P.S. - I Love you!

So I have this really good friend named Denice--seriously the most amazing girl in the world. How she manages to juggle everything in her life while still being one of the best mothers to ever BREATHE is just beyond me. She rocks!

Anyway, she and her cute husband started their own business--Personal Sentiments.

They sell scrapbooking and card-making supplies--everything MATCHES (SWEET!!) and they even have entire KITS you can buy that takes all of the guesswork out of picking paper and embellishments. She and her husband created a lot of the graphics etc!

If you like the hands-on aspect of scrapbooking but find it too overwhelming at the Scrapbook Store, check out her website and buy a card kit or scrapbook kit. They have tons of different themes to choose from and it's high-quality product without the high pricetag! So go to her website and buy something. Go right now! You will love it~ P. S. is awesome!

Scattergories...

It's harder than it looks! Erase my answers, enter yours, and send it on to 10 people including the one that sent this to you. Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following they have to be real places, names, things. Nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person if front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

WHAT IS YOUR NAME? - Heather
4-LETTER WORD - Have
VEHICLE – Harley *grin*
TV SHOW – Hanah Montana (Your welcome Lou Bug)
CITY – Hartford, CT
BOY NAME - Harry
GIRL NAME - Hope
OCCUPATION – Handyman
SOMETHING YOU WEAR - Hats
FOOD - Ham
SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM – Hand Soap
SOMETHING YOU SHOUT - H-E-Double Hockey Sticks
ANIMAL- Hamster (shh don't tell Emma but we will own one in Nov)
COLOR - Hot Pink
MUSIC GROUP – HairSpray actors LOL
COUNTRY– Honduras
COLLEGE MAJOR– History

1st Day of School

Any advice or ideas?

The picture does not do it justice. I have apricot "stuff" all over my kitchen counter, down between the stove and counter, on the bottom of the upper cupboard, and all over the floor. Here's what happened:
Amy (& Austin *wink*) and I pitted and ran 2 boxes of free apricots from Ma's through the food mill thingy to make it into a paste like substance so we could make fruit leather. We were so excited! In our excitement we ran out of big bowls. I use my big pot to store the some of the goods. We added orange juice to the mixture to make it not turn brown (like the bottling book said to!). And then I had to go to work. I had no room in my fridge for a pot and a big bowl of apricot "stuff" so I left it on the counter with press and seal over it. Hmmm... questioning now whether I saved my fridge, or doomed myself. (??) It sat for about 6 hours.
I came home to a bubbled over mess. The "stuff" had bubbled up and popped open the press and seal on the pan. It ran down the cupboard and the drawers and was on the floor etc. I was shocked. I called Amy and we laughed about it. Dang. A mess. What else is new as a mom? no? She left and we decided to look into whether or not it is still usable. Hmmm. Should have had her stick around to bottle or bag it I say! I started to stir it in the pot getting ready to put it in bags to put in the fridge. (The "stuff" in the bowl had foamed and frothed but had not escaped...and while she was here we stirred the bowl and it was watery under the foam) SO...as I stir the pot it starts to bubble. Bubble like it is boiling over...but it's on my counter. *gasp* Before I know it... POP! It explodes. Now it wasn't a huge explosion. I didn't get covered. But under my cupboards now need wiped. There is twice as much "stuff" all over, and well. I am done. stinking stuff! Litterally. Stinkin' stuff! It REEKED like bad bread and beer. Oh my!
Needless to say... it got tossed. 2 hours of work, driving to PG to pick plus picking time, and I got nuttin'. *sniff* No fruit leather. No jam. No bottled fruit. Good thing I don't like apricots! LOL

Christmas in August

SO! We finally took Caleb to redeem his Build-A-Bear gift certificate that Santa gave him last year. It's August. I know. He's 3. LOL. He had SO much fun!

Standing on the fluff pedal... and getting it's heart ready...

All the kids got to put in a heart for him: and they each added a wish for Caleb on it...

Caleb loved rubbing it's heart on his head for it to be smart, his arm muscles so he can be strong, his own heart so he can be brave, etc...

And he LOVES his new toy. Loves like nothing else.

He needed a "bath" after being built (blow dryer and brushes to removed excess fluff)

And then he chose an outfit. He chose jean shorts and a T-shirt with a dinosaur driving a jeep!

Meet Rexie. Rexie goes EVERYWHERE with us now...

although my favorite is how Caleb talks to his "wexxie". *grin*

That was an AWESOME Christmas present...even if it was finally given in August! :)

Camping...

Here we are hanging out in camp while Dad took Cam fishing. I am kicking myself I didnt get picks of Cam doing his breathing treatments on the the front steps of the camper out in the wild blue yonder! Darn. Makes me all the more grateful for JWD's first official debt! *grin*

The pups kept being put in the camper. Our little Zoey is not good at camping yet. She barked at e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e. If they had a hat...she barked. If they stood up to go get a drink...she barked. If the wind caught the trees...well...yeah. She barked. LOL. Silly dog.

Caleb and his bestest buddy... ooo....so dirty!

Hey Gram...don't let Papa see these pics man! That face is a mess!

Emma and one of her bestest buddies too! It was a wonderful escape from reality...even if it was only a few hours worth of nothing. It was still some time with nothing in it. And our little hospital guest got to go fishing both that evening and the next morning. He was thrilled!

Award Winner!

Emmalee won ribbons at the Utah County Fair!! We joined 4-H this year & I even taught a ceramics class! LOL! It was a lot of fun!! Thanks Kathy for getting it going!!

She got a second place ribbon for her ceramic elephant bank!

And she won a purple ribbon for her pillow case! It will now be sent to the State Fair to be held in Sept! We hope she does well! She really did a great job on it! She must be related to her Grandma! LOL! (her mommy can't even thread a bobbin! *blush*)

Hospital Moments

Cam doin' a breathing treatment. The nurses kept commenting on how well he did them. Hmmm... 7-8 times hospitalized... plus on steriods *at least* once every six months your whole life for asthma...which means multiple daily treatments each time...and yeah. It's old hat for my little 6 year old. :) *giggle* I bet he could teach them a thing or two! LOL!

His bestest friend came to visit. She has a broken arm to match his IVed one! *grin*

And she brought him his favorite colored bear. She is such a sweetheart!

He was SO dang bored.

Free at last! Free at last! Thank the heavens! I'm free at last!

CAM'S HOME!!!

He made it home today! He is doing pretty good- no oxygen since 11 am this morning. Begging to go fishing with Dad...that was all he could talk about while at the hospital...so Jess is taking our trailer up to the neighborhood camping area and we will go up tommorow and let him get his fishing in. Good thing we have a generator for nebulizer power, and a stool for him to fish out of!!

HALLELUYAH!!! We are outta there!! What a story for another day. Showers here we come!

Words do not desribe...

the day I had today. It was full of wonderful people letting me know how much they care about Cam and our family. It was full of rollercoasters of how Cam is and how he is feeling. It was full of such utter frustration...and Murphy's Law of what can go wrong will go wrong...that I just can't believe I survived this day. And I thought yesterday was bad. I wanna go back and just skip this whole dang week! LOL!

I won't post about all of it...mostly because it is 1am and I am beat, and also being it that it would only become a huge whine fest...and well...I am out of cheese. That and I dont drink wine! *grin*

Thank you for all of you who thought of us, prayed for us, talked to us, emailed us, commented to us and served our family this day. There were miracles that I will treasure in my heart always that came to pass today. Not the ones I was hoping for...but they came nonetheless. :) Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. Thankyou.

Cam is about the same...if not worse. He had a bad reaction to one of the steriods they gave him. He also had not as much O2 as he needed through the day due to a faulty monitor reading giving him better stats than were real due to a bad connector. And that the Dr. that is caring for him finally believed me as the mom and is giving him the breathing treatments at the times he really needs them (every 3 hours vs. his planned every 6), but only since 6 pm tonight! *sigh* He will stay again tonight (obviously *wink*). And likely all day tommorow. We are praying for going home tommorow night...

There's not a cloud in the sky...

But when it rains it pours!

I am curled up in a room where I hear the bubble of oxygen going through distilled water. There is the occasional ping of an alarm, and I can smell the industrial laundry soap smell. My beautiful middle son is laying on a bending bed, covered in wires and tubes. His lips are the classic rosey red and his eyes are sunken and dusky colored. It is cold. The chair I sit it creaks and squeaks with every movement, the joy of a disinfectable vinyl lazy boy wanna be. There is little privacy. Here we are once more. It was two years (last month) since this has been the case. Cam was admitted to the hospital with a severe case of asthma. He can't keep his O2 levels high enough without oxygen. He is back on the big gun steriods. He has breathing treatments every 2-3 hours and he coughs until he throws up everything he eats. It breaks my heart like no other. I wish I could take his place so badly it hurts. It has been a rough day. They "blew" two veins trying to get an IV in...the poor babe had to be poked 3 times and it had to be fished everytime! He is so brave. I dont know where he gets it from! He cried, but it was such a brave cry. I love this kids so dang much!! We are for sure here for the night, and all day tommorow. We pray he can come home tommorow night. He has been on the steriods for 24 hours as of an hour ago...so the turning point is coming.... XXcrossing fingersXX

I myself am covered in wires. I went to the cardiologist yesterday. My regular cardiologist was not able to meet me, but his new partner still could, so I met with him and told him all about my frustrations and symptoms. Today before Cam was admitted I was hooked up on another Holter Monitor. What a sad day for this to happen... I have not been able to accurately document all my heart activity like I should and that is discouraging, as we are paying for this and it may be fruitless. *sigh* He will be changing my dosing for heart meds, and is also checking my thyroid again. I am looking forward to knowing how to grasp the energy and stamina I was enjoying. :)

Jestin's eye is doing marginally better. He actually had some clarity in that eye yesterday! He lost it again today, but I think it was stress related. Today Jess had his first ever deposition. He witnessed a horrible accident in Provo Canyon 2 years ago, a girl he knew as a child was run over in her car by a 6 wheeled dump truck. He struggled with it horribly. And it has been awful to re-live over again. He really could have used my support today... :(

The kids have been fending for themselves with the help of neighbors for 2 days now (with Dr. visits and cardologist visits etc both days) and do it again tommorow. I feel like Elasta Girl from the Incredibles when she is stretched thin flying the van and her hubby asks "How's it going Honey?" and she screams "do I have to answer??" LOL. Oh I know this is but a moment...but man! today I am not feeling so up to this moment....

Updates

Hello. Thought I would post an update. Jess is back to work. I am driving him as he still has very limited vision in the one eye and doesn't dare drive the freeway. He is a bit discouraged that it has not started to improve yet. It is quite painful still and he can tell he has lost a large portion of his side vision so far. I keep praying it will be better as it heals more. *gulp* Continued prayers would be appreciated. And, it goes without saying, I am not likely to get him to go back for his other eye in two weeks! We will have to reschedule for a couple of months I am guessing.

The kids are dying to get back to school! We start on the 20th. They all know who their teachers are except Cody...they may get a new 4th grade teacher so we have to wait to know his. We have gone and gotten shoes for all, but that it the extent of school shopping. And Emma is itching to go let me tell ya! LOL!

My health has not been good. I don't know if it's the heat, or overdoing it or what...but I feel much like I have in the past before my heart has gone into full A-fib. I am tired and shaky and weak, and my heart feels like it is vibrating on and off and I have had a few hard flip flop episodes. *sigh* It is very discouraging. I had high hopes that I was completely repaired from this surgery! Luckily my Heavenly Father loves me...and though I was stressed that even if I called my Cardiologist I wouldn't be able to see him for 6 weeks...I looked at the calendar and realized I have an appt with him on Monday for a surgery followup! Yea! I hope he can give me some insight as I am so discouraged to have been doing SO well...to now be back to wondering if "tonight it may happen" that I go into A-fib because of how I have been feeling. Ah well. This too shall pass...after all it came to pass...not to stay! LOL!

We are suppose to go camping next weekend! (AUG 15) It's our everyone's invited neighborhood campout and we can't wait!! It is so so so lovely to just throw food in and go! This time will be extra fun because of the meteor showers...I am so looking forward to it! *grin*

Well...I better go lay down. I may have to drive Jess to Park City tonight for a job....and I need to "prepare" myself for it by being rested. Have a great day! ((hugs))
~~heather

I love my pups!

The cuddles I get are warm and comforting... and I am fought over which is fun too!! LOL
Here is their blog spot: http://ouryorkiegirls.blogspot.com/

He is doing ok...

Jestin is doing pretty good. The procedure was awful to watch...let alone go through. They dialated his eyes and he really hates that in and of it's self! LOL

Then they took him in and did an angiogram. They found that the damage was more severe than they originally thought, so their laser treatments were more extensive. They also gave him a steriod shot in his eyeball. The worst part Jess said, was the shot under his eye (the block) to deaden everything. And it was. I haven't told him how long the needle was and how deep they took it because he must go back a 2 weeks or so to have the other eye done. *gulp* He will loose some periferal vision and could loose a little bit of the brightness of colors. We are praying not.

We kept teasing him to keep the mood light...and he teased us right back. We joked that everyone should have seen the "other" guy! He was big and Jess kicked his butt! Bwahahaha!They told him to watch a little wire with a flashing dot at the end of it while they did the angiogram...and we were busting up! We kept saying "I'm gonna get ya!" "I'm gonna be your best friend!" (think Nemo) and then "Good feelings gone!" Tee hee!!

I told him the look of his eyes dialated was wiggin me out...so he kept playing "Puss in Boots" from Shrek. LOL!! It was fun. I married such a good hearted man. He knows how to keep others laughing...that's for sure!

He is now crashed out in bed. His eye has started to wake up...so he is hurting and the vision coming back is making him sick. Poor thing! I am going to run now! I'll keep you posted.

Jestin's Eye Surgery Tommorow

Would you all keep Jess in your thoughts and prayers tommorow? He will be having his eye surgery. He was really nervous until our hometeachers came and gave him the most beautiful priesthood blessing. He still is a little scared, but has found more peace. He was promised a speedy recovery and that all will go well as the faith of those around him unite together on his behalf. I thought maybe I ought to remind all those out there who love us that it is tommorow so that Heavenly Father may fullfill the blessing He provided. :) Thank you in advance. I will post his status tommorow when I can....

Utah's Pioneer Day 2008

SO much fun!! Our kids LOVE it!! We celebrated Pioneer Day in style! We went to the parade...Caleb LOVED all the trucks, tractors and horses! We went out for breakfast with Jess' family. Then we came home and napped, and cleaned up and got ready...we had a barbeque! (Ribs and Shikabobs! yum!!) We went to the carnival (see below) and then we went to the kids school to watch the fireworks! Caleb OOOed and AWWEed them all! We rounded the evening off with Jess' homemade icecream laced with cookie dough and fudge. We stayed up past 1am visiting...but it was AWESOME!! Enjoy the video... *grin*