What a Little Man!

Last night I got to take pictures of my nephew, Camen Englund. He is 15 months old and did a great job letting me do what I needed to with him. We had such a great time and got some incredible shots. Here's just a few of the many I took. I always get carried away - especially when I have really cute subjects!

I love this one of him in the fire truck!

Not every picture was "tears free" - but I still think this is absolutely adorable!

When Camen needed a break, Kaley was ready and willing to step in!

Turning the Tables (and Aaron's knee)

Now it's Aaron's turn to be the patient. Thursday night while Aaron was playing softball, he injured his knee. He was running from 3rd base to home, stopped and turned, and heard a loud pop (NOT a good thing)!

We found out that he has an ACL tear and an MCL tear. One ligament would be bad enough - but it's two! We saw two different orthopedic surgeons today to discuss the options. The plan for now is that he will have physical therapy for about 3 weeks and then surgery will be scheduled after that. I know that sounds backwards, but they want the swelling to go down first and also want to increase his range of motion in the knee which will get rid of some of the stiffness before surgery.

The biggest pain right now, Aaron said, was trying to maneuver on crutches. They certainly look a lot easier to use than they really are. He almost fell twice when he used them for the first time. Jeff and I were trying to stifle our laughter. When we went for his doctor visit today, I got a wheelchair for him and had quite a time trying to push him around. I was laughing so hard at one point that I was afraid they were going to admit me to the psych floor. It's harder to push a wheelchair than it looks, too! When I came home from church on Sunday, there was a grocery bag on the bed. He had wanted a drink and something to read, so had gotten up, found a plastic grocery bag, put a can of Coke in it with a newspaper and then tied the bag to his crutches to make it back to the bedroom. That would have been a funny sight! He's ready to invent something that will let you carry stuff around while you are on crutches. :-)

Kevin Moser (who has recently had ACL surgery) came over to look at the MRI images. It was certainly "all Greek" to us, but we sure tried to figure them out.

Aaron is very thankful for wireless internet. He's been surfing all over the place since he has a lot of time on his hands and can't get around as easily.

Kevin let us borrow this ice pump. You fill it up with ice and water and it pumps the ice water around Aaron's knee. It's been a life saver and certainly makes his knee feel better while keeping the swelling down too.

Aaron and I are getting a lot of practice taking care of each other. I didn't think this was supposed to start until we were old - but we'll certainly know what to do when we're in our 80's! I guess we're making lots of memories (although I prefer the less expensive memories). :-)

What a Nice Family!

Last week the Lum's had their family picture taken. It was so much fun doing all the different family groups. Even Chief (the dog) was included. Here are some of my favorites!

Timeless portraits are still favorites. John and Julia's eyes look great in this photo with excellent choice of clothing color.

The entire gang + Chief. :-)

Zachary was not too thrilled with having his picture taken (notice above photo), so we took a break and let him watch out the window for a while.

It worked! I was able to snap a smile that quickly came and went! What an adorable little boy.

Sometimes pictures that "just happen" are some of the best. Zach's sisters joined him at the window. Even Chief had to go take a look to see what was going on. I just love this picture!

Wes and Missy's baby, Emilie, is 5 months old and is absolutely adorable.

This is definitely a treasure - Wes is leaving for Iraq in September.

If you want to see all the photos, go to www.pro-album.com. Event name: "Lum Family" (no quotes). No password is set for the event and a date is not required.

A Week with Cameron

Cameron stayed with us this week for his annual "summer visit." He played lots of computer games during the day while Aaron and I were at work and even helped me set up my photography equipment for a photo shoot one night. It's so nice that my job is just right across the street so I was able to come home and fix him lunch every day. I even took him to the Revolving Restaurant one day for their lunch buffet (which is really good food - and tastes even better since we have a diner card for 50 % off).

We tried to take him to some of our favorite places around Cincinnati - one of which is Teak - the BEST Thai food ever! Mr. Glick introduced Aaron and I to this great restaurant, and now we are addicted. Cameron loves it too!

We tried out our new grill - and broke it in well with T-Bone Steaks . . .

. . . and roasted corn! Delicious!

And of course, no summer is complete without homemade ice cream!

Cameron had never played dominoes before. I said it was high time a 14-year old boy learn how to play Dominoes!

It was a fun week. We're taking him back to Indiana today and he starts high school on Wednesday. Bye-bye summer!

A Must GO!

Yes, the Creation Museum is definitely all it's cracked up to be. If you haven't been - GO! We went Saturday with Aaron's parents and Cameron and we all enjoyed it immensely. The displays were very well done and the technology they use for the special effects theater and the planetarium was absolutely incredible. It was really crowded, but I am thrilled that they have been so busy.

The Cain and Abel display - the people look so real.

The ark was really neat! This is only the miniature display, but they had a whole room that showed how it was built and all the different areas.

Looking real enough to jump down from there and get us!

Even the grounds on the outside of the museum are amazing.
The lake is very pretty and has beautiful flowers and bridges around it.

Apparently, this girl thought it was a pretty place too - pretty enough for her wedding!
We walked out of the museum and were amazed to see a wedding going on. It would certainly be a great place for pictures!

In case you can't tell, I sure was impressed with the museum. :-)