Summer Adventures

It seemed like the summer flew by since we had so many vacations planned! I'm just now getting around to sorting through all my pictures.  There are so many I could choose from each trip, but here are just the highlights from all our trips this summer.

We visited a total of 11 states during our travels this year! Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, Missouri, and Illinois.

Louisville State Park, NE

We bought a new pop up trailer last spring to make camping easier for our family.  We took it to a state park close to home to try it out for the first time.  We played at the sandy beach and went to the archery range.

Columbia, MO

Our next trip was to Columbia, MO where we camped in our pop up at Finger Lakes State Park. Our main purpose for going on this trip was for me to attend a harp conference there.  I attended the workshops while Justin took the kids to explore Rock Bridge State Park and we attended harp concerts together in the evening.  On our way home, we stopped to see Far West, MO.

This was a gorgeous harp, but the $35,000 price tag was a little much!

This harp was my favorite. Molly liked the little red lap harp.

 

Lexie and Molly playing at Rock Bridge State Park.

Far West, MO

Ponca State Park, NE

Next was our annual campout with several of our friends at Ponca State Park. We do this every year, and quickly found how uncomfortable camping in humidity can be in Nebraska summers.  It was awesome this year to have a trailer with air conditioning! We went to the archery range a few times, went swimming at the new aquatic center, visited the National Music Museum in Vermillion, SD, and had a lot of fun chatting around the campfire each night.

 Salt Lake City, UT

We made a quick trip in late June to Utah for my grandma's funeral.  It was a very short trip and a very long drive, but we were glad we could be there to remember my grandma and be with my family.

Tolman Family Reunion
Breckenridge and Vail, CO

We had a family reunion with Justin's family in Colorado this year.  We explored Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, and Vail.

The tube run in Vail, which was surprisingly terrifying!

Annie loved all the gondola rides!

Lexie was awesome on the ropes course!

Split Rock Creek State Park, MN 

Next we met my brother's family for a camping trip in Minnesota.  We stayed at a state park with an awesome lake and had a great time paddle-boarding and kayaking.  We also went to Pipestone National Monument which was neat.

 Local Hikes

We are lucky to live close to several nice state parks, so Justin and I spent a lot of time this summer exploring and hiking in some different parks.  We went to Platte River State Park, Schramm State Park, and Mahoney State Park to hike for date nights.

Platte River State Park

Oldroyd Family Reunion
Yellowstone National Park

We met up with all the Oldroyds in Island Park, ID near Yellowstone. Since the drive there was so long for us, we made several fun stops along the way.  On our way out, we stopped at several Nebraska sites including Smith Falls State Park and Fort Robinson. In Wyoming, we stopped at Independence Rock, Martin's Cove, and the Sixth Crossing of the Sweetwater.

At the reunion, we spent two full days at Yellowstone National Park and then went to other sites nearby including Earthquake and Hebgen Lakes, Big Spring, and Mesa Falls.

On our drive back home we stopped in the Tetons, saw the Guernsey Wagon Wheel Ruts, made a quick stop in Fort Laramie, visited Scotts Bluff National Monument, Carhenge, and Bessey National Forest in Nebraska. 

Smith Falls State Park, NE

Martin's Cove, WY

Scotts Bluff National Monument

Carhenge, NE

Nauvoo, IL

For one last camping trip of the season, we decided to go to Nauvoo in October. We took a four day weekend and camped close to Historic Nauvoo at Nauvoo State Park. Each of us were able to attend the temple. We spent time hiking in the state park and drove to Carthage as well.

Historic Nauvoo

Nauvoo Temple

Treatment Complete!

After 3 long years of braces and major jaw surgery, Justin's treatment for his crooked jaw is finally complete!

Justin started treatment in December of 2014 when he got his braces put on.  After about a year, Justin had major jaw surgery in November 2015.  He continued with braces for two years after surgery to make final tweaks to his teeth with his jaw aligned. Then earlier this week, Justin finally got his braces off.

He has some minor nerve damage and numbness in his chin and around his lips, but not nearly the amount that the surgeon was expecting, since Justin's jaw correction was so dramatic.  He had one of the worst misalignments that the surgeon had seen.  But he looks great now and we can't believe the dramatic improvement!

I've made sure that all these pictures are perfectly straightened with Justin's eyes level.  This helps show really how tipped both jaws were and how offset the center of his chin was.

Justin's teeth line up so much better now, reducing the risk of him breaking teeth.

December 2014                                                                  September 2017

December 2014                                                                  September 2017

These x-rays are most impressive.  During the surgery, Justin had his upper jaw cut and disconnected from the rest of his face. Some bone was removed from one side and added to the other to level out his upper jaw.  (The upper jaw used to slant up to the right as you look at him.)

The lower jaw was similarly cut with bone being removed on one side and added to the other to even it out and make it straight. Again, these pictures are perfectly straight as indicated by the x-ray markers across the bridge of the nose and up his forehead.  You can see how slanted both jaws were where his bite lines up. You can also see the metal brackets in the after picture that were screwed in to hold the cut bones all together.

This is a model skull that shows where the cuts were made in his upper and lower jaws, indicated by the black lines.  It also shows some of the metal brackets used to hold everything back together.

Braces, Music Programs, and Annie on the News

I just realized I never posted anything about Christmas! So here's a picture of us before church on Christmas morning.  I got to play my harp for about 30 minutes of prelude before the services, which I really enjoyed doing.

Before the Christmas break, Molly's 6th grade band did their first performance. Molly is really enjoying the clarinet and is doing a great job and getting a good tone!

At the end of January, Molly got her braces off! Her gums are a little swollen here, but she has taken good care of them and now she looks great!

Lexie had her school music program and did a great job on the xylophone. I'm grateful my kids can find the beat!

Lexie before her music program.  She is growing up so fast! She looked extra cute with a fancy hair style by Molly.

 

Molly also had her general 6th grade music program with all the kids playing recorders.  We couldn't see her during the performance from where we were sitting, but she let me grab a quick picture afterwards. (She also got these cute new glasses a couple weeks ago. Isn't she cute!?)

Molly turned 12 last month! She is so excited to become a Beehive and join the Young Women's group at church! Doesn't that smile look great with no braces!

Molly was chosen as one of the top 4 math students at her school to attend a district-wide math competition.  They had various tests and "events" and her team of 3 6th graders one first place!

Annie was on the local news stations here because her high school received a national award for their inclusion of students with special needs. She makes a small appearance in these news stories. We absolutely love her school and her teachers there.  They are very deserving of this award!

News story 1

News story 2

Long Time, No Problems

Annie has been extremely blessed with good health and no surgeries or hospitalizations ever since her spinal fusion and infection over all of 2014.  But her streak has come to an end. Several weeks ago we noticed that Annie had developed a mass in her lower cheek along her jawline.  We suspected it was in her parotid gland, since she has had several salivary gland issues and surgeries in the past.

I took Annie to her ENT a couple weeks ago and he suspected that the mass might just be a swollen gland in response to a different lump she has had in her upper ear lobe for several months, so he put her on antibiotics to see how the mass would respond. 

Annie also had an ultrasound of the mass, which showed that it actually wasn't in the parotid gland, which is a huge relief.  If it had been in the parotid gland, major surgery would have been required with dangerous risks to her facial nerve.

The mass did get smaller by about 50% after the antibiotics, but after following up with the ENT this week, we learned that it is a cyst that will require surgical removal.  The ENT will also remove the cyst in her ear, as he believes they are related.  Annie is also due for another dental cleaning under general anesthesia soon, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that the ENT and the dentist will be able to coordinate their schedules so that both procedures can be done at the same time to avoid a second round of general anesthesia.


We knew her streak had to come to an end eventually, but we're just happy that her next surgery is for something so minor and simple, although there are always risks with anesthesia.  We aren't sure when her surgery will be yet, but we hope it's soon enough to get her better before we plan to go camping in our new pop up trailer!

Sheet Music Now Available!

I started writing my own music for the piano in 2011, and after playing the harp for about a year, I started composing for the harp as well.  And now I've finally decided to start making that sheet music available to others.

I've recently launched my new website Music by Jodi Ann, where I have all my songs available.  I have several piano solos available as well as harp solos and a harp/flute duet.  Most of my harp solos can also easily be played on the piano as well. So check out my new website.

I'd also appreciate you subscribing to my YouTube Channel and following me on Facebook.  And if you'd like to be notified of new music that becomes available, you can sign up on my website.

Here are a couple of the most recent songs I've written:

One of Justin's favorite hymns (and now Molly's too) is Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, so I wrote a piano solo of it about six years ago and just recently wrote a simplified version of it since Molly has been begging to play that song.  A few months ago, I also wrote an arrangement of Come Thou Fount as a harp/flute duet, and now I've tweaked my original piano arrangement a bit to create a unique harp solo.  I wrote this harp arrangement in 4/4 time instead of this hymn's traditional 3/4 time signature which I think gives it a more peaceful and contemplative feel.



I also wrote a new harp solo arrangement of Abide With Me based on the piano solo I wrote about six years ago.  However, this harp arrangement is unique because the third verse transitions into 6/8 time, giving the melody a fresh sound.




I have more new harp videos on my YouTube Channel including Amazing Grace, A Thousand Years, and my harp/flute duet of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, so make sure to subscribe to my channel so you don't miss anything.  You can also hear all my piano solos on my YouTube Channel.  And all the sheet music is available on my website.

Harp Happiness!

One of my new goals for 2017 is to record more harp videos.  Specifically, my goal was to record six songs, thinking that doing one every two months was realistic.  However, as I started looking through my music, I kept coming across songs I wanted to record, so I've almost met my goal already.  I also purchased some inexpensive lighting equipment that helps with the quality of my videos, giving me more flexibility with where and when I can film.  So in the last few weeks, I've recorded these five pieces.  Here they are with a little info about each one...


First of all, my family and I are SO excited to see the new Beauty and the Beast movie starring Emma Watson.  So in anticipation, I wrote this arrangement of the movie's classic love song, Beauty and the Beast.  This is my first arrangement to be published and can be purchased online, through SMP Press.  CLICK HERE to purchase a copy of the sheet music.  It is written for harp, but it is also a nice arrangement for the piano--just ignore the harp notation.

This arrangement of Amazing Grace is written by Brook Boddie.  He has written several beautiful arrangements, and I've really enjoyed his writing style.  He discovered me on YouTube after I posted a video of one of his arrangements a couple years ago, and he as been very generous and kind to me as I continue to learn the harp.

I love the music of The Phantom of the Opera so this arrangement of Angel of Music has been a fun piece to learn to play.  This arrangement is written by Sylvia Woods, from her Andrew Lloyd Webber book.  I hope to learn some of her other Phantom of the Opera arrangements later this year.

This next song is called Gavotte and it is written by Bernard Andres, a well-known classical harp composer.  This is a piece that my harp teacher gave me to learn for my harp lessons.  I was challenged to memorize it and thought that I ought to record it to help me meet my goal for the year.

This last song is called Love Divine, All Loves Excelling but is known in the LDS church as In Humility, Our Savior.  Janet Lanier is the arranger of this piece.  She also discovered me on YouTube after I posted several arrangements of Christmas songs that she wrote.  I was surprised and flattered when she recently asked for my permission to post my videos on her website to use as examples of how her songs should be played, so that has been fun.  I have several of her music arrangements, mostly hymns and Christmas music, so I thought I'd record this hymn arrangement since it's one of Justin's favorites.

Christmas Harp Music

I had a lot of fun recording some Christmas harp music today. Some of these songs are arranged by Janet Lanier, and some I arranged myself. All of these, plus some others not included here, will be part of the harp prelude I'm playing before church services on Christmas morning.

I particularly had a lot of fun arranging Silent Night. The first verse has lots of time signature changes, going back and forth between 3/4 and 4/4 time.  Then the song transitions into 6/8 time for the second verse. 

I realize I should have stopped to change shirts between recording each song, just to vary the look of each video. I had every intention of doing that, but just got on a roll with recording, and totally forgot!  :)

Lexie's 9th Birthday!

Lexie just turned 9 years old! She had a fun day celebrating with friends with a pizza and movie party.

 

 

Omaha Harp Circle's Christmas Performance

Our Omaha Harp Circle played our annual Christmas concert at the Children's Hospital today.  It's always fun to perform there and hopefully bring some holiday cheer to patients and families.

Storage Room Home Gym Transformation

I've kept my elliptical and weight bench in the storage room since we moved into this house, and that's where I've been exercising.  But a few weeks ago, I was feeling like the storage room is such a dark and dreary place to exercise, surrounded by shelves of lots of junk.  I threw the idea out to Justin that I could just paint a couple walls in my little exercise area to help cheer it up, and he took the idea and ran.  He said if we're going to do a transformation, we're going to do it right!

So we moved my elliptical into a different nook of the storage room that would be easier to transform and then we got to work.  In the meantime, we found a killer deal on a treadmill on craigslist, so we snatched that up to make our room even more complete, and more appealing to Justin, who hates my elliptical.

My goal was to create a room that was bright and sunshiny, and that would invigorate me each morning when I exercise.  Here's a quick before and after, then you can keep scrolling to see the process.

BEFORE and AFTER

BEFORE and AFTER

This is the TRUE "before" picture.  You can see the handle of my elliptical on the right where I used to keep it.  All the storage in the back (mostly baby clothes and gear) has been moved to where my elliptical is in the picture or has been discarded, sold, or donated.

Moved Christmas decorations on those shelves to where the elliptical used to be.  I have tons of open shelves after getting rid of lots of junk!  Feels so great!

What a dungeon of a workout space!

That's our sump pit and sump pump, along with our water meter and water lines to the house and the yard. Gotta cover that ugly stuff up!

Got the primer and concrete sealant on the walls.

Justin built a box to cover the sump pit and water meter.

The finished, but unpainted, box.

Justin installed an outlet back in the space to power the elliptical and treadmill.  He spliced it in from an outlet on the other side of the wall in Lexie's room.  This way it's also on a different breaker from the rest of the storage room.  Justin discovered earlier that the storage room breaker trips if the treadmill is running when our storage room freezer kicks on.  So now we won't be overloading any breakers.

I was planning to do a cheaper and easier remodel of the ceiling, but Justin thought we ought to make it all look really nice.  So we bought ceiling tiles to cover the ceiling.  This was by far the hardest part of the entire project, and the part that cost the most, but the finished ceiling looks great!  Here, Justin is hanging the framework that the tiles rest in.

Getting the ceiling framework up.

I wanted more light back in this area, instead of just one exposed bulb, so we put in two can lights with LED bulbs.

Getting a can light situated in the ceiling tile.

Both can lights are installed and ceiling is coming along.  I painted the yellow and white walls to bring a cheerful, sunshiny feel to the room.

I painted the floor with a heavy duty floor paint.  It made the concrete floor look so much nicer and cleaner!

I didn't want to be staring out at my storage shelves while exercising, so I sewed these drapes to create a doorway into the workout area.

I sewed matching drapes to cover the water pipes and sump pump pipes.  this makes it easy to just pull aside the drape when we need to turn the water off to the house or drain our sprinkler system each winter.  And the lid of the white box is easily removable so we can access the sump pit or water meter if we need to.  

All finished!

A much lighter and brighter place to exercise!

We plan to eventually install a small TV on the wall above the weight bench.  Just watching for a deal on Craigslist!

We put a piece of plexiglass over the top of the box to protect the surface from the weights.