No fun for Carson :(

Today has not been a fun day for Carson. He had to get his tonsils and adenoids taken out today. We went into the hospital at 7:00 am and he went into surgery about 8:00. He was very nervous, but he was such a brave little boy.

Here is Carson when we first got to the hospital.
Jeremy and Carson hanging out on the bed.
This is after Carson had his medicine that made him loopy! He was having a good time hanging from the bar, and doing pull ups on it.
Here is the anaesthesiologist, Shane Harrison, getting Carson ready to go.
He was SO good with Carson. Since Carson was on his "loopy" medicine, he couldn't walk, but that doesn't mean that he didn't want to try. He begged Shane to let him try to walk, so he did. About one step into it Carson started to fall, so Shane caught him!

Heading into surgery, not acting nervous one bit!
Yep, this is what Jer did while Carson was in surgery. He had a good long nap.
Carson in recovery. His oxygen kept dropping, so he had to use the mask a little bit to bring it up. He was really restless when he woke up from the anesthesia, but we got him to go back to sleep and he was much better when he woke up.
Wendy Chatland was Carson's nurse and was so good to him. She gave him this cute stuffed frog that he loves.
If you know Carson, you know he likes to do things by himself. He had so much fun wheeling himself out to the car in his wheelchair. At this point, he was pretty drugged up, so was in good spirits.

After we got home this afternoon, Carson had a pretty good nap. His aunt Mo brought him down a big bag, from her and Gram, of fun games to play and lots of goodies that he will hopefully be able to eat in the next few days. Jack and Linda also brought him some fun balloons and popsicles, they are so good to him. A little bit later Gram and Papa came down to visit.

Tonight, he has been in quite a bit of pain which is hard to watch. There isn't much we can do, but try to make him comfortable. I am hoping that he will bounce back quick and be back to himself in no time at all!

Marriage Enrichment Retreat

This weekend Jeremy and I were able to get away for 3 days with no kiddos (Thank you, thank you, thank you Mo and Mom for taking the kids)! We had such a good time. The National Guard puts on this Marriage Enrichment Retreat when the soldiers come back from their deployments. It is part of their reintigration process to try to get back to normal.... not that we know what normal is anyway, but we are working on it :)

We headed up to Park City friday afternoon. The first thing on the schedule was a Ice Cream social. Who doesn't love that? After that was over, we decided to go to dinner and a movie. I was so excited because I got to hang out with my good friend Ginger. We don't get to hang out too much, so it was tons of fun. We went to this EXCELLENT little Mexican joint for dinner. The food was so yummy, I loved it. After that, we went to see a movie. We saw Hancock and it was a good show. That wouldn't typically be the movie I would pick, but I really liked it.

Saturday we were in a conference room with different presenters all day. They all did such a great job and they gave us all sorts of great information about marriage and the keys to keep your marriage great. We got done with the classes at 3:00 and then the girls headed to do some shoppin! I went with Ginger and Camille and we headed to the outlets. I am SO happy because I am done with my boys school shopping already! I got some great deals which I always love! The girls shopped for a few hours and then the guys met up with us. Jeremy and I ended up splitting and heading to another movie which was fun.

Sunday we got up, and went to the last session of the weekend. We got done at noon and then started heading for home. The best part of my weekend was our lunch on the way home! Jeremy took me to my all time favorite restaurant..... Red Lobster! It was delicious!!! After that we headed on home and picked up the kids.

I am so glad that I had this chance to get away with my wonderful hubby and my very best friend! It has been SO nice having him home and I am loving being able to spend so much time with him since he is just hangin out at home this summer. I don't know what I'll do when he actually has to go back to work next month! I am having such a good time just getting to know each other all over again!

Not another one!!!

Okay, so my latest quest is running. I've been doing this for about 2 weeks now and it has been going really good and I am really enjoying it. It makes me feel so good and so full of energy. I run about 3 miles, and I have been trying to go every day, but some days it just doesn't work out. But each day I feel like I am a little better and can go a little farther!

So here is my latest problem..... SNAKES!!! The last three nights I have gone I have had to deal with a snake in the road! If any of you know me, you know that I am TERRIFIED of snakes. They are pure EVIL if you ask me. There should not be anything that can move without legs! That's just plain creepy and wrong.

Wed. when I was running there was a HUGE rattlesnake in the middle of the road. I literally about stepped on it. Jeremy thought I should have just jumped over it... Oh heck no! I turned right around and burned it as fast as I could! Then I had to keep turning around while running because I just knew that it was chasing after me! Ya, that's how creeped out I am of snakes!

So Thurs. I was scanning the road very carefully as I was running and of course there was another one! This time it was a tiny little baby blowsnake, but none the less, a snake is a snake! I very cautiously went around it, and then ran as fast as I could.

Once again tonight as I was on a peacefull run, what did I see stretched out across half the road??? Another HUGE blowsnake! What the heck??? Here I am trying to do something good and I am being tortured with snakes! But, I am not going to let them stop me! I am determined to keep going.

My little brother Kyle told me I need to start packin (a gun that is). So next time you see me running, I may have one strapped on! (Not really) My dad told me that he would start patrolling on his 4-wheeler for me before I go.

I am just wondering..... why are there snakes on the earth anyway?

Happy Birthday Mo!

Today is my very best friend, and my sis's birthday. Mo is the very best friend that I could ever have. I couldn't ask for a better sister! It has been the best thing ever having her move down here to Meadow. We live only a few blocks away from each other, and I love it. I know that there was a reason that she moved down here when she did. There is no way that I could have made it through the past year with Jeremy in Iraq without her here. She was truly a lifesaver. There wasn't a time when I needed to run somewhere or go on a weekend trip or whatever that I knew my kids were going to be well taken care of. She was always so willing to do anything to help me out.

I have to say that growing up, I didn't think that I would be saying this. We didn't get along too well, like most sisters I think. But the older we got, the closer we got also.

There isn't a day that goes by that we don't talk on the phone at least 5 times. And my very favorite thing to do is our daily 10:30 coke run. Oh, and we do stop and get the mail too.

We have so much fun together... especially after a long shopping trip and we start getting tired, everything seems to be so funny! We get silly and laugh and laugh at the dumbest things.

I am so glad that we had the opportunity to go on our cruise to Bermuda together! I think that was seriously the funnest time we have had together. (And I still remind her that she owes me the rest of her life for taking her with me:)

Happy Birthday Mo! I hope you have a GREAT day! I love you!

Blaze Game

Last week we were able to go to the last home game for the Utah Blaze. This was my first time to go watch an arena football game, and it was so much fun. The guys had all been to a game before on a "guys night out". We went up with Gary Robins and his grandson Tyson, who is one of Carson's best friends in school. We had awesome seats in the lower bowel, courtesy of Aaron Boone.

Of course we couldn't go home empty handed, the boys got to pick out something to buy, and later get signed by the players.

Carson, Tyson, and Bryson ... being wild and crazy as always!

This is Cheif, the mascot. He came out dressed in this big balloon suit and put on a good show. We had a lot of fun watching him.

Here is "Boone" the boys hero! They got to go down on the field after the game and get his autograph and of course he had extra special things just for them in his pocket. He was great!

The boys posing with Cheif on his Harley.

A Wonderful Homecoming

I know that there are a lot of you that have been waiting for me to blog Jeremy's homecoming and I am finally doing it! Sorry it has taken me so long, things have just been a little hectic around here the last week.

Jeremy flew in on Memorial Day and let me tell ya, we were all so excited. My kids were so excited and Bryson just kept saying, "I can't believe dad is really coming home!" I felt the same way. I couldn't believe the day was finally here.

We got to the airport, or the "slab" as they call it in the military. The atmosphere there was full of total excitement. The flight was about a 1/2 hour early, so we didn't have to wait too long.


It was the BEST feeling to see Jeremy step off the plane!


After getting off the plane, the guys walked through the flags and then went to greet their families.


Carson, Lisa, and Tylie waiting patiently after the plane had landed.


Carson and his Uncle Ky watching for Jeremy.


Lisa and Tylie when they spotted him!


Bryson hugging his daddy.


Our family ALL together again!


Daddy's little girl.


It took Tylie a little while to warm up to Jer, but as soon as she did, he couldn't leave her sight. She has always been a daddy's girl.


Bryson wanted to carry Jer's backpack, but I think it was as big as him.

All the family that was there went out to Chili's for dinner after we left the slab. We had a good time visiting and catching up a little bit. When we finished, my parents took the kids home and we stayed up in Salt Lake because Jeremy had to go back the next day for some more briefings and paperwork.


When we got home the next day, my sis Mo had taken all the kids down to our house to hang signs and decorate it all up for us. The kids had a blast decorating it to surprise us. They even drew big pictures on the driveway with sidewalk chalk. They were so proud of themselves.


Mo lined the sidewalk with flags.


Jeremy right back where he belongs... AT HOME!!!

I just want to thank EVERYONE who has helped us in anyway this past year. We have the BEST family and friends possible. Those of you who know me, know that I am a 'little' bit stubborn and don't like to accept any help. I try to do everything by myself. It has been a learning experience for me to accept help when I have needed it. Whether it was helping out with my kids, helping in my yard, shoveling snow, or just calling to chat, it helped out! Thanks to everyone... WE MADE IT!!!

I have the best friends and family ever!

I just wanted to take a minute and thank my friends and family, they are the best! Thursday I hurt my back and have been in bed ever since. This just happens to be the WORST possible timing for this to happen since Jeremy is coming home tomorrow! So since I was in bed on muscle relaxers and pain pills, I obviously couldn't take care of my kids. Mo and my mom have been awesome and have had all 3 of my kids since Friday. They played, had sleepovers, the works. I know that has not been easy, especially for Mo because that meant she had 6 kids to deal with at her house, and of course the "Terrible Twos" (Tylie and Carlie) struck again. This time it was with fingernail polish everywhere! She said that the girls had been very quiet for a while so she asked Carlie what they were doing and Carlie told her "Ty's piggies mommy." Well, that is exactly what she was doing, painting Ty's piggies. I am sure that Mo will post the pictures because they are great. Polish everywhere... the entire top of her feet, and the bottom, all over the tile, and Tylie decided to run from Mo when she found them so a little got on her carpet too. Oh, and Carlie got it on her face! I don't know what we are going to do with those two!

The next people I want to thank is my BFF Leighann and her daughter Aubrey, My brother Shad and SIL Julia, my brother Kyle, and my dad. They all knew how stressed I was about having my house and yard all cleaned and nice for Jer to get home, and since I couldn't do anything, they all came over and worked for the entire day helping me. I sat in my bedroom and bawled because I couldn't even help. They washed walls, scrubbed my wood floor by hand, scrubbed bathrooms, cleaned out my garage, mowed the lawn, edged the lawn, cut down all the weeds in my side yard, took loads to DI, and the dump, and whatever else needed done. I seriously have the best friends and family in the world. They are so selfless and would do anything for anyone. Julia had also already come over earlier in the week on Thursday and totally cleaned my room for me. She is the BEST organizer and de-junker around, so she got a sitter for her kids and came and went to town.

I can't say thanks enough for everyone who has been helping to make this homecoming such a special time for me and our family. It truly means more to me than I can ever tell you, and I know that I will never be able to repay you, but I am sure going to try. THANKS, I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!