Happy St. Patty's birthday!

Today is St. Patricks Day. It is also my Mother-in-Laws birthday. Even though I am spending a few states away from where she is, I just want to say.....Happy St Patricks Day and Happy Birthday Mom Elaine!!!

(I will have to add a pic later since I'm not on my computer)

Yard Sale-ing In The Rain

It seemed we had just got to bed and asleep when the alarm went off at 6:00AM. I woke Wynn up and rolled back over going instantly back to sleep. I jolted awake with that 'Something isn't right' feeling and looked at my phone. It was after 7:00 and Morgan's Colorguard yard sale was supposed to start at 8:00!!! I rewoke Wynn, got Morgan up and looked outside. It was grey and wet. I was never so glad that Wynn helps her with her yard sale instead of me! They got there, set up, sold some things and didn't stick around for 2:00 to get there. They were wet and cold. Everybody packed up early I guess. I wouldn't know, I was smart enough not to be there.

After they got home, we finished cleaning and packing up Elder Gary's room. It wasn't so hard now we waited a couple of weeks. We got it totally packed up, dusted, vacuumed and the furniture rearranged. Then Wynn told me that one of our friends from our Smithfield ward came over to the yard sale.
He told him, "I just saw Gary."
Wynn, "You mean Andy?"
"No, Gary."
"Gary is in the MTC."
"I know. That's where I saw him. We took Logan down to the MTC Wednesday. Now that families can't go in they have the missionaries come out and get them. Gary was Logan's escort. He's looking really good. He is loving it."
Now how cool is that! Someone who can give me personal feedback on how my Elder Gary is doing!

Drew brought Dean, Wynn's dad, up with her this weekend. He really doesn't like living in the SLC valley at all. He feels there are too many people and too many houses. Elaine decided to come up at the last minute too, so we'll have the both of them until Drew goes back down Monday night. I hope Elaine does ok. She really is a home body these days, but we don't think she would do so good being away from Dean that long either. It'll be fun for them to get away for a while and the kids will keep them entertained I'm sure. This means they'll be here Monday when Elder Gary calls. That will be a surprise for him! I hope they do ok being away from home. We got them all situated in Elder Gary's room. Good thing we got done before they got here!

The Trials of Aging

My mother-in-law, Elaine Jenkins, hasn't been feeling well for quite awhile. Wynn's sisters would take her to the doctor and mostly be told that since she was in her 80's it was mostly because she was getting older. Then they found out that, where most people, like me, need to avoid salt, Elaine needs to take a salt pill! That helped a little. Then a couple of week ago, Dean (my father-in-law) told them they needed to take Elaine to the doctor because she just hadn't been feeling well at all and was getting worse. The day they took her, she said she didn't know why she had to go to the doctor because she was feeling pretty good that day.

The doctor checked her out and ran some tests, then he scheduled for her to go to a bunch of specialists last Tuesday, March 17th, her birthday! Here is an email from Wynn's sister Maridene sent Wednesday March 18th. It can explain what they found out that day much better than I could.

Hi,
I didn't know if Sirena called or emailed either of you about mom's doctor appointments yesterday so I wanted to update you on the latest.We took mom to doctors all day yesterday and this is what we found out:
First of all, she is getting a pacemaker on Tuesday. Her heart rate was as low as 36 bpm during part of her test. She will stay in the hospital overnight but it doesn't seem like a big deal. She will be awake during the procedure.
Next, they are sending us to a dermatologist to remove cancer cells from her neck where she had a 'fingernail' growing out of it. Only 10 percent are cancerous and she was one of the lucky ones.
She has polymyalgia rheumatica which is a muscle disease. It is treated with prednisone which has a number of side affects. She will have to be on it for about a year and a half. They will do blood work often to keep an eye on everything that is going on. I am just glad they found out what has been causing her so much pain for so long. I wonder how long she has really had it.
The kidney specialist gave us a paper that says she has 'chronic kidney disease, stage 1V' (severe). He said her kidneys are only functioning at 25 percent. She is having an ultra-sound on Friday and also blood work.We will try to keep you informed on what is happening.
We will try to keep you informed on everything that we find out. She seems to be doing much better since they started her on the medication.I am just glad they found out what has been causing her so much pain for so long. I just wonder how long she has had it. I wish Trudy could be so lucky.
Maridene

So Elaine gets a pacemaker today. We pray for all to go well.

Birthday on St. Patricks Day

Today is my mother-in-laws (Elaine Jenkins) birthday. It is also St. Patricks Day. She was born in Los Angeles, California and lived there until she was married. Then she moved to Freedom, Wyoming (Star Valley). They lived in a little tiny house that was used for the boys to stay in when taking care of the dry farm. They didn't have running water, a bathroom or any of the necessities. They built on to that house, raised 6 kids and had numerous grandkids in that house. They are now in Layton, Utah, where they have lived for the last 2 years. It wasn't an easy life, especially coming from the big city, but she did it. Happy Birthday Mom Jenkins!

Dean and Elaine Jenkins at Gary's Eagle court of honor, August 18, 2008.