The Farthest Christmas From Home

Written By: Ben

Well, it has been a really long time since I have posted on this blog... I feel really bad, but I have been having a hard time knowing what to write or even what to write about. I was given the advice to be really open on this blog, which at times is very easy, and other times, very difficult. So we are going to give it a run. 

I will talk about the past few months in small pieces in the next few posts most likely instead of making one freakishly long post. 

A while back when my Dad was here the last time, (back in October) he and I found a place here in Ohio called Headlands State Park. Ever since my Dad and I found this place I have loved going there and just enjoying the massive lake and all the sights and sounds that come with it. I have discovered that it is a place that I can go and just let my mind wander, to really just think, which although at times may be dangerous, helps me to clear my head and keep cool so to speak. You have already seen some picture of this place, but I will include some in this post and I am sure in future posts as well.

I am hoping that this will be a short post, but we will just see as I go. Firstly this is the farthest from home I have ever been during Christmas; now I know it isn't that far, but to me, at times it feels like forever away. I had the opportunity to video chat with my family in the morning while we all opened presents, it was truly an amazing blessing. I watched The Little Man (Oliver my nephew) storm into the living room and make a B-line for a big rocking moose that his parents had Santa bring him after he found it in a store. I laughed as he went up and pet it like a real creature and then with the help of parents proceeded to hop on it and just enjoy it to its fullest. I absolutely love that little tyke with all of his crazy antics and adventures. It has been rewarding and painful to watch him grow up through a video camera. After the Little Man enjoyed his moose we started opening gifts and enjoying the morning together. I am truly spoiled every moment by my sweet family and all of those who care about me. I have watched people who have little, give a lot, and those who need support, give support to me and my family. I doubt I will ever be able to express the gratitude and love I feel for these people, whether they be coworkers of my Father, friends of the family, relatives, or folks I hardly know. I know it isn't much, but I wanted to tell you thank you from the bottom of my heart, I know you ask for nothing in return, but if I could I would give it all back a hundred fold. For now though a sincere and tear filled thank you is all I can offer. These past few months have been some of the hardest and most blessed of my entire life, and that is due to all of you amazing people.

Christmas is almost over, and for once in quite a while I am not in the hospital over the holidays!! (hopefully I didn't just shoot myself in the foot by saying that). 

As one of the last things I would like to say in this post I am going to speak of one of my dearest friends, and yet I have never met him in person. We think of the Prince of Peace often during this time of year for a wide variety of reasons. The Savior of the World, even Jesus Christ has been a dear friend to me for as long as I can remember, even if I didn't recognize it at the time. I know He lives and that He loves each of us more than we could ever imagine. I have been fortunate in my life to be able to grow a very close and personal relationship with the Savior, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. It is truly an amazing benefit of my challenges, because without them I doubt I would know my Savior like I do. I hope that you can develop a deeper relationship with your Savior, I am constantly trying to better my relationship with Him and my Heavenly Father. I testify of the Saviors humble birth those many years ago, His ministry on Earth, His Atonement, and His ongoing love for each of us. I am so imperfect and lost sometimes, but He has always been there for me just as He is for you. 

   

Here is a picture of myself at Headlands State Park. This is out on the sea wall barrier thing where a huge tree had been thrown up onto the rocks.

I have had the amazing opportunity over the last ten days or so to have my cousin Calin here with me. He is such an amazing example to me, and even though he is three years younger than me I look up to him in a lot of ways (except height). We have always been adventure buddies and the greatest of friends. We have gotten into trouble together more times than I can count, laughed harder than I thought possible, cried more than two grown men should, and been together for 21 plus years. We had the opportunity to see many sights here in Ohio, and to talk late into the night about memories, girls, trials, and indeed life in general. He has helped make these days all worth it. One of the notable accomplishments and adventures we had these last few days was watching all three of the extended additions of The Lord of The Rings, which is around 13 hours of movie! What can I say, they are some of the best movies of all time, and I will admit it, even if it brands me as a massive nerd.

 I have two cousins I am extremely close to, one is Calin (right) and the other is a hoodlum on my moms side of the family named Alex (left). I would be lost without the two of them, and I would have lived a lot less without them. They are some of my greatest role models and examples. I could never express the bond with or gratitude I have with both of these amazing hooligans.

Home and Back Again

Written by Nikki

Fall has arrived here in Ohio.  It's beauty is amazing!  I hope I can get some pictures that will do it justice.  But needless to say, wherever I go I am surrounded by trees of varying colors. 

October has been a busy month, here's is a recap:

Lincoln arrived in Ohio on October 5th.  We spent a few days together with Benjamin.  We took the tour of the Kirtland Temple because Lincoln had not seen it yet.  We also took a small walk in the woods to show Linc the Temple quarry.  It was a balmy 82 degrees with 84% humidity. We then spent the weekend together watching General Conference for 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  We enjoyed every moment of it.

 I have never been a good flyer.  As a matter of fact I have always hated flying and have felt anxious and tense for the entire flight anytime I have flown anywhere. Seriously bad flyer... ask my kids. :-) Last spring Linc and I went on a cruise and we flew to Florida.  For the first time ever I didn't have any anxiety or fear of flying, like none.  It was crazy.  It was like I had been flying with no problems my whole life. 

I decided Heavenly Father was preparing me to be able to fly alone, showing me I could do it, knowing it would be necessary for me in order to live here in Ohio and be able to go back and forth to Utah.  On October 8th I flew by MYSELF for the first time ever!  I rocked it.  No fear, no anxiety nothing.  I felt like I had been traveling alone for years. The clouds were so blue and puffy.  It was a beautiful day to fly.  I may have shed a tear or two when we came over the mountains into Provo and I could see the temple all lit up. I was home.

 

Bailee, Kyle and Oliver picked  me up from the airport.  When we got home there was a fun sign welcoming me.  

It was a great to be home!  I immediately got a haircut from my normal salon and had my sister color my ever graying hair.  Spent a day mowing, edging and trimming my lawn, because I missed working in my yard.  I had a little helper the whole time and I loved it!  I've been missing my garden tomatoes this year.  My family had diligently been covering them, protecting them from frost so I could enjoy home grown tomatoes while home. 

First thing I cooked, hamburgers on the barbecue with fresh tomatoes! Delicious!

As soon as Brooklyn had an afternoon free from class and work I went to Provo and spent some time with her. She showed me around her cute apartment and introduced me to all of her friends.  I went grocery shopping with her and we went to a great Crepe place called "Roll up Crepes". It was so good.  I ordered a savory crepe and Brooklyn ordered a fruity sweet crepe, then we split them! Let me tell you, they know how to make their crepes look pretty!  I loved it! It was a fun day together. 

Bailee, Olllie and I spent an afternoon shopping for new Jeans.  I needed some warmer clothes. We also went to get a drink and cookie at Sodalicious, a place I've missed for sure. 

 Bailee, Kyle, Oliver and I went to Liberty, Utah and spent some time with some of Kyle's family at their annual spooky woods.  

After attending Church in my ward, which I have missed, we went to Provo to cook dinner with Brooklyn.  We got to meet some more of her friends and really enjoyed our evening there. 

I was also able to catch up with a lot of my friends while I was at home.  I wish I had gotten pictures with everyone,  but I kept forgetting.  Here I am with my some of my BFF's.  I am so grateful for and love all of my friends, they are all so supportive and awesome! 

A lot of my time was spent playing with this sweet baby boy who I miss every day!  He brings me pure joy!  I miss my kids too, but they understand where I am and why.  This little guy is too young to understand where grandma has gone.  We facetime every day, but it's not the same as playing with him and kissing on him.  I took full advantage of our time together! 

I planned my time home around Fall Break.  So my last few days in Utah Brooklyn was off of school and came home to spend time with all of us.  The girls and I made about 16 pints of Strawberry Freezer Jam. (I wish I could have taken a jar back to Ohio with me)

We all enjoyed some delicious cookies from Crumbl that Brooklyn brought us from Provo while we watched "Mama Mia 2".  We also went to a movie together and saw "Little Women". 

I had a really good visit with my parents, they came into town and took me to lunch.  (I forgot to get a picture) My sister that lives in Texas was also visiting Utah, so I was able to get together with my sisters and go to dinner, which is always fun. (again, no picture)  I sure miss all of my family.  My extended family has been so supportive and we are very blessed to have them in our lives.  Bailee, Kyle, Ollie and I went to visit my sister in Grantsville and took Ollie to see the horse.  Oliver loved everything about our visit to my sisters, the Horse, the dogs and the barn cats.  I'm convinced he could be a country boy. 

 The kids and I also went to a really fun place with Kyle's family called "Black Island Farms". 

It's Davis county's version of Cornbellys. 

It's a fun place with lots of fall activities, including a hay ride to a pumpkin patch where we each got to pick out our own pumpkin.  It was a beautiful fall day, the sun was shining and we really enjoyed watching Ollie play with his cousins and try some of the activities. 

I was in Utah for 12 days. It was a much needed trip home.  It felt nice to be in my home and around all things familiar.  Of course the time to leave came too quickly.  Lincoln and I didn't get to see each other at the end of the trip,we passed in the air somewhere. Here is the picture of me and the kids just before they took me to the airport.  Lincoln and Ben had their own fun adventures here in Ohio.  Hopefullly soon, one of them will share. ;-)
My flight back to Ohio.  My final look at the Salt Lake Valley for a while,

 and Cleveland city lights at night. 

The rest of October Ben and I got back into the swing of our routine.  We got go to church together, which was nice.  I usually go alone, because Ben goes to the singles branch in Cleveland.  It was Stake Conference so we went together.  We got back on the schedule of feeding our missionaries, which we love. 

 We found a local Bowling alley and gave that a try.  I used to bowl on league once a week with my friends and I have missed it.  My skills have diminished to say the least, but Ben and I had a fun time.  We wanted to try out the place so we can take the Elders there for their p-day. 

We also went on a fun outing to Fairport Harbor for a night of Haunting Tales. It was hosted by the Fairpoint Historic Society. 

It was a really different experience for us, they offered wine (water or juice for Ben and I), cheese, crackers and grapes to eat while they told about all the haunted places in the area.  Both Ben and I really enjoyed it. We also got to climb the 67 steps to the top of the old lighthouse, which is supposed to be one of the haunted places. It was a full moon on a windy and stormy night, just the type of weather for a haunted evening. 

Ben took me to a place he and his dad visited while I was in Utah called Headlands State Park.  It is the first sandy beach I have been to on Lake Erie.  You follow a board walk through some dunes before you reach the lake.  Ben said it feels just like the beach from the lightning storm in the movie "Sweet Home Alabama".  It really does have an ocean feel, the waves roll in and the lake is so vast, you feel like your at the ocean.  It was a blustery day, which makes it feel more dramatic.  We walked along the beach looking for colored beach glass.  It is not easy to find especially on a gloomy day.  But I got lucky and found a few pieces.  It is basically formed from any glass that has been cast into the water and gets broken, beat back and forth by the current, the waves and the rocks.  It gets brought to shore with the pebbles and is smooth like a pebble. 

The current functioning lighthouse is also located at Headlands. 

 Ben and I staying up until 3:30 a.m. to watch the World Series.

Our transplant journey continues on. This is by far one of the hardest things our family has had to do.  

Being apart is hard.  But hard things make us stronger.

Benjamin's health continues to maintain steady.  He has actually gained about 20 pounds since we arrived in Ohio which is good.  He continues to get most of his nutrition by TPN through his Hickman line. We all feel ready for the transplant.  We feel we are all prepared mentally, spiritually and physically Ben's body seems stronger than it has been in months. We have made friends and we feel we have a great group of people here in Ohio to offer support as well.
 Everything seems in place. We continue to patiently wait for the Lord's timing.

I was not an Organ donor before, I had just not really thought much about it. This past spring I had to renew my drivers license, and I checked the box to be an organ donor.  It has been eye opening to me, to be in the position we are in now, and to think that a family somewhere will lose a loved one, and we will get a chance to keep ours. I am starting to understand the gift organ donation is.

It can be the gift of life!

There are many ways to get educated and read stories of hope, here are few if your interested in reading.  I really like the donatelifeohio page.

donatelife.net

donatelifeohio.org

Passing Time....

Written by Nikki

Warning... This post may be long and FULL of pictures. :) 

It's October and in just a few short days Benjamin and I will have been in Ohio for 3 months!! I can't believe how fast, yet how slow the time has gone. We do all we can to stay busy and engaged.  Tomorrow Lincoln will arrive in Ohio and I can't wait. I haven't seen my sweetheart in person in almost 3 months.  It seems like forever.  We will spend Conference weekend together and then I will go home (insert tears) for a few weeks.  I will fly on an airplane by myself for the first time ever. I am excited to see my girls Brooklyn and Bailee, my little grandson, Kyle and the rest of my family.  I really can't wait to just be in my home, see my mountains, mow my lawn and eat a garden tomato, if they have survived this long. 

Let me see if I can catch you up on life here in Ohio the last little while.  

I'll start with Benjamin's HEALTH. Benjamin's health continues to maintain steady.  This is a blessing.  He has been able through adjustments to his TPN to gain some weight and for the first time in years weighs in at a solid 170 lbs.  He says he feels fat, it's really just he's been too skinny for so long.  This weight will help his recovery when he finally has transplant. He has been suffering from regular bouts of Bacteria Overgrowth.  This can be standard for someone whose small intestine basically doesn't function.  Because of this he has to take antibiotics about every 3 weeks. Benjamin and I meet with the Transplant team once a month.  These visits are more fun than you would expect.  We spend a lot of time laughing, joking around, and talking about fun vacation spots.  We try and talk them all into visiting the many beautiful places Utah has to offer.  None of them have ever been to Utah.  These 5 doctors come from all over the world.   Egypt, Japan, Brazil, Italy and somewhere we can't remember. It is a team of very diverse backgrounds and we feel confident in their abilities and knowledge.  It is good we are getting to know them and feel comfortable with them.  He has visits from a Home Health Nurse every week, at which time they draw his blood and monitor all of his levels. 

I joke that the weather here is bi-polar. (I hope this comment doesn't offend my Ohio friends) :)  One minute it's sunny, humid and hot.  The next it's stormy, humid and hot.  It's starting to feel a little like fall.  The leaves are barely starting to turn colors.  I hear the fall here is beautiful!!  I am afraid I might miss the spectacular display while I am in Utah. 

These two pictures were literally taken less than 20 minutes apart. 

I mentioned the farmers market in my last post.  I continued to attend every week until they stopped having it towards the end of  September.  My favorite buy from the market was the peaches.  I really enjoyed having a fresh peach every morning for breakfast with my toast.  I already miss those peaches.  Here is a picture of me at the farmers market.  I sat down at a bench to take the picture and noticed the green growing in the wood.  Just a sample of what the humidity does.

We continue to feed the missionaries on a regular basis.  We have been feeding the Elders and the Sisters every week.  We have two sets of Sisters assigned to this ward, so we eat with Sisters twice. It's fun to have dinner with missionaries 3 times a week.  They always tell us what a blessing we are in their lives. (I think they say this to everyone) ;-) But honestly they are a great blessing in our lives.  We enjoy their company, the spirit they bring and the messages they always share. Benjamin has been out teaching with the Elders a few times and we both went out with the Sisters.  It really is wonderful to personally see and feel the spirit of missionary work and to help in any way we can. Transfers happened today and we are very sad, we will lose one Sister for sure and possibly one Elder.  I know we will enjoy meeting some new ones, but we've grown attached.

Elder Blake (from a suburb of Denver, Colorado)  Elder Pay (from Saratoga Springs, Utah) 

On bad days, Ben lounges on the couch and we watch our favorite programs on Netflix or movies on Vudu. We finished the whole series of Merlin and are almost done with Sherlock. We are on the lookout for our next series. We are always open to suggestions.  I watch Heartland when Ben is reading, he sometimes gets sucked in, but says its not really his speed but I have a love/hate relationship with the show. 

In September over Labor Day weekend, Ben and I ventured out to the Geauga County Fair.  Fun fact, we learned from the radio, Geauga means Racoon in Native American.  The fair was located about 45 minutes away and we enjoyed the country drive.  The fair was huge!  It was as big as our State Fair in Utah.  We had a great time.  We enjoyed seeing all of the animals, and ate some yummy fair food.  We had an elephant ear, which is basically a HUGE scone.  We had ours sprinkled with powdered sugar.  We played a little skeeball and Benjamin threw darts to win a small stuffed animal, because whats a fair without playing expensive games and winning a prize.  We didn't ride any rides, because Ben isn't allowed to. We only spent about 2 hours there, because it was hot and humid and took the energy right out of Ben.  Of course a storm blew in from nowhere and gave us a lot of wind and lightning, but we escaped the rain. I, of course in my neurotic mind worried about the possibility of a tornado.

The ward here has a book club that I have started attending.  In August we read "Lilac Girls" which was a book based on true events and characters.  It was interesting and I enjoyed it.  At the end of the month we met at a Sisters home to discuss the book, socialize and have a yummy dessert. It was like fruit pizza except the crust was watermelon.  It was so refreshing.  I took a picture so I would remember how to  make it someday. I missed out on the book for September, but am excited for Octobers book.

I am so grateful for the Kirtland ward.  I have met so many wonderful people and they have really reached out and made me feel welcome.  Ben's singles ward meets in the city and we share a car.  The overlap doesn't allow me to stay and attend Relief Society.  So the ward makes sure I have a ride home every Sunday so that Ben can go to the Singles ward and I can stay for all three meetings.  What a blessing!  I have been invited to lunch multiple times by sisters, to dinner and even out to an estate sale.  I know there are people I can call on for help and it makes me not feel so alone here. I have also been able to get involved in a project at the Kirtland Historic Site.  They do a huge Nativity Display there for the Holidays.  Hundreds of Nativities are loaned or donated to the Site for display.  All of these Nativities have to be cataloged, photographed and entered into the computer system and eventually set up. I am blessed to be able to work on this project.  It involves a few days a week a few hours a day.  But I love feeling like I have a purpose and something to keep me busy.  Plus I am meeting and getting to know amazing people along the way. The gospel is wonderful and it is worldwide!  No matter where you go, you can find peace, love and friendship from the members in the Branches, Wards and Stakes of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

In September I also had the BEST surprise ever!  If you read the post written by Bailee you know all about their surprise visit here in Ohio!  I can't even describe the shock and joy I felt when I saw those three smiling faces as I opened my door.  It was better than any Christmas!  I literally broke down in tears of joy!  We had a great time together, it was just what Ben and I needed, a little piece of home.

Bailee and Ben comparing bruises.

I couldn't take enough pictures of my little man!  Here are a few fun ones. 

 Ollie in front of the Garfield House. (The Home of President Garfield) 

 One of the homes at the Kirtland Historic site.  I think a Missionary Couple lives in this one.

 Crazy Nap Hair! 

Our rainy visit to the Kirtland temple.  I don't know what I was trying with my umbrella. ;) 

Two of my Favorite boys!

Our Wonderful Sister Missionaries!

Sister Schlitmier (Germany) Sister Merrill (Washington State)

Sister Hansen (Alpine, Utah) Sister Ferguson (Kaysville, Utah)

I received this great kit for a fun craft project from one of my besties. This project kept me busy for 2 days. She knew it would have to be really simple for me to be able to accomplish it.  The cute printed papers came pre-cut and all I had to do was roll them, then pin them to the Styrofoam wreath!  I wasn't sure I could do it... But I was happy with the way it turned out and now I have a fun wreath on my door.  I'm the only one on my floor with such a cute door! 

Benjamin and I were told by our Transplant Team about this great Country and Western cover band from Ohio that is really popular. We found out they were playing at a Brewing Company here in Willoughby so we ventured out for dinner and good music.  It was really fun and the music was great! After dinner we shared a delicious piece of cheesecake.

Benjamin has always wanted to go to a Major League Baseball game! He's been a lover of baseball since he started playing t-ball at 4 and little league for many years.  Living in a city that has a MLB team gave us the perfect opportunity to make this happen. Progressive Field the home of the Cleveland Indians is a beautiful baseball stadium!  We enjoyed a great game watching the Indians play the White Sox. The sound of the bat connecting with the ball, the smell of popcorn and hot dogs, the crowd cheering, the typical "Take me out to the Ballgame" song, we experienced it all and loved it! Plus we had great seats on the third baseline in the lower section. I have been to many NBA basketball games in my life, but this Baseball game was something else.  It is America's pastime after all!  Such a fun exciting evening for both of us!!   Benjamin thinks we should have a hat trick for the professional sports, first an Indians game, next a Cleveland Browns game and last a Cavaliers game. I'm not sure I can handle the crazy crowd of an NFL game.  I think he should make that dream happen with dad. The night we went to the Indians game there was also a Browns game.  The two stadiums are not that far apart, so we drove right past the tailgate party for the football game.... Crazy!

When Bailee and Kyle were here they went on a tour of the Historic site in Kirtland and just happened to get two of our favorite sisters as their guides.  This really is cool because there are a lot of sisters there each day giving the tours and they just rotate.  So it was a blessing that these two were the ones who got to take my kids.  I loved that they got to meet each other.

Just last week Ben and I had the privilege of taking Sister Merrill and Schlitmier to the Garfield house on their p-day.  It was something Sister Merrill wanted to see before she goes home and she just started her last transfer today. We are hoping to see her again as she will be attending UVU in Provo.

Ollie and I took quite a few selfies while he was here.  Here is a small collection of some of the selfies we took in our 3 short days together.

I have mentioned that packages and notes from home are like gifts from heaven!  We are blessed to have many friends and family that love us.  We have received so many fun packages from home.  It's always a great surprise to get that text telling me I have a package to pick up at the Apartment Office!

I have still been doing puzzles.  I think I have completed 3.  Well technically 2 because Kyle finished one of them for me while he was here.  I am in the  process of puzzle number four.  It's a hard one.  I told Lincoln I wouldn't feel bad if he felt like working on it.

This transplant journey is definitely an adventure.  The power of prayer is real!  I remember back in January when Benjamin's health was at a real low, I was pleading with my Heavenly Father to just let him be accepted into this transplant program.  I felt like we prayed for that forever.  Now as we pray for the right organs, the ones that will be a match and be accepted by Ben's body, I remind myself of the prayers that have already been answered and I feel gratitude for those answered prayers.  I feel the love of my Savior every day!  I'm grateful for the prayers that are offered on our behalf by so many.  I truly feel your prayers help buoy us up and carry us on hard days.  It's difficult being separated from family and friends, but we are strong and we love and support each other!  Someday soon these posts wont be full of all the fun things we are seeing and the adventures were having, but will instead be daily updates about surgery and recovery.  They will be about an adventure of a different kind.  The kind that changes lives forever. 

This last picture is of Benjamin and Oliver.  Ben loves this little boy!  It is hard for me because after transplant Benjamin will not be able to see Ollie for a while.  So I cherish this sweet picture with all of my heart!