Momma's got a new set of wheels!

Back at the beginning of summer, I bought this new bike and carrier. The carrier perfectly holds Andrew & Cameron and I envisioned me riding this bike all over town with them. So back when I got it I made several trips down to the river and back with ease. Then I started getting a lack of energy and my riding started getting harder and harder. The last trip I made down to the river (a 6 mile round trip) I thought I was going to lose my stomach after riding up the biggest hill. I had to stop and gain control of myself. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. In addition to the lack of energy, I would have constant headaches, ones that would make me sick to my stomach over. I finally went to the doctor a month ago and told her that something was definitely wrong with me. She did all kinds of blood tests, all which came back normal. Finally after having a CT scan done of my sinuses we found the problem. 3/4 of my sinuses behind my cheekbones are completely blocked with infection. That explained my emergency visit to the dentist long before Memorial weekend. I had to go in right away because of tooth pain, but when my dentist looked at my teeth and even took x-rays, he said that my teeth were perfectly fine. Little did I know that my sinuses were the culprit! So, after the results came back I started taking the prescribed antibiotics for the infection. 6 days into them my headaches were getting worse and so she changed my prescription to a stronger dose. After 10 more days of taking the stronger dose it's frustrating to say that the infection is still there. I can feel pain behind my cheek bones all the way up to my ears. My headaches have not gone away, in fact I came home early on Tuesday from work because of the pain. I have an appointment with my Ear Nose Throat doctor at the end of the month, but it's just not soon enough. It's disappointing not being able to do the physical activities that I want to do. I had such great visions of family bike rides, but unfortunately until I can start feeling better my new set of wheels will just continue to sit in the garage.

Memorial Weekend

For this last Memorial Holiday, Spencer and I decided to tack on a couple of extra days and take advantage of the long weekend. We decided to take a road trip and visit a good friend of his, an old mission companion named Beau. Beau and Spencer became great friends while they served together in Texas and he was even the best man in our wedding. He now lives in Thatcher, ID with his wife, Amy. I found out some interesting information when I did some research trying to figure out where in the heck Thatcher, ID was. I found out that they were only an hour away from my parents favorite getaway spot called Bear Lake. I had never been to Bear Lake before although they rant and rave about how awesome it is there. I immediately called them up and told them our plans and asked if they could meet us there for a night or two. It was a done deal.
So the first 3 nights we spent with Beau & Amy. We spent a lot of time riding 4-Wheelers, which our boys absolutely LOVED! Andrew loved them the most, without a doubt. We joined some of their friends and relatives for a cook-out on their property which had an amazing view. Spencer went turkey hunting but wasn't very successful, but he took the boys fishing and was very successful at that. We spent an afternoon at a water park in Lava Hot Springs and it was fun just seeing the guys reconnect. That Sunday morning we left and drove to Bear Lake. My parents got a 2 bedroom condo for us to all share. It was great seeing them! Spencer and I love to vacation with them because we always have the best time. I was disappointed with the weather though while we were there. It was mostly overcast with sporadic hard rain showers, but then it would momentarily clear up. When it did clear up for an hour or two I was able to get a tiny glimpse at the beauty of the lake. It was turquoise, just like what I'd imagine the Caribbean to look like. It was beautiful. My picture really gives no justice to it's natural beauty. Despite the weather, we had a great visit with my parents.

On our way home we stopped in Boise and spent the night with my brother and his family. The boys sure enjoyed playing with their cousins and it really made me miss being so spread out from my family. We all live so far apart and that makes it nearly impossible for us to all get together. I guess that's why road trips are so great, it allows us to stop many places along the way, reconnecting once again with those we love.

Back at it

Holy cow, it has been entirely way too long since I last posted!!!!

What's sad is that I do enjoy keeping a blog, but man-oh-man, somewhere along the line a few months ago I just lost MOTIVATION!

Luckily, my motivation has now returned and I am determined to get all caught up, but seriously ... I don't even know where to begin!?

Priceless...

Good friends Anna & Cameron. I just might have to keep my eye on these two ;)

Cameron's Field Trip

Cameron completed his first year of preschool last month and he did really well. He just loves learning and grew quite a bit socially too. When he first started school he was shy and refused to have his picture taken. Being social was just sometimes out of his comfort zone. In the last couple of months of school he really came out of his shell and has grown up quite a lot. I am impressed by how well he has done in preschool. Cameron's class took a field trip to a children's museum and I made sure I could attend. It's nice to do special things one on one with each child and so this field trip was our special trip.

My Mom

This year for Mother's Day I was able to meet up with my Mom and have a nice dinner with her. After dinner we went to the cemetary where my Grandma is buried and placed flowers in her vase. It was neat to be able to do that together. One thing I really appreciate about my Mom is knowing that I can call her up at anytime for anything and she will always take the time to listen to me. I love my Mom!

Pitching Machine

For the past few months Austin has been playing baseball, which has kept us pretty busy. For some reason this season has felt really long and I am anxious to get it over with. Last year Austin graduated from tee ball and moved his way up to the pitching machine. He enjoys playing baseball and takes it seriously. I get a kick out of watching Austin play sports. He is usually the youngest on the team, due to having a summer birthday, but he is so focused and really puts forth a lot of enthusiasm. Even when he is asked to play catcher, which a lot of kids are afraid to do, he shows no fear and goes for it.

Where do I begin??

For the past few months I haven't been a steady blogger. Realizing this bums me out because I have so many memories and events that I want to remember. So the next several posts will be me back-tracking and journaling about things I never got around to.

Settling Back Down

So I am no longer feeling like a stranger around here. My work schedule has calmed down a ton, I have had some much needed fun with the boys, quality time with Spencer, and I am looking forward to a road trip in the near future.

This past weekend the weather was gorgeous and I was able to enjoy both days, work free. On Friday afternoon, Spencer took all 3 of our boys on the Father/Son overnight camp out. I really appreciate the fact that Spencer takes all of our boys no matter how young they are. He always has and he is a real trooper in my eyes! I very much enjoyed having a night alone. I grabbed myself a very large bowl of ice cream, watched Pride & Prejudice, and slept in till 10:00 a.m. I loved every minute of it! I even suggested to the Stake President that they extend the Father/Son camp out next year another day. We shall see...

Also this weekend Spencer and I tried something new. We planted a garden. The garden isn't actually located at our house though and here's why. Spencer has a friend from work who lives on a few acres near by. They have always had very large gardens, but now that all of their kids are gone, they just don't garden like they used to. They offered 3/4 of their garden to us. So in essence, we are now part of a co-op garden. Here's how it works; They tilled the ground and got it ready; we came in and planted all the vegetables that we wanted (corn, beans, carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers, zucchini, and lots and lots of tomatoes); They will water and fertilize; and when it's time to harvest we all get to enjoy. What's ours is theirs, and what's theirs is ours. They also have a ton of berry bushes we can have full run of like blueberry and raspberry. I'm excited to see how well the garden grows.

In other news, we still don't quite know what exactly happened to Grandpa this last week. Did he have a heart attack, a stroke, pneumonia??? Who knows? I don't think the doctors are quite sure either. The man is 90 years old and wants to leave this earth so bad. Unfortunately, for him though, he's been healthy as a horse. But now it's pretty apparent that his body is starting to shut down. I hope that he can try to find joy while his journey is still here with us.

Feeling Like a Stranger

For the past few days I have been trying hard to re-introduce myself to my husband and children. I had one heck of a schedule last week. On a normal week I work an average of 23 hours at the grocery store. In addition to working at the store, I accepted an invitation to fill in at the DA's Office for two days. I knew I was going to be putting in a lot of hours, but my schedule still seemed manageable. What I didn't plan on happening was the sudden termination of a fellow co-worker at the grocery store. Because of their immediate termination lots of shifts were needed to fill for the remainder of the work week. I felt bad leaving them empty handed and so I went ahead and took them. The funny part was working side by side County Employees during the day and checking their groceries out at night. They were a little confused. The total amount of hours I worked last week was 53, and even though it will be a good paycheck, I hope to never repeat it again! I am still trying to recover physically. I am so tired and I stress out thinking about how badly my house needs to be cleaned. Spencer is great at playing Mr. Mom. He really picks up slack around the home and I appreciate him.