Mom Holly's Knee Replacement Surgery

My mother had knee replacement surgery yesterday. The surgery itself went well - the doctor came out afterwards and said that her leg was no longer crooked, it was straight, and that there were no surprises in surgery. But the recovery has started out extremely rough. She's in a lot of pain, which is to be expected, but the pain medication isn't having as much effect as we would think.

She'll be going to rehabilitation facility in a couple of days to learn how to walk with her new knee. I imagine that it will be a tough ordeal, but something she must go through.

Please pray for a good recovery, for rehab to go well, and for her to be
mentally strong throughout this experience.

Good trip to FL despite car trouble

Well, we had a good trip to Florida. The beach was great, time with my parents was great, but on the way home the alternator stopped working and we had to get a new one put in. (Tire Kingdom in Lake City did a good job even though it took forever!) We got home at 1:00am, which was a pain, but everything worked out. Now it's back to school for the kids and in to the last two weeks of being a staff person.

Another good day in Florida

We're having another good day in Florida today! We spent the morning
with my parents, then went in to Ocala and ate a picnic lunch with
Victoria and Jessica. We met Mom Emery at Paddock Mall, and we're
looking forward to a good dinner at the Olive Garden (or somewhere) with
a whole crowd of people. What a fun day!

Having fun at the beach!

We went to Ormond Beach today for some fun in the sun. Beautiful
weather despite Hurricane Ophelia churning in the Atlantic north of us
:-) It should be a fun day, building sand castles and playing in the
sand and water. Woohoo!

Driving to FL

Well, the kids are out of school this week due to the year-round school
schedule here, so we're headed to FL to see family and have some fun in
the sun. Hope you're doing well!

Festival of Lights for Labor Day

We went with some friends of ours to a fireworks show dubbed the "Festival of Lights" over the Labor Day weekend. It was enjoyable -- we got to know our friends better and got to see some nice fireworks. The kids had a good time running around, but we sat right in front of the stage speakers so it was hard to converse the closer we got to sundown.

The whole event was interesting, though -- the show was put on by a local church that wanted to do something different on Labor Day to reach out to the community. It was fun, and I hope that they'll do this again next year and start a new tradition.

Happy Birthday, Kevin!

Today is Kevin's 4th birthday! He's doing great - 3-day-a-week
preschool, fun at church, and learning lots every day. Tonight we're doing a "just family" thing, but Friday night we're throwing a "soccer party" for Kevin and a few of his friends. Woohoo!

Megan makes a soccer cookie!

It's Kevin's birthday, so Megan got out the frosting and made a big
cookie Sue had baked into a soccer cookie! Good job, Megan!