Welcome Wesley!

This Tuesday my family welcomed its newest member, Wesley Edmond Marshall. He is child number four for my sister Tonya. The little guy was two weeks overdue and was still not ready to come out, so, as with all her other deliveries, Tonya had to be induced. Even with the inducement Wesley was in no hurry to greet the world. Tonya went into the hospital Monday morning and Tuesday at 2:30 AM he finally made his appearance. He was 20 ½ inches long and weighed 8 lbs and 7 ounces.

Wesley Edmond Marshall
Wesley Edmond Marshall

While Mommy and Daddy were at the hospital we all took turns watching the Marshall kids. Uncle Jason took one of the longer shifts. Since he skipped out on work to play Uncle he was trying to get as much work done on his laptop as he could while he watched them. As he was in the midst of responding to numerous emails about Testopia bugs he noticed that the kids were being unnaturally quiet so he decided he better make sure they weren’t up to something. It turns out that they were indeed up to something. He found a large pile of food hidden in the playroom. The kids had watched Over the Hedge earlier that day and had decided that because Uncle Jason was being no fun and working instead of playing with them, that he was a grumpy old bear. So naturally they needed to sneak food past the grumpy old bear, just like in the movie. They had been involved in this sneakery for quite a while before Jason caught them. He got a good laugh over it.

Wesley and Jason
Wesley and Jason

Jason survived babysitting and Wesley arrived safely. So welcome sweet little boy to the clan, we’re a little crazy, but since you’ve got those genes too, I’m sure you’ll fit right in with all the nuts!

Wesley and Rae
Wesley and Rae

And just so everyone knows, my sister stole the name I picked out for one of my kids-Edmond-so don’t be surprised when I name a kid Edmond anyway.

Bolts at Boarding

Jason and I went snowboarding at Brighton today with Jeremy Sabin, Aaron Blakely, and Dave Oertli. The weather was supposed to be nice and we laughed when we saw the lights flashing at the entrance to Big Cottonwood Canyon signifying that weather conditions were bad and 4-wheel drive or chains were required. The roads were dry and the sky was not threatening so we couldn’t understand how the 1 inch of snow that the canyon had got overnight justified this warning.

The Brothers Sabin
The Brothers Sabin

But by the time we got near the resort, at the top of the canyon, we realized why these lights had been turned on. The roads went from completely dry to snow covered almost instantly. But of course that didn’t stop us. We boarded and enjoyed ourselves despite the horrendous gusts of wind. It wasn’t until around 2:30 in the afternoon that the weather finally halted our plans. It started thundering and lightning all around us. So the lifts closed down and we boarded down the mountain as quickly as possible. Being the highest point on a run when you are strapped to a metal containing board is not the best idea during a lightning storm.

The Boys
The Boys

The snow was really coming down by the time we left Brighton and the drive down the canyon took nearly 2 hours. But it was still worth it for a good day of boarding.

Aaron was nice enough to assist me today in my quest to become a better toe carver. With his help I improved my mad skills. I am excited to go boarding again and give toe carving another try, hopefully my ankle will cooperate.

Thanks Aaron for your patience!

Squinting in the Stabbing Snow
Squinting in the Stabbing Snow

What’s with that ankle?

Are you all dying to know what is wrong with my ankle? The answer is probably negative. But for the few who are curious here’s what I found out from my MRI:

One of my Peroneal tendons is torn. The Peroneal tendons are located behind the outer ankle bone and help stabilize and protect the foot and ankle. In my case it is the longer of the two tendons that is injured. The doctor seemed quite surprised that I had been participating in sports and physical activities over the last seven years with this injury. He obviously has had no experience dealing with the stubbornness of a Nelson. Nelson’s don’t let a little thing like a tear in a tendon stop them from playing soccer, running, snowboarding, mountain biking, or basically anything they feel like doing.

Peroneal Tendons
Peroneal Tendons

The MRI also showed a possible lesion in my ankle cartilage. The radiologist’s report was incomplete however so my doctor needs to gather further information before he will be able to assess if there is a lesion. He’s going to get back to me on that one.

So now what? Intensive physical therapy is the first step in making my ankle happy again. Hopefully, after six weeks of therapy my ankle will be good as new. If not, I may have to look into more invasive options. I have faith though in the toughness of my body, so I think physical therapy will do the trick.

The really hard thing now is that I am supposed to stay off my ankle as much as possible and avoid aggravating it while it is in the healing process. This is tricky for me because I don’t do sedentary. Hopefully my ankle heals before I become legally insane from sitting around too much.