Before we get started with the picture parade let me give you an update on my recent back surgery. I went in on June 10th for a spinal fusion of the L5-S1 disc space. I had two surgeons because they were going in from the front so I needed a vascular surgeon to move my innards out of the way. It went a little something like this ...
V Surgeon (Vascular Surgeon) cut a 5" vertical slice in my stomach starting at my belly button and going down towards my feet. (They missed my tattoo by a quarter inch. Wasn't that thoughtful? LOL!) Then he cut through the sheath that covers my stomach muscle. He moved the muscle aside. Apparently the organs located in the abdominal cavity are contained in a sack. Did you know that? I didn't. Anyway, the V Surgeon didn't cut the sack. He just moved the sack and it's organs to the side. Then he clamped open the "V" of arteries that run down my legs because it would be bad to cut those. At that time the Neuro Surgeon saw that my disc was "flat as a pancake and really inflamed." "How is she still walking?" He thought. (I know this because he told me later. I didn't dream it. LOL!) So he proceeded to remove the disc and replace it with two "cages" that look like dime sized coils. Then he screwed in a titanium plate and injected a bone protein. The bone protein will help the two vertebrae grow (fuse) together. After he was done the V Surgeon came back, removed the clamps holding my innards and let them all fall naturally back into place. Then he gave me internal stitches and taped up the incision site. Hopefully the scar will not be bad since he didn't use external stitches or staples. This remains to be seen though since I am still waiting for the tape to come off. It's itchy too!
That evening I was able to move myself from the gurney to my hospital bed with very little effort or pain. (Thanks for not cutting my muscles!) By the next morning they had me up and walking a little and going to the bathroom. I had no trouble sitting up and doing all that on my own right from the very start. I was doing really well but still didn't get released until Saturday afternoon. (Surgery was on Wednesday.) I was given orders to walk 3 times a day, which I frequently do with my neighbor. She is so wonderful and I really enjoy our walks together. By Monday I was up to walking a loop in our neighborhood that measures 1.15 miles. A couple days later I walked that loop twice. Now I'm up to walking the full loop 3 times every day and I feel great! Actually, I feel so good that it's hard to not jump back into normal life. But I'm under strict orders to not bend, lift or twist for 6 weeks. Do you have any idea how much bending, lifting and twisting a mom does every moment of every day? Basically, I get to go walk, and hang out in bed or on the couch. That's it! It's tough but I'm determined to recover fully (or at least the 90% the N Surgeon predicts) so I'm being a good girl and following orders.
We have been so incredibly blessed! My Mom (who lives next door) has been coming over every day before KC leaves for work and stays until he gets home. She takes care of the kids and feeds me. KC's mom comes every Wednesday anyway but she's been coming earlier, which is a nice break for Mom. Lolita (a friend's 15 year old daughter) has come over the last couple of days to play with the kids too. They love it and Kalyssa especially loves learning more Spanish words. And the most wonderful blessing has been the dinners that our friends have been bringing us every other night. Seriously ... we have so many wonderful friends that love and care about us. No one is bringing food twice (except Beckie who insists her first meal - which was perfect - wasn't a real meal) and we're covered until the 1st. I'm amazed with the outpouring of love we are feeling! We're just covered in it!
Poor KC though. The guy is exhausted. He comes home after a hard day at work and makes sure the kids eat, plays with them, does bath time and bedtime all by himself and then picks up the toys and cleans the kitchen. And that's not even including all the laundry he's been doing too! The guy doesn't get to fall in to bed until 10 or 10:30 every night and then starts again at 5:00 the next morning. So ... I just need to say, for the record, that the man is my hero and I love him more than words can say! I am more blessed than anyone! And I am so thankful!
Okay ... on with the "show." We'll start with our first camping trip in our new travel trailer. We went up to Mormon Lake (near Flagstaff.) It was still cold (in mid April) but we had a wonderful, relaxing time. {I'm going to insert a little edit here ... I have to apologize for the massive amount of pictures that follows. I love taking pictures, I'm sure you've noticed, and choosing just a few is really hard to do. I took 250 pictures in 2 1/2 days so these are just the best ones. It's not my fault I have the most adorable children in the world. And it's not my fault that I get lots of really great pictures of them. I guess you'll just have to suffer through them all. :o)}
Here's our truck and trailer. We love it! It's absolutely perfect for our little family. It's definitely going to make a terrific home away from home!
I couldn't help but include this one. I just love pictures where you can see sun rays. Don't you?
They had Buffalo there. The kids loved watching them, even if they were just kind of laying there most of the time. The best part was teaching Kaden how to say "Tatonka." So cute!
They had this old stage coach there. Every time we passed it we had to stop and play in it.
Tom and Wendy came up for the afternoon. That was a nice treat. While KC and the kids took naps the 3 of us went for a drive around the (almost non-existent) lake. Before Tom and Wendy tell on me ... the view wasn't this pretty. It's amazing what can be done to photos in Lightroom! (Oops ... gave away my secret. Now you know I'm not as good of a photographer as you think I am. LOL!)
Another secret is out ... my children are not perfect angels. Yes, they too have fits when they don't get their way. This particular one was because we wouldn't let her just run around the entire campground all by herself. Mean parents that we are. Even still ... fit and all, the girl is just plain beautiful! There's no way around it!
If you ask Kalyssa what she's doing here, she'll tell you she's digging for watermelons. Umm, okay. LOL!
You can't tell me this isn't the cutest little Wrangler Butt on the planet! No, really. You can't! I won't let you. LOL!
Give the man a beer, a chair and a cheese stick, throw him out into the wilderness and you get back one happy camper!
My little man is so stinkin' cute! He just is! 
And so is my little girl!
Campfire time! You can't go camping and not roast marshmallows. It would be wrong!
See .... look ... I really was there! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a family of 4 (2 of them very small) to all look into the camera and smile at the same time when you are relying on the timer? Man ... it's hard! And it didn't actually happen. This is as good as it got folks.
Kaden LOVES roasted marshmallows! He'd eat them all day long if you let him. Kalyssa on the other hand ... not so much. She loves roasting them but eating them ... nope. She had one bite and that was enough for her.
This is the one picture you get that is just me playing with my camera and having fun. I'm going to throw in another blog post a little later (today or tomorrow) of a pine cone. I really like the picture and I had lots of fun playing with it in Lightroom. So, just for fun I'm going to post the results of my playing a little later on. Feel free to ignore that post if you have no interest.
LOL! I couldn't help taking this picture. Most people, when they buy toy hauler travel trailers, put toys like Quads and Motorcycles in them. Not us ... we've got strollers and big wheels. LOL!
Well folks ... that's it for Part One of the Uber Long Blog Update. I'll keep working on the other pictures and update again soon. Really, I will. I've got nothing better to do. :o) I know that some of you have tried to leave comments. I've tried and I've tried but I can't seem to make it so the comment feature actually works. It's making me nuts. Someday it'll work. Feel free to try every once in awhile to see if I've been able to correct the problem. If not ... e-mail works if you feel the need to comment. :o)
Love, Hugs, and Blessings to all!
The Payne's
You'll have to forgive me for adding in some shots that don't have any kids in it. I'm learning how to use my camera and playing with Adobe Lightroom so you get to see all of my favorites. Even sans children. LOL!
