Lily's scary, swollen left foot and ankle.
Bad sore on the heel of her foot.
She was very cheerful in the hospital. The nurses could hear her singing from the halls.
Lily got her last set of casts off just before Christmas. Thanks to our good friend Lila's support, Lily was very well behaved and much less dramatic getting the casts off this time around. :)
When her casts came off, immediately we noticed two purple pressure spots on her left foot. Within a few minutes they began to swell and by the end of the day the whole foot was swollen. This was on a Thursday, so by Saturday night (Christmas Eve) we were starting to feel concerned. Both pressure points turned into sores and the foot was red, hot and very swollen. On Christmas Day we talked to some friends and family who took a look at it and everyone agreed it would be best to get it checked out. So. . . Christmas night we took her to Primary Children's ER.
She was diagnosed with Cellulitis. That just means that bacteria got into one of her sores and infected the tissue. If gone untreated the infection could go to the bone or up her leg. In more serious situations it could cause problems with her shunt (due to the bacteria in the body) or turn into gangrene. Needless to say, we were glad we took her in. Antibiotics clears the problem right up but our concern was that Lily spits out all medicines. We had no confidence that she would even take one dose. So doctors agreed to put her in the hospital for IV antibiotics.
She was in for a little less than two days and her foot looked so much better! At that point we agreed to send her home with a prescription for antibiotics. Joel's sister gave us a great suggestion to put her meds in a drinkable yogurt (danimals). This worked like a charm! She had no idea she was taking it. Phew! We are glad that this little ordeal is over. Thank you to those who brought in meals and babysat, and to Joel's mom for helping with the kids.
In the hospital, we had a wound specialist come in and teach us about how to care for Lily's pressure sores. The simple teaching we received about the healing process will be very helpful to us in the future if Lily has any other problems with sores.
Visiting the M&M store.
Fun night of Apples to Apples.
I love seeing my kids laugh.
Visited the Las Vegas Temple on Sunday.
We were able to catch our friend on her mission in the middle of church. 
Fun on the airplane.
Waiting to watch the fountains at the Belaggio Hotel.
I just thought I would include this picture of Lily playing play dough with her cousins. Play dough has been a great tool for gathering friends and siblings around Lily for play. I love this idea of attracting children to play with Lily. I plan to keep finding ways to do this over the years.
Thanks for all of the holiday cards. Our bulletin board was bursting this year. We really loved seeing all of your faces. We miss and love all of you! I wish we all lived closer!!
Jojo was especially happy with his power ranger samurai sword. 
The girls asked for a lot of doll things. They were especially happy with the surprise of doll beds straight from Santa's Workshop.
Lily wasn't sure what to think of her princess tent. We all had to help her warm up to playing inside.
The kids, just before going to bed on Christmas Eve with their new pillows from Aunt Shawna.
The girls performed in their Tahitian Dance Recital. I can't believe that they could learn to do that at such a young age! They did very well.
Lily's 3rd Birthday. We did a playdough party with all of her nursery friends.
Anna's 10th Birthday. Joel and I took Anna on a date and let her pick out something for her doll.
Church was actually called off and the priesthood was sent out to work on Sunday. It was a special day of service. 
People started dumping their fallen trees and debris at the local park. It was unbelievable to see the piles of rubble.
Our broken tree in our backyard.
We had a big storm in our town. Major high winds!! It was like being in a hurricane minus the rain. Almost every house in our neighborhood lost at least one tree. The power was out for the whole day. CRAZY. Joel was out of town for this. Missed the whole thing.
Jojo on Santa's lap at our ward Christmas party. Joel and Emily planned the party together. It turned out awesome!
Family members all pitched in and created lego creations to be hung on the tree.
I got to help Emily and Aunt Taffy and the family put together their tree for the Festival of Trees. We were all so proud of how it turned out. The tree was dedicated to my Aunt Taffy and Uncle Steve's son, Jacob. I though that it was a beautiful tribute and a great way to remember him.
We spent Thanksgiving with my Uncle Steve's family. We had a relaxing, wonderful time.
Lily's scary, swollen left foot and ankle.
Bad sore on the heel of her foot.
She was very cheerful in the hospital. The nurses could hear her singing from the halls.
