December - What a month!

Wow, this month has just flown by. We have had such a busy month but mostly because of work. We had to work every Friday at the beginning of the month so that we could take a few extra days off during the Christmas break. Punkin had her first dance program at the studio and her first fund raiser. Or should I say, my first fund raiser? Her dance program was really cute, it made me really excited for Peanut to start dance and for the spring recital. The fund raiser was selling pies for Rocky Mountain Pie Company, we bought a Chocolate Cream and an Apple. They were d-e-vine. So if you know anyone looking to do a fund raiser I highly recommend them, they turn out a great product and you actually make a decent amount off of them for whatever you need. We had a very eventful Christmas Eve Eve. The girls had a daycare party in the morning, then we were off to SL to deliver a couple of pies and then head to Gardner Village to do the Elf Scavenger Hunt. If you've never been to Gardner Village to do that you should. It's fun for the kids and in between hunting you can sneak into a couple of shops and "look" for elves in there. I think the most entertaining thing was when we found the elf going over the naughty and nice list and finding both of our childrens names on the NAUGHTY list RIGHT next to eachother. Yes, they were spelled wrong, but come on, their names are not that common, and to be right next to eachother, that's just funny. Afterwards we had a couple more pies to deliver and then get home.
Christmas Eve D and I split the kids and we headed out with the rest of the last minute shoppers. I really only had to get a few little things for my nieces and stocking stuffers for D. Then we just hung out at home. We had originally planned to go to a live Nativity in West Haven but I had a horribly sore throat that I didn't want to make worse and inevitably be worse for Christmas. So we rented movies and played with the kids and just enjoyed being together.
Christmas Day I actually woke up before everyone. My kids don't get up early just yet to see what Santa brought them. Apparently my bladder was pretty excited to see what Santa brought though, lol. We had such a nice Christmas. The girls got bean bags for their playroom and personalized Disney blankets, zhu zhu pets, baby alives, and several Leapfrog items. We are truly Leapfrog addicts in our home. Punkin got a leapster 2, and Peanut got a Text and Learn, and they both got a Click Start to share. We also got a Wii Fit Plus, Just Dance Kids, and Wii Fit for Kids. I got Dallas the Cabellas Big Hunt 2011 for the Wii and some clothes. My parents got him a TomTom and me a sewing machine case, some jewelry and clothes. D got me a jacket and a Laptop. Ya, I know, I got him a lame Wii game and clothes and he overdoes himself and gets a Laptop. Not that I'm complaining, I've been wanting one for a long time. BUT, this is in addition to cleaning the house top to bottom again this year. I was thoroughly satisfied with just that. He even cleaned the playroom, the scariest room in the house. So overall we had a fantastic Christmas. We even got to visit Gma B, she has had the flue and with all of the visitors she was a bit overdone. I'm hoping she'll be feeling a little better when we go see her on Friday. We're also looking forward to her moving out of the nursing home and into an assisted living soon. I'm not sure if she feels the same though.

My Grandma

This lovely lady is my Grandma Brower. She is the glue in our family. Sunday morning she had a stroke that nearly took her from us. I was able to see her that evening and at that time we didn't know what to expect. She was not responding at all. The next time I saw her was Tuesday evening, she was still intubated, but was more aware and could respond by shaking or nodding her head. I talk to my mom everyday to get updates on her progress and up until yesterday she was very frustrated and discouraged. She thinks she was ready to see my Grandpa again, but God had another plan.

Last night, Dallas and I went up to see her. She had greatly improved and we got to hear a few words from her. She has her voice back but putting sentences together that make sense are very difficult for her. When I showed her the flowers we had brought she said "Very Nice". She looked at me and was struggling to say something, then all of the sudden "I LOVE YOU" came out clearly. Some words aren't even words at all and then she'll just say something. She had a sip of Diet Coke and said "some more", mom asked if she was tired and she said "nope". The significance of these phrases was that she said them quickly and effortlessly where most everything else takes time for her to get out. She understands what we say if we speak slowly and she shows frustration when she just can't get the words out. She smiled a lot, cried and laughed. It was good, especially for my mom, to see her spirits up. As we left she was eating after not eating much at all. They had brought her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut into bite size pieces. Every bite was following by an "OH" or "Yum". She is slowly coming back and her sense of humor too. We are grateful for a chance to have her here even if for a little while longer. She was healthy other than her diabetes up until this point to there should be no reason for her not to recover from this.

My Grandma has been a huge influence on me in my adult years. Last year during D's and my separation she was the one I could talk to about what I wanted and she made me feel like it was ok. She's a voice of reason for me. She raised a wonderful mother for me as well. Through the last year my mom and I didn't always see eye to eye on things and if it weren't for my Grandma reminding me why mom felt the way she did, the year would've been a little rougher for me. She doesn't choose sides, she's grounded in her faith, and a great sounding board. I love spending time with her. She goes camping with us, we have our girls nights and if I can swing it I try to visit her at home as much as possible. I pray that we will still be able to share some of those moments still.

On another note, today is my mom's birthday. It is easy to see that it is being overshadowed by all that is going on. I know she doesn't really care, she's more concerned about her mom at this time. But I want her to know that the strength she shows me during these times teaches me a lot, and for that I love her. Happy Birthday Mom!!

August

So here we are, halfway through the month of August and it's my first post. August is notoriously our busiest month. We have the majority of our immediate families birthdays in this month but we have the addition of family coming in from out of town, Dallas' sobriety birthday, and the annual campvention. I guess the birthdays don't really need a lot of explaining. But our visitors are Dallas' Grandma Mary and his Aunt Patty, whom I've never met. I am lucky enough to have most of the week off while they are here so we've planned to do some fun outings with them. Friday we went to the Jack Johnson concert with our in laws. We LOVE him. We also really like his opening acts too. G. Love has been a favorite of mine since high school. It was so good to get out on a date. We don't go out very often and I miss it. We definitely need to get out more often. Yesterday we went up to the Valley Camp for the annual Campvention/Fund Raiser. This is where Dallas spent two months getting himself "right". It was fun, they had activities for the kids, music entertainment, and several other things. The best thing by far was Dallas receiving his one year chip. It was the first time our kids were able to see this, because usually the meetings are after bed time. I realize that a 5 year old and a 2 year old probably don't fully understand what all of this means, but I thought it would be good for them to see where dad goes 3-4 nights a week and how important it is for him. He received his chip from his sponsor and he said a few words about how he got where he is now. The importance of that is so that the other members who are there who may not have much time in can see that it can be done and that it's worth it. And when you have your almost five year old there and at the end of his little speech she claps and yells, "yay daddy", it's priceless. In addition to the birthday's my sister-in-law wanted to throw him a surprise party for his accomplishments. That has been a feat in itself. I've never planned a surprise party ever and it's been a little stressful. We'll be going to that tonight so I'll let you know how that goes.

I've also been sewing my little heart out and have the curtains done for our pop-up. I just have to finish the valance and we are good to go in the decor department. We have found a couple of other storage solutions that we'll hopefully implement before our next trip. I also had the cushions reupholstered and I'm so thrilled with the result. I can't wait to pop of the trailer and put everything back in there and start enjoying the fruits of my labor.

Here are some recent photos.

Writers Workshop

So I've never done one of Mama Kat's workshops, usually because I don't get to sit down and read her blog untill the weekend and I'm not going to be the loser that does the Wednesday Writers Workshop on Sunday.

The Prompts:

1.) Write a limerick.

2.) Normal is...

3.) Describe a memorable camping experience.

4.) What's the best thing that has happened this week?

5.) Did you have a childhood hideout? Where? Describe it.

6.) Words that hurt me

I'm choosing this week to Describe a memorable camping experience. Most of you know that I'm a huge fan of camping and grew up camping a lot. So I really could lay down a novel right here for you. But I won't.

The most memorable camping trip was probably about four or five years ago. It was in September, we went up to Left hand fork/Blacksmith whatever it's called near Hyrum. Dallas and I went with my parents and my brother and his girlfriend. We set up camp and unloaded the four wheelers and my brother was off with in minutes on his new Raptor. It was beautiful, the campground was vacant because it was the off season (which means free). Apparently we were the only ones who new that because all the way up and down the road people just camped off to the side.

I think it was the second day we were there, we had been riding all morning and my brother and his girlfriend had been gone on their four wheelers for quite awhile. I had mentioned how long they had been gone to my mom when my brother and his girlfriend rode up on one four wheeler. We automatically think that his brand new toy bit the dust already, but as he got off and came closer we could tell something was wrong. He immediately told us to call the cops because he had just been attacked by what we refer to now as the "hillbillies" and they had taken his four wheeler. Just then we see them racing down the road. My husband told me to jump into our truck to drive to cell service. So I left the drama behind. I drove down the washboard road so fast I literally shook the tail lights loose.

By the time I got back, my family was sitting at the table eating the dutch oven dinner that had been cooking and acted as if nothing had happened and I was nearly in tears. It turns out that the "hillbillies" had mistaken my brother for someone else who had driven past them earlier that day and flipped a rock and cracked their windshield on their truck (because the were camped on the side of the road). But when they realized that I had left to get the police they begged for forgiveness and took off to pack up their camp. After the police showed up and we gave a description, they found them hiding down the road a ways. Turns out hillbilly #1 was on parole and shouldn't have been where he was and doing what he was, i.e. drinking and shooting guns. He ended up going back to prison for 6 more years for violation charges.

I think the best part of the whole experience was seeing how protective our little family could be. My dad quickly got his gun, but kept his cool and left it holstered, because we had heard them shooting earlier and he didn't know what to expect. I saw my mom stand between my little brother, who at the time was about 22 years old and taller than her, and a rather big 40 something year old man. And I, truly realizing how important my family was to me as I was racing down that road for help not knowing what was happening to them and what I'd come back too.

All in all it was a great trip and an exciting story to tell. Oh, and my brother fared OK, just a few bumps and bruises. We were just grateful that he wears a helmet because three grown men were kicking him in the head and with out the helmet he surely would've been in much worse condition.

So I hope you enjoyed my first entry to writers workshop, although a writer I'm not. And if you can take anything from this story, always wear a helmet, because you never now when you'll run into a drunk hillbilly.

The little Rib Eater

Last night we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. It's one of our favorite places to eat. Although Punkin wouldn't eat the bread (for shame) she totally loved the peanuts. We eat a lot of nuts at home so they are a favorite treat of hers. The only thing is that we didn't catch her before she took a bite of the peanut shell and all. Once we showed her that we don't eat the shell and showed her how to remove it she was a natural.

For dinner we didn't offer her the usual "chicken and fries" because we want her to start broadening her horizons. We said ribs and she must have remembered that she had some of her dads at Chili's not too long ago and loved them. She also chose applesauce instead of fries. We wanted to get pictures of her eating it off the bone, but when I cut the ribs apart the meat just fell off of course. She loved it, and ate most of it, along with some of my rice. Sorry about the picture quality, but they were taken with the cell phone.It was a great night out with the family.

Murri Family Reunion

We went to a family reunion in Downey, Idaho on Saturday. We've been going to Downata Hot Springs for as long as I can remember for our bi-annual reunion. It's fun to now see my children at these reunions playing and doing much of the same things I did as a kid. They have a huge pool, water slides, and newly added water playground, all naturally heated. A few reunions ago we implemented a family auction where whoever wants to contribute brings something of some value to auction off. The proceeds from the auction then goes into a reunion account that then pays for the next reunion. It's worked out great and is always entertaining. Twice now we've volunteered my two uncles Kevin and Steve to be the auctioneers and we spend the majority of the time laughing. I wish I could describe how hilarious it is but you'd really have to be there to get it. So it's fun for so many reasons. We also tried something new for the kids this year. We put together a little kids carnival with games where they could win tickets to buy prizes. That was a huge hit and I hope that we can continue that tradition. It's sad but as the years go by many of the family members fail to show. I've always looked forward to going and don't ever plan to miss one. I just have so many great memories that I want to continue them with my children. Here are a few pictures from our fun weekend.

No one is ever born into Life alone. Everyone has shared the bond of family, at least at birth, and for many people it is a bond that will follow them throughout life. For many people it is the most important bond of all.

Ogdens Dinosaur Park

This morning we went to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. Punkin was so excited to go she almost didn't get to. She was so hyped up and uncooperative this morning we threatened to not take her. She finally chilled and we were able to take her. I hadn't been there since it first opened when I was a kid and it is certainly a lot nicer and bigger. It was really nice weather so we enjoyed the walk. Punkin got a little freaked out by the size of the dinosaurs initially but soon got over it and just squealed at every new dinosaur she found. We packed a picnic lunch and they had lots of places to sit and eat so it was really pleasant. Then we went and played on the playground. Punkin experienced the swing for the first time. She started crying when Dallas put her in it until she realized what it was all about then we couldn't get her out. We also found out that they offer a great family pass that gets you into the Dinosaur Park, the Train Station Museum, The Ogden Nature Center, and the Tracy Aviary for a full year. We probably won't do it this year but for sure next year when Peanut can enjoy things a little more.