Ouch!

A month ago I had my total knee replacement surgery, and like everyone who's had it done warned me -- "IT HURTS!" But since it was hurting so much just to walk, I figured it was time. Even being warned about the pain, though, doesn't really prepare you for how much it hurts. When you wake up from the surgery you wish you could change your mind! And, then they don't waste any time starting your physical therapy. Below are a few pictures from this process.

First of all, you have to make sure they do
the right knee! So you write "yes" on the
correct one, and then the doctor comes in
and initials it.

When you wake up, it seems like your

whole leg is swollen and wrapped up. You
are attached to this cool ice machine, that
you even get to take home with you
(at what expense!?).

They put me on a CPM (constant passive

motion) machine that literally moves
your leg up and down, up and down. The
goal is to get your knee to bend to 120
degrees -- soon! So even when you aren't
doing the exercises the therapist gives
you, you are still bending the knee.

Of course walking again is the goal, so
they get you right up the next day and
down the hall you go. You don't think you
can do it, but they don't even give you
the option to say "no." The therapists help
steer all the contraptions you're hooked
up to, and make sure you don't fall over.

After all the wraps were taken off,
this is what I discovered underneath.

And, then, two weeks after the surgery, the
little bandages were removed. There are
no stitches on the outside layer of skin; it
was all done inside. It now looks even
better than this, but it is still sore.

Happy Birthday!

While this isn't such a great picture, and Natalie is feigning her surprise, we did successfully pull off a great surprise for Brent's birthday. With Joy & Karey's and Emily & Will's generosity, we were able to fly Natalie and Tyson out here on a buddy pass. When I said I wanted to drive as Brent and I ran some errands, he wasn't even suspicious. As I got on the freeway instead of going to the stores, he wanted to know where we were going. When I got to Salt Lake, and then through Salt Lake, he not only was suspicious, but he also wasn't real happy with me (that's actually an understatement!). We had two days off of school, and he had plenty planned to get done in that time. He even said that if he did this to me, I would be very upset. But I just kept smiling and making small talk. When I pulled off the freeway in Bountiful, he could not figure out where we were going or what we were doing. As I pulled into a parking lot, he said he knew I could find a Cafe Rio closer to us than this one. Little did he know that that was where we were meeting up with Joy, Emily, Will, Audrey, and, of course, Natalie and Tyson. Natalie even called him while they were driving there and asked about the weather, the upcoming BYU game, and what she had finally decided on for her birthday present from us. When they pulled up beside us, Brent said he had figured out that Joy was probably a part of this, and then the back door of the van opened and you could tell we had done it. Brent was totally surprised. Natalie and I were surprised we hadn't slipped up in any of our conversations with him.

The following are some pictures of what we did for the weekend:

Grampa and Tyson watching the BYU
football game (it's not often Grampa
shares the remote control).


Taking a bath in the kitchen sink.


Miniature golfing at Boondocks with Joy,
Audrey, and Emily on Natalie's birthday

And, of course, ice cream at Leatherby's.


Brent and I had to stay after church
for a bit, and this is the scene we
came home to.

New House

As we've moved around, Brent has always asked, "If you died here, where would you want to be buried?" Now that may seem like a strange question, but since we hadn't really settled down, it made sense to us. I guess we've now sort of grown up and are figuring out what we want to do. Last January we started the process of building a house of our own. In June, we moved in. Here are a few pictures of that process (and I do mean only a few, as we came almost every day to take pictures of the house being built):

January 2008: Choosing the lot -- you can't tell from the picture, but that is BLM wetlands area behind us, and it will take an act of congress for any development to happen there. Thus, no backyard neighbors, except for the wildlife, and we also have a wonderful view of the mountains.

March: Same view, after the snow melted

March, same day: Standing at the edge of
our backyard looking down at the wetlands

Still March, digging for the foundation (oh, happy day!)

Foundation poured; now we wait for
the cement to cure

April: Framing

Heating & AC duct work

Dry wall & mudding

Kitchen cabinets, counters, & floor

Outside walls, windows cut out, & roofing done

May: Bricks & stucco for the outside --
while they're also working on the inside

June 2008: Landscaping still needs to be
done, but finally our new, finished home
(oh, happier day!)!

Spring/Summer: Part of what we get to
watch from our backyard (white pelicans).

Next post, we will take you on an inside tour!

Ady is showing you how big she is now; this was the dress that she wore for Rachel's wedding when she was only two weeks old! Rachel had us dress in black, red, and/or white. She especially wanted her new niece in red. Well, it was impossible to find a red dress for a newborn in Key West (possibly had it been December instead of May we might have been able to do it), so Kasey looked for a solid color dress to dye red. The smallest Kasey could find fitting the criteria was this 12-month size that was light pink. Of course Ady had plenty of room in it at that age, but this may be about the last time she wears this, as it is tight on her.

Zoo Trip

We took Ady to the Honolulu Zoo yesterday and had a great time watching her look at the animals. She wasn't

too interested in the ones that didn't move, but she loved the big ones and the

ones that moved. It was feeding time while we were at the hippo exhibit, so the hippos got in the water to retrieve the apples that were thrown at them. Some apples landed right in front of where

we were standing, and one hippo actually slammed into the plexiglass right where Ady was standing. It shocked her (if not scared her), but then she was quite delighted. She not only laughed, but also knocked on the window and motioned for the hippo to come back!

Hana

We went to Maui this past weekend and had a really great time. We rode the Hawaii Super Ferry over and back (it was cheaper than flying). We agreed that our favorite part of the trip (besides Adyson) was going to Hana. The road there is about 50 miles of curving, winding (almost 600 curves/switchbacks) and 54 one-lane bridges. It is an absolutely beautiful drive! There are breathtaking views of the ocean, lush foliage, and waterfalls galore.
But one of the things that I got the biggest kick out of was some of the signs.

Buffalo

Going way east from Hawaii, Natalie and Thayne are in Buffalo, New York. Thayne is in his second year of dental school. They had a little boy, Tyson, at the beginning of April. Now, four months later, he's not so little anymore. Natalie says he's like the Michelin tire guy, lots and lots of rolls (he's 15 pounds). Natalie is getting to stay at home with Ty. All are doing well, and while this is what they need to be doing at this time, we do miss them a lot. And since Cheryl doesn't work for the airlines anymore, it costs Gramma and Grampa quite a bit to go see them. We haven't seen him since he was a month old, so my pictures are a bit dated, but I'm putting some in anyway.

Two weeks old.At Leatherby's, a BIG family favorite!

One month old.

Laie

We are currently in Laie, Hawaii, visiting Adam, Kasey, and Adyson, our beautiful little granddaughter. Adam is attending BYU-Hawaii and Kasey is working there. Ady is a blonde, blue-eyed "local" girl; her legs are really tan. They moved here the first of January and this is the first time we have seen them since then. Ady has doubled her age in that time!

We got in the night before the annual Laie Days parade. This really brought back memories because our kids rode and sang in this parade when we lived here. We also got to sit with the Langis (our old neighbors) to watch the parade.

Parades here are a bit different than many of you have seen before.

The kids's favorite part is, of course, when candy is thrown out to them. Ady would pick up the candy a piece at a time, but then she realized that she really didn't have to do anything to get it -- other kids would bring her some when they got theirs or the people throwing it would just walk over and give it to her! She's definitely cute and catered to! Grampa fed her Smarties one at a time (her daddy claimed her Butterfinger).