Four Generations

Well, I'm back! After two and a half weeks of fun, family and football, I'm back at work (and loving the routine) while Tonto and the girl will resume their regularly scheduled activities tomorrow. I know the blog has been super quiet but we really had a sweet time off and a wonderful Christmas. I hope you did as well!

Maybe it's because we had a pretty rough 2011 (that came on the heels of a 2010 that wasn't exactly roses) but I really felt like we needed this time to kind of reset and regroup. I'm so thankful we were all able to be together and reconnect that I can hardly see straight. :-)

We kicked off the break by visiting Tonto's surgeon who basically said there's nothing more he can do for the ol' knee. While that's not exactly the desired outcome, we were prepared for the next step to be a knee replacement. But we also knew he's not old enough to qualify yet.

We did, however, get some answers about timing. And some hope for an alternative treatment. He can get a bionic knee (as he calls it) at age 50 but can continue with his injections on February 2, which is a blessing because he's in a great deal of pain currently and these winter weather fronts aren't helping. Not one little bit.

Another option in the somewhat near future may be adult stem cell therapy that would allow for the cartilage to regenerate itself. This is something Tonto has been hoping/wishing/praying for and he was uber excited to hear his surgeon bring it up as a possibility. So he'll resume injections next month, we'll pray it works as well this time as it did the last and also that the therapy moves past the research stage sooner rather than later.

The next day I cleaned all day in preparation for hosting Christmas Eve at our house while Tonto and the girl revived their love for the Wii. They played the games we had, purchased more, rented even more and somehow an new controller entered the mix as well. This recreational vehicle played a huge part in our break :-)

Christmas Eve morning we headed to Dave's sister's house where he made a delicious breakfast and then we settled in for a spirited game of Yahtzee. And I actually won, which pretty much never happens. The girl would want me to tell you she came in second...

After a fun morning, we headed home to rest for a bit before the second round of festivities began. My grandmother was here (woo hoo!) and we got some new four generation pictures, which I absolutely love. A treasure, for sure.

The rest of that evening's fun will have to wait for another post because there are a bunch of pics and I can't seem to eliminate any of them...what's new, right?

So happy Monday, friends, and we'll talk soon!