Amanda's bunionectomy!

We discovered Amanda had this Tailor's Bunion (hereditary) in December. After snowboarding, she'd be in a ton of pain.  She couldn't run and after dance she'd have to ice.  

 Our doctor, Todd Flitton, told her she could just buy bigger shoes or get it taken off.  It was quite painful and she's only 15, so her Dad and I didn't want her to deal with this forever.  But, deciding when she could be out of commission with dance, soccer and snowboarding was a challenge.

 We made the decision to quit soccer.  She knew if she got kicked on that side of her foot, she would be in extreme pain.  She would just ice and ibuprofen after snowboarding.  She continued to dance because of her commitment to her teams, but iced and ibuprofen afterward.

 She continued on this path for the next almost 6 months….and after her Dance Showcase on May 12th, she was free to be gimpy for a few weeks!

 She was so funny coming out of anesthesia and gave us quite a few laughs.  Dr Flitton said everything went great and gave us instructions for home.  We ran a couple of errands and picked up lunch, but then got her home to her spot on the couch which lasted a few days.  Well, she actually went to school the next day because of some tests.  And then she went on Friday, too.  She went to a dance sleepover on Friday night and then she crashed so tired on Saturday when we got her home.  She never missed a day of school after this surgery and although her Dad and I worried, we were also proud of her.

Without the bandages.  We are about 2.5 weeks past surgery and she's working on walking without the boot (except at school-she needs the protection!) and after an appointment she has on Monday, we are hoping she can wear shoes and maybe do dance tryouts. If she can't tryout it's ok because we think the directors know what team they want her on.  This was highly stressful for her.  Add to that stress the stress of the last weeks of school and she was having major stomach pain…which added to the stress.  We had a bunch of tests run that came back normal.  We did some stress reduction.  We had Mike & out neighbor, Scott, give her a blessing one morning because she couldn't move because of the pain. After the blessing and sleeping an hour, she got up and went to school.  Along with her doctor, we decided to double up her acid reflux meds because we think all the ibuprofen from the past 6 months gave her a hole in the lining of her stomach…….full circle, right?  It's so hard to see your child in pain and not knowing what it is or how to fix it.  I'm happy to say that she's doing so much better! Even with the stress of tryouts, she's managing so much better.  It's amazing when you feel better what you can handle :)

Sydney Hip Hop Recital

Syd has been taking a rec hip hop class at Luv2Dance until she's done with Clytie and can join the comp teams at L2D with Amanda.

Her recital was on  Saturday the 10th.

 She had a solo at the beginning and it's called tutting.  She got picked from all the girls in her class!

 And there she was front and center the whole dance. It was a great dance and she looks good!

It will be fun to see what kind of dancer Sydney develops into next year.  I'm glad to have both girls doing the same thing this coming year.  Although, Amanda is having second thoughts about dance again.  Major drama on her team this year has her scared to death about tryouts next week.  She wants to go back to soccer because she never had drama with her team.  The drama happened with parents :) ha ha!  We'll see how things shake out next week.  Pray for the girls!

Last month of school….

Oh May is CRAZY!  I will be posting some updates of this last month of school….on the last day of school!

Sixth Grade Shakespeare Play

Sydney's group did A Midsummer Night's Dream

So great!

She was a narrator!

 Emma Olson and Sydney

 Sydney and Addy Clinger

The grandparents made it to watch her perform and then we hit Maddox so Jim could have his Maddox chicken since returning home from his mission. It was a little chilly, but Maddox in Layton only  has outdoor seating. We braved the chill and had a great time!

Easter and St George quick trip

 Round 3 of tubes for Brandon!  He got them in April 15th.  He's a trooper and threw up coming out of it, but he can hear again!!

Then, Thursday morning I got a call from my Mom. She and Dad are in St George visiting Bug & Kay and Dad had to be rushed to the ER late Wednesday night.  His hernia and his intestines were playing ball and that's not good.  After surgery, he was having a hard recovery. Darin ran down there on Thursday to be with Mom and sleep over with Dad at the hospital so Mom could rest.  I ran down on Saturday to help get him home.  When I got there, it didn't look like he'd get home until Monday. Then, after we verified that he could start solid food, he started getting better quickly! By Sunday late afternoon, we were on the road home!

 Car selfie while waiting for Mom to get the prescriptions filled.  We all felt he would recover faster at home and being able to sleep in his own bed would be the best thing.

 The only sad part about going to St George to help my parents was that I missed Easter.  Here are pictures from Mike & the kids.

We are so grateful that the drive home was uneventful and that my Dad's surgery had a happy outcome. His color in his face even looks better than before the surgery and I know he's lost some weight since.  Things continue to get better and better….

Welcome Home!

 The day had arrived that Jim & Renae return from their mission serving as public relations missionaries in New Zealand!  The kids were so giddy!  Don't let Brandon's expression fool you.  He was just tired of waiting….

 Aunt Norma and Uncle Dwight

 The boys!  Doug, Cath & family were waiting in the wrong terminal, but made it over in plenty of time

 Sydney had made this awesome sign!  Then, she almost didn't bring it in.  Amanda said that they have to have it and brought it!  Sydney and Grandpa have a fun thing where they call each other by the wrong names.  Grandpa is Fred.  Sydney is Michelle.  Sydney made Jim a Fred card that was sent to him on his mission.  He loved it and put it in his cubicle and then the other missionaries in the office started calling him Fred, too!

 Kaili & Ryan

Mike teasing with the nephews

 photo cred: Catherine…..They've been spotted!

 These are my photos again:

 Photo cred: Catherine.  The Grandkids buried them in a group hug! That's when I started tearing up!

 my photos again...

 photo cred: Catherine….Amanda was in tears! Such a fun reunion!

my photos again

 I love these pictures of Mike and his mom

 The family!

 Happy & Beautiful Granddaughters

 Mike & his Dad

3rd Grade Wax Museum

The morning of the Grandparent's Return, was Brandon's 3rd Grade Wax Museum.  I should also mention that Grandma & Grandpa Gibson were in St George because Papa had to have emergency surgery while visiting Bud & Kay.  Uncle Darin was good enough to drive down there and be with my parents while they were getting through those first couple of days so I didn't have to miss this!  

 I would have been so sad because look how cute this Albert Einstein is!!  Brandon chose AB and then did a biography on him.

 He had been working on it for a few months and this wax museum was the highlight!  Two classes at a time of the 3rd graders were posing in the gym/museum and parents came to see their great work and great costumes! We had so many people tell us they didn't recognize Brandon and that they loved his costume the best!

It was a little hard to find a great wig, but we finally got one the week of.  We loved this end of year program!  So cute and creative and FuN for the kids! Isn't he so CuTE!  We love you Brando!!