A lot has been going on here at our house. After I met with the Mayor I did my first support group meeting and it was good there were not a lot of people there but the ones that were, were able to meet other caregivers. The next day Jaren woke up throwing up so we ended up in he hospital, ON HIS BIRTHDAY, what a way to spend your birthday huh? NOT it was not a fun day they had to admit him to make sure that he was getting better and we got to come home the next day which was good, but he didn't really get a whole lot better for a long time after that. He now has an aide that comes in the morning to help get him up an ready for the day, like eating breakfast, taking blood sugars and she takes him on a walk. I have to be up and have everyone ready for the day by 7:30 am to be to work by 7:45 am it is nice because I get home at 11:30 am but very hard to get up so early and get everyone ready including myself.
Meeting with the social worker
We went and met with the social worker at the Uof U to see how things were going, he said that we were doing a really good job with things but that I need to break out of routine once in a while so I don't get burnt out. I have a hard time leaving Jaren over night so he suggested that I leave the kids with someone and him and I go somewhere, I thought about it and it seems weird to me to take him somewhere because it is a lot more work for me to be gone somewhere that he is not familiar with and the kids need a break too, so we decided to go on a little mini staycation!!
Park City
Our little getaway was the best thing we have done in a long time we stayed close to home but we were able to get away and enjoy each other and we definitely broke out of our routine which was so nice. We left here Thursday afternoon and got there about 3:30pm and of course the kids were really excited because our hotel had an indoor pool so we went swimming ALOT they were in 7th heaven. Jaren didn't really want to do a whole lot so he stayed in the room a lot and I took the kids swimming. I even got in with them once. We did a little shopping at the outlet stores but didn't buy anything. We wanted to go back on Friday to the outlets.
Friday morning we got up went swimming of course and then got ready for the day went shopping and then in the afternoon my sister came up with her husband and he grew up in Park City, he is a farmer up there so his brother and him took the kids and I horse back riding! Jaren stayed back at the cabin with my sister that was nice of her to stay with him so he didn't wander off. It was sooooo fun the kids loved it, it was a beautiful day and they were so nice to take us. If you ever go to Park City call Red Pine Adventures for horse back riding in the summer time and snow mobile tours in the winter. They are excellent and they were so nice. After the horse back riding we went and stopped at his parents house and got to talk to them for awhile, when we left we went and saw the sheep that they own and then we went to dinner with them. Saturday came way to fast, and it was time to go home. We did go swimming one more time though before we checked out. After we got ready and checked out of the hotel we went and toured the Utah Olympic Park, it was the neatest thing they have a museum that you can tour for free, they have a bobsled that you can sit in for pictures, and they let you sit outside and watch the skiers train it was amazing!! they did ariels and landed in the pool it was really cool to see. They also have a free chairlift ride that you can ride up and then walk down a little trail back to the main building. They also have some really cool zipline rides too but they cost so we didn't do those. I am so thankful that I was told to actually go somewhere, we have not been anywhere for a very long time. I guess I was waiting for someone to give me permission to actually take a break and not feel guilty about it. It was hard to take Jaren but he did really good and it was really nice to enjoy some time with just me and the kids that was fun and not to much work.
Bake Sale
I didn't mention the bake sale, RaKelle and Ashlyn put together a bake sale for a young women activity for the AFTD. The AFTD held a food for thought week fundraiser and their goal was to raise awareness for FTD (frontotemporal dementia) in all states in the US and in Canada. The girls did an awesome job, we got donations from a ton of generous people that shared their talents with baked goods. I was very pleased with the great job they did. They raised $735.00 for the AFTD and I know it will go toward a lot of good things for that foundation and we were happy to do it. It taught my kids that we can do things in our own community that will help a lot of people all over the country and it didn't take that much effort. It was freezing cold that day but it could have been worse it could have been snowing so that was a blessing. They learned how to collect money and give change. They got to talk with people and tell them how it is living with a loved one with dementia. I hope that they will remember how good they felt when we counted how much they raised and how many people came to support us for this cause. I hope that they will do more in the future. I am so thankful for the AFTD giving us the opportunity to help many people like their dad.
