Monday, September 29, 2008

When the family gets together...

My brother drove with his family from Texas to spend a little more than a week with us. We had a family get together, we played lots of games long into the night, we reminisced, and we ate. I got to spend lots of time getting to know my two nephews whom I had only seem once before. They are adorable and certainly have lots of personality. While it was difficult on the kids' rountine, we still had lots of fun reading books, playing and just laughing.

Here's our family get together...don't mind the camera angle, we were trying to use the timer so everyone could be in it! I've got nephews and nieces, 2nd cousins and sisters-in-law, brothers, my mom, my family and a good family friend all wrapped up here.

My brother Randy, me, my brother Monty, and my mom! We're only missing my sister and another brother.

You can't tell at all that we're related, huh?

My brother trying to get his boys to cooperate in getting their picture taken.

Celebrating past and future birthdays!




My nephew Preston LOVES trains...a lot!

He also loves to swing!


My kids fell in love with their cousins. We are definetely going to have to plan a trip to Texas in the near future, or we may all go through withdrawals.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Seeing is believing

Sight is a vital sense. Seeing completely clearly is a privilege. I have been blessed to be able to see just fine without the assistance of glasses or contacts (the only one in my immediate family, I believe). So, I was hoping that my daughter would inherit my good genes in the eye department, even if she didn't get my eye color. Nope, last week she came home with a paper from the school nurse that said she failed the eye test (Sidney was devastated...it's the only thing she's ever failed at). Next came the appt with the eye doctor, she didn't seem to mind too much until he wanted to put drops into her eyes. I had to finally get the second drop in. Then came the picking out of frames, and I made her try on almost every single pair. None of it has become real until now. The glasses were ready for pick-up today. Sidney put them on and the sheer enthusiasm is almost tangible. She can see!!! I had no idea how badly she needed them, of course, she didn't really realize it either. Now, the world is new. She even said right after I took her picture, "Hey mom, I can even see the crevases in your face!" Hhmmmmm. I wasn't expecting her to see that!

BEFORE...


AFTER! Ain't she cute!

Friday, September 12, 2008

I am not schizo...I think

OK, just in case there's anyone out there that follows my blog and finds that I change my background design like...ALL THE TIME. Please know that I only do so because it's so darn easy. It's like changing your clothes, almost everyone doesn't wear the same thing everyday. Well, I like to change the look, almost everyday or week. It's an accessory to me. So, please don't run off because I can't stick with just one thing. I just like to change things around occasionally.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

An adventure to the ice caves.

While still in WA, the weather was cooperating and so we set out for our adventure to see some ice caves. The drive took a little more than an hour to get there, and next thing we knew we were headed onto the trail. No big deal, mostly paved, beautiful scenery. Until we passed some people who had wet shoes, or the bottom of their pants or shorts were wet. No big deal, they probably just liked playing in freezing river water, right? Back at the beginning of the trail, we now remember seeing the small sign that read "Bridge is out". What bridge could they mean? There are actual several small bridges that go over small brooks, but they all seemed to be intact. Then we get to where there is no access to the bridge and you can hear the water rushing. We had to cross the river on foot. The bridge has been completed taken out by an avalanche of downed trees and snow, that has since melted. We survey the river for the shortest distance and least deep place to cross. My brother-in-law, Dave, rushes into the water to see if it's truly crossable, followed closely by my brother, Randy. I can see their shorts and pants getting wet (they have removed their shoes). My mom is not completely thrilled with the idea, but begins removing her shoes for the watery journey. I watch as others who are wearing "river" shoes traipse across in record time and realize that they knew the bridge was out. So we managed to make it across with only a few wet spots. We continued down the trail where we found many more trees that had been knocked down by the force of an assumed avalanche and then had to be cut just to keep the trail clear. We got closer to the back of the mountain when the ice caves came into view. They were amazing. The closer you got to the ice, the faster the temperature would drop. Here is my brother headed into the largest opening to go check things out...against my mother's better wishes. He couldn't go too far though because it became very dark inside. Here is my sister, Colleen Marie. You can't really tell until you get up close how large the caves are.
So after visiting the ice caves, we made our way back down the trail to head back. As we got closer to the river crossing we wanted to see if there was yet another shorter and less deep crossing. A fellow hiker pointed us farther up the river. We found a good spot to cross, but on the way down a steep incline my sister slipped and hurt her good arm. We tried to hurriedly make our way across the chilly river so we could enjoy the picnic lunch we brought. This last picture was actually taken before we started hiking. This is me, my mom, my brother, Randy, and my sister, Colleen Marie.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

GO BYU!!


So as part of my trip to Washington, we had planned to attend the BYU vs Washington football game. It was a fantastic day! We drove to a park and ride and caught the bus that would take us to the stadium (we avoided traffic, didn't have to haggle over where to park, etc.). The sun was shining, we had FANTASTIC seats, and there lots of BYU fans there as well.

The game was intense nearly the entire time. We'd score, they'd score...they'd score, we'd score. There were fumbles, sacks, tackles, injuries, long passes, long runs for the endzone. And the stadium was incredibly loud! Those fans are crazy.

So, for anyone who didn't see the game, or hear about the outcome......BYU won. With mere seconds on the clock, Washington had just scored a touchdown and they were making their PAT(point after touchdown)attempt to tie the game....and BYU defenders BLOCKED THE KICK!!!! It was crazy! I nearly went hoarse screaming so loud! That game was so sweet, I would have liked it if we had won by a landslide, but winning by one will do just fine, too.

Here the offense is warming up and you can barely see #15, quarterback, Max Hall, who is from Mesa as well, preparing to throw the ball. Funny thing...on the plane ride to WA, I briefly met his parents and another player, Dennis Pitta's (#32, wide receiver) parents. They were headed up to the game also.

Now my mom is sandwiched between me and my older brother, Randy. He's a nut when it comes to BYU football. He brought a few copies of the BYU roster that has their position and some stats for each player...yeah, he just likes BYU football a little!

Then here we're celebrating our win with my sister, Colleen Marie, looking at how funny we are holding up our #1 fingers.

This was a fantastic start to a great weekend!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Reunion

Okay, so I got to go on a trip without my husband and kids. We only planned it that way because we knew the kids would be in school and it would be less expensive as well. The trip was to go see my sister, Colleen Marie, and her wonderful family that live near Seattle. Also, arriving would be my brother, Randy, coming from Texas. Since the middle of July, my mother has been staying with my sister to help out because my sister has breast cancer. Her situation needed some TLC so since my mom had planned on coming this last weekend she changed her ticket to arrive earlier during the month of July.

It was a great reconnection of sorts.! My brother and sister hadn't physically seen each other for about 12 years, so there was some good bonding to catch up on! We talked, we laughed, we ate, we laughed some more! And I'll tell more later of some juicy details of the trip. All in all, the trip was wonderful, short lived, but wonderful!

My eyes were opened to the battle my sister is trying to fight with this horrible cancer that invades her body. She has the heart of a lion, not wanting anything to keep her from her family and the people that she loves. Her husband, Dave, is a saint! He works hard to make her comfortable, feel safe, and is so compassionate! I've learned many lessons just by watching his example. Cancer is a horrible monster, but I still see the strong spirit in my sister that will not go down without a fight. I pray and hope that the treatments she's taking will provide her life with the quality we all want for her...healthy!

This is my lovely sister and her wonderful husband. This was on the bus to go see an awesome football game...but I'll post about that later.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Just zip me in, Mom!

I got out the luggage, so I could start packing for a short trip I'm taking. I'm the only one going, so I got out the smaller bag. Hayden had been in my room watching some TV, when I came around the corner this is what I saw.


I asked him if he wanted me to just zip him in the bag so he could come with me and he said "Yup, no one will even know I'm in here, it could be a surprise!"

AAWWW, bud, I would love to wrap you up and put you in my pocket so you could be with me all the time! So, sweet! I love this guy!

Egg, bird, menace?

We have many birds that live in or near our backyard. I really don't mind the birds that much except when they come onto my back patio and "mess" on the patio furniture or BBQ or windows and screens. They are welcome to live in the trees and sing songs on the fence. So when our family discovered the first bird family nested in our fruit trees to the side of the house, I thought it would be okay. Only 2 days after the first family left the nest with the little birdies flying away, another momma bird laid her eggs in the empty nest.







I walked by the empty nest once or twice thinking that I should probably just get rid of it. I really am not that mean, but these birds don't need encouragment with making a place to live nearby. Now that there are new eggs, we'll have to wait for this new mom to hatch the eggs and then wait for the babies to get big enough to fly away. You can see from the pics with my kids how small the eggs are.