The Temple

On Sep 10, 2011 Max, Lowell, and I went to the Logan Temple.  It was so awesome words just can't describe it.  It is a day that I will NEVER forget!

This all happened on our 7th anniversary and then afterward we went to Maddox for dinner.  It was an awesome dinner and a good time all around even though it made for a long day :)

August 5th & 6th....

We decided that our lives just weren't crazy busy enough yet so we went running around and went and saw and did some things...an understatement I assure you.

On the 5th we went to the ER suddenly to help Vanessa out.  Max took Kaitlyn, Anthony, and Lowell out the waiting room and kept them busy and happy while I was back in the room with Vanessa.  She's been having issues ever since she had her gallbladder removed and some days are just a lot worse than others.  The 5th was one of the worse days.  By the time we got out of the ER (they kept her there extra long because of wanting something...and they didn't want to send her home w/ the kit...) it was already past noon.  We ended up running down the street grabbing our lunch and running home to check and see if hopefully the mail was there by then.  We were so lucky and it had just been delivered not even 2 minutes earlier so we grabbed our mail, ran to the credit union, cashed the check, ran and got gas, and got on the freeway as fast as we could.

Where were we going?  Well, we went to Freedom, WY pretty much as fast as we could to pick up Jolene.  We weren't in time but I just don't know what else to tell you about that.  Then after a quick bathroom break and getting Jolene in the car we ran to Jackson Hole, WY.  Why were we going to Jackson Hole?  Well honestly it was to see a movie.  We were going to see if we could leave Lowell with Jodi or someone else to watch him while we went but we couldn't get ahold of anyone and so we ended up just taking him with us.  Stan & Jolene were wanting to see Cowboys & Aliens and so was Max kind of.  I saw a preview for it and in the preview it didn't look scary or anything at all like that.  Man was I wrong.

We got to Jackson Hole and had dinner cause we had missed the early showing.  Which meant that even though I had a bad feeling about going to Cowboys & Aliens there was now no chance of me bowing out and doing something else really.  The Smurfs had been showing at the earlier time but we missed it.  So after a disappointing lunch (we went to a steakhouse and due to the prices being out of sight I didn't get steak =(  I love beef) we found out that we still had a bit of time to kill and so we went to the park to let Lowell run around and see if he could burn off some energy because for the past three hours he had pretty much been totally cooped up in a car riding around.  That was almost the highlight of the whole day.

We got to the theater and we were watching the movie (yes against my better judgement I went into the movie) I had a feeling a SUPER scary part was about to occur this is after almost getting up not even 10  minutes earlier to leave cause I was just so terrified, I got up and made sure to take Lowell with me and we went to the bathroom.  When I returned there was yet another scary scene on the screen and I went up behind Max and told him that I had reached my scare limit and that I was done, Lowell decided that he would rather go with me and sit out in the car rather than sit there in the scary movie.

After playing cards and letting Lowell go bowling on the tablet the movie finally let out and we got in our vehicles and drove back to Freedom.  Why did we go back to Freedom?  I guess it was because Max wanted to get some suits, and for another bathroom break.  Then finally at 10:30 PM we finally left Freedom to come back home.

We drove back from Freedom and while on the road we saw a few skunks, something with red eyes, several cows, a deer, and I think it was a jack rabbit (it was just a brown blur).  We stopped in Soda Springs for 1 last bathroom break before just setting out for home without any more stops and we decided a snack would be a good thing because well it just sounded good.  While we were checking out I asked the guy what time they close and he said midnight then I turned and asked Max what time it was and he said it was basically midnight right then.  So the guy running the store followed us to the door and after it had closed behind us he locked it and went back in and turned out the lights.

We finally made it home at 1 AM and when we came in and turned on the lights I called out "here kitty kitty" and Jack came out of the bedroom with a sleepy look of "what?  you actually came back tonight? wow."  So we finally managed to get to bed and everything.

Then the morning came and started the funness of the 6th.

So we got up on the 6th and got some breakfast.  Then we went to the storage unit to FINALLY get the camping gear out of our trunk.  It had only been there for 2 weeks (bet that really helped our gas mileage).

Then we ran to the Heinz Company Picnic.  Oh the fun and joy.  We found out that some people stuff the door prize box because there was one name that was drawn out twice (only way we could think of that it could happen is if someone was putting extra entries in).

As part of the picnic Heinz pays for the employees and their families to either go swimming or they can go to the Ross Park Zoo.  This year we decided to go to the zoo.  It wasn't too bad but we felt sorry for quite a few of the animals because it was a darn hot day and they didn't have much shade.  We did quite a bit of walking that day and I made sure to wear my shape-ups for the whole walk.

After the zoo we came home and crashed cause we were super tired by then!  Thus ended the 6th :)

Doctor Visit...

Oh the fun.  I went to the doctor today on a follow up visit although I feel like more got accomplished in this visit than in the last one.  I am being put on medicine for my high blood pressure and well he had one all called in and I went and picked it up.  It is one that I am allergic to.  VERY VERY SUCKY I bought the stupid thing now I can't get rid of it cause once you pay for it and it leaves the pharmacy you can't bring it back...so I guess that I am stuck w/ this medicine that I can't take.

I like to read up on new meds that I am given and I was looking at this one's info and it said that if you are allergic to sulfa drugs you can't take this one.  I texted my doctor (yes a privilege that most patients don't have) and told him that I am allergic so gladly he will be calling in the different prescription for me tomorrow.

No, I am not looking forward to going to the bathroom more cause I just gotta go but if it helps my blood pressure go down and maybe it helps me feel a bit more calm (yea right) it might be worth it.  Plus I'll bet I'll loose some weight which of course will all be water weight, not that I overly care at this point because the scale will be going down.

So I get to visit the doctor again in 3 weeks to see how this medicine is going for me and by then I will have seen the hematologist.

I really have to get over this whole being 1 of 6,852,472,823 cause it is getting really old really fast.  I can't have anything that makes me drowsy (cause we are trying to get rid of it why take medicine that makes you feel that way), I can't have any that thin my blood (stupid vonWillenbrands), and finally I can't have any that I am allergic to (yea that's not pretty).  Sigh oh well.  I guess things could be worse and my doctor could not know all this about me and just forge blindly ahead making blunders; or even worse I hadn't read the information packet that they send home with your medicine and not realized that it is something that I am allergic to until after I had the nasty rash to contend with I would not have been happy camper I can tell you that much!!!

I am starting to feel a bit better though and have some more energy although I am so stressed that my blood pressure is out of sight but I am hoping that that will be corrected and I will start feeling like WAY SUPER BETTER!!!!!  Plus I am looking forward to the scale to start being my friend a bit more cause it is going down and not up cause I would really like to loose the weight that I have and it really isn't easy.  I guess that I didn't really address that situation today but I am hoping that with the more energy and the loss of the extra water that I know I have that maybe I will feel up to doing more and playing more which would be totally awesome!

The 4th of July :)

Ok so we had a fun time.  On the 2nd we went to Challis and man did we have lots and lots of fun up there!  We mostly went to visit with my mom but we also kind of went so that we could be there for the 4th because I really like having that tradition in our family :)  So we stopped on our way to Challis and got some fireworks and it was totally awesome :) Poor Jack got boarded for the whole time and I guess he really didn't care for it at all even though he got a good report card.

We went to church on Sunday and found out that they wanted kids to ride in the back of truck so that they could throw out candy and Lowell of course was totally for that!  He really wanted to be in the parade and they only thing he had to do was just show up in time to be in the truck and he could be part of the parade.

He says he had a lot of fun and when he saw us he made sure to grab a handful of candy and throw it at us :) .

Then later that night we set off some fireworks...ok so it was a little crazy but it was enjoyable although in the future we are going to wait until later and make sure we have GOOD bug spray cause I really hate getting eaten alive!

Yes we ended up setting the lawn on fire but hey Max did put it out :)  I am thinking that if we wait until later when I go to record the fireworks that we would be able to see the colors better.  There were some great colors but I guess because it was too light in the video you can't see the colors like you should be able to.

Then we spent the week there and it was fun.  We did go to Stanley :) that was awesome :) and we just lazed a bit around the house and visited :)

The river was all choppy and not all nice and smooth like a mirror like I was hoping it would be but hey if you wanna get THE picture you have to make several trips or at least watch the weather better than we did :)

This was part of the Sunbeam hot springs.  I saw this water running down the mountain and so I went over to investigate and it was so pretty so I took some pictures and just as I was about deciding to dip my fingers into the water a HUGE gust of steam hit my face and I definitely decided that putting my fingers into that water would be a VERY bad thing.

Then on Saturday my mom and I went to Carey and picked up Twlonie and brought her back to Challis which was really awesome the way that worked out :) I was so glad that we were able to get her and so we went back to Challis and then we went that evening to the Y-Inn and had dinner there for our 10 year class reunion.  I know this is going to sound strange but I guess not much has changed since high school.  Twlonie and I are still excluded, Max agrees with me on this because he saw it happen to, and so we were excluded from most of the conversation and we probably should have just gone to the main part of the restaurant and just ordered dinner and had it just Twlonie, Max, and I.  Then the rest of my class that showed up went into the bar and got drunk, why?  because they are dumb I guess.  I do know that I was super glad that the dinner was early.  Then on Sunday again we went to sacrament because well that was kind of all we had time for and so we went to church and home again and I made up my baked beans and we went to the picnic part of the class reunion and there we were once again left out.  We sat down and ate our lunch all alone and the rest of my class stood around and joked and talked.  We managed to get out of Challis at a good time but we still weren't able to get back in time to pick up Jack.  All and all it was a fun trip and I was really glad that I did get to spend some time with Twlonie :) I think that that made up for the annoyance of going to the class reunion.  It ended up being a good excuse for us to get together again.

Plus I managed to sell a few more covers and so I had more sewing to do when I got home and life is all good :)

More later :)

A small update...

Ok so as we sort of get ready to go to Challis we are not even sure if we can go.  We might be able to but lately Jack has been acting VERY sick...he will eat then go and cry a bit and throw up...it has been like this for 24 hours now and I am starting to get really worried.  I am starting to wonder if I am going to have a kitty for much longer cause this is pretty much what happened to Daisy only she didn't throw up cause she just didn't eat in the first place.  I already know that we just can't afford to have him in the kitty ER or anything like that cause with Daisy not only was it heart breaking but we are still trying to pay off a HUGE debt and yet my kitty just didn't get better.  Yes it is heart breaking to think about but I do have to think about such things because I already know what my answer is going to have to be if we do take him to the vet and the vet says that Jack is really sick...I am hoping that the vet doesn't come in and say liver failure or something horrid like that because that is what Daisy had.

In other news I have been working on diligently taking my medicine correctly and so far I have been pretty successful at it and I am going to keep on because I really want to see if this will help me get some of my energy back so that I don't feel so tired ALL THE TIME!

Lowell has been working really well in his Summer Bridge Workbooks and I am so pleased cause I know they can some times be easy but I just don't want him to veg out in front of the TV all summer.  The past 2 days have been totally TV free days and so Lowell has gotten a lot done and played a lot too.  Today he played so much that when he came home after a few hours he was so tired he needed a nap literally.  He was grouchy and whiny and I haven't seen him that tired in a LONG time.

Max is working on his classes even as I type this and it is going well.  He got his laptop so now he can take it with him wherever he goes and it should be totally awesome for him plus I don't have to give up "my" laptop.  Plus at Heinz they have started up line 12 and Max is working on it on day shift which he hates but I find it kind of nice because then Lowell and I get him home in the evenings which can be pleasant although his evening was a bit eaten up without much time with Max cause he just had to start playing with his new laptop and plus he hasn't done his homework yet this week.  We shall see if we get to go to Challis but if not then my Grandma has already invited us up to have a BBQ and stuff at her house and I think that she would really enjoy that.  :)

Doctor Visit....BLEH

I went to the doctor today again...oh happy happy joy joy...I think I liked the PA better...he at least had the guts to come in and tell us that he was in WAY over his head and that he had NO idea what was really wrong with me.  We go see the "MD" and all he can do is sit there and go over my chart and talk into his voice recorder like there isn't anyone else in the room.  Max hears him talking about how I am suppose to be taking my medications and he is like wait what...and the doctor give him a harassed look and tells Max how I should be taking my medicine with an attitude of "every idiot should of course know this!" and then goes right back to talking into his recorder...when I do actually want to discuss my problems with him which he VERY OBVIOUSLY didn't want to do he will only give me extreme choices...like I can either stay on iron pills forever and do nothing about my bleeding problem or I can just get a uterine ablation done there are NO OTHER ALTERNATIVES in his mind...I was getting really close to asking him if he wanted to have the ablation done to himself...cause I would figure out a way...

Needless to say I am VERY VERY disappointed and more than a little angry about the way I was treated!!!!  I am going to be getting a different doctor...and I am thinking it might end up being an OB/GYN even though my thyroid might be a bit above his head and I know that my vonWillenbrands (I have type 1 and it is a bleeding disorder) will probably be a bit over his head too but I am thinking that the doctor that I have in mind might work out VERY well for me and I think that he would be willing to take on my thyroid and my bleeding disorder...and if he isn't willing to work with me then I am thinking that I might end up going to a hematologist because I am thinking that I might be going after the wrong problem.  The problem I was going after was the thyroid and it might actually be just fine and my whole problem could be from my vonWillenbrands so I am thinking that for a while I am going to be attacking some of the issues it could be causing.

Idaho Falls trip :)

So we went to Idaho Falls today...it was interesting...we went to the doctor and I saw the PA and when he heard my symptoms he basically came in and said that he was in over his head and that we should come back in a week and see the full MD then.  So we are going to go back in a week but without all the shopping...to be sure!

They drew blood for thyroid and to once again check my iron and hopefully liver and kidney as well.  I am hoping that we can get to the bottom of why the heck I have soo many of the hypothyroid symptoms and maybe I will be on a new medicine...who knows for sure eh?

After we got done w/ the PA we went to Barnes & Noble...I had forgotten how much I love being surrounded by books....My Mom says she could live in Fred Meyer....well I could live in a book store...seriously!!  I don't care about the coffee part but I would read till I died of hunger and be happy every minute of it.

We met up w/ Max's Mom, Jolene, and we went to Michael's and then to lunch :) it was fun :)

Then we went to Jo-Ann's where I had a bad thing happen, not an oh my gosh gotta call the poilice bad thing....but a bad thing none the less... (not going to give details sorry) but I did get LOTS of fabric.  Then on to Porter's and then off to Hancock Fabric and Seagull Books...after that I thought I was going to be done but I just couldn't handle sitting in the car...it was making my ankle hurt so I got out and walked into DI (our last store stop of the day) and made it feel a little better cause I was at least moving it and not holding it in a funky position and making it hurt lots and lots.

Then we went to Smitty's for dinner cause we had a restaurant.com certificate to use.  And after dinner we finally got on the freeway and drove home....where I took the feet torture devices off aka my shoes...and I am still trying to calm my muscles down cause they were the shape-ups and they really keep my muscles activated....

So to end it all I guess that I don't really have any good news from the doctor yet and no changes...but when I do actually get to see the full MD next week he will have the blood working sitting right there in front of him and so he will not be able to shove me off because he wants to wait for the blood work and then tell me nothing is wrong when I can't dispute w/ him effectively like when I am right there face to face w/ him.

About Etsy

Ok so I added a link to etsy and if you are wondering what is going on it is because I sell mini Miche slip covers on etsy.  I have a little store there and so I figured I would post a link cause I dunno....I love to make the slip covers and it makes me sad when I can't find the fabric that a person wants esp when they request it special.  My purse has many faces :) and that I totally love!!

 Love the black swirls :) I like the fabric for the pockets too cause then it goes with anything...

Easter Bunnies....yea a little washed out in this pic but this was all I could find right at the moment...

My fancy silk purse cover...I still need to get pinking shears so that it won't fray out any more...it is a VERY heavy cover so I usually use this one...

The wild tiger stripe cover...too wild for my taste but who knows maybe there is someone out there who would love this type of cover!

This is the patriotic stars fabric...I zoomed in w/ my camera because I love this whole twin needle stitching on the cover esp where the red and blue thread are being pulled through so you can see the red white and blue thread and it looks awesome and it feels just as awesome!

Craziness

So I had an interesting conversation the other day.  I said that my back was hurting me because I had a bowling ball slammed into my back.  Not a figurative bowling ball I real 12 lbs bowling ball slammed into my back.  Dr. Page said that I was pretty lucky that the driver's seat was between my back and the ball and because of that my back didn't get broken (which apparently it could have...no wonder why it hurt to move on Sun eh?).

On Monday we had a pretty good day, we went bowling (sadly we only managed to bowl 1 game but hey we did pretty darn awesome...ok well at least I did and Max got his best score since starting this whole bowling thing.  I bowled a 160 and Max got 122.  We were pretty glad but Lowell as usual just doesn't seem to care for bowling and we just can't figure out why.

Then my mom came to town and she brought my dad's old bowling ball and we are going to have it plugged and re-drilled to fit Max so that he has his own bowling ball like I do which is sure nice because then no one can come in and take your ball as you have it with you.

Plus tomorrow I go to Idaho Falls so that I can see the doctor again.  Oh super yay!  I have been feeling sick for 5 years (ever since I was diagnosed with Grave's disease) and yet nothing the doctors do seems to make me feel better.  My eyes still bulge and my weight is out of control which totally sucks cause I really can't/shouldn't gain more weight...Max and I are both hoping that something will come of this visit and if not I am thinking that while I am there I am going to give the doctor an ultimatum of either fix what is wrong (who cares about the stupid blood tests because obviously they are wrong) or I will be back to kick him in the butt till I start feeling better.  Not a nice thing to say or to threaten with but hey comon it has been 5 years!

Hopefully I shall have some better and more happy news in a day or so, but we shall see.

On the plus side we managed to find Ponyo and so we bought it and it is totally awesome!!!!  It is my new movie that if someone asks for a good anime movie to watch I highly recommend it as there are no questionable scenes but I shall have to watch it again (oh darn!)

Sensory Safari

This morning Max was reading the news paper and he saw that the Sensory Safari was here at the Portneuf Library until June 13.  We had wanted to go to it when it was in American Falls but we weren't able to go and plus we sort of forgot a bit.  And so we went to the Portneuf and were there when they opened today and we got to see all the animals and of course touch them as that is the whole point of the sensory part.  It was totally awesome!!!

 Lowell now claims his favorite animal is the Lion :) aren't they nice kitties?

 He was touching the Quail and behind is the Wolverine...it was just awesome to actually get to touch the fur!

 A picture with a REAL Red Fox and the Arctic Fox behind him...the Arctic Fox was SUPER soft!

 The Fallow Deer and behind him the Warthog. Lowell said the Warthog was really prickly and don't touch it. LOL

 The Cougar was watching his every move in this picture.  For usually looking like such angry animals their fur sure is soft!

 I guess he was checking to see if the deer was hungry...

 He wanted to hold the River Otter's paw and his fur was soft too :)

 The Badger and the Pine Martin....awesome!  Plus they had some skulls out that you could pick up and look at but the jaws were glued shut so you couldn't open and close them.

 This is a Eland....HUGE eh?  I love the antlers and how twisty they are.  It's amazing they grow out of the animal's head like that and everything huh?

A Cape Buffalo....I asked Lowell what it was and he said that it was a Buffalo and I said yep but what kind and he said black...I was laughing a bit at that but it was a VERY GOOD guess!

 Petting the Zebra.  What a nice Zebra.  Max was asking Lowell if the Zebra felt stripy and I was showing Lowell how the mane will never lie down.

The Brown Bear.  It was awesome but I didn't take the picture fast enough.  Lowell was over there giving it a hug and Max wanted him to put his hand in the bear's mouth...

I  know it seems like we do a lot but hey it is summer and so they have a lot of cool awesome things to do.  I am so glad that we were able to go.  They also had out a table of skins that you could go up to and pet and everything and it was just totally awesome to be able to walk up to the table and pet the skins and see how soft they were.  They had a Raccoon and Weasels and Beavers.  Sadly with the Beavers they didn't still have their tails but they were soft.

Funness at the Firehouse!

Today the Pocatello Fire Department was having an open house.  We went because we were right there in the neighbor hood and I am thinking that Max was wanting to go tomorrow but I asked him if he would mind because we were right there and sadly Max didn't go with us.  But I think Lowell had some fun!  The Boy Scouts were there selling hotdogs and drinks and stuff...it was fun!

We were walking by the fire truck and I was commenting how big the wheels are and he went over and stood next to it and I figured hey why not get some pics :)

 Then Lowell saw Sparky the Fire Dog and so he just had to run over and give him a hug...

 Then Lowell went into the fire house and got all dressed up in fire fighting gear and went into the fire safety house to find out how you properly exit a house full of smoke

 He quickly found out that you have to crawl out which is totally right and totally awesome!

 Maybe he'll be a future fire fighter?  Look at that awesomeness of an outfit :)

 Then he got to sit in the driver's seat of one of the HUGE fire trucks!!

Also while in the fire house Lowell got a plastic fire fighter hat and an awesome water tattoo...

I think that that was enough funness for a day :) but who knows maybe we'll go bowling and finish off the funess for the day :)

I almost forgot to mention that while we were there there was someone from the Idaho State Journal taking pictures while he was using the fire hose (sorry that was so fun I forgot to take pictures :) ) so I guess we are going to have to get a paper tomorrow just incase Lowell is in there right?

A Bit More about Goings On

Ok so when I posted this morning of course there was a whole ton of stuff that I totally forgot about.

One of the way awesome things that I forgot about is that Lowell is signed up for "Kids Bowl Free" which lets him bowl 2 free games every day all summer long and I signed us up for the family pass which means that Max and I also get 2 free games every day for the entire summer. Plus then I went over to Pine Bowl, they are the local bowling alley that signed up to participate in this, and asked them about the shoe rental pass and they said it was $10 per person and I thought, "man that is a steal!" so I got one each for Max and Lowell and now when we want to go bowling (which I try to go every day except Sunday) it is basically like going for free because everything is already bought. :) Plus for the cost of the games and everything that we would normally have to pay out of pocket because of this family pass it is already bowling for free because I have gone so many times already with Lowell that I have more than spent the cost of the family pass.

Another thing that is so awesomely going on that I have been doing is I finally got out my sewing machine again. I just love to sew I really do! I was working on some sewing projects and I have had a hand of friendship extended to me by Beverly Jones and I was at her house using her surger, which was like totally awesome of her, something I had never ever done before but was finding kind of fun; and she was piecing together parts of a re-usable shopping bag and I was asking her what she was doing and she said that her purse is one of the Miche purses, and of course at the time I had NEVER even heard of that, and that you can buy and have changeable outsides to your purse but she had figured why not just sew a slip cover for her purse and save herself at least $20 a cover. I looked at her purse and I was just thinking to myself that that was just too big so after I got home I got online and looked up Miche and found a mini.

I love my mini Miche purse it is so awesome and I decided that I would look online and see what kind of options there were for different covers for the purses and I found that there were only the magnetic ones that would cost me $13 and that practically no one else (other than the once in a great while) was selling the slip covers for the Mini Miche and so I thought hey there is a good option! So since then I have bought fabric (some to Max's dismay) and made slip covers until I have pretty much perfected how they look and they look pretty darn professional. I do once in a while have my little slip ups but I do at least try them on my purse for the fit after I make each one so I know it will at least fit. I have sold several and I am hoping that I will continue to sell more and that it will be awesome! I sell them on Etsy which is awesome and my mom sells them on e-bay. My Etsy name is: ceserous and my mom's e-bay name is: happykitty54 and we both sell the slip covers.

I have sold almost enough that I could buy the full sized Miche bag if I wanted to but I am thinking that I might save up and get some new bowling shoes or saving up for our SUPER AWESOME vacation that we have planned in August w/ my mom of going to Yellowstone. We are planning on eating out at least one meal and day and if we do that in the park it is a bit spendy even if you do know of and eat at the cheaper places.

Plus on a little side note I have started writing a book about my what-if story...I am not too far into it and I am not totally sure at this point if I even want to finish it but I have at least made a start on it...

Ok enough for this post...my gosh!

The Start of June 2011

My gosh I just can't believe that it is already June!!! So many many things have been going on. Talk about running around like a chicken w/ it's head cut off! Lowell went to Kindergarten this year and at Christmas timeish (I really should write these things down huh?) his teacher, Mrs. Holt, was bragging on him saying that she had given him a reading test and he was at a 3rd grade reading level!!

I knew he was smart but he is starting to blow me away! I also was thinking that with what he has learned academically he should probably be in grade 1 or 2 but I didn't really want to mention it because I think that it is great for him to have friends and be able to make friends with kids that are his own age. We are however going to work this summer on a 1st grade workbook and there are some things in there that are just review (like most of school right?) and then there are actually some new things.

I was laughing really hard when Max came up to me and told me that Lowell said that he knew multiplication and then Max decided to try him on a bit of algebra and Lowell looked at the problem and said "oh the answer is..." and gave Max the correct answer.

We have Lowell reading this summer and we are going to see if he can get some of the prizes for reading the most books this summer because I think that he could do it and really enjoy it. He so far likes the read the "Jigsaw Jones" books and I have gotten him started on reading "Knights of Right" which is a series I found at Deseret Book and it looked like it wouldn't be too hard but still he might like it with more adventure and a bit of mystery. He seems to really like mystery and I have never been one for it so it is a bit of a challenge to find books for him and then I feel like I have to read the books as well so that I can ask him what the book was about and when he answers me I will know if he really did read the book or if he is just quoting from the back of the book. I do trust him or at least I want to trust him to know that he read the whole book but it is good to make sure plus the books that he is reading aren't that overly hard they take me maybe a couple of hours each to read so it isn't that overly taxing.

Next week I will be going back to Idaho Falls to see the doctor and to see if there is anything else we can do because last Sunday my eyes were bulging so bad I was halfway worried that my right eye might literally pop out of the socket because it really was that far out. Since my thyroid has been killed my eyes have always bulged a little but never quite that bad...but at least it would explain the headaches that I have been having and why I have to keep going back to the chiropractor to see if he can fix me up.

Max is not a sanitation worker at Heinz any more and we are so happy about that. It might sound crazy but we really are happy about it because Max was so stressed that he was starting to get really sick and quite often! Heinz just doesn't give their sanitation workers enough time to clean the machines and so of course you can't get them all the way clean like they really should be plus I am really sure that if something were to happen like someone were to have an allergic reaction to something in the meal that shouldn't have been there because the line wasn't clean and so it stayed there that Heinz would figure out a way to pin it on Max and that Max would have a serious fight on his hands not to mention all the legal stuff...

Max is going back to school now and he is going into the computer networking. He is going to school at Steven's Henegar and they said that the would only be taking 1 class at a time but so far they have him signed up for 2 which is NOT what they said but I guess it is better than going to ISU and trying to take like 3 or 4...but I am not liking what the "professors" do there where they know that you don't have that overly much time to work on the homework because you are probably working full time and everything and yet they don't even do the broadcasts until Wednesday and yet they want all the homework which is sometimes up to three papers that are up to 500 words long are due by midnight on Friday night and so that is putting a bit of a crunch on Max trying to get them done and turned in.

So now Lowell is all graduated from Kindergarten and Max is still working at Heinz but he is going to school again and I am just trying to get by with my stupid dead thyroid...yea I know whine whine whine...I am just hoping that I can have better news next time I post...and I really am going to make sure that I post to this more often because I hate having to write a novel every time I want to update my blog!

A few updates

Alot has been happening to us lately...yes I know it has been almost a year since I posted...I have been keeping most people updated on Facebook.

so in Jan we started the year off with some fun...and things were going fairly well...then came Feb with two birthdays :) and Mar with another birthday (even though Max wants to forget). Then in the summer Max changed from being a production person to being on sanitation (a sucky job but a bit better pay). We spent 4th of July in Challis w/ my parents of course :) it was fun. Then at the end of July we went to Freedom again and it was really nice and fun until it started raining every night...that was sucky!!! So we came home early from our vacation and then I got a call from Joel Benson and he asked me if I wanted to be the teacher of the Valant 9's and I said yes and so now I am a teacher.

My parents went to Windover for a late birthday present for my dad and when they got back to Pocatello my dad went to see his doctor and his doctor put him in the hospital to help him get some of the water weight that he had gained gone from him. The next morning the doctor went to check on my dad and his breathing was MUCH worse so he was moved to ICU and stabilized. The next morning the doctor checked on him and his breathing was once again worse and so he decided to intubate him and that stabilized him again but now he couldn't talk or anything and basically at that point the machines were keeping him alive. He wanted to see me and so I took off from class to go see him and yet when I got there he was alseep. The next day the doctor talked to us and told us that the outlook was pretty grim and so we had to decide what to do. We were given 3 options: 1) was to go full court and try to figure out what was wrong and see if we could fix it (not very hopeful but it was doing something) he would have probably ended up in a nursing home for probably the rest of his life because there just wasn't any way he would really get better. 2) we do nothing at all and hope that he improves on his own... 3) we turn off the machines and just let him go. We decided to go with option number 3 because we just couldn't see him wanting to live in a nursing home or wanting to stay on the stupid machines for quite a while. So on Aug 7 he passed on and I got the monumental task of planning 2 funerals.

Then after the funerals I went and kind of lived in Challis for a couple of weeks with coming home on the weekends because I was still the teacher of the Valant 9's and I wanted to make sure that I taught my class.

Now it's Sep and Max and I just celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary (yea I know 6 years!)

This year we didn't go to the fair (which we usually do) and it would have been fun to go but well it was ok. We went and watched Avatar: The Last Airbender. I was a little dissapointed in the movie but oh well we still have the cartoons which was like totally awesome :)

We also found out that Vanessa is having baby #2 on Oct 20 so he will be just a little bit younger than Kaitlyn.

Christmas Around the Corner

I almost can't believe that the year is getting so much closer to the end. I have been going kind of crazy getting things ready! I finally counted and I have found out that I am making 9 things for the Christmas Eve party that is annually held up at my Grandma's house. I had to write it all down so I don't forget....ready?

Baked Beans
small Orange Jello Salad
BIG Sugar Cookies
Fruit Cakes
Blueberry Loaves (kind of like blueberry muffins only bigger)
Chex Mix
Banana Nut Bread
Holiday Cakes (not even close to fruit cakes)
small Sugar Cookies (these I give away as presents and they are done)

So far I only have done the Holiday Cakes, small Sugar Cookies, and the Banana Nut Bread (only cause I had some bananas about to bite the dust). All I can say is thank goodness the other stuff isn't really terribly hard to make up. Plus I just finished making Christmas Candy that I didn't count because it doesn't go up to my Grandma's house. Amazingly I really don't feel so overwhelmed cause 4 of the 6 things I still have to make to get ready to go up really aren't that hard to make up. You mix together and cook most of it like the baked beans, jello salad, blueberry loaves, and the Chex Mix. I haven't ever made fruit cakes before but I got the best recipe for them so they should turn out pretty good (at least I REALLY hope so!!!) The Sugar Cookies I am going to make them big so that I can frost them and Lowell is going to help me. I know that I will have to post pictures on here of some of them. I even got him a BIG container of sprinkles that he can put on the cookies when they are all frosted. I hope that everyone has a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and a JOYOUS NEW YEAR!!!

Swivel Sweeper

ok so we got a swivel sweeper....and Lowell was suppose to clean his room in order to be allowed to use it...and well...he didn't clean his room at all and so he didn't get to use it...we put the battery in and Max and I used it for a while and then I was going to use it to go clean the front room and it stopped working...and now we can't get it to work...and so Lowell is beyond upset because he can't use it at all now...we are trying to figure out what is wrong w/ the battery without much luck....:(

A playlist of some funny people saying some funny things...

Strangeness and an update

Yea I know it's been a while since I last posted. Ok Ok a LONG while. Let's see...since I last posted Max has gotten kicked out of his maintenance job at Heinz, Daisy has passed away (she had a liver disease and she just didn't recover), Max has applied for a new maintenance job at the Simplot plant in Aberdeen where they make fries, and Lowell has grown!

I am not sure what to say other than that...I am on Facebook now and so is Max and we do try to keep updates going regularly. You can add me and keep updated if you wish...I will try to be better about keeping this page updated but I am not going to make any promises!

I am so glad that everything seems to be turning for a good way. The job interview (Max seems really excited about getting this job). The possibility of moving again...this place that we are at now really is just too small; that is about all I can really say about this place!

I made apple pie filling with my Grandma's red delicious apples that grow in her back yard!

Yes I know 'tis sad that Daisy passed away but she just wasn't a happy kitty at the end and I decided that it would be best if she didn't have to suffer any more...they asked me if I wanted her ashes and I told them no...I have enough pictures and videos of her...well enough for her 8 year long life with me.

Max and I are thinking seriously about the possibility of getting a Sheltie or a Shetland Sheepdog. We have been looking at information about them and I have called a breeder and asked her all about her dogs. They sound like they would be just right for our family in that they are small but not a mini. They love kids and get along well with other pets i.e. Jack. They also are very smart and therefore easy to train! = )

I guess I could do a little update about Jack...he is doing OK health wise but well he just has been a different cat since Daisy passed on. I am not sure why but for some reason he is a lot more playful now than he use to be. My mom claims that it is because he doesn't want to join Daisy and "go away" and I am thinking that it was because when Daisy was sick all she wanted to do was lay around and he was such a sweetheart about her that he would just lay around with her. He has sadly put on some weight and I am thinking that it is due a bit to stress but he isn't anywhere near as heavy as he once was so I am not going to complain too loudly about that!

I am thinking that I am done for now cause I just don't know what else to write.

Update?

Wow.....can't believe it was March 9 that I did my last post...sorry I don't keep this thing more updated! Last week was hubby's b-day and he had a lot of fun! I also took a short trip to Challis...and the trip back was totally scary cause of white out conditions!! Hopefully more later!!!

Wii Fit

Ok I know I haven't been posting very much lately. I haven't been on the computer very much to be honest. I did have a great birthday! Max spoiled me rotten and he got me a Wii and a Wii Fit and it is soo fun!! I play on it every day and I've been going at it for almost a month now.