It All Happened In Utah

We spent the week after Christmas in Utah with my daughter and her family. As always, we had a great time. We took the Rock Star to a movie. It had been years since I had gone to a kid movie. When my own children were small, I used to get so tired of only going to see kid movies. When it came time to start taking the grand kids, I found myself excited. We saw The Chipmunks. It was adorable. The Rock Star laughed in all the right places, all the while enjoying a large amount of movie theatre popcorn.

We also took the boys out to eat a couple of times. Once to Iggy's where the Rock Star gets more food on the children's menu than any adult should eat, complete with a huge sundae for dessert. The adult portions are so big that even Little Buddy, who loves himself some french fries, was well fed. Another afternoon found us at McDonald's where the Rock Star played on the toys and Little Buddy....well, he ate french fries.

The weather was amazing this year. It only snowed for a couple of days. The temperatures were a little warmer then in years past. The Rock Star was anxiously awaiting Papa's visit so that they could build a snow cave like they did last year. He met us in the driveway and asked his Papa if he had brought the little shovel. How he can remember that from a year ago is beyond me. We were afraid that the weather wasn't going to cooperate, but finally it did. They worked on the cave for a couple of days and the end product was even better then last year. I don't know how they will top it next year.

The Rock Star all dressed and ready to help build the snow cave:



Papa, The Rock Star and Little Buddy in front of an 'under construction' snow cave:


The finished product:

My daughter called yesterday to say their weather hasn't been helping the cave. The Rock Star got in yesterday and asked his mom why the sun was shining into the cave. Hopefully, they will get some snow soon so that repairs can be made.

Another thing that we were planning on doing while we were there was to take the boys ice skating. The day that we were supposed to go, Papa and I decided to take the Rock Star sledding while his brother napped. They have a great hill for sledding right around the corner, so off we trudged.

Well, Papa and 'Dramma' trudged. The Rock Star enjoyed the hike from Papa's shoulders:

The two of them hit the hill and came down a couple of times while I took pictures:


They were having so much fun. I decided that I needed a turn too. Up to the top of the hill I trudged. I asked The Rock Star if I could sled down with him and he eagerly agreed. Hubby held the sled still while we climbed in and got all situated. Then he let us go. Here is a picture of us starting down the hill:

The Rock Star was giggling all the way down. Shortly after we started I realized that we were headed right toward a little jump that someone had made in the snow. It didn't look that big, but I couldn't control the sled enough to avoid it anyway. As we got closer, I remember thinking that it was probably going to hurt after we got airborne and landed. I braced myself. We launched. Not high, probably only a couple of feet in the air. While in the air the sled was leaning back because, of course, all of the weight was in the back. When we landed, I took the full hit on my tail bone. I had instant pain there and then it immediately shot up my back and felt like something was tied super tight all around me. I yelled for Hubby, because I really couldn't move. After sitting still for several minutes, I was able to get up and slowly walk around. Not wanting to ruin the Rock Star's afternoon, I told them to keep sledding. The pain was pretty intense, but I could move so that was a good thing, right? After a few more runs for the boys, we walked home, slowly, very slowly. I decided to skip ice skating and instead spent the evening on a heating pad, popping Tylenol and trying not to move.

Ice Skating looked like it was a ton of fun. They took pictures to show me, but for whatever reason they won't download right now.

The Rock Star was worried about my back and he called me from the ice rink to check on me. Too cute. He has such a tender heart.

The following day I was really sore. I continued to take Tylenol and used the heating pad. The day after that we drove home. 12 hours in the truck wasn't fun, but I didn't die either. After being home for a few days Hubby and I decided I should go to the doctor because it seemed like my back just wasn't getting any better. The doctor examined me and told me that he thought I had just jarred everything, but that he wanted to take an x-ray just to be sure. He showed me the x-ray and confirmed that it was just jarred. He teased me and said that I wasn't 21 anymore so these things take longer to heal. Well, he was certainly right about that. I hurt my back on Dec. 30th. Just the last few days it has started to feel slightly better. Imagine my surprise when my Dr. called on Monday to tell me that he had just received the radiologists report. It shows "partial compressions to the 11th thoracic and 3rd lumbar vertebrae, representing a compression fracture." I don't know why it took so long for the radiologist to read and send a report to my doctor, but it really wouldn't change the course of treatment. Basically, do what you feel like doing and when you get sore, stop. I do feel very vindicated though and, somehow, not so old. I was beginning to think that it was getting ridiculous that my back still hurt. Now I think I deserve a round of applause. I have an actual broken back and I have managed the pain all the way through with Tylenol. I am a studlette! (Is that even a word?)

It would take more then a little compression fracture to ruin a trip to Utah. My daughter and I spent some time shopping together and trying new recipes from 'The Pioneer Woman Cooks' cookbook. Yummy! I got to kiss and hug on my boys. There is nothing better than time spent with family. I'll be back next winter to sled some more. I'll just be careful to make sure there are no jumps in my run!