WOW!

Well I highly doubt anyone reads this anymore because I haven't posted in almost a year and a half. However, I think I am going to update a bit, starting now...

In November, 2009, shortly after my grandfather passed away, I found out I was being laid off... AGAIN! I had the option to reapply for another position somewhere else in the company, but I decided it was time for a change. I wanted to make something good happen out of my second lay off. So I decided to go to school to become a nurse. I could have gone to school in Utah, however I guess I wanted a bigger change than that. I moved to Colby, Kansas!!! I am going to school here, currently just doing my prerequisites and hopefully I'll be in the LPN program starting in June.

The move here was difficult. This sounds funny coming from a girl who is almost 30, but I've never been this far from my parents. I've vacationed this far from them of course, but never for more than a couple weeks. Alex was used to constantly being able to see his Yoyo and Papa pretty much whenever he wanted. This would be a huge change for him. He did have a hard time adjusting, but he's gotten a lot better with not being able to see them. He talks to them on the phone a lot, and sometimes sees them via webcam. He has started going to preschool five days a week, and he goes to day care while I'm in school. He loves both places and has a great time there!

The first semester of school was a bit overwhelming for me. I was so scared that I was going to fail. I never thought I'd even get through that first semester. I had Developmental Psychology, Basic Nutrition, Medical Terminology, and Anatomy & Physiology. They were all easy classes except A&P. I knew from the beginning that one would get me. I have an amazing friend going to school with me and she pushed me and pushed me, constantly telling me that I'm not as stupid as I think I am and that I can do this without a problem. Well, I did! The first semester, my lowest grade was a 97% and that was of course in A&P. I was also working while going to school last semester but I decided that was too much for me and mostly for Alex. Between day care, preschool, and a baby sitter while I worked, he was getting pretty bad separation anxiety. So I quit working and now I'm just going to school and taking care of Alex.

That's all I'm going to update for now. I'll try to put up some posts and pictures from the last year and a half. But I'll put them in order of the date that they happened, so you'll have to look back before this post to find them. Anyway, if anyone is still reading this, thanks!!! Hopefully I'll post again SOON!

Tonsillectomy and Adnoidectomy

Alex has had an issue for a while with his tonsils. Over Christmas, he was choking on almost anything he ate. He had to have the heimlich maneuver 3 times!!! Thank God for Papa and Uncle Marky!!! I decided to take him to an Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor who said that Alex's tonsils were huge. He said that on a scale of 1 to 4, his tonsils were a 3, and this was when he wasn't sick. So we decided to have them removed.


Alex did GREAT with the surgery. The hardest part was that he wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything and he REALLY wanted his sippy cup! As one way to keep his mind off of food, I decided to take him to Build-A-Bear before the surgery so that he could make a "surgery bear." He had a lot of fun with this and loved that he got another stuffed animal.




When Alex woke up from his surgery he was super cranky. The Dr actually wanted to make sure that everything went ok because of Alex's medical history so he scheduled us to spend the night in the hospital after the surgery. Of course Alex didn't want to eat anything for a while, but as soon as he decided he was hungry, he wanted everything! He had 3 popsicles, a few silver dollar pancakes, french fries, and 2 cups of juice all within 2 hours. He must have been starving. He did pretty well through the night except that he needed a lot of oxygen. This worried me, but I guess it didn't worry the nurses and Drs very much. They let him go home the next morning and he was fine by that evening.

Christmas Cards

I try to send out Christmas Cards each year with a few pictures of me and Alex so everyone can see how big he's getting. I'm not one for writing the big long letters about what's been going on throughout the year becase 1) I hear a lot of people don't like to read those and 2) Alex and I don't really have a whole lot of exciting stuff to talk about. He gets sick a lot but that's the most there is to talk about. Most people don't want to read a letter saying "Merry Christmas! This year, Alex had 1 seizure at the beginning of the year, he had an ear infection that caused his eardrum to bust, he was diagnosed with asthma, and he got glasses because he has one lazy eye and both eyes are really bad!" I figure when he gets older and he is doing stuff like going to school or playing sports, then I'll do the fun family letters but for now I just hope that he gets out of this always-being-sick stage. SO... I had my good friend Kristy go with me and Alex up to the mountains to take some pictures in the snow. It was really cold, but there honestly wasn't much snow to get pretty pictures in. Most of our cute pictures came from inside the lodge of one of the ski resorts. Here are a few of the pictures...

Halloween

Alex went Trick-or-Treating for his first time this year. We were still in St. George at my Grandma's house so we just walked around her neighborhood. At first, he wasn't sure about what to do. But once he got his first candy, he was super excited. He wanted to eat every piece of candy as soon as he got it. He wouldn't say "Trick or treat" but he said "Thank you" at about half of the houses we went to. He was the cutest little Kangaroo I've ever seen!

We love you Pop-Pop!

My last living Grandpa, my dad's step-dad, passed away in October. On Monday October 26th, I found out he had 6 weeks to live. I immediately started planning when I'd be able to go down to St. George to visit him. I figured I'd go on my birthday weekend, that was about a week and a half away. On Wednesday, the 28th, however, I got a phone call saying "If you want to talk to your grandfather, you better call him soon." I asked what was going on and my mom said that he had less than 48 hours to live. I fought with myself about whether I should drive down there immediately to see him, since I hadn't seen him in a year and a half. Unfortunately, I wouldn't even have had a chance to see him even if I had driven down there right away. He died that night around 5:45 pm. My dad had actually just gotten there about an hour before he passed. I wish I could have gotten to see him before he passed, but I'm glad I got to talk to him on the phone and tell him I love him. I didn't get to do this with my other Grandfathers, or with my Great Grandfather. I do miss him greatly, but I feel that he is probably in peace where he is now. He was in a lot of pain before he died, as he was dying from lung cancer. I love and miss all the family I've lost very much. I hope that my "Pop-Pops" are taking care of Jakob and James up there. I love you Pop-Pop!!!

Here is his obituary (it meant more than anyone will ever know that my little Jakob was included in this obituary!!!):

Ted was born in Roxboro Hospital, Philadelphia, PA. on September 16. 1934 he passed away on Wednesday, October 28, 2009.

"Gone Fishing"

Ted's passion was fishing. He was also an avid hunter, getting elk, mule deer, white tail deer, turkey, fox, wild hog and pronghorn. He was a lover of the quiet mountains and streams of the west. He also was a "rock hounder" and traveler, traveling throughout the United States and while serving in the United States Navy on the aircraft carrier USS Tarawa, traveled the world crossing the equator twice, the Arctic Circle and the Antarctic Circle. He lived in Pennsylvania; Holladay, UT.; Hanna, UT,; Greenehaven, AZ.; Bandera, TX. and Ivins, UT. He retired from SPS Technologies after 37 years. Ted's other passion was the Philadelphia Eagles and he was a 21 year season ticket holder not once missing a game. A kind, giving and loving father to his step-children for 40 years loving them as though they were his own. Ted's relationship with God and Jesus Christ was private and devout. He was a friend of "Bill W.". He was a loving, supportive brother and an amazing husband. Anyone who met Ted admired his quiet sense of humor and reserve. He will be missed by all who had his acquaintance.

Preceded in death by his parents: Theodore A. Kunz and Lucinda Kunz of Oreland, PA., Son: Wayne B. Kunz Cripple Creek, CO., and Grandson Jakob D. Tease. Murray, UT., Grandson James G. Brownett Hatboro, PA.

Survived by his wife Janet (Brown) Kunz, Sons: Donald S. Tease (Patricia F. Tease) Murray, UT.; Clifford R. Tease, St. George, UT. (Lynda Kline, Marvon, PA.); Brian W. Kunz, Murray, UT. (Lynsey Doms, Ivins, UT); daughter, Dorothy A. Tease, Ogden, UT. Brother, Robert A. Kunz, Oreland, PA., and Sister-in-law Anne Brown Didier, Palos Park, IL. He has 9 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. Cousins in Kentucky, California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He is also survived by lifetime friends Edwin Foody, Oreland, PA. and Joseph Shaw, Fort Washington, PA. and close friends DeWayne Pirtle and Paul Adair.

Services will be held privately at the convenience of Ted’s family. Arrangements are made under the direction of Spilsbury Mortuary, 110 S. Bluff St., St. George, UT. 435-67354 In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to C.A.S.T. For Kids Foundation, 227 S.W. 41st Street, Renton, WA. 98057 or go to the website at CastforKidsFoundation.org Please specify that you would like the donation to go to the Salt Lake City group in memory of Theodore A. Kunz, Jr. This foundation gives disabled children the opportunity to go fishing.

The family wishes to thank the Zion’s Way Hospice Care folks. They gave Ted the very best loving care and support. Chris, Kylie, Victor, Joan, Chuck, Mona, Dwight, Cindy, Lynsey and Kathy just to name a few are the kindness caregivers one could ask for. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. May God Bless You Always.

Aquarium fun

Kristy, William, Braxton, Jacob, Andrew and Daniel all went to the aquarium one day. They invited us to come with and I thought Alex would love it. At every fish tank Alex would run up and say "FISH!!!" He was so excited. It was lots of fun and we got to spend time with Kristy's family which doesn't happen a whole lot so that made it even better. When we got home, I gave Alex dinner and he was so exhausted from the busy day that he fell asleep while eating! Then he was out for a while!!!

Last Girl's Night Out with Jen

We wanted to have one last girl's night out with Jen before she left to go to Missouri. Kristy, Marti, Jen and I all went to Olive Garden for dinner. It was nice to be able to spend one more night with my friends since we don't see each other very much anymore. We love you Jen and we'll miss you very much!