John & Becky Bunting

So, Becky and I have iPhones now. I decided to give in and get the new iPhone 3G. I unlocked my old iPhone and gave it to Becky to use. Becky has been using her iPhone for about 2 weeks now. Like most new technology the iPhone 3G does have its flaws. I like the old iPhone metal back alot better and the battery life on my old iPhone was better. The iPhone 3G has amazing GPS and the internet is faster. Another cool thing is Microsoft Exchange support. I can now get my schedule on it. I think I went a little crazy this last week scheduling appointments.

P.S. If you have AT&T and go buy an old iPhone. I can tell you how to setup internet service for only $15.00 a month.

So I have this issue with my toe. I had Becky take a picture and email our friend who is a podiatrist for advice. Below is his very helpful and hilarious response.

“John has a condition I have seen only once in my own practice of podiatric medicine. Its occurrence is more common in men than women at a ratio of 4 to 1. This serious, almost irreversible condition is termed toefalloffeitis. It is a horrible condition that begins with a simple break in the skin followed by purulent drainage from the wound. This then progresses rapidly, less than 48 hours, to the metatarsophalangeal joint and essentially disarticulates spontaneously and auto-amputates the toe.
About 10% of the cases of Toefalloffeitis will heal, leaving the patient with one less toe and the other 90% will progress to a condition called Footfalloffeitis. Footfalloffeitis is a more advanced and more rapid version of Toefalloffeitis. After auto-amputation of the toe, continual purulent drainage occurs following by excruciating pain, rapid edema, a foul odor and erythema of the foot and ankle. This progresses over a 5-7 hour period of time where hemarthrosis occurs at the level of the ankle joint. This is quickly followed by necrosis of the skin and subcutaneous tissue and inevitable auto-amputation of the foot occurs.
Again, 95% of the cases of Footfalloffeitis progress rapidly to a condition called Legfalloffeitis. Similar progression of this disease leads to disarticulation of the acetabulofemoral joint and the patient is literally only standing with one leg. Interestingly enough almost 100% of the cases of Legfalloffeitis progress within 1-2 hours to a bilateral condition resulting in auto-amputation of the contra lateral limb. Essentially the patient is left with no legs. In almost all cases of Legfalloffeitis healing occurs and there is a rapid resolution of symptoms. Rehabilitation, prosthetics and months of physical therapy are implemented and the patient eventually adjusts to a normal lifestyle. It’s a lifestyle as normal as can be with an individual without any legs.
What is further intriguing concerning this rapid progressing condition is a rare occurrence of Legfalloffeitis to a more serious condition or a more life threatening condition. There have been only two cases in the world that have ever been reported to date. This condition is simply called Headfalloffeitis. I don’t need to describe the brutality, horror and the further progression of this horrible condition of Headfalloffeitis. I believe this is the very disease where myths and legends arose concerning the headless horseman. There were only three commonalities that were observed between these two rare cases. They were both white males, over six feet tall and lived in southern California.
Becky if you think that John does, quite possibly, have Toefalloffeitis or if you feel a strong urge to pack your bags and move to anywhere other than Southern California, then well. . . there is nothing we can do. If you think John might possibly have some other condition, such as an abscess with an infection, than give me a call or jet me an e-mail. He probably needs to be on a course of antibiotics as well. Also I would suggest keeping the area clean and dry, application of a small amount of triple antibiotic ointment, covering the area with sterile gauze and securing it with paper tape. This should be changed once a day.”

Dr. XXXXXX

[Name not disclosed to protect the innocent]

Thanks Doc.

We got up early on Friday morning and my brother Josh and his cute little family had arrived during the night (by the way today 8/5 is Kari’s birthday – happy birthday Kari, you are an awesome sister-in-law!). Kaci, McKay and Colton all greeted me with big hugs and kisses. Oakley was a little less interested, she likes men a lot better. She even wanted John to hold her.

We crammed our car full of camping gear and started on our way to Wyoming. Packing with my dad is always fun, he really knows how to bring everything and the kitchen sink. John drove and I rode along with my mom and Colton. My dad rode with Josh and the rest of his family. While we were waiting for my mom to get in, Colton was eating a bag of cookies. I asked John if he wanted a cookie and he said no. Then Colton asked, “what’s a quickie”? We laughed so hard at the poor boy. We just laughed at him and he kept saying, “what? I really thought you said quickie.” He is so cute.

Our first stop was in Burley to get gas and snacks. John was really excited that they are building a Maverik in Burley, he really loves their breakfast sandwiches and misses them since they do not exist in California. My mom is glad she doesn’t have to drive all the way across town to go to Maverik anymore. The drive to Pocatello was pretty uneventful, since we had it all packed inside we didn’t have to worry about anything falling off the top of the car.

We stopped at the Sportsman’s Warehouse to visit my brother-in-law Brian at work. It kind of reminded me of visiting him while he was on his mission in Missouri. We are always trying to get him into trouble. We had a great time exploring the warehouse, scaring the girls with stuffed animals and trying on shoes. I got a pair of Timberland sandals and Josh got these boots for a great bargain. Colton, McKay and Kaci enjoyed playing with the guns – in the picture you can see Kaci’s shoes are on the wrong feet, we kept telling her and she kept saying they were right. So silly!

After about an hour and many purchases (including a gun for Colton, a stuffed moose for Oakley, shoes for me, my mom, and Josh, sunglasses for John, a hiker water bottle kit for Colton, and more I’m sure) we were on our way to Arctic Circle for lunch. When he heard where we were going, Colton automatically said, “where the good stuff is”. Marketing really works on little kids. Lucky Colton, he was in our car so he got to order whatever he wanted. If he would have been with his dad and grandpa we all know what he would have had for lunch – the 99 cent cheeseburger.

We ate our lunch on the way to Freedom, and John remembered that he does not like Arctic Circle. It was exciting to be heading for the family reunion. I have always loved family reunions. When I was a kid I liked going to the ranch (a ranch house my grandparents owned in Elba, ID) early with my grandma and getting everything ready. Then as each car came up the dusty lane we were so excited to see who it was and we would run out to open the gate for them. I have so many memories of horseback riding, hiking, swimming, water fights, camp fires, card games, softball, and just talking with my family. We usually had 2 reunions every year and sometimes three.

As soon as we got to the cabin we decided to leave to go white water rafting. My brother, Jeff, was our guide, and it was me and John, Josh and Kari, and my sister Marcy in the boat. The rapids were just about as much as I could handle and only Kari fell out of the back of the boat. Before she even came up Josh and Jeff were right there pulling her back in. It was a fun float even if our boat needed a little more air. We called it The Accordian because it folded right in half over the rapids.

I got to meet two of my new nieces – Paisley (Jeff’s daughter) and Eva (Lindsay’s daughter). They are both adorable! I loved calling Eva’s name and hearing her screech in response. She really wanted her mommy to hold her a lot, but she did let me hold her too. She is a tiny little girl but I know she will be a big game hunter like her daddy. Paisley is a sweet little baby and I put her to sleep three times while we were there. I don’t remember hearing her cry. Kierra loves having a baby sister and was like a little mom to all the kids at the reunion. She wanted to take Eva on a hike but I convinced her not to. When she got back, exhausted, she agreed that it was a good thing she didn’t take Eva with her.

By Friday night everyone had shown up at the reunion. We had representation from all of the families except Uncle Ron’s.

McKae, Spencer, Kaylee, Antonia, Alexandra, Courtney

Kurt, Marcy, Mike, Debbie, McKenzie, Johanna, Kevin, Oakley, Kari, Kaci, Josh, Megan, Brian, Eva, Lindsay, Joan, Steve, Don

Sarah, Staci, Hunter, Becky, John, Colton, Kierra, McKay, Paisley, Jeff, Sheri, Riley

Brandon

Danielle ran away before we took this picture and all my other ones are missing Joan – did anyone get a picture with everyone in it?

We had 38 at the reunion, which I don’t think is even half of the family. We wish Grandma and Grandpa could have been there with us! We had dinner Friday night and visited and went to bed late. I had a cold shower because Lindsay told me the bathhouse would have warm water but it didn’t! Oh, well, at least I got a shower. The place we stayed had a lot of bathrooms, which was really nice. And no one had to camp outside, but Josh and his family did anyway. The reunion was off to a great start!

Since Twin Falls comes before Hazelton, we stopped at my brother Zach’s house to meet his new baby Sophie. And see Holly and Abby of course! Zach was at work and Ellie was at school. Holly was gracious enough to let us barge in on her around 8:00 am and visit for a while. Sophie is a sweet little baby with wide eyes looking out to see what’s happening around her. Her hair is so soft, I loved to just stroke her head.

We left Zach’s house and headed to my mom and dad’s. We saw the new wood floors in the kitchen – very nice! John planted some gladiolus for my mom. I hope they are getting water. We met my dad’s new dog Yeller, whose name used to be something else until my dad got her but I can’t remember what.

We drove out to the farm where my dad was working and picked him up for a visit with some old friends. My friend Karlene was visiting her parents so we chatted with her while my dad visited with her dad. Karlene is a great friend. We don’t see each other a lot, but it’s okay because we get together and catch up and I get to see her cute little boys (four little blondies and they all look alike!).

After visiting with the Hansen’s we drove into town to see my mom at Dr. Joe’s clinic where she works as a nurse. Dr. Joe is the orthopedic surgeon who visited me in my hospital room for about 5 minutes and charged me a couple hundred dollars after my car accident. He was a nice guy. My mom seems to like working there so that is good. John and I practically took a nap in the waiting room until she was ready to leave and then we went to buy some food for the family reunion. My mom knew everyone at Wal-Mart. I miss those days when I used to know everyone in town.

My dad made us steaks for dinner but John slept through it. He was tired from driving the night before. We just hung out at home and enjoyed being there with my parents.

John had to go to work this morning so I waited at home and packed all our stuff so we could leave for Idaho. John’s boss paid for us to rent a car for the trip, I guess he felt bad for making us postpone our trip by 2 days. I have been really excited about this trip for a long time. I really enjoy visiting my family and I am especially excited to meet Eva, Paisley, and Sophie and see the rest of my nieces and my nephew. I will get to see every member of my family, all 24 of us, but not all at the same time so no family picture.

We left around 1:30 and I drove first. It is always hard to adjust to a new car and I had to merge onto all the different freeways in this giant SUV, but I made it. I drove until we got to Baker, CA where it was 108 degrees on the giant thermometer. It was so hot that when we stepped out of the car I felt like I was being suffocated, and we were in the shade. We filled up the tank and paid more for one pump than I ever have, although the $4.33 price per gallon is significantly less than what I’m used to paying. I also realized that Icees are not nearly as good as Slurpees. Since we were there we decided to stop in at the alien jerky shop and get some jerky. It was out of this world.

My dad must have been pretty excited for us to come, he called me three times.

We were really excited to stop in Henderson (Las Vegas) at Cafe Rio. We have really missed Cafe Rio since we moved to California. The best thing on the menu is the pork salad without beans. It is such a good combination of flavors. Funny thing, I could tell that a lot of the people who came to eat at the Cafe Rio were LDS.

We drove through the small Nevada town of Ely. Ely had quite the night life, we could hear the karaoke singing as we drove by. We drove through the night and while I was sleeping John drove us to Wendover rather than Wells. So we had a little detour, no big deal. We stopped to sleep somewhere in between Wendover and Wells, then got up Thursday morning and drove the rest of the way.