Been gone too long...

Kacie & Mrs Nix - 2010

Kylie & Mrs. Nix in 2006

Kacie & Raider

Kacie & Kenzie riding horses

First day of school

Blogger.... I've been gone too long.... There's no way I can catch things completely since it's been almost a year, but I'll try to hit the hightlights.

Total Knee Replacement

In February, Kyle had total knee replacement surgery. Kyle had a pretty bad knee injury his senior year in high school and had surgery the following spring. That was way before the did the laparoscopic knee surgeries, so they cut his knee open and removed the damaged parts. Now, almost 30 years later, he is bone on bone. After years of injections that now no longer work, a TKR was the only option. He was tired of the pain and tired of not being to keep up with his little girls as he wanted to.

TKR is a rough surgery. Very rough. Also, we found out post-op that he is allergic to morphine. Not a good thing when you're hooked to morphine pump, you are hurting and pushing the button every nine minutes. It took the nurses a bit to figure out what was going on. He first felt like he had fire ants crawling on him an biting him all over and his back was itching like crazy... then he started getting sick. I felt so helpless! They had to wait a period of time for the drug to get out of his body before they could try something else so he was in a lot of pain. After four days, he was finally released from the hospital and we got to come home! The next six weeks were tough - home health and a physical therapist came out every day for a couple of weeks, then he moved to outpatient rehab.

Kyle had convinced himself that because of his young age, he'd recover faster. He learned that actually health and age work against you in some areas with TKR. First, he has very muscular legs and since they cut your quad, he had more to heal. Secondly, when you are young, more of your nerves still function properly, so you feel more. And that makes hurt more.

I'm thankful to God for all he provides... I'm thankful that is behind us. I'm thankful he feels better. I'm thankful our business survived the financial losses of him being off work so long. I'm thankful for Megan (our awesome employee) who held down the fort during his absence.

New Office Building

Just as Kyle is getting his step back we began building a new office building for our business. After years of leasing, it was finally time to build our own place. Construction got underway in May and was complete in August... the only problem with that was that our lease was up at the end of June, so we had to move our office home... it was insane! The garage became our supply room, copy room, file room - my home office became Kyle's office - our dining room became Megan's office, and I moved to the room off our living room. It was stressful at times, but the blessing was that it was summer time and the girls could pop in and out of Daddy's office anytime they wanted. We are now settled into the new space and love it.

School Starts

Kylie began her sixth grade year and Kacie started her second grade year. We were so pleased that Kylie got the same second grade teacher Kylie had. This year has had it's challenges without doubt. We've dealt with more girl drama this year than I care to blog about, but I'm proud of how my girls have handled themselves. There was one situation where I wanted to march up to the school and have Kylie's classes changed, but after prayer and an almost all night discussion with my husband, we decided it wasn't in her best interest. She wasn't in physical danger, and God had allowed the situation to happen. It was our job to help her navigate her way through it, make good decisions, and figure out a few things about life along the way. If He allows it, then there is purpose in it... I have to hold on to that through these child rearing days!!! After Kylie's accident I reminded myself daily that God did not spare her life for me to rob her of a childhood. I am not in control. I have responsibilities as a parent, but I am not in control. Now, a few months on the "other side" of the situation, I've seen Kylie grow in maturity and wisdom. God is awesome and we may not understand what he's doing, but he is working it all out. We just have to trust him.

ACL Fest

Kyle and I went to Austin for the fourth (or is it fifth?) year in a row to the Austin City Limits Music festival. Kylie is a lover of music, and being a musician, he loves to see new and upcoming groups. ACL is an awesome venue to catch major named headliners as well as the new acts. It's three days of music across Zilker Park. This year, in a single day, I got to see Nora Jones, Switchfoot, Robert Earl Keene, AND.... THE EAGLES. We had a great time with our friends the Gilley's, the Frasers, the Smith's, and the Cooper's. Can't wait until next year!

As we move into this new year, I hope to blog more! Maybe my writers block has vanished... I feel inspired again....