Happy New Decade!

And what a decade it was. Looking back on 2000 through 2009, this is what happened.


Our family added 2 children. We traveled to Guatemala 4 times.


We sold our house....we bought a new house. We lost a dog, we added a new dog. Three of our cats died. We added three cats to our household.


We made two trips to Disneyland.....


Marielle was diagnosed with leukemia, went through more than 2 years of chemotherapy, came off treatment and today is happy and thriving.

What a decade.....

Wonder what the next one will bring us....

Much love to all, Happy 2010

The Lappins

The saga of my hip....

So, long story short, I've had torn cartilage in my hip for the past 8 months. It happened when I had GYN surgery and was under anesthesia. It's painful as all get out. It catches when I sit, but is especially painful when I get out of a sitting position as the frayed end of the cartilage gets caught between the socket and the hip bone.

I saw a specialist at Stanford last week, who does arthroscopic hip surgery. (There are not many docs who do this...only like 11 in the nation). He said I was not a good candidate for the arthroscopic hip surgery, less than 20% chance of success. He recommended a total hip replacement.

Now, I knew I had arthritis in that hip ... I found out after the cartilage tear. It was totally asymptomatic before the tear. But, according to my orthopedist, it's not that bad. He doesn't think a total hip replacement is necessary. He wants to save the hip. I'm all for the least invasive method possible. But...

So, what do we do? The pain is horrid...often debilitating at times. There are times I literally have to lie down for an hour or more, even on pain pills, to get the pain to subside enough for me to be able to walk. It's affecting every area of my life. I'm not a whiner. I have a high tolerance for pain but this thing is knocking me out.

So, today, the ortho and I decided to try a cortisone injection into the hip. If it works, it relieves the pain and buys me time. If it doesn't, well, then we'll figure out a plan B. The injection has to be done at an outpatient surgery center because it's guided by fluoroscope. We'll set it up for early next month.

Wish me luck.....

Christmas Celebrations....

Our Christmas celebrations began last night. We had a gathering with my Dad. It was a very festive time, gathering with my siblings and their kids (and spouses).


The kids are very excited because there is a new cousin (well great cousin? I guess you'd call him) on the way. My kids are by far the youngest of the bunch and they are thrilled that next year, there will be a new baby at the gathering, thanks to my nephew and his wife.

This is me and my Dad...


The kids were super well behaved, had a great time and were happy to get dressed up and go out.





The holidays are upon us!

Christmas...Hannuka...all that fun stuff...

Yes, I have a poser...she thinks she's a model... Here she is with her finished gingerbread train:


And here's Rico with his:

We usually do gingerbread houses, but this year I decided to try something different...



Of course, what I didn't think of is that Mr Construction Guy, aka Ralph, isn't here to build the trains, which meant I had to put the gingerbread together.


And lest you think it's easy, even with a kit, it's not....


But I did manage to get them together halfway decently...and the kids had a blast decorating them. That's what counts, right?


Marielle has had pneumonia. She's still getting breathing treatments. Here she is with her mask on getting a nebulizer treatment:


The kids in front of our Christmas tree:


And here are some pictures from the second night of Hannuka...



We really love this time of year!