January Family Birthday Dinner

It is always the highlight of the family dinner party when the candles appear on the desserts and it is time for the lighting and the singing. Well, the lighting is a highlight. The singing may leave a little to be desired.

First up was birthday boy Wes. It's hard to believe he is now a teenager.

Next birthday boy was Lincoln turning one this year.

It appears he needed a little help to blow out his candle.

Sarah was there representing the triplets--her, Emma and Logan--all sharing the same birthday. Austin also has a January birthday.
 

Too bad Rebecca's family wasn't able to attend to celebrate Dallas's January birthday. With her new stake primary president calling, she has been attending a couple Eight Is Great meetings every Sunday it seems like. Rebecca did comment on this photo--wondering if Glen is at the same party as the rest of us.

I love this headband that makes the rounds on the heads of all the little girls. This week it was Samantha's turn to wear it.

This might possibly be the cutest picture of Carson that was ever taken! It is pretty cute of Rachel and Maggie as well.

The big family news of the evening was Seth and Kenna are expecting a baby!! In August!! Congratulations to them!!!!

The Feet Unveiling--Look If You Dare

I have made several trips back to the foot doctor since my surgery. First time was the removal of the bloody bandages.

It felt so good to get all the bandaging removed from between my toes!!!!

This gives a good view of the work done on my feet. Bunions repaired on the big toes with pins inserted in the toes and the bony growth shaved off. Bunionettes were shaved off the outside of both feet. Four neuromas were removed from between the toes on both feet.

Feet were looking good so I got them wrapped up again--this time in bright green.

I spent many long hours lying on the couch or sitting in the recliner as I was recovering. It certainly gave me plenty of time to study Spanish.  

For some reason the church keeps sending us boxes of stuff they think will be helpful for our mission. Keep in mind we got a big box of stuff right after we got called that we have been studying, along with our on-line assignments we have been given.

That, in and of itself was plenty for us to do. Then, as if I wasn't feeling totally overwhelmed already, we got this pile of books and pamphlets.

Not too many days later, a box with these books showed up on our porch.

It appears I will have plenty of Spanish stuff to study! SHEESH!! It made me totally consider purchasing this program to see if it could possibly work.

I had a lot of time to look at and enjoy the Christmas decorations around me--thinking about how it will be 3 years before I will see them on display again.

My favorite thing was when we got ready to sleep for the night and kept these Christmas lights on all night for our nightlight. I never got tired of looking at them. In fact, we kept our Christmas decorations up well into January--which we never have done before. I didn't get tired of them at all this year.

My boots helped me get around, but my feet felt much better when they were elevated.

My next trip to the foot doctor was for the removal of the stitches.

Here is a comparison photo of the first unveiling and then with the stitches removed. The bruising was sure a lot better. And my feet are not growing fur in the second photo. The bandaging was a lot fluffier and some of it stuck to my feet.

This time he wrapped my feet more compactly and that made it a little easier to walk.

A few days later when I got up enough courage to take the bandages off and take my first shower in weeks, I was distressed when I saw my poor cracked and peeling skin.

I have been putting ointment on them every night since then and they are slowly getting softer and my skin has quit peeling off. The sores have been healing up as well.

Now if only I could get rid of the swelling. I went back to the doctor today and he was a little concerned about the swelling. (I should have taken a picture of my puffy toes.) Also, when he asked me to move my toes and I could barely get the tiniest movement out of them, he referred me to physical therapy. Oh joy! Whoever has heard of physical therapy for toes?

During the point where I had transitioned from the heavy-duty gray post-op boots to the lighter, smaller, sandal-type post-op shoes, we had our first group study session. We had to get all dressed up to go to the Church Office Building to meet with our group of 9 mission presidents and wives. This is my attempt to camouflage my duck feet, as Abe called them.

It is with great pleasure I announce that I am now wearing normal shoes once again. Granted, they are the biggest shoes I own, but I no longer have to strap on the footwear of an invalid.

Being an invalid does have its perks. Not only did my husband wait on me hand and foot (literally), but both girls took a turn fixing dinner. YUMMY!!!!

Too bad Ben and Haley missed out on all the good meals. They packed up some of their stuff and headed off to California for 7 weeks of training. Haley is spending lots of time alone in the hotel room sewing while Ben works for Amazon. The end of February they will be back to pack up everything for their move to Washington.

My feet might not work very well right now, but I still have the capacity to read stories to my grandchildren.

And look who is the latest invalid in the Thomas family. Glen was playing basketball one Saturday morning and got a little too rambunctious and popped a muscle in his calf. It has been pretty sore. In fact, right after he did it, I was able to walk faster than him for a day or two. That is proof it really slowed him down for a few days.

Thankfully, we are both making improvements and one of these days we will be walking like normal human beings once again.

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