Glasses Update

The first few months of having Tessa in glasses was such a fight to keep them on, pushed up and adjusted properly. It didn't take long for me to become beyond frustrated that they were always low on her nose, crooked or not fitting properly. Improved vision is dependent upon correctly fitted glasses and I'm very conscientious about that happening. (Ashamedly, I was also annoyed because she looked so nerdy with slipping-down glasses.) So one trip to the pediatric optician at Moran and told her that I needed either A) a strap of some sort, B) some glasses adjustment skills, or C) cables. We came out with cables (the soft curvy thing that makes them fit on the ears snugly). I can't believe what a difference they have made. At first we saw a huge jump in behavior improvement. We found out later why when we visited her optometrist: her vision in glasses improved from 20/60 with the glasses to 20/30! Having them fit properly has made all the difference (and I'm not going crazy from her glasses always sitting mid-nose!) With farsightedness, vision is not instantly corrected with glasses, the brain has to learn how to see with them and that takes practice and time. Having the cables also has caused her less frustration with the glasses themselves. They don't seem to bother her as much so they get pulled off much less therefore resulting in fewer needed adjustments. All so good. (Now to address the bending-them-out-of-shape-during-fit-throwing moments. . . )

Greta is doing fantastic all around. She is doing much better also since Tessa got cables because when Tess pulled her glasses off, so did Greta---and Greta's got bent out of shape much more than Tessa's. All of that bending Greta's back into shape weakened them so when she fell off the couch in May, they snapped and a lens fell out. It may not seem like a big deal, but keeping on top of her vision is so important so we can hopefully avoid patching and so that she can make as much improvement as possible before age 6-7 when vision development decreases. So for her to be in her back up pair with the old prescription for a couple of weeks caused me a great deal of concern. On the way up to the Moran the idea came that I should have her current lenses put into her back up pair. (That is one advantage of being so small that only one pair of frames fit you!) That little inspiration turned out to be a HUGE blessing because it took 5 weeks for her glasses to be repaired. (The frame she was in had been discontinued so the amazing optician found us another frame exactly the same shape and got them for us under our warranty--even though they were $60 more.)

Meanwhile, Greta took another bad spill and broke the back up pair the same way she had the other ones. We had only one choice: tape. It wasn't pretty, but it worked and it was better than having her go without glasses. (I tried that for 15 minutes and the mellow little sweetie screamed non stop because I wasn't giving them to her. . . there was no way I could do a week of that.) We've been back in commission for a bit and it is so much better.

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When the glasses finally came in, we didn't have a van, so I had to find another way to get to Moran. The trip merits recording: (from an email I sent to my family)

So today I was quite fed up with Greta's glasses issues and called Moran to see where in the world they were. Lo and behold they were in. So how do you get to SLC from American Fork without a mode of transportation? You take a bus and then a train and a little brother to help. What would have taken 1 1/2-2 hours was a lovely 6 hour adventure. That is just a bit wearing on everyone's patience.

A few highlights:
Tessa singing loudly "I will go, I will do, the thing the Lord commands. . . ." very loudly on the train while cruising on the U's campus. I'm not sure anyone was entertained besides me.

One of our buses almost got in a wreck. The driver slammed on his brakes and everyone went flying. The bus was very full and many people were standing so people were flying into each other. After it was all over the guy sitting in front of us jokingly assured us we were safe because he had his long board up that would have stopped us from flying out the window. I felt so safe!!!

Yay! New glasses! Both girls' glasses were way out of shape and so we are now back in business for another few weeks. (Greta actually got an entire new pair, new frames, new lenses and all. They are now the flexible kind so I think we are going to be able to deal with bumps and falls a little better now. All of this and at the end of the month she'll get another new pair since her Dr. will be reevaluating her prescription. . . oh well, they were free!)

Trying to keep a hold of a free-spirited Tess on crowded busy streets (during transfers) is a nightmare. (That's not really a highlight I guess.)

We stopped @ Zuppas for lunch on the way home. (We tried to call you, Kelsie, to see if you wanted to join us.)

We got off the train at 3:37 and the bus we needed had departed at 3:35. The next bus came at 4:45. Next time I will check the schedule. That hour was a killer because everyone was tired and soooo ready to be home.

There are a lot of interesting people who ride public transportation!!!

Two people asked if the girls were twins.

I was so thankful to have Chandler along.

And YAY we have new glasses. I can't even begin to tell you how much easier that makes life (otherwise I wouldn't have made the sacrifice . . . .)

Broken Things

Within the past month, we've had a lot of broken things around here. . .

Broken window, broken light fixture, broken faucet, broken outside outlet. . .

Broken glasses. . .

This pair is Greta's--and it's her back up pair so we were in a bit of a pinch for a while. It's such a long story so an entire post just about this will hopefully be forthcoming. (We've also had a few issues with Tessa's too. . . )

Broken van. . .

Tom ran into a guy's trailer hitch (while on the freeway)--- thankfully it didn't do any damage to the guy's truck, but because the hitch went right into our transmission and radiator, it totaled the van--not hard to do when you drive such classics as us! However, it's hard to buy a new van when the brains behind that task is off at scout camp or spending time in the hospital. . . so we've been making due with Tom's truck the past few weeks. (Two people working, cross country practice twice a day, three kids in swimming makes things a bit taxing for the driver. . . but what else should I expect with a family of seven.)

Broken heart. . .

Sort of. We spent a few days this past week in the cardiac unit of UVRMC determining that Tom has a virus that is making his heart act like it needs a pace maker. . .more on that later too, I suppose. . .

Although not 'broken', also within the last month Tessa has come up missing on two different occasions for about 40 minutes. One of those times she had Greta half way to a park that is a half mile walking distance from our house. When I finally found them, Greta was in the middle of the road with a car patiently waiting for her to move. The other time, she was hiding under our bathroom sink. We had checked the whole house and all of her usual hiding spots three times but because of the previous episode we concluded that she was out of the house. We had many in the neighborhood also looking with us before we found her. (I had the feeling to send Cache back to look and she had moved from the bathroom to behind the couch so it was an easy find. So thankful for that prompting.)

All of these broken things have got me thinking about the title of this talk: Broken Things to Mend, by Jeffrey R. Holland. So I read it today. This stood out to me:

I testify that the Savior’s Atonement lifts from us not only the burden of our sins but also the burden of our disappointments and sorrows, our heartaches and our despair. ¹⁴ From the beginning, trust in such help was to give us both a reason and a way to improve, an incentive to lay down our burdens and take up our salvation. There can and will be plenty of difficulties in life. Nevertheless, the soul that comes unto Christ, who knows His voice and strives to do as He did, finds a strength, as the hymn says, “beyond [his] own.” ¹⁵ The Savior reminds us that He has “graven [us] upon the palms of [His] hands.” ¹⁶Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion and Atonement, I promise you He is not going to turn His back on us now. When He says to the poor in spirit, “Come unto me,” He means He knows the way out and He knows the way up. He knows it because He has walked it. He knows the way because He is the way.

In the big picture, these broken things in our lives are trivial and fairly easy to mend. They really are not that important as long as we keep our sights on the true mender and healer. This adventure in mortality is strengthening our spirits and preparing us for greater things! I'm thankful!

Sew Cha Cha!

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