Christmas 2014

This year we decided to have Christmas with the Taylor family at our house. It made it nice that Trace didn't have to hurry and open his gifts and run out of the house to be to some other location on time and miss playing with all his new stuff. He was extremely gracious and was very pleased with all that his family and Santa got for him.

Visit with Santa was great this year. He asked for a truck and "Yagos" (translated to "Legos")

Huge art set from Rob and Ivanna. He loves to color!

Nana loves Christmas!

Kevin can open a gift from any angle.

Gifts for the new baby coming in May!

Adam sporting his specs in Trace's new bungee chair

Two cuties, just chillin'
Happy Christmas!!

Foot Surgery

For sometime now I have noticed a bunion growing on my right foot and since I had already met our out-of-pocket maximum with our insurance with my cancer removal surgery, I decided that 2014 was the year to take care of my foot as well. I went to the doctor in October and when he took x-rays and confirmed I would need surgery, I told him of my plan to have it done in 2014. He looked at his calendar and said that the only day available was December 23, 2014, so I thought to myself that I'd be off work anyway and relaxing (hopefully) so I guess the 23rd wouldn't be such a bad day to get it done. Turned out that my doctors birthday is the 23rd of December as well and he was kind enough to perform my surgery nonetheless. Since Kevin is swamped with work this time of year, my Dad took me to the surgery center and stayed there until I was released and brought me home. Then Kevin and Colleen were kind enough to come to our house on the 24th and stay with me all day while I rested and stayed completely off the one foot. On begins 10 weeks of wearing a "boot" and "flipper shoe" and toe therapy. The only good part about the whole thing is the temporary handicap sticker I got to use, sure was handy for the brief time I was able to drive and had it!

Charlie

The newest craze going around our neighborhood, community, state and basically the entire nation is the creation and implementation of the "Elf on the Shelf" character and story. There is a book and a TV show that tell the story of a school of elves at the North Pole that fly to kid's homes and sit on the shelf, observe the children and their behavior and each night fly back to the North Pole to report their behavior to Santa. Trace too, was one of the lucky kids that got an elf sent to his home. Sometimes, when the elves return from the North Pole, they end up in strange places. The rules are the if a child touches the elf, they will lose their powers to fly. Trace decided to name his elf "Charlie" and he blew kisses to Charlie each night as he went to bed so that Charlie would have a nice and safe trip to the North Pole. We found Charlie is some interesting places throughout the season; he was hanging from the mistletoe, inside the Christmas Tree, and had many battles with Trace's Lego guys. Trace said goodbye to Charlie on Christmas Eve and said he can't wait to see him next year!