New Hair Cut

I had grown tired of caring for my long hair. It has been 2 years since I chopped off 12 inches for Locks of Love, and I can't believe how fast it has grown back. It is also really thick and heavy now. So I decided it was time for a change. Here's a before.....

And after....

I think it was 4 or 5 inches she cut off. and I dyed it back to its natural dark brown. Much better! I was way overdue for a cut.

In More Recent News

Dallon started school on September 8th. He was SOOOOO excited to ride the bus. I decided because of how badly he wanted to ride last year that it would be OK and it would save us some gas money.

He did great on his first day of school. The only big drawback to the bus is that they pick him up first (at about 7:45am) and drop him off last (at about 12:15) and school is from 8:30-11:30. So he's on the bus for about 1.5 hours! He seemed ok with it. He goes to school Mon, Wed, and Thurs.
Then the next day (Tuesday-no school) he was playing and he fell off the couch. I think he tried to catch himself with his left hand. He complained right away about it, but not that seriously. Soon he was playing again, but he seemed to favor it a little. He took a nap and woke up complaining a little about his arm. I set up an appointment with an orthopedist for the next day. By morning he seemed just fine, no complaints--so I sent him to school. At school no one noticed anything wrong. He had no swelling or bruising and he didn't react when you poked and played with his wrist/arm. I decided to take him to the dr. appointment just to be sure. While I was there, I was thinking I was just wasting my money. The doctor came in and only touched his wrist for a couple of seconds before he said he knew for sure it was broken. SO GLAD I DECIDED TO TAKE HIM! He broke both bones just above his wrist. The cast comes off on October 2. He was not happy about the cast at first (he tried to get it off) but he's fine with it now.

Lately we've been sick. Jace came down with an awful stomach bug on Friday, and is still having issues. Dallon came home from school yesterday sickly (he was fine when he left), and Chris and I have both been feeling a little under the weather. We had our Primary Program on Sunday, and I was glad I was well enough to take care of my responsibilities there.

All in all, we're doing pretty well. We're trying to make some plans for our trip to Ohio to get our service dog Bianca, and we're gearing up for the Holiday season (I've already got the stuff for our Halloween costumes I'm making this year).

Sorry I've been so bad about posting lately, I'll try to keep up with it better for the next few months!

We also visited great-grandparents

On the way to Forrest Grove we stopped and visited Grandma Dottie and Grandpa Bill, I forgot to bring in my camera. They seemed like they were doing well.

After the zoo we drove to Kelso to visit Grandma Ruth. She seemed happy, we brought her flowers, and the boys had a good time playing with their tools in her house.
Dallon being Handy Manny with his new tools.
Jace taking a turn while Dallon was busy with something else!

We also got a chance to visit with Aunt Chris and her son (Chris' cousin) Derrick for a while. Its been a long time since we've had a chance to see Derrick, it was nice to chat for a while.

It was a nice trip, and we headed home the next morning.

Sorry its been so long

Ok, we went to Portland and to the zoo on August 18.

The boys loved the animals, and we had a good time.

We met Brian and Ashley and their 2 boys, Austin and Elliot there and brought Grandma Sally with us.

Me holding baby Elliot.

Brian and Austin.

This is the best donation trick I've ever seen. You give the bird a dollar and he puts it in the jar for you!

Foot Update

OK, I had my follow-up for my foot yesterday. There was some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I did not re-injure my Jones fracture! The healed fracture is solid (the Dr. was very surprised by this, it is apparently very uncommon) and was not what was causing the pain and swelling in my foot. The bad news is the real cause. There is a joint just next to my old fracture that was likely distressed by the fracture and has become inflamed. So I don't need surgery, but I have a bad joint in my foot that cannot be permanently fixed. I can do preventative things (much like taking it easy on a bad knee) as well as take anti-inflammation medication when it flares. If it gets really bad I can receive cortizone shots to relieve it.

The Dr.'s surprise over the Jones fracture reminded me of the story surrounding it. In July after I graduated (1997) I stepped on someone's foot during a volleyball game (I wasn't running or jumping, I just stepped on the edge of the other person's foot). I felt a snap and could not continue playing. The next morning I was x-rayed and the break was significant. Five weeks later I was in Pendleton at my required physical to play collegiate volleyball. The orthopedic surgeon who saw me x-rayed my foot again, and from that x-ray compared to my first he determined that the break had not healed in any significant way (which is common for a Jones fracture). He said to come back in 3 weeks for another x-ray, if there was still no healing going on he would recommend surgery.

So here I am 500 miles away from home for only 2 weeks. I had only a few friends (none of them close), and no life outside of volleyball (school was still a month away). So I turned to our branch president for our little young adult branch (for those of you unfamiliar with these terms, a branch is a small congregation--we only had maybe 30 active members of our branch because it was only for young adults). I set up a meeting for the following Sunday after church. I told him what was going on, and I asked him for a priesthood blessing. He then told me a story that I didn't expect. He referred to a story in the New Testament (John 9) about Christ healing a blind man. He focused on how the blind man had faith to be healed, and how afterward his faith was tested and he was healed spiritually as a result of his physical healing. I had read this story before, but had never seen it in this light. He gave me a blessing that I would be healed, and although I had some doubt I did my best to have some faith.

At my follow-up appointment the new x-rays showed "substantial healing" which was a big surprise, and was enough healing that he cleared me to play the same day. This recent experience brought back a lot of memories, and the results of my x-ray yesterday was a big reminder of how I changed as a result of that event in September 1997.

Sorry to get so sentimental, but I had to share. I think that the months during and just after my broken foot changed and shaped my life. I met Chris, and by December I was convinced that he was the reason I randomly decided to go to Pendleton for college--the experience with my foot prepared me to be able to listen to the promptings that lead me to where I am today. Its strange to say, but I am so thankful for that broken foot.