Carter leaves us for a week...

So I was up at 6 o'clock this morning with Carter making sure he was ready to go to scout camp. We have been packing his stuff all weekend and it is unreal the amount of stuff he needed!! Everything from a cot to sleep on to a first aid kit! And I even let him take my old digital camera so I could see what his camp experience is like- hopefully he remembers to TAKE some pictures! And knowing Carter he will only take self portraits! He does that a lot! This is a shot of all the boys and the leaders getting ready to head out.
Here is Senior Patrol Leader Carter with his happy face on! He is VERY exited to go to camp! He has missed it the last couple of years due to football, so he was more than anxious to get up there and have some fun! We'll miss you Bubba! :)

Brianne's tennis #2

So Brianne had her second round of tennis lessons the first two weeks of June. She did a great job and loved to learn a new sport. She continues to try different things and hasn't quite found her favorite yet- but hey we have plenty more things to try out!! :)
I told her that she looks mighty cute as a tennis player and wanted to take her picture and in true kid form she said to hurry up because I was embarrassing her! She is so funny! But she does look cute as a tennis player- don't ya think? Good job Brianne!

Will's Gi Joe summer fun

Will shot these pictures himself of his GI Joe camp that he made in his room. I have been keeping the video games at a minimum, so they are forced to play with other things.














We have a lot of GI JOE stuff so he had a lot of fun setting everything up and playing with it! This is a shot of the trucks.














and here is the helicopter- and you must know that he took a lot more pictures- I just chose the best ones! He is so funny! and of course he told me he wanted me to put it on my blog!














This is the command center- it's pretty cool. I was pleased to see him enjoying his toys and using his imagination- do kids now days even know what that is?














Here is Will with his creation- Will had Carter snap this photo. He was so proud of his base and I am proud of him for being creative and enjoying his summer! :)

Daisy's new playmate....

So after we took Chloe back our cat Daisy was really sad :( Her and Chloe were best friends and would play quite often. She would "attack" Chloe and then they would wrestle around until one of them decided to give up- which would usually be Chloe! They had fun together and she really started to act differently and we could tell she needed a new friend, so we went and got another cat and named her Bella.

At first Daisy wasn't so sure about her. She took a big whiff of her and started hissing, but by the next night (when this photo was taken) she was starting to come around.Now they are buddies and it's only been a couple of days! They sleep and play together and it's hilarious to watch! We even caught her licking Bella when she was asleep- cute!

Here is a shot of Daisy- she is an awesome cat!

Here is a shot of Bella- she is a beautiful kitty!! I fell in love with her the minute I saw her and the kids felt the same. She is a very playful kitty and LOVES toys! So the kids play with her a lot, but after that she poops out and loves to snuggle up on a pillow.

Welcome Bella!!! We are exited to have you as a part of our family!!

Saying goodbye....

So after having our dog Chloe for almost 5 years we had to give her up. For those of you that met her you knew how sweet she was. Very loving, good mannered dog. But unfortunately she was old and had some major health problems and a few weeks ago they got even worse. And even more unfortunate is that it landed around all that was going on with the family. We decided as a family that it was time to return her to the adoption service where we got her. It was a very tough weekend for all of us- we cried and talked about how much we would miss her, but knew it was the right decision. The photo was taken right before I took her to the foster home. We love you and will miss you Chloe!!

Home again!!

I finally remembered my camera today when I went to pick up Chan and I had to get a shot of the pictures Brianne had drawn on the whiteboard in Chan's hospital room. It is a picture of her and her Dad- pretty cute. The names above are the names of his Registered nurse and nurses assistant.


Here is a shot of the leg! When I got there they had already taken all his dressings off to prepare him to leave and believe it or not they only put on a little gauze and one of those lovely pantyhose type stockings to help with blood clots, but that's it! He was sooooo glad to hear he wouldn't need a brace! :) but all in all the leg looks pretty darn good! Not really even swollen!
Here he is waiting to leave! Isn't his trapeze thing cool! It helped him maneuver in the bed a little easier. We had to wait around 20 minutes for his crutches to arrive and then we gathered all his stuff and we were on the road home! YAY!!
Here he is on the way into the house! I am very proud of him he's doing pretty dang good. He is VERY sore after he does his exercises but is trying his best to keep a happy face on. The pain killers he got are making him very sleepy so he is having a hard time staying alert, but thankfully he is not driving any large machinery right now- so he can sleep away! I guess the stack of movies will have to wait! :) We are so glad to be home and extremely grateful for thoughtful neighbors, family and friends for the dinners, visits and phone calls to help us out. ALL of it is appreciated so much- THANK YOU!!!

Chan is up and About...

Well it's only one day out of surgery and he is doing better. The pain is slowly getting better- he still has times when it gets pretty dang sore- but he is managing to handle it well. He met with his physical therapist for the first time today and she got him up and out of bed and walking down the hall with a walker! And this is no easy thing- he still has all kinds of tubes coming out of him, but he did a great job! He also has this contraption that they put his leg into and it bends and straightens the knee. They want him to get as much as 4 hours on this machine a day to get that knee bending at an even better angle every day. The machine didn't bother him at all and the walking made him a bit sore but not as bad as he had thought it would. I am very proud of him- he is being a real trooper! As of today it looks like he will be coming home on Friday or Saturday morning (he is hoping for Friday) and then he will begin therapy here at home. The kids and I went to visit him today and I think they were relieved to see him looking so good. They only spoke to him on the phone yesterday and he was pretty loopy and didn't really sound like himself, so today was much better! He also got visits from his Sister Brooke and her husband as well as his Mom- Thanks guys! And thanks to everyone who have called or sent messages- it means a lot! Keep those prayers coming- they are very helpful for us all! :)

PS- sorry there were no pictures I forgot my camera both times I was at the hospital today :(

Sugery update...

So it has been rather quiet- Chan has been sleeping fairly well- just waking on occasion. He has felt well enough to eat a bit- some jell-o and turkey- and I have been hanging out watching him sleep and checking out the view from the window. It's not too bad- this picture was taken in the waiting area by his room.

Here he is post surgery- not as chipper as he first photo, but I am just grateful he is resting!! He is still in a significant amount of pain, but is trying to just sleep as much as possible. I plan on staying with him a bit longer and then am heading home to attend to my kids and get some rest myself. It has been a long day and I am thrilled so far as to how all is going. I just want him to continue to rest up! Chan says ," I am happy the surgery piece is over and look forward to getting home."

Sleeping now...

So I finally got to talk to Chan and he is very groggy. He comes in and out and asks if I called everyone (so like him to worry about everyone else) but also was telling me that he is in a lot of pain. From a 1-10 scale and 10 being worst he said it was a 9 or 10. Not so good, but his nurses got him going on his pain meds and they instructed me on how to stay on top of it so he can be more comfortable and can sleep. I think we finally got there because he has dozed off now. I hope he will continue to rest comfortably- I can tell he is hurting- but will be watching the clock like a hawk and stand ready to tell him to push his pain button!

out of surgery...

Chan is out of surgery now and in recovery. I am waiting for him in his room so I can talk to him. He is in St Marks Hospital in room 5W 13. His doctor said all went very well and now he just needs to rest up a bit so we can jump him in to rehab! Fun Fun...

Here we go....

Well here is Chan waiting in the ambulatory room. He is all set- got the lovely robe and stocking on and is ready to take on the surgery...

Here is his "bling" as he likes to call it...

This is Chan and Chris- on their way to the surgery room. Now all I can do is wait....... more info to come when I get it........

Curb Appeal

So the clock at our house has been running pretty fast compared to our project list and to say we were worried is an understatement!! Chan was scheduled for knee replacement surgery back in February for June 9th and we knew that there were a lot of things we needed to accomplish before then. The main one being the fence in this photo! The section closest to our house blew down last winter and we managed to do a quick fix to last till spring but ended up ripping the entire fence out and starting over! The old one was ugly and in VERY bad shape so we began building this new one in May and finished it last Friday!!
We also were having major problems with our sprinkling system, our tree in the front yard needed trimming, the landscape needed work etc etc etc!! well we got some help an managed to get it all fixed!! Doesn't it look nice!!
we also had this new curbing put in and made the planters larger so we could add some much needed landscaping!
This isn't the greatest photo- but the flowers under the window have been there a while, but I planted the new items off to the left- some perennials that will hopefully grow much bigger next season! :) But overall I feel we made a 200% improvement- don't you?!! Let me know what you think! And watch for entries on Chan's surgery day and updates.....

Temple celebration!!

This is Chan and I arriving at the conference center and waiting in line to go in and see the youth of some of the Stake's in the Draper temple district perform a program that they have been practicing for 2 months! Carter was only one of the 7,000 youth to be able to participate!
This is where our seats were in the conference center, but the amazing part is that the entire lower level was filled with the youth that were participating- it was an amazing sight to see!
This is our ticket! The program was called "Come up to the Mountain of the Lord". Before the program started the Prophet came out and spoke to all the youth and told them how excited he was to see them perform. Carter was so exited to see him!
This was the final scene of the show- and you can see that they got a standing ovation! It was an amazing show- you could feel the excitement and the spirit of all these kids! I was so proud of ALL of them! It was quite an accomplishment for them and their leaders to pull off! Such an amazing experience!
Carter was a railroad worker-they went through the history of Utah and connecting the railroad was huge! He looked so great in his costume (along with some suspenders that you can't see) and he had to perform a dance! He was GREAT!! He was so exited to be able to take part!
All of the kids also got a bracelet that said Come up to the Mountain as well as the white ribbon he is wearing on his shirt. It says his name and the name of the program- so cool!
We are so proud of him!! Can't you tell!! We are bombarding him with photos!! He is such a great kid- we are lucky! Nice Job Bubba!!!
This is the conference center downtown- got one last shot as we were leaving. It's a beautiful building! :)