Senior Spotlight

 

Dimentia Dog

Our precious Mira has dimentia.  It breaks my heart.  I am not ready for the end.  I knew it from the moment I saw Caden's reaction to the news-- there will never be another dog as precious as she is.  She's not super bad yet, just a few nuggets of poop every once in a while after she's been deeply asleep (thanks to her round-the-clock anxiety meds) and a forgetfulness that is so unusual for her nature.  Where she once wouldn't tough something if we told her no, such as Max's food, she now needs to be pushed away if she gets into it, not even acting ashamed that she was caught.  It's as if she's never even known she could eat that food that was so graciously left out for her.  

So, when I saw her sitting in such a weird position, one she has never sat in before in a spot she never sits, I had to capture it.  One day, we'll look back at these photos with a little "Ah!" But for now, it's just one more thing to visually see how much our girl is changing.  She'll be 10 in a few weeks.  Our time with our Mira is winding down.  Even if we have five more glorious years, I'll never be ok losing the last connection we have to our Caden. It's slowly breaking my heart.
 

Terrible Toss

Back when we first moved here and I had little kids that like to spill boxes of Rice Krispy's all over the floor, I frusteratedly tossed the cereal container behind me and it struck in just the right fashion as to completely shatter our sliding glass window.  I am telling you, I didn't chuch it, I just tossed it behind me to begin work cleaning up the MASSIVE mess.  To this day, I don't think Randy believed me.

And then this happened...

Frusterated with the lagging of Netflix, he tossed the remote, ever so gently, around the vescinity of the tv.  It hit in just the right way.  We didn't even know until we turned the tv on the next time.  And then I laughed and laughed at his consternation.  "I didn't even throw it that hard!"

Yeah.  I know.  Same.
 

Bowling Beauty

 Senior Recognition Night for my Shelby girl.

I sure do love my Bowling Beauty!

Papa Murphy's

 Brennon interviewed for a job opening at Papa Murphy's last night.  They told him he'd hear from them by 3:30pm today if he got the job.  3:30 came and went, and my heart sank.  Because the minimum wage is so high here, many places aren't hiring 1) teenagers, or 2) they are giving teens more hours instead of hiring more.  It has been super hard for kids to get jobs here for more than two years now.  I let Tyson drive me to DQ to get a gift card for a friend's birthday and came home quickly to Randy telling me to hurry; they had leftovers from Olive Garden.

I walked in to hear Randy ask Brennon if he wanted any.

Brennon: "No, thanks.  I'm feeling like some Papa Murphy's."

I was confused.  Brennon is generally not a big fan of pizza.  And then I started to feel my hopes climbing.  

Randy: "You don't want any? Not even a breadstick?"

Brennon (looking me straight in the eye now): "No, thanks.  I'm going to be getting some PAPA MURPHY'S!"

**Cue Tiger Scream**

We all got into the Expedition, and back to DQ, we went, this time to celebrate Blizzards!!  

Fun Fact: Papa Murphy's phone number was our first landline phone number when we moved here.  

509-396-3951.  Neat.

Brennon will always remember that he got his first job on Shelby's 18th Birthday!

Mountain of Clothes

Kim Anderson donated ALL of her baby boy stuff to Keilie and Dallin.  And when I say all, I mean ALL!  From Birth to 8 years old!  We gathered all of the totes (10 of them, full!) and brought them home.  We sat down to go through the Birth to 12 months, leaving the rest for me to work on.

Five hours later, they're all organized by size.  (Top L to R: 12 months, 18 months, 2T.  Bottom L to R: 3-5 years, 6-8 years). I think it's safe to say that they're set with clothes.  Forever!  So, so, so generous!!!
 

Saucy Fruit

 I love that Dallin knows he can make himself at home here.  I love that we are slowly learning more and more about what he likes and doesn't like.  For instance, he doesn't care for lots of sweets, but he loves fruit...

Weirdo:)

Shelby's 18!!!

 We celebrated Shelby's birthday a few days early so that Dallin & Keilie could be there.  Funny enough, this would have been Shelby's birthday if I hadn't waited to go on my own.  I had my choice and chose to wait.

I cannot believe my girl is EIGHTEEN!!!!!  She brings us so much joy and fills our home with love.  She is generous with her time and love and is always looking for ways to make others happy.  Happy Birthday, Shelby!  I'm the luckiest girl in the world with you as my girl.

Christmas Groom

 Tyson asked for Max to be professionally groomed for a Christmas gift.  Today was that day.  For reference to how shaggy Max was, here's a picture from our road trip to California after Christmas. It was super rainy, as you can tell!

I laugh and laugh looking at this picture.  You can barely tell it's a dog!

Groomer: "Um, he's not really liking the clippers.  I'll do my best, but it's going to be choppy.  Sorry!"

Me: "Girl, it's going to look better than anything we've ever been able to do!"

Cutie.  

Merry Christmas, Tyson.  You now have a recognizable dog!

Ordination

 Bishop, Randy, and Brennon stood in the circle to ordain Tyson a Priest today.  Seeing my boys in such a sacred way was a beautiful sight.  I'll always wish Caden could be there for such events, but it was also a wonderful surprise to see Brennon be able to join.  I cannot believe my baby will now be able to baptize me in the temple.

I'm looking forward to seeing both boys at the Sacrament table.  I'm so blessed.

January Car Wash

 Just a boy washing his car with his Christmas gifts in January.

Rock Climbing!

 Tyson asked for a month's membership at our local Rock Climbing gym for Christmas.  When we returned from our Temple Trip to Oregon & Northern California, he signed up and went with his friend, Jack Landon.  

If he really likes it, we'll pay the student monthly price for a year.  No piano for this boy-- only physically demanding sports for this kid!

UPDATE: Not only did we sign him up for a year, but he's purchased himself a chalk sock (it's a bag of chalk, not a sock, as the description suggests!) and a small brush.  He goes at least three times a week and is completely hooked.  I love it when my kids find something they can't wait to go to! 1) While we are his drivers, I wish the gym was closer to our home, 2) which won't matter once he turns 16 in NINE MONTHS!  Weird.

2024 Temple Trip

December 25th, 2024 Vancouver, WA Temple (Location announced) 

December 26th, 2024 Portland, Oregon Temple

We could not figure out how to get into these massive doors.  We first tried pushing them since there weren't any door handles.  Nope.  Then we saw the sign that told us to push... the Handicap button.  Talk about confusing.  That's the difficulty when going to new temples; not all Baptistries are like ours.

While making sure dogs went out before we started our drive South, we walked them outside the temple gets, but still on temple grounds.  I turned around at one point and saw a coyote running near us.  It took a second for my mind to register it was a coyote!  It was surreal to see that type of wild animal with the "Welcome to the Portland, Oregon Temple" sign directly behind it.

December 26th, 2024 

Willamette Valley, Oregon Temple (Under Construction)

December 26th, 2024 

Medford, Oregon Temple

We loved how much this temple reminds us of Spokane.

December 27th, 2024

Feather River, California Temple

December 27th, 2024

Sacrament, California Temple

December 27th, 2024

Modesto, California Temple (Under Construction)

December 27th, 2024

Oakland, California Temple

December 28th, 2024

San Jose, California Temple (Announced)

My Grandma & Grandpa Fuller served their mission in San Jose between 1993 and 1995.  I wondered if they'd ever attended church in this building.  It made me feel close to my Grandma, who passed away almost a year ago when we were driving around San Jose.

Sewing Surgery

Text from Tyson: Mom, if I don't make it home tonight, I love you. 

This picture is all the explanation I got.  No words.  The first thing I noticed was his WHITE pallor.  The last time I saw my child that white was October 4th, 2017.

While playing around, he knelt on the ground and felt a pinch.  There happened to be a sewing needle on the ground that pierced into his knee.  The man you see hovering over him is pulling that needle out, barely able to hold the end; it went in so deep.

Randy: Tyson, the next time you have something like this (cause, it's Tyson...), please send it to me first.  Or, explain things before you send pictures.  Your mom doesn't need that kind of worry right now.

BINGO

 I was sent a video with the best idea for the New Year.  Instead of writing down resolutions, you make a Bingo board of things you would like to do/accomplish.  This spoke to me on so many levels.  So I made mine.  I printed off enough for my family, but Keilie was the only one to take me up on it.  I hope to accomplish a full blackout!  Wish me luck!

First & Last

The whole family served at the Union Gospel Mission on Christmas Eve.  It may be the first and last time we all do it together, with my Grad & Grandbaby year.

Our Christmas "tree" this year.  All about my Grandbaby!  Our yearly ornament is an ultrasound picture in a frame that says "First Year Grandparents." 

I love these humans

The Prophecy

Hand of the Lord

At the October 2007 General Conference, Elder Eyring of the First Presidency gave a talk entitled O Remember, Remember.

In it, he said, “When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. … I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. … Trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.” 

In October 2022 - Stake Conference, President Kreutz gave us a challenge. The challenge was:

1. Pray for specific opportunities to serve and for God to place people in our lives that we can serve

2. Recognize and identify the hand of the Lord in your life and record it for 30 days. He promised that if you do those things, the Lord would send people to you that needed you in their lives and that you would grow closer to the Lord as you recognized Him in your life. 

Immunotherapy

I am now going to tell you a story from my life where I witnessed the hand of the Lord. We’ve never told this story in public, only snippets of it. We talk about it in our home from time to time. In fact, it took us years to fully comprehend the significance of it (October 4th, 2020 is when we first recognized it as a prophecy).

Seven years ago, for those of you who weren’t in the ward, our oldest child, Caden, passed away from cancer on October 4th, 2017. He was 16 years old. He was noble - faithful.

April 18th, 2017 he started an experimental immunotherapy with a baseline CT scan.

He would have another CT scan in seven weeks to see if it was working. We would know if it was working based on whether the tumors grew while he was on the medication. At this point one tumor was the size of a small grape in the middle of the liver, and the other a small raisin at the edge.

Wednesday, June 7, 2017 - 7 weeks later

He had a follow-up CT scan and the tumors had grown into each other and were now the size of an apple, a Washington-sized apple.

Clearly the immunotherapy didn’t work. There was nothing more that anyone on earth could do. Our Oncologist met with us, and described the pain and suffering people go through the months preceding the end of their life with this type of cancer. She painted a pretty grim picture in order to prepare us for what was to come. 

Pain became our greatest fear and the focal point of all of our fasting and praying. Wednesday, June 7th was the day we found out that it would be Caden’s last summer. 

Sunday, June 11 - Elder Neil L. Andersen

Dan and Kristi Ostrowsky used to be in our ward. Their son Landon passed away about 6 months earlier and Elder Andersen was Dan’s mission president in France. They were meeting in the High Council room with Elder Andersen and asked if we could also be brought in. So, 20 minutes before the meeting we went in to meet with him. Caden wasn’t there because he was too tired to go, which was the hand of the Lord. He wrote Caden a handwritten note.

During that meeting he asked Stephanie how she was feeling. She said she was scared, terrified even, of what was to come. He asked her what she’s afraid of. She replied that she was afraid of having to watch him suffer and see him in pain. That pain and suffering was our greatest fear. As soon as Steph said that, he immediately said, “Oh no, Caden won’t feel pain.” He said it in sort of a dismissive way. It was as if he was minimizing her concern. Later, Steph said of the experience that she was angry with Elder Andersen for saying that and for how he said it. She thought, “How dare you say that. You don’t know our circumstance, you don’t know my son or his cancer. You didn’t hear what the oncologist told us. Don’t just sit here and try to tell us not to worry."

And that was our meeting with Elder Andersen and how we started the summer of 2017, knowing it would be Caden’s last.

Focused Prayers

We began to focus our prayers on one thing. We specifically prayed that his days of suffering would be minimized and the number of good days maximized.

We took advantage of every spare moment to make memories. As long as Caden felt well enough to go, we would go. We went boating, camping, played games.

We had a monthly follow up call with our Oncologist at Seattle Childens. For the months prior to his passing, every time she spoke with us, she could not believe that he wasn’t experiencing more pain. She told us that he will not feel well enough to go to Homecoming. After all, that was more than a month away and he should already be needing morphine. 

3 Final Weeks

Saturday, September 16th, Homecoming Ritchie Style

Saturday, 23rd, Oahu

Monday, 25th, Polynesian Cultural Center

Friday, 29th, he attends seminary for the last time

Saturday, 30th, Richland Homecoming

Sunday, October 1, watches every session of General Conference - After the last session he asked for his first pain pill, which easily took care of the pain. 

Tuesday, October 3, In the evening, Caden received a morphine pump, which managed his pain well. He sat on the couch for me to give him a priesthood blessing. In that blessing I told him that his mother is going to be okay which was important for him to hear.

Wednesday, October 4, At 1:30 AM he sat up in bed and one by one, met with his siblings. Around 2:00 or 2:30, Bishop Kreutz assured him of his readiness to serve a mission on the other side of the veil. After that, he was in and out of sleep. His sight was leaving him. Around 3:00, he woke up confused by what he was seeing and told us that he sees us. We’re sitting around his bed, but he’s above us. At 4:35 am, he fell asleep and peacefully passed away. That was 58 hours after he asked for his first pain pill.

The story doesn’t end there.

Two days later on Friday, October 6th, Steph talked to Sue, the oncologist, again. After hearing our story, she shockingly emphasized, "Stephanie, I just have to say: It does not happen like that!" After 20 years of childhood cancer care, she has seen and heard much. It doesn't happen that fast! She told Steph that it was truly a miracle the way it happened. 

We finally got a miracle. 

I don’t know what this talk was about for you. Maybe seeing the hand of the Lord in times of both trial and prosperity. Maybe it was about writing them down for posterity. That’s what I thought it was going to be about. For me, this ended up being about an Apostle and of the Lord. 

Remember what Elder Andersen said, “He won’t be in pain.” As he spoke those words, there were angels on the other side that were listening and prepared to make that happen. 

He wasn’t just trying to quell a mother’s worries. He was following the spirit. The Holy Ghost put those words into his mind and he just blurted them out. A living apostle prophesied that he wouldn’t be in pain. And he wasn’t. A prophet, seer, and revelator gave our family our own personal prophecy. 

It was a miracle that he wasn’t in pain. But the fact that it was prophesied makes it even more remarkable. 

The biggest miracle in this story is that Jesus Christ has prophets, seers, and revelators on the earth again. 

Before Elder Andersen prayed with us, he said, "I am going to add Caden's name to a special prayer roll for the session that the Quorum attends on Thursdays." 

After Caden passed, Elder Andersen wrote, “They will see their noble Caden again.” I’m going to count that as another prophecy.

Back to the challenge of President Kreutz. I want to renew that challenge. 3 weeks before General Conference when we will hear from prophets, seers and revelators.  

The challenge was:

1. Pray for specific opportunities to serve and for God to place people in our lives that we can serve

2. Recognize and identify the hand of the Lord in your life and record it for 30 days. He promised that if you do those things, the Lord would send people to you that needed you in their lives and that you would grow closer to the Lord as you recognized Him in your life. 

(The reason it's written like a talk is because is was written for Randy's sacrament meeting talk on September 15, 2014.)