Military Gals

Are you or do you know someone who is a military gal? We would love to meet you/her! Please get a hold of me somehow. I am on facebook and would love a message. We have a dinner date planned in March so please pass on the word.

Michael's knee

We had a followup appointment on Tuesday and met with Dr. Parry's PA. We found out that Michael can now start to bend his knee up to 70 degrees. Oh my!!! I am not sure if I am ready to begin this road we have ahead of us. Physical therapy in 3 weeks.

Miss Hurricane 2011

I feel so very fortunate to be able to be involved in the "Miss" pageants in our area. Miss Hurricane was last night and we had such a great show. There were 15 girls who participated and it was so much fun! I absolutely LOVE being around these girls. I am still friends with a lot of ones that have participated in the past. I love to witness the growth that the pageant gives the girls. They learn how to write a resume (basically the application is just that), learn how to present themselves, a little dancing, poise and most important in my book interview. I cannot tell you how many times I have used the skills I learned from participating in the Miss Hurricane pageant so many years ago. This year the theme was "Teine Aulelei" - Island Princess. It was such a fun island theme. The girls were able to learn a little hula. Some of those gals really can shake it! Presenting talents is a huge area we focus on also. The girls in this valley are sooo very talented! I feel truly blessed to have the opportunity to be involved. Congrats 2011 Miss Hurricane Royalty!

New blog

I have been thinking for a while that I would like to get a group together here in Southern Utah consisting of the wives, mothers, and kids of the soldiers of the 222nd. Come to find out there is a much bigger family of us. I would like us all, whatever unit, to come together as a group of "families left home". Please visit my blog familieslefthome.blogspot.com"(sorry can't seem to get the hyperlink to work) and join us!

Repaired PCL..... We hope!

Monday, January 31st at 9:45 Michael was wheeled into surgery to repair his torn PCL. At about 1:00 Dr. Parry came out and told me that all went really well. They ended up using hamstring tendons for the graft. The lateral side of Michael's knee was also suppose to be repaired but Dr. Parry said that after they completed the graft it was so solid that they felt they did not need to reconstruct that part. I guess that is good news. At about 2:30 I was finally allowed to see him. Apparently after the surgery he was in so much pain, registered by his blood pressure through the roof, they kept giving him pain medication. After multiple doses he became very nauseated and when I saw him he was sooo sick. Poor kid! He was the weirdest color like his skin was wax. Freaked me out and like my baby self scared me so bad I had to sit down to catch myself before I passed out. I am such a wuss. Here I am suppose to be the one taking care of him! After almost an hour of trying to get him fresh air and anything else that might make him feel better, the nurse helped my mom and I load him in the car with a BIG plastic bag.... just in case. We took the back roads home and he was able to get himself into the house with just crutches. I am very grateful for all that weight training and muscle building he was doing before. He can really haul himself around with just his upper body. It is quite impressive. So day 2 after surgery, Michael is doing quite well. We went to the middle school to get him registered for his classes next year. He even slept downstairs last night. Down the stairs not so difficult but up the stairs with a complete straight leg.... alot more complicated. The pictures do not quite show his brace but it goes from the thigh all the way down to the ankle to immobilize his knee. He will be like this for 8 weeks. Anyone who knows Michael knows this is probably about 7 weeks and 6 days too long. It is going to be a very difficult recovery for him. Long and hard. He has had a lot of visitors and his friends have all called to check on him. His scout troop even came and visited with ice cream. That was pretty neat. I am so grateful that there are so many people who love him almost as much as I do.

New Beginnings

Jess and I were able to go to New Beginnings on Sunday night. It was so fun to be able to hear about the new changes to Personal Progress. Since it is a ward-only year for girl's camp Jess is invited. She is so ready to join the Young Womens program and wished she turned 12 sooner. I am totally surprised this time has come. It seems time is flying faster every time I turn around.

Minestrone

My favorite soup at Olive Garden is their minestrone. I have tried a couple of recipes and this one was really good but needed just a little more flavoring. Kids are not fond of soup with so many colors but it is nice to cook it in the morning and then it is ready to eat when they are.

Late post for Christmas presents

Jessica decided she wanted to give her friends some crochet flowers after we found some really cute ones in the store. I thought it would be a really fun project for the BOTH of us but turns out I finished them at night. She just wasn't interested at all. I think they are super cute though.

Cupcake club

Jessica has an adorable girl in her primary class that every other week alternating with activity days they have a cupcake club. This month they made these adorable "microphones" out of marshmallows rolled in silver sugar sprinkles and the bottom of an ice cream cone. The candy sheet behind it was a star shaped jolly rancher melted down. They have tons of fun.