Cami Playing Lacrosse

Cami really improved in lacrosse this year and enjoyed playing on the 7-8 team.  She plays the same position as Taylor now, so she got some pointers from her sister.  Here are some action shots from one of her games:

Ed and Cami

I got so far behind on my blog that I can't remember what this picture was for... but isn't it great?

Easter 2014

Happy Easter!  We did all the traditional Easter Activities and enjoyed having our friends over for dinner.  We missed Dallin, but loved getting to email with him. We are so grateful that he is serving in Kiribati right now and sharing the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are so blessed to have an understanding of The Plan of Happiness and our purpose here on earth.

Spring Flowers

Finally!!

My Wrist

I recently started having a lot of trouble with my right wrist.  I developed a ganglion cyst way back when Dallin was a baby and I was carrying around his chubbiness all the time.  It has come and gone over the years and never really bothered me too much.  Although, I haven't been able to do push ups due to wrist pain for a couple years now... and after working in the yard all day I could barely move my wrist... and I was starting to get shooting pains in my first finger...

OK, OK, I guess it has been bothering me more than I wanted to admit.  I knew it was bad when I had to put on my wrist splint in order to do regular house cleaning, vacuuming, and mopping.  I finally went to the orthopedist and had them take a look.  After an MRI to make sure it wasn't wrapped around any nerves (it has been in there for 19 years) they decided it needed to come out.  It had worked its way into the joint and was getting in the way of normal movement.  I had slowly lost about 50% of my range of motion and had just accepted it as the new normal.  Not good.

I had it removed at the surgery center on Monday and am happy to report that all is well.  The purple-green bruising is slowly leaking down my fingers, but the pain is minimal.  I'm a little nervous that I will need some hand therapy to regain total movement, but we'll deal with that after I'm all healed.  I've included a picture showing just how much movement I had lost (right wrist) and how it looks after surgery all wrapped up.

The real bummer is that I won't really be able to work in the yard for about a month because I have a 5 lb weight/force limit.  I was in so much pain before that I wasn't really able to work anyway, but I was still jealous to watch my neighbor mow his grass for the first time today.  Soon enough I'll be back out there!

A Little Bit of Spring

We have signs of warmer days ahead.  Phew!  I wasn't sure I was going to make it through this terrible winter.  Seriously, it was that bad.  I hope there are lots of flower pictures on the way in the next few months.

Cami at the Bat Mitzvah

Cami went to her friend's Bat Mitzvah the same day as Taylor's Prom.  She looked beautiful and had a great time.

Junior Prom

Taylor looked absolutely stunning for Junior Prom.  She was going to go with a group of friends, but at the last minute accepted a date with a friend.  I usually try not to say bad things about people on a public blog, but he was a real jerk.  After asking her to prom, he asked her to pay him back for her ticket, revealed that she would have to drive because he failed his driver's test, and then showed up 1 1/2 hours late for pictures.  She was pretty irritated, but her dad was furious.  I had to ask him to go and stand far away from where the pictures were being taken and didn't let him yell at the boy.  I did, however, tell Taylor that she had no obligation to spend time with him that evening at the dance and was free to make him find his own ride home, which she did.  She actually had a lot of fun with her friends and I'm glad he had to get a ride home from prom.  Jerk. (I won't include any pictures of him on this post... I only have a couple anyway)

Anyway, she looked beautiful, blew off the beginning of the evening, and enjoyed her time with friends.  I am so grateful to have strong girls who stand up for themselves.  I'm also grateful that they have a loving dad as an example and won't tolerate disrespectful treatment. Taylor you are so beautiful and we love you!

Conference Weekend

I LOVE CONFERENCE!  I look forward to these two weekends all year.  We finally had some sunshine and enjoyed having some friends from the ward and our favorite local missionaries over for lots of yummy food.  I didn't take many pictures, but did manage to get one of the sister missionaries (which I sent to their parents so they would know we were taking care of their girls), some delicious red velvet cupcakes, and a few flowers peeking out of the ground (finally!).

We are so blessed to be able to receive instruction and guidance through these inspired leaders.  I always find the answers I have been looking for when I study conference talks over the next few months.  These messages are very near and dear to my heart.

Philly Pops and John Williams

Ed surprised us again with tickets to see the Philadelphia Orchestra play an evening of John Williams.  Once again, he bought the tickets months ago and the only other Friday evening game for Taylor was the same night.  Not only did she have to miss out AGAIN, but we were sad not to see her play.

Anyway... the concert was AMAZING!  When we arrived there were Star Wars characters wandering around everywhere waiting to take pictures with everyone.  Ed was like a little kid.  He was dragging Cami over to see all the storm troopers, asking if he could hold their guns, posing for pictures.  It was great fun.  The music was awesome with funny stories thrown in by the conductor.  They played music from Jaws, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Superman, The Olympics, and of course Star Wars.  John Williams is truly the most gifted composer of our time.  His music evokes such strong feelings and emotions in just about everyone in western society.  I mean he created the jaws theme - the universal sound of fear and terror.  Anyone who hears that "duh, nuh.... duh, nuh" automatically thinks SHARK!  So simple and yet so powerful.

Almost the whole second half of the concert was Star Wars and at one point storm troopers marched onto the stage with Darth Vader right behind them.  He used the force to remove the conductor from the stand and then took his place leading the orchestra with a light saber.  Funny stuff.

It was a great night, but we really missed having Dallin and Taylor with us.  They both would have enjoyed all the memories that the music brought to mind.  Thank you John Williams for being such an amazing and talented man.  Where would we be without you?