2 BREAKS - now we're BROKE!

At the end of it all, Trevor kind of likes his new black cast

Yep, another broken bone! Why is it that kids decide to need the really expensive doctor visits two months before Christmas shopping starts?

Last December Braden broke his leg pretty bad. After a year of MRI's, two casts, many doctors, many x-rays and physical therapy we are STILL dealing with it. We went to another appointment with a specialist this week and Braden is actually scheduled for knee surgery on October 14th. Hopefully this will correct the problems.

Tuesday night, September 30th, I heard a loud crash in the kitchen. Trevor was whining a little bit to Dan saying he fell off a bar stool and hurt his shoulder. I was listening from the bedroom as he talked to Dan. I heard him ask two or three times for a drink of water between explaining what happened. I know from too many experiences that this is the first indication that he might be about to pass out. I ran in there and got him a drink. I then noticed that his face and back were covered in sweat all of a sudden. This is usually my second indication that I am about to pass out. I had him sit down and tried to get him to put his head between his knees. He then said he felt like he was going to throw up. Always the third feeling I get when I'm about to kiss concrete. I hate that feeling!! I tried to calm him down and cool him off. We checked his shoulder and his collar bone since these were his main complaints. Everything was still intact and moved like it was supposed to so Dan told him to go lay down on the couch and we'd get him an ice pack because he was fine. He took a few steps and then turned back around toward us. He was holding his arm at his eye level and calmly said, "if I'm fine....why is my arm bent like this?" HOLY CRAP! His arm was in the shape of an "S". Now I was instantly the one that needed a drink, broke out in a sweat and felt sick to my stomach. I calmly went and put my arm under his for support and told him it was okay and looked up at Dan. In a panicked yet somewhat controlled whisper I said, "Dan, go get your shoes on! You need to take him to urgent care. His arm is broken!"

Sure enough, he broke both bones in his arm. The ulna (smaller bone) just buckled but the radius (larger bone) snapped clean in half. I took him on Wednesday to the orthopaedic surgeon who reset it there in his office. VERY PAINFUL! Trevor was a trooper though and didn't make a sound. He always has been a pretty tough little guy but when the doctor told us he usually has to put older kids to sleep to do what he did to Trevor, and Trevor didn't make a peep, I was impressed. I asked Trevor later what it felt like and he said he could feel his bones grinding together and it made them feel like they were vibrating inside his arm. He did say it hurt pretty bad. This kid definitely doesn't get his pain tolerance from his mom that's for sure!!

He is now in a cast for 8 - 10 weeks. Poor kid. He told us later that he thought he broke the leg of the bar stool because he heard it break when it fell. The stool was fine, the noise he heard was his bone snapping. Brittani heard it too and said it sounded like somebody cracking their knuckles REALLY LOUD. When she realized that it was his bone breaking, you guessed it.....she instantly needed a drink of water!

Tate Girls Luncheon

Aunt Jolene with her new set of cow decorations

Mom's yummy brownies

Shelbi's new fall decorations

Julie's Deal or No Deal game

Julie, Mom, Shari & Aunt Diana

Watching Julie watch her gift being opened was a crack up!!

She couldn't stop laughing! It was so funny!

We had our annual Tate Girls Luncheon once again. My mom has always had a close family who loves to get together for a fun party. Growing up we, as the kids, were never able to go. It was just for her sisters, girl cousins and aunts. Hearing what these parties were like always made me wish I could be there. About four or five years ago my cousin Shari decided to continue the tradition and have one of these parties for our generation with a spin of her own, a white elephant gift exchange game. Every year around this time we get together for a luncheon and party. It is so much fun. We start with a yummy luncheon and then head straight into our white elephant gift exchange game. This is always a blast. Some years women fight over homemade rolls. Some years they fight over chocolate. There is always a super cute craft made by one of the cousins that is a hot commodity. And of course there are usually some gifts that are just hilarious. We always come away with something happening that just "makes the party". This year it was my cousins wife Julie! What a crack up. She went to get her gift at Savers. She came to the party with a box full of the most hideous decorations I have ever seen. She went through the store trying to find the ugliest cow decorations she could find. Now it wasn't the gift that had us all holding our sides, wiping tears and not being able to breathe because of laughter. It was watching Julie as the gift was being opened. She was laughing so hard! Literally stomping her feet and constantly yelling, "open it", "oh just wait for the really good one", "look at (this)", "look at (that)". I have NEVER seen her act this way before! There is no way I could convey just how side-splitting, "UDDERLY" hilarious it was. I don't think we have laughed that hard at this party before, and that's saying a lot because we are usually laughing pretty hard.

I love this party. It is something I look forward to every year. I have been so blessed to have some of my cousins as my best friends. We have grown up having numerous get-togethers that are some of my favorite memories.

Thanks once again for a great party Shari. It was a lot of FUN. Thanks for the laughs Julie! My sides and my cheeks still hurt!

9 teeth pulled

Braden had to get nine teeth pulled the other day. YES NINE!! Luckily we have a great dentist! My brother-in-law, Jonathan Staker, is a pediatric dentist in Gilbert. Their office is FANTASTIC! Pediatric Dental Specialists (yes, that is my plug Ü).

Braden hates to wiggle his loose teeth so the result was his adult molars coming in before the baby teeth were out. This forced the baby teeth to flip on their side. He never even told us any of his teeth were loose and since they were all back teeth we had no idea until the night before we were going in for their annual cleaning. When I looked in his mouth it reminded me of a shark with his rows of teeth!

We expected to be told that Braden needed a couple teeth pulled but I was shocked when they told me that it was recommended that they pull TEN! Would he have any teeth left to chew? Four of them already had adult teeth breaking through so yes, he would still have some left to eat with. Luckily before his appointment he pulled one on his own so that was one less for them to pull.

My plan that day was to just be in there with him while he got numbed up and not while he got them pulled. However, once he was numb, they just started pulling them! When I saw them pull the first tooth I got sick to my stomach and really light headed. I almost sat down on the floor right there in the exam room and stuck my head between my knees. To those of you who know me well, I'm sure this comes as no surprise to you at all!! Thankfully, I pulled it together without hitting the ground. I was so amazed at how fast they had all nine teeth out. I'm pretty sure it was less than two minutes! SO FAST!

I knew it sounded like a lot when I would tell somebody that he had to have nine teeth pulled but when I actually saw what nine teeth looked like in his hand.....that's a lot of teeth! He did good. Trust me when I say it hasn't affected his eatting at all! He is very happy that he doesn't have to deal with anymore loose teeth ever again! Thanks Uncle Jonathan!!

Hall Family Reunion

Braden's and Trevor's message they wanted to leave behind at the camp when we left

Melissa, Emily, Heidi, Anna & Riley (some of my cousins)

Aunt Shelbi & Great Grandma Hall

Brittani & Dad - She is such a daddy's girl!!

Grandma Hall & Mason

Mason loved being up high and looking down from the cabin porch

Grandma Hall & Cora

Aunt Shelbi & Grandma Hall kickin' back

Nellie & Brittani

Mason

Uncle Denver grilling - YUM!

Trevor, Braden, Grandpa Hall & Mason at the campfire

Mason, Courtani, Brittani and Nellie

Mason

We were able to have our first Hall Family Reunion this past weekend. We've had family reunions as long as I can remember. My Grandma Hall is the 13th of 14 children. Each year, (with the exception of one due to fires) for the past 50 years, there has been a Nielsen Family Reunion with her family up at their ranch in St. Johns/Springerville area. The house they lived in when my grandma was just a little girl is still standing. We all pitch tents around the old house and camp out for a few days. It is, and will always be, one of my most favorite childhood memories.

Many people have the chance to hear neat stories about their ancestors. It is such a neat thing that growing up we got to hear the stories and then actually go to where they took place. It literally felt like we got to step back in time. Inside their old house is still the stove where my great grandma used to cook, there are still beds upstairs and little shoes (the kind you need a button hook to fasten) upstairs on the floor. You can see their old covered wagon actually there still on the ranch. The feeling really is incredible. It gives me a sense of what they might have been like. It has helped me feel like I actually knew them, when most of them I have never met. I cherish the memories I've made up there with my cousins all these years. I'm sad to see it all come to an end as the family has just gotten so big and other circumstances have come up that we are unable to have our family reunion up at the ranch anymore. I love that place. Even just the way it smells after the rain or late at night after the campfire. I love the memories I have there. I love the stories. I am excited to meet the ancestors I have grown to love and have heard so much about. I am heart broken that we will no longer be able to go up there every year.

We started a new family reunion this year with just my Grandma & Grandpa Hall's family. My dad and his three sisters with all of their families. We were able to go up to Strawberry and stay in cabins at Camp Lo Mia for a night. We had such a great time. I was so amazed at how much we were able to create the same feelings in a total different place just by keeping so many of the same campfire traditions we had at the Nielsen Family Reunion that we have all grown up with. We had the family campfire/meeting Saturday night and a great family devotional Sunday morning where many of the cousins were able to stand and share their thoughts and feelings. It really was pretty awesome and I loved it!

We will continue to have our Hall Family Reunion every year now. I'm so lucky to live so close to most of my cousins. We are all pretty good friends and have some great memories together. It doesn't matter where the reunion is held as long as we are able to have the reunion and keep our relationships strong, that is what matters.

Playing catch up!!

I know I haven't posted anything for quite a while. This isn't due to the fact that we have just been sitting around with nothing to post about, but more because I have found myself feeling so busy that I haven't had time to think. When things happen, I type up some thoughts and leave them as drafts in my "postings" so that I won't forget them. Problem is, they just end up sitting there for a while. I decided to actually stay up late tonight (it's about 3:00am) and finish some of the drafts that have been sitting there and post them. So, here are a few and I will be adding more posts and updating the rest of our "happenings" soon......I hope.

Are you kidding me? Another pair of glasses!

When Courtani was born one of her eyes would turn in slightly causing it to appear that her eyes were crossed. I asked different doctors about it but always got the same answer. It was just how babies eyes were at this age and nothing to worry about. Now I'm not claiming that I know more than the doctors, however I was never satisfied with that answer because she was my fourth baby and I had seen what they were talking about and I knew this was different. Finally at her nine month well visit her pediatrician was able to see what I was talking about and sent us to a pediatric eye specialist. After seeing the specialist for a year, he too wasn't able to ever see what I was talking about during her visits and I was very frustrated by this point.

Around the time that she was three years old I was talking to a friend of mine who told me not to give up but to keep pushing for what I knew was going on. She told me that kids with this type of problem end up having double vision. The way the brain deals with this problem is to shut the vision off in one of their eyes and once that happens, there is nothing they can do. Needless to say, I took her right back to the eye specialist and luckily, since she was older now, he was able to see what I had been seeing for the past three years. Whew!

Fast forward....It ended up being a muscle problem that was making her eye turn in. She was actually already shutting the vision off in her right eye and in fact, couldn't really see much past about eight inches from her face. We patched her good eye for a while hoping it will cause her bad eye to get stronger and the vision to come back. Once that was accomplished she had surgery on her right eye, then five months later on her left eye and finally ten months later, which was this past June, another surgery on both eyes at the same time.

She is now in glasses even though she has 20/20 vision at this point. The glasses are to help the muscles relax so her eyes can learn to work together. She has been in the glasses since February of this year and we have gone through FIVE PAIRS OF GLASSES!! Not to mention the countless times we have taken the glasses in for minor repairs. I don't know what she does to them or how she keeps breaking them but I hope we can figure it out soon. I'm about done with this. I know she is only four years old and, because she is so young and such a tom-boy, I was up for a few repairs... but this is crazy! I'm hopeful that after having yet ANOTHER talk with her about being more careful with her glasses it will sink in. However, I won't hold my breath.