fall

This last monday night we went to cornbelly's for a big family night birthday party event. it was really fun! good to see all my siblings and their kids etc....






my nephews scotty and jack



my brother kade ...



saylor in her favorite kind of seat ... a saddle and yes she is roping a steer!




my nephew chase and niece winnie



my gorgeous niece ... tyler.



In october my mom and i always visit garnders village and see all the decorative witches. its tradition. usually all the kids go but this year they stayed at school for a BYU thing and saylor, my mom, and I went. saylor riding a minature (what i want to get her!) comfortable and always happy on a horse.



saylor is finally back to her wheelin skillful self. it took a while for her to figure out there really is no other way for right now! at gardner's village she did all the work i didnt push her much!

sunday morning

they said it would be an early winter .... just cause its already all melted doesnt mean they arent right .... who are they anyway? seriously this got me so excited when i looked at the window sunday morning! timp is still covered and i hope it stays that way and the snow pounds soon! the better use i will get out of my pass, cant wait to hit the slopes!


my dr. seuss tree covered in snow, so magical!




my trusty board just waiting patiently for me!

WARNING - GRAPHIC

Many of you are awaiting an update from yesterdays events. well let me explain. typically in the past for saylor and for kids 5 and younger (sometimes older than 5 too!) when a cast change post op is needed they do it in the OR under anesthesia for pain, anxiety, and ability to cast well purposes. Dr. Stotts gave us an option this time to do it in his office just on loritab or in the OR. it was up to us ... hard decision to make that involved way to many considerations! we talked a lot about it all week long and she actually wanted and chose to do the office thing instead of going back to the OR. pretty scary though! we talked a lot about being brave the day of. she resisted going for a fit in the morning but we got beyond that and she was fine even on the way up to PCMC and in the doors ... surprise. infact how she handled the whole thing was one great big giant really good surprise for all involved. i gave her the loritab (which she is weened off of entirely all ready so a full dose should have just knocked her flat, but didnt!) on the way up. she was nervous and scared and started to shake when they got the tools out to pop the old casts off but she stayed calm, never cried and only here and there said things like "im scared" or "mom i love you" seriously how amazing is this child!!!! she watched as much as the Dr. would let her before he insisted she lay down so he could be in a better position. he was so amazed he said most kids dont want to look until they are teenagers and even then a lot dont. she was a willing and able participant of her care. she even let me leave her side to take pics now and then! saylor is just undescribable. words dont even go there. we are home happy and healthy unscathed and with a very good experience. not to mention short skinny casts that are stripped like witches tights black and purple! yeah! thanks for all the love, support, and prayers.
casts come off nov 12th!


my sweet angel just before we got started

surgery casts coming off! shaking a little but calm and collected!


Just after we took the top off her casts from last week. ooooh look at the old brown blood drenching the bandages! she is sitting up and watching!



pin in the top of her foot. OUCH! this is a good pic that might show my disapointment in alignment. but in the end wer are shooting more for flat and we can brace the rest. her feet still look a little swollen to me!


here is a pic that shows she really was scared and concerned. i kept telling her its ok to be scared you just have to be brave. she was slightly shaking and trembling through the whole thing but she insisted on seeing as much as she could. her tiny little hands clutched togethere make me weak!


pin in the heal ... ouch! look how tiny tiny those feet are. saylor is 4.5 and she wears and infant size 5-6 shoe. great things come in small packages!


clean ready to be wrapped left foot from saylors view. she still talks about how dr stotts colored on her!


completion of casts from saylor angle on the exam table


minutes after the completion of casting she is smiling brightly and so happy. resilant as ever! i am learning to never underestimate her power! she surprised me everytime!


Late last night when we got home saylor wanted to paint her cute toes ... had to be black like her moms! LOL plus they matched her witch tight looking casts.

i guess i shoud have ....

left some sort of update on how it went on my last post, sorry! so scheduling about made me crazy before this one, nichole the girl that schedules for dr. stotts just got things all messed up and had saylor's surgery for left foot only, 2 hours, and same day. none of which was right. good thing we can throw the whole OR schedule on a whim. surgery took a little more than 4 hours to complete both feet. dr stotts seemed exhausted and said things were a little harder than he anticipated. lots of really hard scar tissue to get through. he put incisions on both sides of her feet, removed the scar tissue, resculpted the bones on the outside edge that had made growths and removed pie shape pieces of bone from the heal in. he also did something to almost every tendon and ligament in her feet. we ended up with split casts which we didnt plan on so this means that she can swell as much as she needs and the casts will swell with her but it also means we have to go back next week for a sedated cast change. we didnt get the stripes we planned on but he said next week he will be creative but shhhh we are not supposed to tell he said he only will do it for saylor. she came out of anesthesia well with no vomitting. the first thing she said was "MY FEET HURT" so yes she can feel her feet! once we had the pain managed she did fine. they were out of rooms so we got put in the RTU unit which is less than desirable and talked the dr into letting us go earlier than we should have which prompted lots of phone calls from him in the following hours we were home but she is doing well and is happy. bored mostly. i expect her frustration with her new incapabilities to increase in te next few days!

.... and it continues

tradition finds us reading one of our favorite family books together the night before every surgery (thanks Jolynn! i love you so much and i will never forget!) "oh the places you'll go" dr seuss. the kids love it! saylor also received an incredible blessing from our bishop that was very very powerful! i know that priesthood blessings work and prepare us for things to come. this has been almost the easiest surgery ever! there have always been blessings given with promises but they always make sense and prepare us for the hardships that come with each procedure. this one really has been bliss .... at least what bliss there can be given the circumstances!






have you ever seen a happier child preop? saylor is such a wonder


Saylor a few hours after surgery in the bed and glossed over! nate is the only parental figure in this documentation process, why cause i am behind the camera and if i wasnt i wouldnt be in the pic, i couldnt look worse than i do now!

old feet, new feet

today begins an inspired photo documentation of saying good bye to good old feet and hello to good new feet, of standing in holy places and expereincing holy things. a documentation of us and what we experience in holland. tomorrow these precious feet will be covered with casts and will never be the same. I remember the first time saylor had serial casting done and how hard it was for me to let doctors change her. i knew what was best for her but it was so hard to let go of the perfect imperfections of my sweet tiny angel. i accepted her that way, i loved her that way! i still struggle today, dont want to erase the scars already worn into our lifes. but you can see in the picture of her walking just how necessary this has become. i pray that this experience within the realm of this whole expereienc will not fall short of how holy its already been.

WHIP IT

last night was the big suprise party for nate, 80's themed, great music and dressed up! he's 31! i have been planning for months and successfully pulled it off without him having a clue, despite some close calls! i was careful to plan the surprise uniquely so he wouldnt feel funny. we had sooo much fun! cant beat the music which is what started this whole thing. in the end i burned nate 5 80's themed discs ... love songs, hair bands, dance, party mix, other great 80's songs!

my gorgeous kids all dressed up in RAD t-shirts! for those of you who have not seen RAD and dont get what this t-shirt business has to do with the 80's find the movie and rent it or buy it, you wont be disapointed, its classic good 80's! the song "send me an angel" was made for this movie, what better 80's song than that!

storie loved that we crimped her hair and wondered where i had been hiding this wonderful tool her whole life. saylor aka DEB was just so beautiful! i cant get enough of her! stock the rock was hiper wild and oblivious!





friends becky, devan, and little vi arriving. i have known becky since jr high, kind of a real life flash back girl! jk. devan your pants were great!


our friends barrett and heather arriving, heather was so flash dance and gorgeous! barrett, well lets just say he thought he dressed up but the boys were sure to mention that he didnt!


my trusty assistant and good friend neena, she is an 80's princess and has known about my plans and helped scheme it up months ago! this girl can dance 80's and she can do it with a 4.5 yr old in her arms! thanks neena!


my older brother joey and his girlfriend nadia! hilarious! they were chompin gum and everything!


me and a long time friend jolynn, she had this really great black suede jacket with fringe! i was inpressed that she too held on to the crimper!


a group of most that actually dressed up