Long Lost Friend

Wow. I just read something that really got to me. Okay so when we lived in Draper, we had some friends, Evan and Kari Mason. They were in our ward, and we all lived in a condo complex (or two or three), so not too big, and we all pretty much knew each other. This ward, we jokingly called it the "Newlyweds or the Nearly Deads" cause it was mostly made up of retired people and young couples, with few children (there was like one Young Man, a handful of Young Women). There was always a baby shower to go to, and eventually mine, for Ethan, although we had just moved. Kari was such a fun person, she had a great personality and I really think everyone liked her. I know that I really liked her and Evan, and his two kids from a previous marriage. They did not have any kids together, she could not get pregnant. While we lived there, Kari was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. I remember this. I remember certain things very clearly (haha like the baby shower we were at and Kari enlightened me on what a chest with no boob looked like. She was hilarious. That was just her personality.)-- I remember her being sick from it, how it affected her and their family life, etc. Anyway, life was crazy, we moved from there to somewhere while we built our house and that did not work out, so we moved again, I was working, we were planning for our house, I was totally pregnant, and I just lost track of most the people we knew over there. Well, I saw someone at Target and she told me some things that had happened, and I always wondered. Then, I was invited to be a friend of Evan's on Facebook, and noticed he had pics of him and someone else. I don't go on there very often so I forgot about it, but I was reminded and decided to find out what happened, after all, I knew she had cancer and had a miracle baby. I did a search and came across this story. If you want to hear a inspirational, yet sad cause I will tell you that when it was written, she was alive still, but she has since passed on. She was only like 35 when she got cancer, by the way. Anyway I was so sad when I finally brought myself to face the truth and read about it (even though I have not seen her in over 4 years. But I was in their lives when a bunch of this was happening and I remember it, talking about it, etc). I could not help but bawl my eyes out! But, in the midst of all the sadness, there is a message that screams miracle and that Heavenly Father is very much real, and He cares and watches over us all. And who knows why things happen the way that they do? I hope someday to know (I am a want to know, understand kind of person), I am sure after I have left this life, but until then I will have faith in His plan and that it is all for a purpose. Here is the link to her story, and to the miracle they were given.
http://karimasonfund.org/pdf/wasatch_woman.pdf
I pray that all these trials that the people I am surrounded by strengthen me, my testimony, enough that when I go through my traumas that are, at least some, inevitable in my future, I will be able to have the faith I need to get through it/them. I don't ever bear my testimony, but I have a strong one and I know that Heavenly Father loves me, and not only me, but every single person out there. I am truly grateful for a prophet and all his counsellors. I am grateful for my Bishop, and Bishopric. I know it must be really taxing to be in charge of so many people and I know that there is no way he or his family could do it without the help of God.
Anyway, if you are reading this, then you more than likely know me, and I am guessing are a friend or family member, and I just want to tell you how much I love and appreciate you. Even if I don't see or talk to people much, I hold my relationships in the same place as the last time we did (spend more together); I consider the people in my life very important details in the intricately woven web of (my) life. Thank you so much for all you do, have done, and quite possibly will do for me. I could not do it without you. And, PS, I love you*.

*That is serious, but for those couple people who know that I just added a little humor to such a serious post, lol!

Leprechaun

We did not realize that we don't have any boutiques until after St Patrick's Day, and we have a bunch of these cute leprechaun bells. If anyone is interested in buying any, we will sell them for $.50 each. This guy has been discontinued, so he is a little hard to find. This holiday is so overlooked! I don't know the meaning or whatever, but we celebrate it every year, have a little party with the Kenney side, and go to the parade. Its a great parade, lots of candy!

Valentine's 2008

I know I already posted this picture last year, but I wanted to show it digitally scrapped. I love Rhonna Farrer and this is from one of the many free kits I downloaded from the twopeas website the other day. Since I am new at this, nothing I do is too spectacular, but it is fascinating to me! Ps this page took me 5 minutes. If I were actually scrapping, it would have taken me like an hour or two. I am not joking. Just ask Jenni! Speaking of which, I am so excited to get together with Jenni and Becca, and hopefully Bec's SIL Nicole to have a scrap overnighter in a couple weeks. They are really fun and the one we were supposed to do, is scheduled for March 13th/14th and who knows what will be going on for me that weekend. The last time Becca made plans for me (a baby shower) near my due date, I ended up in the hospital so the party had to come to me :)

Gift Basket

Okay I need to be productive and stop reading these giveaways. I have much more important things to do and we all know I am more than likely not going to win anything. Problem, is, I am an if there is a slight chance kind of a person, so here goes. http://frugalmommyof2girls.blogspot.com/2009/01/thats-caring-giveaway.html is giving away a gift basket. Umm a flippin YUMMY one. I love pesto! I love tomato basil. And that cookie looks REALLY good right now. So, here I am, entering another giveaway and tell you about it.

Cute Diaper Bags

I am entering another contest, so you get a link to the contest and the site where the diaper bags can be purchased. Here is the giveaway-- http://hermashaw.blogspot.com/2009/01/hoohobbers.html

And here is the site to buy from--http://hoohobbers.com/personalized_diaper_bag.html#

I really like the poppy one, but I think how dirty it would get? and decided on the cocoa/green. I would love to win this, though I must say there is no chance I would EVER spend $70 on a diaper bag. No way, not ever! The ones at Target are plenty cute. Even better, are the bags that are big enough to be a diaper bag that weren't actually meant to be. I have one of those that I bought at H&M (my VERY favorite place) and I can guarrantee I did not pay more than $25 for it.

Owls

I am really into owls right now, and these ones are way super cute!
http://www.mycutestamps.com/index.html
I keep looking at them and one of these days I am actually going to buy this stamp set...
Funny enough, I just marked the owls in this giveaway to be on my wishlist at 2peas!
http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/shop/list/?f=qa_c&c=24&qa=holly%20brooke%20jones
I found this designer at Oh Sweet Sadie. I really love that boutique!

Also, this new CPSIA crap is really causing a pain. To read more about it, click here.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19132270 and/or here http://www.ohsweetsadie.com/ (Jan 8th 2009 entry).
Kind of funny, but seriously, something needs to be done or all those cute little things that you buy at boutiques... well they will be no more.

Web Colors

I found this link, it was helpful to me in matching the font colors to my new blog background. Here's a link to color codes-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_colors.

You May Just Love Me!

Okay I will not take credit, it belongs to Jenni. If you are a digital scrapbooker, you will love love love this link. I love twopeasinabucket.com, and one of my favorite designers is on there, too. Here is a link to lots of really cute freebies. I mean it when I say lots.
http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/shop/list/?f=2_c&c=24&pg=1&pp=200
Happy downloading!

Great Resource

Check out this story--

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Amy Zabrina

Remember how I posted pics of my family pictures? Well, Amy was the photographer and she is having a giveaway. She is a woman of a trillion talents- seriously she is amazing, and everything she does, she does it until it is perfect. The giveaway she is having is for a watch, and her watches are CUTE! So go check her out. Amy Zabrina Photography

If you did not get my Christmas card, then my brain is challenged (being eaten by the baby in me) and here it is-- the photo was taken by Amy. This is actually my first real digital scrapbook page as well, I just cropped the picture when I ordered it. I just wanted to say that I did nothing to the picture, that is the way I received it. I guess I should share where I received this awesome digiscrap stuff. I LOVE HER! Summertime Designs She is so talented and she shares her designs, free of charge.

Copy Cat

I am copying my recent post to our business blog. Too cute not to, in my opinion :)

This cute heart is one of Jenni's recent projects. She made it for herself, so it is not for sale, but it is too cute to not post!This is one of my very favorite magnet boards that I have made. I was told this paper is now discontinued (I am not sure if that is a valid claim yet, though), so it makes it even more a love of mine! I made this for my husband for Christmas. He is easy, so I just picked the designs I like :) I am trying to get better at photographing these-- if I was better at it already, there would be some on our website.

Close ups for more details--This is a gift I made for my sister, Brooke. I used my inspiration piece that was given to me by a good friend, Amy Riley. She is an amazing photographer, by the way--
Amy Zabrina Photography. She also is having a great giveaway right now, so go check her out.

Hilarious!

Here is the link, for the funny little video below--http://www.starz.com/promotions/bunnies/Pages/Bunnies.aspx

This was sent to me by my sister, Jenni. Hopefully, at some point, it will actually work...

Don't Worry... ALSO Spoiler Alert: BL

I have too many things to think about and have not thought about my last post except for when I am on here :)

Anyone watching the Biggest Loser? I knew what was going to happen this week, just because my sister sees these particular two people working out at the same 24 hr she goes to, but I was hoping for a different outcome. Why didn't Dan participate in the temptation? I am so disappointed in his at-home partner that I was SURE he would win. He keeps eating bad (or at least that is all they keep showing). I have very little respect for him right now and I am hoping that he can come back and buck up and stop being a food pushover. He did apply for this show, ya know?

Its Been a While

I know I am a freak. I was on Stephenie Meyer's website just now, which I must say I have not visited in a while. The movie kind of slammed my obsession to the ground and I stopped thinking about the books so much for a while (I did not say it ruined it for me, but it did rain on the flame, hahaha). So just now, when I was looking at the site, I felt this twinge of longing! I miss them! I am so ghetto! What is wrong with me? Its like I am dying to start the books all over again. It has not even been a year yet since I read Twilight for the very first time, and I have read Twilight 3 times? New Moon twice, Eclipse 3 or 4? Breaking Dawn 3 times (I think?) and I have read the only available chapters of Midnight Sun twice. My favorite is Twilight and I love reading from Edward's perspective, so Midnight Sun would probably be my favorite book of the series, if she would ever finish the damn thing and get over her stupid madness or whatever it is (I am not bitter...). Anyway, I just knew you were missing my talking about that so I had to add a quick little blurb! ;)
PS. If someone lets me borrow their precious copy in March when it comes out (since I will be sitting my butt in front of my TV for half my life starting in March sometime), then I will give the movie a second chance. My expectations are much lower this time.

Funny... LMAO

If you need a little laugh for the day (and maybe if you are lucky, a cry)--

WOOOHOOOOO

GO STEELERS!!!I think since they are in the Super Bowl, we will probably be having a party :) Too bad our TV is nothing special...

Knowledge is Key

Okay so ignorance truly is bliss. This came as a shock to me and I am sorry if I ruin it for anyone, but here is something that opened my eyes-- Jody and I went to Cold Stone last night for a treat (after dinner, we had a coupon/gift certificate to Madeline's-- I had the coconut shrimp and I was NOT disappointed! YUM). Jody asked for the nutritional info and found out that his Sinless Sweet Cream was like 290 calories and .5 gram of fat for the Love It size, medium. WELL. My Love It chocolate-Sweet Cream concoction (yum yum yum I LOVE COLD STONE) -- with nothing added (I added almonds, but this is just the cream)-- was 40 grams of fat. Yes, that was FORTY. Wow. A small little thing of ice cream. Imagine if I'd added a candy bar? I mean nuts aren't exactly fat free, but at least they are good for you!

So the largest, the Gotta Have It, had like 1000 calories. I did not look at the fat, cause its just horrendous. I was still reeling that I just ate (and would really like to again right this second) 40 grams of fat in a small amount of time.

Healthy eating really does require you to pay attention to things. I don't have Cold Stone all that often, so its not that big of a deal. You know, it could be my Ben and Jerry's for the year. But when I watch the Biggest Loser and Jody is sitting there counting the POINTS Values--insert commercial here, for any of you who watch BL and their cheesy little mid-show mini commercials--{Me: laughing cause that is what Jody has to call "points" when writing for Weight Watchers}, I have to remember that just cause I am not over 200 lbs, I should pay attention to what I eat a little more. I am sure my dinner (which very likely could be a diet breaker in and of itself) and my treat would take a week to work off. Its a good thing I have a little help in that area (thanks, baby, for absorbing some of that!). So for today-- high fiber and low fat waffles, oranges & more oranges, LOTS of water, and, I am sure, some Moose Tracks tonight :)

Baby Names

Like I said, I don't normally tell people my list of names, but I am close enough, right? I mean I don't even have one picked out. So I am into the Irish thing right now, hence half the names being Irish (Aidan, Connor, Liam). Some of these I like together, and I have a couple middle names I might like, so that is why they are not paired with another name (not sure I like enough to put them together yet). Another funny thing is one of the names I like the very best (for the moment, haha), I sort of hesitate. Some of our friends have a son named Ethan and another of the names we like. That would be funny. Can we just copy your list of names??? But I really like that name right now, and its been a long time coming this pregnancy for me to like any name more than just a little. So we will see what happens.

Free Photo Book???

The last time I tried to order a free photo book, I got screwed. My computer's hard drive crashed and I was not able to place the order in time (remember folks, if they say something ends on January 15th, that doesn't mean when you go to sleep, it means 11:59, cause as soon as 12:00 hits, its January 16th. Oh yeah and pay attention to those time zone things too... been screwed by Old Navy that way before.) My post will say I did this on January 16th, but to me it is still the 15th, cause I have not yet gone to bed. It was my little brother's 14th birthday, by the way.
Anyway, so the other day I read on http://mommysnacks.blogspot.com/ about a free photo book from www.hoorray.com. I would post the lovely image I saved to my computer, but for some reason I am not able to upload a photo at this time. I had never heard of this company, but decided to give it a try. After A LOT of drama, I finally ordered my book about 15 minutes ago. I was not going to bed until that thing was finished!!! I was a bit skeptical about it being free, but when I typed in the code, it took the book price off. All I paid was $7.99 for shipping. So I am sharing this with you. If you want better details, visit http://mommysnacks.blogspot.com/ and look at the post on January 8th about this. This is a thank you due to a campaign by Bzz agents. While I am new at knowing what exactly that is, I am very grateful to them and their thank you from Hoorray. So here is the deal. Go to Hoorray.com, create an account (free), upload pics, create a $34.97 album, and then at checkout type in the promo code "bzzalbum". I have not received mine yet, and believe me I will blog about it when I do, but I thought I would share this with whomever desires to do this. The promotion ends January 20th. Good luck and I hope its not as big a pain for you as it was for me (for the record, once everything was working properly, it was fine). I really hope I like it, I am sure that I will buy more albums someday. It really has to be more cost effective to scrapbooking. I have LOTS of unscrapbooked pictures. Like 12 years worth...
Anywho, happy printing and now I am going to BED! I am TOO TIRED FOR ANYTHING MORE! (oh yeah and just as soon as my head hits the pillow, I will all but guarantee one of my kids will start crying. Its been that kind of week, ya know)

Tote Giveaway

I may have missed the giveaway, but just in case I did not, I am posting about it. You can not enter, since it just ended, but the site I entered for the giveaway on is a great one and I've talked about it-- http://www.5dollardinners.com/. She has great giveaways, recipes, and meal plans. The totes are from http://www.springlosangeles.com/Our-Collection-c2. I really think they are all cute, but my favorites are the Berry Bliss and the Peachy Perfection.

On a different note, I am trying to stay busy so that January is not the typically depressing month that is normally is. I am so glad the sun has been shining, and it will shine (I think) for at least a few more days! It is hard to enjoy the sun in the summer, but when winter is here, I LOVE opening my blinds and letting the warmth come in. Summer-- too hot for that... Winter--- a breath of fresh air, a welcome uplift!

On another completely random note, I am looking for a dresser for Ethan's room. I am not looking for something new, just something that looks fine and works (good condition). I am thinking I would most like something black or white, that I could sand (so I guess it would have to be wood) and glaze/stain to make it antique-y but that is just what is ideal. Also cheap, like $25-$50 (okay $0-$50 haha). If you have one you want to get rid of, or know of someone, let me know -k-. I am just trying to get Ethan's room ready for him to share with the baby and his closet is not very big (it shares space, with walls in between, obviously, the pantry, so I wanted the pantry bigger and took like 2 feet from his closet). I mean it is a decent size, but for two it will be tight.

Buzz Lightyear just kissed me on the cheek. Then the possessive Sydney had to reclaim her spot on my leg and kick him out. They are getting pretty good at playing by themselves (or with each other, w/o me) so that is nice, but right now, they are being kind of clingy and it is bugging me! And now that I acknowledged that Ethan is all dressed up, Syd wants me to put a costume on her. Love the kid wars. She is doing pretty good with potty training, and on that note, I will end this post to go make sure that she does not have an accident...

Other Great Offers to Share

http://www.colgate.com/app/Colgate/US/OC/SpecialOffers/FastStart.cvsp

Host a lunch with 6 friends and Michael Angelo's will pay you back. Here is the rebate form and rules (you have to join their "family table" but that is free so its no big deal). Enjoy!

*I found these deals from the lovely sites I have in the $ave Money sidebar. They are wonderful!

Free Suze Orman Ebook

Free book, offered on Oprah. Here is the link to download it, then save it to your computer. There is an English and a Spanish option.

Birth Control

Does anyone use Kariva (the generic for Mircette)? Let me know if you do (if you would rather email me, feel free) :) Thanks!
I have a pregnancy test that is wrapped and in the package, and I was going to ask if anyone wants it, but I decided that would jinx me into needing it and that would REALLY SUCK. So in an effort to please my superstitious self, I will post about that towards the end of the year (closer to when it expires) so that I do not do anything that could influence me having a baby and getting pregnant in the same year (no worries, I do believe in birth control, as is evident above!).

I Have 7-9 Weeks to Make This Decision

I had a poll on my sidebar--

5 (62%)
Repeat C Section http://www.webmd.com/baby/tc/cesarean-section-topic-overview
3 (37%)

Repeat VBAC http://www.webmd.com/baby/tc/vaginal-birth-after-cesarean-vbac-overview
5 (62%)

Votes so far: 8 Poll closed

Grocery Helps

Someday when I am an expert at this, I will post about it and help someone else become one. Until then (I will keep pulling my hair out), do any of you use Grocery Guru or/and TheGroceryGame.com? I am needing help with GG- I swear his site needs some serious explanations (I keep getting confused. Am I stupid or is it the site???) and I want to know if The Grocery Game is worth spending the money on. THANKS!!!

No Brainer

Warning: This is a post about childbirth; it may be a little sketchy!

Here is what is with the poll. Ethan apparently enjoyed the upright position in my belly and therefore was breech. He came two weeks early, and I went into labor with him, so I had a cesarean. Sydney, there was no issues, and I decided to try a VBAC. So I am sure some would think its a no brainer this time around; have another VBAC. To be honest, I am not sure I would prefer that. Of the two experiences, the one I had an easier time with and have happier memories with, definitely the C Section. I may have a scar on my lower abdomen (that no one will ever see, and its already there so who cares?). After having both recoveries, its hard for me to make a good decision, because my circumstances were different. With the section, I had no one else to take care of except Jake, and I did live in an apartment so I did have to take him outside to go potty several times a day. But other than that, no major demands. This time around, I will have two kids to take care of. The VBAC. I still took pain meds, maybe for not as long as the section, but a different part of me hurt. I felt like after that I was screwed up and would never be the same. Do I really want to make that part even worse? Again, I know that is a personal issue that no one else has to deal with, but for some reason I did have issues with knowing the difference, with that in mind, between the section and the VBAC. Let's face it, there are definite benefits to leaving that part of the body out of labor and delivery.

I don't have anything really planned for March and April and maybe May. Except I will throw a big party in mid to late-May if Jody reaches his goals. Oh I just remembered... I may have an Easter activity and/or another activity in May that I will be in charge of for my church (but I am not the only one on my committee, so that will work out, I am sure). I may need some help, either way (with my kids, house). I may just be stuck in front of the TV no matter what, I mean with Sydney she ate every two hours. For those unknowing individuals, that meant that if she started eating at 12, she started eating again at 2. My kids take forever to eat, so I usually only had a little over an hour to anything before I had to start feeding again. Maybe this kid will spare me feeling like a blob, but I am not counting on it :). Jody's work is really great about using sick days (they just keep piling up) and with the first two kids, he pretty much had three weeks off work. With Ethan, he spent a lot of time away doing house stuff, though, cause we were building at the time. This time around, he is on the Jazz team, so March and after are kind of a busy time in the NBA. There are only 7 home games after March 7th, so that is a blessing (he does not cover away games, usually). That said, I am not sure how much time he will be able to take off due to the time of year: Playoffs. Will that matter? I am not sure. Other things to consider-- 3-4 days in the hospital as opposed to 1-2 (I like the hospital so the longer is a bonus to me; peace and QUIET!). I plan on having a 4th child. Do I want to have a choice in delivery method for that child? If I have a second cesarean, there will be no other choice.

I am not wanting to actually pick the baby's birthday, but I don't think that will be a problem, since the hospital will only allow you to schedule a section one week in advance, and though its no guarantee on this one, Ethan was 2 weeks early and Sydney was 11 days. I figure no matter what, I am going into labor.

{Sidenote-- getting dilated to a four was much easier and MUCH less painful with Ethan than Sydney. I just showed up to the hospital at a 4, with manageable pain. Had a baby an hour or so later. With Syd, I showed up to the hospital at 1 am, at like a ONE and was in horrendous pain for hours, was sent home (to parents') at 7 am then went back at 1 or 2 pm, just barely a 4. }

http://www.webmd.com/baby/tc/cesarean-section-what-to-think-about

http://www.webmd.com/baby/should-i-have-a-vbac-trial-of-labor-after-a-previous-cesarean#aa37799-Intro These links are for me to be able to quickly find again, but you can read up if you want.

I am sure it is really not a big deal either way. I mean we will manage no matter what. I just can't make decisions and like to make things more difficult for myself.

Now that I have turned a quick thought into a lengthy hour long endeavor, I am going watch the last little bit of Aladdin with my kids!

As requested :) pics; these were just taken at my grandma's house on January, 4th 2009.

Whirlwind

This past week (or couple of weeks, really) has been such a crazy week. I will try to post pics later, but right now we are driving home, so I thought I would take advantage of some free time. I REALLY wish my kids would mellow out for two seconds to fall asleep, but it is just not happening yet. GRR.
Okay so our Kenney family party was in St. George this year, where some of my aunts and uncles and grandma live. We thought it would be fun to go for New Year's Eve as well-- this is a fun family and we knew we would have a great time. Plus, we don't see them often, and more time in a warmer place is always great. So here we are making the drive from 40-59 degree weather back to snow and 19 degree weather.... Anyways.
We decided to leave Wednesday morning, so I was trying get things ready to go Monday, I washed clothes, etc but you can only pack so much two days before, so I was planning to pack more Tuesday. Tuesday I woke up and was just not feeling it, but just going along with our morning. About 10 ish I started having a pain in my abdomen, but I could not pinpoint exactly where or what the cause may be. Syd had the big D so I just thought maybe I would see if that is what it was. I laid down, but really could not get comfortable (I was on the floor too, which never helps a pregnant body). To make things a little more exciting, my kids were being a ROYAL pain in the butt. In fact, the reason I laid on the floor is cause I made Ethan stay in his room and Sydney in hers, so I was laying on the floor blocking the hall, only letting them go to the bathroom or their rooms. I went to the bathroom and figured it might not be the same prob as Syd, plus I was also more able to say that the pain was on one side- my right- and definitely not the other side, so I figured that I better call my Dr, just in case it was something. I did not want to be an annoying patient, but then what if something was wrong and if something had happened to my baby and I was just sitting there not doing anything about it? I mean I did not think that it was to do with him, but you never know, right? So after all the phone calls, I was told to go to Labor and Delivery and they would figure out what the problem was, but it sounded to them like some kind of infection. I was in a lot of pain. I knew I was not in labor though, that was good. And during all this, I kind of was just like, please move so I know you are still okay, and he really moved a lot. The peace of mind that gave me was much appreciated! We dropped the kids off at my parents' house, which is like 3 minutes from the hospital, and when I arrived, I was going to pee my pants so they had me pee in a cup. My pee was SICK. Dark brown. I know, tmi for some people. Whatever. So I was like-- umm just so you know, I drink WAY more water than that would imply (and had that morning, too)! I just did not want her to think I was a slacker! After the urine test and an ultrasound of my kidneys (and being hooked up to the monitor, no contractions and lots of baby movements noted), I was given some percocet (thank goodness, I have a grand appreciation for the stuff- no vein, coldsore, kidney prob pain for hours) and after waiting a while, I was diagnosed with hydronephrosis-- my right kidney was larger than my left and somewhere between my kidney and bladder, there was a blockage, though they did not ever tell me if I for sure had a kidney stone, cause baby was in the way, but they concluded that I had one/some.
We left the hospital, went to pick up kids, went to Costco to pick up percocet rx, and I guess the time had just really flown by, because we dropped off the written rx and then walked around the store (I was not in pain cause I was already on it) and I got sidetracked by the glasses and Jody was like, where is your rx? I thought, oh I better go pick it up and I just remembered that they have stupid hours. It was 7:10. Stupid Coscto pharmacy closes at 7! FREAK! I was like, ummmm I can't just get another WRITTEN rx! My Dr office was closed, my ob actually never returned my page. I just hoped that the expired and a few years old pain meds I had at my house would cut it till TEN the next morning! Well, I arrived home and took one old percocet (I had 4) and even though I was pushing it, got a lot packed and ready for the morning (we were leaving for St George!). I went to bed and did not wake up until 8. No pain. I was like... huh? Okay. So we packed up and left and picked up rx, but I am happy to say that I did not have to take any. I guess if I had a stone, it passed in the hospital? Or it dissolved or something, cause I have not seen anything and when everything seemed back to normal, I stopped checking. I also developed a crappy cold and have two hella awful cold sores that hurt really bad (but now they are not as painful as they were). It has been interesting!
Meanwhile, we had a party a day for like 4 days in a row... a fun New Year's Eve Party, then just did things each day with everyone and it was so much fun. We played lots of games and ate lots of food, though I am proud to say that even though we ate TERRIBLE, we did go through a lot of oranges! That is good, right??? Jody was great too and spent a lot of time at a gym- he worked out three days in a row, and not just for a half hour, he did a mini triathlon one day (haha trained on all three things).
My parents were going to come down for THE party (Saturday night) and my dad got really sick, so they let us stay in their motel room, and the kids stayed with my grandma. I soaked in a tub for an hour or so and it was SO GREAT! Then just a night of sleep without dealing with kids or a party going on, well, it was heaven sent, even though I am sure my poor dad does not feel that way (I feel bad that they could not cancel the room and get their money back and my dad being sick, I had to get past that and then I could relax and enjoy it).
SO now, we are on recovery mode- we all need to catch up on sleep (we went to bed really late almost every night), get better from our colds, my kids need their routines restored (and some really good teeth-brushings), and return to normal. Not that normal is that great, but it will be nice to have a break from the near-chaos we have been living in for the last week.
We have such great family and this past few weeks, even though they have been somewhat exhausting, have been so much fun. I am so grateful to have such great family! And fun, too. I am surrounded by a lot of great, fun people and being together is not painful, like it is in some families. I am grateful for my Aunt Penney for letting us stay with her (and Jake too!) and my grandma for all her hard work, she really does try to make everything work just right.
Before all this St George action, we had an annual party with really extended family (Holfeltz's, we love visiting with them each year), Christmas Eve with Jody's family, Christmas Day with my family, the Harrison Family party, Zach Harrison's Mission Homecoming (that was all in one week) and then hanging out with my sister Brooke and her boyfriend, Ed, who were in town from NYC. Then the kidney issue and the trip to St George and now here we are.
I have pictures of a lot of this stuff so one of these days I will post lots of them :)

$25 Kroger Giveaway

One of the websites that I like to check in on is http://www.5dollardinners.com. They are having a giveaway for a $25 giftcard to a Kroger store, which is what Smith's is. If you want to enter, just go to that site and the info was posted on Sunday. The contest ends Wednesday.
This website has some yummy dinner ideas too-- always helpful, right?

Mary Poppins Says

"To every job that must be done
there is an element of fun."

(I am trying to feel this way when dealing with the "job" of cleaning up messes made by my kids and their bodily functions...)