"Turn Around, Turn Around"

Time seems to have flown by and nearly every day I vow that I am going to do better about recording our lives...and that seems to be the extent of my efforts...a vow.

Our year started off without much fanfare.  We had Joey and Carlie and their family, and Phil and Hannah and their family visit for Christmas.  It was so much fun for me.  I'm so grateful that they were able to come.  Joey and Carlie have received orders and will be relocating to Monterey, CA in June.  The time that they have been this close has been so wonderful.  I will really miss them as I know that other than Levi's birthday, we probably won't have much opportunity to get together as a family.  The extended family is getting bigger by the month and we are so far flung around the country that the expense and time are beginning to take a toll.

Joey had to get back to work so they left the Monday following Christmas and Phil  and Hannah left a few days later so that they could stop over at Joey's for New Years.  The house got very quiet, very quickly.  I remember a talk that President Packer gave many years ago about the most wonderful site in the world...the headlight of your kids coming to visit...and their taillights when they leave.  I laughed then and I laugh now because it is so true.  We just LOVE having the kids come and HATE having them leave but also realize that we have really gotten used to quiet. Lol. I so wish that we could all live within a 1/2 hour drive from each other and could see one another regularly.  But, I guess we have done pretty well at getting together these past few years...just hard to think of that coming to an end.

For my birthday Rich gave me an iPad and I have loved it!  I thought I would and I have not been disappointed.  I think I've turned on the computer only a couple of times since getting it.  Perhaps now that I am attempting to use it for the blog and it seems to be working, I'll post more often...at least I hope so.

In November I saw Dr. May about my knees.  She referred me to an orthopedic doctor that she has confidence in and in January I had my first appointment with him.  He x-rayed them and told me that I was a candidate for total knee replacements.  I talked to him about doing them bilaterally but he said he no longer does them that way.  He prefers to "stage" them, saying that in his experience if there are going to be complications it is always in the bilateral.  Unfortunately complications are a real possibility and so we set my surgery for May 14th and the second will be done six weeks later.  He gave me a packet of information and a list of things that need to be done prior to the surgery and I have been working to get those done.  For example: allergy testing for metals and cements used commonly in the procedures...I learned that I am allergic to nickel...but I had already suspected that.  I have been to the dentist, had my teeth cleaned and I'm good for the next six months.  He gave me exercises to do twice a day to strengthen the muscles that will be affected as a result of the surgery and I have been doing them as well as meeting with my trainer 3-4 times a week.  I need to donate my blood in case they need it during the surgery.  I have made alcohol/water ice packs, and will be ordering an icing machine, loose fitting clothes, shoes, shower stool, and toilet risers in the next few days.  All in all I think I'm getting prepared...just wish I didn't need to have it done.

Joey and Carlie and kids came back down the end of January for a weekend.  Again, it was so lovely to have them and I'm really feeling the pains of them moving.

February was spent just doing the normal activities of life and was also the first year that I didn't have dad to call for his birthday.  It was a bitter-sweet day.  Felicia and Tom purchased some flowers to put on his grave and headed to the cemetery.  They called me several times, asking if I could give them directions for his grave.  I was rather baffled by this as I knew Felicia knew where it was.  It wasn't until I read their blog that I understood why they had such difficulty locating it...the entire cemetery was under at least a foot of snow!  Poor Tom cleaned off many plots in order to find Dad's!  They sent me some pictures and somehow I'll try to post them.  I was very glad they were able to go to the cemetery and felt especially grateful that they were able to commemorate his birthday...even though it was their effort, I felt a little bit a part of it.  It is hard for me to realize how much time has passed and I'm grateful that he is with Mom but sad at how much he had to endure.

On March 5th Rich had a surgical procedure done at Vanderbilt in Nashville that was to help him with a bladder problem that has been giving him difficulty for a few years.  His dr there had run all kinds of tests to discover what was happening.  She believes that his breathing difficulties keep all muscles and