Some of you have asked to see pictures of Andrea's knee. Well, I don't have a good one of her knee when it was HUGE!!!, but here is one I took today (19 days after the accident) in which you can see the knee is still swollen--about twice normal size. Her surgery is tomorrow. Keep her in your prayers!

Surgery Required

The verdict is in from the doctors and surgery is definitely required to fix Andrea's knee. They have to reconstruct part of the knee as well as fix the Anterior Ligament (ACL). Andrea is not happy about it because surgery is scheduled her last week of school. She says the last week of school is all fun stuff. Oh well, I told her to get mad at the doppleganger that pushed her off the long-board and not me.

The docs all said that the first two weeks post-op are going to be the worst. Then she'll be on crutches for 4-6 weeks, be wearing a special brace for 4 months, and in physical therapy for 6 months. What a crappy way to start the summer break. She won't be able to go on the Martin's Cove Trek with the youth from the stake and she won't be able to go in the raft during our annual white water river rafting trip. (Hey Rainey, you said you thought it would be fun... well, we got a place for you now if you want to join us!)

Hope all of you are doing better than Andrea! Our love to all.

Andrea was in the play The King and I back in January and the black hair rinse never came out of her hair. She spent four and one-half hours at the hair salon last month. Here's the end result.

Dangerous Sport -- Long Boarding!!!

Well, now it's official. Each of my children has been to the emergency room. Andrea was the last hold out at 14 years 10 months. However, last Thursday she decided to join the ranks of the medically challenged by turfing off the long-board. Her knee was swollen about 4 times normal size and she had to wait five days for the swelling to go down enough for an MRI. The end result...

Andrea has torn the ACL, MCL, and damaged the meniscus in her left knee. We are still waiting to hear whether or not surgery will be needed. If so, then she will be the first child needing any type of surgery.

How to Cook a Husband

The following is from the Yankee Kitchen Cookbook, circa 1800, author unknown.

How to Cook a Husband

A good many husbands are utterly spoiled by mismanagement in cooking and are so not tender and good. Some women keep them constantly in hot water; others let them freeze by their carelessness and indifference. Some keep them in a stew with irritating ways and words. Some wives keep them pickled, while others waste them shamefully. It cannot be supposed that any husband will be tender and good when so managed, but they are really delicious when prepared properly.

In selecting a husband, you should be guided by the silvery appearance as in buying a mackerel; not by the golden tint as if you wanted salmon. Do not go to the market for him as the best ones are always brought to the door. Be sure to select him yourself as tastes differ. It is far better to have none unless you will patiently learn how to cook him.

Of course, a preserving kettle of the finest porcelain is best, but if you have nothing better than an earthenware pippin, it will do--with care. Like crabs and lobsters, husbands are cooked alive. They sometimes fly out of the kettle and become burned and crusty on the edges, so it is wise to secure him in the kettle with a strong silken cord called Comfort, as the one called Duty is apt to be weak. Make a clear, steady flame of love, warmth and cheerfulness. Set him as near this as seems to agree with him.

If he sputters, do not be anxious, for some husbands do this until they are quite done. Add a little sugar in the form of what confectioners call kisses, but use no pepper or vinegar on any account. Season to taste with spices, good humor and gaiety preferred, but seasoning must always be used with great discretion and caution. Avoid sharpness in testing him for tenderness. Stir him gently, lest he lie to flat and close to the kettle and so become useless. You cannot fail to know when he is done. If so treated, you will find him very digestible, agreeing with you perfectly; and he will keep as long as you choose, unless you become careless and allow the home fires to grow cold. Thus prepared, he will serve a lifetime of happiness!

I hope this is what you were asking for Aunt Beverly:)

For all of you who could not be at the sealing or reception, it was beautiful! I know some of us were questioning "why San Diego Temple?" but after the day was over I could see why! It was so amazing from the weather down to the words in the sealing. I find it hard to believe there is only one more Sellers not married, no offense Tracey your still a baby. Congratulations David, Jennifer is a cutie, and Jennifer.....I hope he doesn't play with Lego's anymore;)
As for their reception, it was a blast. Their was never a dull moment. They looked so happy. It has been too long since Curtis and I were married, I almost don't even remember being without him. Good luck you two, you have a lot of people who love you!

David and Jennifer's wedding

Andrea and Sam

It's hard to believe there is a 6 year age difference between these two cuties!

High School Graduation

I know it may sound a bit silly to some of you, but Meghann just received her high school diploma even though she is in her 4th year at college.

It just goes to show that you don't need a high school diploma to get into college or university.

She has been one "American Literature test" away from graduating for over three years. Silly isn't it? Oh well, the games people (and institutions) play!

Nonetheless, we are very proud of her for all the work she has done, especially now, this being her first year of nursing school.

Keep up the good work Megs!!!!!

Up date on the Batemans

Hi everybody,

It is 4am, I am at work in the Emergency Room at the hospital, and it is slow... really slow. I thought I would update everyone on whats going on in our lives. Well to say the least it is busy, well at least for me!! I transfered to full time, weekend, graveyard shifts in the emergency room. The ICU wasn't able to give me full time hours any more and that was hurting us. It has been nice to have the change and have more responsiblity with patient care. Richard doesn't like the fact that I am in the ER now. He thinks I am replacing him, which I'm not but it is understand able.

Richard is still not working because of his health. His health keeps going down hill and the doctor doesn't know what to do anymore. It will be a year Feb 20. He and dad met with lawyers and the workmen comp people about Richards injury and it is looking good for us that way. But our goal is still to get Richard better. His right lung is not able to produce oxygen to his body which makes him short of breath. The other day he was chasing/playing with the cats, got out of breath and passed out on his way to the bathroom. He hit his head on the corner and had to get stiches. Man I will tell.. if i know this boy was going to have bad medical problems I would have rethought some things. LOL a week before that he slipped on the ice, landed on his arm and had to go to the ER to get x-rays. Luckily he did not break it just hurt it bad.

I am in nursing school which is a challenge!!! I have never felt so overwhelmed with school before. I am only taking two nursing classes with one lab/clinicle. But the hard thing is I have tests every thursday moring. And I'm not the smartest because I signed up for an extra math class, twice a week. So I have my hands full with that!!!!

We had one of Richards friends Ryan living with us, so he could get on his feet again after some money issues. He ended up screwing us over, money wise. His 18 month daughter was living there too, and she was the cutest thing. But he ended up kicking our cockatoo bird across the room and killing him. His daughter pulled twilight's tail so he nipped her to get free. Ryan and i went into the bathroom to put some medicine on her foot, but ryan went back into the room with the bird and richard and kicked him out of richards hands, acroos the room into the wall and killed him. We called the police and had him arrested for animal curlty, and the county is going to prosecute. It is sad because we lost a part of our family.

Thats all the info on us. We are just trying to make it in the big bad world! Love you all

Meghann & Richard

It's a girl!

So we are having another girl. Curtis is mostly excited. Don't get me wrong I am too but Curtis wants all girls. Anyway we are thinking of naming her Sydney Kriss Rockwood. Let me know if you guys think that flows at all. I can use a few suggestions for middle names cause we aren't sure. I miss you guys and I hope something comes up so we can see each other again. Love ya!

Hello! I Love you! Happy New Year!

It seems forever since I have spoken to any of you. I hope all of you had a great Christmas and a very Happy New Year. I am so excited about this year's Sunday School topic of study (BOM) and Relief Society topic (J.S.). Our teacher showed a power point presentation with pictures of New York and various church sites and I got homesick. Yes, I still do not like living in Utah, but I've learned to be more tolerant (maybe that's why I've been stuck here all these years!).

Family Update: Meghann has decided to stay in Nursing school. This was a big decision for her because of the stress she has been under because of Richard's situation. She just got a transfer to the emergency room and Richard took her job in the ICU. Kind of ironic when you think about it--they switched jobs. Richard is still in pretty bad shape but at least he has good doctors working on his side now which has helped a lot. The new doctors have actually "found" certain problems that the other doctors didn't. Also, good news! Apparently the company that made the defibrillator that shocked Richard has a class action suit against it and Richard has been added to the suit. If they see any money at all from this accident, it will be from this law suit, so pray for a quick and financially beneficial outcome!
Samantha is back at school now that the holidays are over. She has decided to do a double major of German and International Studies. For both of these degrees she needs to do international internships and study abroad, so next year she will be leaving us for Germany again.
Dylan has become a pizza-making wizard. He works for Papa John's pizza and is the manager's favorite pizza-maker and store-closer. He enjoys his job. He is back at homeschool for this semester and is working on getting the required high school credits out of the way so he can take the college classes that are offered at high school. Both Meghann and Samantha did this and it was very beneficial.
Andrea is working very hard at playing! Currently she is in the community theater's full-scale production of The King and I. She is very excited about this.

We wish all of you a great 2008!!!

Expecting again!

I don't know if all of you have heard but, we are expecting a new baby in about June! I just wantd you all to know! love ya!

problems with wiring not IPS

I've been without internet for over a month now. Yuck! It is amazing how attached one can get to the internet and its vast resources. For example, I haven't been able to find new recipes, so the family is stuck eating the "same ol', same ol'."

When the house telephone wiring gets fixed, I'll have internet access again and will put some recipies on the blog. Until that time I have to use the library computers and only have limited access at that.

My love to all!

Rockwood October adventures!

Royal Family Update!

You would think that I now have all the time in the world to do whatever I want since I am home alone all day and no longer homeschooling. Wow, 20 years of homeschooling!!! Well, think again, I am so busy doing all the things I have neglected over the years, such as organizing the food storage room, cleaning out closets, learning to cook, and reading the myriad books in my expansive library.

I found that I like to cook! I am having a blast learning how to use my food storage. I've known for years I am allergic to MSG and corn products, but have recently added food preservatives, chemicals and additives to the list of "no-no-foods" which basically means everything I eat I have to make from scratch. I now make my own pasta, yogurt, bread, tomato sauces and pastes, soups, etc...

I will be teaching a "whole foods" class each month for a Relief Society sister's activity group. As I was talking to a woman about this, she started to brag about how she already makes everything from scratch, so I asked her if she made her own spaghetti sauce. Of course, she answered yes. So I asked her how she made it. She proceeded to tell me how she adds one can of this to one can of that, mixes them together, adds seasonings and "ta-da"--spaghetti sauce. People--this is not making sauce from scratch!!!!! This is making sauce from other canned goods! I didn't bother to explain this to her because she wouldn't have understood anyway! I'm hoping she will attend the class and learn humility as she learns to cook.

Andrea and Dylan are both in high school --Andrea is a freshman and Dylan is a Junior--and doing well. My heart goes out to them because they have early morning seminary instead of during school hours this year. This is their choice--there were just too many classes they wanted to take during the day to take time out for seminary.

Samantha is taking 16 credits this semester at Utah State University. She is regretting taking such a heavy load her first semester at school, but she is doing better than she gives herself credit for. She is also working part time at the Logo shop (the place where Rabecca worked). She likes working there.

Meghann and Richard still have their problems fighting with insurance and workman's comp people. However, one good thing recently happened. The mean lady who was his workman's comp case worker was fired(!) and the new caseworker is very nice and, so far, very helpful. I'm sure Meggie will add to the blog an update of their situation when she gets a chance. She is working full-time, going to school, taking care of home and husband. In other words, she has a lot on her plate right now!

I hope everyone is well! Our love to all. HEY, DON'T BE STRANGERS! Let me know what's going on in your life.

An up date on Richard

Since the wedding Richard has had many doctor appointments to try and find out what is wrong with him. He is still suffering from the work accident back in Feb. So far non of the doctors have been able to help him they just keep telling him they will need to do more test to rule out more things. Richard has had two injections in his back hoping it would help but it has made things worse off than when they started and now they are saying this might be something he has to live with the rest of his life and they want him to go back to work. We are having a hard time trying to get through to the Workman's comp. nurse that is over his case she just seems to think that he should tuff through it. Two doctors have said that they are going to present Richards case to a panel of doctors and see if they can't work something out. But that isn't for four weeks.

Everything is okay other than that we are just moving along best we can. Love you all

Meghann

Now You See Them... Now You Don't!

Annual Family River Rafting Trip, July 13-16, 2007

Call For Pictures!

Would you please send me any pictures you took at Meg's wedding, reception, and Open House... I would like to put together a wedding picture file for Meghann and Richard and your help would be appreciated! You can either snail mail a CD or email jpegs -- I'd prefer the CD if you can because my computer is still not working correctly.

This month we took our annual Snake River River Rafting trip. Brad, Rabecca, and Elliot joined us this year. It was fun! We are already making plans for next year's trip.

Jeff and I celebrated our 25th anniversary yesterday. I like living in Utah because each year on our anniversary (July 24) the state celebrates with fireworks (Utah Pioneer Day celebration)!- heehee