Finally! I have been about to explode but I can finally spread the wonderful news! My beautiful daughter, Tonya, is going to bless us with our first grandbaby in February. We are so excited and she is doing well. Billy sounds very excited and they were able to actually see a baby with beautiful hands, feet and you can even see a little nose, in their ultrasound today. I could truly hear the excitement in Tonya's voice today.

I know it's going to be difficult for me to be so far away and not be able to just jump in the car when she needs me to babysit or to help her get caught up on some sleep after the babies born. We hope to spend a few days with them, if the will have us, after the baby is born so we can help them. She is lucky to have family close and her in-laws only 3 hours away unlike our 10 hours.

We are very proud of Tonya and Billy. They have done everything right....get married in the temple, save money to buy a home and then find a wonderful home to start their family. The baby is going to be blessed with wonderful parents that are close to their Heavenly Father and will raise he or she in a wonderfully spiritual and loving home.

We love you guys and will always be here if we are needed for anything. Thanks for blessing us so wonderfully!

We have an All Star in the Family!

Just a quick update on Tanner and Baseball.....Their TOC team lost their game but barely. It was 5-3 and Tanner hit a bomb out to center and missed a grandslam by just a few feet. He found out last night that he made the 11 year old All Star Team so the next 2-3 weeks are swamped with practices daily and 3 hours on Saturdays until their tournament in July.

We are proud of him! He has worked real hard to get to that level and we hope he has fun and the team does well.

Tanner and baseball 2009

Tanner has had a great year in baseball. He was in majors playing on the Cubs! They got first place the first half and 2nd the second half and have qualified to go to the Tournament of Champions this weekend.

Tanner is a utility player, which means he is used in all infield positions and some outfield as needed by the coach. He sometimes plays 4 positions a game. His favorite is shortstop but spent time at right and third this year. He also pitches and really holds his emotions on the mound well. He has 5 pitches; 2 and 4 finger fastball, slip pitch, curve ball and a slider. He just tried out for the All Stars and had some stiff competition but we won't know if he made until June 12th so we will update you on that later. He would love to make it but with so many kids trying out it's very tough.

Because he is only 11 years old during the season he is one of the youngest on his majors team. Most of the kids are 12 and leaving for juniors next year. Tanner did well playing with the older kids and learned a lot this year. He has one more year of majors and that will put him on top since he will then be the oldest.

He is trying to make a decision as to whether play competitive winter ball or travel ball this winter. It all depends on what his friends do I guess. Well, we are proud of his hard work and competitive spirit along with his awesome sportsmanship and respect for his coaches. His coaches love his attitude which gives him high scores for the next round of tryouts. Every year we are told by one coach or another that they want to get Tanner for their team. So that makes us proud and gives him a boost of confidence.

Go Cubs!

I know, I know...it's about time right?

I can't believe that it is already May and I have Tanner graduating from elementary school and heading to middle school next year.  Wayne is 6 months post surgery and has snowboarded this year and is now back in the water and is surfing.  It is amazing the change in him and his life.  I am so proud of his hard work in his recovery efforts.  He still has a while to go to be completly 100% but he is on his way.  

Now...I guess it is my turn.  I have had some hip pain for about 8 weeks and finally got my way to the doctor when I could barely get out to the baseball field the other day.  I was afraid the doctor was going to tell me the pain was in my head or what Wayne was told but thank goodness it was neither.  I was diagnosised with Hip Impingement and I need arthroscopic hip surgery to remove some bone.  Wonderful!  Oh well.......  :(

But in better news....Tanner's team is on their way to the Tournament of Champions this year which could take them all the way to the Little League World Series....it's a huge long shot but the slightest chance is cool for the boys.  They have only lost 3 games this year out of 21 and they are great bunch of kids and treat each other with respect and reassurance.  It's amazing to watch.  

Tonya and Billy are doing fantastic.  They are getting ready to go to Europe in September, I believe, and I hope it can happen for them.  Billy's business ventures are doing great!  He is such a hard worker and will be a wonderful provider for their family.  

Tonya did plan an April Fool's Day joke on all the parents this year....and had us all jumping for joy and crying when she told us that we were going to be grandparents....well, after the tears of joy were shed we got the "April Fools" sent to us via text message.  I was sad, angry and a little relieved since hearing the word "Grandma" may be a bit pre-mature for me yet.  But I know just based on my reaction from the joke that I will be absolutely ecstactic for her and Billy.  They will be great parents.

Cole is still working full-time at Home Depot and loves it.  He also spends much of his spare time surfing and when the wind does get around to blowing....kite-boarding.  It's hard to keep up with him and all his activities but as long as I don't get anymore calls from the hospital...all is good.

Wayne is back to work.  Not what I was hoping he would go back doing but work is work in these economic times.  He tries to hit the water after work as much as he can and it's nice to see that smile on his face again.  

Wayne and I celebrate 14 years this year....it's amazing!  We are happier, absolutely more infatuated with each other, more at ease with each other...and respect each other more each year.  I appreciate his hard work and understand that he does it for us.  I know that he would rather be traveling the world for the perfect peak!  I hope that when we retire we can do that together.  It would be wonderful!   

Dreaming for that time to come..... :)

Wayne's Surgery

Since my beautiful daughter set this up for us, I had better get on it and start posting. Our lives have been changed since Wayne had his bi-lateral hip replacement or hip resurfacing surgery on November 7, 2008. He has been in chronic pain for about 5 years and deteriorated very quickly since January 2008. He never complained and worked hard all the way up until the day before his surgery even though his hips were rigid and could barely walk. The 2 weeks prior to surgery were the hardest for him and for me to watch because he was taken off all his pain medications (he was only taking 3 Aleve a day), which wasn't much to begin with anyways, but still allowed some pain relief. The pain lines on his face deepened and he was drained at night. We were at the time fighting hard against our HMO to get a new type of surgery for him called "hip resurfacing" which would allow him to keep from losing the femoral head which is normal removed in regular Hip replacement surgery. They would just resurface or debrid the damaged bone. This surgery was made for active, young, healthy people. The most important thing was that he would be able to get back to the active life he was missing out on: snowboarding, windsurfing, bike riding, surfing etc.
We got news in October that his surgery was authorized and even better, with the Dr. he wanted to do the surgery; Dr. Scott Ball from UCSD. We met Dr. Ball and knew right away that he was the one that we wanted to do the surgery. He was young but had done 400 hip resurfacing surgeries and was very up to date on the procedure.
On November 8, 2008 and after 6 hours of surgery and another 3 hours in post-op, he was strolled into a hospital room with a smile on his very swollen face and body. He told me that the agonizing constant pain in his hips and legs were gone. Amazing! The only thing that he was feeling was what felt like a bad "charlie horse" in both incision areas of his butt. And to him that was nothing compared to what he was feeling and living through before the surgery.
He was up and walking the next morning and left the hospital 4 days later on a walker, 2 weeks on crutches, 1 month on a cane and 6 weeks using nothing. He went back to work 3 months post op and just had his 4 month check and was ok'd to snowboard and everything else. He rode a bike with his son a couple of weeks ago for the first time since Tanner was 6 years old and Tanner was stoked. They are planning a snowboarding trip soon before the snow is gone and they are both excited about that.
It has been very difficult for me to watch his deterioration over the last 5 years and having Dr.'s misdiagnose his medical condition as his back and just "age" (only 46) until he almost couldn't have this surgery because of the bone cysts and bone on bone grinding that was going on. It really tore my heart out to see him walk out the door every morning to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. I love him very much and I am very proud of him and his hard work each day towards rehabilitation. He does Yoga and other stretching exercises daily and rides a stationary bike 4-5 miles. His range of motion is what will take the longest because of how rigid he was prior to surgery but he is coming along. He can do squats now which is huge!
We want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers during this stressful time for us and love you all.

For My MoM

This blog was created by Tonya...so that her mother can keep us all up to date on her wonderful life!

Love Ya Mom!

xoxo