On the mend!

It has been a very long 2 weeks, but I think Madi is on the road to recovery! They were able to set her leg and cast it without too many problems. This bright Orange cast will be on until mid January and then a half cast until mid April. Tomorrow she goes in for more x ray's where they will check the placement of the bones, if they don't look OK they will cut the cast and re-set. So we ask for your prayers that everything will be OK.
As i sit and reflect on the past two weeks and wonder how 2 broken bones can cause so many problems. I can't help but be grateful for lessons we have learned, for the faith we have, and for the friendships that have blessed our lives. We have felt the love from our Heavenly Father as we have gone through this trial. We have been blessed by our Bishop, our family, by our neighbors and our friends near and far. John and I feel strongly that Madison will heal and will be able to live a strong healthy life and continue with soccer if that is what she wants.
We have had many other things happening with the other children during the last few weeks but, have not had time to download pictures and blog about them, so with some time off work in the next few weeks i will try and catch up.!!
Much love to you all and a big Thank You for all your prayers!

Tuesday, from bad to worse!

This is poor Madison on Tuesday morning....

Madison on Tuesday night, put in an ambulance and sent to Primary Children's!

Grandma giving Madi some extra love for her trip in the ambulance. This was very difficult for me to watch. It's hard enough to see your child break a bone, but to have them be as sick as she was about ripped my heart out!

These two guys were pretty funny! they actually got a smile out of madi!

Bishop Pectol and Brother Stayner came to give Madison a blessing before we left. Bishop has been an amazing support to us during this challenging time. The whole ward has been awesome, with prayers, phone calls, dinners and cards and gifts for Madison.

I had to put this picture in, This is what she looked like when we first brought her to the hospital. She scared the heck out of all of us! We are so lucky to have her here with us today. I have a new found testimony of prayer and the power of priesthood blessings. Madison will need continued prayers for a while now, she will have her leg put back together at Primary Children's Hospital Monday morning. With all the moving around her fractures have shifted a bit. It is going to be very painful for her and we have a long recovery a head of us. She will be in a full leg cast for 4 weeks and a half leg cast for 8 weeks and then a boot for 4 weeks. That puts us into April. The doctors feel pretty confident she will be able to return to soccer in late spring.

Madi and her Bears

Madison had a very hard day yesterday and today is not any better. She has been throwing up since yesterday morning and has no strength left in her. We are watching her for the next few hours and if there is no change we will head to the ER. She seems to be very discouraged today and very sad:( I'm not sure what to do for her. She has an appointment at 8:00 A.M tomorrow with Dr. Bacon and we will know more the surgery time and what to expect. Madi received one of these bears yesterday and i got her one today, as you can see they are comforting her, if she had the strength to smile she would! Please keep her in your prayers!

Two more broken bones!!

Madison broke her Tibia and fibula last night at her futsol game. She fell and someone fell on top of her. It took 5 people to get her off the court and into the car. She was in so much pain and any slight movement sent her into orbit! We should have called for an ambulance because it made it more painful to carry her. We made it to the hospital and they immediately gave her morphine which did nothing the first round. Before the X ray they gave her more morphine and it seemed to calm her for a few minutes. When we saw the x ray we were so shocked! The fibula is broke just below the knee and the tibia at the bottom of her shin. She will have to have surgery to have pins placed to hold the bones together. We were also shocked that they would send her home! Bishop Pectol was with us along with my parents. We were able to give her a blessing before we made the trek home. After much distress we made it to my bedroom and she was able to rest for a while before we had to figure out how to get her to the bathroom. At 11:00 P.M. Shari Brown came over with a Port a potty and between the two of us we were able to slide her right on to it.. This is a picture when we first arrived! It's so very hard to see your child going through incredible pain!! I felt so helpless and at times cried myself.

We had a ruff night but we are finally on a pain management schedule and keeping on top of it! She seems to be doing a little better this morning.

We had a visit from Aunt Gail and Krystal this morning. Gail put madi's hair in a french braid, which came in handy when she threw up!! Later today i will attempt to give her a sponge bath and change her clothing! Please say extra prayers for the surgery to be a success and that she will be able to play her favorite sport in the future once again! A big thanks for those who helped in transporting her and for the many phone calls we have received! I will keep everyone updated on the surgery when the time comes!! Love to all!

Oh how they grow!

Madison and Tyller spent the weekend taking pictures and editing them. I think they did a great job for only being 12!! I can't believe how much Madi has changed in the past few months! She is really growing into a beautiful young woman! These are just a few of the pictures they took, if you want to see more just go to Madi's face book page!!

Gratitude for Shelley

This is my Oldest sister Shelley, who i am so grateful for! Shelley is an amazing sister who, is always there when you need someone to talk to, and is always willing to help me with my computer problems! Shelley has done an amazing job raising her children, she has set a wonderful example for me as to what a mother is. I know that my sisters, mom and I are so grateful for Shelley, that she hosts our Scrapbook/movie weekends every time we have them. We always have so much fun at her house! Thank you Shelley for the wonderful sister that you are! Shelley and i have a lot in common, We have had the same spiked haircut for years! Isn't she just the cutest:) Love you Shelley!

Gratitude

Today i am grateful for the changing of the seasons. I love the feel of winter coming on and knowing i get to shovel snow, have a fire, sip hot coco, wrap up in a warm blanket and cuddle with the kids and my Johnny boy! There is nothing better for me then to wake up after a big snow storm and everything is covered in white fluffy snow. My favorite time of the year! This time also comes with great emotion as we head into Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Gratitude for Temples

I am so grateful for the work that goes on in the temple! Yesterday I was able to watch John baptize Jordan in behalf of his Father! The spirit was felt strongly and I know John Sr. was there waiting. Kathy and I cried happy tears as Jordan went under the water. We are all looking forward to finishing his work in the next few weeks. We also had Johns dad's brother baptized and some other family names. Madison was able to come with us and do a few names also.. What a wonderful day we all had!

Gratitude

It's been a year since i did my gratitude posts, and with thanksgiving coming up, I thought I would do it again. I may not have time to do it daily, but i will try to at least get 2 a week. I encourage you all to try this again also. i enjoyed reading every ones Gratitude post last year!

Today I am so grateful for the love that surrounds the Orem 2nd ward! Everyone looks out for one another and is there to help when needed. My ward has had a hard year this year and there has been big things happening in our neighborhoods and all the members have really stepped up to the plate to help one another in a time of great sorrow. I'm amazed at how people just keep on going after what has happened to them. We have Great people in this ward and I'm so lucky to belong here. I'm so grateful for the love that has been shown to the Elegante's!

Happy Halloween!

Oh how we love the Halloween parade at the school! The kids looked forward to this all month. When I first arrived at the school there were kids running around everywhere getting costumes on, make up done and teachers trying to keep the boys and girls separated while dressing! Crazy I tell ya! Got a snap shot of Madi, Katie and Zack! I was able to help Madison's class with the party after the parade, that was fun!

Dakota, as you can see was a football player! His grandpa John always said he was as solid as a rock and would make the best football player around! I agree!! That's my boy:)

Madison ,being in sixth grade was finding it hard to come up with a costume that wasn't childish... I'm not sure what she was, but she did look grown up!

Madi enjoyed walking the halls with Edward scissor hands!! Ok, it was really Zack!

Shelby wanted to be an American Diva!! Very cute:) There was also 3 other diva's that looked identical to Shelby! John kept taking pictures of the wrong Diva.

More Birthday fun!

Jordan so excited to drive us all to the party!

Dakota dressed and ready to go to PIRATE ISLAND

The boy's chowing down on pizza

Grandpa Dan stopped by for some yummy pizza and the birthday festivities

Grandma Alice Joined in on the party fun!

Madison so excited she got what she wanted!! Ipod Nano. This was a true Kodak moment!

Madison enjoying the birthday wishes from the gang at Pirate Island!

This is the biggest Pizza we have ever seen! Jordan and Grandpa said they could eat the whole thing themselves!! Jordan won by eating 5 slices!

Dakota, Shelby and Madison enjoying the food and the pirate ambiance!

Happy Birthday Madi girl!! Love you:) Grandpa John is smiling down on you!

Happy Birthday Madison!

Happy Birthday to our Beautiful Madison Michele! We can't believe you are 12 today!! Where has the time gone? It's hard to believe you were once so small! I remember setting the date for you to arrive to our little family! We wanted your Aunt Karen to see you before she left on her mission, so we scheduled your arrival on October 21st at 8:00 A.M. You came to us with a full head of black hair and looked like you were of Navajo decent. I thought for sure you had been switched at birth! You were the cutest baby I had ever seen!! Now look at you! You are 12 and more beautiful then ever!You're not only Beautiful, you have a great personality. Always making people laugh, with your funny faces and funny sayings!!

You have so much fun with your friends! They love you Madi!

You are always doing something wild and crazy, and that's what we love about you!! Thanks for the past 12 years! You have brought us much joy and we love you so much! Happy Birthday Sweetie!

lagoon

Saturday we had the opportunity to spend the day at lagoon. It was very overcast and cold!
We decided to split up into groups of two to make for less confusion as to what rides to go on. Jordan and Madison took off in one direction and John and Dakota in another. Shelby and I decided to ride the tram across to the other side of the park. Ok, so me and heights don't really go well together and, I also found out Shelby doesn't do well either. We both freaked out on our very first ride!! Shelby was more into the spinning rides after that, not so good for me though. During the fall season lagoon adds a little extra events that go along with Halloween! They had a haunted house, Monster shows and people dressed in costumes greeting the guests. They even had a hypnotist there.

We caught up with Madi and Jordan for a while and we all went on the roller coaster and the bat ride together. By late afternoon we were freezing and met up at the Arby's for hot chocolate and a little heat being indoors.

Shelby on the mini roller coaster, She had so much fun! Her favorite ride was the tidal wave. We must have went on that like 10 times!

Just me being silly:)

The darker it got the cooler it got! Shelby and i went to the car to warm up and found Dakota and john there doing the same.. Dakota had gotten wet and was freezing!

The kids are already looking forward to next year.

Conference and the Alpine Loop

This weekend we had the opportunity to hear from the prophet, apostles and Church leaders! Saturday morning session i spent watching it in our hotel room in park city with Shari, Cindy and Alicia. It was nice to be with kind loving friends while listening to the wonderful talks given.

The afternoon session i watched with my family and it was just as amazing. Sunday we made sure everyone was up dressed and ready for 2 wonderful sessions that we would watch together. President Monson's talk was a good one for me to hear! " Have I done any good in the world today?" I want that to be my new motto. If you look up and down your street you can see so many people that are in need of a helping hand, a shoulder to cry on, a meal to be brought in, children to care for. There are plenty of opportunities for us to provide service to others! We need to do more giving and less taking. Elder Holland gave an amazing Testimony of the truth fullness of the book of Mormon. Very powerful talk. Elder Scott talked about listening to the whispering of the spirit and how the trash of modern day life can guide the spirit away. It was an amazing 2 days of joy as we sat as a family and listened to the words of our leaders!

During the break we took a drive around the Alpine Loop, It was raining as we started up the road to sundance. Jordan asked if he could drive, he needs 20 hours on the road so he can take his drivers test. As we started up the winding road past sundance, the weather was changing from rain to sleet and hail. Jordan was determined to drive clear to American Fork. I was about to have a heart attack at every switch back!!! When it started to snow i asked if he wanted me to take over and he said" Mom, I am driving very slowly and i think I can make it" I have to say he did a great job even though the weather was difficult. We arrived safely at home 5 minutes before the second session.

We had a great weekend together as a family and we are ready for another great week!

Twins

Madison and Mykel both broke their arms in the same spot on the same arm! It was hilarious to see their arms wrapped in bubble wrap playing soccer! They played a great game despite their casts!

The whole team wanted to sign the cast after the game, I think that must be the fun part of getting a cast. The only fun part! Ha,Ha!

Another Broken Bone!

Madi had a game in Salt lake yesterday and this is a picture of her before the game.
This is after... A broken wrist! She had a bad fall during the very first play of the game! She came out and we wrapped her wrist and she rested for 5 minutes and was put back into the game. She played very well even though she was in a lot of pain. We were so proud of her for being so tuff! After the game we took her to the first med. She will go to the orthopedic surgeon on Monday and get a cast. She has a game in Salt Lake on Monday night so we will bubble wrap her cast so she doesn't whack someone with it!

We are keeping track of madi's broken bones, so far in her short 11 years here on earth she has broke, both femurs, foot twice, collar bone, wrist and her arm. We hope this is the end of broken bones.