An Update

It has now been a little over a week and a half since Brandon's ACL surgery and he is recovering very well. About a week after surgery he was only using one crutch to get around and now he is only using one crutch to help him up and down stairs. The best day ever was last Saturday when he actually wore real pants (not basketball shorts or warm-ups). He is still very good at doing his PT. Here is a picture of him doing one of the stretches they told him to do at home.

And here is a picture of how his knee looks now. The swelling has gone down a lot.

Handicap and loving it!

It is really nice having a 'handicap' boyfriend. It definietly comes with some benefits. For one thing we have been able to sit in the handicap section for the last two BYU basketball games. These seats are awesome because you can sit down for the entire game which isn't the case if you are in the student section. Another benefit is that I no longer feel guilty pushing the handicap door opener at stores. After all these buttons were made for people like us who need a little extra help getting through the heavy department store doors. When I was a little girl my mom always told me not to play with those buttons because the were there for people who really needed them. I can't say I'm happy that I've needed that kind of assistance at the age of 23. Another good thing about Brandon being 'handicap' is that everyone is more friendly. People are always coming up to talk to us and tell us their story of when they had knee surgery or were on crutches. Plus people will open the door for us and allow us to go first. Last but not least is his handicap parking pass. We have only used it a few times at the movie theater and grocery store but let me tell you it is very helpful. The pass is good through August and I can already tell I am getting attached to it. Even when I don't have Brandon in the car I check out all the handicap parking spots available. But no matter how hard I try to justify myself using it without him I can't...I would just feel too guilty without him there.

Happy Valentine's Day

Brandon's knee has somehow founds its way to be the center of attention for two holidays now. Thanksgiving morning Brandon tore his ACL playing basketball with my family. Then on Valentine's Days, Brandon finally had his surgery to repair it. Dr Kimball said everything went well and that he expects a full recovery (6-12 months). We spent several hours in the recovery room until Brandon was awake enough to take home. That night Brandon did very well and nothing too unusual happened. We ate dinner, watched a movie and he fell asleep quickly.


Friday was another story. It all started when we got up to go to Physical Therapy. The entire session Brandon felt very sick to his stomach and the nausea did not go away when we came home. The Phenergan and Percocet they had prescribed was not helping. He was sick to his stomach and in more pain. He even spiked a temperature and was so uncomfortable he was unable to sleep. It was a miserable afternoon. Luckily Brandon's brother Tyler and his wife Chelsea were in town from Rexburg. Tyler stopped by and gave him a blessing. As soon as they left Brandon was able to fall asleep for a couple hours and woke up feeling much better. The worst was over.


Saturday Brandon did very well. He is very good about doing his Phyical Therapy exercises at home. I think he has a lot of motivation to get better soon and make a full recovery to return to his pre-injury abilities. We even went to the BYU basketball game where we sat in the handicap section with all the old people in their jazzy wheelchairs. :) The Cougars continued their home winning streak as they beat UNLV 74-48 thanks to my favorite player, Lee Cummard, who had an amazing game!

Here are some more pictures of Brandon's knee:

Mayday Parade

Ever since driving 14 hours to Mexico in a car where I was exposed to every punk band imaginable (thanks Algot for being our DJ and serenading us the entire way), I have been a huge fan of Mayday Parade. Saturday night Brandon and I went to see them play at the Avalon in SLC. They were amazing live!! The other bands were more emo and screamo which is definitely not my favorite but it was worth the wait to hear Mayday Parade. They played my favorite song, Three Cheers for Five Years, which you can listen to on my playlist to the right. Here are a few pictures from the concert. Of course they are not high quality because of the lighting but you get the idea. I really wish I would have got a good picture of the bass guitarist from the band Cry of the Afflicted. His hair was unbelievable!

 

Sea lions

On the glass bottom boat in Cabo San Lucas we passed by a large rock with dozens of sea lions and Isaac wanted to talk to them!

Please sanitize your hands!

Last week my family and I went on an 8 day cruise to the Mexican Rivera! It was such a fun trip because all 17 of us were there together! And I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I was to leave the snow and 30 degree weather back in Utah while I soaked up all the sun on the beach!

Friday we flew into LA and had a big sleep over at Janae and Rick’s. I think we had 3 or 4 air mattress that took up most of their free floor space. It was fun to have all of us in one apartment and Janae and Rick were great hosts. I hope Wyatt didn’t mind us invading his territory.

Saturday morning we woke up early (kids are an early alarm clock on vacation!) and headed to the pier to board the Norwegian Star. If you can imagine 17 people can have a lot of luggage! But we all made it on the boat without much trouble.

The first couple days were at sea. We ATE, explored the ship, ATE, played games, ATE, read, ATE, ran, and then ATE some more. Rick, Wyatt and I played ping pong. Wyatt is a good player and seemed to enjoy chasing the ball more than hitting it. Tuesday we arrived in Acapulco. The weather was beautiful and we spent the day at the beach. Brigham and Rick were expert body surfers and catching all the waves. Wednesday’s port was a small tourist town called Zihautenejo. We played at the beach and buried Brigham, Alicia, Jake, and Isaac in the sand. Puerto Vallarta was our shopping port. We walked around looking at cheap trinkets and trying to barter prices. Lisa kept laughing at the lowest prices the Mexican men would offer because she claimed she could buy anything we saw for much less in the States. Friday we arrived at Cabo San Lucas. All of us took a glass bottom boat around the Sea of Cortez to the Pacific Ocean. We then spent an hour playing on La Playa de Amor (Lover’s Beach). We did our last minute shopping by the pier where I made the best purchase of the trip…a large Mexican hat. You can see how much everyone loved to wear it!

The most memorable part of the trip was the Norwalk-like Virus. It seriously was an epidemic on the boat. Out of the 17 in my family 7 got the bug and were quarantined to their cabin for 24 hours. The captain kept coming over the PA system reminding people to wash their hands and every time you went to the buffet line or a restaurant there were several crew members asking you to please sanitize your hands. I am happy to report that I never got the virus and was perfectly healthy the whole trip. However when I got back I came down with a little cold where I lost my voice for a couple days.

Now it’s back to normal life with early mornings and long 12 hour shifts. Thanks dad for taking all of us!! It was definitely a trip to remember!