What we've been up to...

I guess it's time for an update! The kids didn't have school Monday or Tuesday, so on Tuesday, we ventured to Colorado Springs to visit my parents. We also went to the Olympic Training Center so that Wesley could accomplish the "visit an important place in your community" portion for his Wolf badge for Cub Scouts. Here are a few pictures from that visit.

I love Matthew's smile in this one!

My brother Kendall in the middle.

I have a notebook in my purse that the twins keep getting and drawing in. Here are some of the latest.

A alien dog / A dog


An alien cat / A regular cat

This dog has glases to.

This is a cat and it has glasis.


My nose is feeling fine and I'm surprised how little pain, bruising and blood there was. It's not quite straight, so we'll see what they do with that, but if they do fix it again, it will be in the OR. If it's not going to affect my breathing or cause sinus problems, I'll probably just leave it! Thank you for your concern and sympathy! I still can't believe they do that to people!!!

TORTURE!!!

I was able to go to the ENT today. When I made the appt., I asked if I needed to bring anyone with me. The nurse told me that they wouldn't do any procedures for this appt. WRONG! I'm glad it's fixed, but I definitely have a story to tell.

You might want to stop reading if you're squeamish

(it's not really that bad, but I'm giving you fair warning!)

I went to University Hospital since there were more doctors available on the insurance there. That also meant younger doctors. The doctor my appointment was made with saw me first (not young), while another doctor (young) was in the room typing all the notes on the computer. After the doctor decided it was broken and could be fixed, he went out and another young doctor came in. He talked to me about what the procedure was, had me sign the consent, and took me into the procedure (torture) room.

The first step is numbing. If I had known exactly how this happens, I might not have had it fixed... Anyway, the young doctor soaks some gauze on a wire with string hanging off of it (I wish I could find a picture, but I did see that they are called tampons...) with cocaine - now I'm a druggy ;). Then they put it in your nose (2 each nostril) and just when you think it can't possibly go any further up (or hurt worse), oh, yes it can!!! OUCH!!!!! So those get to sit in your nose for a while to start numbing things. Meanwhile, you're crying, and the young doctor doesn't offer you anything to wipe the tears and he leaves the room.

The young doctor comes back in a few minutes for the next part of the numbing procedure. This time it's a shot in each nostril. Think of the dentist... Since he's a young doctor, though, there are a few pokes before it's in the right spot, then the BURNING!!! More crying and this time some bleeding. Still no tissues or anything and alone again in the room. Eventually he comes back and sees I need something, puts one of those cute blue plastic things you sit on after having a baby on your chest (too late, blood already on the shirt...) and a gauze to wipe some of the blood.

After a few more minutes, it's time to numb the outside of the nose. Since my tongue was feeling numb, I figured it wouldn't be too bad. WRONG!!! One on each side again. I really was surprised how much those two still hurt after all of the other steps!!! Alone again.

Now it's time to move the nose back into place. The other young doctor comes in and offers his hand to squeeze. I said I'd just keep grabbing the bed. At this point I ask, "How many of these have you done." "I'm not really sure." Quiet. Other young doctor says, "It's definitely not the first time for any of us." FABULOUS! So, blunt instrument up the left nostril, a small pop, some pushing, etc. None of this really hurts, thank goodness, except for the apparent poke in the nose that still hasn't quite stopped bleeding... Not young doctor comes in to look, it needs a little more, still doesn't really hurt and done with that part. A little cleaning of the nose, placement of the tape, placement of the guard, cleaning of the blood between my nose and mouth (most of it, at least) and I'm done. Gee, that was easy.

I am glad to have it fixed, but I do wish that someone was with me to at least help me wipe my tears! It's probably good that Jim is out of town and didn't have to witness the blood, though!

Update time.

I continue to be a bad blogger, but here is what we've been up to...

Jim had another birthday and got the ever exciting slippers, cargo pants, coat, laptop part, screwdriver set and pj pants. Don't be jealous! :)

Matthew decided he needed a mohawk to go watch Jim play his intramural basketball game.

Shaquille O'Neal came to the base gym to talk to the military kids.

You can kind of see his head above everyone else in the middle.

Here he is trying to leave.

This is the closest picture we got.

(See, it really was him!)

This is a tag from a skirt I recently bought.

Megan saw it when I had it on but hadn't taken the tag off yet. She read it and started laughing.

I'm happy to say that the skirt really did seem to work.

After church on Sunday, Wesley accidentally broke my nose at church. I was coming down the hallway and someone had tossed him something. He was going backward to catch it and jumped for it. His head crashed right into my nose. It was one of those things I could see coming, but couldn't get out of the way. I heard crunching and it is shifted to the right a little. I've been to the ER and my Primary Care doctor. I'm waiting for my referral to go through so that I can see a specialist. Hopefully it can be fixed soon and heal from that point instead of where it currently is. It might not be easy to see in the pictures. Surprisingly, it doesn't hurt that bad and it hasn't really even bruised. Still...

(I hope I never need to take a mug shot...)

A few photos...

Our Christmas card picture.



(If you would like to see our letter,

leave a comment and I'll e-mail it to you.

Sorry we can't mail one to ALL the people

that we would like to!!! I'm thankful for

technology helping to keep in touch!)



The kids made gingerbread

(okay - graham cracker and canned frosting)

houses for FHE one night.




Matthew's





Megan's


Wesley's (after a cave-in)





James' truck

Our friends, the Lawsons, were visiting family and came by our house, too.

I love when we get to see them!!!





(The 2 on the right side are twins, too.)

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

(Pictures from 2004)

This link is for my friend Brooke. She entered a recipe contest and needs viewers. You should definitely give it a look! It looks like a very yummy recipe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAObVcxbnYI&watch_response

Also, here is her blog for more yummy recipes:

http://conversationswithacupcake.blogspot.com/

Just be sure to tell her I sent you! ;)

A little catch-up

My last post was a little lame - sorry! Here - I'll make up for it with pictures (because I'm lame and haven't already posted these)...

Here's the kids' halloween costumes -

Spiderman, Astronaut, Ninja and Whoopie Cushion -
complete with sound effects

(courtesy of a fart machine - not the kid himself...)

During Fall Break, we went to the Cheyenne Mtn. Zoo and the kids fed the giraffes - what a tongue!

and fed the parakeets.

The first pictures of these next 2 sets are from 2002 with some friends.

The kids, and the tress, have definitely grown!

It's Thanksgiving and I'm thankful!

I'm thankful for so many things. I don't even know where to begin.

And I wouldn't know when to stop. So, I'll just leave it at that.

(Besides, I'm too full and tired!!!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

OOPS!!!!!!

What's this? A post within a week of the last one? WOW!

Anyway, this morning, I needed to call Qwest and dialed one number incorrectly. This is what I got - "This is the nation's master directory of every type of phone sex known to man..." CLICK!!!!!

At first I thought their line had been hacked and tried again. Then I finally saw my mistake. OOPS!

A couple funnies

Since I'm a bad blogger, I'll just do another one now and then we'll see when I post again...

Here's a few funny stories from the past few weeks. There was a school fundraiser night at Skate City and there are arcade games there. They boys have played roller hockey there and the twins were excited that "the games would be on" since they aren't during hockey. What they didn't know was that you needed money for them, apparently, so they were sad about that. Well, a boy in Matthew's class had some money and put it in the "claw" machine to get them a stuffed animal. He actually got 2 in one try! Then Megan somehow had a quarter and got another one. All this was after Jim was telling them not to waste their money in it - you never get a toy...

Then we went to Sonic and ordered 4 ice cream cones. There were some upset comments about that being all they were getting and how Matthew wanted "an M&M thing." We get to the window and they tell us that their ice cream machine is only making really soft ice cream and asked if we wanted a Blast or something for the same price. They were really apologetic, the kids were excited. Jim said, "Why can't I teach my kids ANYTHING tonight?!?!?" Fun times!

The kids are now on fall break and on the last day of school before then, the boys were not even home 10 minutes and James said, "I'm bored. I need some hard math problems." I found some for him, he didn't finish them, and he hasn't requested any more, but STILL!!!!!

Right now

This is another tag that I have been slow to do. Thanks, Heidi, for the "shout-out."

Right now Kristy loves...

-chocolate (that's a constant, though)

-having some fun time with her kids on fall break (zoo, bowling, Krispy Kreme) and the BEAUTIFUL weather

-Red Pandas - there are new twin ones at the zoo, but I'm not sure if they were the ones we saw yesterday; either way, they're CUTE!

Right now Kristy does NOT love...

-the stress of the Primary Program, but it will be okay!

-her kids fighting

-having to make dinner (another constant!)

Right now Kristy's kids love...

-Halloween candy

-doing fun things with mom

-Red Pandas

Right now Kristy's kids do NOT love...

-having to share

-going to bed

-mom's cooking (apparently...)

I won't even presume to do one for Jim...

Tag, I'm it (and have been for a while...)

Here are the rules: Link the person who tagged you (my wonderful friend Cindi - with an "I", two actually...) Tell about 6 quirks of yours. Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same. Leave a comment to let them know.

Here we go:

1. I'm not good at tags! I will be doing another one right after this one, though...

(These next 2 are from Cindi!)

2. I like to figure things out - at least with the internet's help.

3. I have a memory that doesn't quit. (That's definitely a thing of the past, unfortunately... I used to be really good with names and stuff, but I believe that each kid has taken a few thousand brain cells into their bodies! I was really thrown for a loop with the twins!) I think my memory is leaking these days!!!

4. I am a clearance junkie! I love to see this at Target.

(Yes, that's a Mr. Goodbar, and no, it wasn't expired to be on clearance.)

It's even better when there is more than one sticker...that means it's been marked down even more. It's also even better when the number in the right corner is a 75 or 90!!!

5. Along the clearance lines, the Isaac Mizrahi items at Target kind of annoy me because they have a similar logo to the clearance stickers with a small red area. Not that they're bad items, just that they distract me with the clearance "look."

6. I will call companies with complaints. I have received coupons for free diapers, replacement products, etc.

I'm going to save the rest of you from tag guilt, but if you would like to do this tag, I would love to see your answers.

9-11-08

7 years ago today was such a shocking day! I remember my mom calling me at about 7:30 in the morning and telling me to turn on the T.V. (I'm pretty sure she woke me up since I could still sleep in then...). I was glued to the television for the day and much of the next one. It was all so surreal! I remember calling a friend and saying, "They just got the Pentagon!" Wow!!! Jim was in Salt Lake City for a conference. That day's events ended up being cancelled. He thought it might be a good idea to show his co-workers some of the church sites, like the Family History Center, etc. All of those places closed early, too. Needless to say, he wasn't going to fly home the next day. They ended up driving back on Thursday in their rental car. I was certainly glad to have him back home! A friend of mine had her second child that day - a little boy. I can't even imagine that swing of emotions! It's still hard to believe that it all happened, but I'm thankful that a similar attack has not happened here since then.

On a happier note, today is my parent's 40th Wedding Anniversary. Here's a photo of them on their wedding day.

Here's a photo of their kids, kids' spouses and grandchildren. This was taken last December. Two of my brothers and their wives are currently expecting as well (the ones with the babies in the picture).

This is a picture of their grandkids with sweaters that my mom knit.

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!!!

If you build it...

I will go!

Guess what's coming to Colorado!

All together now!

Tonight we had Chinese take-out for dinner and this was Wesley's fortune:

Once he finished reading, Jim and I both said, "BEDTIME!!!"

(Unfortunately, we're still trying to get them all in bed - an all too often occurance...)

5 years ago today...

...this is what I looked like at about 6:30 in the morning.

And this is what I looked like that night.

(Gotta love those hospital pictures!)

Here's a slide show of the twins through the years. It's kind of long, but it's double the fun...

Seriously?!?!?

Dead man stands throughout 3-day wake

Okay, that's the headline, now go see the article.

An exciting day!!!

Today was the first day of school. That means the VERY first day of school for the twins. Yeah!!! (For them and for me...)

They had a good time and they were glad to know that I did okay at home by myself.