Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Knee Surgery

So my right knee has been messed up for over a year now. I honestly don't even know what i did to it, but Brad convinced me to go to a Dr. and get it checked out before we were even engaged. I hate going to the Dr, but i decided to go in because i couldn't run/exercise at all without it killing me. The Dr told me some things to try to see if it would heal itself over time. A year later it was still hurting pretty bad, so i went back in. He broke the bad news that i needed surgery. Ugh.

So i scheduled it for the end of May. I picked a perfect weekend when Brad didn't have any organic chemistry tests, so i had him all to myself. I wasn't really nervous about the surgery until the night before. Brad gave me a blessing, and it just gave me the peace of mind that i needed that everything would be okay. What what i do without the priesthood?

I went in early Friday morning. Dr. Cooley at TOSH did the surgery, and i really really loved him. The surgery went well, and Brad and the nurses were making fun of me when i finally woke up, because they said they had been trying to wake me up for about an hour and a half. I was out! I guess i ignored the nurses that were trying to talk to me, and i would only respond to Brad. I feel so bad i don't remember any of it. I wish i could apologize to those nurses. Brad took me to his parents in Salt Lake after i finally woke up, and i had a nice 4 hour long nap. No pain meds. I was tough. 

On our way back home to Utah County that night, we stopped at the rich house in Draper that Kenny and Heather were house sitting at because everyone was having a pool party. I got to sit on the bricks and watch. I was still feeling pretty groggy and out of it, but it felt good to get outside. Everyone was laughing at my feet because the stuff they put on my legs for the surgery turned my skin orange and changed the color of my nail polish to green. So gross looking. 
 I got to wear this wrap for about 4 days after my surgery. I hated it! I couldn't get it wet, so you can imagine how fun showers were. Thank goodness i have a loving husband. 

6 weeks later, my knee feels great! I have been starting to run on it again, and it feels better than my other knee! I am so grateful for good Dr's that know what they are doing!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Texas Trip Part 2: Dallas

Warning: Picture overload.

So we got to Dallas late Friday night, and had almost the entire Schaack Pack together! (We just missed Steve and Alli) We got to see Jon and Lisa's new house for the first time, which was just beautiful! Lisa is so creative and had pretty much made everything in that house herself. That night, Lisa was just finishing decorating the house for Caleb's big day on Saturday. We sat up late and talked with everyone. We had a nice discussion of how many car accidents the Schaack children had been in, where we were the ones at fault. The number was slightly embarrassing, but we had some pretty funny stories to say the least. Those stories can be saved for another blog post. :) 

We all woke up Saturday and had a pretty special day. It was Caleb's birthday, and also his baptism. We had a great peaceful morning getting ready, and then headed to the church. There were 16 people getting baptized in their stake that morning, so it made for a pretty long baptism. The spirit was really strong though, and it was fun to be there for his special day. 
 The best part of the baptism was hearing Caleb, Jacob, and McKenzie sing the baptism song together. It just brought the most peaceful and powerful feeling in the room, and brought everyone to tears. I often forget how strong spirited these little children are. They are definitely the most beautiful part of this world!

It was also really fun to meet Jon's office staff at the baptism. They all came to support Jon and Caleb, and they are all just incredible people. Not all of them are members of the church, so it was cool to have them be a part of it and feel of the special spirit there. We also got to see a few of my cousins that also live in Texas that we don't get to see very often either! 


After the baptism, Lisa threw an amazing party like always. Nothing she does is ever short of amazing! Caleb's request for the luncheon was Costco pizza, so she stuck to his request (after negotiating that McDonalds was not an option). She did a rainbow theme to the party, and had all of the fruit and desserts all in the colors of the rainbow. It was so cute. Here is Caleb getting ready to blow out his birthday candles and showing off his new scriptures. 







 *Funny story: So Lisa made these really yummy brownie bites that everyone was eating. My dad was going to town on them, and Brad told me to take a picture. So i did, and sure enough...this bite exactly is the bite that took Jon, my dad and I into the dental office! He broke a tooth! Epic i know. So feel honored that you are looking at the picture of the bite that broke the tooth. :)
About an hour later...there we all were in McKinney Pediatric Dentistry. Jon, the dentist. Robbie, the student dentist. And me, the Dental Assistant. It was a family party in Dad's mouth. 
 Once we had Dad in there, it began to be a Schaack Family medical/dental super Saturday! Jon did exams on Kenzie and Brinley, and Russ was doing adjustments on everyone in the other chairs...it was a riot. 


After everyone was healed, we went and played at the most  beautiful park in the world. We played some tennis, played with the kids, and went on a really pretty walk around the lake there. Brad was in love with this house that is behind us in this picture. (Looks pretty from a distance, but I don't like it) So we stopped to take a picture :)

 At home, all the boys always found time to play lots of basketball and have dunking competitions. 
 Sunday was Megan's 30th Birthday. They had to leave to go back home to Austin this day, but we still had fun celebrating her! We had a big list of 30 things we love about Megan. Lisa made this yummy dessert for her to blow her candles out too. We just had a nice relaxing Sunday!
 Saying goodbye to the Jepsons!
 Lisa was so pregnant, yet she does not slow down! I think this was the only time i saw her sit the whole time. In the stroller! She was still teaching all of her dance classes and everything in her house while we were there. Nothing can slow that woman down!

Monday morning we woke up and went to Jon's office, and i had the opportunity to work with him for a few hours! It was soo fun! It was just fun to see Jon in his element and have so much fun with all the kids. He is the best Pediatric Dentist in the world. It was really fun for me to assist him in a few treatment procedures and get to know his patients also. When we got to the office that morning, i went back in the break room to put my stuff down, and i found this sitting on the table. 
 His staff is seriously so kind and thoughtful! I have never met so many just happy people! He has Caitlyn, Jill, Angie, and Lani all working for him right now, and i just love all of them! I loved talking and learning so much from each of them. They all have such a fun and positive energy. I sure wish i could be around them more. 

Here is Dr. Schaack and I working away...
 Cute little Wilson eating one of the cupcakes Jill made. I sure love this silly boy!
 That night we went to a baseball game. The Frisco Rough Riders!!!! They are a AA local team, but the game was perfect! We got some dinner before, and headed to the game. 
 Not crowded...lots of fowl balls to catch...fun entertainment...sunflower seeds...perfect weather...family...happy children....it just could not have been a more perfect night. 
These are our two baseball lovers...
 Tuesday we went downtown Dallas with Jon, Lisa, and Wilson. Caleb and Jacob went to school. I think we pretty much saw everything! Jon gave us the best tour ever. We went downtown and saw the JFK site, where he was killed. It is the second window from the top right where guy shot him from. It was pretty cool to see that historic site again.
 Us standing on the X on the road, which was where the second bullet hit him. You can see the other X on the road behind us, which was where the first bullet hit him. 
 This random black dude took us up behind this fence behind The Grassy Knoll and said it was right between these two trees that JFK was shot from. He had no idea what he was talking about, but we had a good laugh! 
On the downtown tour we also went and saw the Dallas Temple, Swiss Street, the American Airlines Center where the Mav's play, and lots of other famous things in that town. Dallas is one of my very favorite downtowns. The skyline is amazing, and it is just very historical and classy/business like. After our big tour Jon and Lisa treated us to some amazing Texas barbecue at Red Hot and Blue. We ate until we almost threw up, but it was seriously the best food we had ever had! I would move to Texas right now just for that food again!

We got home just as the boys were getting home from school. We just played around the house and relaxed for a while. We then went to Jacob's soccer practice at the park, and played on the playground and flew some kites. However, it was a little too windy for the kites. It pretty much destroyed them everytime we tried to fly them. So we all just played around and watched Jacob play some soccer!



Wednesday Brad and I went back to downtown Dallas by ourselves. Jon was working and Lisa was teaching dance all day. So we took the car and went and met with Brock Hansen at UT Southwestern Medical School. He is a friend of Robbie's, and also the Curtis family. He is a medical student there, and was so kind to show us around the school and give us some really good insight and advice about approaching/applying and choosing medical schools. We really loved UT Southwestern, and it made us really excited for our future! It was fun to just be in the atmosphere and see what they do everyday. We had a great experience!

After we left the medical school, we headed strait to the dental school to pick up Robbie! We timed it perfectly to pick him up during his 2 hour lunch break that day. We went to a yummy taco joint, and then he showed us some more stuff downtown. This next picture is right on the roof of his apartment complex. He lives right downtown!
After playing around downtown some more, Robbie gave us a tour of the dental school. We had a little fun playing in the sim lab. Especially on the mouths with no teeth. :) The dental school was really fun and interesting too! It is just fun to see where they spend all of their time everyday. It's pretty amazing to see what a Dentist in the making gets to do everyday!
Wednesday night, our last night in Texas! Jon, Lisa and the boys, Robbie, and Brad and I all went out to eat at Pappasito's. It was a super super yummy tex mex restaurant. Such good food again! They had a really good  mariachi band playing, and it was just a fun atmosphere. 
We definitely ate too much! 

After dinner we went and got some killer gelato that was close by and just played around outside. It was such a blast. Seriously, we could not ask for a better trip. Our family is so good to us. It is pretty hard to live so far away from them, so we just cherish and are so grateful for every second we do get to spend together. I always learn so much from my siblings every time i am around them. They are huge examples to me, and i have always wanted to be just like them. We miss them like crazy already!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Texas Trip Part 1: Austin

The day after Brad finished finals, we took off to Texas to see the Schaack family. This trip was so perfect. We hadn't seen my siblings since our wedding, so i had been looking forward to this trip for a long time. This also was Brad's first Texas experience. :) We flew into Austin early Thursday morning, and spent time with Russ, Megan and the girls. We were in Austin for Thursday and Friday. 

Megan picked us up, and we went to their new house, which was so beautiful! They just moved in a few months ago, and they really have a perfect house in the most beautiful neighborhood ever. So played 'Ariel' on the trampoline with Brinley while we waited for Kenzie to get home from school. (Videos of the Ariel game to come. We had never laughed so hard.) 
Russ got home from work, and Kenz got home from school, so we decided to go downtown Austin. We went to Lake Austin and rented the stand up paddle boards and a canoe and went down the river. It was so beautiful. 

 I started out on my knees
 Then went to my feet...
 The girls in the canoe
 Brad came over to bug me
 Made me lose my balance, and we both fell in the water.
 Kenz and Brad had a good little groove goin here...
I obviously didn't.  I ran into a tree...
 So i traded Russ the paddle board for the canoe...
 Brin and Brad swam around for a while...
 Kenzie just loved hangin out on the paddle board
 Megan even rocked the paddle board the whole way back with the pregnant belly...
 Hangin out on the dock....
 
After the lake, we went to this yummy pizza place. I want that Mediterranean pizza right now! We had a great time walking downtown. We went to this cool old fashion candy shop, and let the girls go crazy. However, my little sweet tooth was also in heaven also!
Friday morning, we went over to see Russ' office. He really has an amazing practice, and it was fun to see him in his element. He gave us all some good body adjustments, which felt oh so good. It was also fun to meet his staff and just see what he does every day!

After our expedition at Integrative Sports and Wellness, Brad and Russ went road biking. They said they would only be gone for an hour, which ended up being a little over 2 hours. I had never seen 2 sweatier boys in my life. They sure had fun though! Us girls all went a did a little shopping in the meantime. 

While we were packing up to head to Dallas, we watched Kenzie ride her 2 wheeler bike out on the street! We had some good laughs watching her, and showing off for us! We couldn't love that Kenzie girl any more!

Megan made a yummy dinner Friday night, and then we all got in the car to head to Dallas! We had a 4 hour drive, and had a great time talking with Russ and Megan, spitting seeds, and listening to music! We love them!
*funny story: Brinley slept the whole way from Austin to Dallas that night. However, she kept on having bad dreams cause she would randomly start crying and yell ' No! stop hurting me!' and then get mad at random people. It was pretty sad and funny at the same time.
We love Austin, and the Jepson family! 

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Jordy's Mission Call

My dear friend Jordy has been making me go crazy for a while here! She is such an amazing person, and her life is always full of amazing things. I envy how she does so many things, and does them all so well. Her and I have been tied to the hip since Mrs. Belliston's foods class my Junior year in high school, and I constantly learn so much from her. Our lives have gone different directions at times, but we have still always been the best of friends. 

Anyway, she told me a little bit ago that she had decided to serve a mission. I will never forget that conversation. We were eating Chic-fil-a chicken nuggets in her house, and i was telling her about one of my many weaknesses, and as the conversation continued she told me about an amazing experience she had, and how she has decided to serve a mission. I think i peed a little. I immediately started panicking how i'd survive not being able to call, talk, or see her whenever i wanted. But then i thought, 'of course she is going on a mission! She is ALWAYS doing amazing things, and this is just another one.' 

As many people know i started getting a little anxiety as it got closer and closer to her receiving her call. The day her call came, i think i was going to explode. I was having all sorts of weird dreams and just wanted to know where she was going!! Anyway, Brad got done with all of his finals with flying colors Wednesday night, and we immediately headed over to the Whitt house to find out where in the world she was going. 

Brad felt like he needed to hold on to the big white envelope for a while. I couldn't touch it or else i would have just opened it myself. 
 Opening the envelope....
 Jordy has been called to serve in the Omaha Nebraska Mission, serving at the Winter Quarters site on the Mormon Trail. 
How cool is that? 
I couldn't believe it...and i am just so excited for her!
 I look ridiculous in this picture...but I love both of these girls to death.
This was such an exciting night! I am so grateful that Jordy is joining the ranks. She will bless the lives of so many people!