family get together

Saturday the 13th my mom and her brothers and sisters got together along with the grandkids that could come and we had our annual Perkins christmas get together. I really don't know when they started butas long as can remember I remember going to Mesa or Tucson or staying here on the mountain for a Christmas get together on my moms side and the aunts and uncles would bring potluck and we would enjoy the company of everyone. In the last few years they started doing soup and rolls every year. My aunt Cil is always designated to make the rolls and then the other 8 would bring and soup or 2 or 3 each. On Saturday there was probably 12 different kinds of soups along with grandma perkins homemade noodles made by aunt Jane and aunt Shirlene and rolls to feed an army and then some. There were so many that I got too full to try all of them, but the ones I did eat were really good. Every year uncle Cecil would bring oranges, grapefruit and lemons for those that wanted to take some. Yesterday morning we woke up to snow again there was probably 2-3 inches and its snowing again today and is in the forecast till Thursday. I'm excited for Christmas to come and be together with family and hope that all of you will have a very merry christmas

Catch up

Sorry to those who like to look at my blog that I haven't posted lately, I'm not the best at blogging but I wanted one for those times that I did have something exciting going on. It makes it harder since we don't have kids to post about. Anyways Todd and I had a wonderful thanksgiving with his family this year, we decided instead of driving back and forth to Taylor we would stay in taylor with everyone. Todd's mom wanted family pictures while we were all together which they were due for a new one since Drew joined the family. On Friday some had to go home for various reasons. That morning we went shooting with those that were still around, Later on that afternoon John, Jessica, Todd and I went to the movies. Jessica wanted to see Twilight and I didn't so John and Jessica were going to twilight and Todd and I were going to Madagasscar. When we got to the theatre there was a huge line and by the time we got inside Twilight, bolt, and Madagasscar were all sold out. We decided to go to lakeside theatre and we decided to watch bolt. Bolt is a very cute movie better than I thought it was.

Friday December 5 we went to the Taylor Christmas dinner and dance. It was fun evening and to tell you the truth thats the only time Todd and I get to dance. Then Saturday the 6th we bought tickets for us and his parents to go to Feaste of Carols. Todds parents have never gone to it so it was fun to take them this year. His dad got called up to do a trick with the jesters.

Sorry theres no pictures I need to learn how to work the camera and cords and everything I usually have Todd do it for me but I do need to learn and we just don't get into taking pictures everywhere we go.

Callings

About a month ago my mom was called to be primary president and then after church a member of the bishoprich pulled Todd aside and asked him if he would accept the calling to teach the 12 - 13 year olds Sunday School class. Then two weeks ago they called me in to meet with bishop and I got the calling to be the primary secretary. Thats pretty much what we have been up to. I'm still babysitting and that keeps me busy, Yesterday we woke up to some snow which was suprising but we will take it. I'm dressing in layers to keep warm so the arthritis doesn't bother me as much.

Also since its veterans day today I just want to express my appreciation to all those who have fought for this country and are fighting right now so that we can have the freedoms we have to enjoy

not so fun moments

On Monday I started to feel a little pain in my hip area, but didn't think much of it. Tuesday I started feeling worse and I could hardly bend over to pick the baby up off the floor, so I grabbed my rice bag that you heat up in the microwave that works like a heating pad and put heat on the area that was bothering me and that helped a little bit, That night it got worse and I couldn't even walk from the living room down the hall to my bedroom, so Todd put me in the office chair and pushed me down the hall. I went to bed feeling like I wasn't going to get very much sleep cause I was hurting all over, but amazingly enough I slept very well. I woke up wednesday morning and was able to walk a little better and called to get an appointment with the chiropracter, I was able to go in at 10:00 so my mom came and got me and the baby that I'm watching went back to her house and then I drove to my appointment. I was able to get right in got adjusted and barely walked out of there it hurt so bad. then I went back to my moms and waited for Todd to come get me for lunch and I couldn't move without being in alot of pain. Todd came and I hurt so bad he had to pick me up and carry me out to the car. I then was able to get some pain killer down me and some heat on it and it eased up a little bit but it still hurt to do anything and in the meantime trying to watch and care for a 6 month old during the day. This morning I went to a lady thats in my ward and got a massag and that helped a little bit too. I can walk better today but it still hurts even with the pain killer. That dang siatic nerve can get you every time. Plus the arthritis isn't helping things either.

Babysitting

Since I wasn't having very much luck finding a job to bring in some extra money, I decided that if I could find a baby to watch it would be a little bit coming in. About a week and a half ago I noticed that my old visiting teaching companion that moved out of the ward went back to work. I went and talked to her and to make a long story short we made arrangements and I'm watching her baby 5 days a week. Baby Johnny has been really good and hes worth watching, he will take up to 2 hour naps at a time so that allows me to be able to get things done that I need to get done while hes sleeps. With the arthritis I have I don't have as much energy as I used to although most days I do pretty good about waking up and staying awake all day and then 9:00 hits and I exhausted, so I've realized that maybe I'm really not supposed to be out in the work force, cause if I was working it would tire me out and then I wouldn't get anything else done. This way with babysitting I can be home and still get some things done during the day.

Callie Butler and family needs our prayers

Just wanted to post on a accident that happened here in Show Low on Monday. A 20 month old little girl was accidently ran over and had to be flown to phoenix childrens hospital. For info on her go to http://ourhappynest.blogspot.com/

So, it has been a while since we have put anything new here in our blog, so here goes... Labor Day weekend this year we went camping up on Aztec Peak, near Roosevelt Lake. We ended up moving our campsite three times in the first two days that we were there but we ended up being on the very top of the mountain in a beautiful area. This and the ones above are pics of the sunsets we took while up there. We had Chad, Tiffany, Kaelynn and Blake with us, Marielle and Drew, Mom and Dad. Sunday and Monday mornings we woke up in the clouds, nice and foggy. It was a blast and hope we can do it again soon.

P.S. We missed you Jess and John!!

10 Year HS Reunion

PS

I forgot to tell one thing that was going on. July 26th was my 10 year high school reunion. From 11-2 pm we went to the old high school and had lunch and talked with old friends and they let us go in the school for a tour. The school looks pretty much the same other than they took out some lockers and the intermediate kids painted on some of the walls. That night we went to El Rancho in Pinetop and had dinner and a program. For the first time in my life my name was pulled out of a bucket and I won a cougar blanket. Most everyone looked the same

events that have happened the past few weeks

Sorry its taking me a while to post again. First of all I went down to Mesa to see a Rheumatologist. The doctor was really nice and didn't want to duplicate things that were done previously since I was cash pay. She had me do some more blood work and now I found out that I do have Rheumatiod Arthritis. Also we spent 24th of July celebration with Todd's family, I was alot of fun to be together. On July 25th Todd's youngest sister got married to her sweetheart in the Snowflake Temple. That was an awesome experience more so for his parents to have all 4 of their kids with their spouses in the temple. Monday the 28th was my birthday, it was an ok birthday I've had better ones. I found out on my birthday that my job fell through so now I'm trying to stretch the pennies even more since I have some more doctors bills to pay. The night of my birthday my inlaws came up and took us out to dinner to Licanos and then we went to my moms house for cake and ice cream Then on Tuesday I opened the cuppard door and saw ants crawling in on the walls I was kindof busy that day so I ignored them. Yesterday I started clearing out the cuppard and I grabbed a box and there were a million of them in the box so I threw the box where I got it from and ants started coming out by the hundreds it seemed (exaggerating of course) so I grabbed my bathroom cleaner and started spraying cause thats all I had and it killed them on contact I was amazed but then I had a huge mess to clean up and it wasn't very fun. So thats what my last few weeks have been. Sorry no pictures still working on getting some good ones to post

Exciting News

I am so excited, I interviewed for my first job since i finished medical billing courses and got the job. That has definately relieved alot of the stress that I was dealing with. I will start Monday July 7th

Here it is, May 27th and still have snow on the mountains in Utah. Crazy...

A POOL TABLE!!!!

This is the living room of the condo we stayed at in Utah for the Whipple Family vacation. As you can see, lots of room, a nice TV, and the best part...

more news

Hi Everyone

Sorry its been awhile, I've been wanting to post some pictures of our trip and thats why I haven't posted anything yet but I decided I needed to give some updates and then Todd can put some pictures on later. We left on our trip to Utah May 23rd and got up there around 6 or 7 their time. We went straight to the town house that we rented. There was 27 of us and the town house was a 4 bedroom 3.5 bath and it was 5 levels a bedroom on 4 of the levels and the kitchen, laundry rm and the 1/2 bath on the other level. The house also had a pool table and a spa and thanks to my fun sister and her husband we had the wii to play also. That night we just got ourselves situated and hung out at the house and made dinner there.

Saturday
Those of us that wanted to got up and went to the Salt Lake Temple to do a session. I didn't wear the boot that I was wearing and I wasn't thinking of having to park blocks away from the temple, I started walking and the more I walked the more my foot hurt and the more it swelled but I kept walking cause there was nothing else I could do. Anyways the session was a live session and that is one experience I will never forget it was so awesome and the temple was really pretty inside. After the session we let Todd go over to the conference center and walk around since he hadn't seen it yet, then we went and ate lunch. When we got back from that, for my nephews birthday we went goofy golfing and then out to dinner.

Sunday
We went to church and then came home and relaxed we had a good dinner and Kevin opened his birthday presents. My sister gave massages all afternoon too.

Monday
We had tickets to go to the Lagoon, when we woke up it was raining, on our way over to the lagoon it seemed that the closer we got to the lagoon the harder it was raining but we went anyways. After all of us entered the park my parents decided to buy some rain ponchos for us so that helped alot . The rides were alot of fun except the mouse ride that jerked us around and my body hurt the rest of the day from it There was one ride that todd and I rode alot and that was the ski lift ride that went from one side of the park to the other. I was thankful for that so I didn't have to walk back and forth as much and that saved my foot from hurting to bad. We had alot of fun there and didn't want to leave. After that we went out to eat at sizzler and then we went back to the where we were staying.

Tuesday
we got up and left to come home. On the way home we stopped in provo and got some yummy Krispy Kremes and then we stopped in beaver to get some squeaky cheese.


Now as for me and my foot its still about the same. I've been wearing a ankle brace everyday and that helps alot. I can't stand to go barefooted cause my feet hurt some bad but when I have my shoes and that brace on I feel like I can walk mostly normal and that is when my knee doesn't hurt. I'm kind of stubborn and I only take meds when I can't stand the pain anymore so I deal with most of the pain. I have an appointment to see a Rhuematologist July 14th so I will see what they say. Other than that Todd and I are plugging along day by day the best we can. The most important thing is we are happy to be with each other

Update

3 weeks has passed and I finally was able to get my cast off, Yah anyways but I still have to use the crutches for 3 more weeks and gradually put pressure on my foot since it is really weak. I was hoping that I could loose the crutches and actually be able to carry things and get stuff done around the house wrong thats not the case, its definately going to take a while to heal I'm a afraid. Other than my foot Todd and I are doing great. We are leaving May 23 with my family to go to Utah for a few days and hang out, we will be going to the Lagoon and hopefully I can get some enjoyment out of it since i have to lug around these crutches. One of the days we will probably hang around temple square and do some other things. Sorry theres not much pics to look at we are working at getting some others posted sometime

opinion

In the last few weeks I've had the opportunity to learn of some products that in my opinion should be really good for the body. I've gotten a little frustrated because these things are in the typical multi level marketing. I feel that people would be so much better off if the healthy foods was cheap and the bad stuff was expensive, but unfortunately its the other way around and since its that way. I'm having to stretch our household dollar even more so that i can eat the right way and hopefully maintain this arthritis and not let it get worse. Since i don't have insurance i'm trying to find ways to help my situation and I feel like I have but as i said at the beginning its hard to get when you don't have a extra $200 or more a month to pay for it. I realize that people are trying to help others along with making money but I agree with Neil in which if its that good of a product put in stores and let everyone buy it to be healthier. Sorry for the ramble but I just had to get it out

More Info

So I probably sound like I'm complaining too much. Dr Shumway was worried about arthritis so I had some blood drawn and he called with the results today. For rheumatoid arthritis if your result is 20 or below you don't have to worry but if your result is 60-80 you have a full case of it and I'm at 53 so thats not good but its not bad either. So now I have some research to do to find ways to control it so it doesn't get any higher. As for my foot I will still have to wear the cast for the 3 weeks and Dr Shumway wants me to see my primary care physician to get a 2nd opinion on why my foot is swelling, painful, and muscle weakness and to see if he thinks I need to see a neurologist

Just to let you know on some other stuff thats going on. Todd is playing his french horn in the orchestra for the Show Low High School play thats happening this weekend and next weekend. So I've had alot of long days by myself so I've gone to my moms alot until he was finished with practice. Anyways I'm glad he took the opportunity to play his horn for a good experience but I will be so glad when the play is over so we can get our schedule back to somewhat normal.

More Drs News

Well I went to the Dr yesterday and found out that theres no brakes or fractures but he did find a bone in my arch area that was out of place so now I need to go to a chiropractor and have him adjust my foot and put the bone back in place and then i have to back to the dr and have him put a hard cast on it for 3 weeks since i can't walk on it for 3 weeks

More Good News and Bad News

So for the good news I got up this morning and called the lady in Eagar and she told me I would qualify for that type of insurance but the bad news is now I have to be on a waiting list til who knows when before I can get on it.

Bad News and Good News

So as Todd mentioned that I am having trouble with my foot and can't afford insurance to have tests run to see why my foot keeps swelling, I decided to apply for AHCCCS one more time, well they automatically denied me because of excess income but we are barely affording all the bills we have and on the letter they sent me it said I had 30 days to let them know if I didn't agree with the decision, so I gathered up all the bills and info they would need and Todd and I went to DES this afternoon and they had us waite to talk to someone which was suprising i thought i would have to have an appointment first, The lady called us back and unfortunately because of our lousy federal government there was nothing she could do cause the federal government is making them go by 1978 Gross income to be eligible, That was 30 years ago so thats the bad news. The good news is hopefully I will be able to be eligible for the Arizona Tobacco Tax Primary Care Program cause they go by higher gross earnings the bad part about that is and I'm willing to do it is I have to go to Eagar to apply and they limit you to doctors cause not all of them are in network with it. I told myself after getting very emotional infront of the ahcccs lady that I will go to whatever doctor it takes to get my feet better so i can get on with my life and hopefully be able get a job sometime this summer/fall

My family the camera fanatics. :) I have to admit sometime a appreciate it and other times....well, we'll just leave it at that, lol.

As you all know Jaida has been having issues with her feet. We have gone to the doctors several times and they give us a run around of what's really going on because they don't really know themselves. Anyways, this last Sunday we picked up some crutches of Natalia's and Jaida says it has helped alot with the pain in her foot. Guess we'll just have to wait and see what the overall difference is when we go back to the doctors next week...

Hi everybody!!!

Hey all, we finally decided to join in the blogging fun!! This might take a while to get the hang of so...be patient.