Disneyland Magic

Every year Kyle's company sends everyone to Disneyland and this year we were able (and well enough) to go also.  Here are some fun pictures of the "happiest place on earth."

Until next time . . .

Thanksgiving

My Thanksgiving blessing this year was to be able to spend it with Kimberly and Kellie (and of course my wonderful husband).  We all worked on the meal and then my wonderful family let me have a little cat nap after the meal while they put the food away and did ALL the dishes!!   Love you guys.

And yes that is a Christmas tree in the background.  I got a little anxious and put my decorations up early.  I have always loved to decorate for Christmas and decided to get them up and enjoy them.   I can say that here in Tracy many people have the "bah-humbug" spirit.   Utah can out shine and twinkle them on any day.

Fall in California

One of the benefits of living in a warmer climate is that a lot of things continue to grow year round.  Here are some pictures of flowers and trees in my yard.

October Memories

October began with Kyle & Karen leaving for Rome and the kids stayed with us.  Kimberly came up to help and did the majority of the work.   She was such a good little mom and Paul and I were just the back-up plan.  We had unusually warm weather for October so they really enjoyed playing in the pool every day.  They gave grandpa a workout chasing and throwing them around.  Kim helped them get really good at diving for things at the bottom of the pool.   They spent 2-3 hours in the pool daily.

The ice cream truck stopped by the park.

 Kim had the idea to make hats to play with at the little park by our house.  The loved to wear them as the played in their hideouts in the bushes and rode their bikes through the trails.

For my birthday I made my favorite chocolate cake that my mom makes.  We decided to cut into it the night before and as I was laughing for the picture I blew out the candle.

Enduring to the end ......

I decided that I would write a short post and update my life.  The title of this post sounds  a little depressing, but it is basically the goal of each day.  About the first of May I started having a new pain in my knee.  I thought it would pass, but it only got worse.  To make a long story short, after seeing 3 orthopedic doctors it was determined that I have a strep infection in my new artificial knee.  This infection is reported to only happen in 1 percent of patients....so guess who gets to be in the 1 percent.  The standard treatment for this is to remove the artificial knee, put in an artificial cement spacer that is infused with antibiotics (the spacer is to just hold the tissue in place).  You cannot put any weight  on the knee except for what they call a "toe touch".  So on July 17 I had the surgery.  They put in a picc line in my arm so I could receive 6 weeks of heavy duty antibiotics.  I am on day 25  of the medication and have developed side effects with my digestive system because it has wiped out all the good bacteria along with the bad.  Fun times... But I am trying to stay positive and keeping myself busy.  I mostly use the wheelchair to get around.  Everything takes a long time, but I am getting more self sufficient.   Next month they will do testing to determine if the infection is gone and then I will go back for another surgery to put in a new artificial knee and I will begin the rehab process again.  Until then, I appreciate all the support I have had from my family.  You guys are the best!!!!  And I have to give Paul a special shout out for all the help and caregiving he has given during all this.

San Francisco and Cable Cars

Last weekend Paul, Kellie and I decided to ride the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) light rail train into San Francisco and ride the cable cars down to Fisherman's Wharf.  It turned out to be a fun adventure.  The BART actually goes under the bay and you can tell you are under water because the pressure on your ears changes for a few minutes.  We were able to escape the long lines to ride the cable car by just going down the street to the next stop.  It was a blast to ride it up and down those steep streets.  All three of us did not have a seat, but they just let you hang on the side and hold on tight.

We spent several hours checking out the wharf, the seafood, learning about the history of Alcatraz, and watching several sea lions beg for food as they were cleaning the fish at the end of the day.   We then got on another cable car and did the whole trip in reverse.   All in all, it was a lot of fun. 

Oasis

We finally got the patio set pulled together.  We bought the chairs at Home Depot and the fireplace at Walmart.  It took about 3 hours to put the fireplace together.  Between the small screws and the goofy instructions, we finally got it done!!  Now where did I put those marshmallows???

"It's Time"

When your husband says to you "Kath your blog needs to be updated" you know that you have been neglecting things, So . . .We have been busy unpacking boxes for weeks and finally United Van Lines came and picked up the empty boxes.   Now the house looks bare since the boxes are gone and we don't have any couches yet.  We have 2 blue chairs in the family room that we are getting by with.  Actually, it is a matter of choice because we saw this neat patio set at Home Depot and we decided to buy it instead.   Only crazy Utah people would get outside furniture before inside furniture.  We also went back home last weekend for Danny and Melony's wedding.   It was wonderful and we are thrilled to have Melony, Dawson and Ryan join our family!!

California . . here we come

Just a brief update . . . next week we are moving to California.   Paul received a wonderful job offer with Ross Dress for Less corporate headquarters in Pleasanton , CA and we decided to move.   I had originally planned to have my right knee replaced on Nov 22 and then spend the next few months recovering and doing rehab with my knee, but . . . nothing in our lives goes as planned.   I did have the knee replacement and luckily the company is paying for movers to move us.   Here are a few quick pictures of our home.   Stay tuned because when I get time I will give more attention to my blog.