The Wright way to spend Christmas

This past Saturday {December 17} we had Christmas with my dad and sisters! Everyone was supposed to come over around 5:30, with Brynne & Blake picking up my dad. I got home from the grocery store around 4 and was getting ready to start making dinner when Jake showed me Max's paw.

He had one of his nails on his front right foot that was growing in upside down {so claw up, rather than claw down}. I was going to attempt to cut his nails that day anyway, so I tried to look closer at it and he immediately freaked out. I have tried cutting his nails before and I didn't enjoy it - mostly because of the pet nail thing I was using but we still decided to take him to PetSmart one more time so that they could do his nails. We got down there and walked into the groomer and showed them the problem and they said we needed to take him next door to Banfield, the PetSmart Vet clinic. I immediately started getting worried about how much this was going to cost but he is our baby {well my baby} and I wanted him to stop hurting so we took him over and showed the vet tech what was wrong. She told us that they would need to sedate him to remove it because of how painful it is when you are messing with the "quick" on an animal nail and that we would need to drop him off and come back for him in a few hours. I nearly started crying - I am the reason he hadn't had his nails trimmed in so long and as a result now he is in serious pain and I have to leave him at the Vet's alone. To top it off, she said it was looking like it would be $300 for the sedation alone, but that the vet would call us with a better price range once she had looked over Max.

So we drop him off, pick up my sisters Jeannene & Lauryl and then head to our house to start Christmas with my dad. Jeannene started making her famous Lemon Bars while I made the Lasagna and a vegetable dip for snacking until we ate dinner. Not too long after, Blake, Brynne & my dad arrived and started to play Phase 10 while watching the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl {Ohio vs Utah State}. We were all rooting for Utah State and there was a crazy call at the end that had to be reviewed like 4 times before they made a decision. After all that, Utah State lost and we were all really bummed - they have lost quite a few times in the 4th quarter this year :( Then we did presents while we waited for the lasagna to finish cooking!

Dad started off with his gifts. He has been writing a BYU book for a while and gave Brynne & Blake, Jake & me and Popper a copy!

Popper also got Yahtzee & Jeannene got some pictures from when my mom & dad were first dating and pictures from his mission! 

Then we started the gift exchange. We started drawing a name last year so that we didn't all need to buy a gift for each other and it was so fun so we decided to do it again! We try to do it as a secret but this year I knew who had who or whom or whatever. 

Jeannene got to open her present first - from Brynne

Rosetta Stone in Spanish! She was SOO excited {would you expect anything else from Jeannene??}

Then Jeannene gave her gift to Jake - a Monster Energy Drink {green is his fav} and a $15 iTunes gift card! 

Then Jake gave his gift to dad - the football coaching bible with a section from LaVell Edwards included on the passing game!

Then Dad gave his gift to Brynne - "When We Meet Again" from the Children of the Promise Series {Volume 4}

I got the Turbo Jam DVD's from Blake!! I am SO excited about this!! 

I gave my gift to Popper - Slippers! She was really excited haha 

And popper gave her gift to Blake - he got Harry Potter Lego's - the Quidditch {??} edition!

Then Dad opened his present from all of us

New headphones!

And a new orange iPod nano! His last one was 1 GB and this one is 16 GB!!! Thanks Blake! 

After presents, we ate dinner and talked and then Jake & I needed to run to PetSmart to get Max. They decided to play Yahtzee while we were gone and they definitely stayed entertained haha.

Max ended up not needing to be sedated, but they did give him a pain killer that is 10x stronger than morphine! Then they just pulled the nail off since it was already cracked and nearly broken off - just holding on by a thread. That reduced the price dramatically thankfully. He was prescribed with some puppy pain killer to take once a day and an antibiotic to prevent infection to take twice a day. Since he is a picky eater about some things, we got him the Greenies Pill Pockets to slide his pills into.

SO worth it - he is loving them and taking his pills without knowing it! 

The vet warned us that Max might be seeing "Purple Elephants" for a while from the pain killers so we should keep an eye on him - make sure he doesn't tip over while walking or fall down any stairs. When they gave him back to us, he just snuggled right in my arms and that was even more heart breaking - he doesn't ever stay calm or snuggle at PetSmart - way too many things to smell and see. I felt so bad that he was so tired and out of it. We paid - right around $110 with the Pill Pockets and then took him home. He laid on my lap the whole way home {again - he doesn't usually do that} and we got home to hear incredibly loud cheering - Jeannene had just gotten a Yahtzee. To say they were celebrating would be an understatement haha. Then 2 turns later, Brynne got one too and there was an equal amount of celebrating. I am so glad they had that to play while we were dealing with Max - makes me feel like less of a horrible hostess. Blake also did the dishes while we were gone! We dished up the Lemon Bars Jeannene had made and then politely "kicked" everybody out so that we could keep an eye on Max and go to bed - seeing as it was 9 PM and OH so late {Jake & I are old - we go to bed so early}. We went to bed and kept an eye on Max for an hour or so before we put him to bed with his "cone of shame" on to prevent him from licking his little injured toe.

Max and his "cone of shame"

I felt SO bad :(

It all ended up working out though - Max's nail surgery could have been much more expensive than it was. I just wish we had been able to fully enjoy Christmas with my dad and sisters :( Good thing we are going to have them over in a few weeks to watch the BYU bowl game! I can redeem my hosting skills then! 6 more days until Christmas!!!