Sub Zero Contest

Months ago Christian entered the Sub Zero Ice Cream Contest. First you submitted online ice cream concoctions that you love to make when you go to Sub Zero Ice Cream. Christian is a connoisseur of sorts of ice cream and he loves to make up many different kinds of flavor togetherness.

One of the items he submitted was Pistachio ice cream with almonds, maraschino cherries and dark chocolate flakes. 184 people submitted recipes and 12 were chosen. The company heads actually made every recipe submitted, tried them all and decided which ones they thought were the best.

Today the 12 semi finalist competed at Provo Towne Center for a chance to win a years supply of Sub Zero Ice Cream. Not just maybe one cup a week but the winner could go every day and get a medium bowl everyday for a whole year. Now that is a lot of ice cream. Just up Christians alley.

Each ice cream was made and then people at the mall were able to taste test each one and vote. People could text in their vote or vote online. The lines were insane with everyone jockeying to try all the different kinds. Christian was like a circus barker. He stood right up on his chair and called out to people and told them about his ice cream. The CEO and the Marketing Director both commented to John and I about his salesmanship skills.

Unfortunately, Christian did not win. Although we did hear many people mingling around saying they loved the pistachio the best and even one of the Sub Zero head guys was telling another person he thought the Pistachio was the best the vote didn't come out that way. The person that did win actually had over 50 votes right when the voting started. I think she just told everyone and their dog to vote at this website and or text at a certain time. There was even people on the Sub Zero page that talked about the contest and how they wished the pistachio had won.

Christian had fun and it was a a great time for all.

Who knows, maybe one day he will have a place of his own so everyone can come and enjoy all the other concoctions he makes. Ribs that are to die for, desserts that rival even the most accomplished pastry chefs, Mexican food, Italian food. You name it he can probably whip it up.

Lets fix this

Today we are headed to the hospital for Nicole to have surgery on both feet.

In December she broke both feet and now surgery is warranted. Her right ankle that had an open fracture will be opened up for tendon repair while the left foot was thought to have hair line fractures but after the cast was taken off it was discovered she had 3 complete fractures and with walking on it they shifted and healed in many different directions. The Doctor will need to break those bones, realign them and pin them. (By the way, her shoulder healed beautifully.)

Nicole will not be able to put any weight on either foot for 1 week and then minimal weight on only one foot for another week. Stitches will be removed after 2 weeks. After that she will be able to bear weight on both feet for 2 weeks before her second check up.

Her Doctor said things went well and is hoping for the best.

Special Needs Church

What a great weekend we had in Moab but now it is back to reality.

On the way back to Lehi I wrote my talk that I am giving in church today. Nicole and I are speaking in another ward. We are speaking with the Special Needs Mutual Group.

Nicole attends Special Needs Mutual each week which is such a highlight in her week. 2 weeks they work on YW things. It is either a lesson or maybe one of the values. 1 week another ward comes and gives mutual to them. Activities, games, crafts are all included and other things too. One week is usually a dance. When the other ward comes and shares mutual with Special Needs then the following Sunday Special Needs goes to their ward and does the sacrament program.

2 special needs "kids" speak plus their buddy as well as a leader from the YW and YM organization and 1 parent. I am the parent this week. My topic is:

"How is having a Special Needs child blessed our lives."

How can I even do justice to this topic? We have had many blessings come into our lives from the moment Nicole took her first breath. How can I look into her beautiful face and not see the miracle of God working in our lives.

Nicole was born with the umbilical cord wrapped 3 times around her neck. She was being strangled but before the cord could get tightened she aspirated in the birth canal. We didn't know it at the time but that was the beginning of our journey with Nicole and the brain injury that occurred which has caused her to have the many difficulties she has suffered with during her life time.

Nicole has Christ-like love. She loves everyone. From a young age she would say this or that person was her friend and she loved them. 99% of the time she didn't even know them. It didn't matter who they were, the color of their skin or economic circumstance, she loved them.

Nicole has taught us patience, kindness, trust, love, understanding, determination, humility, hope, faith and peace. No, life has not been a rosy path. We have had many trials and tribulations stemming from her underlying condition. She has been stubborn, trying, unreasonable and sometimes a down right pill to parent but she can also be the sunniest sunshiny spot of my day.

Schedules are a must for us. We have to plan way in advance and talk about changes in advance to help Nicole become familiar with the change. Not that we can't do something at the spur of the moment but our days go more smoothly when it is planned out. For many years we couldn't live day to day or even hour to hour, it was more like minute by minute or moment by moment.

YES, having a Special Needs Child can be frustrating at times, many times I even want to pull my hair out or even just go in my closet and scream and cry, but, there are also many days when I laugh at the funny things she does or says. I also love teaching her new things even if I have taught those things to her in the past many times.

She is a gentle reminder everyday of serving and loving the least of these....

Moab

For Christmas this past year, Christian gave John and I a weekend at the Sorrel Ranch in Moab. This is the weekend we are going to take advantage of it. We are so excited.

This ranch is located on a beautiful river. Our room overlooks the river and has a beautiful fireplace which I sat beside many hours while there. The grounds were equally beautiful. Horseback riding, volleyball, hiking trails and much more.

We had dinner at the Ranch which was one of the best meals I have ever eaten. I had duck and John had lamb. Half way through our meal we traded plates because they were both so great we each wanted to have some of each others food. It wasn't good enough to just have a taste or two.

Unfortunately it was raining when we were done with dinner so we head right back to our room. We wanted to take a stroll in the moon light but that was a no go.

We slept in but still was able to eat and get on our hike before the sun crested the red rocks surrounding this ranch. We were so excited to get these great pics.

Our hike was amazing as hiking in the Moab area is always amazing. The red rocks, the fresh air, the huge tumble weeds........

We had such a fun weekend together. Catching up on the weeks that we have been apart. Just quiet time. Back to reality now.

Auto-Rama

Today is Auto-Rama at SouthTown.

Christian has been working on his car for a few months in order to get it ready for the car showing season. This show is the first in a long line of shows he will be participating in.

As you may know his baby is named Maggie. It is a Dodge Magnum SRT/8 with a 428 Hemi engine with a Super-Charger. All that power under the hood equals about 700 horse power. Yes it is fast.

Last year, his beloved Maggie was featured in Mopar Enthusiast Magazine. The paint was black on the bottom, Lime Time green on top and Monster Purple stripe. The cluster was Lime Time green as well as other controls. Under the hood the engine was powder coated Green as well as many other items green and black.






This year, Pearl White with a touch of Gold added into the paint. It has ghost images on the sides. Cluster, Pearl white. Other controls are brushed nickel. Under the hood is also different. The engine was powder coated to look like brushed nickel and other components are now black.

WOW! This car looks amazing.



The show was great. His car was was asked to be in the Thunderstruck booth. Sometimes venders ask show car owners to show their car in the vendors booth. It helps to attract more people to their booth.

Christians car won 2nd in class! Great accomplishment son.

REALLY???

Nicole fell 2 weeks ago and broke her right ankle, open fracture. She has been in a cast and on crutches. No weight bearing.

Then the following week she got caught up in her cast and crutches and slipped and broke the other foot. This foot in a walking cast.

2 nights ago she and Christian had been at a family gathering. On the way home they stopped for a RedBox at Maverick. She slipped in the parking lot and fell on her arm. it was hurting quite a bit but we just iced it and did some cold laser on it to help with the pain and inflammation. Well, the swelling was not going down and the pain was going up so I took her to Urgent care for an X-ray.

Dunt dunt dunt duh.....

Nicole broke her shoulder in 3 places. Are you kidding? Really? SO, here we have it. 1 broken ankle, 1 broken foot, and 1 broken shoulder. What a Christmas this will be.

This is a roller coaster that I want off of NOW.

Emergancy trip back to the hospital

Nicole and I are in California so I can go to a conference with John. She and I drove here yesterday. What a trooper she has been. Surgery a few days ago and now here. This conference was schedule months ago and this surgery was the only time this Dr. could do it while she was still on rotation. So we rolled with it.

Last night the winds in So. Cal. were very strong. A lot of junk in the air. Sitting outside on the patio enjoying the weather something got into Nicole's eye. We cleaned it out as best we could and she went to bed but when we woke up this morning her eye was swollen practically shut and had junk coming out of it. John and I got a flashlight and looked in as best as we could. It didn't look good. As a matter of fact it look as though it was cut and open about 3 mm.

Down to the ER in San Clemente we drove. I have to say, the people working there were so nice, so on top of things and so fast. We have been in many hospitals over the years and I would say they are top rated. The Dr. came in very quickly, was thorough and quick., Her bedside was by far one of the best we have come across.

Yes, Nicole did have quite a large cut in her eye and still had debris in it. It was also infected. I felt so bad. They got right to work and got her hooked up fast. Washed it out, medicated it, bandaged us up and we were out of there. WOW! Refreshing. in and out in practically no time at all and service...top notch.

Nicole is already on the mend.