SNOW!!

We got snow this year--a lot of it--on May 24th. Since the trees had foliage, they couldn't take the weight of the snow and many in our neighborhood were damaged. This one fared the worst. This is in front of Jared's Grandma Washburn's house. I took Paul, Jacob, and Sarah to the park to go sledding. Who could resist? Jake landed in a large puddle of slushy water, and that was the end of his fun (see below).

This is our back yard. The trees were bent very low.

This is our front yard. It continued to snow for a long time after I took these photos!

Spring Fun

Will graduated from Seminary in May, Elizabeth had a dance recital, Sarah and Jacob were in BYU's Evening of Dance, Sarah and David rode horses, Paul, Robert, Jacob, and Sarah were on the Provo Recreational Track Team, Paul had his 14th Birthday, we went to a zillion end-of-year concerts for band, orchestra, choir, ballroom, and piano, Paul went to the space center, and we had our annual block party. It was wild and fun!

Play Ball!

Jake is a proud member of the Dodgers little league team. We have spent many pleasant evenings watching ball games!

More from Moab

Summer Band

This summer, John and Paul are members of the Timpview Marching Band. Their first weekend of band, they had a trip to Moab to perform in a parade there. We decided to tag along in our RV. It was very hot that weekend, but we had a great time hiking, going to a rodeo, camping, eating popsicles, and watching the parade. We decided the RV is much more comfortable for 7 than it is for 10. John and Paul had fun riding the bus and sleeping at the high school in the gym with the other band members. Will decided to opt out of this trip with the fam.

John is on Bass #5--the biggest bass drum. He said it is very heavy and he is getting new muscles in his back.

Paul is on saxophone (in the middle of this row). The tune they play is "King Cotton" by John Phillip Sousa.

From Timpview to BYU!

In May, Will graduated from Timpview High School. He was accepted to Brigham Young University for the Fall 2010 semester, and plans to live on campus. He was also accepted into the School of Music as a member of the BYU Cougar Marching Band. Maybe we'll have to get football tickets so we can see him perform!

Elder and Sister Oldroyd

In March, just after I had foot surgery, Jared's parents left for two years to serve as missionaries in the Japan Nagoya Mission. They are the office couple there. We sure miss them!

Foot Surgery

On March 5th, I had foot surgery. The doctor thought that the heel pain I had been having for the previous 6 months was caused by some kind of damage to the plantar fascia. We had tried exercises and new orthotics, but the pain was not going away--it was getting worse! Finally, I told him do just do the surgery. He planned to lengthen the plantar fascia, remove the affected nerve, and be done. He said I'd wouldn't need full anesthesia and I would be able to walk on it right away (with a walking cast), with a full recovery in about 6 weeks.
As it turned out, just before the surgery, he was pushing in all the places he thought my foot should be hurting. It wasn't, so I showed him the location of the intense pain. Of course he pushed on it--OUCH! Right then and there he changed his mind about the surgery. He wanted me under full anesthesia. That's the last thing I remember until I woke up. The doctor said that he first removed some bone spurs, but that they couldn't be what was causing all that pain, so he looked around a little and was shocked to find that my Achilles tendon was nearly torn all the way through at the point of attachment to the heel. He used a brand new type of suture, which he described as being somewhat like a Molly bolt, which screws into the heel and then somehow sucks the tendon right inside the bone. I may have understood the explanation better had I been fully awake. Anyway, he was very glad I had had the surgery when I did, so that the tendon didn't rupture or come completely detached.
This photo was taken right after the sugery.

Seven weeks later I had the cast removed

Ugly!

A boot! This stayed on for three weeks, and by the end of that time I was able to put a little weight on the foot and hobble around the house. Then I switched to a shoe and was back on crutches for awhile.

Now, almost 4 months later, I can walk with scarcely a limp (most of the time). No running allowed, yet, though. Not that I could. It is still very stiff and sore, but is getting stronger. The doctor says I am making great progress, so I just have to keep being patient.