San Francisco 2009

Kevin, Zach and I recently returned from a trip to San Francisco. We arrived on Thursday and walked down to Fisherman's Wharf. We took a tour of the bay on a ferry which took us under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. It was windy but I love being on the water!! We visited the Aquarium, Alcatraz (which is very fun), a Modern Art Musuem (very weird!!), Chinatown, Lombard Street (the crookedest street in America), Little Italy (good food), Castro (very fun!), Haight Ashberry (very scary - to me anyway)and walked all over the city. We walked across the Golden Gate Bridge which I also loved! Kevin navigated us through the city pretty well. We used all types of transportation - the Bart, cable cars, trolleys, buses and a town car to get back to the airport. We ate lots of great food - fish & Chips, Chowder in a bread bowl, Chinese food with things we weren't sure what they were, Pizza, In & Out Burger and even Burger King...hahaha. We saw things I don't think you are supposed to see......homeless people digging through garbage cans, a guy using a building for a bathroom, crazies talking to themselves, a guy and girl almost getting into a fight on the bus, cross dressers, prostitutes (we're guessing) and everything in between.

We also saw the most beautiful sights - the giant Golden Gate Bridge, the city from Alcatraz, sea life at the aquarium, beautiful victorian homes, Lombard street, just beautiful scenery. It was a great trip - thanks Kevin for planning it!

We had the best time in Vegas! Kevin and I, Pam and Chris, Tammy and Ted all left on Thursday morning. As we arrived in Vegas we discovered that a limo was just a little bit more than the shuttle so we hopped in the limo. The driver took us on a tour of the strip and told stories from his 50 years in Vegas. How fun. We stayed at the Excalibur hotel.

We walked around a lot looking at everything, including the M&M Factory. Saw Elvis (shocker!) and Michael Jackson. A few of us toured the Titanic Museum which was great. We all went to the shark aquarium which was really fun. We ate dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. We walked all over at night which was an experience. We saw so many things we never should have seen.....however, we also watched a water fountain show which was spectacular! The walk back to the hotel was so tiring!!!

The next day, we went to the Wax Museum and took so many fun pictures. Tammy and I karoakied (spelling??) and were judged by Simon Cowell and yes, we got our golden ticket to Hollywood! We also decided to use the bus pass. Fabulous!!!!!! We went to "Slots of Fun" which is a cheaper casino and we all played blackjack on a table for about 4 hours!!! It was sooooooo fun. We were loud and had a couple of great, fun dealers. We ate at the hotel buffet today which was really good but we were exhausted. Walked around some more, saw a statue guy who was so cool......and dragged ourselves back to bed.

Sat, we went to the old strip - Fremont Street. Again, thankful for the bus pass. This is the part I remembered from going to CA with my dad when we were very young. The Golden Nugget, etc. It's now covered and they do a light show at night which we missed because a few of us were too tired. Kevin taught us how to play Roulette....it was so easy and so much fun with a good dealer. We did really well there. Kevin put down $5 and walked away with $30. He gave me a few of those dollars and I walked away with $20. We are big time gamblers I'll tell you. It was just so fun to play for so long with so little money. We took a taxi back to the airport and flew home. It was a great trip and I can't wait to go again.

Sunset in Eagle Idaho 06/19/09

Can you believe that? Outstanding!

Eagle Fun Days and Family Fear Factor

We just finished a great weekend with most of my family coming from Utah. Everyone arrived Thursday night and we had 12 people sleeping at my house. Friday everyone went hiking to Table Rock while Pam and I did the shopping. Friday night we went to Big Jud's. Scott ate the Big Jud and fries which gets his picture on the wall (2nd time). He didn't get sick...yea for us! Then we went to Michael's work Blue Cow Frozen Yogurt. It's so fabulous! We watched an old scary movie from the 70's - Bad Ronald....very funny because some of us could remember seeing it when we were kids and it freaked us out.

Saturday morning was the waterparade and two of our guests hadn't been before. The weather was very cloudy and tried to rain but held off for the parade. Everyone was soaked. Later that day, we had "Family Fear Factor". They were divided into teams and the first game was to chew 7 saltines completely and then to try to blow a bubble with bubble gum....very hard. Next they had to find tootsie rolls in a mess of sauerkraut and kimchee. Very gross. Then came the food! Without knowing what it was, they had to eat three different kinds of things.....(heart, gizzard and ham hoof). Then the gagging began and luckily nobody threw up since we were indoors thanks to the rain! Then for a beverage they got a great concoction of beets, pineapple and green beans. Wow some of them could just down in like nobody's business. The final event was to find quarters mixed in with lots of change and crickets! I had to be sure none of those pesky critters escaped in my house. It was great and I'm sure something that will be talked about for years. Then we had the fabulous BBQ - cooked in the rain of course - and dessert. What a great day.

Sunday we went for a nice walk on the greenbelt where we saw three snakes...not so fun. I think everyone was exhausted but had such a great time. Thanks Kevin for all of your hard work in planning and cooking and making sure there's a little something different and exciting every year!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great weekend. We drove down on Friday and stopped at Maddox for dinner (always yummy). Saturday, we went to the Vietnam Memorial Moving Wall. We happened to time it right as they were doing a program. So we were able to see the HAFB 21 gun salute and the bagpipes as they played Amazing Grace while walking along the wall. Then we rode the Front Runner to SLC and went to the outside mall(name?). Zach, Katie and I went to the IMAX presentation "Under the Sea" in 3D at the Planetarium. It was very cool. We rode the Front Runner back to Ogden and went to dinner at Pizzeria (my favorite). Sunday, we went to breakfast, then to the cemetery. It was raining soooooooo hard and cold!!! We were supposed to have a bbq at the park but it was too cold so we stayed at Pam's. I was able to spend time with all of my family which is the best!!! Monday morning we went to see Brianna for her birthday - she's 3!! We had a gift for her and poor Brendan look so sad.....eventually Kevin game him a gift too so he was happy. Brianna got a talking mirror with the Disney princesses and lipstick and they both got bubble toys. We had a great time in Ogden and as always it's hard for me to go home.

Piano Recital

Tuesday May 19th was my piano recital. Everyone did pretty good! I had a couple of students who had chosen really challenging pieces and I prayed they would nail them and they did! I love the look I get as they leave the piano.....they quickly look at me and you can see them trying not to smile. It's so rewarding. Everyone received their composer statue for guessing the mystery composer. It was a great night and always great to have over - at least for another year.

You Gotta Love Spring!!!!!

You know Spring is here when.......

Yup, it's aerating time again! Kevin and the boys have done this for I don't know how many years but Zach is the only one available to do it now so he gets all of the cash! They work very hard for most of Saturday, get paid and then Kevin hobbles around for most of Sunday. It's been difficult for teens to get jobs right now - jobs are going to grown-ups with families etc. so it's good for Zach to get some spending money. Again, not the most fun but he doesn't complain at all. I'm so proud of my boys!

Storing Up!

During Spring Break last week, my dear son Zach went with me to the Garden City Cannery. I've felt such a great need to finally get more food storage. I haven't been to the cannery for almost 10 years and another 10 years before that. I'm so grateful for the new guidelines that have shown properly stored products are now good for 30+ years so that all of the old stuff I have is still good! That means I have a ton of wheat (which I don't know what to do with) that is still good and can be used for trading! (haha)

Anyway, Zach wasn't too excited but he didn't complain - not even once! We did dry packing - flour and sugar. The nice part is that after you do some work, you are able to by anything else that is on the shelves. So we purchased flour, sugar, oats, spaghetti, rice, apricots, pears, peaches and apple slices. I think Zach enjoyed running the can sealer....it is kind of fun. He was also able to help a couple of other older ladies with their dry packing. Thanks Zach for being such a great help!

Kevin has also helped me in purchasing other things that we currently eat - like soup, canned veggies, tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, tuna, canned chicken and other things.

It does take some money to get a large initial start but if you did a little each week, you wouldn't notice the cost at all. The hard part will be rotating everything and paying attention to which things are only good for a year or so. I'll have to work on that - but, I feel so much better knowing that I've made a start in doing what the Prophets have asked us to do and it's comforting to know we won't starve in the event of a catastrophe!

Kevin's Birthday!

This weekend we celebrated Kevin's birthday! He did absolutely no work this weekend which is very rare. We went to see "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" but Kevin was asleep within the first 10 minutes. I think he woke up now and then and got the majority of the story. It was long!!! Sunday we had a BBQ with the family and he cooked steak and chicken (for me). We had cake and ice cream and played cards. It was nice and relaxing. I hope he had a nice weekend. Happy Birthday Kevin...you old fart (too bad I'm right behind him......)
Kevin's helicopter ride over Maui

Kevin tubing in the freezing waters of Bear Lake
Kevin on the catamaran going snorkeling

My Baby's Birthday!

Today is Zach's birthday. I always tell them their birth story but in my old age, I become forgetful. So Zach, here's your story:

Dad and I dropped the boys off at Shawn and Wendy's on the way to the hospital. We got to the hospital and I was immediately hooked up to an IV to get my labor started. Pam came up right away. We laughed, talked, laughed some more. When the labor began to get really hard, I was given my epideral. It was a piece of cake after that. I was starving but couldn't eat anything. Dad and Pam went out for lunch and brought it back in the room!!! Soon, I knew you were coming. I couldn't feel any pain but I could feel the pressure of you trying to get out. When the nurses checked me, they called Dr. Johnson right away saying you were ready to pop out. He came in, began to wash up, taking his sweet time, talking a hundred miles a minute while I had to squeeze to keep you from popping out. I remember so much laughter.

Finally the doctor was ready and I think I pushed once and you were out. Dad was video taping and Pam was taking pictures. It was a party atmosphere and such a joyous occasion. You were so beautiful and perfect in every way. You were wrapped up and put in my arms and I still couldn't believe this miracle that was given to us. There is such a peace that surrounds a newborn baby. You'd just come from our Heavenly Father and I wished you could tell us your memories of heaven. Everyone loved you and came to see you. You were a fabulous baby - slept early on, never fussed and were soooo happy all the time. The only sad part was when we discovered the camera didn't work and we missed all of those pictures of you in the hospital. It was devastating to me but I reminded myself that I had my beautiful baby boy forever!! We are so proud of you and we love you so much. I cherish the "outings" we go on and your sense of humor. We love you! Happy Birthday!

Late Night Visitor

We were surprised with a visit from our dear friend Madison Flake! He used to be one of Kevin's Priests at the same time as Michael and he is the greatest! They talked about the old days (not quite so long ago) and we laughed and laughed. What a great guy! He left with Valentine's cookies and a recipe so he could make cookies with a date soon. Thanks for the visit!!

Family Health

What's going on? A question I've asked recently a lot. This all started a few weeks ago when I took Zach to the dr. to look at a suspicious mole. He noticed it and thought it didn't look right. Well, the dr. scraped it off to be sent to a lab. The results were "pre-cancerous" meaning if we left it alone, it would soon turn to cancer. So, we had to go to a dermatologist to have more of the area removed and he also found a mole on his back that looked bad too so he also removed that area. Zach was left with two scars about 1 1/2 inches each. Kevin watched the surgery.....I just tried to concentrate so I wouldn't pass out. Just listening to them describe the surgery made me want to vomit.

The Sunday following Zach's surgery, I found him passed out in his bathroom. I felt prompted to check on him and when he didn't respond, I had to break into the bathroom. It scared the crap out of me. He was awake but very pale, groggy and not too responsive. We tested his blood (remembering back a year ago to a scare with my niece) but that was fine. We took him to the ER and they ran all kinds of tests on him including an EKG. All tests came back fine. He looked much better. They ordered an EEG which we had done on Tues. The tech said he had beautiful brain waves and I watched the process. It was interesting and looked a bit like a lie detector test with a lot more lines running across it. I feel it will be fine but we have to wait for the results. The results came back on the second mole and it was benign.

Well, Kevin also went in to have his mole checked - family members know which mole that is but the dr. said it looked fine. Something he's had his whole life. He did say two spots on his hands (red, itchy) were definitely turning to cancer. He froze them off and we are waiting to see if they disappear. If not, he has to go back to have them removed.

Well......Kyle went in. For awhile, he did a lot of tanning and had a couple of strange looking moles. He now has to have three removed which are pre-cancerous also. Pre-cancerous means that there are cancerous cells starting to grow so even the area around the mole must be removed.

The dr. said moles and skin cancer can be hereditary so now all three of them will have to go back for yearly visits. Kevin twice a year. It's so good to get them caught at this stage and I'm glad we didn't just overlook them and not worry about them.

I encourage any of you who might read this to check your skin....anything that looks strange, get it checked. It's so worth it!

By the way, I wanted pictures but Zach wouldn't let me...hahaha.

My Baby's Birthday Feb. 10, 2009

20 years ago on Feb 9th, we went to the hospital to have our baby boy. I'd been in labor all day and went in that night. Kevin slept in the chair next to me and snored all night and I was told to "sleep, you'll need it" which was impossible. Early in the morning, I was awoken to a room full of people, and I was being prepped for a c-section. Apparently, the cord was tied around his neck and every time I had a contraction, he was being deprived of oxygen. They soon realized there wasn't time for a c-section, so the next thing I knew they were delivering him. Sometime during all of that confusion, I DID get an epideral - probably before the c-section prep. He was tiny 6 lb. 10 oz. (for me that was small). He wasn't breathing and was blue, I didn't get to see him. The dr. immediately began breathing into him through a small tube, and all I could hear was "breathe kid, breathe kid". There were so many people in there and Kevin was shoved to a corner somewhere and I remember feeling so scared. I also remember feeling "I'm going to be so mad if I go through all of this and leave without my baby".

Michael was rushed into the NICU where he immediately began to thrive. He was covered in tubes which he preceeded to pull out on his own. My first look at my new baby was a polaroid of him in the NICU. It wasn't until later that they wheeled me in to see him. He was so dang tiny!!! I never can nurse so I had to try to feed him with these tiny little bottles. But, he always threw up so he didn't keep much down. He later became one of those babies who projectile vomits across the room, down my nightgown, everywhere!!!!!

It was fun to see his brother come to see him in the NICU. Michael looked huge compared to the other babies there. One baby celebrated his 1st birthday while we were there. Ours was a monster in comparison! He was able to go home after a few days and everything was fine! No long term damage at all. Dr. Johnson saved his life and later told me how scared I made him. He also told me to never do that to him again!!!

We didn't get pictures during the delivery obviously since everything happened so quickly. I was so grateful Michael was safe and we've been able to enjoy him for these 20 years. Each of my boys has brought so much joy and happiness into our lives. We love all of them. Happy Birthday Michael. I love you! Mom

A Winter Day at the Park and Table Rock

Night Out - Bowling