Christmas with the Grandville Stauch's

So I caved in...we planned to open presents on Friday, December 22, but we decided we would both be too tired after a long, busy day at work (more true for dan than me) so we should open them on Thursday...so we did!


Here are our stockings...hung on the wall with care...in hopes that st. nicholas soon would be there...



Danny - opening season 4 of 24...he says i can't watch the new season until i "catch-up" on the first five! That's a lot of 24 by January!



Emily - opening her big present...a Kitchen Aid Mixer!!! yay!!! I wanted one sooo bad. Danny really hinted that he would get it, but I didn't really believe him!

We don't have a picture of dan opening his big present because we ran out of battery power. Danny got an IPAQ, which he has been playing with since he got home from work today.

Christmas with the elder Stauch's was really fun too. We went to k-zoo on Sunday. Pat cooked us a WONDERFUL Christmas dinner: ham, potatoes, corn, rolls, even Cheesecake! It was yummy!

The plan now is Christmas with Oma and Ahdeshe then Christmas with the Rumley's...what a wonderful time of year!

dan's eyes

At dan's check-up all they did was give him more samples of eye drops. They tried a different kind just to see if they moisturize his eyes better. Basically, that's it! He has another appointment at the end of February, and they say his eyes are healing naturally. I saw the Kendall clan a few nights ago, and Ken told me then that winter is a dry season which makes the eyes heal slower. He said dan should keep taking the moisturizing drops like crazy. So...that's what we're doing! He has one more prescription eye drop to finish taking, and then it's just a matter of time.

funny story: Ken said that the "anatomy of dan's eyes" will make them dryer...translation, "he's got Asian eyes and they are dry so don't expect them to heal fast!" I'm not really sure if that's what he meant by it, but it sounds funny to me!

i forgot to take pictures at our party...sorry! it was really fun though! all the food turned out great! family - i'm bringing some home to see how you like it!

Another LASIK update

Apparently Buzz missed the memo...so for all the rest of you that missed it...(all in good fun, buzz!)

Dan was in a LOT of pain immediately following the surgery, but after the first 4 hours, he felt fine (he was on Vicodin though!). This week sometime, he had significant pain in his left eye at the end of the day. It didn't go away so we called the doctor (read the last post for those details). Pain was gone the next morning. Ever since then the pain has been on and off. It changes from day to day and even from hour to hour sometimes. We go in on Tuesday for our next check-up. I'll let everyone know how that goes!

I had my first candy making experience! It was a pretty good one. I made Buckeyes and Caramels for our Christmas Party on Saturday. The Buckeyes were easy as pie. The only hiccup with those was finding the parafin wax at the store (it's in the detergent aisle!!! what the heck?!??! what about the BAKING aisle?!?). The caramels weren't hard per se, but the were time consuming. It took us and hour and 20 minutes of constant stirring to get them to the right temperature without burning! Dan was a trooper though! He insisted on doing all the stirring. So basically, after the first 10 minutes, I just sat there keeping him company! There are really good, but I do think they need to be a bit thicker...prolly a few more minutes boiling would have done it.

I'm so excited about the rest of the food at the party! I am making Artichoke-Spinach Dip (yummy in the restaurants, we'll see how it turns out!), and a cheese dip called Mediterranean Dip. I WAY excited...

pictures and updates to follow...

Quick LASIK Update

Some of you know about our little scare last night, so I thought I'd give you a quick update...

Dan started having bad pain in his left eye at about 5 last night. It gave him a headache (not a migraine though, thankfully!). When he got home from work, he took some Ibuprofen and ate dinner. We thought that would kick it out (the doctor prescribed over-the-counter pain meds for any discomfort). An hour or two later, the pain had not subsided at all. We called the after-hours operator to see what we should do. The doctor gave us a call a few minutes later. Since Dan didn't have significant vision change, it probably was not thing but some dust, fuzzy, fumes, etc. in the eye that is irritating it. I guess if there was significant damage, Dan wouldn't be able to see at all! We were supposed to get in to see the doctor the next day if the pain was still there. Dan says it hurts a little today, but it is not nearly as bad as yesterday. So we are just waiting until our 2 week appointment unless something else happens. So that's what happened...nothing really, but we were nervous for a few hours!

Christmas Time!

Here's the beginning of our popcorn garland...


















Dan working so diligently...














Ta - Da!!!!!


















MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

LASIK

Dan is officially glasses free!!! He went under the laser Thursday, November 30 at 9:30am. He was in quite a bit of pain during and after the surgery. For some reason both of us thought laser meant no pain...not the case. He was prescribed some Vicodin for pain. He took one then went to bed for 4-5 hours. When he woke up he was free from pain! Yay! He had to keep his eyes closed for the first 4 hours completely, so the flap could heal. He did great obeying the doctor's orders!

We went in for a check-up on Friday, and everything healed just great! Dan is still taking 3 different eyes drops multiple times a day. He will continue until we go in for our 2 week check-up.

Oh - Dan had to wear protective glasses when he slept for the first day so he didn't accidentally bump he eyes while sleeping - the picture is of him "sleeping" with him lovely glasses!