Sunday, September 11, 2011

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

now, what were those summer plans?!?

okay...remember the part in the last post where i said that i won't be having surgery this year?? well, guess what. on june 5th, i tried to step over a baby gate that was up in the living room to keep my grandbraeden safe, and my foot got caught on it and i fell right onto my totally replaced knee. i shredded my quadraceps tendon, the one that holds the quad muscle to the knee cap. my knee cap had slid down the front of my knee. so, on the 8th my knee surgeon repaired the tendon and put my knee cap back where it is supposed to be, and here i am--sitting on the couch until august with my leg in a locked-straight brace and elevated. so much for all my plans and ideas for this summer! i'm trying to be positive...as texas has one of its hottest and most humid summers ever, i am in my house, comfortable with the air conditioning on. which was broken, btw, and my daughter-in-law's father graciously fixed it for us. he is a kind man!!
the kids are doing great--adam has a wonderful job at the pioneer baking company that he really likes. emily will be home at the end of july from byu-idaho. alex graduated and is getting ready for college, and evan is enjoying his summer before percussion camp and band camp begin.
tom still doesn't have a job, so anyone inclined to pray for him would be very much appreciated.
just thought i'd catch everyone up on our exciting summer!! hope you are having an amazing time this summer. love to you all!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

alex's senior photo



the directors that have influenced alex so much



my baby girl



that's our braeden!



baby caleb



catching up, yet again...

holy cow! i think i actually forgot i have a blog to update!!
since i wrote last, i've had a new grandbaby! his name is caleb mark hansen, and he is adorable! he was born by emergency c-section (sound familiar??) six weeks early on february 27th. amanda went into pre-eclampsia again, but this time the doctor wasn't going to let her go as long as she did with braeden. it was really scary because caleb was born so early, but he did great! he was only in the nicu for two and a half weeks! and now, he is so big!! he gained weight really fast and if braeden isn't careful, caleb will outgrow him quickly! they are ten months apart and are going to be awesome to watch grow up. amanda is doing really well too. we were all blessed during this adventure.
over the winter/spring, we all were very sick with the flu. we had hospital visits and tamiflu and all other kinds of meds. like one of the e.r. docs said, we had the "flu" flu, not just what people say when their tummy is upset. we thought we were all going to die, it was that bad. but, we survived and are all plugging along now.
i spent some time in the hospital in march with a non-functioning thyroid, and according to the doctors i should have been dead or at least in a coma. it was pretty scary and i am still feeling some effects of it as my thyroid blood levels still aren't normal yet. my thyroid gland finally gave up the ghost and is not functioning at all anymore. feeling better now, but still not back to normal.
well, it's the end of the school year and alex will be graduating on june 3rd. i can't believe it. it doesn't seem so long ago when he was born in germany and we were trying to come home to the states. now he's getting ready to go to college! crazy how time flies. evan is going to be a senior next year and that seems impossible also. not sure how all this happened! emily is doing great out in idaho at school. she'll be home the end of july and may be going back up there in january if she doesn't decide to go somewhere else; we'll have to wait and see. she is having fun and has been able to stay with the same roommates since she started school. they are going to be lifelong friends. adam is working at jim's restaurant until something opens up at the pioneer baking factory. they've told him he's in the next group that will be hired so he's excited about that. he may also be going to college once the job gets settled.
tom is doing okay; he lost his job in march and is still trying to find another. military retirement and unemployment are all that is keeping us going right now; we'd be in a financial mess without those, and blessings from the Lord. hopefully things will work out and we won't have to worry too much longer!
we're looking forward to summer and maybe heading towards the coast since it will be the first summer in recent history that i won't be having surgery! i can't put off the knee replacement in my other leg for long, but not this summer--i want to have some fun!