Merry Christmas 2024

 Merry Christmas friends!  We love and miss you all. Phew!  What a year  2024 has been for the Finch Family.  It has been a year of the highest highs and the lowest lows.

Greg is sick and tired of feeling sick and tired! Late last year, he learned he has prostate cancer. From surgery to radiation therapy, hormone therapy, a whole slew of new meds, and living away from home for a couple of months for treatment, he's ready for 2024 to be done! For all the bad this year, there was much good: Going to the Big 12 bball championship in KC with Adam, going to March Madness a week later with Jacob (so much basketball!), seeing his two daughters both happily married, sending Ben off on his mission, and squeezing in a half marathon in July! As far as the cancer goes, he's done all he can for now and we wait and hope for a better 2025!

 

Tammy has enjoyed spending time with the people she loves most.  She has spent a lot of time fussing over Greg this year.  She got to experience the eclipse with Adam and Camryn and Greg in Indiana.  She and her sister enjoyed getting away to Florida to swim with the manatees and play at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It was a much needed respite and she felt like a kid again.  She lazed on the beach in California when visiting her brother. She enjoyed helping the girls with their wedding plans, a short trip with Ben before his mission and a beautiful adventure to Glacier with Lizzy and Andrew.  She is tired, but so grateful her life is filled with so much love.

Adam and Camryn have been working hard and going to school at Indiana University.  Adam will graduate with his master’s in data science at the end of December.   Camryn finishes up her master’s in social work in the spring.  Adam’s hard work has paid off and he will be starting a full time job in January, working as a Data Scientist for Michelin in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.  They enjoyed hosting Greg and Tammy in the spring as they all witnessed the solar eclipse.  They continue to love to sing together and are looking forward to a trip to Hong Kong with Greg, Tammy, and Jacob over Christmas break.  

Anna married Justin Culebro in May and they are living in Orem, Utah.  We are so happy to welcome Justin to the family.  He and Anna are a great fit for each other and their wedding day was so joyful!  Anna graduated last December with her degree in Anthropology.  She is now working full time as a behavioral therapist helping kids with autism.  She continues to work on an anthropological film she created with some fellow students during her undergrad.  It will hopefully be ready for release soon.  Justin is finishing up his degree in finance and will graduate next spring.  He and Anna have created a wonderful business called Messiah AI.  They use AI and other digital tools to create artwork of the Savior.  You can find some of their work on the Havenlight site and the rest in their Etsy shop.  You should check it out.  

Lizzy was married this year too!  She married Andrew Hansen in August.  They are both going to school at BYU.  Lizzy is majoring in Exercise Science and she is busy cramming in all the classes she can so she can apply to PA school next year.  She has also been taking an EMT course and will be a certified EMT soon.  Andrew is in the very busy mechanical engineering program at BYU.  He has a side business he is working on too.  He designed a new type of pond filter and is trying to get it into the hands of the right people.  He is excited for an internship he will be doing this next summer in Dallas, Texas.  Lizzy and Andrew loved their honeymoon to Mexico, and they are both enjoying married life! And we are enjoying seeing how happy Lizzy is with Andrew!

Ben finished his first year at BYU and is now serving a mission for our church. After spending 5 months as a missionary in Orlando, he received his visa to go to his original assignment in Mozambique. It has been quite an adjustment and he has experienced some crazy things in the time he has been there.  They speak Portuguese and some local dialects there and he is still working to understand and speak better.  He has been pickpocketed, tear gassed, and visited the police station more than once.  He is coming to love the people and recognizes that they are a people full of faith.  He is busy teaching people all day long about Jesus Christ.  He is learning a lot about faith and a lot about himself.

Jacob is a senior in high school.  Our last little baby bird will be leaving the nest next year.  He stays busy with cross country and track.  This year he ran varsity and even got to run at state.  His team placed third!  In the off season he enjoys cross country skiing and has even learned to downhill ski and enjoys that as well.  He is also busy earning money working at Little Caesars pizza.  He is looking to the future as he has been applying to several different colleges.   His big adventure for the year was hiking the Inca trail in Peru with a bunch of other teenagers.  He loved it! Jacob is a joy to have at home and we are trying to soak up every minute of it.

This year has been so very hard and so very wonderful.  Through it all we have been sustained by our faith in our Savior.  He gives us strength when we are weak.  He gives us hope and peace.  We feel His love as we mourn together and rejoice together as a family.  He is an anchor to our souls and the light that shines in the darkness.  We are grateful to honor Him and rejoice in His life this Christmas season.

2021 -- Year in review

Another year has come and gone.  I didn't get any Christmas cards out this year, but wanted to record some of the blessings and accomplishments of the year.  

This has been a really big year for our family.  Lizzy graduated from high school, our family moved from Iowa to Idaho, Adam married Camryn Buxton, and Anna returned home from her mission.  We enjoyed trips to North Dakota, South Dakota, Dubai and Mexico, with a mini trip to Yellowstone and Craters of the Moon thrown in just for fun.  We got to help with the Open House for the new Pocatello Temple, and now have a Temple in our town!  It has been an amazing year.  

Greg- He spent the first part of the year doing all manner of house projects to get our house in Iowa ready to sell.  He somehow even managed to redo our deck in the subzero temperatures of January and February. His and Tammy's hard work on the house paid off and we were able to sell over list price on the very first day it was on the market.  It was a true blessing.  Greg continues to work for John Deere, but now he works remotely from our home in Idaho.  John Deere has been so pleased with Greg's work that he was named a John Deere Fellow this year.  This is the highest award that John Deere gives, and Greg is the first recipient in the digital technology fields.  We are so proud of him!  

Tammy- While Greg spent the first months doing various house projects, Tammy spent the first months of the year painting most of the interior of the house.  She hoped to take the rest of the year off from painting but has already done some painting in our new home.  Her health has been much improved after the rough 2020 she experienced.  She continues to work as a stay at home mom and loves the flexibility it gives her. She loves being closer to her college kids and loves hosting them and their friends in their new home.  

Adam- He had the hardest and most wonderful year of us all.  In the Spring he had to come home early from BYU because he was having severe and debilitating back pain.  It was discovered that he had 5 ruptured discs in his back.  Despite trying chiropractic, physical therapy, and pain management, things continued to decline.  He finally had to have surgery in May.  He worked hard to recover from surgery so he would be able to marry his best friend, Camryn Buxton.  They were married in Utah in August.  We are so very happy for them and thrilled to welcome Camryn to the family.  Adam and Camryn are now living in Provo finishing up their schooling at BYU.

                                

   

Anna- She spent most of the year on a mission for our church in and around Fresno, California.  She learned to speak Spanish, and absolutely loved being able to teach people about Jesus Christ and His love for all of us.  She returned home the day before Thanksgiving.  There were a few bumps in the road getting her home that day, but she made it, and we were blessed to have everyone here to welcome her home.  We enjoyed a few weeks with her before she headed back to school at BYU, where she is studying anthropology.

Lizzy- She graduated high school in the spring just days before we moved.  She and Adam lived together in Iowa for the summer after we left.  She didn't miss us though, because she spent the summer working hard and hanging out with good friends.  In the fall she headed to BYU.  She is loving college life, and preparing to serve a mission in the spring.

Ben- There have been so many changes for Ben this year.  He finished his sophomore year in Iowa, and began his junior year in Idaho.  In Iowa he loved singing in choir and playing on our school's quiz bowl team.  He also taught piano lessons, but had to say good-bye to his students when we moved.  At his new high school in Idaho, there is no quiz bowl team, but he jumped right in and auditioned for choir and sings in the top group at the high school.  He also auditioned for all-state choir and was accepted.  Not too many kids can say they have been in two all-state choirs.  He also continues to enjoy growing his business selling things on Amazon.  He does miss his old friends and school, but rarely, if ever, complains.  One of the highlights of Ben's year was taking an early Senior trip to Dubai with Greg and Tammy.  They enjoyed attending the World Expo and seeing new places and things.

Jacob- The transition to living in Idaho hasn't been too hard for Jacob.  He loves the outdoor activities available to him here.  And soon after moving in he started running with the high school cross country team.  His coach is dedicated and has kept them busy year round.  Now that it is winter they have even done some cross country skiing.  He thrives with this everyday physical activity in his life, and has enjoyed having teammates, and a neighbor boy as a starting place for friendships. He is also happy to be closer to his older siblings and being able to enjoy attending BYU sporting events.

   

We feel beyond blessed this year.  We are grateful for the love we felt as we departed Iowa, and at the wedding of Adam and Camryn.  We are so blessed to have such amazing people in our lives.  We have felt led and guided by our loving Heavenly Father and know that He is always watching out for us and has our best interest at heart.  We are grateful for a Savior who gave His life for us so that we can be better tomorrow than we are today.  We are grateful for the joy of family.  We are truly, truly blessed.  Here is to another amazing year ahead!

No ordinary virus

This is a post I have debated making.  I feel like it is rather vulnerable, which is some of the reason that I am choosing to write it here.

Just over seven weeks ago, on May 18th, I went shopping first thing in the morning.  When I came home I was just absolutely exhausted.  I crashed on the couch and slept for 2 hours.  I also developed a low fever and my throat was sore.  I wasn't too worried until the next day when I realized I couldn't smell anything.  My taste also seemed off.  I was able to schedule a Covid 19 test for a few days later.  As you can probably guess, I tested positive.  Mercifully, none of my family contracted it.

The worst things about those first two weeks were the chest pain and the absolute panic and terror I felt at night for no good reason.  Usually chest pain was at night and I was so terrified that it could be a heart attack.  It took at least a good week to not panic every time it happened.  The other big struggle was the panic and terror that just seemed to come on at night.  I have never felt anxiety and panic like that.  I would have to just focus so much on breathing and I would often listen to whale sounds on our Alexa just to get me calmed down, all while everyone else slept.  I know I could have woken Greg, but I hated to disturb him.  My fever broke after 12 days and three days later both my doctor and the health department said I could go out again, but since I didn't self isolate, my family had to stay home 2 more weeks.  I still didn't go out much and I definitely wasn't all better.

From the beginning of my illness I had had headaches intermittently, but by about day 10 the headaches were constant.  I also developed a very stiff neck.  I found it hard to concentrate on anything.  And there was the fatigue.  I also continued to have chest pain.  After 4 weeks (since the onset of symptoms) I went to see my doctor.  Before this we had had one telemed call.  She felt like it was now safe for me to come in.  She listened and asked a lot of questions.  She was up front in saying there is still not a lot they know about the virus.  She wanted me to see a cardiologist and Physical Therapist.  The PT has helped with the stiff neck, but not the headaches.  The cardiologist said I have pericarditis and pleuritis, but didn't really do any testing.  He did say we could do more testing if I wanted to.  It is now 7 and a half weeks out so I am going to do that.  I revisited my doc this week and here is a list I brought her of all the crazy symptoms I have had:

Here is a list of symptoms I have experienced over the last 7 weeks:

Consistent symptoms:

Headache

Chest Pain

Fatigue

Brain Fog/Hard to focus

Post nasal drip

Stiff Neck

Newer symptoms that I am most concerned about:

Stomach feels like it is riding up into my chest (this started with a feeling that there was a bubble in my chest)

Sharper back pain upper middle back

Achy  back pain in kidney area

Pain that comes and goes on the right side of my chest

Blue fingernails and toenails (comes and goes)

Toe pain

Other symptoms I have experienced that come and go:

Numbness tingling- usually left shoulder and arm

Lightheadedness and dizziness

Pins and needles feeling- usually hands and feet

Itchy skin- it will get red and itchy and then be gone in an hour or two

Facial pain- usually along one of my cheekbones

Ear pain, ringing in ears, not being able to pop my ears

Forgetting the names of things

Veins rising to the surface, feeling really sore like a varicose vein and then will disappear and be fine an hour or two later or a day later

Pink eye like symptoms- gone within a day

Insomnia/difficulty sleeping

Feeling like my throat is closing, especially when laying down

Cold sores that pop up and then will be gone in a day

My skin seems drier and more scaly and more susceptible to sunburn

Weak and shaky

Voice hoarseness

Loss of taste and smell

Dragon looking skin, just really dry and can see the pores
Tight jaw, difficult to chew hard things

Symptoms I haven’t experienced for weeks:

Sore throat

Fear and panic at night and a feeling of restlessness

Fever

Slight cough

It overwhelms me and it overwhelmed her. She suggested we focus on a few things each time we meet. Now I am headed to a GI doc and a sleep specialist. In some ways it feels similar to when I was diagnosed with Celiac. It took so many different docs and so many different tests. It can be tiring and frustrating. I do feel small improvements though. And I believe I will get all better. It just might take time. I take a lot of supplements now. I was already not eating gluten or sugar. Now I am trying to eat even better. I may try the AIP way of eating. I try to rest, but also try to do a little each day. I think for Greg the hardest part has been the brain stuff. Sometimes it kind of feels like I am a different person. It feels that way to me too. For now, I will count my blessings, hope and pray that things will keep improving. This is no ordinary virus.

Life Update!

Wow!! It has been a long time since any of us have updated this blog, so we figured it was about time
one of us did.  Since we last wrote a lot has happened. Adam finished high school up and got his
mission call! He is now serving in the China, Hong Kong mission.  He loves every second of it and
comes home May 31. We are so proud of his decision to serve and can't wait to see him in a few short
months.

The kids at Adam’s graduation!

Anna has finished her sophomore and junior years of high school and is loving her time as a senior.  
She works at the local grocery store, Hy-Vee, and loves working there and the extra money she gets.
This year was her last year of cross country.  She continues to be quite the artist and loved taking AP
art at the high school this year. She also got her senior pictures taken a few months ago.  Here is one
of her favorites.

Lizzy is a sophomore in high school this year.  She participated in cross country the past two years, and has loved that.  Currently, she is recovering from a major back surgery to fix her scoliosis.  She is doing great!! One cool thing that happened while she was in the hospital was that there was an Iowa football game! They have a tradition of waving to the kids in the hospital since the field is right below the hospital.  Lizzy got to participate in the wave which was really cool for her. Here is a picture.

Ben is in 8th grade.  He is on the high school quiz bowl team and he LOVES it!! He is also serving in
our ward as the teacher’s quorum president and does great with his church responsibilities.  He
continues to sing in choir and we love hearing him get better as a singer. Here is a picture of Ben from
a few months ago.

Jacob is in 6th grade.  Here 6th grade is middle school, so all of the kids are officially done with
elementary school! That made Tammy and Greg feel pretty old.  He is following in Ben’s footsteps
and is on the middle school quiz bowl team. He also enjoys staying active by climbing every week
with the local climbing team. Here are some pictures of him.  

Tammy continues to love her work as a full-time mom! More recently, she has been acting as Lizzy’s
full time nurse.  Now that Lizzy is back in school she keeps busy by driving the kids around, and
serving others. She is the co-chair of the BYU alumni association in the Des Moines Chapter.

Greg continues to work at John Deere.  He is the co-chair of the BYU alumni association in the
Des Moines Chapter.  He currently serves in the stake as a high councilor and is the seminary
supervisor.

Here are some more pictures of our adventures in the past couple of years.