Christmas - 2015 - Last One At This House Until 2019

By default Ben and Haley spent their first married Christmas with us. They might have wished to be spending their first Christmas together by themselves, but since they were temporarily living with us, this is how it went down.

They were over there on that couch...

...and I was over here on this couch--eating my breakfast, icing my feet and waiting for the festivities to begin.

Haley had the honor this year of reading the story of the birth of Christ from the Bible before we started opening presents.

These two really love games.

And they love watching movies.

These are little gifts Brooke gave us. She told me she just knew we were going to love her gifts and she was right!

Eli and Carson made us ornaments to hang on the tree.

Ben couldn't resist buying Haley this little stuffed animal which Haley has always thought has scary-looking eyes.

They gave us a Victorinox knife--Haley's favorite brand of cutlery.

We gave Ben and Haley the olive wood nativity set we had brought home for them from the Holy Land.

This is how it looks all set up. Well, this is Rebecca's set. It looks similar to this. Each of the children now have a set.

I was anxious to get Ben's updated family photo this year as he was going from a single guy in his photo to a married man photo with his new wife.

We definitely had a good laugh over the new photo they presented us with--this lovely one of them with his mountain man beard that he was sporting in all the pictures of our family Disneyland trip.

Turns out there was another option for us to choose which photo to display in the living room (and to take with us when we go on our mission).

Ben opened the biggest box last and found a bean bag chair inside.

Over the course of the next few days, it expanded to twice this size. It was amazing.

Nani had left these three snowmen on our porch on Christmas Eve which really brightened my evening when Glen showed them to me on one of my painful bathroom walks.

Here I am one week after foot surgery, sitting in yet another doctor's office. Please notice I had finally gotten up enough gumption to wash my hair by this day.

I had had a lump in my mouth for several months and was going to show the dentist the lump at my next appointment. On Christmas Eve, Nani took a picture of it and showed my dentist (who is her friend's son-in-law) and he said he would refer me to an oral surgeon.

Well, that meant the problem immediately went from a dental issue to a medical insurance issue and I needed to get it taken care of before the end of the year. I only had three days in which to do it before the New Year's holiday was upon us.

I found an oral surgeon available and off I went to get another free surgery in before the end of the year. I thought it would be no big deal because I wasn't going to be put out. It was going to be just like getting a cavity filled. A little numbing shot, a little cut and snip, a little stitching--no big deal.

WELL, let me assure anyone reading this that it was a very big deal! I was already in so much pain with my feet. It was my first outing since surgery, so that was draining. All my pain medication had worn off well before I got back home.  It was a super freezing cold day. It all added up to disaster that evening.

I was so miserable and hurting and the deadening was wearing off my mouth which made me realize my mouth/jaw area had really been traumatized--enough to cause bruising. I was so cold I could not get warm even with multiple blankets piled upon me. The nerve endings in my feet were on overload and it felt like I was having nerve pain shooting from my feet up into my mouth and back down again.

The only thing I kept thinking about was what a dumb idea it had been and how I had brought on that trauma--actually both traumatic surgeries--myself and I had no one to blame for my misery except myself.

It was a rough four days. A few days after that I noticed my stitches were no longer in place in my mouth. I also noticed I had traded in my original lump for a different kind of lump. I also noticed my mouth was still half numb and as of now--6 weeks later--I still have numbness in my lower lip and I still have a lump inside my lower lip on the left side. Thankfully the biopsy showed nothing to worry about. It was a clogged saliva gland.

At my post-op check, the doctor said this new lump could be scar tissue or it could be the same issue happening all over again. He feels like the numbness will eventually go away. He said he would be willing to remove this second lump and see how that goes if I am not happy with the results. In determining how un-fun the first time was and determining how much pain I have still been in with my feet, I opted to wait a few weeks and see how it feels after my lip has hopefully regained feeling once again. SHEESH!! Nothing is ever easy, medically, with me!

And that is how we spent Christmas and New Year's around here. I was happy to have Ben and Haley living with us to offer a little diversion to my issues. They are cute kids and I had grown quite accustomed to having them around all the time.

Quotes of the Week

"You're never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child." 
-- Dr. Seuss 

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." 
-- Leonardo da Vinci 

"The most effective way to do it, is to do it." 
-- Amelia Earhart

"Surround yourself with people who make you a better person." 
-- Author Unknown 

A Dreadful Christmas Present I Gave Myself

For many years I have been having troubles with my feet.

It started with plantar fasciitis and bone spurs on my heels. I have had to wear arch supports in all my shoes. Neuromas were screaming pain at me from between my toes making it feel like I was walking on marbles. I was growing bony lumps on the sides of my feet. And to top it off, I was getting bunions. SHEESH!!! How much can two feet on one woman handle?!?

With the expense of my pacemaker surgery earlier in the year, combined with our more recent mission call heaped upon my sore aching feet, I came to the conclusion I would never be able to endure 3 years of wearing dress shoes 24/7 without taking drastic measures.

So, taking a deep breath, carefully calculating my best time to do something about it, I scheduled double foot surgery four days before Christmas. Our deductible had been met with the pacemaker, so this was going to be a free surgery.

Glen had planned to stay home from Minnesota the last two weeks of December which made it the absolute only time I could have surgery with him home to be my nursemaid the first two weeks when I could only get up 4-5 times a day to use the bathroom.

Hence the Christmas gift I gave myself... Couldn't resist putting the festively wrapped post-op boots under the tree in anticipation of the big day.

Glen proved to be the most attentive nursemaid. He carefully loosened the bandaged wrap as instructed by the doctor to try and ease the pain due to swelling.

 YIKES!! That wasn't a pretty sight!

I spent the majority of my time on the couch with my feet up on pillows with some compression pumps going on my legs and ice packs on my feet--30 minutes on, 30 minutes off, etc. Glen was so determined to keep my feet properly iced the first 3 days--AND NIGHTS--that he set his alarm every 30 minutes all through the day AND NIGHT. He slept (or attempted to sleep in 30 minute segments) in the chair next to the couch.

Glen brought breakfast, lunch and dinner to me in bed. Well on couch. Which was my bed. For several weeks.

Here I am demonstrating my walking ability in my new boots. This was taken before all the pain medicine given to me during surgery had worn off. After that--my expression wasn't this happy.

Glen was not only willing to be my nursemaid, but he also was willing to host my side of the family's annual Christmas Eve dinner party. It had been scheduled for our house well before I had any thought of surgery enter my mind. Glen felt like having it at our house would be the only way I would be able to attend. Bring on the guests!!

Sarah named this the rest and recovery station when we learned Maggie had just had foot surgery the same day I had surgery.

Time for prayer to begin dinner.

After the food, we moved into the living room to have our traditional family program where anyone who wants to can share a talent or something with the group.

Rachel played a piano solo and so did Maggie--cast on her piano-pedal foot and all.

Maggie put me to shame. Not only did she out-perform me, but she was getting around the house without a problem on her crutches. And she didn't act like she was in pain at all. She was my hero!!

Ben and Haley's clay animation movie about Nephi and his brothers going to get the plates from Laban was a big hit on our Disney family vacation and was a big hit once again with the little people in the audience.

It was a lovely evening and I was so glad Glen had insisted we go ahead with the original plan. The food that was leftover for us to eat was very much appreciated!

Quotes of the Week

"You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf." 

-- Jon Kabat-Zinn 

"Change is the end result of all true learning." 

-- Leo Buscaglia 

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." 
-- Winston Churchill 

"When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love." 
-- Marcus Aurelius 

Ben and Haley Enjoyed Snowy December

We certainly had a lot of snow this December!

Ben and Haley got home from their warm, Florida honeymoon right before the big snowstorms hit. Which was good for me as they were awesome snow removers. And who says you need to wear pants to do so?!?

Ben and Haley put the snow to good use. They spent four days in the backyard working on making an igloo. They mixed water with the snow packed in rectangular plastic containers as their building blocks.

I was so happy they chose the spot right below the kitchen window to build their igloo. They provided such entertainment for me each of those days as I could hear them planning and laughing and I could watch them building their igloo from the ground up.

 

They even worked into the night a couple of the days.

Their snow skills didn't stop at igloo. When they saw Sarah's efforts at snowman building, they decided to make two of their own.

They welcomed another snow storm. It meant fresh material for making ice blocks, which they worked on after they had cleaned off our driveway and sidewalks, of course. (Great kids!!)   

  

This night they were determined they were going to stay out there until the last ice brick was in place. They were so eager to see if the dome of the igloo would stay strong.

Ta-da!! Project completed successfully!!

And now here comes one of my favorite jokes... How do you keep an eskimo family together???

With IGLOO!!!!!!