Christmas 2011

Part of the cousin crew, Katelyn, Carson, Dave and Heather

This Christmas was a little different for us in that we didn't do a lot of our traditional Christmas Eve activities. Having a boy who was just a couple of days post-op interrupted some of the usual celebrating. I think the following Christmas morning conversation pretty much sums up how Carson felt about the first 3 days after surgery...

Katelyn received an inspirational quote plaque that said "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain."

I turned to Carson and said, "That quote is perfect for you right now."

Carson: "What do you mean?"

Me: "Well with your surgery...this is your chance to learn to dance in the rain."

Carson: "You get pneumonia from dancing in the rain."



Not too many positive vibes were coming from that boy and he definitely wasn't much interested in trying to find a silver lining to the surgery situation. I felt so bad for him because he really did have a rough first 3 days after surgery.

Good news for everyone was that by Monday night he was feeling better enough to enjoy visiting with his cousins when we saw them on Tuesday.

Bad news was that on Wednesday he and Katelyn got some nasty stomach virus that pretty much emptied out their entire GI tracts, up and down.

Good news was that it was a relatively short-lived gastric episode so we were able to enjoy visiting again and not remain under quarantine. Really good news...no one else got sick. Yay for Lysol wipes!

Other highlights:

• Amazing Christmas dinner made by my mom and dad. Being able to share that dinner with my brother Mike and his family, including his older kids.
• Left-overs on Tuesday night with my brother Nate and his family.
• New camera from Dave which I am totally not prepared for--there are way too many fancy features for me to truly appreciate all that this camera will do.
• Having my mom and dad join Kate and me for Christmas services at our ward building.
• Carson's shoulder muscle spasms finally stopping on Christmas night.