Cougar Tail, Tree Cutting, HORRIBLE TRASH Hips, Tooth Extractions

We have been keeping up our monthly luncheon date with Dave Ziemski. He loves to make the drive our way every time so he can eat at El Matador. He loves that restaurant!! 

Funny thing this time was Ray and Maurine Hull were walking in the same time we arrived. They were there with Ray's sisters to have lunch.

When Glen went to a BYU game in Provo last month, he brought back with him a cougar tail as per my dad's request. The 15-inch-long maple donut bar was talked about on ESPN and Dad wanted to experience it for himself. 

Glen reported to me that Natalie had done an excellent job holding the cougar tail all throughout the game. 

I decided to see what Google had to say about the cougar tail. It was introduced in 2006 and has since become a beloved tradition among BYU fans, selling around 11,000-12,000 per game.

Emma had the great idea to invite my parents over for the Sunday dinner we already had planned so everyone could watch Dad tasting his first ever cougar tail. Great idea!! He must have liked it because after sharing with the family, he took the remainder home with him. 

That day we were celebrating Emma and Sarah's birthdays. Logan also shares the same birthday, so when it came time to sing the birthday song, we called Logan and sang the song to each of them.

Jacob sent us a Union Pacific news post highlighting him performing in his role in that company. It was fun to see him in action.

We had a pizza lunch when Emma came to collect Wesley's forgotten coat. She is now doing an internship for a senator at the Utah State Capitol which is not very far from our home. It was a great plan as she is a delight, and we all enjoyed having her with us that afternoon.

Another day Levi and Maverick were very entertained when there were workers out in the yard cutting down some of our unwanted trees. 

The boys were very intrigued with the big, noisy machine out front that chewed up the huge chunks of tree limbs and trunks and shot it all out into the back of a big truck.

It was the perfect winter to have guys working in the yard since there has been absolutely no snow this year.

Abe sent this photo of their backyard in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. Seriously!!!???!!!

Speaking of Abe... He sent this photo a few weeks ago, and we were thrilled to see his oxygen level was 98 and his pulse rate was 66. WAHOO!!!! 

After such a huge scare of pericarditis and several long months of dealing with that, it is a happy day to know Abe is doing so well now.

Look at little Miss Wynne doing so well in her school's spelling bee.

Two weeks ago, we were sad when Dad and Mom stood us up for our weekly lunch date because Dad had gotten a cold. That didn't stop the three of us from going to Maddox without them. 

It was a low blow when I got yet another summons to jury duty. Seriously!!!???!!! I had hoped that by showing up in person for jury duty last time (despite my immediately leaving because I was sick and needed to go to urgent care) that it would count.

But, NO!!! Apparently, I can be summoned anytime during my designated few months. I wouldn't even have minded if it didn't require me finding a substitute for my Thursday temple shift.

THEN, imagine my DELIGHT when I got this second notice and read the highlighted red part!!!! I was no longer needed, and I was so happy I hadn't yet started to find my temple substitute.

Another happy day was when Dad was feeling better and we were able to go to lunch at the Prairie Schooner. We sat in our covered wagon to eat our meals and then took a stroll around the two center animal displays.

Glen took a temple subbing session for another sealer and so I decided to go to the temple as well to attend an endowment session and timed it so we were finished at the same time.

As we were driving away, Glen asked if I would like to go to dinner to celebrate our 48th wedding anniversary, February 9th, which was the day before. 

He surprised me by taking me to The Roof, a restaurant atop the Joseph Smith Memorial Building which overlooks Temple Square. 

We enjoyed looking at the view while eating our meal. We were each delighted with our appetizers--his was a wedge salad, and my appetizer was eating both his roll and my roll. I could have gone home after that and been satisfied.

We finally got some mid-February snow after our snowless winter.

We can always tell how many deer have been resting in our yard by counting the oval grass spots.

We went to watch a Hale play with Nani, Rebecca, and Sarah. We got a lot of good laughs during the play. 

We did miss Dad and Mom being with us, although Rebecca is always thrilled when she gets to fill in when my parents are unable to go. Sarah was a good sport and joined the party.

We ate at HuHot Mongolian Restaurant after the play where we each filled our bowls with ingredients for our stir-fry meal. It was delicious! It was Rebecca's birthday that day which made it all the more fun to be together with her on her special day.

Dad was the reason he and Mom missed the play. He got a better offer. He wanted to go with Andy and Mike to an archery shoot. More power to him! I know he loves shooting his bow and being with my brothers.

Look at this guy looking so happy as he is sitting in the doctor's office waiting for the ortho doctor to come in and try to figure out why Glen now has hip pain on top of his knee pain (for which he received injections two different times in two different spots--to no avail) and has back pain (for which he received an injection from a different doctor at the referral of this doctor when the knee pain did not subside--to no avail).

Well, that smile soon got replaced with a look of shock when the P.A. and the doctor both declared both of Glen's hips are HORRIBLE!!

From the x-rays taken that day, it wasn't long until his HORRIBLE hips were discovered. This leads us to wonder why in the world x-rays were not taken of his hips a year ago when there was no answer as to why his knees and his back (MRI taken on both) appeared not to be much of a problem.

The doctor had manipulated Glen's leg all around in a previous appointment and it didn't bother Glen. This time as he was moving Glen's leg all around, Glen about jumped to the ceiling because it was so painful.

The doctor told Glen he needed to have two total hip replacements. We were both dumbfounded by this news! The doctor got out his hip model and showed Glen what would be happening during the hip replacement surgery.

Now here's even more horrific news. The earliest surgery time available was March 9th, which was five weeks and four days in the future. Glen had finally gotten to the point where he was in so much pain and just wanted to get it over with. Instead, it has been a pain endurance test for him waiting, waiting, waiting... 

Glen has been sleeping in his recliner in the basement ever since because it is a little less painful in that position than in bed. 

He was also complaining of a back tooth hurting. The dentist discovered decay under his crown. The back tooth next to it is showing decay as well. Because those teeth have had root canals, Glen is going to need his two teeth pulled and wait several months to get implants. 

Thankfully, the periodontist could work him in for his teeth extraction (happening tomorrow) before his hip replacement surgery since major dental work should not be done for at least three months after surgery. 

Glen went to a pre-op appointment this week where he saw a different P. A. She went through all the information and then Glen asked if he could schedule his left hip replacement hoping he would not have to again wait weeks and weeks for the next surgery. He does not want to go through this much constant pain again.

This P.A. took one look at Glen's x-rays and pronounced his hips TRASH!! Such adjectives to throw out to a patient! His left total hip replacement surgery will be April 29th. 

He was told to bring crutches or a walker to surgery, so he got busy ordering a walker online and then putting it together. I told him to get a walker that would be tall enough for him so he would not be leaning over as he walks...

I think he is ready to compete in the walker ski competition!