October 19, 2019: Carving pumpkins and comparing heights.
Josh and Kaden are nearly the same height.
October 24, 2019: Paxton wanted to be Gollum from Lord of the Rings.
This is the costume we put together for him. We bought the skin tone suit and stitched the loin cloth on and bought huge ears, which I stitched to the hood and added long grey embroidery thread as his long thin hairs. And of course we got him "the Ring" aka "My precious" to go with his costume.
October 26, 2019: Ward Harvest Party
Somehow we decided that since Paxton was Gollum, we would all follow suit and dress as characters from the Lord of the Rings. Josh (a dwarf), Kaden (a ring wrath), me (Lady Galadriel) and Versii (a hobbit).
Paxton and his friend Washington.
I handmade my headpiece and elfin ear jewelry.
October 31, 2019: Paxton and Versii on Halloween.
Paxton went out trick or treating with his friend Washington.
October 4, 2019: Maryann and I visiting with the girls at my cousin Linda's.
Linda, Aunt Ann, Maryann and I.
Uncle Gary.
October 4, 2019: My appointment at the Centeno-Schultz Clinic in Broomfield Colorado, meeting with Dr. Schultz. My chiropractor Stephen Wagner recommended I have a consult with them to see if their PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) procedure could help me heal from the accident. I had sustained several disc injuries in my lower back and in my neck during the car accident in February. I had a phone consult with them from my home, where they reviewed my MRI's and told me that they believed the procedure would help me. So I scheduled my appointment and traveled all the way to Colorado.
Dr. Schultz was so patient and he took the time to review my MRI's and explain the procedure and help relieve my fears. Maryann took me to my appointment and was there for my pre-surgery consult.
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After reviewing my MRI's I went in the next room to have my blood drawn for the procedure. My veins tend to roll and almost always give the technicians trouble when drawing blood or inserting IV's. This time was no different. It took 3 attempts and they finally got the vein and blood flowing. They took 60 vials of blood....which is a lot and took a while as they ended up having to use the smaller needle on the 3rd attempt.
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Then the took my blood to be processed in their lab, where they put it into machine that spins it and separates out the platelets to prepare it for the procedure. This took about an hour.
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Once the blood was done being processed it was time for the procedure. They made me chew a Xanax which was the most disgusting, bitter taste ever! Then I was taken in the procedure room where they have constant imaging to pinpoint the exact location of the injections. I received 70+ injections all along my lower back and neck, into the damaged areas from the accident. I don't remember any of the procedure, except moving onto the table.
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When I woke up, I felt like I had been hit by a truck! It was extremely painful.
Maryann and I went to get my prescriptions filled after and back to her house to rest.
October 5, 2019: The day after my PRP injections, Dr. Schultz referred me to see a Physical Therapist named Todd Ball at SymFit. He specializes in natural spine conditioning and posture. Dr. Schultz told me that I would need the physical therapy to help me to learn how to go about my daily routines with the right positioning so that I could limit the amount of pressure on my spine and neck. I was able to see Todd the day after my PRP procedure and his clinic is in Downtown Denver.
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Along the way we passed my old apartment building, where I lived when I was in Denver back in 2000.
This is a picture of what the inside of my old studio apartment looked like.
October 7, 2019: Visiting my cousin, Angela.
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Update on the PRP: It took a few days of being miserable and sore after the injections to start to feel improvement. But each day that passes became less and less painful.
Paxton starting 5th Grade and his last year of Elementary school
Versii starting 7th grade.
Kaden starting Junior year of high school.
Pictures with Mimi and Papa.
We laughed at how funny Jenn looked squished between Moe and Kaden.
Josh and his Mom.
Poor Paxton went outside to pick some pears and got stuck in the tree.
He climbed high up in the tree to pick a bunch of pears and then it got dark before he could climb down. So here he is stuck because he couldn't see to get down and didn't want to drop his precious pears. And we were inside watching a movie, so we didn't hear his first cries for help. All of a sudden I heard a yell and we paused to go investigate. We felt so bad, he was so scared. But we were able to get him and his pears down safely and now he knows not to go out climbing trees near dusk and to always tell us first when he's going out in the yard.
September 10, 2019: Kaden saved a little baby bird from Cerin (our cat).
September 13: Versii hurt his heal playing at the trampoline park with friends.
The doctors had him fitted for a brace to wear for a few weeks while it healed.
September 13: Ray and Darlene LeBlanc flew in from California to visit.
Ray and Dar are like second parents to Josh, he lived with them for awhile when he was a teen.
We took them out to Salude here in Camas and introduced them to our friends Cassie and Glen.
We had a great time talking, eating and laughing!
September 14, 2019: Exploring some of our local Pacific Northwest beauty.
Josh's favorite view spot in Washington, overlooking the Columbia Gorge.
Multnomah Falls.
Portland's Japanese Gardens
Visiting Portland's Rose Garden
Enjoying the gardens at McMenamin's Edgefield in Troutdale.
September 18: Versii and his cat Cerin.
September 25: Kaden and Cerin snuggled in his sweatshirt.
September 28, 2019: The boys reveling in the softness and comfort of our new mattress.
September 28:
Celebrating Ashlyn and Austin's birthdays at Santiago and Kathleen's home with Julie and Brielle.
