Uncle Brett, the Rodeo, and BONES!!

A fourth-generation cattleman, Bret Reeder has had a Wild West mustache ever since he grew enough whiskers to create one. Careful grooming, done daily, turns stray stands into a curiosity that the grandkids love to grab. “If you sleep on it, it’s kind of a bad hair day,” Reeder says. “I re-wax it every morning.” In addition to running cattle on the family spread in Utah, he shoes horses, works as a pickup man at rodeos, and maintains the county’s cattle guards on rural roads. Making ends meet “takes quite a few jobs,” he says.

My uncle Brett is a cowboy model. That was a description under his picture in the national geographic. It is a great picture but I couldn't get it to copy onto my blog. There is a link but it takes you to all the pictures. Shoot. Well...

I went to the 24th of July Rodeo with my family. My uncle Brett was a pick-up man. It was SO FUN to watch him. I love rodeo's and I love riding horses. It was so nice to get out and be there. My parents created a spot for me to lay down with my foot up in the van during travel and my aunt got us seats where I would be able to have my foot elevated. lol. What a great family I have right!? My foot was hurting the majortiy of the time but the rodeo was a BLAST!!!! Here's a story from the evening...

Near the beginning there was a guy walking up the stairs and I was watching him thinking, "That guy looks like he could be on TV." So I said to Alli, "Alli! Look at that guy! He looks like he could be on TV huh!?" He was just that good looking. We were both just watching him walk up the stairs and when he got to our special seats he looked at us and totally caught us staring. Haha. Oh well. He went back down the stairs later and I pointed him out again, "Alli, watch him again. Just look at him. He kinda looks like Nick Lachey right!?" So we watched him again. A little while later (I think he has ADD) he got up again. This time part way up the stairs a girl stopped him and got her picture with him. I was like, "Alli! I think he really is on TV!! ASK HIM!!!!" We debated as he walked past us of who would as him if he was on TV. I won and she asked. (I looked hideous taking a break from bed rest. Yuck! He did not want to talk to me!) Anyways, he came back and he sat down right by us. Yea-ah! The seat right next to mine. Whoop, whoop. I elbowed Alli and she said, "Excuse me. You look really familiar." He said, "Ya..." and they just sat there nodding to each other. So I said, "Ask him if he is on TV." So she said, "Are you on TV!?" He was like, "Ya..." Then they again just nodded at each other. I said, "Ask him what show." So she said, "What show are you on!?" He said, "Bones." We said, "Oh." and then everyone nodded at each other. I had no idea what Bones was since I haven't watched TV in who knows how long. He moved because some people had to get past to get to their seats and he stood behind me so I chatted with him a little more and then Alli & I got our pictures with him.

He was way nice. We came home and looked up Bones and him online and he is much cuter in real life. There was this old lady sittin in front of us getting ready to retire with her husband and after he walked off and was going down the stairs after talking to us she turned around and said, "He has a nice body!" I was like, "Um-yep!"

I just thought it was funny that as soon as I saw him I was like, "That guy could be on TV." And then he really was. What are the chances?! In good ol' SL!

Meet David Boreanaz -----------------------------------------

We were posing with the broken foot. He was actually getting into the making faces things. I was going, "Uh-oh." And he was going, "Oooiiii." LOL. It was a great topic of conversation.

"That was a great break..."

Well I am sure everyone is tired of hearing about the broken leg. I know I am. I went to the doctor today to have my two-week post-op and figured they'd tell me I could start walking a little. (Other people who got a plate & screw put in said they had two weeks of bed rest and then they were putting 25% weight on their leg for a week then 50%, then 75%, then by the end of the 6 weeks they were 100% walking again.) Well they took some x-rays and then the doctor showed me what was happening and then he said, "You have 4 weeks of no walking." I kinda knew he meant 4 more weeks but I said enthusiastically, "Okay, 2 down 2 to go." He said, "Uh-no. 4 more weeks... 6 total. Then we will talk about putting a little pressure on it." He drew me a picture on the paper I was sitting on and showed me exactly what happened and exactly why the break messed everything up. He said, "That was a great break. Yep, you broke it real nice."

So I still can't walk and I am pretty much on bedrest except now I can sit with my foot up. Not just lay. Awe yeah! I am feeling good!

2 weeks broken... New Pics!

I just got some new pictures from the Doctor's office in Uganda from Lorna. I thought they showed my foot a little better so I thought I'd post them.

This is how they cut casts off in Uganda. No nice little clean saw. It jerked alot and I think was harder for the doctor than what we use here in the U.S.
Above: If you look at the leg/foot on the right you can see the pink on the side from where it is swollen and bruised. It actually swelled from the mid-calf point down to my toes. I just thought it was interesting that you can see the color change in this picture!

Above: After two weeks the bruising on the ankle/calf had calmed down a little bit but the bruising on the foot/heel was still pretty purple. (Obvisouly.) And I thought it had improved since I first fell into the hole and pulled it out broken and swollen.

Surgery & Bed Rest

This is me right after surgery. I look good right!?

Well all I can do is lay on my back with my foot elevated. FOR TWO WEEKS!!!! After that I still can't walk for 4. That on top of the time I spend in Africa not walking will add up to a total of 10 weeks! Oooiii! Honesly, this is the hardest thing I have ever done. I just want to get up and go. Somewhere. I have watched multiple movies, slept a TON, and tried to do just what the doctor ordered. After a month of not walking in Africa I came home and went to the American doctor. He wanted to do surgery the next day. I guess there were more problems than they caught in Uganda. We went for a second opinion and that doctor was just as adament. As soon as he saw the X-Rays he said, "You need surgery and you need it like now." Ugh! So I guess that the fibula is still just as broken but now there are added problems that the doctors in Uganda didn't catch and the ankle is all messed up too. So now the surgery is over I have metal permanently inserted into my body. I want to do just what the doctor says so that I can be up and moving AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

***Also I have to say THANK YOU to all my friends who have stopped by to keep me company while I have been healing! You're all so wonderful and I have appreciated it SO MUCH!!! It's nice to get a break and to enjoy seeing people and having a conversation! THANK YOU!!!!

Honey... I'm Home!!!

LOL. Well my family was excited for me to come home. Apparently there was no honey waiting for me at the airport. Maybe next time. We will see if the mail order comes through. ;^)


To my joy I got to hold Annika when I got home. After telling Alisha all the shots and pills I had to get to go to Africa she said that I was not holding Annika until I had been home for months and been checked out by the doctor's. BUT on our way home from the airport we stopped by Alisha's and I got to hold Annika! YAY! (I guess she got the "OK" from Annika's doctor... thank you!) The next day she came to the house and I got to play with her! I put one of my head wrap's on her and oh she looked so cute. In the pictures she nearly had pulled it off but it still looks so cute right!? Me & her always have so much fun together. I don't even question why I am her favorite aunt! ha ha. I had to leave her to go to the doctor and the big news is that he wanted to do surgery... tomorrow. Ugh. I think we are going to get a second opinion! I guess that there are more problems with my leg/foot than they saw in Uganda so this is just the beginning!

Giraffe Kisses

Last year I went on a work trip to Florida where I went on a safari and got to kiss a giraffe. Really I fed the giraffe out of my mouth. We kept missing the picture so when we saw giraffe's in Kenya, I decided I needed to video-tape the occasion so not to miss it again. This time was much cleaner. I didn't get any giraffe drool in my mouth! (SCORE!) I only kissed it twice whereas in Florida I had to kiss it like 20 times. Ugh. I am done with giraffe's now and don't think that I will be kissing another one anytime soon. Okay, okay. I guess until another opportunity comes along!

Some lady walked in front of the first video. So I had to do it again...

Awe... the little ones!

Ever since I was young I always wanted to adopt kids from Africa. So imagine me being in my dream country with all of these BEAUTIFUL kids. It was hard not to bring them home with me. Really there were probably 10 I would have in an instant. But if one would have been offered to me. I would have accepted no questions in a heartbeat. What kept me not was my dad reminded me before I left that I couldn't he said I didn't have papers. So I had to keep reminding myself of that! Ugh! Above: SO CUTE!!! I was tickling their arms with my nails and all the sudden all the kids that were sitting around me stuck their arms on my laps. The cutest is after this I would be sitting with them and all the sudden one of them was tickling my arm. This continued for the rest of the trip. I loved it!
Above: Me and cute Joseph after reading multiple books. I think he was willing to skip lunch to read with me in the staff room. Two privledges they don't often get.

Above: Sitting and singing and talking... ALL AFTERNOON!

Above: Just hanging out under the shade trees. Being together.

Above: Isn't this the best picture ever!? It's after they signed my cast. They stood back for a picture and I just think it is one of my favorite. Oh! So many of my favorites!


Above: LOL. He was always doing what we were doing so here I winked at him and this is his wink back! SO CUTE huh!?
Above: They were sitting with me under the tree as I elevated my leg. Can you tell me - which are boys & which are girls?

Above: See my foot?! I told them all to back up so I could get a picture of them! These were my friends who liked to just be around me!
Above: OH! ANDREW!!!!! I would bring him home with a snap of my fingers if I could. He is the one that my second day back at the orphanage I had my cast and he had fallen on a rock and split his cheek/eye so I fixed him up. After that we were nearly inseperable. He loved to read and by golly, I loved to read to him. Perfect pair. I loved that he was in his coat in the middle of summer. He is so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so CUTE!

Above: More of the precious kids at the school whom I love SO MUCH!

African Dancing

How many times do you see a white person in the middle of 30 blacks dancin with crutches!? Hahaha. Well friday night after getting my new cast that's just what I did. (NOT what the doctor ordered!) I had talked about my love of dancing with some of our African friends and they all wanted me to go to a club. Luckily the hotel we were staying at was having a party anyways so I crashed it and went a dancin. I talked two other white people into going with me (thank you Lorna and Roger) and imagine - even with my crutches, people still wanted to dance with me! I even got proposed to! Haha