Catch Up!

Braeden and I going for a ride!
Brae, Kate and Papa. Pops is bending his knees to make Brae look taller.
Kisses goodbye from Deke and Lisa.
Bryce, Caroline and Drew at the lake. Too cold to swim!
Tom, Caroline and Collin packing to go home. We have the dinky tent trailer for our whole family while my mom and dad have their imposing motor home for two in the background. Okay. They did let Braeden sleep on their pull out couch, which was most helpful. Thanks mom and dad!

Since I didn't blog for several months, I thought I do a little catching up.

Every year my family goes to Palisade's State Park, near Manti, Utah on Memorial Day Weekend. We love it there. We camp, golf, fish, play games, swim (depending on the weather), and laugh together and at one another! We love this trip and our kids would never allow us to miss it.

This year was a bit cold and there was no swimming, so we decided to try something new and rent ATV's. It was a blast. I should have taken the camera with me because the views on the trails were incredible. At one point I could see the Manti Temple.

Also an update on the home formerly occupied by Earl. I'm healing nicely. In fact I'm going a bit stir crazy not being able to do much! I'm now just feeling a bit stiff, especially when I'm sitting too long. The big milestones overcome: coughing, sneezing, going to the bathroom (ooooohhhh that was scary) and laughing. Katelynn nearly caused a relapse when she caused me to laugh so hard, I was doubled over in pain. She came into my room while I was watching an episode of Ellen (I had enough of HGTV. In fact I've had enough of TV all together). Anyway Ellen was playing a game like the Newlywed game, but with mothers and daughters. The question was: What was the most embarrassing thing you ever caught your mother doing? A. Making Whoopie B. Getting drunk at a party C. Telling a white lie. Well Katelynn looks puzzled and asks, "What's making whoopie? Is it when you catch your mother farting?" It still makes me laugh. I love her innocence. In fact I was laughing so hard I never did answer her question. May she stay so sweet and innocent!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLLIN!

Love that smile!
Love that smile too!
Since he was a baby he would play catch with anybody.
One of my favorite pix! They look like they like each other!
Playing a little Rock Band with Jake, Jake and Trevor

Collin turned the big 11 on Saturday. I can't believe it's been 11 years. Collin was the cutest baby and toddler known to man! I can say that cuz I'm his mom. He has the best smile with those dimples! He's my only brown-eyed child. He could get away with murder. I still remember the day I told my mom, "He's not cute and he's not funny anymore!" Okay. He's still cute and funny, but he's trying very hard to always look cool. Collin has a great sense of humor and if you listen, you'll catch his whit. He's sweet, sensitive, smart, talented, just don't tell him cuz it will embarrass him. He can keep his cool under pressure (you should see him pitch when there are a bunch of screaming parents on the opposite team) I'm so proud to be Collin's mom! And, yes, he can still get away with murder!

GOODBYE EARL!

Okay. Now before you read this go down to the post published before this one and open it up. When the song starts, minimize it, then you can read this post.
Let's talk about "Earl". "Earl" is the golf ball sized "mass" that appeared in my groin area (just above the bend in my leg). I was feeling some pain on Saturday night, March 15th and then found Earl on Sunday morning. Not something you like to discover just minutes before you have to leave for church. I talked with Rick (isn't it great to have a brother-in-law to call when strange things show up in your groin?) Rick diagnosed me over the phone with a hernia. Makes sense since I had been sick since the middle of January and my ribs were still aching from coughing for two months.
My doctor was out of town for Spring Break, of course, and I didn't want to wait another week to see him, so I called another doctor (big mistake). This doc says, "Ooohhh! Das biiiig! It's not hernia because I can't push it back in." Okay. It wasn't pretty when he tried to push the sucker back in! Anyway, he says it's my lymph node, and "let's be honest. It could be cancer." Thanks Doc. I'm feeling much better now! He sends me to a surgeon, but I can't go until next week cuz we went to the beach for Spring Break. Try keeping that off your mind for a week!
The surgeon agrees that it's the lymph node and puts be on an antibiotic for a week. I take it easy and it goes down a bit. So the surgeon says, "Let's wait another two weeks and see what happens." Meanwhile I can't even look at Mandy's blog and everytime I look at my kids I start to cry.
Well this is where faith, prayer and the temple come in. Tom gave me and blessing, which said that I was going to learn some patience and other things the Lord wants to teach me. I went to the temple and had the sweetest experience I've ever had. I learned great lessons that day and I came home feeling like everything was going to be fine.
To make a long story short, the doctor finally decides "Earl had to die" and wants to schedule surgery right away (he doesn't agree with me that it's a hernia). He said he would remove the "mass" and have a biopsy on it. I just hated the word "mass". Well this was right before my dance recital and Hollywood kids performances, so I had to put the surgery off for another month. Finally I go in for surgery on Wednesday. It's scheduled for 12 and the doc had an emergency. So they finally wheeled me in for surgery at 4:40. It was kind of scary since I had never had any surgery before. But everything went well. I woke up to the doctor saying, "It was a hernia". The nurse told Tom it was a big ole hernia. Rick's such a great doctor. He can diagnose over the phone!!!
I'm doing fine now. A bit sore but feeling better every day.
GOODBYE EARL!!!!!!!!

In honor of Earl.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmewmUvDlTQ