Ahhh ... it smells like ...

"I know it is summer because of the smell," said Jaley as she applied sun lotion.

I know what summer feels like ... Kendall and I are both sporting sun burns.  We had a great day at the pool yesterday.  We still have sensitive winter skin.

Investing in Real Estate

I think I want to own real estate in a surgical center, just one room would be fine.

Jenna's outpatient surgery on May 7th ...

Anesthesiologist - $1,200

Surgeon - $1,050.19

Using the surgical center for a 45 minute surgery - $7,821

Jaley's favorite quote

I love this girl ... she has such a gentle spirit.

She loves this quote ... and another reason why I love her - her faith.

"I believe in God as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."  ~ C. S. Lewis

Shoe, not shoes

Tomorrow is Jenna's last day in the wheelchair and two boots at school ... tomorrow is the last day of school!  She is looking forward to not having the maneuver through the hall ways, elevator, and all of the stares (yes, still).  She doesn't complain.  I just know she is glad it will be over.

Today the doctor gave her the "go ahead" to wear a (one) tennis shoe and use crutches!

We got home and she wanted to try out her crutches.  "Wow, I forgot I was this tall!  Did I grow?"  She makes me laugh.

Still no weight bearing on her right foot for several more weeks.  Oh, and the stitches are STILL not ready to come out.  Maybe 3 weeks will be enough ...

We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel ... a very long tunnel.  She's been so positive all along this journey.

Workin' girl

Julia landed a life guarding job back in March.  (Thank you Jenna for being such a great hard worker).

After Jenna's accident, she is unable to work at the indoor swim school.  Julia picked up her shift there as well as another one.

When Julia returned home from BYU back at the end of April, she started working for someone in our neighborhood as her "personal assistant" - since the pools wouldn't open until Memorial Day Weekend.

She was also offered a job as an office assistant at her friend's parent's company.  Trip TV.  She can work up to 40 hours a week there (or even at home).  She gives her advice regarding music (syncopation, looping, etc), searches for music (she wishes she had more options as she is passionate about so much music!), tags videos and a variety of other things.  She is also to go as an assistant (and model) on some of their trips to video tape some vacation/resort places.  Where?  Alaska.  Rome.  Hawaii.  Brazil.  She was supposed to go to Puerto Vallarta  last week, but they didn't have enough rooms in the hotel - and we are waiting on her updated passport.

What a summer this girl is going to have!

Goldfish

Another cute thing I won't change with Kendall ... "Goldfish"

We played a very exciting, fun, giggling game of "Go Fish".  Kendall even surprised me by telling me that he had a "book" - 4 matching cards - ... huh?  Where did he learn that?

He knows what a book is, yet still pronounces the game and phrase to draw a card "Goldfish".

Gonna keep that.

Famous in the Washington Post ...

Julia is in the Washington Post!!!

Check it out here.  It is a story about Mitt Romney and BYU.

Julia was walking from her Book of Mormon class with her friend Derek D and Katie G.

Heal Jenna, Heal

We had a follow-up appointment with Dr Field today from her surgery last week.  He took xrays of both feet today.  The xray of the area from the surgery is looking as expected to him.  He said that it is repositioned as well as can be.  He did discover that the bone (metatarsal #2) in her right foot is not healing - this is the bone that has the plate on it that was a displaced/compound fracture.  Thankfully this is in the foot that requires her to stay off of for another 7 weeks.

She has been given the OK to start putting a little weight on her left foot.  He warned her to be careful as she will have shooting pain that will take her breath away and might knock her over is she is not stable.  Not a good thing with a non-weight bearing restriction on her other foot.  She will start putting a little weight on her left foot at home over the next week and go from there.  He told her to make note of how she feels at night regarding her left foot and to compare it in the morning (she should be stiff in the morning) and if it doesn't improve, he will have to look into why she is not improving.  He just wants her to be aware of what to look for and to not worry.

He is also looking into seeing if our insurance will cover the cost of a bone stimulator to help Jenna's bone with the plate heal faster.  It is showing very little improvement compared to the other bones that were injured.  He explained that this could be because the break is in the narrowest part of the bone where the blood supply is less.

Jenna will see him next Tuesday to have the stitches removed and more follow up.

"Mudder's Day"

John made a terrific Mother's Day dinner.   Steak.   Chicken.   Salad.   Mashed Potatoes. After dinner he called all of the kids to the kitchen to clean up.   They slowly started disappearing so I stepped in to help.   Kendall came in.   "Hey, Mom, it's 'Mudder's day'.   You shouldn't clean up   ... It's also children's day" - and walked off leaving John alone in the kitchen to clean up. I had a good laugh out of that one. Yes, all of the kids did come in to clean up.

Her hands

I couldn't say it any better than my sister, Kelly

These hands are the reason I am me. 

These hands cheered me on.

These hands taught me. 

These hands comforted me. 

These hands prayed for me.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom.

Still here ...

My blog has been giving me grief - haven't been able to post.

Yes, we have been busy.  Jenna is still healing.  It has been a long road for her and we thought we were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Three weeks ago when her swelling went down I noticed an odd bump on the outside of her right foot.  We were going to see the doctor on Tuesday and asked him about it.  He said that she has a break on that bone as well with a tendon that is needing to heal as well.  That put her back to crawling with no boot scooting.  No weight bearing on BOTH feet.  Frustrating thing is that the ER x-ray shows this break very clearly ... sigh.

He ordered an MRI to have more information about that problem area.  We had a "second opinion" appointment the following week.  That doctor is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in foot and ankle.  He thought the MRI was unnecessary.  We went ahead and did it.

The radiologist who read the MRI stated it was normal with evidence of  healing.  Our doctor looked at it as well and found a problem.  A piece of bone was broken off during the accident and rotated.  The tendon most likely snapped that bone off.  It is now healing in the wrong position.

We opted to fix it with surgery.  Jenna had surgery on Monday.  The doctor had plan A and plan B.

Plan A:  re-break bone and put a screw in to hold it in place (ideal).
Plan B:  re-break bone and put pins in it that would stick out of the side of her foot.

Both plans would require a 4-6 week recovery.

After the surgery he came out and told me good and bad news.  Good - she did great and all is well.  Bad - he did plan C.  He discovered that the bone was a compound fracture.  It was fractured into 4 smaller pieces.  He broke and re-positioned it.  He had to do a bone graft on this area.  He also had to re-attach the tendon with stitches to her bone.  He said it was good we did this.

Now she is in the wheelchair for another 8 weeks.

It has been a very painful week for her - more than what I remember her experiencing in UT in the hospital.

It has been touching to see others reach out to her.

Mark and Bobbi (the lawyer team helping us with paperwork) sent Jenna flowers.

Her foot felt much better elevated.  The gray boot is the  one that needs the additional 8 weeks of no weight.

Notes from her Early Morning Seminary Class and Mutual  kids.

Wiped out after surgery on Monday for the entire week ... see the homework next to her?  Not happening ...