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!
