Sold!

Well, we sold our house! It's a bittersweet feeling. We'd lived there for almost three years and really have loved it. We had a great ward and great neighbors. It's a little bit sad leaving the house empty, but a bit of a relief too. This will allow us to decide where we're going to be and what we're going to do in the future. We feel so blessed that we were able to sell it in this crummy time, but we're really happy for the family that bought it. I'm sure there's another house out there just waiting for us.

So, I couldn't find a picture of the house, but here's a picture of the kitchen - we'll miss that nice big kitchen!

David Gray

Well, last night Jed and I went to the David Gray concert. It was at Kingsbury Hall on the U of U campus. We drove there and back last night. (I think that we both realized just how old we really are now!) It was a great concert. What an entertainer! I would definitely recommend seeing him if you have the chance sometime!

Holy Cutthroat-oly!

Jed, his brother Jason, and I went fishing at Henry's Lake today. On my second cast, I caught a good-sized fish. Kept it. On my fourth cast I caught another good-sized fish (about 2 1/2 lbs.) I considered keeping it, but obviously luck was with me so we tossed it back. We fished for a little but without any luck, so we moved. I cast and caught the humdinger of all fish! Look at this thing! Pictures do NOT do this fish justice. How awesome is this! Needless to say, Jed didn't catch anything, Jason got one, and not another bite the rest of the day. All fish were probably caught within the first hour of our fishing adventure. What a day!

Fresh Garden Tomato, Anyone?

I hope these are as delicious as they look! Of course, I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing, but today's canning experience went a little more smoothly than last time. I felt a little bit more prepared today. I must not have done much of the work when we canned when I was growing up. This takes more organization than anything. I have a TON of tomatoes from the garden than are now ripening up rapidly. It looks like I have a lot of work to do coming up! What a blast!

I Can Can

So I attempted to can something. I always thought that canning was lame, but I have found that it's all the rage in my ward - so of course I have to do it! Well, I heard about something called "dilly beans" - it's a pickled bean. Since I grew about a million beans, I thought that I'd attempt these. (I also froze some, but that picture would be pretty boring.) After the (lengthy) processing, I think it's a success - only I haven't tasted them yet. But they LOOK good, right? I may also do some tomatoes, we'll see if they ripen up enough.

General Conference

I desperately need something to do while listening to conference! I'm usually asleep by now (2:25pm.) It's usually once a year that I bust out my cross stitch or other such craft and work on it during this time. I guess I'll have to do that because I don't have any other amazing project to do (still need a sewing machine.)

The Hook-Up

Well, I go in for surgery again this week. It's my take-down. Hopefully it will all go well and I will see some major improvements afterword. I will be glad to be rid of my bag, however. I do know now that I could continue with a bag if necessary. It's really convenient in some way, but an inconvenience in many others. Well, wish me luck! (Hopefully my hospital stay is a bit shorter than last time.)

Reaping the Rewards

Look at all the beans that my little garden has produced! Wow! I went out and picked them this morning and was totally surprised by the bounty. They're HUGE too! I also have a LOT of tomatoes on my tomato plants. I'm not sure, but the neighbor has a FEW, but they're really big. I have a LOT, but not so big at this point. Will mine be okay? I hope so! I love tomatoes! I had thought that all but two of my cucumbers had died, but luckily I planted a few seed elsewhere. Those seem to be doing okay. Also, I think I'll be able to pluck some zucchini from the (vine?) soon. They're getting big. I never knew that I could have so much satisfaction from gardening.

This morning, I went ahead and pulled out most of the Morning Glory that I'd planted. Let's face it; it was strangling everything! The Nasturtiums also seemed to be doing the same thing, plus, they were much larger than I'd anticipated and you couldn't see anything else. (I filled up a huge black garbage bag with both!) I think things look a lot better in the front flower beds. (However, I do think that that Morning Glory just might end up being the bain of my existence!)

Look at my garden grow!

Look! I've got veggies! I went out to water today and saw that my peas are still very productive, my tomatoes have a few more forming and they're getting bigger too. The zucchini are also quite productive. I finally saw some beans that have sprouted - it's about time! And last, there are actually blossoms on my cucumbers. It's great! I have a green thumb (maybe?!)

Bag Lady

I tell you what; I must be the biggest idiot ever! So I have an ileostomy (bag.) It's been a bit of a problem lately. Sunday morning I changed it. Due to unfortunate circumstances, I had to change it Sunday night at about 10:30. Monday morning it looked pretty good. I was off to work. It didn't feel "quite right" on my way to work. Had to change it (at work) at 9:00. Got home from work (miraculously made it through work) and had to change it again, about 6:00. What? Another change that night at about 9:30! Can you believe it? The poor skin is so raw! The humiliation of it all! What to do? I've GOT to get help! So far, things are okay today, BUT the day has just begun. Cross your fingers for me!

French Fry, Anyone?

Something that Jed and I like to do in the summer is go out and get something to eat and take it to a park to eat. One of our favorite meals is sharing a DQ chicken strips basket. Yum! Other times we may get a shake or a shaved ice and enjoy it at the park. Here I am at South tourist park in Idaho Falls enjoying a French Fry (of which I am a connoisseur, of course.) We don't have too many more days of summer to enjoy this past time. I suggest you try it!

Check it out!

So, last night I was admiring my garden and I noticed a little something on the peas!

Garden update

Once again, I need to give a garden update. After I got home from Salt Lake, everything had just blown up since I'd been gone! It's amazing! Things were teeny-tiny before we left and now they look so HUGE to me! Check 'em out!

Post-Surgery

Well, I finally made it home and am post-surgery. I don't really know how I survived the Hospital stay. Mom and dad visited regularly (and sent everyone else to visit to keep me sane!) It was tough! My mental state while there was definitely that of "emotional basket case." After a full week at St. Marks, I stayed in Salt Lake until Friday so that I could have my post-op appt. with my doctor. It feels great to be home! I'm trying to manage all of my new "appliances." We'll see how that goes. I think I've already had an adverse reaction to one of the stoma products. Hopefully I can figure out which one works best for me - until I go in for another round of surgery. Thanks again for the flowers, prayers, and especially visits!

Sidenote: Please disregard how scary I look in this picture (unfortunately, there are way worse pictures!) Look how swollen I was!

Happy 4th!

Well, we had a pretty exciting 4th of July. We started the day by working in the front yard a little bit. We had a BBQ at the Bartschi's - Jed's brothers are in town. I made my rocket and we spent some time shooting the rockets off. That was great! My "Sky Writer" was great! It flew so high and we had great success with all of our landings. We also went to the "greatest fireworks show in the West" - that Melaleuca puts on every year. These were followed by our own show put on at home. All in all, it was a pretty great day!

Yard Update ... Again

So, here are some updated pictures of the flowerbeds. I weeded the other day, but can't tell what are weeds in some cases. I planted a few different flowers by seed and now I can't tell what's what! I left some things (potential weeds) until I know flowers vs. weeds. As you can see in the pics, the flowers have grown a bit. Some of my plants appear to be dying, but I'm going to keep trying to revive them. Here's another picture of my "garden." The peas look great so far!

New 'Doo

So, I got my hair cut today! Last week I decided that with all the (prednisone-induced) hair loss, I needed to chop some of it off so that it wouldn't look so thin and stringy. It's definitely going to be a change that's for sure!

The Date is Set

July 8th. I called and set the date. For my colectomy, that is. Of course, I'm not looking forward to it, but it has to be. Jed keeps telling me that my colon doesn't want to be there. (Otherwise, it'd behave, don't you think?) I guess it's time to part with it. I do look forward to no meds - especially the prednisone (and accompanying fat face!) I hope the J-pouch will be my friend.

Garden update

So far, nothing has sprouted, germinated, etc. Most of the seed packets said that it'd be 7-10 (some said 5-7) days until germination. (Doesn't that mean the same thing as sprouting?) It's been a week and a day today. I was hoping to see something today. It would have been so exciting! Nothing so far! Am I watering too much, not enough? What to do? I guess I'll just have to watch and wait - give it a couple more days and hope for the best (sprouting, that is.) Well, I'll keep you updated!

yard work mania!

I finally got everything planted in my flower beds. I hope that it will look great when everything grow in and thickens up. The backyard flower beds are going to be our "garden" this year - with peas, beans, tomatoes, zucchini, lemon cucumbers, and strawberries. We will see how it goes. In the front yard, I planted a bunch of new bushes and some flowers. However, I realized that everything I got so far have been annuals, so I've got to add some perennials. Here's a picture of Post-planting. I'll update as things grow (hopefully!)

Easter Greetings

We had a pretty eventful weekend full of fun activities for Easter. Here is a picture of Jed. I got him this rocket for Christmas. We finally finished it so we could launch it last Saturday. This is just before the virgin flight. Incidentally, as it came down, it landed in a huge tree in Jed's parent's backyard. His brother, Jason, climbed higher in the tree than I thought was possible and tried to reach it with a 20 ft. window washing pole. No such luck. It held too fast to the branches. Jed's dad took matters into his own hands to do a little "pruning" if you will. He got out the shotgun to remove some branches - never mind the fact that his son was in the tree. We did, eventually get it down and launched two more times - more successfully, of course.
Here i am with the (aforementioned) shotgun. We did a little clay-pigeon shooting. I used to have mad skills with a gun. They're slipping.

We also did a little kite-flying. I got Jed a $1 Ironman kite at Walmart. This kept us entertained for a while. We (meaning Jed, me, and two Jed's nieces and a nephew) would let go of the string and chase after it. For fun. Until we didn't get it in time and it landed on the roof.

accident in the backyard

So, yesterday, I was sitting at the kitchen table preparing for my Sunday School Lesson. Behind me, on Ammon Road, I heard this loud banging sound. At first, I thought that it was a garbage truck hitting some big bumps, but it went on longer than you'd expect. I turned in time to see a pick up truck rolling off the road and approaching the canal bank. Many cars stopped as witnesses ans such and then the police came. I walked out to the edge of the backyard to see the commotion. It was crazy! I've never seen an accident before. I think the guy hit the edge of the barrier that crosses the canal and then rolled a number of times before stopping in the field just on the other side of the canal from our yard. I think the everyone was okay, but it made for quite the exciting afternoon - right in my backyard!

21 Memories of Our House

I can't believe that this month, 21 years ago, we moved into our house. I figured I could think of 21 memories of growing up there. Here it goes (in no particular order):
1. Digging up rocks on the farm for the retaining wall.
2. Jennifer not wanting to go to Flaming Gorge river rafting, and dad hauling her and some clothing to the car.
3. Breaking into the house when we got back from California late the night before I started eighth grade.
4. Making mud pies and other concoctions in the lower basement.
5. Falling down the stairs while riding piggy-back on dad for early morning scripture study.
6. Having to put grass clippings on the budding front lawn in freezing early morning.
7. Watching for the bus from the kitchen window.
8. Riding our bikes around the block: to 90th, up to Redwood (usually stopping a Becca's grandma's house) down to 106th, back to 13th and home. This included me, Alicia, Emily, Becca, Jenni, and JaNae.
9. Climbing onto and off of the deck like monkeys.
10. Riding our bikes up and down and up and down the street.
11. Jory and Jeff getting into a fight in the front driveway.
12. "Collecting" knobs from the knob shop.
13. Alicia tying me up in mom and dad's room and falling and hitting my head on the wall.
14. Throwing stuff at Edward's house from Bangerter's driveway.
15. Dad cutting the radio power cord with a circular saw while building the house.
16. Jory transferring and sharing bedrooms on a regular basis until Jennifer moved out and he got his own room.
17. Stepping on a mouse in the basement; Alicia and Dave catching a snake in their hobo spider trap.
18. Mormon tea bush. Need I say more?
19. Hitting a bike (or something) with my accord because I didn't know it was in first gear.
20. Building and staining the fence. Scraping and repainting the white fence in front.
21. Our dog, buddy, having been hit by a car - however I don't really remember having him before that event.

10 Things I Remember About the Pink House

1. I remember jumping out of the kitchen window onto the trampoline.
2. I remember being scared to death of the German Shepherd on the corner.
3. I remember the minivan almost taking out the LeGrande's new fence thanks to Brandon.
4. I remember stepping on the fish that commit suicide on the stairs.
5. I remember jennifer having a Michael jackson poster.
6. I remember performing "Rags to Riches" in the front yard.
7. I remember having a patch of garden, but not necessarily plants in the garden. (It doesn't mean they weren't there though!)
8. I remember walking to the gas station for candy - frequently.
9. I remember tea pot wallpaper in the kitchen.
10. I remember playing in the long jump sand at West Jordan High.

Five Things I Remember About the Yellow House

1. I remember a white couch that was great for making forts in.

2. I remember the wood-burning stove (for obvious reasons: see above picture)

3. I remember patchwork carpet in the family room and peach walls in the living room.

4. I remember walking to grandma's along the canal road.

5. I remember racing back and forth down the hall. (Do I really remember that or do I just have the scar to prove it happened?)

Okay, so there's six:

6. I remember making mud pies at the doctor's offices next door.

Give Kids a Smile Day

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to participate in Give Kids a Smile Day. I am really lucky to work with a group of people that are generous with time and supplies. At the office that I work at, we provided x-rays, child prophies, fluoride, sealants, fillings and more to children in the community the are in need of dental care. I'll admit, I was a little stressed about so many kids at the same place and same time, but the day went really well and I felt great being able to provide such a great service to these kids. It was a great day!