Playing catch up--this time for real!

Alright, enough already. I am... after OVER a year now REALLY going to update our blog. Black Friday seemed to be a more appropriate time than any to finally add a new post. So, here I go...

Tai and I purchased our first home last November in Lincoln, CA. We went from living in just a couple of bedrooms to a 3,279 sq ft home! Needless to say we had A LOT to purchase and a whole lot of house to fill up (which is still pretty bare)! As soon as we could we started painting because we simply couldn't deal with the crayola yellow and brown paint motif on the walls. Thankfully, other than the paint, the house was in great shape.


In December of 09, right after Tai's interview with Sacramento County we went to the Sac county animal shelter which has an OUTSTANDING facility and purchased Ace (see pic on the left). Ace is my smoky gray little snuggler and a wonderful friend for Bronco. They are great friends and it was a wonderful relief for me to find a friend for Bronco while it was just the two of us living in our big house all alone.

Last February Tai started working for the water department as a Sr. Operator/Engineer for the county of Sacramento. After living apart for almost six months I was missing Tai desperately. But, my excitement about living in the same state as my husband again was short lived. A few weeks after Tai started his job I hut my left ankle tumbling one night. Thinking (or at least hoping) I had sprained it, I walked around on it for a couple of weeks until I finally went to the doctor for something unrelated. I casually told the doctor that I thought I had sprained my ankle but didn't want to do any x-rays or anything, I just asked her to take a look at it to make sure it was healing okay. So, the doc felt around my ankle and then pinched my Achilles and could quickly tell by the look on my face that perhaps my issue wasn't really a sprain. Once I got in to see a specialist...he took one look at it, pinched my calf and said "yep, you've totally ruptured your Achilles, we need to get you into surgery right away." Thus, 24 hours later I had my tendon surgically re-attached was sent home with painkiller and a large splint. To make a long story short, I was in a splint for a couple of weeks, then a cast, then a walking boot and banned from running or tumbling for 6 months (which I interpreted to really mean 3). Thankfully, I am back to all of my normal activities with just a nasty scar and a more painful awareness that my body isn't quite as durable as it used to be!

A few weeks after the tendon rupture, my older sister Sarah gave birth to beautiful twin boys, Bretlan and Ashton. I got my cast off just days after they were born and was elated to have mobility so I could see them in the hospital. They were premature (of course) but are now ADORABLE, energetic, special little boys.

Right before Tai moved from Texas he (without my knowledge) bought Bailey our sweet little boxer. However, when Tai moved to Cali Bailey was still too young to make the trip so, she stayed behind until April when Tai's parents brought her out via airplane. She actually rode underneath Tai's parents seat as a carry-on for 3 hours without making a sound!

This past summer we were lucky enough to have most of Tai's family out to visit us! We had so much fun with Tai's sisters, Cody and Kacee, and even got to have Kacee's family stay with us for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately for them they came in the middle of July just in time for an intense heat wave. During their visit we detoured to Southern California for Tai's grandma's 90th birthday...I got to meet many of Tai's family members for the first time and had a very fun trip!

Then, in September Bo, Tai's younger brother and his family (Julie, Kaylee, and Cooper) came out to see us. They too came to visit right in the middle of a heat wave so we sweat a lot, went to Apple Hill, and before we knew it--it was time for them to leave. Bailey was beside herself with excitement having such fun kids around to entertain her she was so sad to see them go.

Since then, things have calmed down a bit. We dedicated our only downstairs bedroom as my "craft room" and now I have two desks and an awesome closet with tons of shelves Tai put in for me to hold all of my craft supplies (which is a lot). Lately, I spend most of my time on the computer creating Christmas cards or mixing music for the teams I coach. I still love to knit but haven't been able to dedicate as much time as I would like to it over the past year.

And...I think this brings us to now...a very chilly November in Northern California. We are all healthy and happy! We love our home, our neighbors, our ward and feel very blessed. Although California is completely different from Texas, Tai is adjusting well and I think is even learning to love some things about this state. Hopefully Tai will be able to snowmobile at least a few times this winter and then the move will be a little more worth it!

Since I have been so out of the blogging world please update me with new blogs, our privacy settings so I can be better about keeping in touch with everyone. I glanced at a couple of blogs today and realized that nearly everyones lives have already changed so drastically that I'm totally and utterly behind!