Family

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A Review Of The Lynn Family In The Year 2011

(Pictures on the card below are italicized)

January
Both girls sing “Popular” in a school talent show

February
Jess gets a pet lizard (gecko), Sandstorm
Mark attends a Pyro workshop
Jenny is published in a British Medical Journal

March
Our pre-teen girls remodel their bedroom
All 3 kids start wearing braces

April
Trip to Galveston, Texas
Visited NASA in Houston, Texas

May
Zach earns the Chivalry award
Zach, Jess & Sophie all get straight A’s in school

June
The girls perform as an orphan & Miss Hannigan in the musical “Annie”
See the musical “Spiderman” & the play “Warhorse” during a trip to New York

July
Zach goes to Philmont and celebrates his birthday by hiking with the scouts

August
Family trip to Destin, Florida to enjoy the beach and ocean
Zach joins the high school JV tennis team

September
Zach & Jess attend the BYU football game in Dallas

October
Mark & Jenny go to work & church conferences in Utah
Halloween: Zombie (Sophie), Fey Rey from the movie King Kong(Jessie), Disco Dude (Zach), Hot Air Balloon Pilot (Jenny), Guy with everything to pop a balloon (Mark)
Zach starts high School & Jess starts middle school – we now have each kid in a different school
Sophie wins the Ebelskiver Invitational Cook-off
We attend the State Fair in Dallas and get sick on fried foods

November
Jessie plays volleyball
Sophie begins theater jazz dance class
Harry Potter themed family dinner

Stationery card

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UPDATE

REMEMBER MY EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE RECENTLY CRASHED? NOTHING COULD BE RECOVERED…MUCH OF WHAT I LOST WAS HOURS DEVOTED 2 ORGANIZING, FREEBIES 4 SCRAPBOOKING, & THINGS I SCANNED (PICTURES & SCRAPBOOK SUPPLIES). BUT THANKFULLY, I HAVE THE MAJORITY OF WHAT I FEEL IS IMPORTANT: PICTURES & SCRAPBOOK PGS. THAT I’VE MADE, THANKS 2 MY “HEAVENLY BACK-UP”! I SHOULD HAVE HAD MOST EVERYTHING…IF MY COMP. HAD COOPERATED & COPIED COMPLETELY WHEN I’D TRIED 2 COPY, DUE 2 A NAGGING FEELING 2 COPY, JUST 2 DAYS B4 IT CRASHED!

BUT 1ST, I WANT 2 SWITCH COMPUTERS B4 I ADD MUCH MORE, OR RE-DO STUFF, BECAUSE THIS COMP. IS WAY 2 FULL & SLOW & IS DYING! SO, I MAY BE “OUT OF COMMISSION” 4 A BIT, & CRAZY BUSY…UNFORTUNATELY, NO1 CAN DO MUCH 2 HELP…I NEED 2 JUST HAVE LOTS OF TIME, ONCE I SWITCH.

BUT LET ME SHARE AN EXCITING UPDATE B4 LEAVING A BIT!:

BACK AROUND JULY, I STARTED PLAYING THE RECORDER IN MUSIC THERAPY. I HAD A GOAL 2 BLOW OUT A CANDLE BY MY B-DAY. I’D TOLD ONLY MY THERAPIST AT 1ST, SO IF I FAILED, IT WAS OK. I HAD 4GOTTEN THAT I LATER SHARED MY GOAL W/MK, SO I FELT ACCOUNTABILITY, BUT WAS STILL “SAFE” IF I FAILED.

I’VE BEEN SAYING MORE (I ACTUUALLY SAID “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” 2 JESS IN FEB.—IT JUST “POPPED OUT” & SURPRISED EVEN ME, SO IT WAS CLEARER THAN WHEN I TRIED 2 SAY IT 2 FIA IN MARCH) & SINGING BETTER IN THERAPY, BOTH OF WHICH HAD 2 BE COORELATED 2 BREATHING BETTER. IN ADDITION, A FEW DAYS AGO, I WAS PRACTICING RECORDER, & SOUNDED STRONGER THAN NORMAL (THOUGH IT GETS WORSE IF OTHERS R THERE), SO I CHECKED, & I COULD FEEL MY BREATH! I DECIDED IT WAS TIME 2 TRY A CANDLE!

SUN., WE HAD CAKE W/FAM. I WAITED 4 MOST THE FAM. 2 CLEAR OUT (AS I KNEW MY ABILITY 2 PUCKER WORSENS W/MORE PEOPLE AROUND), & SINCE CANDLES WERE THERE, I TRIED. AFTER 15-30 MIN., & MUCH FLICKERING OF THE FLAME, W/IT HELD CLOSE, I DID IT! THE HARDEST PART IS CONTROLLING MY PBA—I WANT 2 LAUGH & SMILE—WHICH MAKES IT VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE 2 PUCKER & CHANNEL MY BREATH!

SO CUTE

FIA WAS TYPING AN EMAIL 2 MY MOM, & TOTALLY USED A SHORTCUT SHE’S SEEN ME DO (SHE LOVES 2 RECITE STORIES 4 ME 2 TYPE, W/ONLY A FEW SENTENCES ON EACH PG., SO SHE CAN DRAW A PIC. BELOW MY TYPING): IF I PLAN 2 USE A LENGTHY WORD OR PHRASE REPEATEDLY, I RIGHT CLICK & COPY IT, 2 LATER PASTE IT IN… SHE DID IT, PURPOSELY TRYING 2 BE LIKE ME , & I WAS SOOO PROUD! LOL
SHE ADORES BEING LIKE ME 4 SOME REASON (SIMILARITIES—SOME SHE DOESN’T EVEN REALIZE: PIERCED EARS, SCRAPBOOKS—A SIMILAR LOVE OF STICKERS & CREATIVE WRITING HELP FOSTER THIS, ADORES LEARNING ASL, MUSIC LOVER WHO LIKES SINGING & DANCING &, LOVES TYPING/JOURNALLING, PLAYS TEACHER, SCARED OF SPIDERS, ETC.)
FIA ACTUALLY SAID SATURDAY THAT SHE WISHED SHE HAD A STROKE! I’D NEVER EVER CURSE HER W/1, BUT THAT’S EITHER THE DUMBEST THING THAT I’VE HEARD, OR THE MOST BRILLIANT.
DUMB: IT PRETTY WELL EXPLAINS ITSELF!
BRILLIANT: SHE IS WILLING 2 HAVE A TRIAL, IN ORDER 2 GET THE BLESSINGS! OF MY KIDS, SHE’S FOUND QUIET TIMES THAT WE R ALONE, WHERE SHE CAN SIT ON MY LAP, & CONFESS NOT RECALLING ME B4 MY STROKE (HECK, SHE WAS BARELY 2!) FROM HER COMMENTS, I KNOW SHE WASN’T REFERRING 2 NOT WALKING OR TALKING, BUT, TRULLY, WHO WOULDN’T ENJOY BENEFITS LIKE FOOD BEING BROUGHT 2 U & FED 2 U?
I’M MOST HONORED THAT SHE’S ABLE 2 LOOK PAST MY DISABILITIES, & C OTHER BLESSINGS FROM A STROKE, W/O A LIST!

BTW, SHE WAS ON MY COMP., CHECKING EMAIL, & IT LED 2 YOUTUBE, WHERE SHE ASKED 2 CHECK OUT HER VIEWING #. SHE & JESS ALWAYS CHECK THE VIEWING # ON 2 LINKS:

HERE’S ZACH’S, 4 FUN:

IF U’VE SEEN THEM, THEN U CAN STOP READING: IT ONLY COUNTS EVERY NEW COMP. THAT LOOKS. OTHERWISE, CAN I ASK U 2 LOOK? & MAYBE LEAVE A TEXT MESSAGE? (FIA THINKS I AM THE COOLEST PERSON, BECAUSE MY WEB VIDEO HAS BEEN VIEWED MORE & HAS 2 TEXT RESPONSES!

CATCHING UP

SO I’VE BEEN REALLY BAD LATELY AT POSTING ABOUT SOME BASIC STUFF IN MY LIFE, WHICH I USUALLY POST ABOUT, SO I CAN TYPE IT JUST ONCE, & ADDRESS BUNCHES OF PEOPLE. SO, THIS MAY BE A BORING POST, SINCE RATHER THAN ANSWER 100S OF EMAILS SEPERATELY, I’LL ANSWER LOTS RIGHT NOW, W/THIS POST:

1. LAST SPRING, R WARD SPLIT. WE WERE SENT 2 A NEW WARD. MY PARENTS & A DIFFERENT BRO. & HIS FAM. WENT THERE ALREADY…

I GOT A NEW CALLING AS ASST. WARD MUSIC CHAIRPERSON. IT’S VERY INTERESTING 2 SHARE THIS CALLING, BUT SEEMS WELL SPLIT. I BASICALLY FIND THE SPECIAL MUSICAL #’S 4 EACH SACRAMENT MEETING.

2. 4 HALLOWEEN, WE DRESSED AS:

Halloween Costumes

FIA—½ ANGEL, ½ DEVIL (SHE PICKED IT OUT)
JESS—R CAT, TIGER
ZACH—INDIANA JONES
ME—DOROTHY FROM THE WIZARD OF OZ (I HAD ACTUALLY BOUGHT THE NON-REFUNDABLE COSTUME & EVERYTHING LAST YEAR, ONLY 2 DISCOVER IT FIT LIKE A BABY DOLL DRESS–& THERE’S NO WAY 2 SIT IN THAT ALL NIGHT! MY MOM DOES WELL W/COSTUMES, SO SHE FIXED IT UP 4 ME)

R PUMPKIN WAS ENORMOUS: JESS & FIA FIT INSIDE!

The Huge Pumpkin

3. ABOUT THANKSGIVING:

THANKSGIVING WEEK WAS BUSY & FUN, W/LOTS OF RELATIVES & ACTIVITIES. THE ACTUAL DAY, WE HAD TURDUCKEN (TURKET STUFFED W/DUCK, STUFFED W/QUAIL), SAWA BIG FIREWORK SHOW THAT NIGHT & THERE WAS LIKE 48 PEOPLE AT MY PARENTS–MOST OF 3 FAMILIES: MINE, MK’S, & MY IN-LAW’S FAM.

FRI. WE HAD FAM. PICS. I WAS SO EXCITED 2 GET A PIC. W/MK’S FAM. & MY FAM.–IT’S A ONCE IN A LIFETIME THING.

The Lynn Family

4 THE 1ST TIME EVER, I WAS THE “COOL AUNT.” WHO’D HAVE GUESSED? MY 4 YR. OLD NEPHEW (AN AGE USUALLY SCARED 2 DEATH OF ME), & I, WERE INSEPERABLE.
WED., HE’D SEEN ME, & JUST CLIMBED IN MY LAP. HE HADN’T SEEN ANY1 CLIMB IN MY LAP, (& NO1 EXCEPT MY GIRLS, AT HOME, EVER HAD CLIMBED IN MY LAP). THE OTHER KIDS WERE BUSY PLAYING W/COUSINS, BUT HE JUST SAW MY W/C, & WANTED A RIDE. I’M COOL W/THAT.
BY THURS., HE WAS “MY BUDDY” & HUGGING ME. I THOUGHT HE JUST LIKED ME 4 MY W/C, BUT HE FOUND ME 2 SAY HI AT FAM. PICS, INSISTED 2 SIT BY ME, & HAD ANNOUCED EARLIER 2 ME: “I JUST WANTED U 2 KNOW I’M HERE!”
BY SUN. NIGHT, 2 NIECES GOT BRAVE, HOPPED ON ME, & FOUGHT 4 TURNS!
I WAS ABLE 2 SAY BYE W/O CRYING, BUT WHEN I GOT 2 THE DOOR, HE HOPPED ON & SAID HE WANTED 2 GO HOME W/ME…I BURST INTO TEARS…
GIVING W/C RIDES MAKES ME A COOL MOM, APPARENTLY AT LEAST, JESS & FIA SAY SO.

IT WAS FUN, BUT EXHAUSTING! I HAD NOT CONSIDERED HOW THE WEEK WOULD AFFECT ME! AT 1ST, I THOUGHT EVERY NEW RELATIVE’S ARRIVAL, TIRED ME OUT. BUT, EVERY NEW RELATIVE’S ARRIVAL, MEANT THAT MY FINGERSPELLING INCREASED, & WAS SLOW & TAXING. (THINK OF IT THIS WAY: ON AN AVERAGE DAY, I DON’T FINGERSPELL MUCH, SO LET’S REPRESENT IT BY #1. EACH NEW RELATIVE’S ARRIVAL, IS ANOTHER #1. “#1” I COULD HANDLE, BUT “1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1” WAS HARD! BY FRI., (MIND U, I ONLY NAP IF SICK OR EXHAUSTED, & ONLY SLEEP LIKE 6 HRS. AT NIGHT) I WAS SO TIRED, I WENT 2 BED AT 7:30, & WAS ON THE VERGE OF “TIRED TEARS.”

4. I’M NOT SURE WHAT ALL WE’LL DO 4 X-MAS, BUT I’LL BE PERFORMING AS AN ANGEL (JESS IS HELPING ME) AT R WARD ACTIVITY ON DEC. 13. I DON’T NECESSARILY FEEL UP 2 IT, BUT HAVING JESS THERE ODDLY STRENGTHENS ME, & I’M HOPING 2 DEAL W/ANY PBA ISSUES NOW, SO I HAVE NOTHING THE DAY OF THE PERFORMANCE. PART OF IT MEANS THAT I CAN’T SHARE MY THOUGHTS NOW ABOUT IT—I NEED 2 TEMP. REPRESS ANY TRIGGERS 4 TEARS! HOWEVER, I NEED EXTRA STRENGTH 2 DO THAT, & I’VE FELT STRENGTH B4, THROUGH OTHERS PRAYERS…SO, MAY I ASK U 2 PRAY 4 JESS & ME?

IT’S REALLY ME!

BEEN MEANING 2 WRITE 2 U 4EVER & RESPOND 2 YOUR LAST EMAIL. JUST BEEN CRAZY, BECAUUSE I’M ON THE COMP. A WHOLE LOT LESS NOW…IT’S A GOOD THING, JUST HARDER 2 DO WHAT I SET OUT 2 DO IN A DAY, SINCE I MAY NOT HAVE A CHANCE 2 RESPOND 2 EMAILS, ETC. DOESN’T HELP 2 BE SOOO SLOW!

I’VE HIT A NEW PHASE IN MY RECOVERY: I CRAVE FAMILY TIME. & W/THE KIDS GETTING BIGGER, NOT ONLY CAN I SIGN MORE, & BE UNDERSTOOD, 2 A DEGREE, BY MY ENTIRE FAM., BUT THE KIDS R MORE ABLE 2 HELP ME W/THE SIMPLE TASKS THAT MY CAREGIVER USUALLY DOES, MAKING FAMILY TIME US MORE POSS. 4 ME.

BUT, MY PREVIOUS STAGE WAS ISOLATION, SO I BUILT UP HOW I DO THINGS & RESPOND VIA EMAIL, ETC. I HAD A ROUTINE. IT’S TOUGH 2 FIND A NEW BALANCE, & I’M STILL TRYING 2 MAKE UP FOR 2 LOST YRS. AFTER MY STROKE. BUT I’VE TRIED 2 SIMPLIFY, 2 WHAT MATTERS MOST, SO I CAN AFFORD FAMILY TIMES & TRIPS. THE TRICK IS 2 LEAVE APPROPRIATE TIME 4 MYSELF (IE. AN HOUR ALONE SEEMS GOOD, BUT JUST GIVES ME TIME 2 READ EMAILS SENT 2 ME—THE EQUIVALENT OF ANY1 ELSE GETTING THE MESSAGES OFF THEIR ANSWERING MACHINE…BUT, IT OFTEN DOESN’T GIVE ME TIME 2 ANSWER THOSE EMAILS/CALLS. IT CAN MAKE ME VERY HARD 2 GET A HOLD OF, I CAN PLAN LESS 4 THINGS, ETC. BUT WITHOUT TIME 4 ME, I RISK DEPRESSION.

IT HELPS THAT I CUT MY HAIR (I HANDLE OUTSIDE BETTER–IT GAVE ME MORE FEEDOM) & THAT I CAN SIGN MORE (EVEN FIA GETS SMALL WORDS, & SHORT SENTENCES). IT HELPS TONS 2 HAVE LESS 2 TYPE.

I START MY DAY OFFICIALLY AT ABOUT 8/9 AM, ON THE AVERAGE (NOT COUNTING GETTING READY, ETC.). I CONSIDER MY TYPING DAY DONE AT 3 PM (2DAY IT WAS UNTIL 1 PM, SINCE I HAD THERAPY), 2 BE THE KID’S MOM. NOT THAT I WASN’T B4, BUT I’M MORE INVOLVED. SOME DAYS, I GET EXTRA TIME AFTER 5 PM, BUT IT’S A BONUS IF I TYPE AFTER 3. IT’S VERY DECEPTIVE, THOUGH, BECAUSE I TYPE 2 DISCIPLINE, TYPE STORIES THAT FIA DICTATES, INSTANT MESSAGE OR EMAIL THEM, ETC. IT’S OBVIOUS IF I HELP THEM CLEAN, READ W/THEM, OR PLAY OUTSIDE. BUT, I NEVER KNOW WHEN I’LL NEED 2 PUT ASIDE MY TYPING, IN ORDER 2 RESOLVE A SIBLING ARGUEMENT, OR SPEND TIME AS A FAM., SO MY EMAILS R VERY SPORADIC & IT MAKES ME VERY BUSY!