January Happenings

I know it's March but I'm so close to getting caught up on the many comings and goings of the Ball Family that I have to cover a few more things.  January wasn't too eventful since I spent the entire month on the couch watching my leg swell and ooze.  But before the surgery, we had our annual New Years Eve party and this year stood out from all the rest.  We had a big crowd as usual but this time we didn't really do anything besides eat and talk.  Randy and I tried to get a few party games going but everyone just wanted to visit with each other.  It was obvious we are making up for the last year of limited social opportunities.  Also, this was the first year we had a cannon fire at midnight thanks to our awesome neighbor Randy (Barb's husband).  The midnight ball drop, fireworks, and cannon fire were all on point.  

Thankfully Ethan didn't die climbing to the top of the flag pole this year.  I got video of it swaying back and forth as he held on for his life.  He is his father's son.  I would've told Randy to forget it!

Marcus is still surviving life in WA by flying to Utah once a month.  First time was for a dance and the second time he volunteered to drive our friend's car down to UT for them.  I was a nervous wreck and called him every 45 minutes and the last thing I said to him before he left was, "You could literally die today.  Driving over those passes or falling asleep at the wheel can be deadly.  Don't die!"  I know scaring children into submission is emotionally scarring but in this situation it felt necessary.  He did just fine, drove way too fast, and loved the independence of driving on his own listening to his music.  I timed things right and made sure he had a pit stop in Boise so my cousin could color his white hair back to his normal brown.  Hallelujah!  She was a miracle worker and Marcus didn't look like a thug when he spoke in Stake Conference the next week.  

Henry has a new hobby.  He watched Mario Bros. themed exercise videos on YouTube.  He sees it as screen time, and it is, but I see him working up a sweat with red cheeks while I lay on the couch with my foot up and it feels like a good solution to the problem of entertaining a wild boy while recuperating.  It's been an answer to prayers and he's pretty cute to watch too.  He even got his friends hooked on it and their moms feel the same way.  "Should we turn it off after awhile?  But they're getting good exercise so...."  And the TV stays on.

Boys are so dumb.  Marcus loves these guys though.

And here's the whole group.  By senior year these kids just switch around partners for all the dances.  The two girls on the left might look familiar since Marcus went to previous dances with them.

This has been my view for six weeks.  I just barely stopped wrapping my leg because I don't need to keep gauze on it anymore and trying to compress it so the swelling would go down was a waste of time.  It's still swollen and shows no signs of improving.  The surgeon had me come in and said after examining it said,  "This is really weird!"  (so comforting, right?). She even scheduled an ultrasound right away to make sure the hard lumps in my leg weren't blood clots.  They weren't.  But do we know what they are?  No.  So a life of pants and long dresses is my future.