Embrace the Camera: August 29, 2013

This series of photos can be wrapped up in 3 words. 

Mema, McKenna & Monkey Preschool Lunchbox. 

Love, Laughter & Learning.

And just for fun throw in a miniature dachshund cowl neck warmer.

Who noticed?  

Can you spot her? 

Happy Birthday Papa!

After many failed attempts at uploading a hysterical, pee your pants,  iPhone video of my Dad being serenaded wildst ice cream is smeared across his face I'm reduced to documenting the event with a couple of snapshots.

Papa turned 69 waaay back in early June (told you I was behind in my documenting of our daily happenings). We were in hopes of dining at a brand new Mexican restaurant in Olathe but arrived only to find out their grand opening was delayed due to a hold up in obtaining the necessary liquor license. We drove a short distance up the road and settled on Chapala's. It did not disappoint! The food was SO good, the peach margarita unbeatable and the entertainment memorable!! The kids were wonderfully behaved and ate great which was the icing on the cake.

Papa after being serenaded and cleaning up his face ready to dive into the frozen chocolate drizzled goodness. 

Boo cheesing trying on the sombrero for size.

Gabs relishing every shared bite of the delicious dessert.

And Little Miss .... while she was thoroughly enjoying the excitement wanted nothing to do with having her picture taken :)

Birthday Blessings

With school back in full swing I am determined to dedicate a bit more time to keeping our family journal (aka blog) more up to date. In doing so I will be starting with "back log" so please bear with me as I document. As another mother put in words that ring true here as well "This is my story catcher, dream saver and family album." 

I am one blessed girl when it comes to girlfriends. I am a better wife, mother, friend and Christian because of these women. They encourage me, uplift me and enrich my life. They planned an entire day of fun in celebration of my 38th birthday.  They went above and beyond to show me love, share in laughter, and make me feel treasured and loved. 

Our morning began with a little beautification in the form of pedicures for Heather and Daina

and manicures for Rene and myself. 

Then it was off to breakfast and a morning cup of joe (an orange coolatta for this non coffee drinker) at Dunkin Donuts.

From there we made the 2 hour trek to quaint Jamesport, MO. We had lunch at the Country Cupboard Restaurant. The food was home cooked, filling and super yum. We then visited The Fabric Barn, the Amish country store H&M & Anna's bake shop {where Rene and I shared a delicious pastry that left you wishing for more} on the outskirts of town before touring the art & antique district. We made a few fun purchases & did a little wine tasting before stopping for fudge. We made a quick stop back into The Collection Wine and Gift Shop to purchase a couple bottles of savory wine before heading back to KC. 

Rene, Heather, Daina and myself 

After a wonderful day spent in Jamesport we all enjoyed our 1st dining experience at Blanc Burgers & Bottles. The atmosphere was loud and distracting (envision thee most loud, obnoxious fellow diner at the table directly next to us) but we laughed until I cried and devoured our scrumptious burgers leaving enough fries behind to feed the next party. Lesson learned one shopping basket full of fries goes a loooong way let alone two :) 

Lynelle, myself & Heather

We ogled window shopped at Anthropology then went to Forever XXI (much easier on the checkbook) before calling it a day.

I love these women and am so thankful to each of them for making this day a memorable one for me! Mwah!!!!

Broken

This post is not for the faint of heart.
All photos taken with my iPhone
Travis was involved in a work related accident back on July 2nd. He arrived at work just before 7AM and was going about his morning when his supervisor asked for his aid in disassembling a rental gantry crane that was scheduled to be picked up that afternoon. The plan was to tip the crane on its side and disassemble into three parts. They began tipping it and very quickly realized the weight of the steel frame was too much for them to handle themselves. Problem was, it was too late. In a nutshell, Trav's ankle stayed planted while the crane collapsed on top of him. His supervisor, Danny, somehow escaped the fall (but did suffer severe back strain). Danny was able to lift the crane enough for Travis to wiggle his way out from underneath it. Danny called in team assistance and they quickly decided an ambulance transport to the hospital was in order to address Travis's ankle injury.
This accident/injury took place at approximately 8:15AM.
Trav was transported to Olathe Medical Center where I arrived at the ER to see this.

The pictures really don't do it justice. His ankle was severely dislocated which you can see below and swollen as large around as a softball. No exaggeration.

He was hooked up to an IV, given pain medications, and x-rays were taken. This all took place very quickly. The ER doctor came in and gave Travis the news he was hoping to avoid. He had a trimalleolar fracture which involves breaks of the lateral and medial malleolus and the distal aspect of the tibia accompanied by ligament damage and dislocation. Pretty much the worse case scenario with an ankle break. He was sedated and a team of 3 health professionals relocated his ankle before he was transferred from the ER to the surgical floor.

Travis was given the option to have same day surgery which was advised by the orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Christopher Eckland. He was cooped up in the surgical holding area the better part of the day. We played games on our iPhones to pass time and I tortured Travis every time he mentioned how hungry he was by reminding him he didn't have the luxury of eating.

He was kept overnight for pain management which was a very good thing because after the surgery his focus was redirected to debilitating neck and shoulder pain. They ordered x-rays and thankfully reported that there was no injury, just strain from the impact of the weight of the crane and the fall itself.

These were taken exactly one week post surgery.
This is the right side of his ankle where a metal place and 7 screws were placed.

This is the left side where two looong screws were placed.

This picture was taken 2 weeks post op. Again the picture doesn't reflect the intensity of the swelling and discoloration. His entire leg and foot became a deep bluish purple whenever his foot wasn't elevated above his heart.

It has been 6+ weeks since the accident and I'm happy to report Travis has made leaps in progress. He began hour long physical therapy sessions three times a week several weeks ago. The swelling has reduced and he has begun to regain mobility in his ankle. His surgeon gave orders for a three step process to weight bearing at his 5 week post operative appointment and said he'd like to have him walking without crutches or use of his knee scooter before his next appointment on August 21st. He was also cleared to remove the boot for the purposes of driving himself to and from physical therapy appts last week. Hooray!
He is eager to return to some sense of normalcy and is very ready to return to work. His team has shown wonderful support with visits to the hospital, phone calls, texts, and even a guys night out!

New Ride

We said goodbye to "Red," our 1995 Chevy S10 pickup in mid June. 

We snapped a handful of pictures, posted her on Craigslist and received numerous responses from interested buyers. 

She went to thee sweetest older couple from Independence who were looking for exactly what she had to offer and were delighted to become her new owners. 

Red was such a cute, clean, reliable mode of transportation for us for YEARS but we "needed" (I prefer to call it Trav's mid life crisis) a 2nd family vehicle that could accommodate us all on trips.

So it was out with Red and in with this beauty! We haven't given it a name yet, but he/she sure is pretty! 

(image pulled from google images, but is our exact make/model, color, etc.)

A 2013 Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport 

He/She has quickly become a treasured commodity of the family.

I think Momma (myself) likes to drive it even more than Daddy!