Round Two

 

We are doing round two with Lilli. She is back into the behavioral center in Idaho Falls. This time, hopefully, she will get the help that she really needs. She is struggling big time with life and its challenges. It is SO heartbreaking to see her struggle and not know what to do. Thankfully, we spoke with the doctor treating her, and she seems to understand her situation better than anyone that we have so far met with.

On the other hand, Angie is really excited. She was asked to Prom by a classmate, Carter Hall. We do not know him, but we have had many reports of how great of a kid he is. Angie and Deb have been working on getting her ready for the date. I just sit back and watch.

We have a car back, but it has cost a lot of money to get it going. The alternator quit working and $1,200 later we have the car working. Unfortunately, the "check engine" light comes on. We have to get that figured out.

If It's Not One Thing, It's Another

The week was going on with no problems. It seemed all was back to normal. Then, the car went down!

On Friday, the girls had various appointments. I drove the pickup so Deb and the girls could go to Pocatello for their various appointments. Angie had a chiropractor appointment since she tweaked her knee at cheer practice. Then Lilli was to meet with her counselor and Angie had a dermatology appointment. We were then going to take Lilli to Preston for a doctor's appointment. Between Lilli's counselor appointment and Angie's dermatologist appointment, we decided to get some ice cream from Coldstone Creamery. On the way there (Angie was driving), the "Check Charge System" light flashed. When she mentioned that, I knew that the car would not start if we shut it off, but I ignored the prompting (I seem to be really good ignoring promptings!). After ice cream, the car would not start. After some time trying to figure out what to do, we called Alisa Jons to get Deb to go to the pickup (we had left it at the dermatology office), and I called Bill and Mike's. We got the pickup; by that time, though, Angie's appointment time had come, and we needed to get Lilli to her appointment. So Angie's appointment was canceled. We then went to Preston to meet with Amy Pabawena, formerly of Health West. I think that is a better fit than Dr. Roslyn especially since Amy knows where we are coming from.

We left the car in the Coldstone parking lot with Bill and Mike's supposedly towing it to their shop. So, we are now back down to one vehicle. I do not think we have had access to two vehicles for more than two weeks over the last six months. Can we never get ahead?

Back to Normal?

On Tuesday, I got a phone call from Lilli. She said she was ready to go home. I told her that we had made arrangements to get her on Wednesday, but she wanted to come home. We went and got her.

At first, she was not ready to come home. She had made some good friends while in the hospital. She could not take their names and addresses since it was not allowed. She wanted to keep in touch with them, but the reality sunk it that would not be done.

Lilli is doing much better. She still has some moments, but she is much happier. She will return to school next week with a big chore in front of her to get ready to pass 8th grade. We met with her teachers and the principal on Wednesday to help make a game plan for her return to school.

Mom had cataract surgery on Wednesday. When I talked about it to her, she said that she can now see the wrinkles in her face. She did not like that part of it! But, she is seeing better and feeling much more comfortable driving.

Angie made the varsity cheer squad. She was pretty happy about that.

We returned to the the second hour of Sunday meetings today. We met as an Elders Quorum for the first time in 13 months. It felt good to mingle with the other brethren.

I am so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is such a blessing to have the knowledge of God and his love for us, his children. I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he has atoned for us if we keep his commandments.

What a Week!

The week started awful. It ended on a positive note.

Lilli went through a major crisis on Monday. Even though she had a good spring break, she went through a mental crisis that sent her to the hospital and then to an inpatient unit in Idaho Falls to deal with her depression. It was HARD to get her the help she needed. She was very upset with us for doing what we did, but in the end, it is for the better.

We went and visited her today in the Behavior Health Center in Idaho Falls. She was a happy, talkative girl. One that I had not seen for months. She is on an upward track to getting better. We are so thankful for the medical community and their expertise to get people better.

While in the emergency room, Abby Gambles came in. She was working that evening and saw that we were there. She told Lilli that what she was doing was the right thing since she has gone through it herself. That helped a lot.

The rest of the week seems trivial for what happened, but time chugged on. General Conference was a boon to the spirit although it was hard to concentrate at times since my thoughts would often return to Lilli. It also made me realize what I should have done to make life better for Lilli. I shudder to think that it may have been everlastingly too late if we had not acted when we did.

Temples were announced--20 in fact. One was announced in Smithfield, Utah, and another in Burley, Idaho. I thought of Aunt Barbara and Uncle Hal when I heard the announcement.