Kyle Flying Solo

Kyle is going to EFY in Salt Lake City. Since we couldn't find a ride down, we booked a one-way trip out of Spokane. We found a "Mannie" parking place...second level parking garage, next to the walkway that leads right up to the ticket counter. We probably walked 25 yards from the car to the check-in place.

The bad news: This is the Delta ticket counter line

The good news: Kyle didn't fly Delta, he flew Southwest.

This is the Southwest ticket counter line.I was trying to get Kyle to make his "classic" picture face, but all he would do was put his hand in front of the camera. This shot was taken just before he was able to manhandle my camera.

Kyle is off to meet the nice TSA people.P.S. Kyle has an almost clean bill of health with his broken foot.
His only restrictions: no running or jumping for the next four weeks.

Foot X-rays

Here are the x-rays of Kyle's foot, the classic three views. Click on each picture to zoom in.

Frontal View

Oblique View

Lateral View (no help at all, if you ask me)

Kyle's Broken Foot

He did it! Kyle has an avulsion fraction of the fifth metatarsal. That's a fancy way of saying that he tore a ligament in his foot and when it tore from the pinky toe bone, it took a little piece of bone with it. You know the knobby bone on the outside of your foot about halfway between your little toe and your heel? That's the bone Kyle broke.

The short story is that Kyle was playing soccer, barefooted, and kicked the ball...hard. When the ball hit the inside of his foot, the bone on the outside broke, from the stress on the ligament.

The next day we called the doctor who didn't want to see Kyle until after the x-rays. He called in an order to have the x-rays taken at the outpatient imaging center of the hospital. They said they would send the x-rays to the doctor. Three hours later we called to see what the doctor wanted to do...the hospital hadn't seen the x-rays yet. It turns out the hospital would not send the films to our doctor until their radiologist had read them, then they would send a report (probably NOT the x-rays). The films would be read in about 2 1/2 days. What is this...CANADA???

We told the doctor to just forget about it and then we went to an urgent care center. They have their own x-ray machine. We walked in the door at 3:00 PM and were out at 4:30 with a diagnosis and a referral to an orthopedist for the next morning, and our own set of x-rays to show off to friends. I'm not sure the original x-rays have even been read yet!

Kyle's swollen and bruised foot

The arrows show where his foot is broken
More swelling and discoloration - This might not look too bad, but you have to know, Kyle has very thin feet.

The "Western Walker Boot" that Kyle will be wearing for a long time. See how skinny his other foot is? Question: Do people on the east coast get "Eastern Walking Boots?"

A New Addition to the Family Picture Wall

Boards decorated with vinyl lettering have interested me for quite a while. The price has held me back, however. After we painted the family room I really wanted to change the picture frames to white and make a sign that said "FAMILY" to mount either above or below the pictures (the jury is still out on that).

Clark helped me by using the router to put a nice edge on an oak board and I painted it white. When it came time to put the letters on, I decided I would rather use vinyl and have it look really good, instead of painting it. Since the board was going to be lettered with vinyl, I decided to do the layered effect. I designed the lettering and emailed the specifications to my friend's daughter (she has a vinyl cutting machine). She lives out of town, but came to visit this week.

I picked up the lettering today and here is the final result. I can't wait to design my next project...maybe a new family night board!

Har Dee Har Har

CREATIVE PUNS FOR "EDUCATED MINDS"

1. The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.

3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.

4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class because it was a weapon of math disruption.

5. The butcher backed into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his orders

6. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.

7. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.

8. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

9. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

11. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.

12. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

13. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other, 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.'

14. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.

15. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'

16. A small boy! Swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital. When his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said, 'No change yet.'

17. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.

19. The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.

20. The man who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.

21. A backward poet writes inverse.

22. In democracy it’s your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.

23. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.

24. Don't join dangerous cults: Practice safe sects!

Flowers in Our Garden

I almost missed taking pictures of the early June crop of flowers in our backyard. The roses put on their show at the end of May and the first of June. The pink lilies opened almost two weeks ago, while the orange lilies are starting to bloom now. Our day lilies are just beginning to open and will look their very best in about two weeks. Enjoy!

Orange Oriental Lily

Deep Pink Asiatic Lily

Fancy Petunias (just getting going)

Not exactly sure what this is, but there are lots of them on the plant and the plants are coming up like weeds all over the yard. By the way, we planted this on purpose.

African Daisy - very pretty to look at, but don't cut them and bring them in the house, they smell like dog doo.

Purple Allium flower on a four-foot stem - it is just starting to fade after almost two weeks.

We have several varieties of Snap-Dragons

The Marigold's are a fixture in the front of the vegetable garden every year. This year Chat Noir (the cat) has decided that she must do her business between these plants. She killed two of them by digging and ... you know. A third is hanging on by sheer will-power.

The last of the May/June rose bloom.

Orange Asiatic Lilies (and more in the distance)

The very first Day Lily blossom. The color is off because there wasn't much light when I took this picture.

Temple Square in April

Women's Conference at BYU has been something I have wanted to experience for about five years. Kathryn Rhoten asked me every year if I wanted to go to the Conference in Provo with her. Every year for one reason or another I had to say "no, thank you." This year, she gave up and didn't even ask. Wouldn't you know...this was the year that I could go, so I invited myself.

We considered several itineraries and finally decided that Kathryn would drive. Kathryn, her sister-in-law, Lona, and I loaded up her car (and I DO mean LOADED) with our bit of luggage and lots of stuff for each of our children that we would see on our trip.

We began our trip on Tuesday, April 28th in the early afternoon. Of course, it was April, so we hit snow on Cabbage Hill. It did little more than make everything beautiful, since it wasn't sticking to the road (oh, it kind of freaked Kathryn out). The snow cleared up soon after we left the summit of the Blue Mountains and it was smooth driving to the Boise area. Lona's son and family live to the west of Boise. We stayed with them for the night (and unloaded some of the stuff in the car).

The next morning headed off to Salt Lake City. Our plan was to drive to the Salt Lake Airport and pick up another of Kathryn's Sisters-in-law, Kim, from Florida. We were running a little late, so one of Lona's daughters (who lives in the SLC area) drove to the airport to get Kim and then met us at the Lion House Pantry near Temple Square. While we were waiting for them to arrive at the restaurant (about ten minutes) I took the opportunity to get some pictures of the beautiful flowers that were blooming all over the square.

This tulip is my favorite of all the ones I saw...and I saw a lot!!!

The Church Office Building. This is where I send a lot of my work reports.
There was a cool reflection of the Church Office Building Across South Temple Street. You can see the Lion House on the left.