things to remember

Who said the twos were terrible? We are cherishing this age (because we know 3 is coming! Ha.) I just wanted to journal a few things we'd like to remember about Sarah at this age. When she gets angry, she shouts "Ever". Probably her abbreviated version of "You're the meanest mommy/daddy/sister, ever". I don't think it gets the effect she wants since it usually cracks us up. The other thing she does is when were trying to get her to come. She says "one time" and holds up her finger". When I'm trying to get her out the bath—"one time". When it's time to leave the playground—"one time". I love how she gets her point across. She is certainly starting to strut her independence whenever possible, but when we are wallowing in a fit of tantrums, it's good to remember to cherish the moment.

a lovely weekend

It was a great weekend for yard work (albeit a bit hot...). I snapped a few photos around the yard. Here is our new patio furniture:

Our potted garden. We planted tomatoes, peppers, basil, cilantro, and few flowers.

Flowers in the front yard. The big bush is lavendar, but I can't figure out why it looks more white than purple.


These are Fourth of July roses. Appropriate for the time of year.

I can't remember what these are called. Pink fantasia or something like that, I think.

And finally, another video:

kindergarten graduation

Abby has officially graduated from Kindergarten! Well... she will be starting K. again in August at public school. We decided not to rush things, even though she is educationally more than ready for first grade. She was one of the top students in her class this year and finished on D/E level reading and well into 1st grade math. Here is Abby in her cap and gown:

The kids were so cute during the ceremony. They each read a little line, and they finished by saying their motto and throwing their caps in the air. Their motto sounds a little something like this, "We can do anything we want as long as we make good choices and do our best. Kindergarten kids, who are they? The best darn kids in the U.S.A.! Kindergarten, Kindergarten, yay!
Abby with the other girls in her class: Emma, Olivia, and Audrey.
The graduate with proud mom and dad! (Sarah was jumping in the bouncy house.) Debbie had rented that for the kids to play in, and we all had a barbeque after the ceremony.

Lava Hot Springs

We had ourselves a mini summer vacation this past weekend! It was such a fun and relaxing time and we feel rejuvenated, even after only a weekend. (Well, our house is a disaster and I barely have the time to update our blog, so the rejuvenation doesn't seem to last long.)

Friday night we headed up and checked into the house we were renting. We had time to grill up some hot dogs for dinner and then headed down main street for a walk and a stop by the park and the ice cream shop. For more photos of our trip, check out our kodak gallery.


Saturday morning we drove up to Pocatello and had a yummy breakfast with the Bunkers. Becky and Jill were both there visiting, and it was fun to see Jill's sweet baby Zoe! John and Roxanne are such proud grandparents. Big surprise, considering how darling this little doll is!!!

After a couple hours with the Bunkers, we headed over to meet the Coopers at Holt Arena where Brandon was participating in a regional wrestling tournament. It is quite an accomplishment to get to the regional level at his age! They followed us back out to Lava where we met up with the Raineys and spent the afternoon at the pool with the kids and floating the river with the "big kids". It really is a fun little town. That night we all enjoyed a BBQ and time to visit.

The next morning the guys enjoyed a quick round of golf, and then the Coopers had to head out early as they wanted to beat the heat. It turns out their air conditioning went out in their 'burban. There probably couldn't be a worse time for that—it was probably a miserable ride home. Meg, I can't believe I managed to not get any photos of your kids while we were there! I know you took some- please share if you can :)


There is a even a little Thai food restaurant in Lava, so we ate there for lunch with the Raineys before we all split. It wasn't half bad! (Granted, I've become a bit of a Thai food "snob" as I've discovered my affinity for it this year. I've tried just about every Thai restaurant I've come across from here to Australia, so to find one in a small town like this that has decent food is quite an accomplishment!) So, it was a great weekend, and we love spending time with our wonderful friends. It is hard to say goodbye.

"Back to life, back to reality". Tom had to head back to Idaho for work yesterday morning, but he got back again late tonight, thank goodness. It is hard to keep this ship afloat without him. Daddy is our anchor! :) We are looking forward to spending THIS weekend close to home. We have plenty of things to do around here!

catching up

Slap me on the hand. It's been... nearly 2 weeks since I've posted. Well, that is a sign of how the last 2 weeks have been. Busy! Last week was a little rough since it was my first week back to work. I was really tired when I got home everyday, which was a challenge considering everything else we had going on. Starting with Becky, we really enjoyed her quick visit. We took her to a new Thai restaurant, and it is a place we will frequent often in the future! Very yummy. (It's called Pawit, for you Utah locals). I'm even trying to recruit Becky to work at Stampin' Up! :)

Then, we had Riverton convention, and mixed in, a visit from our dear friends, the Raineys. They took us out for a yummy meal at the Melting Pot and we all left feeling a little over-satisfied. You know how that goes. In any case, we love our time with them. Between being sick and having company, we missed more of convention than we'd have liked, but maybe we can get more later in the year.

Monday night Tom had to travel down to Page, AZ for work, so I went over to Paula's house (a coworker) to have a picnic and walk around the little lake in her neighborhood at Daybreak. It was a beautiful evening and the girls enjoyed watching the ducks and throwing rocks in the water. I actually took this photo on my phone, of all things! I was impressed with how well it turned out.

This weekend we have plans to travel up to Lava Hot Springs. The Raineys will meet us there for a night again (on their way home from Park City) and the Coopers from Bozeman are in Pocatello for a wrestling tournament and will meet us there as well. Also, Becky and Jill are both in Pocatello, and I'd love to see Jill's little one!

Medical update: I am feeling much, much better this week. I'm getting a little energy back, and am actual starting to feel.... normal! I'll try not to let so much time pass before posting again. Bye for now!

back to normal

It's been a week since our last post, which is a good sign that life hasn't been too exciting this week. I'm feeling much better, so we are looking forward to getting out in the yard this weekend to get caught up. I'm planning to go back to work Monday, and then we are getting ready for a quick visit from my cousin Becky Hermanze! I'm very excited to catch up with her. And then later in the week, a visit from the Raineys in Bozeman, and our Riverton (church) convention as well! It was nice to take a little breather last week to recover since we are jumping right back in to our normal busy-ness. Life is great :)

surgery update

Since I'm back home and a bit more coherant, I'd thought I'd post an update on my gall bladder surgery. Thursday I had my surgery in the early afternoon. It took a bit longer than expected because my gall bladder was apparently quite swollen and showed signs of many previous attacks. Apparently there was no bile in the gall bladder, which meant it had been blocked for at least 3 weeks. The doctor gave me quite a scolding for not listening to my body signals, but also said I'll just have to be aware that I have a high pain tolerance, so need to be especially aware if something seems off.

The surgery was laparoscopic except for one incision that had to be a little wider to extract my swollen gall gladder. The scars should be much less ugly than the one I have from my appendix. One lesson I learned from this experience is that one should NEVER be alone in the hospital. Every patient needs an advocate. Tom had to leave after the surgery to get the girls, so I was alone in my recovery room when the anesthesia started wear off. I woke up because my IV had run out and was beeping incessantly. I was in a lot of pain and was incredibly thirsty, but the nursing staff was behind and I couldn't get someone to come even after repeated calls. After more than 2 hours had passed, I had enough and had Tom take the girls to the neighbors so he could come in and be with me for the night. It wasn't until he came in that he was able to chase down a nurse and finally get me some pain meds and water. My doctor balled them out the next day when I told her about it, and so after that they were pretty apologetic. Hospitals aren't my best friend, so I was glad to go home on Friday morning, and Tom has been taking great care of me.

I've been fairly comfortable as long as I stay on top of the pain medicine, and I feel like I've been improving a little every day. Thanks, everyone, for your well wishes and support.