Vacation plans!!!

Well, we got our dates and house all finalized and set-up today, so that's a load off!

I bet you can't guess where we are spending a week this summer....anyone....cause I don't think I've ever talked about it before....

Okay, you dragged it out of me....

OURAY!

COLORADO BABY!!!

Yep, cause we don't love going there or anything.

If you have missed previous posts about one of our favorite places on earth, check here, and here. And here is a website...and another...and a webcam!

Ron and I decided which house to rent this year, and are excited about our choice....although I found the most awesome cabin that we are shooting for next year.....it was completely booked this summer. We are heading out the first week of August. I know, most people take their summer vacation earlier, but in order to catch the mountains around Ouray at their best, you have to go in the end of July-beginning of August. That way the multitude feet of snow have time to melt and the wildflowers are in full bloom. Oooo...just thinking about it...I can't wait! :)

Plans and updates...

**EDITED TO UPDATE FURTHER***
My mom's surgery is done, went well, and she says she feels great, like nothing happened. They found a large tear in her meniscus, so trimmed that up, and arthritis, but nothing can be done about that! She told the surgeon about the "blood clotting sisters" issues, so he put her on lovenox shots for 10 days...shots: bummer, but blood clot protection: bonus!

Nicole's follow-up appt. went well. She's still healing up, but he said it all looks good. All I can say is thanks for the fantastic outcome! No snoring, and hopefully no more strep problems! :)

*********

Not that this is too interesting...but it helps me keep track!

My mom goes in today at 2 pm, with my Aunt Carol taking her and then taking her back to her house. My aunt was able to talk my mom into coming and staying with her, which I feel much better about. See, my mom has stairs in her house to navigate to the bedrooms while my aunt does not. So, I won't be doing the sleepover at grandma's tonight as my mom will at my aunt's for the next 2 nights. So maybe Friday we'll do a sleepover, depending upon how she feels. She'll probably just want to be left alone at that point! ;)

Aunt Diane....blood clots behind both knees, and in the upper part of her right lung. They meet with her doctor tomorrow to discuss next course of action...like can they really leave Monday for California. Scary thing is, she flew about a week ago....good thing those clots didn't break loose then. I bet they end up putting a filter in her vena cava like they did to Aunt Carol. The doctors are in a conundrum as to how she could have clots behind both knees without having any symptoms at all...we always knew Aunt Diane was weird! :) :)

The best news is that now that the doctor heard that 3 of 4 sisters have documented clotting issues (and the oldest one died from it), he is talking about having them tested for clotting factor problems, or something.....which means my mom better get tested, and I feel like I should too. Like I said though, my mom is the odd one out, so far, with no evidence of problems, so maybe I got her good genes...then my mom has to remind me of 2 people we know who ended up dying from pulmonary embolus (blood clots to the lung) after having their knee scoped. Thanks for the warm fuzzy's mom! :)

Well, hopefully posts from here on out will be full of happy-happy-joy-joy and fun....and pictures! :)

Happy thought for today.....it's a beautiful cool rainy day today. I love the rain when the grass is green, the flowers are out and the trees have leaves. Washes everything clean and colorful again. And I save pennies not having the a/c on yet!

Phone calls with unwelcome news

So, my mom calls me at least once a day. I got the phone call today, and she started it with, "Well, here's the news...."

1st: Apparently my mom had an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon today. I knew her knee had been bugging her, but last time I asked, the celebrex, or whatever she'd been taking for it, was helping. So today, she told me, no, it hadn't been helping anymore, and her knee was hurting and swollen. So the ortho. told her she didn't need a knee replacement yet(WHAT?!) but the cartilage looks to be pretty much gone so she needs a scope...that she's getting Wednesday...in two days. Goody. I have Nicole's ENT follow-up, so I don't even know if I'll be able to go with my mom to the procedure, but her sister is going. I guess I can go after and make sure she's comfy at home. My Aunt Carol says she'll stay the night with her that night...but c'mon...my 79 yo aunt (who isn't 100% herself) taking care of my 77 yo mother? I think we might be having a lil' sleepover at grandma's house Wednesday night.

2nd: My Aunt Diane....the one who is supposed to be leaving tomorrow for a mission? She has been having some energy issues and not being able to catch her breath recently....mentioned it to her Dr. and had an MRI or CT or something today.....blood clots in her lungs. Good Grief! That is three for three aunts that have had blood clot problems....and the first aunt died from it. Now I'm wondering when it's my mom's turn, but hoping that she won't have any problems like that and that those good genes got passed on to me! So, Aunt Diane is starting on the blood thinner tonight, and they are now postponed in leaving until next Monday. yeesh.

Don't you hate phone calls like that?! My other issue is that my mom hadn't told me anything about her knee hurting again, or about her appointment today....there are some things she tells me about 3-4 times, but this? Not once.

Oh well, I guess I should be glad she called me about it at all. There are times mortality stinks. Especially when watching parents and loved ones get old and fall apart. :)

June 1...

Wow. It's already June. Summertime is officially here. Sixth month of the year, and I still have to think about what year it is when I write it! It think that's a sign that I'm getting old...old as the dirt. Not much happening around here....we had ants.....in the house....I hate ants. Hate, hate, hate, hate 'em! But Stewarts pest control came to the rescue and did a respray....yeah, we'd already had them here for a usual preventative spray, but the little buggers showed up anyway. Now they are gone! Phew!

Jared and Ron went to the Father & Son campout Friday night. For the 1st time ever, Jared stayed all night. And since they were trying to sleep in the car and hadn't planned on it being cold, Ron got about 2 hours of sleep. But Jared thought it was the best thing ever and was so proud of himself for staying. They both took naps yesterday afternoon!

My poor husband not only brought home exhaustion, but a nasty cold as well. So, needless to say, he's not feeling too hot. Stayed home from church even.

Tonight the kids and I, since Ron isn't going to share his cold, are going to farewell dinner for my Aunt Diane and Uncle Mel. They leave Tuesday for their 3rd mission for our church. The first time, they were mission presidents in California. The 2nd was 16 months in Ivory Coast, Africa, coming home 2 months early due to health issues. Now they are off again for 18 months in San Diego....yeah rough! :) They will be working on the military bases there in the branches.

Lots of busy-ness this next week. I get tired thinking of it. My goal is to get some pictures of the kids though for an idea I have....

Isn't it June YET?!

No? Great. I think we are already bored! Part of that reason is that the other kids and friends in the neighborhood are in school until Friday. Our charter school got out early due to starting earlier and taking fewer days off during the year. I do like to be out by Memorial Day though.

This past weekend was...in a word...cold. So the nice plans Daddy had to take the kids up the canyon to play got post-poned. We did BBQ, but only because our grill is right outside the back door, and it stopped raining long enough to fire it up! :)

Nicole gave us a little scare on Sunday. We were in the hall, gathering the chicks, err, children, and she starting hysterically crying. I look at her, and her hand and mouth are covered in blood....great...ten days out from tonsil surgery, and there's a bunch of blood. So I cleaned her up, scooted her home, and got a look at her throat. It appeared that the "scab" (ewww!) on her left tonsil had come off, and perhaps a bit early. But the bleeding had slowed, so I decided since we were 10 days out, I'd see if her body could fix itself. Within an hour, bleeding had stopped, so we just gave her soft food the rest of the day and she was good to go. I did call my brother the Emergency Room PA, and got his opinion...so I felt good about it. It sure is nice to have ER personnel to solicit help from! Thanks bro!

Tuesday was Jared's "last preschool hurrah", a trip to Thanksgiving Point children's garden. The kids had fun running amuck, and since the sun was out and warming up, they all had fun in the Noah's Ark fountain, even Ellie got in, which surprised me. I did take pictures, and I'll try to add them later. :)

Today was lots of fun at home. It's nice when the kids play separately with friends, because when they do get back together at home, they are typically nicer to each other...for a while...

Lots of birthday party fun. Jared's two friends(twins) today, and Nicole's school friend tomorrow. Then Jared and Daddy have the Father-Son campout Friday. We'll see if they stay this year. They haven't yet, in the last 3 years they've gone! (Well, to be fair, they never planned on staying the 1st year, when Jared was one!) When it gets close to bedtime, Jared always decides he "misses mom" and needs to come home. I have to admit, I think it's cute, and I think Daddy appreciates being able to come home to a comfy bed as well! :)

Fun with Photoshop

SOOC....straight out of camera....nice, but I think I'll tweak it with a little action and tutorial I found...courtesy of PW...

VIOLA! WOW! I believe this deserves a printing and frame! :)

Oh, and to be fair to Riley, she also finished school today. Had fun getting her yearbook signed by her buddies, and her dad and I are in shock that next year is her freshman year....The kid ended with 7 A's and 1 B....she's gonna have an amazing GPA for this year. Now if she can keep it up for the next 4 years, she could actually have a chance at getting into BYU! (If that's what she still wants to do in 4 years!)

3...2...1....SUMMER!

Nicole's last day was yesterday. Her teacher came to see the kids off, and brought her sweet and adorable new baby for them to meet. Nicole was excited to be done, and is looking forward to 1st grade.

Nicole and Miss Ross, class TA

Nicole and Mrs. Bird, beloved Kindergarten teacher!

Jared's last day was today. He had a cute little graduation ceremony. That I missed in person. Ellie...ummm...barfed all over me this morning. Thankfully Ron was home for the morning to attend Jared's graduation, so we knew when Ellie lost it that one of us had to stay home with her. So we gave Jared the choice of who was going with him. No surprise that he chose his dad! So Ron went and took lot's of pictures and video for me. The teacher also made a darling slide show and gave all the kids a copy to bring home. Thanks to the video I still got to enjoy Jared sharing that when he wants to grow up he's going to be a fireman, policeman, and mailman, his portrayal of Papa Bear in a puppet show, and him doing the chicken dance. If I figure out how to upload video, I'll share it! :) Jared is SO excited to go to kindergarten now! I sure hope I can get him up to speed on writing his letters and numbers this summer....the poor kid doesn't even turn 5 until July 17th....he is going to be such a young 5.....

Jared and his class

Jared's 1st graduation tassel...maybe we'll hang it from the handlebars of his bike!

And last but certainly not least....a classic Ellie look...:)

Little bits of life.

Various things going on....so here you go!

Nicole- Back to school! The kid has definitely been catching up on sleep.....Monday, she slept in until 10! Tuesday, til 9, and I had to drag her out of bed this morning at 7:20. She really wanted to go back yesterday because her teacher, who has been gone since having a baby a month ago, was coming in for the day and bringing her new baby. So I took Nicole for the last 45 minutes. When we got there though, her teacher wasn't there because she couldn't find a sitter for her older child. But Nicole wanted to stay and her teacher is coming on Thursday, which is also her last day! Holy cow...I cannot believe she is almost done with Kindergarten. That FLEW!

Nicole is now to the "stinketh" phase of her recovery....uck! I brush her teeth well, and her tongue, and have her gently gargle to help the tonsil part, but I can't do anything about the adenoid part....so I remind her not to breathe too close to anyone's face for a few more days. :) Yesterday in the mail she got a cute "get well card" signed by the nurses that took care of her and some stickers. I am SO beyond impressed with the same-day surgery department of this hospital. Awesome care, and great follow-up.

Riley- There was an awards assembly at school yesterday and Riley got 4 outstanding student awards from her English, History, Graphic Arts, and some other teacher that she couldn't remember. They hadn't told parents about the assembly, so we weren't there. She'll get her certificates today so we'll see what the mysterious 4th was! Her Science teacher told her she was on his list as well, but they made him shorten his, so she was taken off since she was getting the others.

The really weird part about this kid is that this last term she's been checking her grades, on her own, and is bugged that she doesn't have all A's....huh?! Seriously, talk about a FANTASTIC change! At the beginning of this year, she could care less what her grades were, and if you told her that she was missing assignments and her grade was down to a D, she'd ask "what's so wrong with that"? So this change in attitude is so welcome! It's great as a parent to watch a child start taking responsibility for themselves and meeting their incredible potential! YAY for Riley!

Here's the kicker....guess where I took her yesterday....???? A JOB interview! Yep, if she gets it, she'll be working in the snack shack at one of the local pools this summer. Such different plans for her this summer. Last summer, I thought her butt was going to grow into the couch. This summer....Youth Conference, EFY, Girls Camp, Tennis Lessons, Voice Lessons, and a part-time job. Crap. If this keeps up, we will be getting her a car in a couple years so I don't have to schlep her around! :)

Jared- Has preschool graduation Friday, and his end of year Water Party on Tuesday. Starts T-Ball in June.

Me....I should be doing a lot of other things, but I'm escaping it by blogging....hehehe...well, until now. I have no more to tell. Dang. Non-interesting but highly irritating tidbit....it was in the 90's yesterday. I had to turn on the A/C last night for a while to get it to a comfortable sleeping temp....Now that the storm has arrived, it's 40 degrees right now. With wind chill, lower than that!

Hey any of you Mesa AZ residents....

**Edited to announce that Scott won by 56%!! Congrats Mr. Mayor!**

and I know I have a few of you reading here!

Just a shameless plug to remember to go vote today for your mayoral candidate...if I were able to, I'd be voting for Scott Smith....cause he's a good guy, and my cousin! hehehe....

Go Scott!

Day 3 post tonsils...

and OH BOY, has the grumpiness begun!

I'm sure it's a combination of pain, boredom, and hunger for real food, but this afternoon Nicole was having a hard time.....clingy, crying unless mom or dad were with her on the couch, and the most bizarre "angry" behavior if she wasn't getting what she wanted....throwing stuff and hitting with her pillow...I made it clear pretty quick that it didn't matter what was going on, that wasn't acceptable. She has never acted like that. Maybe she's having an odd side-effect from the anesthesia....3 days later?!

I went to Wal-Mart tonight....it was kind-of nice to just wander and get some down-time. But then I remembered I was at Wal-Mart...how sad to go there for "enjoyment"!

Hopefully tomorrow will be better, but they did warn that days 3-7 can be the worst.

Cross your fingers for me ! :)