Prayers

My aunt Charlotte recently had a baby girl. Her two kids were both finally in school and then, hello, here comes the new baby. We are excited to welcome a new cousin. However, things are not all roses for my aunt. She is having some very extreme health problems. She shakes all over and is having extreme migraines. It has gotten to the point where she can no longer function at all and needs someone to do nearly everything for her. We are extremely worried. I think it might run in the family, since my aunt Sheila has similar symptoms, though not as extreme. We are asking for people to keep my aunt in their prayers. So far no one can figure out what is wrong with her and she continues to get worse. Please keep her in your prayers. I truly believe that prayer works and know that we receive blessing in our own lives as we ask for blessing for others.

Help a girl out

Can any of you smart people tell me how to upload a video from a website onto my blog. I'm really clueless.

Say Hello to Sandy

I will be the first to admit that these aren't the best pictures ever taken. But, I did want to introduce everyone to the newest member of our little family. This is Sandy.She is an aussie/ border collie mix. She is such a sweet little girl. She's five months old. We are extremely excited to have her. Even Ammon likes her.
She doesn't bark much and loves to play. If you want to come by and visit feel free. She loves people and is a wonderful companion for me.
Welcome to the family, Sandy.

Birdy

Apparently I was wrong about my family reading our blog, and some of them do. Since that is the case, I thought I'd write about my sister for a moment. Sera, more affectionately known as Birdy, is my only sister. Nick, affectionately known as Boy, is my only brother. I have enjoyed growing up in a small family. When Nick was still just a little guy (which he is far from being now) Sera and I tried to pick on him. It didn't work too well, he would tattle. So, Nick and I ganged up on Birdy instead. This was a brilliant plan, because I was not the one getting picked on, Nick enjoyed being the picker oner as well, and Bird bore all of it and very rarely told on us. There was that time that Sera and I gave Nick a swirly and then saran wrapped him to a chair, but that's a story for a different day.
Birdy was a great sister. We got in trouble for laughing too loud far more often than we got in trouble for fighting. Of course, when we would get in trouble for laughing it only made it harder to contain the giggles. When we were young we would push our day-beds together and sleep in a nice little fort that we built. On one occasion we were sleeping right beside the open window. Our favorite cat, Skitters, decided to come visit and popped her head up in the window with a little meow. Oh how we screamed. It scared us nearly to death. Since the fright didn't actually send us over the edge, the giggling afterward nearly did.
Speaking of getting scared. I went through a time when I thought it was great fun to startle my siblings. Sera was the best target. I ran into the bathroom one day when she was in there and scared her so bad she almost fell off the toilet, then she started to cry because she was so fed up with being scared. That was hilarious. I'm a bad sister.
After we moved to California, Birdy and I had pretty much the same set of friends. I loved going out to hang out with friends and have my sister along. The best was when we would get home at 11:30 before fast Sunday and would spend the half hour stuffing ourselves as full as we could get so that we could hold out the next day. We struggled not to wake my dad up on those occasions.
Well, as the years went on I met the man of my dreams and spent all of my attention on him. My sister, who I had grown really close to over the years, was neglected. She even came down to visit me for my birthday when I was engaged and we spent the entire time hanging out with Ammon or doing wedding things. I was completely oblivious to the fact that I was ignoring my sister. After a few years of being married Birdy and I have grown close again. And then she runs off and gets herself married. It was a little strange for me being replaced by a boy, but all the same, we love Darrin and welcome him into the family. The newly weds spent the summer living close by in Midway. They are now moved back to Rexburg and I really miss having my sister near. So, while I'm pinning away and missing my sister (who can still get me laughing harder than anyone else I know) I thought I'd share some pictures from her wedding back in May. By-the-way, I miss my brother a lot too. He's grown up so much and is just as funny as Sera. I love his quiet humor. The Boy has a way of saying the funniest things at just the right moment. What a group the three of us make.

I love this picture. I think Birdy has a gorgeous smile. Doesn't she look happy?
And the happy groom. He's a bit of a goof, but we'll take him. Speaking of getting scared. I don't remember why were in a store with Sera and Darrin one day (Ammon and I refer to them as SDarrin), but Darrin decided to take his blood pressure on one of those little machines. Ammon came around the corner and purposely scared Darrin. The machine gave him an error message and wouldn't read his heart rate.
I love the pictures of the groom when you can tell that he is happier than he's ever been.
This little guy is now Birdy's nephew. He is the most dramatic, adorable, and funny little guy.
Cute.
Such a Sera look. She has several "looks," this is a good one.
All the bridesmaids with the bride. My hair was still long then.
The groomsmen being tough. Notice my enormous brother, he's right behind the groom.
What a handsome bunch. Especially the one on the end. Boy, you are hot.
During this picture Nick took it upon himself to tickle the brides feet, which made her very happy. And him smile very smugly.
Sera looks gorgeous in this picture. But we call it her quail picture. Can you guess why?
The happy couple in front of the temple.
Ahhh.
I miss you, Birdy. I miss you too, Boy. Welcome to the family Darrin. I can't believe how big our little number of 5 is growing.

Injury

When I was in fourth grade I broke my arm. I was taking the dog to his pen. I had my hand put under his collar and we were running down a big hill. The poor dog was thirsty and took a sharp turn into his pen, throwing me into the fence. All the impact went on my arm. It didn't swell. And since I was such a dramatic kid everyone thought it was a minor sprain. A few weeks later we found it had been broken and was now healing weird. It wasn't too weird though, so the doctor just left it. Well, about two weeks after I got the cast off I was running down a sidewalk where I tripped on a hose and re-broke my arm. At least we know it healed straighter this time.
When I had turned twelve I managed to land my first job. I would be "babysitting" a ten year old all summer. We had a great time. The first day on the job was a blast. We were out on the trampoline for hours and hours. We put the sprinkler underneath and were enjoying getting thoroughly wet. I decided that it would be exhilaratingly to spin around in a circle with my eyes closed. I lost my balance, slipped, and landed with all my weight on my left arm (the other arm) on the bar of the trampoline. I didn't want to tell anyone that it hurt. We went inside and put some frozen corn on it and watched a movie. When I got home I didn't tell a soul. A few hours later my mom needed to practice a song she was going to be singing in church that Sunday.
So, I sat down at the piano to accompany her. Everything was going fine until I hit a large chord to hard with my left hand. I stopped playing, broke down into tears, and confessed what I had done.
It was about two years after that break when I was out playing soccer during lunch with some friends. We were playing on a little bit of a slope as there was no where else big enough. It was hailing out, but we were having fun. The ball came over and my friend and I were battling for it. We were pushing each other and laughing. I went to kick the ball with my right foot. Candice went to kick the ball with her right as well, but missed and kicked my left foot out from underneath me. I landed on my right arm. Once again, I didn't want to tell anyone, so I went to class. I was hurting, and tears were streaming down my face. It was Mrs. Peavey's class, which I hated (algebra) so I decided to get up and go to the nurse. Since my broken limbs never were swollen (you will recall the first break) the nurse thought I was bluffing. She called my mom. I could hear what she said,
"Mrs. Garrison, your daughter is in my office. She says she broke her arm, but I don't think it's that bad."
When my mom heard the news she replied, "If Melanee says her arm is broken, then it is. I'll be right in." Sure enough, I managed to break both bones this time. This was by far the most painful break yet.
It was a long two weeks after the cast came off of that when I went with my family on a boy scout camp out. My dad was the leader. We stayed at a hot springs. It had some great water slides. I was going down one, on my stomach and couldn't see anyone below. I rammed my entire weight into my left foot into the chest of a gentleman who was also not paying attention. I carefully swam to the side where I told my friend, Brad, that I just hurt my ankle and thought it might be broken. He told me it was okay, I had another, and left me there. So, I swam to tell my dad and then crawled into the dressing room. All the dear old ladies there were so helpful while I tried to balance on one foot and get dressed. I jumped halfway back to camp before my dad caught up and helped me the rest of the way. Two days later I was in the doctors office with a mildly broken ankle.
That injury healed up nicely and I was the picture of health my sophomore year of high school. At the beginning of soccer season I had a big game. In the first 30 seconds of the game I managed to tackle the ball the same time another girl did and it forced my ankle into a hole where I rolled it. I jumped right up to go get her, and fell right down. I had to be carried of the field. By the time we were two minutes into the game we finally had my sock and shoe off. My ankle was the size of a softball. I wanted to play so badly that I was going to let the man there wrap it go back in. Luckily my dad had wandered over to where the team sat and saw the damage. He had me sit out until half time. At half time we unwrapped the injured ankle. I bawled the entire time. It was enormous. It was purple. I couldn't walk. To my mom's credit, she stayed on her side of the field and didn't come running out when I went down. I was so proud of her keeping her head. My dad let me stay to the end of the game. Then we pulled the car around and my dad lifted me into it.
Off to the emergency room. From the hall I could hear the doctor showing my parents the x-rays. He told them, "Well, she didn't break anything, it looks like she tore a few ligaments. And see this, her growth plate is fused, so she won't be growing anymore." Since I was already the short one in the family, this news lightened the mood for my parents as they teased me. So, that was a nasty injury.
Well, two years later I was trying out for a new soccer team. As I ran backward I tripped in a hole. What do you know, there goes my left ankle again. I was in a new school and was determined to make the soccer team. I bawled that night. Not because it hurt, but because I wasn't sure if I'd be able to play. I went to school the next day. Our campus was huge. I was sitting in Spanish class when I felt my ankle give and heard a nice little snap. I could barely walk after that. I managed to make it to the office and call my mom, who sent her visiting teacher to get me, since she couldn't come right then. Then I hobbled over to the soccer field. I revealed my extremely purple and swollen ankle to the coach and then left. When my mom and I got to the emergency room later they put me in a wheel chair with ice on my ankle. The nurse was skeptical of me and wanted me to walk on it. Then she unwrapped it and said, "Oh, I won't make you walk on that." Thank you. I tore a few more ligaments and stretched a bunch of stuff out. I knew I didn't make the team, since I had managed to miss the last day of try-outs. As I was crutching to class one of the girls on the team ran by and asked why I hadn't been at practice that morning. What?! They still wanted me? So, I did make the team. But I was benched that whole year because I had a late start. After all, I was on crutches for the first two weeks of practice. And then when I could play, I really babied that ankle. On a totally different and unrelated note, I would just like to mention that my soccer coach my senior year happened to be one of the stunt men for the Power Rangers. He could do some of the craziest things with his body to stop a ball from getting in the goal.
Since my senior year of high school I have struggled with my ankle. But I haven't had any major injuries...until today. As I was leaving the physical therapists office, having just had my neck worked on to help with my headaches, I tripped coming off the curb and killed my left ankle. I waited a little for it to get better. But had to hop into my truck and nearly bawled the entire way home. I made an appointment and went in. I was really worried I had broken it. It is swelling, but not that big. A sure sign for a Melanee that something is broken. But, I'm happy to report that my ankle is not broken and nothing is torn. I am in a brace and on crutches, however.

What I want to know is, why was I the only one in my family prone to accident? My sister had a few injuries requiring stitches. My brother has had a few injuries from football, but neither one has broken or torn anything. I guess I was blessed with a klutzy gene.

Upset and Complainy

I have decided that some days I feel like this poor cat: I'm missing something important and life is all chaos. Today is one of those days. I don't feel good. I'm tired of not feeling good. I need a job, but am struggling to find the right fit. I'm bored because I don't have a job and Ammon is gone all day and doing school when he's home. I'm worried about the future (which is typical). And for whatever reason, I can't find one of my shoes. Aaahhh....

My Little Friend

Can you see him? I found this little guy in my corn. I guess that's why the bugs left it alone this time around.
I relocated my little friend, whom we will call George, to the rose bushes up front. He's much easier to see on a green background since his color hadn't changed yet.
I know I'm a dork, but I love praying manti. I especially love to have them in my roses to keep off all the nasty critters that come to eat them up.
And, I just wanted to show off how big my sunflowers got this year. This picture was taken way above my head, thus the power line in back. I put my hand up there for a scale, but my hand is a lot closer than the sunflower, so it didn't work as well as it might have. Either way, they were big!

One more to go

Ammon started his first day of his last semester today! I love the beginning of the school year and found myself a little sad at the fact that I would not have some amazing literature classes to keep me occupied this semester. I am excited for my new found freedom, however. I think I will celebrate by reading as many books as I please. In the meantime, good luck to Ammon, and all of you who are starting up a new semester. I hope it will fly by!