February(a good and bad month)

FINALLY went snowshoeing with Mel. Again. Our snow fall this year was not impressive, but we managed to find some up in the mountains to shoe in. I have decided I really like/enjoy snowshoeing. Need to get my family doing it every winter now. As always, we had a great time!

(no worries, we obeyed the speed limit and watched for children and didnt bring our pets).
Im ready to go....
Mel is ready to fight. :)
And take a nap.
Still ready to go...

Always laughing.

All the sudden, there were "people" after us, so we had to hit the deck. Didnt want to be scene. We ran from and after said "people" for an hour. In the end, we got away. Never laughed so hard and almost wet myself so many times!
GNO with Trace and Ry. We took the girlies bowling. First time for ES. R had been once before and thought she was a pro. She really likes to talk trash. So funny to watch them get a running start and chuck that ball. Fun times!!!
ES not listening to me trying to give her some pointers. R telling me she will help her. I was just there to pay for everything I guess. ;)
Telling me she didnt need help.
Does the tilting help? :)
Ummm.....maybe they should have taken my advice. Im just sayin....
Had to have surgery on my left foot. I had a bone spur and the only way to get rid of it is surgery. Feb 16th was the big day. Started off bright and early...had to be there at 630 am. Good to get the drs when they are fresh. Everyone was very nice. So far so good....
Still good. Dont let this pic scare you. I loved it. Nurse said its time to get the IV in. I said(with a big smile) oh good, my fav part. She looks at me like I am kidding and says it will be okay. Kirk says no, she is being serious. Its her favorite. She then looks at me like I am crazy and says in her 20 years, that is a first. She gets the vein, but didnt get the tube attached in time and my blood starts pouring out. It was AWESOME!!! She goes to clean it up and my husband, who knows me so well, I didnt even have to tell him, says wait, let me get some pics. Sweet! Shes apologizing and Im saying no worries, she just made my day. We all had a good laugh.

(blood even pooled on the floor a little....YES!)
Drs art work. Hw wrote yes on my foot. Gotta make sure you they get the right one. Phew....other foot is already fixed. What they do to fix it is, Im not sure of the order, but the bone is enlarged and inflamed and pushes big toe over into other toes. So they go in and file bone down, break(cut is medical term)bone, straighten toe out and screw(2 screws) toe back together. Good times!
Just out of surgery. So it you/I thought me bleeding out was cool and made my day, I got an extra bonus coming our of anesthesia in the surgical room.... I was coming to at the end of the surgery and I heard voices and talking so I looked up and saw the surgeon and his helpers were having a nice chat, I looked at what they were doing and saw him stitching up my foot. I put my head down(still out of it) and thought....was that my foot? I looked up again, and yep, thats my foot. I laid there and watched him finish stitching up my foot!! Made me so happy/excited!! Was so cool! I know, I am weird/gross/crazy, but I love that stuff! Was wheeled out with a big smile on my face. So bummed I forgot to give them my camera to take pics. So bummed!!! Having my little snackies after. Obviously couldnt decide what I wanted, so I had all three.:) Drink of choice...water of course.
Home from surgery. Left at 6am, was home by 10am. Ended up wearing this air cast for over a month. So put a cink in my wardrobe attire. Was very glad to have had it though. It saved me big time and you will find out why. Had to stay completely off my foot for 4 days. Dr only wanted me up to go to the bathroom. Kirk had to carry my everywhere for those 4 days. Little did he know he was going to get a workout. He was also my slave for 4 days. Sweet! Jk! He was Mr. Mom for a while and I am very grateful to him for all he did for me and our kids while I was down.
This was where I lived for a while....lame!
Nat and her boyfriend Andy(and Hamlet...Nats dog-whose name was also on the card) sent me these yummy get well cookies. Cookies to eat while I cant run for 3 MONTHS!!! Loved the surprise! So nice and thoughtful. Made me(and kirk and kiddies) happy!

Kids would come and hang with me in our bed. I loved that part of not being able to function. ES fell asleep during FSR(family scripture reading).

Two days after my surgery, I got the flu(someone got a hold of my camera). It hit me so hard, was horrible for almost 2 days, then gone. Kirk and Rio got it next. It gets better....

First check up after surgery(5 days later and no washing of the foot). I was excited to see my wound. I have sausages for toes! So wasnt as gory as I wanted it to be, but it will do. Had three "simple stitches" on the surface and one long running stitch under the incision.

Gotta have a close up.
Heres the "it gets better"part....4 days after I had surgery, I find LICE in Rs hair. Yes...LICE! Are you kidding me!? She was infested with it! So so sooooooo gross and the WORST TIMING EVER!!!!! Not something you can take care of later. I call kirk, tell/ask him he has to come home from work to help me, and I treat R right then. So not supposed to be on my foot, but I had to. This is where I am so grateful to have my air cast. Saved me from a lot of pain and damaging my foot. Could not have stood up for as long as I needed to checking and treating hair if I hadnt had it. Found it on R. Next day, found it on AT and ES. Few days later, Kirk and I found a nit in our hair. EWWWWW!!!!!!! I dont care how clean you are, having lice makes you feel dirty and gross. Our kids were so super great about having to be checked everyday and treated.

The checking ritual. Everybody line up!
Having to do this EVERYDAY really did not make me happy.

This is how we REALLY felt about it! After 3 weeks and ES, R and I cutting our hair, it was gone! Hated those little buggers SO MUCH!!!
After Kirk checked me. This is what having lice does to your hair. Ha!
Second foot apt. I got the top 3 stitches removed. Toes and foot not as swollen. Everything looking good. After 3 weeks(ew), I can FINALLY wash my foot. Yay!!! Felt sooooo good!

January(One month down....)

January started out with our weekly girls night with Tracy and Ryleigh. Our girls love hanging out(so do Trace and I), so we try to get together at least once a week. Yay! This week was ice skating. Fun, but hurts my ankles after a while.
ES is actually pretty good at skating. We dont go often, and Im no great skater myself, but I was impressed with her. She really enjoys it.
Taking a rest...
Steady Ry...:)

I get a twofer every week....get to be with Trace and Ry AND two of my favorite daughters! Yay for me!!
Leave it to R to find the easy way to do it....
Not so easy for Trace and I.
After, we took the girls for some hot coco. Yum! These girls are sooooooo silly!
Totally different personalities, but love each other and get along so well. Just like their Mama's.
One of a kind right here....
BFFs!

ES is still going strong with indoor. She loves it! She gets so excited when she has practice or a game.
Like mother like daughter and then, like daughter like mother? I love soccer too, and was asked if I wanted play on a coed indoor team that needed more girls. Of course!! I was nervous. Had been since grade 12 since playing indoor and like 8 years since playing outdoor. Wasnt really worried about my endurance, as much as my skills. Didnt do too bad it turns out. ;) SMF(so much fun) So missed playing this sport. Makes me happy!

We finally bought a second car(Mazda 3). Has been very nice/a relief to have it.
Mine and Kiefs things(well one of them) is going to hockey games together. As always we have so much fun!! Lots of laughing and yelling fight and yelling out all the official hockey terms like high sticking, glassing and icing. Even when they dont apply and we have no idea what they mean. :)
Birthaversary time. Our 15th anniversary and Kirks 40th bday. For his bday we just did presents and dinner with the kiddies.Went to our fam fav....Noodles and Co. So good! I tried to get some pics and R kept, well....being herself. Crazy girl. I was getting frustrated at the time, but when I look at them now, I lol. Love her!

This one of R actually doesnt make me lol. It scares me. She looks scary. (still lol a little)
I surprised Kirk with tickets to go see Bryan Regan. We love him. So funny! I really think Kirk figured out we were going to see him, so no surprise really, but he was excited! Did dinner before. D and D(dad and Denise) gave us 2 $25 gift cards to Red Lobster so we hit that before. Yum!

Sp(self portrait) waiting for show to start. He put on a great show. We laughed so hard. Brought us to tears a few times. Love laughing like that.
Concert was at Symphony Hall downtown. They have this really beautiful/awesome blown glass sculpture in the lobby. So cool! Trying to get it in another sp.
Guess someone saw us struggling and offered to assist us.
Every year, the grade 4s go skiing. ES was sooooo excited about this. Would not let us forget to go get her skis. Made that part of Kirks bday celebration. This guy that helped us was funny. Said he was getting a real kick out of us.

R saw this sign and thought is was so cool and had to have a pic of her with it as it is her first name.
If something gets in your way....turn. Off to a day on the slopes. She could hardly wait. Of course, she loved it. Picked her up after school and she was ready to do it again. She loved the instructor she had. Said he was super funny!

AT had his first official Boy Scout overnighter. I think it was for the Klondike Derby? He was really excited and looking forward to this. So was Kirk. Its really great to have a son to do all that with. I love it when Kirk and AT get to do manly things and spend time together.

Cooling off his dinner??
They said it was reeeeeaaaaalllly cold that night. Good thing we have some awesome super duper warm sleeping bags. Still....no thanks!
Kirks oldest bro Thadd and the boys. His third son, Beks third and AT are all the same age and the best buds ever!!!

Chow time!
Kirk with the buds.


Found out after the fact(and Im glad) that AT got run over by a sled. Some kid was on it and lost control(right onto my son). Took AT down, ran over his back. Was told that that didnt stop AT. He jumped up and ran up the hill ready for his turn. He was okay. Just a few scrapes and bumps. Tough guy he is.

AT finally got his brown belt! Yay!!!! He worked so hard for this and made a sacrifice last month on getting it then and was so happy to finally get it. They have to take a written test and do physical testing as well, so it is quite an achievement to get it. He is on his way to his black belt! Yah!
E made the Jr High vball team! Woo hoo! When she made it, I could actually tell for the first time that she was excited about something. She is like her father and does not show excitement. Exact opposite of me. We were so happy/excited for her. Her first real experience on a team. She really liked it! Yes, I am the loudest parent there. :) E loves it(not)! We are having her and she wants to go to a vball camp at BYU this summer. Should be a great learning experience for her and SMF!!!
She says her fav position is setter. Shes good at it too.




E was excited to get her sweatshirt with her name on it.