A new niece!

Phoenix Elizabeth Marble

8/11/10

Isn't she adorable?

With her big brother, Griffin... SO CUTE!!

Can I get an "aawww"?

My big, "little" brother and his kids.

Woohoo! Another kid to spoil! :)

This makes #28 on my nieces and nephews combined. #30 if we count the two "in-law" niece and nephew. Did I mention I was a great aunt? Well, besides being cool and all that, both married niece and nephew are expecting and the next generation has begun. WOOHOO!! :)

PS: Girls are ahead 15 to 13. GIRLS RULE.

Well, that's enough immaturity for one day. Over and out.

PPS: Read Mormon 9:27.... its a gem!

You should read this:

Interesting article on marriage on CNN.com

So, its been 2 months since I last posted. It's been busy. Let's see: working, moving, family in town for a few weeks, a family reunion, studying for a CPA exam, took exam, hosted a mission reunion of sorts, attended the company summer party, moved from cast to boot, and then from boot to ankle brace. I'm driving again, walking without the crutches, and wearing both shoes, as opposed to just the left one. I've been on two kinda blind dates that were fun, but nothing came of them. And I've had the blessing of having my older sister, Amy, stay with me and help me with all of that. A tremendous help, I couldn't have done without. That about sums up the past 2 months.

What this month holds for me: more working (starting in on the 2nd busy season, not quite as bad as the 1st), more studying (Audit exam on the 27th), Bear Lake with the ward in 10 days (big smiles on that one), and continuing to improve the walking without a limp process. Then at the end of the month, maybe at the beginning of September, I'll have "Meet the Firms" to attend at BYU. I love that event! Although, standing for 3-4 hours may prove more difficult this year, we'll still make it work. Yep, that's about it.

A scripture I've read in the past month in working towards my goal of reading the OT:

"And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more." 
~ Num. 22: 18

(Post edit: in looking over this today I realized that I wrote, "continuing to improve the walking without a limb process"....LOL... that would definitely be a process of learning to walk without a leg. :) Not to worry, I still have all my limbs.)

Update:

I have a new niece! Brooklyn Mae Marble born on 6/7/10

My cactus is growing yet ANOTHER offshoot.......

See it? The little blip on the right? I seriously don't know what to do with this thing.....

Yesterday I had my 2nd appt at TOSH. The ankle is improving from last week, but we still needed to finish correcting the angle of it. Turns out the medical staff in Texas didn't set it at the correct angle to help the back piece heal. So we've corrected that and my foot is now at a 90 degree angle to my leg (AND yes it was painful to get it to that point) and the staples, all 17 of them (OUCH!) and the couple of stitches on the other side have been removed.

 

So this is it for the next 4 weeks. Then the cast will be removed and I'll get a boot and they will gradually let it become weight-bearing. Probably not gonna be able to drive for about 2 more months. Running, as in long distance running, is pretty much out for the rest of my life. They recommend I become more of a biker, hiker, or walker and not much of a runner. :(

Personally, I like the green better. :)

 

Side note: What happened....

While on vacation in Texas and staying with my brother David, I was fighting getting up at 6am one morning when my niece came to my room and asked if I would go get her mom as she had just thrown up. So I got out of bed, very sleepy eyed, and headed downstairs. All the lights were off, but I could still see fairly well. I thought I was at the bottom of the stairs and stepped out. There were still one or two steps left and I came crashing down. (see? pretty pathetic.)  I knew instantly that something was wrong with my ankle, just by looking at it. It hurt, but not what I would have expected had I known I had broken it in 3 places. I called for my sis-in-law and then one of the kids upstairs heard me and started yelling for her as well. Once she came out, I scooted over to the couch and waited while she called my brother who had gone to early morning seminary with his oldest. She gave me some pain medicine, but I was more in shock to feel much pain. He came back, gave me a blessing and then took me to the ER. I couldn't help but laugh through most of the ER part because of good ole' Brian Regan. Click here to know what I am talking about. SO TRUE!!! (Funny sidenote: the main hospital entrance has valet parking, but not the ER)

 

X-rays and such later found I was going to need surgery but that it wouldn't happen until 7pm or so. So it was a day of waiting and not eating anything. It was fine. I watched TV and even got to watch a channel showing the tornados that were happening at the same time. (Wouldn't be a Texas trip without a few of those going on.) I saw a family that lived near mine as a teenager in Provo on the show Family Feud. Had the surgery and was pretty much out for the rest of the night. The next morning brought with it alot of pain. It was pretty frustrating because my pain was increasing and the staff wasn't doing a very good job of helping take care of it. Finally after 3 hours, a nurse was able to get a hold of my doctor got some pain meds that worked. Turns out morphine doesn't do much for me. Overall, though, I wasn't impressed with the hospital staff, so when the opportunity came to leave we took it! It was great though to have my brother and sister-in-law there who made a few things happen for me as well as take care of me for the days following until I felt strong enough to fly home.

So that sums up most of it. My dislike with the hospital staff has only deepened after coming back to Utah and having to correct a few things as I mentioned previously. But I'm on the mend. It's a huge adjustment and I have been blessed with family members and friends that have been there for me when I've needed things. Most especially, my sister Amy, who has moved in with me to help take care of the things I can't do, like drive. She's AWESOME!

It's interesting to reflect on my life now. Some things have changed for the good and others not so good. It's been up and down, trying to see the positive, but I'm focusing on the good. A scripture I read has been helping me:

"But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart. Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction." Jacob 3:1

I like it, be faithful and he will console me and plead my cause. Pretty cool.