Cast or Boot

Can you believe that I stayed up north with Zac for two weeks?

It was heavenly to be out of the St George heat for awhile.

A few days into our adventure, I left Zac with Alexa and headed

to Youth Conference. I got to spend three days with gorgeous

young women like these cuties:

 The first day we spent on Temple Square. We heard from some amazing

sister missionaries and also from incredible speakers, one being the

one and only, Brad Wilcox. I will always remember that it's better

to make chocolate chip cookies with a recipe ;)

Life turns out better if you follow the recipe.

 We might have even fit in a little City Creek ;) 

Friday morning we were all able to go to the Temple to do baptisms

for those who have passed on. There is such an amazing, sweet, peaceful

feeling at the temple! I love, love, love the temple!

 Then we were off to lunch and then to Snowbird. We were all able to ride the

Gondola to the top. We were pretty high up there! I also got to hang out with

this handsome guy! First youth trip we've both been able to go on

{and funny thing, neither of our girls were there! (grammy camp!)}

 Youth Conference Extraordinaire - Doree Sargent!

She rocks it when it comes to planning Youth Conference!

  Love this guy of mine xoxoxoxo

 The amazing Wrigleys. I told Tony that the reason he was called to serve

as the YM President is so he could teach those boys the "Wrigley Way".

In our family, that's what we call it! So boys, get up and serve. Be the first to

offer help, stay longer to clean up, go the extra mile.

That's the Wrigley Way.

 Most of the group decided to hike down a bit and ride the ski lift back down.

Not us. We decided to stick with the closed-in Gondola!

 Oh and Bishop hung with us, too.

 Jonathon brought his guitar, so Bart got him all set up panhandling.

He was attempting to earn money, I mean attempting to earn the

Panhandling Merit Badge. It was such a crack up! 

{btw, he is an amazing singer and musician!!}

 We headed over to Little Cottonwood Canyon where these guys 

cooked us up a mighty fine meal. It was so fun to all be together.

 Lots of amazing youth, lots of amazing fun!

Youth Conference ended and everyone headed back down south.

Except me! I got to stay another week with Lex, Brian, and Ellie.

Brian was sooo happy to see me when I got back to their house ;)

{disclaimer, he really was. I helped them clean their whole house and provided

hours of fun for Ellie AND plenty-o-date nights for them!}

 We took the kiddos to the Natural Curiosity Museum at Thanksgiving Point.

If I lived up there, I would most definitely buy a season pass like Alexa has!

Well worth it! You don't feel like you have to stay the entire day to get your

money's worth. It was super fun exploring and playing!

 It was so fun to hang out with them and play & visit with everyone. 

Their house is adorable, so welcoming and bright.

 Thursday, B & A headed out on a 2 day date to Park City.

Ellie, Zac, and I went up to Salt Lake to pick up the one and only

GRACE CALL!! She had been at Grammy Camp with her amazing

cousins (Chloe, Wyatt, Kendon, Paris, Scarlett) and sister Erin.

She came home earlier than Erin to play in a soccer tournament in Orem...

 Grace has played on the Bombers Crush team for 6 years! This was going to be her

last games with the team, because high school try-outs are next week! In her six

years of playing, she has NEVER come off the field crying. She has had reason to, but

has always been tough and played through some of the tougher teams.

Until tonight.

Christa was sitting next to me and saw her first.

"Uh-oh, here comes Grace and she's crying"

Dead give away. This kid doesn't complain. Something was up.

"Mmmoooommm, something's wrong with my ankle, it hurts so bad!"

The previous play she was defending the goal, when she and another player

got tangeled up. The other player inadvertently stepped on her whole foot,

holding her down as she was in full force running. Down she went,

and the other girl scored. Add salt to that wound.

I gave her 2 motrin and sent her back over to the coaches.

 She sat out the rest of that half and actually asked to be put back in the second half.

See the photo above, she's resting the hurting ankle.

 She continued playing and actually played great - even with a little limp going on.

Ellie kept on shouting "Grraaace" throughout the entire game. She was happy

when it was over, so she could have her Grace back.

 Post game: her ankle was as swollen as a soft ball! Ahhh! We contemplated taking her

in right then, but decided to wait a couple days to see if the swelling went down a bit.

We iced it, wrapped it, elevated it, and rested it that night.
Jeremy and Brian gave her a blessing as well. 

Saturday was their last game as a Bombers Crush member :(

So she hung out on the bench with Coach Brent cheering on the team.

Livvy scored two goals that game - for a score of 5-1 total.

After the game she said, "I scored two goals, one for me and one for Grace. She

can choose which goal she wants!" What an awesome friend!

That game was a little bitter sweet for me!

We have an eight seater, so we laid down the first row of seats so she could rest her

foot all the way home. With all those seats and they still choose to sit right by each other! 

 On Sunday, things weren't much better. Except that the amazing Chris Pereira stopped by and 

brought us some amazing therapy goods. A way cool machine that ices the injury all night

long and a fabulous ankle brace. That was a life saver.

Still by Monday, we knew we better head in to get it checked.

But I wasn't ready when the dr. said (after an xray and exam)

"Well, you can choose if you'd like a cast or a boot!"

Whhhattt? I don't think so! I just wanted to hear how many days she needed to

rest it to be ready for soccer tryouts. Next. Monday!!!

Thankfully she choose a boot. Much easier and waaaay less smelly.

Yes, she has a sprain, but the majority of the problem and pain is stemming

from an injury to her growth plate in her fibula (think smaller leg bone)

 So here she is. Happy. Positive. And wearing that boot for a minimum of 2-3 weeks.

Possibly up to six. But we're not going there now.

Soccer try outs are next week. She would really love to make the team.

She's been going to work outs every morning and doing what she can

(mainly abs and arm weights). Obviously, she cannot actually try out. But maybe,
just maybe, the coaches saw enough of her playing this summer in tournaments,
that that will end up being enough. She's a trooper with such a positive attitude!

I emailed Elder Call this photo above and here's his response: 

"Grace is going to have a super strong left leg by the time she takes that off! That thing looks

 like it weighs as much as she does! But she will be in my prayers! I'm sure Coach will put 

her on the team! I love Grace's excitement though! She is awesome!!"

I sure love all of my kids, they are amazing! Get well Grace!

{as of Thursday....it is still swollen! But the brace is amazing, because it helps so

her foot doesn't hurt at all. So, yes, the doctor was right...}

Coach Brent stopped by to give Grace a carton of Ben & Jerry's double
chocolate fudge. He knows the way to a girls injury ;)

She has had a lot of well wishes and kind words.
One team mate said to her this week, "Oh Grace! I wish it was me instead of you!
You are such a good soccer player and you are trying out for high school!"
Talk about SWEETHEART! I had tears in my eyes when Grace told me that.

Thanks for all of the prayers and get-well-soons!
That's what we're hoping for, too!