Specialist Appointment

Lennard had a specialist appointment in Calgary this afternoon about his wrist, so we arranged for my parents to watch the kids (after school) so I could go with him.  We left as soon as the kids went to school and had enough time to wander around a few stores and then go out to lunch together at the Olive Garden.  It was such a delicious lunch and was a highlight of the day.

We got to the hospital in good time and managed to find the Hand Clinic (we were glad for the touch screen directory that gave us directions!).  As we met with Dr. White, he looked at the x-rays and said that he thought that maybe there had been some healing, but just to be sure he sent Lennard for a CT scan.  He was an 'add-on' so it took them almost an hour to get him in, but thankfully it got done and we were able to catch Dr. White again before he left for the day.  

As he looked at the scans, he said that unfortunately it doesn't look like it's healed at all (or very minimal).  He also said that for scaphoid fractures it can take up to 12 weeks to heal and that he'd really like to see if it would heal on it's own first.  Lennard really considered pushing for surgery (and I think he would have more if I wasn't there), but in the end he decided to wait.  Dr. White says that for scaphoid fractures there is about a 50% heal rate at 12 weeks.  Not great odds, but if it will heal on it's own without Lennard having to go through surgery... it may be worth waiting another 4 weeks.

He has another appointment on Jan 9th, will have another CT scan, and then, if it hasn't healed, will be scheduled for surgery on the 10th or the week after that depending on the doctor's schedule.

Dr. White also wanted Lennard's wrist to be re-casted to keep it immobile. 

 Lennard was not happy about that...although, he put on a good smile for the picture!

Happy Birthday

It's Lennard's 40th birthday today!  Since I gave him his birthday gift last week, we had a fairly low key day.  Lennard took the day off work and as soon as the kids were off to school, we headed in to Lethbridge.  We went to Cora's and had the most delicious breakfast!  (Lennard took his splint off so that he could eat, but put it back on as soon as we were in the van... I guess it was his birthday present to himself.)

The rest of the day we just enjoyed spending time together.  We wandered through some stores, got a few errands done and had a great day.  We got home in time for Emma to get home from school and to pick Ben up from Shannon's.  Emma had to get ready for dance quickly and then while she was gone, we started putting up moulding in the front entry!  After a few "speed bumps", we got the window and door done and now can start laying out the plan for the rest of the wainscotting.

We had dinner and then pulled out a 'Too Tall Cake' from M&M Meatshop for Lennard's birthday cake.  We attempted to do four sparklers, but by the time two were lit, they were out before I could get the other two lit!  lol.  We sang anyways and he pretended to blow out the candles.  Happy Birthday, sweetheart.  Love you more each and every day.

Festival of Lights

We attended the 3rd Annual Festival of Lights that was held tonight at the Remington Carriage Center.  There were SO many people!  Thankfully, although there was a cool wind, it wasn't too bad to stand outside until Santa arrived and the lights turned on.  They had fireworks again this year and the kids loved that.  There was quite a bottleneck to get into the building and a long lineup to see Santa, but we finally managed to get up to the front of the line!  

 It was a little frustrating that all the different booths cost money this year.  We didn't bring any money with us, so the kids were disappointed that they didn't get to do all the 'extras'.

The lights were beautiful to see.  We ended up heading home fairly close to the kids bedtime as they were getting quite cranky.  It's hard when they feel like they're missing out.

Progress

The kids had a birthday party to go to this morning, so Lennard dropped them off on his way out to the airport. Once I picked them up, we headed out to the airport to help Lennard.  My parents had riveted the firewall for him! I got to start helping then and we got a good portion of the skin riveted onto the tail cone before I had to leave to attend another baptism (for Lorelle).  

 My parents helped out while I was gone and the entire bottom is pretty well done now.  We've started on the side skins, but they are a lot more 'interesting' to do.

 Grandpa let Ben 'build' a rib.  He was pretty excited!  I love seeing my kids learn and be excited to try new things.

Haidong Tournament

Ben participated in his first Haidong tournament tonight and he got a silver medal for his form and a bronze medal in his group form.  He was so proud of himself and we are thrilled at how well he did.

Fun Times

With it being Remembrance Day today, Lennard got the day off work and was excited to go work on the airplane again.  They are making some serious progress!

Can you see Lennard?!

 

Skins are getting attached to the tail cone.

After getting called out to work (right when the Remembrance Day program was going on), he managed to keep going on the plane and get all the skins clecoed onto the tail cone.  It's ready to rivet now!

Emma and I went to Joey Olsen's baptism this afternoon and then this evening we were invited to Toone's to play cards.  We had so much food and treats to eat and had a blast playing Wizard together that it ended up being after 10:00pm before we headed home with the kids!  Super late for them, but they had lots of fun playing too.  We'll probably regret it tomorrow when we have super over-tired kids to deal with, but at this point it was well worth it.  It was just what we needed tonight.

He Did It!

After practicing lot this week, Ben was able to go to his martial arts class tonight and test for his yellow belt... and he did it!  We are so proud of him for all his hard work and keeping going when he didn't think he could do it.

(F)amily (H)angar (E)vening

Since Lennard broke his wrist, he hasn't been able to work on our plane at all.  He's been quite frustrated about that (and life in general), so when my parents offered to come help on the airplane we jumped at the offer!

I made a huge pot of chili in the Instant Pot and brought it out to the hangar for dinner and we spent the evening together there.  Lennard was so happy to see progress being made on the plane!

Just before 7:00, I took the kids home so that they could go to bed.  Lennard and my parents kept working for a couple more hours. It's so great to see a smile on his face again!

Another Cast

We've been having a bit of a 'rough' week.  Lennard had a 'budget' meeting at work on Wednesday and things didn't go so well.  The Town is (once again) trying to make up its mind about the Electrical Department.  Lennard has been super stressed about that and a few other things that will remain private for now.  It's been hard!  

Today, he managed to get a walk-in appointment with our family doctor so that he could get another x-ray done.  Unfortunately, when the x-ray was done, there was still a very clear break... so another cast was ordered for another two weeks.  He is also being referred to Plastics to see if they recommend surgery. (Totally topped off the week with this news...)

We headed in to Lethbridge after the kids got home from school and went to the cast clinic at the hospital.  The kids were pretty excited (and a little nervous) to see how the cast came off.

 Ben was pretty determined that Lennard needed to have an orange cast.  Lennard had already said he'd just do a blue one again, but when Ben started crying, the tech told Lennard that he could do half and half... so Lennard gave in.

Ben was overjoyed!  Lennard thinks it looks ridiculous, but I told him that all he needed to do if anyone asked about it was to say that he'd done it for his son and he'd be a hero!

When we got home, I took the kids (and a Costco pizza) out to my parents so that they could have dinner and a sleepover while Lennard and I attended the Rotary Dine & Dance tonight.  It was a delicious roast beef dinner and the music was great (although a bit loud!).  It was nice to have an evening out together (even if I did end up visiting with one of my friends most of the night... sorry, Lennard!).