Must share a STORY...

Our wedding photo - April 21, 2007

During one of my "dark" days recovering from surgery,

I was feeling AWFUL

and Ron had gone back to work.

Upon waking up and him not "being there"...

I quickly panicked and picked up the phone to call him at work.

I burst into tears at the mere sound of his voice,

and told him "I was not doing well."

He rushed home from work to be by my side...

which gave me much comfort.

However, I still felt AWFUL and could not pick my head up

off the pillow.

Upon arrival at the hospital...

they took me back just to begin prepping me for IV's, catheters, drugs, etc.

Making me feel even more AWFUL.

When the doctors came back and said all tests were

NORMAL...

I just lost it...I didn't feel normal.

In fact, I felt AWFUL and knew something wasn't right.

At that moment...Ron lost it with me!

He knew!

He knew exactly how I felt!

Why?

Because of his amazing ability to LOVE.

This is what made me FALL so madly in love with this man.

His ability to show and give LOVE.

It makes me complete...

and it makes me feel special...

and most important it makes me feel

LOVED!

5th GRADE is her year.....

28 years ago...

I finished my BEST year of school.

5th GRADE...with Mr. Andrus!

I will never forget it...it was a DREAM year.

Rachel had that same DREAM year,

in all things

the 5th GRADE!

With a FUN-LOVING teacher who knew

how to bring the BEST out of each child...

there were no more "mean girls" or

"bully boys"...

but kids who REALLY liked being together!

Gone were the days of Rachel coming home in TEARS...

but days of excitement,

maturity and lots and lots of 

LEARNING!

Towards the end of the year...her friends did a fun dance performance to several songs through the ages!

Some of Rachel's BFF'S!

 

Rachel and Summer doing the SWING dance.

Must do a dance to Miley Cyrus song,

"Butterfly Fly Away".

Mrs. Waddell asked me to be the mom in charge of the

Jog-a-thon

in February.  

ohhh...I had so much fun with this CLASS!

Always having FUN and being SILLY!

All the FUN girls in Rachel's class!

Rachel had to BRING her camera on the last day of school.

This almost broke her heart to leave this year behind...

One last group shot!

My Dear Rachie,

Your mommy is so proud of you.

You accomplished so much this year and I love your NEW found strength.
I also LOVE that you can talk to me about anything...please don't ever stop wanting to talk to me because I love you so much and want your happiness.
That has been my greatest blessing for you this year...
you truly were able to find happiness in who you are without compromising your standards.
You are a special little girl who is growing up to be a
STRONG and BEAUTIFUL
young woman.
I love you dearly,
MOM

Gas is my POISON....

Update on surgery recovery:

1.  Turns out GAS is my bodies (and everyone elses...it seems) POISON.

2.  Vomiting and nausea...a constant!

3.  Bloating, hiccups, constipation...miserable.

4.  Could someone buy me a MOO-MOO?  I could use one because absolutely NOTHING feels good on right now!

5.  No refreshing walks to take...its a 115 degrees outside!

6.  Wouldn't want to walk if I wanted too!

7.  Turns out having surgery in the summer means no FUN regularly season shows on...so I stare at a blank screen.

8.  Pain...and medicine to mask it...

which leads back to number 2.

The only CONSTANT and wonderful thing is my

ADORING, 

SWEET, 

LOVING, 

PATIENT,

UNDERSTANDING,

HUSBAND....RON. 

Off to laa..laa..land!!!

Wish that meant I was heading to do this!

But unfortunately...

I'm heading off to the hospital for surgery!

My goal of posting 3 a week...has been put on the back burner,

as my week has been filled with WORK,

WORK...and did I mention WORK!

Trying to figure out how to balance it all...

I'm hoping that when I come back free and clear of 

PAIN...

I'll be as good as new!

Until then...I'll be in lala land dreaming of more FUN

days on the LAKE! 

No more KINDERGARTEN....

Even to say those words...
NO MORE KINDERGARTEN...
makes me sad.

I can't believe my BABY...is out of kindergarten and that I have no more "kindergarten days" to look forward to!
The BEST year a child has in school is kindergarten!
And despite this year...
being a HUGE adjustment for my Jakie...
I am proud of him and all his accomplishments!

*It was an accomplishment to keep him SAFE within the kindergarten walls...and to not RUN away from the school.
*It was an accomplishment that his teacher could see past some of his "quirks" and see a beautiful, smart and funny child.
*It was an accomplishment that mom didn't NEED to go visit him everyday...just to make sure her baby was okay!
*It was an accomplishment that he learned to use his WORDS to express his sadness and to know that he DID want to be heard by all who were willing to listen.

So if you need a really good smile today...watch this video...it may even make you laugh!

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!)

 

Around the world...

and ACROSS the country in 30 days!

(View outside the airplane...looking at New York!)
whew...

No wonder I'm totally WORN out...
and completely behind on my BLOG!

So I'm recommitting myself

(since this is my version of Family History)

to getting on the up and up...

and to start posting 3 times a week

ALL the amazing adventures of our last 2 months.

I have MANY, MANY stories to tell...

including kindergarten "promotion",

end of the year activities,

our once in a lifetime trip to Ukraine,

our reunion with our amazing son,

a wonderful summer that I've enjoyed with my kids,

and our trip to Missouri to see so many cousins and family.

So with that being said...

Bring on the BLOG!