Happy Thanksgiving!

For the first time in our entire married life, we had Thanksgiving with my family. I had to post a few funny photos.

Turkey outfits from Grandma Daniels. At first, Willa didn't want to wear hers until we convinced her that the shirt was more like a dress.

By far the most fun was seeing all the cousins playing together. Willa was in the thick of it and June wanted to be. My nephews always have naughty and imaginative play such as sledding down the stairs.

My sister's family just got a pocket puggle puppy last week. He was adorable. Willa kept saying things like, "That dog is chewing on everyfing" and "He's going to ruin my new outfit!" We joked that they just had to save him from the swanky pet shop in Newport Beach where they bought him - he was basically a rescue :).

A very nice day. We had to write down what we were thankful for and put it in a box to read together. Ryan and I both wrote his new job. Employment is such a blessing and feels so good!

June says "yesh", Willa gets cast wet, My phone goes black

June is still so sweet and adorable and naughty and mischievous and funny. She adds to her vocabulary almost daily and loves repeating what we say and trying new sounds. A few days ago, I asked her something and she said, "Yesh." I realized that was the first time she had ever said it, before she had just been saying, "Huh." It is so adorable (and helpful)! Her little voice is so cute trying to say it so precisely. I really need to get it on camera. June also likes to bring me things and then run away with them laughing when I reach out to grab them. She loves playing in the kitchen sink with the water running. Which is helpful and annoying at the same time. It keeps her occupied for almost an hour if I let it and it's nice to cook or clean while she's doing it. But, it also blocks up the kitchen space and she gets her clothes wet and I feel bad wasting water.

Two nights ago Willa decided to swim in the bathtub, which she used to do a lot before the cast. This time, the water was higher than normal and neither of us were thinking until I saw water pouring into the top of the plastic bag. When she got out of the bath, there was water in the bottom of the bag and it was dirty colored - like maybe it had gone through a dirty cast and washed away some of the dried blood from her arm, yuck. I didn't really think too much about it, and went off to YW, but that night Ryan said it was dripping all over. I called the doctor in the morning and they thought we'd better change it because with the rods sticking out of the skin they could get infected. So, we are back to a purple cast! When they took the old one off, you could see dirt and glitter on her arm. The glitter is from all her princess dresses. She cried and cried even though it didn't hurt. She started crying before they even started. She did not get the Sonic Slush that I promised her IF she didn't cry.... more crying.

 On Wednesday my phone went black... after it slid out of my pocket and onto the ground. After many annoying phone calls (made by Ryan), I went to the Apple store and they changed the screen for me for free since it was still under warranty. The worker was very nice, even when I admitted that the phone may have "slipped" a little.

Medium-size changes

It's so nice to not have a big cross-country move or anything crazy like that to report. We are ho-humming along here. Ryan started a new job about two weeks ago. We'll always be so grateful to the first firm that hired him. They really took a chance and they gave him the experience he needed, as well as space on his resume and income for us. The past few months, he hasn't been super happy there. I think he enjoyed the work, but there were a few things about the firm and its culture that threw some red flags from the beginning. Tiny red flags, since we were so glad to have the job, but red flags nonetheless.

He slowly contacted a few attorney friends to let them know that he was looking for something new. He had a few interviews that went well, and then out of the blue he got a call from the new firm, which I will call Firm Awesome. It really feels like divine providence because they were calling about an application he sent in back in January. They hadn't filled the position then, but they were looking to fill it now and they asked if he was still looking and if he would come in for an interview.

He had the interview the day of Willa's surgery and they called two days later to offer him the job. The pay and benefits were substantially better than at the other firm and the work was also a lot more interesting. Another definite high point was that the firm is just three miles from our house. He's been timing himself and can make it home in six minutes if he hits the lights right! The commute to the other firm wasn't bad, about 20-25 minutes, but you can't argue with six. It's nice to know that we're not losing time with him when he leaves or comes home from work. He leaves and can begin work almost immediately and the same coming home.

The cases from the other firm were closing up when he had the interview, so he was able to tie up the loose ends pretty easily. He finished on a Monday and started at the new firm on Thursday. It was a very smooth transition as far as that. He's only been there two weeks, but things are looking good. I'm slightly nervous about the increase of hours that might be coming, but the other benefits were so good that hopefully it's worth it. Plus, the shorter commute... I'm telling myself that it won't be too bad. It's a mid-size firm with offices here and in Reno. He's got a great assistant and paralegal and he really enjoys the other attorneys and workers he's met there. So, that's our medium-size change! We have to believe that even though the first job wasn't perfect, it was something that Heavenly Father put there to help us make it to this job. Maybe the extra experience helped push him over the top at the interview and the income and stability provided well for us and gave us the first calm we have had in years.

Halloween

The last few years with kids, there are so many pre-Halloween activities that by the time the actual day comes I'm a little surprised that it hasn't passed yet. We started out early this year with the Saturday before when Ryan ran a "Trick or Trot" 5k with his team. He got second and Bryce, his friend got first but it wasn't a great race for him - possibly due to the copious amounts of candy and minimal amount of real food he ate the night before. Still, he won $50, a really nice camping chair, one of those nice picnic blankets that has the waterproof liner on the bottom, and some gift cards for a Subway platter and some hot wings of some sort. I told him he should give those away in an EQ raffle for home teaching.

There was a very fun and free family fun run. I dressed the girls in their costumes and we ran a little tiny course they had taped off. Then the girls got little prizes and were able to play little fun games for treats. June was Snow White and Willa was Anna.

Willa was having fun but too shy for the camera.

That same night was the trunk or treat. The Thalmans came, hooray, so it was fun to spend time with them. Willa really liked June's Snow White costume that morning, so that evening she agreed to match.

Finally, Halloween night. Willa chose to be Elsa. Little kids are great, they do a few houses and that's just enough. Also, I'm so annoyed with people that go all scary for Halloween. It started as a kid's holiday. Do you see adults trick or treating? So why make things so scary for the littles? Willa got scared by this giant attacking animatronic spider that jumped when she tried to get candy. Then, an adult wearing a skeleton mask scared her enough that she wanted to go home.

 

The surgery

We had surgery Tuesday morning, nearly a week and a half ago. We had to be there at 6 am and the surgery was scheduled for 8. It was a little early, but nice because she wouldn't get too hungry beforehand since she couldn't have any food. 

I didn't tell her what we were going to do because I didn't think she would understand and it might have just scared her. I told her we were going to see the doctor and that they would look at her arm while she was asleep. It all went well beforehand, she didn't want to change into the surgical gown and cap, but the anesthesiologist gave her a little "cocktail" and it made her pretty compliant to do it all. I was worried she would freak out when they took her into the operating room. They didn't have a gown for me so I couldn't go in with her. The anesthesiologist was so great, though. He was young and had young kids. He reminded me of my friends who have just finished their residencies and are starting to practice. He was so good with her and when she was scared to go in, he picked her up really gently and carried her.

It was really quick, under and hour. We got in at the right time because the bones hadn't set too much and the doctor was able to insert the rods subcutaneously. The wake-up was really sad and hard. They say that kids have a really hard time coming out of anesthesia and it wasn't pleasant. She was so disoriented and crying. She also has GIANT adenoids and they had to keep putting the oxygen mask on her to keep her oxygen levels up. It was funny because the anesthesiologist kept telling me how big her tonsils are and blah, blah, blah and how we really needed to talk to our primary care physician and get a referral to an ENT, etc etc. She does have huge tonsils and snores loudly. I was planning to ask the doctor about it at her four-year check up, but with all the arm stuff and other doctor appointments, I decided to put the well visit off until she's feeling a little better.

Cutest little patient. Her hair is very fluffy since I pulled her straight from bed and into the car.

Recovery was rough the first day. They said the anesthesia takes about a day to fully leave the system. She was trying to watch a movie but kept crying because "my eyes won't stay open!" She was crying and saying her arm was hurting. I gave her some medicine but used the dosage that the ER recommended when she first broke her arm. She was still having a really hard time and I checked the doctor's prescription and he had written for her to have twice the dose! I felt so badly that I had let her go without getting enough drugs to cut the pain.

The other funny thing was that they put a pink cast on instead of purple. She told me, "But purple is my favorite color!" I told the doctor about it when we went in for a check up a week after surgery. He laughed and apologized and said the surgery center only had white and pink.

Our middle-school neighbor broke her arm the week after Willa. Matching casts! They will take the rods out six weeks after surgery and then she will have yet another cast for a few more weeks. I'll be glad to have this all over!

D & M

What a month! I thought I had a lot to post about two weeks ago, but even more has happened since then. Here is a fun thing from this past Tuesday night. My parents were coming to town for a few days since we missed going up to Utah for the party. I thought it would be fun to do something out on the town and I knew my mom had been wanting to see Donny and Marie.

Luckily, one of our good friends from our USC ward happens to have an "in". His dad is the producer of the show! I texted Brynna and Austin and asked pretty please if they would be able to spare any tickets. As usual, she was super nice and hooked us up with four VIP tickets for Tuesday's show and a meet-and-greet afterwards. It was exciting and fun to look forward to, but I think we were all a little nervous about the meet-and-greet because it just seemed like it might be awkward.

So, we went to the show and it was fun! It was at the Flamingo and it was cool because all the seating was around tables and booths so it felt very intimate and personal (and a little old and tiny bit shabby if we're being honest - it's one of that last real theaters like that on the Strip). Donny and Marie would talk to the audience and come down a lot. In fact, there was one point in the show where Marie came down and was drawing lips on all the men with a tube of lipstick and I'm pretty sure she would have snagged my dad too if the song hadn't been about to end. Whew, missed a bullet on that one.

It was a good show and they work hard. My parents really enjoyed it and it was such a treat to go out and get the VIP treatment. In fact, when we picked up our tickets, there were supposed to be lanyards for the meet-and-greet with them, but they weren't there. I told the hostess and she was like, "Uh, can you tell me the name of who got you the tickets?" I gave her their dad's name and she immediately just got the lanyards with no questions asked. It's nice to have friends in high places!

After the show, we went to a little room and they had everyone line up to get pictures and autographs. We ended up talking most of the time to Austin's dad, though. It was nice to see a member of the Sperry clan again and to catch up on our friends. We are so lucky to have such generous and kind friends! Actually, I think the photos were supposed to cost money and only be hard copies, but Austin's dad again hooked us up. He told us to tell them our emails and they would email us digitals and if they asked any questions just to give his name.

Waiting for the show to begin. Showing off our fancy VIP lanyards.

Ryan fulfilled his family's life long goal and private joke of talking to Donny about their shared genealogy. Apparently, they're second cousins, twice removed. If that's hard to understand, Ryan's great-grandpa's GRANDPA is somehow related to Donny. So, yeah, way way back - which makes it all the more absurd to pretend that there is a close connection. We had lots of discussions about whether we should bring a fan chart with the common relative highlighted, whether Ryan should go up and hug him yelling "cousin", etc. In the end, Ryan did bring it up with a chuckle and they shook hands manfully saying "cuz."

My dad got a special hug from Marie since it was his birthday-ish. His actual 70th birthday was Monday and we went to the show on Tuesday, so it was like a little extra celebration.

A very exciting and fun night!

Pictures

I wanted to post a few pictures from recently. We went to the doctor this morning and Willa's radius has slipped to a 30 degree angle so we will be doing surgery in the morning to put rods in, but thankfully no pins or screws. The excitement around here never ends! I decided to take my friend Rachel's advice and escape into a good book. We went to the  library and I found two that I'm excited for. Tomorrow is my birthday and I plan to thoroughly enjoy the peace and quiet of the waiting room for a good hour or two. It will be a luxury to read with no interruptions. Rebecca is coming to stay at home with June. I'm  so thankful for insurance and good doctors!

 Family birthday cake:

Showing her Frozen "gown" as she calls them.

Beautiful Frozen dress and purple cast.

The cake was a disaster. I wanted to do a cake with the doll in the middle and the cake for a dress. You can buy the half dolls at Hobby Lobby. Since I didn't read any instructions or plan it out, unsurprisingly it didn't look too great. Once again, my propensity for function over form comes out. All the little girls loved the purple, though!

Opening presents. Note the helpful mom who took over and helped one-armed Willa unwrap so that I could take a photo.

Piñata time!

Sick June getting some teddy bear love. Our stake did this amazing carnival last week. A little boy got this bear for sixty tickets and then gave it to the girls. It has become June's second mother. Whenever I don't let her do something she runs over and hugs the teddy for moral support.