get to start up Violin lessons again this year after a whole year off. Everything was just too unpredictable last year. She really likes going to activity day girls and has a great group of friends in school and at church. Her biggest gripe is sharing a room with Rylie who can be a bit..... lets say ecclectic in her toy organization skills. Rylie is in 1st grade! I can't believe she is gone all day. It didn't start out well. She stayed up late the first night feeling completely stressed out about how she would open her pudding at lunch. She can't do it, and she knew she didn't want to have me put it in her lunch opened cuz it might spill. I felt so bad when I realized what a big deal this was to her. Luckily me and Alexis were able to explain about all the adults in the lunch room who would help her. She has also gotten lost from her class once, and got confused about how to buy her lunch once. It's tough being 6.
David started back to school this week. It should be a much more interesting year. They will start to learn about all the ways things can go wrong in the body, instead of the way it should be. They will also be learning a lot more of how to perform examinations; David is not excited about the female one. They won't have rotations much till the end of the year, because they will be working on how to do all these examinations. By the time this year's over he'll be a lot better able to walk into a room and talk to a patient and see what direction to take. It's all very interesting.... how someone becomes a doctor. I'm kind of grouchy at all the Dental students in our ward. When their four years are over, they get to start practicing, and making money! We will have another 5 years of residency with a bit of pay.
Sundance was really happy when we all came home! He missed all the kids. He has developed a new thing though. When there are thunder and lightening storms he cries all night long. It's really sad, and it's really really loud! After trying to get him to calm down in his room (the tiled front entryway) he will often make his way to our bed and squish in. But then I can't sleep! He is SUCH a loud breather! It's like he's blowing up a plastic pool or something, and then he snorts the air out. (He also runs in his sleep) Soon I put him back to his room, then the crying starts again. After about 3 rounds, I send him out to the garage so the cat can take care of him. She's a night person anyway. Hope ya'll had a good summer!Love, Sarah and the gang
At Rachel's reception in Boise:
Happy Fall....well it's almost fall....when did school start to begin in summer time! My kids have been back in school for a week now, it's nice to have some quiet time at home. Weston isn't quite sure what to make of all this alone time with Mom. Mom isn't quite as fun as Rylie was last year at playing games and being silly.
My 3 kids get on the bus a little after 8am and get dropped off a little after 4pm. It's weird to have them gone for so long. I guess it's good to have the quiet time at home also, because I started working for the first time in 11 years. I got a job writing health and fitness blogs. Mostly just any kind of copy so that people have somewhere to go to click onto other sights that sell health and fitness stuff. It's nice to be able to work at home and not worry about daycare. I am wondering when I will run out of things to say though.
We really enjoyed our summer cruising around here and there, wherever we felt like it. We stayed in Okie for a few weeks to handle cubscout camp. Then we packed up, said goodbye to David and Sundance, and drove off to Utah. We drove to Washington and stayed a week in the big empty Warnick house in Issaquah. It was really fun to play with Katie and go hiking and rock climbing and play at the property. Our old barn house has kind of been let go on the outside, kind of sad to see. On the way back to Utah we stopped in Idaho and got to go to Rachel's reception! Yay! It was good to see so many of you, and MAN can Steph and Laurie DANCE!!! Wahooo! A
fter a few weeks in Utah, we drove back to Oklahoma to see Daddy and have some doctors appointments. Our insurance doesn't work out of state. Then back to Utah again! My kids are really really good in the car! David worked on a research project for OU this summer (his only free summer of medical school) looking into how primary care doctors spend their time. It was really eye opening for him. They probably have it the worst of all the doctors, no wonder there are fewer every year. We spent our last week in Utah all together as a family. David and I celebrated our 11th anniversary and climbed Mt. Timpanogos to.... celebrate? It was pretty hard and really steep and scary at the top, but I'm so glad I did it. I've always wanted to accomplish that.
Now we're back in OK. Sterling started football and really loves it! I'm surprised because on the first day he kind of freaked out when he had to put that tight helmet on his head and didn't want anyone to knock him down. But after the 2nd practice he thinks it's really fun! Go figure. He and cousin Jackson Balkman are both on the same team with Aunt Amy's bishop and son as their coaches. The team is really coached well, there are actually around 4 coaches and they are the real deal. They've sent home a playbook to memorize, they wear all the gear and do full on tackle football. This is different from the flag football league they have in Spanish Fork.
Sterling turned 10 on the first day of school! I still can't believe he is in 5th grade! He invited his whole class to another race car birthday party. We made a track outside and had RC mania. It was lots of fun. Sterling got a guitar and is excited to start lessons. Alexis started 3rd grade and will finally get to start up Violin lessons again this year after a whole year off. Everything was just too unpredictable last year. She really likes going to activity day girls and has a great group of friends in school and at church. Her biggest gripe is sharing a room with Rylie who can be a bit..... lets say ecclectic in her toy organization skills. Rylie is in 1st grade! I can't believe she is gone all day. It didn't start out well. She stayed up late the first night feeling completely stressed out about how she would open her pudding at lunch. She can't do it, and she knew she didn't want to have me put it in her lunch opened cuz it might spill. I felt so bad when I realized what a big deal this was to her. Luckily me and Alexis were able to explain about all the adults in the lunch room who would help her. She has also gotten lost from her class once, and got confused about how to buy her lunch once. It's tough being 6.
David started back to school this week. It should be a much more interesting year. They will start to learn about all the ways things can go wrong in the body, instead of the way it should be. They will also be learning a lot more of how to perform examinations; David is not excited about the female one. They won't have rotations much till the end of the year, because they will be working on how to do all these examinations. By the time this year's over he'll be a lot better able to walk into a room and talk to a patient and see what direction to take. It's all very interesting.... how someone becomes a doctor. I'm kind of grouchy at all the Dental students in our ward. When their four years are over, they get to start practicing, and making money! We will have another 5 years of residency with a bit of pay.
Sundance was really happy when we all came home! He missed all the kids. He has developed a new thing though. When there are thunder and lightening storms he cries all night long. It's really sad, and it's really really loud! After trying to get him to calm down in his room (the tiled front entryway) he will often make his way to our bed and squish in. But then I can't sleep! He is SUCH a loud breather! It's like he's blowing up a plastic pool or something, and then he snorts the air out. (He also runs in his sleep) Soon I put him back to his room, then the crying starts again. After about 3 rounds, I send him out to the garage so the cat can take care of him. She's a night person anyway. Hope ya'll had a good summer!Love, Sarah and the gang
At Rachel's reception in Boise:
From Lizzy
We've had a lovely spring and summer here in Utah! We're still living in my parent's basement. Quite the cushy place! It's always nice to live in Utah Valley and see ALL the visitors who come through each summer. I loved visiting with Stan and hearing all his stories and words of wisdom (he has lots of good stuff!) and eating healthy with him! Morning omelettes and salads for lunch every day :) We had a blast going to Boise for Rachel's wedding and seeing everyone. Here are some of us outside the temple:
Jessica and family, Jennifer and family, and Sarah and family all came through here and visited. We've been busy with the little kids as usual. I've been doing photo sessions and even built a little indoor studio here. It's cute and has a shabby chic style with full soft light. Pretty fun.
Our biggest news is finally NOT a baby! (I'm so proud of myself for not being pregnant when my baby is almost 1!).
Jed accepted a job offer to be a Border Patrol Agent in the San Diego sector. Yep, he's becoming a federal cop even as I type. His station is El Cajon which is a bit east of San Diego. Right now he is in New Mexico in the middle of nowhere at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. He's been gone over a month now. Seven more weeks until he graduates from the Academy but then he has to stay for eight additional weeks to learn Spanish.
He is doing awesome with the training. Out of his class of 50 trainees he is practically #1 in all areas – running, obstacle course, firing range, law/immigration classes. He already has some great buddies and seems to still be weathering it with enthusiasm. He lives in a tiny dorm in a bunk bed but only has to share a bathroom with 3 other guys.
Me and him are meeting up in El Paso over Labor Day weekend for a break for both of us!! I'm counting down the days... If you ever watch “Homeland Security USA” on ABC, you will see the agents in green chasing down illegals and drug smugglers. Last week's episode actually included the San Diego agents and terrain close to where Jed will be working. His area is a lot of rough hilly terrain so he'll likely be on foot, on a four-wheeler, horse, or truck.
Here he is off at the airport!
Jessica and family, Jennifer and family, and Sarah and family all came through here and visited. We've been busy with the little kids as usual. I've been doing photo sessions and even built a little indoor studio here. It's cute and has a shabby chic style with full soft light. Pretty fun.
Our biggest news is finally NOT a baby! (I'm so proud of myself for not being pregnant when my baby is almost 1!).
Jed accepted a job offer to be a Border Patrol Agent in the San Diego sector. Yep, he's becoming a federal cop even as I type. His station is El Cajon which is a bit east of San Diego. Right now he is in New Mexico in the middle of nowhere at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. He's been gone over a month now. Seven more weeks until he graduates from the Academy but then he has to stay for eight additional weeks to learn Spanish.
He is doing awesome with the training. Out of his class of 50 trainees he is practically #1 in all areas – running, obstacle course, firing range, law/immigration classes. He already has some great buddies and seems to still be weathering it with enthusiasm. He lives in a tiny dorm in a bunk bed but only has to share a bathroom with 3 other guys.
Me and him are meeting up in El Paso over Labor Day weekend for a break for both of us!! I'm counting down the days... If you ever watch “Homeland Security USA” on ABC, you will see the agents in green chasing down illegals and drug smugglers. Last week's episode actually included the San Diego agents and terrain close to where Jed will be working. His area is a lot of rough hilly terrain so he'll likely be on foot, on a four-wheeler, horse, or truck.
Here he is off at the airport!
And our last family summer picture in July:
We'll be moving down to the San Diego area on Dec 5th. Hopefully I'll be able to make a quick trip down there in November to find a house. Exciting changes and it will be fun to be close to those other Ormes in CA!
Other than that, life goes on and time rolls forward. Will started 1st grade today!
Hope everyone is well and hope to hear more from each of you soon.
Love Lizzy + family.
From Steve Orme
We heard from Brian just now that Jane was born at 5:30 am this morning. A healthy 9lb 6 oz, 22inch baby. He says mother and baby doing "great". (Oh the optimism of the new fathers, it's great.) This is a good day.
God Bless
We love you all
Steve
From Elder Wertner
Hey Family!
Wow I was so excited to get all your letters. Today I had 13 emails waiting for me! That was a little overwhelming. I didnt even think I still had that many friends..... Haha Man that was rough hearing about the smoked beef brisket. Just brings a tear to my eye..... I cant wait to check it out in a little bit.
Now let me tell you about ¨This week¨ Oh this beloved week of faith trying experiences. First off a preface. This week On wednesday I got a letter from the stake. Their is a stake service missionary that writes a newsletter toi all the missionaries in the stake. It comes out about every 6 months. I just got the 2nd one. I absolutely love this letter. It gives me an update on a lot of the other missionaries and has alot of inserts from letters from missionaries. Well I was reading it, and I got to the conclusion that some of the guys were being a little too negative. I thought to myself, ¨Of course the mission is hard, and has difficulties, but why would you ever write your family these things?¨ So after thinking that.... I thought about how Dad always said that nothing is ever a done deal, if something bad happens, just power through and find a way to make it work. Now with that said, we got hammered on bad news this week. Just like I feel obliterated, haha. BUT we saw some cool miracles and weve been seeing what prayer, and hard work can do you. I realized I havent been writing too much about our investigators. Let me tell you, we got some All- Star investigators. All of them have their trials, of course, but there is nothing cooler than seeing someone handle their trials with the newfound gospel principles. So I thought before I got into the ¨Story Time¨ and tell you about how we asked for a ride, a truck pulled over and my comp got in, then as I was getting in the back, he took off way fast, still holding on, i jumped on the back of the pick up, but couldnt get in the actually bed part, so i was standing on the bent down bumper the whole way........ So before I get into those type of stories for the week I thought I might give you a look on what´s our All-Star Roster looking like for Inv. And new converts. SO here we go.... First off At Center we got new convert Dianey, Shes the mom of 4 kids, husband is still looking into the church, She got baptized a few weeks ago. Shes At center because she already read throught 1 nephi and has taken notes of what she feels when reading. Not only that, BUT shes got us teaching 2 of her neighbors and their Families.Next at Power Forward We got The Bernal Family Also converts. Its a family of 6 That we baptized the kids because the Parents got baptized when they were 9, but never returned to church. Now they are fully active and a bunch of studs. They hooked us up with 3 families to teach and a spaghetti dinner last night. Dad is a citizen in the US and is taking off to work there for a few months because the bills are getting way bad..... But they are very humble, and studs.Next at Small forward we got Doña Vicky (Or MRS. Vicky)Shes an investigator lined up for this weekend to get baptized. She LOVES talking about her kids and GrandKids And i LOVE to listen. Shes awesome and likes applying God to her family and everything she does.At shooting Guard we have Evelyn and Her family. Her sister is member, but evelyn wasnt. So we baptized her, now the family is active, and The sister went to youth conference this past weekend. She is constantly Giving us references, and trying to teach all the neighbor hood kids. She absolutely loves us.Then at Point Guard we got ANgel. Weve been working with him for a few weeks. Hes this 12 yr old, and his sister and cousins and Grandparents are members, but him no. So hes been coming to church and well make him a deacon afterwards. Hes going to be a church leader someday. HIs baptism will also get moved to this weekend so his mom can go, then we will be working with her.......Honorable mentions would be Maria Guadalupe who came to church with us this week, the only problem is she has 3 kids and a boyfriend. The Big NO NO is that her boyfriend has a family...... We will be laying down the law with them on that one. No exceptions.Also Carolina gave us 4 references of her friends who want to be members of the church. Only problem is they live in another area..... Thats a bummer.Right now this is what we are working with. Of course theres a bunch of other people, but their benchwarmers right now until we see some real good changes in their playing ability. This week all of Sonora gathered all the youth that are members and had a huge youth conference. Us missionaries in Hermosillo, we got to help out for 2 days. One day we had a bunch of stations, and the different groups would run to each station and follow the instructions to get a stamp. They needed like 15 stamps to win. Well one group had 13, and they were begging me for 2 stamps. Of course I Said NO! Well Ok, I said yes, but only if when they are running back to the judges table, they chant my name. Well they did it. And a half an hour later elder Hatch comes up to me and says, ¨You know, I just saw the funniest thing. I group of 15 kids ran by chanting your name, And I thought to myself, Only Wertner would do that.....¨ There were 800 youth that came. It was huge. Then they did a cultural dance thing in the night. Man It was so cool. They had dances from all over the world in an auditorium of about 4000 people. Alot of investigators came. To close it, we (the missionaries) Sang Called to Serve, and then finished with the song ¨Army of Helamen¨ Now imagine the spirit that filled that auditorium when 40 missionaries sang those 2 songs. We had investiagtors all over the place wanting to be baptized and go on missions. Haha I loved it. We had exhanges with the Zone leaders this week. I went with one of the ZLS and they had problems with this investigator. So we were teaching and Shes been way mad with God because her 2 yr old died a few months ago. So I was letting the ZL talk, and I was praying that I could say what needed to be said. And right at the exact moment, I felt like I should take over. And I did, and I asked the lady this question, and she just looked at me, then looked down, an started bawling. And I read this cool scripture, and bore my testimony about eternal families. That her baby already is with God, and that one day she will see her again. Then she accepted a baptismal date! When we met back with my comp and the other Zone Leader. My comp for the day was like ,¨Elder Wertner, Just decided to take over on the lesson, made our investigator cry, and then put a baptismal date for next weekend, Weve been working with her for months, I have no idea how he did it¨
I LOVE being a missionary!!This week we ate deer tacos. They were bomby.I love you all and cant wait to see pictures of Laurens Baptism.I know the church is true and Heavenly Loves Us. I know families can be together forever.I also Have a testimony that we will always be faced with trials, but that never means the games over. There is ALWAYS a way to suceed. If you dont get it at first, try another way, and another and another until you finally get it done.love you all!
Love Elder WertnerDO WORK!!!!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
From Laurie and Family
Jake got to drive the "Days of 47" royalty in this HOT car!
A pot of Jelly Bellys from Laurie's friends following surgery (see my scar!)
Austin & Laurie; Steph & Scott at Rachel's wedding in Boise
Whitney, Laurie & Joel on 4th of July
Dear Family,
It's been a few months since the newsletter has come out, but luckily, many of us have been together, thanks to Rachel & Dustin's wedding! They certainly put on a great party for all of us, with many opportunities to talk our little hearts out....laugh together....and D.A.N.C.E!!!! It makes me want to get together MUCH more often!! A friend of mine was telling me that their family reunions are just torture because there is so much fighting going on, and if no one is fighting, the tension is palpable. Ugh! Can you imagine??? I am so grateful for my extended family and the love I feel from each of you!
The Metcalfs are doing great! The children keep growing....well, nowadays, it's probably more accurate to say they continue to mature- - as they pursue college and missions and eternal companions. I'm not "rushing" Austin....he's only 17! I'm not rushing anybody!!! I'm just sayin'.......season of life, and all that.
Jake and Whitney came home for the summer to work and save money. A savings account gets plumped up quite nicely when you have free room and board. They both are mowing lawns for a guy in our ward....who has employed all of my children at one time or another. You can get up at dawn during the summer...and survive! Nothing like manual labor to toughen you up. And as Whitney says...."not a bad job..... burn calories, get a tan AND get paid!" Austin is working at the golf course. He says that most people play golf drunk! He has to clean out their carts and throw away the evidence. I think that's why there are so many golfers.....you'd have to be drunk to forget how frustrating it is...hence, another round the following Saturday. He always pulls the 4 to 10pm shift, which wreaks havoc on a 17 year old boy's social life! But the job allows him to golf for free at a few city courses, so it's not all bad. Our family attended the Oquirrah Mountain Temple open house last night. It's a beautiful temple. I loved being there with my family.....I just like to watch my kids. I like to just watch them walk and talk and interact with each other. Last night I liked walking behind Jake and Austin...both 6'2" or 6'3", shoulder to shoulder in their white shirts and ties, absorbed in their own conversation (granted, they were probably quoting lines from The Office, or The Simpsons, or Brian Regan....but still!!!!) And I like watching Whitney and Joel throw their heads back and laugh with each other....as they always are doing!
Cory is having a great mission in the D.C. South mission. On Sept 4th he will have 9 months left! His emails are not super long :).....But the growth and confidence he is gaining as a missionary is more evident with each passing month. We sure miss him but wouldn't want him to be anywhere else. We got to hear his mission president give his homecoming report a couple weeks ago. That was really awesome!
Joel and I are just loving every minute of family this summer. Joel and Austin get in quite a bit of golf together. The only problem with older kids is that they always have JOBS! It really gets in the way of my "F.U.N." with them!
And finally, as you all are completely aware of my adventures with surgery and the cutting of the nerve to my voice....let me just give a quick update. I've had a digital scope (camera) put down my throat...no gagging...and It recorded the workings of my vocal folds, nerves, muscles etc.....it was soooo fascinating! I am so impressed with what my body can do...to see the inside working....it's such a miracle!!! I got so excited! I just can't express how impressed I am with this miracle we call a body! Anyway, I saw for myself on a monitor, how the right side is paralyzed. The muscle can't work and do its job. But here's the cool thing....the left side works sooooo hard to make up for what the paralyzed side can't do. It's absolutely HEROIC!!!
Some people think I've completely lost my voice, which isn't true. But if my normal voice is 100%, I'd say the voice I have right now is about 15%. Noisy places and phone conversations are the hardest part....difficult to be heard. Nerves take about a year to heal. So I will be patient and work with my therapist. I will continue to pray and be positive and submissive to my Father's will. He has carried me every moment and given me so much peace and comfort throughout. I've only been discouraged a couple of times and then I go to my knees and am filled with hope and peace and comfort. Things could be so much worse...I'm truly grateful!!! I am so blessed! And I am learning so much! Thank you, each one, for your prayers, phone calls, emails, and incredible love and support. You're all the best!!!
Here's a thought for the day, so that you can be impressed with what YOUR vocal chords do!!!....they slap together 250 x per second when you're speaking!!!
Mom gets off her mission the end of September! Phew....just before another Iowa winter!!! I think 3 missions is enough :) She should stay home now and serve in the temple, which she loves so much. I sure appreciate her example of service and sacrifice!
May you all find peace and joy each day through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know he wants each of us to be happy in this life and then return to Him in the eternities. I can't help but think that probably Grandma and Grandpa were with me as I layed on that operating table for a prolonged period of time....waiting for a 2nd surgeon to be called to the hospital and then the time it took for him to be informed of what had taken place, time spent consulting with Joel, Joel signing more consent papers, time scrubbing in, etc. etc.......I just think that a lot of things went right in a potentially devestating scenario.....all because my Heavenly Father loves me and took care of me.
I love each one of you!
Laurie, Joel, Jake, Whitney, Cory and Austin
A pot of Jelly Bellys from Laurie's friends following surgery (see my scar!)
Austin & Laurie; Steph & Scott at Rachel's wedding in Boise
Whitney, Laurie & Joel on 4th of July
Dear Family,
It's been a few months since the newsletter has come out, but luckily, many of us have been together, thanks to Rachel & Dustin's wedding! They certainly put on a great party for all of us, with many opportunities to talk our little hearts out....laugh together....and D.A.N.C.E!!!! It makes me want to get together MUCH more often!! A friend of mine was telling me that their family reunions are just torture because there is so much fighting going on, and if no one is fighting, the tension is palpable. Ugh! Can you imagine??? I am so grateful for my extended family and the love I feel from each of you!
The Metcalfs are doing great! The children keep growing....well, nowadays, it's probably more accurate to say they continue to mature- - as they pursue college and missions and eternal companions. I'm not "rushing" Austin....he's only 17! I'm not rushing anybody!!! I'm just sayin'.......season of life, and all that.
Jake and Whitney came home for the summer to work and save money. A savings account gets plumped up quite nicely when you have free room and board. They both are mowing lawns for a guy in our ward....who has employed all of my children at one time or another. You can get up at dawn during the summer...and survive! Nothing like manual labor to toughen you up. And as Whitney says...."not a bad job..... burn calories, get a tan AND get paid!" Austin is working at the golf course. He says that most people play golf drunk! He has to clean out their carts and throw away the evidence. I think that's why there are so many golfers.....you'd have to be drunk to forget how frustrating it is...hence, another round the following Saturday. He always pulls the 4 to 10pm shift, which wreaks havoc on a 17 year old boy's social life! But the job allows him to golf for free at a few city courses, so it's not all bad. Our family attended the Oquirrah Mountain Temple open house last night. It's a beautiful temple. I loved being there with my family.....I just like to watch my kids. I like to just watch them walk and talk and interact with each other. Last night I liked walking behind Jake and Austin...both 6'2" or 6'3", shoulder to shoulder in their white shirts and ties, absorbed in their own conversation (granted, they were probably quoting lines from The Office, or The Simpsons, or Brian Regan....but still!!!!) And I like watching Whitney and Joel throw their heads back and laugh with each other....as they always are doing!
Cory is having a great mission in the D.C. South mission. On Sept 4th he will have 9 months left! His emails are not super long :).....But the growth and confidence he is gaining as a missionary is more evident with each passing month. We sure miss him but wouldn't want him to be anywhere else. We got to hear his mission president give his homecoming report a couple weeks ago. That was really awesome!
Joel and I are just loving every minute of family this summer. Joel and Austin get in quite a bit of golf together. The only problem with older kids is that they always have JOBS! It really gets in the way of my "F.U.N." with them!
And finally, as you all are completely aware of my adventures with surgery and the cutting of the nerve to my voice....let me just give a quick update. I've had a digital scope (camera) put down my throat...no gagging...and It recorded the workings of my vocal folds, nerves, muscles etc.....it was soooo fascinating! I am so impressed with what my body can do...to see the inside working....it's such a miracle!!! I got so excited! I just can't express how impressed I am with this miracle we call a body! Anyway, I saw for myself on a monitor, how the right side is paralyzed. The muscle can't work and do its job. But here's the cool thing....the left side works sooooo hard to make up for what the paralyzed side can't do. It's absolutely HEROIC!!!
Some people think I've completely lost my voice, which isn't true. But if my normal voice is 100%, I'd say the voice I have right now is about 15%. Noisy places and phone conversations are the hardest part....difficult to be heard. Nerves take about a year to heal. So I will be patient and work with my therapist. I will continue to pray and be positive and submissive to my Father's will. He has carried me every moment and given me so much peace and comfort throughout. I've only been discouraged a couple of times and then I go to my knees and am filled with hope and peace and comfort. Things could be so much worse...I'm truly grateful!!! I am so blessed! And I am learning so much! Thank you, each one, for your prayers, phone calls, emails, and incredible love and support. You're all the best!!!
Here's a thought for the day, so that you can be impressed with what YOUR vocal chords do!!!....they slap together 250 x per second when you're speaking!!!
Mom gets off her mission the end of September! Phew....just before another Iowa winter!!! I think 3 missions is enough :) She should stay home now and serve in the temple, which she loves so much. I sure appreciate her example of service and sacrifice!
May you all find peace and joy each day through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know he wants each of us to be happy in this life and then return to Him in the eternities. I can't help but think that probably Grandma and Grandpa were with me as I layed on that operating table for a prolonged period of time....waiting for a 2nd surgeon to be called to the hospital and then the time it took for him to be informed of what had taken place, time spent consulting with Joel, Joel signing more consent papers, time scrubbing in, etc. etc.......I just think that a lot of things went right in a potentially devestating scenario.....all because my Heavenly Father loves me and took care of me.
I love each one of you!
Laurie, Joel, Jake, Whitney, Cory and Austin
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