St. Louis

John took me sightseeing downtown. The Mississippi River was a little flooded.

The Arch

or, "Gateway to the West"

We went up a little pod elevator to get to the top of the Arch. John was very excited to see the new Busch Stadium.

Inside the Arch.

There's a Museum at the bottom that focuses on westward expansion...and the Cardinals.

Road Trip

We hitched a ride to Provo this week with Brian so we could go through the temple with Sarah and Joseph. Then we rode with John's parents, Joseph, and Terri the rest of the way to St. Louis.

After about 18 hours, we stopped at the visitor's center in Independence, Missouri.

This is the Community of Christ temple across the street. The building reminds me of ice cream.

Speaking of cold treats, we got some slurpees at one of the stops. Red ones, obviously.

Not sure whose idea it was to drink 32 oz. each on a road trip, but they were tasty.

Mario Kart

Brian and Annie lent us their video game, which helps occupy John while I'm at work. So, this is what I often come home to:

Then Jeff and Josh came over to play with him/keep him company.

Spring Break

I had this week off from work because the kids are on spring break. Other than doing puzzles, we also have been catching up on General Conference, reading Harry Potter, and playing the wii band game my mom got us.

We also go for walks in the neighborhood. They wear John right out. So, aside from sleeping 10-12 hours each night, he also takes a few naps "on" the couch.

Bubba helps John keep hydrated.

Puzzle Mania

In our extreme boredom, we borrowed some puzzles from Brian and Annie. This one is Harry Potter and provided a bonus challenge with its missing pieces.

This one was brand new and it's Provo.

Here is John working away. Also, eating a new food creation. I've been trying out some different designs in the kitchen to fit John's new diet (low fat, no red meat, no acidic food, no ruffage/roughage, and so forth). This was a pizza with chicken, cheese, pesto, and garlic powder. The crust is a Betty Crocker mix and it was delicious. I was pleasantly surprised with how well it all turned out.

Christmas puzzle all finished! We're working on a deathly hard peppermint one now. We spent most of today on it and only got the edge and green ones finished. It'll take a miracle.

I was getting really stir crazy by the end of the day/week/month, so we went to the drive-in and saw Date Night. It was hilarious. And fun to watch as a married person. Even better, we breathed fresh air for two hours.

Birthday!

We had a pretty low-key day, but I was just glad to be out of the hospital for it. I love having John home again.

John slept most of the day, but while I was at church he sneakily made me a carrot cake.

Bubba helped us celebrate by playing with some wrapping paper.

Overall, I'd say it was a successful year. If nothing else, it was a busy year. 1) I graduated from SVU 2) Moved back to CA 3) Started dating John 4) started teaching Algebra 5) My brother got married 6) I moved into my aunt's house 7) My parents split 8) Started my master's 9) Got engaged 10) Moved to the Kuykendall's 11) Went through the temple 12) Got married! 13) Moved in with John/sold my soul to Home Depot 14) Was a Matron of Honor 15) Went to a bunch more weddings 16) John had surgery 17-21:) Went to Disneyland 22) Discovered my love for carrot cake!

Home and Healthy

John's recovery package included a fun sandwich puzzle.

We put it together in between naps today.

It encouraged a Safeway visit, where John rode around on an electric cart. He says they might look fun, but when you actually need one it takes the fun right out of them.

The Time Has Come

Right about the time Karen started calling the lobby our bedroom, it was time to come home. John got himself tube-free, and we were out of there!

Here he is, back at home! Well, about 90% of him. We've got our work cut out for us...

Firsts

John's first time out of the bed. It was hard to get him moving because he was so attached. Physically, not emotionally.

First time falling asleep while changing the channel. My aunts sent us some tv seasons on dvd that got us through the week. (Mainly me, since John kept sleeping) I think we made it through two Alias and two Psych seasons by the time we got out of there. The best was when we watched Psych, because he tried to laugh without hurting his tummy, so it came out like a little whimper. Should have recorded that.

All cocooned up. We tried fruitlessly to get the heat turned up in our room. It was freezing!

Here's his first "meal"-- Cream of Wheat.

First actual food. You can see his face is shrinking, so it didn't come a minute too soon. Although he didn't end up keeping this one down, it was a nice change of flavor from the ice chips.

Since John was eating again, we figured it'd be okay if we ate in front of him. We celebrated by getting some California Pizza Kitchen. Way better than hospital food. I think overall it helped encourage him to come home sooner.

Easter Dinner