Old Friends

The first Saturday in January we headed up to Hyrum to attend the baptism of my friend Louise's second daughter. We were up about 1 1/2 years ago for her first daughter's baptism and decided that it was a good tradition to keep up.

Louise and I were roommates at BYU the year before we both got married. She is an amazing lady! She has a degree in Music Education, but is the Special Ed teacher at her daughters' charter school and is working on her Master's in Special Ed (I think. Is that right, Weaz?) Her husband Cordell is a police officer for Logan City and is my resource for the future when we get a dog.

When we pulled up to their house after the baptismal festivities were complete, O was scared that the police car belonged to someone who was going to arrest him. (Secret life of crime, O?) I spoke thusly to Cordell, "O is afraid of the police officer here. Will you reassure him that he is not a threat and there's nothing to be scared of?" Cordell replied, somewhat distractedly, "Uh huh," as he packed a handful of snow into a snowball to throw at a random dog running down the street. Thanks, Officer Hoth. Thanks a lot!


Me and Louise. We pretty much look the same as we did 12 years ago when we lived in that tiny apartment on University Ave. Good times.

Now she's out of kids to have baptized, but I've three coming up -- one this year. With the triathlon she's doing in American Fork and the Ragnar (which goes right through Hyrum) that I'm planning on doing again this year, we'll see each other again soon, I'm sure of it.

Happy Birthday, MaKayla!

On the first day of the New Year, we went sledding for our niece MaKayla's birthday.












The second we arrived at the park, O was off on the first hill he could find, grass and all!
















S was the only one brave enough to go down on the saucer. He caught some awesome air at the bottom again and again and again!











H and I made it down a couple of times, but he didn't like me braking with my feet -- it sprayed snow in our faces. I love his little half-excited, half-terrified smile in this picture!










J and O getting ready to race!













How're you doing, Good Lookin'?

















After we were all sledded out, we went to Pirate Island.












Aaarrrgh!

The Last Week of December

J had the last week of December off. During that week he helped O put together the model helicopter from Santa.

























He and S worked on the model airplane that S got from Santa.




























And H put his head on backwards:

Updates from the Surgery Virgin

Day 2 was not fun. Actually, starting at Day 1 1/2 was not fun, but Day 2 was really not fun. Thankfully I slept through most of it. The Lortab makes me feel nauseous, so there was a lot of laying very still so as not to vomit. Last night the pain subsided and I was able to make it through the night with no pain killer.

Now the fun begins...

It has been 50 hours or so since the surgery and now I need to start walking on it. I made two trips to the bathroom sans crutches and then decided to take half a Lortab. Now comes some holding still before I try walking again. Wish me luck!

A Judd (Brewer, Lundgren, Kim) Family Christmas

After our traditional Christmas Eve dinner by the tree, we all went to bed. Christmas morning dawned bright and not-too-early (my favorite kind) and we all ate breakfast before approaching the Christmas tree. Here is O with two Daniel Pinkwater books and a Tech Deck from Uncle Ernie. He's also wearing a watch from Auntie Eunice and holding a whistle-pop from Santa. Christmas doesn't get any better than that!

Grandpa and Grandma Lundgren brought over their gifts later which included a Playmobil castle for S, a set of foam disc guns for O, and construction toys for H.

When Grandpa and Grandma Kim arrived at night, the boys all had another Christmas celebration, complete with books, Legos, and finally...

the Leapster 2 that O had been quizzically receiving cartridges for all day. He was too tired to really appreciate it then, but it has become a favorite!

The Surgery Virgin's Random Notes

Yesterday I had surgery on my freaky left foot. I have extremely flat feet -- so much so that they don't look like normal feet to me, but more like hobbit feet (except not hairy!) The problem with having freaky flat hobbit feet is the excruciating pain I feel after running/walking/hiking long and not-so-long distances. I began seeing a podiatrist last October who took x-rays to confirm that I actually have 2 extra bones in my left foot. When I told my mom that, she laughed and reminded me that I had a couple extra teeth that had to be taken out of my mouth when I was younger. Now that explains a lot -- I have this theory that there were supposed to be two of me, but I ate my twin in utero and now she's trying to break her way out of me. It would definitely explain the crazy voices in my head!

I've never been under general anesthesia before. Even when my wisdom teeth were taken out I had local anesthesia and remember how odd it was that the oral surgeon was practically straddling me, yanking at my teeth with pliers, and how I didn't feel a thing. I wasn't freaked out by being put under, but I have seen J come out of surgery a couple times before and wasn't looking forward to that. But really, life is so fleeting -- anything can happen. I realized that I wasn't afraid to die, if it was my time to go and that's a comforting thought, I guess.

The anesthesiologist was funny. He was alert and confident, which put me at ease. The last thing I remember was him saying, "This one that I'm putting in now will feel a little weird, but you don't have to worry -- you're off to Never Never Land! Ha! Ha! Ha!" And sure enough, 2 seconds later I was out...

I woke up about 75 minutes later after having a dream about the podiatrist saying, "I'll come back when she's more awake" (really not a dream). Apparently I didn't amuse or entertain anyone while under or waking up. Oh well -- J's amusing enough for both of us when he wakes up.

The Surgical Center is like a factory -- they just pump people through. I laid there half-asleep watching everyone come out of surgery -- older people, people my age, little kids -- fast asleep, being wheeled by the OR nurse and anesthesiologist in their blue scrubs with their blue shower-cap-like things. Like a factory. Interesting.

So what are my thoughts about my first (and hopefully last) surgery?
*Not a fan
*General anesthesia is weird
*Ouch
*Better be worth it. I'm clinging to the hope that I will soon be able to "run and not be weary, walk and not faint."
*Lortab -- not a fan, but grateful, none-the-less
*I have the sweetest husband who is taking care of me, the kids, the house, and working from home all at the same time. He's amazing! Too bad I feel so yucky I can't enjoy being waited on!

Updates will follow.

Skiing

My sister came into town the Tuesday before Christmas with her two boys. On Wednesday we went skiing. My last memory of skiing was when I was eight. I've repressed most of the memories from that trip; all I remember is that I fell down and cried a lot. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I trust J and didn't have the heart to squelch his enthusiasm, so off we went.








That's my sister on the right. She is passing me. I am going very very slowly. To my credit, I didn't fall at all getting off the lift. I made up for it, though.











Near the end of the day when S's class went up the lift to go down the mountain, J took pity on S's teacher, who was trying to ski backwards down the mountain with S and his cousin M clinging to her legs.










The bunny slope was more to S's liking.














O, on the other hand, is a natural. We have a great little video of him flying down the bunny slope after being told by his instructor to wait at the top. The instructor caught him at the bottom but couldn't be mad at him, because O was obviously so thrilled and had exhibited perfect form. He's been asking to go again ever since.








Somewhere in J's head is the hope that, in addition to being a hiking, camping, exploring, 4-wheeling family, we will also become a skiing family. Hmmmm... Give us a couple years and a few more ski lessons -- then we'll see.