Ankle Adventure part 2

Finally the hopeful day came (July 6th) for the Cast to come off and stay off. It had been about 2 1/2 weeks and he was ready but also a little nervous!!
Dr. Stateva said that the ankle and scaring looked really good so she took the stitches out...notice the scissors in her right hand as she examines his sergical site...

So here is his next stage...the BIG BLACK BOOT. He noticed right away that it was as heavy if not heavier than the cast had been. He was told that he could only put weight on his heel and was still supposed to be very careful and use the walker or crutches for a few more weeks. Still wasnt' full weight bearing. He had to keep his foot elevated too but now he could shower without the rubber vaccuum sealed boot and actually wash his foot and ankle. Ahhhh! that shower felt so good, to be able to wash and rub where the itching had been, but he still was sitting on his shower chair. I gave him foot massages and put lotion on his foot and ankle. He went to work from home on our home computer about 4 hours a day. He said that felt good too.

Now we got to go to Physical therapy that started slowly at first until he had more strength and mobility in his ankle. It was up to his Dr. how fast the PT would progress. He progressed pretty well. In this picture above you see Jay Hamon, who I've known for many years because he used to work at Safeway with me but now he is a very good Physical Therapist, massaging Richard's ankle. Richard always started out with that to increase the mobility so he could do the other exercises.

Now he has gotten a resistance band that helps to strengthen his ankle movement. Jay put him through a series of different exercises each week adding and removing some as Richard progressed. It was fun to compare the ones he did with those I did when I was recovering from my broken ankle. I am grateful I didn't have the tendon injury as Richard got a greater variety of stuff to do, some the same, some different; some hard and some easier. That's what progress is all about.

He reached a point where he needed to practice on his balance so what do they give him to do...play a game on the Wii!! Who would have ever thought I'd see him doing that?? What do you think, Grandkids?? Pretty cool, huh?Well, now that he was more mobile, he was going to church, going slowly up and down the stairs several times a day. He was finally free from being upstairs so much and he was able to get out. Here he is out at Mark and Kathleen's when the Philpott's came to visit in July. This is his new look of a goatee beard too and one of his new Luau shirts I got him for Father's day. He's become "Mr. Casual". I like it!

Finally he had had enough of the mustache so off it came. Here he is with just the chin beard. I really like that. Look how handsome he looks! Today he is biking on our exercise bike (as I type), working 6+ hours at work so he is driving because the BOOT is off and shoes are on, and he is not using any walking assistance, even the cane has gone back to the closet. His ankle feels much better than before the surgery and he is still going to PT to continue to strengthen everything. He will probably be released by his Dr. at his appointment next week to go back to work full time. His only real problem now is his heel hurts but that will get better too. We missed BYU Ed week because of all of this but we are determined to go next year and he will be able to walk all over campus and enjoy it...hopefully ankle pain free.

Good work, Sweetheart!!

Richard's Ankle Adventure... Part 1

Friday, June 18th, Richard had out-patient surgery on his right ankle to remove a bone fragment and repair a torn tendon and some ligament damage. The Doctors feel these were a result of a combination of incidents...a bad sprain ten years ago and our car accident in June of 2009. The surgery went well though it was more involved then the doctor thought it would be taking 3 hours instead of 1 1/2 hours. However she was pleased with how well it went. The top picture is him after he woke up from surgery in the recovery area and the bottom one is of his ankle in his cast.

His first morning with breakfast in bed. He wasn't going to be able to walk on his foot at all until the cast would come off and the stitches come out. He therefore only came downstairs when he absolutely had to for the first 2 1/2 weeks after the surgery and that means twice for Drs. appointments. Oh, how I remember it well. Patience is a virtue but that doesn't mean it's easy!! AT first you think...this will be cool to just lay around watching sports and the World Cup on TV and reading books and working on personal history but it doesn't take very long to wish you could be up and around like normal again. At least he had very little discomfort and I pampered him to the best of my ability.

The day after Richard's surgery, he got a package in the mail that contained a Father's day gift and this wonderful Get Well banner filled with messages of love from our Philpott family. It meant so much to him and he loved looking at it every day. You can just barely see him sitting on the bed with the poster on the wall beside him.

One lovely Tuesday, our step-daughters Gretchen (L) and Kathleen (R) came over for a nice visit. They even went down the street and bought us lunch too. This is them with Kathleen's son, Grandson Lucas #1, coming up on the bed to say "Hi" to Papa Mann and get a closer look at that cast!!

For several years our sons have been asking Richard to grow a beard or mustache and I told him this time off of work and staying home most of the time was the perfect opportunity so he agreed and began the process of NOT shaving (except his neck) This is the first picture at one week.

Look number one at 3 wks growth...BYU Dad

Look number two...Utah Dad with beard

Look number three... No glasses and his cute cap...sort of a Sean Connery look to me!!

This was the last of his full beard cause it was driving him crazy so he shaved right after these pictures. Hope our sons enjoyed it because Richard says that is it for a full beard. Stay tuned for Part 2 of the adventure...

Brithdays and Weddings

During the past three months we have participated in several birthday and wedding events. It started out with our step-grandson Lucas who lives in Sebastopol. He just turned 2. He and his brother, Joshua are very close and Joshua was there to help him at every turn. It's very tender to watch the two of them together.












Later in the month I had a Joyous Occasions Birthday event for 3 year old triplets, two boys and a girl. The boys got Mickey Mouse cakes and the girl a Cinderella Doll cake. Many hours went into doing these.










Some dear friends of our who used to live in our ward both turned 90 this year so we were able to attend the surprise birthday party for Nettie as it was here in Santa Rosa at her favorite restaurant. The first picture shows her sweetheart Frank(standing)who's Birthday was in January and he had a party in San Francisco where they met and lived before coming to Santa Rosa.
The next picture is Nettie greeting her friends all around a very long table. She is such a dear and used to do specialty cakes too. She also always did the flowers every week for our chapel and then would give them to friends to enjoy during the week. She had an amazing garden where she grew all the flowers. She turned 90 in May. It was a very special event for us to share.






Later that month our dear friend Jackie Bunnell got married to her new sweetheart, Larry Wright. I was asked to do the flowers and her cake. I was so happy to do this for them as Jackie and our family go back to the very beginning. I met her before I married Richard and Richard served with her deceased husband in the Bishopric. Her husband was the Bishop. We are thrilled that Larry and Jackie found each other to be together on this earth until they can each be reunited with their departed spouses.
Jackie's son, Jordan, gave her away and her two daughters were her bridesmaids. It was a very happy day.

Just this last weekend was another Joyous Occasion wedding for a dear friend. Cindy Pulley, who was one of the singles in our stake single adult program, got married for the first time. We are so happy for her. She has such a sweet spirit and she is so kind. She served a mission in the same mission as our son David (Cleveland Ohio) and even stayed in the same apartment complex he did in Toledo, only she served about 15 years before he did. She was the main care giver for her mom for many years and then her mom and Dad both passed away a few years ago. We are so happy for her and her husband, Allen Eckles.
Lots of fun events enveloped in love in a short period of time. I am so glad we could be a part of them all.

The begining of the adventures

We have been very busy these past couple of months and it would take too long to blog the whole thing so I will blog a little when ever I have the time and will eventually catch up to the present so here goes the fun...

Our month started out in Sacramento for Easter/ General Conference weekend with Chris and Emily. We had a great, relaxing time with them watching the wonderful messages of our Prophet and the Apostles of the church to enhance the Easter message, eating fantastic food, and playing games together.

The following week I continued to participate in a "Flat Stanley" project for my grandson, Michael Philpott in Utah. Any of you who haven't done this for a grandchild or niece or nephew are really missing out on some fun. Take the time to do it if the opportunity comes your way. I took "Flat Stanley" with me wherever I went and took pictures to send with our written adventures together. It was like what I did for our granddaughter, Jenna with her shadow. See if you can find "him" in the pictures here. He was in Sacramento with us, then on a walk around Spring Lake, at the Snoopy gallery and museum, helped me mow the back lawn, and then mailed home to Utah.

It was a great way to begin the awesome month of April!

Marvelous March

The highlight of our month of march was the thrill of having two of our Utah sons and their families come out for up to a week. Brook and Dave and their almost two year old son Carter stayed with us for 7 days which was absolutely delightful. It was Spring Break for the U of U.

Dave would love to see his son play basketball so he is starting the dream now by taking his picture playing with our basketball. Go CARTER!!





Carter brought some of his favorite toys but took great pleasure in discovering that Grandma and Papa had toys for him to play with too.

He loved the beaded "roller coaster" thing and then to find his Sesame Street friends under the number 1 - 5 made him very happy.

He is very smart and talks very well. The numbers one - five he recognizes and says in or out of order.


We had the privilege of babysitting for him on the first Saturday they were here while Brook and Dave got a night out and went to the city to see "Wicked". Jeff and Rachelle and Chris and Emily were here too but I was wondering if Carter would be good or concerned in a new house and with us for the first time. Well, he was an angel. He ate a great meal and was perfect. It was such a fun evening!!

Lucas was really good too and went to bed in a room upstairs without any trouble. So when the little ones were down...we played our favorite card game..."butt Mann". Just like old times.

Sunday was a day for Brook and Dave to see some other friends and Chris and Em and Richard and I went to the Dunford's for a Birthday dinner for Rachelle's dad, Ron. We had such fun playing with Lucas. He loves this life sized puppy dog as you can see.





Monday, Jeff and Rachelle and Lucas came over and I had the time of my life feeding Lucas his rice cereal with him mom. This was his 3rd time eating. He loved it and did a very good job at eating it all. What a good boy!!









Daddy, Jeff playing with Lucas!









Mommy was playing with him here and I caught an expression worthy of a caption...but I can't think of one. It was too priceless not to post. How about you giving it a caption.....



Papa and Lucas getting to know each other.



Monday night we had a family dinner and invited Mark and Kathleen, our step-children and their cute little ones over. Here is Carter playing with our other "Lucas" grandson. They got along great and they are exactly 2 weeks apart in age.





Tuesday we went to Howarth Park here in Santa Rosa.
It is a wonderful park with lots of fun things for parents to do with their children. Brook took Carter down the slide to give him the hang of it and be sure he wouldn't get hurt by him self.




While their older son, Joshua, was in school, Mark and Kathleen brought their Lucas to the park too and we all had fun together.






Carter likes to swing, can you tell?













Papa was asking Carter for help reading his ABC book and Carter was more than happy to help Papa read ALL the letters of the Alphabet.









I think little Lucas was really enjoying the beautiful Spring weather after coming from Utah where it is much colder.







Oh those soft, sweet cheeks!!










Jeff, Rachelle, and Lucas had to go home on Thursday but
Dave, Brook and Carter were here until Saturday night. On Saturday morning I took Carter over to the Park to play. He found the slide again only this time it was a double slide so Carter and I went down it together holding hands. We did it many times and loved it each time.

He learned who "Grandma and Papa" are while he was here and now he even asks for us when he is home. What a special time we had together. Can't wait to be together again.