The Countdown Begins

This last week has been so emotional. From being so excited for Kyson's adventure ahead of him, to being sad knowing how much he will be missed. The one thing that really helps me get by is knowing how amazingly ready he is for a mission. Kyson is one of the most well-prepared 19 year old's I know. When the mission ages changed at conference last year I never once doubted if Kyson would be ready. He's been preparing for this day since he was in primary.

No offense to anyone reading this, but I grew up with the BEST siblings ever. I was so lucky to be in a family that was so close. My husband has even mentioned on several occasions how much we hug and say, "I love you".  At first it was really odd to him, but now he knows better than to leave a family event without hugging my mom goodbye.

We thought it would be fun to recreate this photo from when Skyler left for his mission. I am so proud of both of my brothers for their amazing examples to me and all of those around them. It's crazy to see how much Kyson has grown up. He will ALWAYS be my baby brother no matter how old/big he gets.

Then we decided it would be fun to fill up Kyson's mission camera with as many pictures of us as possible. 

This photo was taken on the day of his farewell.

(Just missing Brayden)

Saying goodbye at the airport was one of the hardest things I have ever done. 

My mom was being so strong by not crying and just being excited for him, which is crazy since she is always the first one to cry. Although, I could tell that it helped Kyson so much to see her happy. He was so concerned leaving her and knowing she'd be crying.

            

Our last family photo for 2 years.

He was so cute and blew a kiss to my nieces and nephews, (which was probably more for my mom), as he finished going through security and about to board the plane. He looked so excited for his adventure ahead.

           

We were so excited to receive this picture on my moms email when we got home. The Elder with Kyson was flying from SLC to Mexico with Kyson (to return home from his mission) and kindly sent it to my mom to put her at ease. He looks so happy so it really helped us all know that he was okay.

The kids had so much fun watching his plane take off on the runway.

 

  

My mom with another missionary mom whose son was on the same flight as Kyson. It was so comforting to know that he wasn't completely alone for his first time on a plane.

The people of Fort Worth Texas as so lucky to get my baby brother for the next two year. I can't wait to hear about all of the amazing experiences he will have.

I love you Elder Spendlove.

One last time

This past weekend was so fun. To start it off right Tyson and I went to a double birthday swim party out in Diamond Valley. Unfortunately the weather wasn't so great to swim, but we still had an amazing view for our BBQ and played lots of fun games inside with great friends. 

Since Kyson leaves for his mission on Wednesday we had to go do something fun one last time as a family. So my parents went and bought two Kayaks and our whole family (minus Ethan) took them out to break them in at Sand Hollow.

It was so fun to be out there with all of my family and just enjoy the day. Tyson even had fun because he could ride in the Kayaks without hurting his knee. We have already planned multiple dates to go back to the lake with these bad boys. 

Kyson is such a good Uncle. I sure hope the kids remember how much they loved him when he gets home in two years. 

Wow, can you say "MODEL SHOT!?" 

I caught my mom tearing up a few times. She was so happy to have her whole family (minus Ethan) together having so much fun. She is such a great grandma and will hopefully stay busy loving on all of her grand kids to keep her busy while Kyson is gone.

 Sunday evening we had Kyson's favorite food, Chicken pillows, for dinner. Then we all went out to Three Falls Elementary to watch Skyler and Kyson fly their remote control airplanes. Those boys LOVE their airplanes, and i'm sure that is one big thing Skyler will miss doing with Kyson when he's gone. Hopefully he can teach his boys how to fly so he will still have some buddies to go fly with.

 

I just LOVE  how easy it is to get these cute kids to smile. They are always so happy and make everyone around them laugh.  

                 

  Not only did we have a nice air show, but we also got to watch a fun boxing match with my dad and the kids. He is such a good grandpa. He used to be so quick to get angry and yell when we were kids, but once the first grand kid came around it's like a switch got flipped and he turned into such a calm, loving, playful grandpa. I can't wait to have kids and see how he acts with them. I have no doubt they will just love him.

Skyler thought he would give Carolee a little boxing practice, since her big brothers pick on her so much. I'm sure one day she'll pay them back. 

I can always count on this cute girl smiling for a picture with me. She LOVES to see herself on the camera. It's hard to believe how much love you can have for a child that's not even yours. She, along with all of my other nieces and nephews are one of my biggest joys in life. 

It was such a great weekend and I am definitely not looking forward to saying our goodbyes on Wednesday. Although, I know Kyson is going to be such a great missionary and will be back before we know it. :)

Happy Birthday Grandma

Yesterday we got to celebrate my Grandma Spendlove's birthday. She thought that she was just coming for a small get together with my immediate family, but when she got there she was shocked to see most of her siblings, children, and grandchildren. She was so happy and kept telling everyone, "this is my best birthday yet!" 

It was so fun to do something nice for her since she is one of the most thoughtful people I know, and i'm not just saying that because she is my grandma. She NEVER forgets a birthday, anniversary, or holiday. She is always calling in to check up on Tyson, since he's always sick or injured lately. Once she hears one of us isn't feeling well she is on the phone making sure we know she loves us and is thinking of us. I love my grandma so much and don't know what I would do without her. She has definitely blessed my life and I can't wait to start a family one day and introduce my kids to her. They will be lucky to have such a wonderful great grandma.

Grandma with some of her great-grandchildren. <3

B is such a cutie. If you even mention a camera she will immediately pull this face while yelling, "CHEESE!!"

Kyson is such a great uncle to these kids. I sure hope that they remember him when he gets home from his mission. 

Kolob Construction

Tyson's parents own property up on an association on Kolob Mountain. In that association is a beautiful little lake called Blue Springs. Tuesday, Tyson's dad, Brad, decided to go fishing up there with a few buddies. So Tyson and I decided to head up after I got off work to join them. We love fishing and go whenever we get the chance. 

So once I got off work we headed up, only to be stopped. Again and again. Construction is going on all over the road up to Kolob. Normally they get done at 4, but we think they must have been going later that day, due to being off for Memorial day, the day before. So unfortunately we go stopped 3 times, for about a 1/2 hr each time. It ended up taking us 2 hours just to get to the lake.

At first I kept getting upset that we had to just sit in our truck for 20-30 minutes each time and just WAIT. Then it hit me....there's no better place to get stuck, than exactly where we were. I snapped this picture of the construction worker thinking how sorry I felt for him that this was his job. To stand and just hold a sign. Then as I looked at this picture I noticed the beautiful mountains in the background and realized...wow, how lucky is he to have such an amazing work atmosphere. I even got a little jealous.

It made me realize how lucky we are to have such a BEAUTIFUL area to live/work/play in. It also helped me to be a little less in a hurry all the time, and to really just enjoy the moment. As if the ride couldn't get any better,Tyson started belting out with the Pitch Perfect sound track that was playing in the truck. It was such a fun drive looking at all of that beauty, all the while singing Pitch Perfect songs with my favorite person. 

Crazy Cat Lady

I vowed that I would NEVER be a cat lady. I never liked them growing up. I felt like all that cats did was scratch and bite you, and worse of all they would bring you dead rodents and expect praise. I never in a million years thought I would get a cat, let alone allow it live inside the house.

All of that changed the day this little guy came along.

DUNFORD LEE 

He loves car rides

Sleeps in the most awkward places

Is very religious and watches General Conference intently

If Tyson is home, Kitty won't leave his side

He likes to hid in very weird places, then either surprise attacks you or trips you

and most of all he LOVES to be outside...that is until the smallest thing spooks him and he takes off running for the house. 

He can be crazy, stubborn, and even obnoxious at times, but we love him like crazy and consider him part of the family. I'm not sure what we would do without him. 

And there you have it...blogging about my cat officially makes me a crazy cat lady. Deal with it. 

The Dark Side of the Knee

Tyson has always had problems with his knees. A few years ago he hurt his right one pretty bad playing on our DSU Intramural futsal team. The doctor said there might be a possible tear in one of his ligaments, but ruled that out as just being extra stretched. 

Then in February he was playing in the annual HHS boys alumni soccer game and went to cross the ball when his knee twisted funny and he went down. When I saw him on the ground I immediately knew it was bad. He was a champ and stayed for this picture (below) and you can tell he was in so much pain just by looking at his smile. 

After an MRI and meeting with his surgeon, Dr. Larsen, we found out that he had a "bucket handle" tear in his meniscus, a complete rupture to his ACL, a high grade tear to his LCL, and a torn popliteus tendon. The LCL and popliteus tendon make up the posterolateral corner (PCL) or otherwise known as "The dark side of the knee" because of the relatively small amount that is known about that region (https://thesportsphysio.wordpress.com/2013/07/19/the-postero-lateral-corner-the-dark-side-of-the-knee-a-guest-article-by-richard-norris/) His surgery was then scheduled for a month later so the swelling could go down and so that he could regain his range of motion,

His surgery was scheduled in the wee hours of the morning, naturally, so we got to wake up nice and early to get there on time. 

He was trying to act brave before the surgery, but I could tell he was a little nervous, so I of course distracted him by making him pose for a bunch of pictures. What are wife's for, right?

To repair all of this damage they took a bone-patellar tendon-bone graft from around his knee cap to replace the ACL and a allograft (cadaver tendon) for the LCL and popliteus tendon. Luckily, the meniscus was still in tact enough to be reattached.

After the surgery he was super groggy, but luckily he was drugged up pretty good so he wasn't in too much pain yet. The nurse then went through the discharge instructions and informed us that he needed to be off his leg COMPLETELY for 6 weeks! That meant crutches were off limits for the first few weeks, so we rented a wheelchair, which ended up being a total life saver! 

For the first week or so he was in so much pain. It was so hard to watch him suffer. Luckily he was able to sleep quite a bit when he took his pain pills. He will kill me for posting this picture, but how cute is that? ;)

**** WARNING***** 

Below are some before and after pictures. So if you can't handle seeing a little blood, bruising and stitches stop scrolling. If you think it's cool, like me, (you know who you are) scroll away :)

BEFORE

AFTER

                        

               

    

We are now about 7 1/2 weeks out and Tyson is a CHAMP! He's doing physical therapy twice a week and rocking it. In fact a couple of days ago he came to me and said , "watch this babe", then he continued to lift his crutches off the ground and walked a few steps without them. :) He is working so hard to get back on his feet as soon as possible. It's killing him to not be able to just go out and work on projects around the house, but he'll be back at it before we know it. 

I also just have to brag a little about how great he did in school this semester, all while going through such a big surgery. He missed probably 3+ weeks of school total, but still managed to get straight A's. He had such wonderful teachers who were very understanding of his circumstances, but he was strong and pushed through for the grades he deserved. I am one proud wife, yet again :)