Just a little in-between stuff....

We've been pretty thrilled for Brandon, lately. He got to spend nearly four months in Washington, D.C. as an intern for one of our state senators there. It's a great experience and big opportunity for him, and goes right along with his major in political science. He would have loved to have brought Cecilia & Giselle with him, but housing prices there for a small family are pretty exorbitant. Cecilia decided to stay with her mom for the four months of the internship. It was pretty tough on both of them to be separated from one another, but they managed. 

Because of those plans, they moved out of their apartment the day after Giselle's blessing. We had helped them with packing and loading their storage unit. So, when Giselle's blessing was over, we headed out of town on our way back home. Brandon & Cecilia followed behind us the next day. Cameron and Darcie traveled also the next day. Just before leaving, I grabbed this picture of Emma with the huge tree that had been taken down next door. She'd rollerbladed underneath this thing at least a dozen times.

Not long after getting back to Lewiston, Alyssa and I hosted a bridal shower for one of her best friends. It was a lot of fun pulling this together in her red-and-gold ("Ironman") color scheme.

One of the really fun gifts she received was this from an older family member:

When she opened it, and showed it, her family all asked if that was The Recipe for The Bread. Like it was some food of the gods! Well, heck, if that many people are interested in it, it must be amazing! Wonder if I can zoom in on that photo and get the recipe? 

The beautiful bride with her sisters and my girls.

So the twist to this party -- was actually probably a rather dumb move, on my part.

(Disclaimer: These photos may be more than you'd like to see. I'll try to stop short of getting gross.)

This year, I finally decided to do it. I've been working most of my life to grow the most outstanding bunions around..... and I've done a pretty good job:

And I finally did it. I got the surgery done. Foot #1 (left) was done on the last day of Seminary last spring. It was healed up before we headed to Rexburg for Giselle's birth. I was even out of the fashionable footwear before that trip, too:

Can you see the huge different between the before (right) and after (left)?
Um, ..... yeah.

So,  after returning home from Rexburg, I had the surgery on my second (right) foot. And the bridal shower, was the SAME day.

WHAT was I thinking????

Final result after the bridal shower -- I was way more tired than I should have been, my wound bled more than it should have bled, but otherwise -- no real effect. I'm glad we threw the shower, and I'd do it again!

So, having my bunions removed was a really good decision. It has eliminated a lot of the foot pain I'd been experiencing. Shoes fit better .... and I'm really looking forward to doing some serious shoe-shopping now. One outcome that I wasn't anticipating: big scars. What's up with that?? My podiatrist told me that my scars were not typical. Apparently, I am a really talented scar-grower. Do I wish they weren't so obvious? Sure. But I'll take what I got.