Try, Try Again

Do you know the old, saying, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Well, we’re going to try taking our trip again. Dennis isn’t scheduled to go back to work until the 17th, so we’re going to leave tomorrow for a couple of weeks. We’re not taking the truck and trailer, instead, we’re taking the car and staying at hotels until we get to Spokane. There we will stay with friends. On the way home we get to stop and see Jamie and our grandkids in Montana. Miss Kyleigh just graduated from high school and was valedictorian. She’s off to college this fall so we definitely want to see her before she’s off to new adventures. Caleb will be a junior and is busy working but also fly fishing, mountain biking  and any other sports he can think up to do in the mountains of the west.

Yesterday we went for Dennis’s post-op visit where they removed the surgical bandages and made his custom cast for him. He still isn’t supposed to lift anything heavier than a TV remote or a cell phone, so we didn’t think camping for our trip would be such a good idea.

I debated showing the photos of his unwrapped thumb, but as you all reminded me in my last post, you’ve seen worse as moms and grandmas! So here you go.

We certainly did not expect to see this when they took the bandages off. The pins and the balls on the end of the pins are a lot bigger than we had imagined them when they describe them to us before surgery.

His hand is still pretty bruised and swollen over a week and a half later but he says it doesn’t hurt at all.

The process of making the custom cast was quite interesting. It was a large sheet of plastic that they cut the general shape out of and then put it in a tub of very hot water. They then wrapped it around his arm and formed it to his wrist and thumb. They made little “bubbles” where the pins come out so the cast won’t rub on them. The lady who made it said it’s like an arts and crafts class with every new patient that comes in!

Ta-dah! All done.

This was his bracelet when he went in for surgery. We thought it was hilarious, that he had a fall risk bracelet. Just because he stepped backwards off of his truck.🙄 I am so much more clumsy than him, and I would definitely be a fall risk.😂

On Saturday, my sister, niece, and nephew, and Mandy, Brad and Piper all came over for lunch. Afterwords Piper and Lizzie stayed with us while Mandy and Brad went home to do yardwork. We had a great time playing dominoes together. She’s a smart cookie. She beat me very easily. Can you tell what a cuddler Lizzie is?

I really like the sentiment behind this picture.

We’re leaving our little Zoey behind at Mandy‘s and Brad‘s house. We know she’ll have a great time with Lizzie and Piper while we’re gone and it will be much easier to find hotels without having a dog along. However, the thought of leaving her isn’t easy for either of us. She is definitely our baby.

I’ll be taking my computer along and hopefully will be able to catch up with blog’s at some point along the way. The plan is to leave around 8:30 tomorrow morning and we’re hoping to stop in DeSmet, SD at the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead. It’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit but we’re always in a hurry when we go by. I’m hoping it’s not as hot as it is here today. It’s 94F now, with a heat index of 99F. Way too hot for me.

Take care my dear friends and I’ll post agin when I can.

Blessings and love,

Betsy