Sottopelle

Remember how awhile back I mentioned

I didn't feel well?

I was changing up my diet...

I was exercising...

and I still didn't feel any change.

In fact...

I pretty much felt like crap.

I mentioned to my family about a week ago that I was heading to bed...

even though it was only 8 p.m....

because I was too tired to do anything else.

Rachel told me,

"Mom, you act like it is a surprise to us that you are tired...

you tell us that all the time!"

Well today I found out why!

Since my hysterectomy about three years ago...

I've just never felt like myself.

I had heard from friends that I needed to go to

Sottopelle.

They do bio-identical natural hormone therapy.

And they could fix me!

 

What I found out today was pretty shocking...

I'm LOW, LOW, LOW

(did I mention LOW!)

on every hormone our bodies need!

So I got these little hormone pellets inserted into my hip right away!

They wanted to know if I wanted to think it over...

ummm...NO!

I think I want to feel better...TODAY!

*******************************

I forgot to mention that these two cuties celebrated their

2nd wedding anniversary

yesterday!

 Sure do love you guys!

Happy Anniversary!

   

   

She's caught HIS heart...

CAMERON

is getting married!

The important details:

Her name is Chelsea Davies,

they share the same birthday,

MAY 1st.

(not in the same year)

She has completely captured 

CAMERON'S heart!

We absolutely LOVE and ADORE her 

and are so glad

she is joining our family.

I'm especially grateful they asked little ole' me...

to take some FUN pictures of how

completely and totally in

LOVE

they are.

I couldn't choose just a one or two so a warning:

LOTS and LOTS

of wonderful, loving pictures you will now get to VIEW!

 

If what we were able to capture in ONE afternoon is any indication of these two feel for each other...

then think what these 

TWO

can do with an 

ETERNITY together! 

LOVE YA LOTS 

Cameron and Chelsea!

Travel Log - Day ONE

In the midst of my

CRAZY,

BUSY,

OVER-MEDICAL

summer...I can't believe I haven't BLOGGED any of it!

While I have to admit,

this summer didn't go as planned...

we still had some FUN times.

So this week...

I'm dedicating my BLOG

as a travel LOG...

(I'm rhyming again!)

to our FIRST trip of the summer...

UKRAINE!

Day 1-3:

Travel, Travel and MORE Travel.

Can I say...EXHAUSTION!

So we left for the airport at 10:30 P.M....

having both worked a FULL day so let's just say we've

already been up since 7 a.m..

We catch the plane at 12:40 a.m....

again...still haven't slept!

We land in Minneapolis, Minnesota...

which by the way isn't even on my itinerary...

where we spend 2 hours before loading a plane to

Detroit, Michigan.

We land again for another 1.5 hours before

getting on a plane to New York, NY. at noon the next day!

Other than a brief...a very brief snooze on the plane...

we still have not slept.

We did have a 4 hour lay over before we left for Kiev, Ukraine.

We tried to sleep...but not well.

After a 10 hour flight we land in Kiev.

 

Cameron asked me what my 3 smells of Ukraine are...

and I can honestly say I smelled 2 of them as soon as we landed!

1.  Smoke and lots of it! Almost 85% of Ukrainian's smoke!

2.  Body odor! Most Ukrainian's don't bathe daily or wear deodorant!

Unfortunately we had another 6 hour lay over in Kiev before boarding a very small Ukrainian airline to Dnepropetrovsk...

our final destination. 

At this point...I can't decide if I'm MORE hungry,

or more tired!  

So we luckily had a little pizza place directly across the street from our hotel...we ate quickly...

and went to bed at 7:30 p.m. Ukraine time!

Exactly 50 hours since our LAST bedtime!

No wonder I was able to sleep for 12 hours straight!

 

Postscript: I must mention that in the final pictures you will see Ron drinking the most AMAZING juice on the planet.  Cameron used to talk about it in his mission letters all the time.  We couldn't wait to try it...and we were NOT disappointed.  We just wish we could have brought some of this juice home!

a REUNION like none other....

(First moment in Mission Home!)

Ron cried for 6 months straight when

CAMERON

left on his mission 2 years ago.

Seriously, no one could bring up Cameron's name without

 tears welling up!

Then for the next year...he managed to maintain control.

But the last 6 months,
the months' before

Cameron's arrival home...
Ron's tears were turned back on!

So I can not perfectly describe,

what a reunion is like

between a FATHER and a SON

like the reunion these two had.

However, if you have read the Book of Mormon...

the reunion between Alma and his beloved brethren

the sons of Mosiah...

is the closest thing I can use to describe this 

AMAZING reunion.

I'm just grateful that I got to witness it...

because it strengthened my relationship with God...
and made me thankful these 2

amazing men our in my life!

(Picking up our luggage in front of our hotel...first day!)

 

It's been a LONG and wonderful road...

but it's time for our DEAR 

CAMERON

to come home!

I'm trying to get the word out...

and in case you didn't get an EVITE...

don't let that stop you from stopping by.

Here are the details of our celebration:

June 20th, 2010

Cameron speaks in our ward...Cortina 3rd ward.

Sossamon Building at NOON.

(On Sossamon just south of Germann)

 Open House at the Flewellen's...

anytime between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.

We know it is FATHER'S day but we couldn't think of a better

celebration for a FATHER

than for Cameron to speak on this special day.

We will be HEADING out to get him....SOON!

Bring on the Ukraine! 

Could I be NESTING....?????

When pregnant women are about 6 to 7 months along...

they begin NESTING.

It means that we get a BURST of energy to do every project

we know we won't get done when our baby comes.

Well, I know this may sound weird...but I'm nesting.

See...

Cameron comes home in just over 3 months from this beautiful place:

 

Ukraine...by the Black Sea!

Which I can't believe we will get to see for ourselves!!!

Yippee...the excitement continues to build!

But while we wait...

I have nervous energy to get ALL those projects done before he

comes home!

The last time he saw our backyard...

he had put in the SOD leftover from his bosses yard.

We didn't even have time to lay a sprinkler system.

So....we have a sprinkler system,

and some pavers laid...but we are a long ways away from

being done.

So this is the project I want done before Cameron comes home.

I've also had Ron busy with

redecorating Cameron's room...and the girls' room!

He will be surprised...

and Ron and I will be WORE out!

Our 3rd pallet of pavers....we are getting too old for this!

Ron has the hardest job...I did one row of this and my arm is killing me!

I stick to my job of carrying the pavers to Ron!

Rachel turns up the music and I start dancing!

Ron loves to dance with me!

No matter what Ron and I are doing...we still love doing it together.

Rachel was our photographer...she was home sick from school this day!

It's Official...

We are going to the 

UKRAINE!

Come JUNE we will be in the Ukraine...

with Cameron,

visiting all the people and places

he has grown to love over the last two years. 

Ron and I have known for TWO months

but wanted to wait to tell Cameron on Christmas. 

We have some VERY generous and kind

friends who LOVE Cameron

almost as much as we do...and offered us a GIFT

we could not refuse. 

So we now BEGIN preparations to

travel overseas (and I'm a little nervous about that!), 

 to have the experience of a

LIFETIME!

The countdown begins! 

Merry Christmas

Isn't it funny that as you get older...

Christmas no longer is about Santa, or counting the number of presents under the tree,

or opening presents that Santa brought you and me...

but about SPENDING time with your Family,

and taking time out of our busy lives to focus on the things that matter.

My GREATEST

Christmas gift of all this year...

was not a nicely wrapped Christmas present,

in fact their were no presents...

but the opportunity to SPEAK in some way or another,

to EVERY member of my family.

Ron and I could barely sleep...anticipating the LONG awaited phone call from

CAMERON!

Words can not describe the JOY I felt in talking to this young boy...quickly turning into a MAN.

The fact that we got to see him with modern day technology...

is a blessing in and of itself,

and a GIFT of the season.

Then seeing my SWEET children's faces who actually got (SORT OF) a "real"

Christmas this year!

My gift this year...that we didn't have ONE distraction,

and NO FIGHTING,

and a "THANK YOU" from each of these children!

And I got to talk to my WHOLE family through SKYPE...

yes that means siblings in Utah and Missouri...and parents too!

And with NANA visiting the whole week....it made our HOLIDAYS complete!

And no worries, MORE (yes lots more)

pictures will be forthcoming!

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all...

and to all a goodnight!

One of my FAVORITES....

We just received ONE of my favorite letters...

from ONE of our favorite people!

CAMERON!

He continues to amaze me...which I shouldn't be...

I was privileged enough to hear his

Patriarchal blessing...and Setting Apart!

But what he is being ASKED to do at this time on his mission...

is going to be HARD!

But CAMERON is the one who can do it!

Here is an excerpt from his latest letter:

 Ok. I got transferred to another city. This city is called Yevpatoria.  About my branch.... There has been a lot that has happened in this branch over the past. There are over 50 non active members. A lot of them went in-active when an old Branch President got up and said to the congregation that the church wasn't true. Some missionaries also made a mockery of the ordinance of baptism (I won't say exactly what happened) and this also made a few more people go in-active. All of this happened before I even came to Ukraine so it has been a long time. Basically, this branch is hurting really bad right now. We had 5 people come to church this last week. Usually there are about 10-15 but a lot of them didn't come because they were out of town or something. My companion is the Branch President and I am the Financial Secratary. It scares me to think that when Elder Sarkisyan leaves that I will probably be the next Branch President. It would be a really tough calling to have, especially in Russian!

President Nielsen said that I will be here for a long time which makes me think that I will serve the rest of my mission here in Yevpatoria. I had a vision when I was in church the other day. I dreamt that the sacrament hall was full of people. I am going to do my best to get it back to that. We have our own church building because there used to be so many people coming to church a few years ago. It doesn't look like a church. It has no steeple. It is just a descent size building. Pretty in my eyes. 2 stories actually!

Because I am the financial secretary and my companion is the Branch President we have to do all of the paper work for the branch and so that is what we are going to do tonight. He is going to show me how to do it and hopefully I will be able to get a grasp on it and try to do it faster. It sounds like that before I came it was taking them a long time to fill out all of the papers and they weren't getting a whole lot of time to go contacting. President Nielsen sent me here to be the senior companion and tell when we will do branch work and when we will do missionary work.

Love Always,
Elder Cameron Flewellen

This letter has brought a lot of TEARS to my eyes...

Just VERY, VERY proud!

Love ya too Elder Flewellen,

Momma Jana 

Paper Chain

Our paper chain...
WE are counting down the days until
CAMERON
comes home.
Words cannot express how grateful we are to this amazing KID who is
setting the example in our home of
SACRIFICE,
OBEDIENCE,
FAITHFULNESS,
INTEGRITY,
DEDICATION,
and LOVE.
We miss him everyday...and look forward to his return.

My Love For Cameron

Things don't always turn out the way you think!
SOMETIMES they turn out better!

When my stepson Cameron came to live with us last year I had no idea how much I would fall in love with this kid! So I decided to write some of the things that I LOVE about Cameron!

1. Cameron always takes time out to give everyone a HELLO and a HUG and always told us all he LOVED us!
2. Cameron loved life and wanted to experience EVERYTHING!! (He seriously wanted to be about every profession you could think of-I told him he needed to do a show on the Discovery Channel titled, "A Job for a Day" just so he could experience them all.)
3. Cameron didn't wallo in what LIFE had dealt him-instead he dealt with LIFE!
4. Cameron loved me enough to call me MOM! I loved Cameron enough to call him SON.
5. Cameron loved my children enough to call them his BROTHERS and SISTERS! My children loved him enough to call him BROTHER.

With Cameron gone on his mission in the Ukraine and 20 more months and counting-I miss this SON, BROTHER, and FRIEND everyday!

I Love You Cameron and am proud of you!