2008 March: Robertson

Greetings one and all,

This month was rather busy for us. That is probably the biggest understatement I have ever made. Or maybe that was. Either way, we did everything that we could to keep from losing our minds. The month, at the beginning, promised to be somewhat relaxed, and then we received a phone call from Morgan's sister who is a student at BYU-Idaho saying that she was in the hospital because she was hyperventilating and having minor seizures at church. She said that it was over and she was fine, but a couple hours later, we received another call saying that she was having another attack again. We went over to her apartment, and I (Derik) gave her a blessing. We then took her home with us where she spent the next couple of days. She kept saying that she was fine, but we told her that she had to see a doctor. She said that she was ready to go back to her apartment and to her classes, but within an hour of her dropping her off at her apartment, she called us and we picked her up again. We spent the next few weeks taking care of her at our place, driving her to multiple doctor's appointments, driving her to some of her classes, and being caregivers in general. Her hyperventilating finally stopped, but the tremors never did. She would start shaking uncontrollably every now and then, and it would just make her weak and exhausted. Finally, a specialist was brought in who decided that everything was caused by a bad mix of medication with school stress triggering everything. Morgan's mom came out at that point and stayed with us for about a week to see what could be done. The doctors and her bishop decided that it would be best if she just withdraw from school and go home in order to recover and get more help. She left us and Rexburg with three weeks of school to go.

In the middle of that mess, Morgan ended up doing the flowers for two different weddings one week apart from each other. She had been planning on doing one of them ever since January, but at the very beginning of the month, Morgan was contacted by a girl that was getting married a week before the wedding Morgan was already planning. She stepped up and took the job. As soon as the bride (and mother of the bride) of the original wedding found out that Morgan was doing another wedding, sirens began to wail. Since the two families lived fairly close to each other and many of the same people would be attending both receptions, great amounts of consternation were thrown at Morgan because the bride of the original wedding was terrified that 1) the flowers of the weddings would be similar and 2) that one wedding would take precedence over the other. Phone calls were made and many reassurances went out to the agitated party that things would work out. After many hours of lost sleep, Morgan, with the help of my mom who took the girls for the days of floral production, finished the weddings. She received many compliments from the wedding she just picked up. She hasn't heard anything one way or another from the original, agitated wedding – oh well. She is glad that those are over.

As if flowers for weddings weren't enough, Morgan took a bunch of palm frawns to a Relief Society Luau where she decorated the room with them. The next week she taught a Relief Society enrichment night at our house on floral design. She had about double the amount of women show up that she was expecting, but everything went smoothly, and she had a good time.

I have been busy with my classes and my book. The book went into the printers last week and should be on the shelves of the bookstore by April 4th. The other exciting news in our lives came about a week ago when I was accepted into Grad school at a small Liberal Arts College in Minnesota. We were debating whether or not to go there since they only offer a Master's degree and I want a Doctorate; however, we then received another letter from the school saying that I had been awarded a teaching assistantship. This means I automatically get Minnesota residency, a full tuition waver, and a 10,000 dollar salary to go to school there. So, the end of July beginning August, we will be packing up and starting the move to the banks of the Mississippi to spend the next two years of our lives.

The girls are doing well. They enjoy playing with each other, and they love to laugh and make each other giggle. They have recently picked up the habit of yelling “daddy” or “dada” and get really excited every time I come home from work. It's really cute and I can't help but yell back. Morgan just smiles and shakes her head at her three children as we then chase each other around the floor. I think that I have said everything that has happened to us in this busy month. We are hoping that next month is a little more quiet - if for no other reason than for our sanity. We love you all and look forward to the day when we can see you again.

God bless you,
Derik, Morgan, Kyla, and Daria Robertson