Come on, seriously, a big MAN spoon? That's hilarious!!

Our blonde twig dislocated his shoulder three times in the last year.

The first time was on the basketball court at the park.

He turned and took off running to get a ball,

not knowing that his Scout Leader's 9 yr-old daughter was rollerblading right behind him.

He realized, as they were both going down,

that he was about to flatten her like a pancake and needed to grab her

and roll to the side to help cushion the impact.

They survived the impact, though I'm sure she's traumatized, 
and his shoulder was dislocated.

He put it back in place and the soreness subsided so we never checked it out.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of the story as his shoulder dislocated two more times.
After it dislocated the third time, this one during a racquetball match,

we thought we'd better get it looked at before he heads off on a mission to Timbuktu

and has more problems.

The MRI showed a torn labrum.

You could see the little shredded flap just floating around in the image.

Surgery day came and he had the nicest prep nurse!

She had him smiling and laughing while she was putting in his IV.

He was still smiling when surgery was finished.

Smiling, and asking his pappy to fix his hair now that he couldn't use his right arm. :)

The Dr. tucked the flap back in place with 4 anchors

and Hunter would be sporting a sling for the next 4 weeks.

The first week was a little rough.

The Percocet made him sick to his stomach and the nausea meds didn't help. :(

One night during that first week,

he was sleeping well so I didn't wake him to give him pain meds.

OOPS!!!

He woke up with his bad arm in pain

but unbeknownst to us,

his sling had been cutting off the blood flow in his good arm all night.

It hurt an incredible amount more than the surgery arm.

It was the worst pain he'd ever felt in his life.

Both arms were spasming and posturing 

and he was sure he was dying from a blood clot!

He's a pretty chill, relaxed kid normally.

This was NOT normally.

We got pain meds in him,

I was massaging the cramping muscles in his good arm,

the Mr. was encouraging him to breathe to get the muscle spasms to subside,

our girlie was trying to feed him some food so the pain med wouldn't upset his stomach.

It was the ultimate tag team operation, right?

We'll never forget Hunter's replies,

"Call Sister Olsen!!!"   (our sweet nurse friend)

"No, I don't want a little BOY spoon, I want a big MAN spoon!!"

"Dad, don't tell me about oxygen!!"

It was totally rude of us, we know and we're sorry, but it was so funny

to hear Hunter completely and totally out of character.

We could not help ourselves, we had to chomp on our tongues to keep from laughing!

Come on, seriously, a big MAN spoon? That's hilarious!!

You don't want us for your nurses. Total fail!

In reality it only took about an hour for the pain meds to help

but it sure felt like eternity at the time.

We're glad that first week is over.

We're also glad for all of you!

Thanks, everyone, for your treats, visits, messages, and smiles. :)

You helped so much <3

Shotguns and the Polar Express doing the Tim Tam slam...

Our girlie got asked to her High School Winter Dance. 

She had a great date and

their group did one of the coolest day date activities ever! 

They went shotgun shooting!

What a blast!!   ;)

Then they went to the dance.

After the dance they watched the movie, Polar Express, 

which was the theme of the dance.

How neat is that!

They also did Australian Tim Tam Slams in hot chocolate. 

Sounds like a "got to try it at least once" experience.  :)

Hunter missed out on the fun this time because 

he'd just had shoulder reconstruction surgery the day before. 

He was sad. 

The theme of the dance had been his idea 

and the boy LOVES group dates and dances.  

The kindest thing happened though, 

sweet, thoughtful friends came by to say "Hi" and wish him well. 

Some came bearing treats,

and balloons,

and in their suits and dresses.

Some texted encouraging words. 

Thanks everyone, for "bearing one another's burdens". 

He's a lucky man to have such good friends!

Thanksgiving with Alex and a thorough beating...

The Thanksgiving break was too short for our University attending nephew 

to make the long trip home so he came and celebrated with us instead - win win.

The twigs worked hard to get homework done so we could play

and play we did!  :)

We played Carcassonne till the cows came home. 

This guy beat us over and over and over. 

How did he do that? 

He didn't know - beginners luck he said?

My beautiful little blue-eyed Mother loved to play games too. 

She was clever and quick and thought it was good 

for kids to lose - pretty wise of her.

Here

Alex played the Mr.'s game with him too. 

Did you know the Mr. invented a game?

It's called Black Box +.

It's a hexagonal version of an old favorite game called Black Box

 that he played with his buddy, Brad, in High School. 

The Mr. contacted the original game inventor, Eric Solomon, years ago and told him 

about this hexagonal version. 

Mr. Solomon said it had been tried dozens of times 

but he would take a look at the Mr.'s idea. 

Next thing we knew it was in production and royalty checks started coming in. 

How neat is that?

This guy played lots of fetch when he wasn't watching us play games. 

I'm thankful for family and friends and furry creatures.

Especially I'm grateful for my God. 

God bless you all.

:)

A bridal shower for the perfect girl...

A few weeks ago our girlie and I were jazzed 
to be invited to a bridal shower for this precious girl.

Her name is Jessica and she is marrying our super cool nephew, Joe. 

We always knew the girl that won Joe's heart 
would be totally fantastic and Jessica is that girl, the perfect girl for Joe!!

One of our favorite parts of the shower was this little activity where Joe 

was asked questions about their relationship in advance.
Questions like: 
what was your first date,
when was your first kiss,
how did you propose,
what could Jessica not live without?

His responses were recorded and played for all to see. 

Jessica was asked what Joe's answer would be.
If she got it right she got a lindor chocolate, 
but if she got it wrong she got a great big chunk of hubba bubba. 
The chocolate she could save 
but the hubba bubba she had to eat all at once. 
Oh boy!!!

When Joe was asked what Jessica couldn't live without, 

he answered three things:

1. Heavenly Father

2. Cottage Cheese

3. Hopefully she'll say me    :)

She did say him!   Aaahhhh...

She giggled when she heard him say cottage cheese 

and admitted that she really does love cottage cheese - so cute.

One of the sweetest interactions I noticed was 

Jessica introducing her friend/roommate to Joe. 

She loves them both so dearly and was excited to have them meet each other.   :)

Congrats Joe and Jessica - we love you!!!

Christmas Village 2015 "North Carolina" Theme with help from the Full-time Elders, Alex, Joe, and Jessica :)

With our Zac on a mission teaching people about
Jesus Christ and His restored gospel
 in the Carolinas, 

we decided to make our Christmas Village theme "North Carolina" this year.

We had sandy beaches, blue water, a lighthouse, 

and the Wright Brothers airplane on the Outer Banks side. 

Moss and snow-dusted trees surrounded Chimney Rock on the other side of the village.

The missionaries serving in our area were able to drop by for a few minutes 

and make houses for the Village.
How neat is that!

They were from Fiji (Elder Koroibuica), Finland (Elder Sohkanen), and Florida (Elder Philips). 

Notice the awesome Finnish flag.

They had to leave before the village was all put together. 

I noticed later that someone made little missionaries, 

name badges and all, 

out of sour patch kids and placed them on the missionary's doorstep.   :)

Alex stayed with us for his college Thanksgiving break.

This was his first time helping to make the Christmas Village

and we were totally impressed by his imagination and speed!

Not only did he come up with the Outer Banks Lighthouse, 

but he also worked with Joe on the Wright Brothers Plane

and made the U.S. flag atop Chimney Rock.  

His two, experienced village-making sisters would be proud!

This was Joe's second year helping with the Village and he brought the best addition, Jessica! 

They're getting married in December and we couldn't be more thrilled!   :) 

She's totally a keeper! 

She's creative too - check out her fun licorice boat complete with life ring bumpers

and sour patch kids floating along in style.

Their house had a boat dock, a pumpkin patch, fishermen, an alligator, etc. etc. etc.

Our girlie's house won our hearts with her little tufts of moss on the roof tiles and sides. 

Her wreath bow was made of hot glue and then colored with a marker.   :)
Love all her frosty icicle touches and chimney smoke too.  

Hunter and Joe made cars with life savers for wheels so they really rolled.

Joe's 4-wheelin', hill climbing, graham cracker car

I loved Hunter's rooftop balcony with views of Chimney Rock.
That's his 3-wheeled car in the carport on the right.

Our dog loved Hunter's front door we believe, 

as it mysteriously disappeared last week 

but there are some teeth marks left on the sour candy sharks. 

The Mr. had a totally creative roof and a bright rock path into the sound.

I went for a wrap around porch and a house on stilts so we could be in the water.

Thanks everyone for the fun time
and Merry Christmas to Zac in the Carolinas!! 

Thanksgiving fun with the fam...

Scottie and April invited us to join them for an early Thanksgiving.

They invite us every year - they're so thoughtful! 
We don't often get to make the trip 
but it worked out this year and we had a blast with everyone!

Scottie took this little video of one of the games we played.   :)

When you feel your hand get squeezed, grab the ball before the other guy!

At the end of the evening, I remembered to snap a few pictures.

Notice anything funny about this picture?

How about this?

Let's get a closer look at the action in the foyer. 

    :)

Happy Thanksgiving 2015

A birthday boy...

Happy Birthday Hunter!!

This fun guy wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate chips inside 

and chocolate frosting for his birthday.

I was totally happy to oblige - yum!   :)

There's a scripture that reminds me of Hunter. It says...

"And now, my son, I trust that I shall have great joy in you, 

because of your steadiness and your faithfulness unto God; 

for as you have commenced in your youth to look to the Lord your God, 

even so I hope that you will continue in keeping the commandments; 

for blessed is he that endureth to the end. 

I say unto you, my son, that I have had great joy in thee already, 

because of thy faithfulness and thy diligence, 

and thy patience and long-suffering"

                                                                               -Alma 38:2-3

Thanks, buddy, for 18 years of joy! 

We love you!!!

Hunter's beloved missionary brother sent 

some birthday swag from South Carolina,

a Winthrop University hat

and some superman socks.

Hunter is crazy about wild socks!

Nice job, Zac   ;)