Real London Bus Tour....

Last night we took a bus tour of Tempe and Mesa to see Christmas lights. I purchased tickets in September, and made reservations on November 1st... the first day they were available, and within hours, they were already booked up until after Christmas. It is a very popular and touristy thing to do around here:) It worked out perfectly though with the timing of Jasmine's eye surgery. The bus was old and rickety with no heat. We sat on the top deck, and it seemed like we were going to run into every traffic light at every intersection. After leaving Tempe Marketplace, we went to a couple of neighborhoods, then over to downtown Mesa. I didn't realize the extent of the lights at the Mesa Arts Theater. Almost as many as Zoolights. We didn't get home until 10pm and Jasmine was a grump at the end. We got to sleep in a bit this morning. There were lots of people on the bus who were visiting from Denmark, Holland, and of other places.

Christmas morning.....

This morning, Jessie got me up at 5:30Am to go out.. as she does every morning. Then, Jasmine gave me 15 minutes before she got up, raced into the living room and started screaming. We've had a fun day, opening our presents and playing outside. It's almost 70 degrees today. Jasmine got lots of earrings, ice skating supplies, tons of books and tapes for learning phonics, counting money, and geography. She also got a cash register to practice, a big Intelliglobe that tells various facts about the area you point to, clothes, and of course a scooter.

We just had our really nice dinner, and are going back outside to play again:) !

Christmas Eve.....

Making Ambrosia from Jasmine's recipe. We have enough Ambrosia and food in general for three armies. Earlier today, we went to Whole Foods and bought turkey, mashed sweet potatoes with walnuts, smoked salmon pasta ( for me:), stuffing, pecan pie, and lots of other things. All we have to do is heat everything up!

Tonight we went to Pink Pepper Thai restaurant just down the street. Jessie even had a little Thai dinner of her own.

Christmas Eve Day....

Jasmine and her friend Skyla at the Polar Ice Christmas Eve pajama party, then sprinkling reindeer food in the yard. Miss Wachtel gave each student a bag of oatmeal and glitter to sprinkle in their yard to attract reindeer:) We have alot more to do today.

Art Class..

I signed us up a long time ago- for a little art class at the Chandler Parks and Rec, knowing that there was maybe a 50% chance that Jasmine would feel like going. The edema of her face and eyelids is definitely better today, as well as the scleral hemorrhage. The conjunctiva is still bright red with still alot of scleral hemorrhage remaining. Hopefully by tomorrow, she won't want to itch and rub her eyes so much. She definitely wanted to go to the art class today when I told her about it, then we went out for ice cream afterwards (very bad here lately:(. There was only one other little girl in the class. They made even more crafts....aarrgghh... more crafts!! A ceramic Christmas tree with little jewels on it, a snowman made from a paint stirrer, a gingerbread man and a couple of ornaments. It was still better than being home and thinking about the pain. Just took the focus off for awhile.

Eye Surgery for Jasmine....

Today was surgery day. When it was our turn around 9AM, Dr. Plotnik had already completed 3-4 infant surgeries. Jasmine was pretty upbeat, and I am told she entertained the doctors and nurses in the pre-surgical area. I can only assume she was singing and dancing. The surgery itself took about 45 minutes. Every time she would start to wake up, she would start screaming and try to rub/scratch her swollen eyes and face:(. We had to keep giving her Demerol- which meant another 20 minute wait each time. We finally got to go home after everyone else had left long before us. I hope she sleeps for the next 24 hours. No glasses for one week, then in one month we will know if she can stop wearing glasses.

In the waiting room.

In the pre-surgical area.

Just after pulling the endotracheal tube.

Holiday Concert....

Last night, Dobson Academy K-3 had their Holiday Concert. The kindergarten class sang "La Navidad" and two other songs. The girls and boys sometimes sang separately. After months of hearing the rehearsal at home, finally I heard how the song really was supposed to sound. Jasmine kept singing words to one song...."Parents say that children are gibsons from above". For a couple of months, I have been trying to tell her that the words are "Parents say that children are gifts sent from above"... But no... "Mrs. Kimmel (the music teacher) says it's "gibsons from above"!!! Finally, it got thru to her. It was cute to see the little kids all dressed up. Every single man, woman, child, grandparent, aunt, uncle, and cousin was in the audience and each one had a camera as well as a video cam!


Going to the concert.

Jasmine with one of her best friends... Brianna.

Singing at the concert.