Spoiled Rotten

Mother's Day was good to me for a host of reasons:

• Sometime on Saturday night, Joey snuck away to 7-11 and bought me a chocolate cake donut with chocolate frosting. I guess I just had to eat dessert for breakfast, I mean, I couldn't let a perfectly good donut go to waste - that would be rude!
  
• I got to sit next to my husband during the last half of sacrament meeting. (Five minutes with Owen and I am sure he will look forward to sitting on the stand again next week, but I was happy to have him on the row.)
• Owen had a great day at church (i.e. no tears during nursery).
• Joey bought me a flat screen TV for our bedroom. Absolutely ridiculous, I know. Joey indulged my "dream" to lay in bed at the end of the night, watching TV while he brushes my hair. Yes, folks, you read that right. Joey has learned that the key to a happy wife is just a few brush strokes away.
• Joey even watched a chick-flick with me to top it all off.

Mother's day was clearly a license to be indulged and spoiled by my husband. It was wonderful. And, I have a crazy little boy, who loves me more than I deserve. Donuts and the two boys in my life - what could get better than that?

Easter in Palm Springs

Our Spring Break was phenomenal. I was completely exhausted when we got home, and needed a vacation to recover, but it was wonderful to be in such a beautiful place, with the people I love. We ate at great restaurants, enjoyed beautiful walks on the hotel property, and Owen could not get enough of the warm weather which allowed to him to go swimming daily. I wish I could go back. Here we are at Easter brunch. This hotel's food and ambiance were amazing. They even had a "kid bar" with gourmet chicken strips, macaroni and cheese and fries. Kid and adult heaven. It was one of the few times Owen actually sat down to eat. Not for very long . . . but he did eat. Also worthy of note: for all you Saved By the Bell fans, this hotel was featured in the episode where Jesse's dad gets married. Fun trivia, right?

You can just tell these two are up to something. At least they look cute.

Clearly, Owen is explaining something very detailed to Sydney. 10 to 1 odds it doesn't make a bit of sense.

Here is what we saw outside our hotel room's window.

The view from our patio.

Swimming. Owen couldn't get enough. It was the first thing he asked for when he woke up (which was usually around 4 am . . . but by 5 or 6, he was back in bed thankfully).

In the pool's lazy river.

The pool also had a "beach." Owen was dirty, safe and happy.

Sammie, my sister's little girl.

Love this picture. Owen is waiting for the singer to look away so he can climb on stage and grab some electrical equipment. We spent half the time trying to keep him off of the stage and the other time trying to keep him out of the water fountains just up the stairs. Also, Sammie (wearing the pink bow in the lower right-hand corner) is dancing with the little girl in the yellow. They don't know each other, but fell in love dancing to the music. Priceless.

Now, I just need to convince my dad to take us all back down there next week. I'll let you know if I'm successful.

Give Thanks

Now that the Christmas season is officially underway, I think it is about time to wrap up the Thanksgiving holiday.

A little Craft project I made with my sister.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, my family headed up to the Silverado Lodge at the Canyons Resort to spend the night. It was fabulous if I do say so myself. My dad rented us each some fancy smanshy condos where we ate Chinese food, played games and hot-tubbed (it was more luke-warm than hot, but we still fun!).

Owen cried for 2 1/2 hours in the middle of the night, which was mildly reminiscent of last year. I remember waking sometime between 4 and 5 am to walk the hotel halls with that boy. We finally banned ourselves in the hotel gym where we slobbered on equipment while I prepared for the upcoming feast. This year, he slept until 7 am at least, but I was still tired from the middle of the night wake-up call.

Thanksgiving day we drove back down the canyon to Joey's mom's house for quiche, sweet rolls and ham with Joey's family. As you can see, it was a full house:


What was I thankful for on Thanksgiving?

Above all, my family. I love being with my siblings and parents. They are my greatest friends and support. Owen keeps me on my toes and is constantly reminding me I don't have it all figured out. I probably would become pretty complacent without that boy and he loves me in spite of my many shortcomings. Joey is the best - without his humility, hard work and love we wouldn't be a family today. Enough said.

This particular Thanksgiving, I was thankful to be up and about and no longer hobbling around like an old man. I had kidney surgery the week before and felt like an invalid. It wasn't really surgery in the sense that no needles were used, but that is how the hospital and docs refer to it - and with a $5000 price tag, I'm calling it surgery. I am no longer walking hunched over and most of the stone fragments have left my body. The procedure went relatively well. I was even greeted at the hospital by my medical student neighbor who ended up being the "physician" who checked me in.

The biggest setback of the experience was that I responded poorly to the anesthesia. I couldn't move, turn from one side to the other, stand up or walk without vomiting. I became dehydrated pretty quickly, so we had to stay at the hospital a little longer than I would have liked. If the nurse had been smarter, she would have given me anti-nausea medicine, or fixed the kink in my IV as Joey had suggested, but instead she discharged us and sent us on our way. Lucky for Joey - he got to see me throw up at least 10 times before we made it home.

After a late-night call to the doctor, one anti-nausea suppository, a wonderful nights rest at my parents house, life started to look up.

I am now doing great and am thankful that the human body is resilient. Our family certainly has had a few exciting weeks, but isn't that what the holidays are about?