I finally did it.

Shortly after having Breckon I started noticing a dull pain below my sternum which seemed to come out of nowhere and would hang around for hours. At the time we were having trouble financially and weren't sure if we would get to keep our house, etc., so for the most part I wrote it off as stress and tried to dismiss it. The pain continued.

Well, fast forward a few months - the pain started coming on more and more and I thought it would do me some good to go talk with Dr. Thompson about it. So I made an appointment, he ordered some tests to be done and the conclusion was it could be this or that or something entirely different. Since he wasn't certain what the cause was, once again, I tried to put in the back of my mind and move on with life. I could deal with a little bit of pain, right? And I didn't think that it was really happening all that much to worry a whole lot about either. Besides, whats the harm in a little bit of pain - that was my thinking.

In July it gradually got worse. It was keeping me up about three to four times a week until 4 o'clock in the morning and then I would be just about worthless the next day from lack of sleep and fighting kids was the last thing I wanted to deal with after being up all night. I started keeping a food journal to see if I could pinpoint any real cause and nothing was panning out.

So the first of August I made yet another appointment with Dr. Thompson who ordered more tests and blood work. He called me at home one night and said 'you've got to definitely have surgery - it's for sure your gallbladder - talk to your dad and figure out who you would like to use and let me know if there is anything else I can help you with in the mean time'. What? Surgery? Me? Are you sure? Surgery was the last thing I wanted to have happen.

That night I talked with my dad and made an appointment with Dr. Wintch the next day. Well, long story short, they got me in sooner than I originally planned. And after talking with him and my dad again we decided to play it safe and have my gallbladder removed - before it caused any more problems.

So here I sit, one organ short, hoping that my 'recovery' phase will come sooner than later that I might still participate in the elk hunt later on this year with Kyle.

School!

Well, school has officially started for my boys - it seems the days of sleeping in, being lazy and staying in our pj's until noon are a thing of the past (for now). I usually enjoy having my kids home so it's hard for me to see them go back to school. Colton is now in the 2nd grade with Mrs. Pollock and Payton is in 4th grade with Ms. Massey.

The first day of school I drove Colton and walked him to his classroom. Payton was "too cool" for that and just had to ride the bus in order to get a decent assigned seat, but I ended up popping my head into his class before school started so I could meet his teacher and see where he sat.

After lunch that day, Westy and I made them a sign and some snicker doodle cupcakes (simply the best). So when they got home that afternoon they got to enjoy a little treat while I listened to them tell me what the first day was all about.

I'm excited to see what this school year brings and eager to see how well they do.

our bucket list

This year I decided to put together a bucket list for the summer to ease some of the boredom moments in our house and to keep the kids from fighting. One afternoon we sat down together after breakfast and compiled a list of things the kids wanted to do. After narrowing down our list and putting it to paper we started working on it right away.

Some of the things on our list never got accomplished; scavenger hunt, anti-gravity, going on a picnic, homemade root beer and a lemonade stand, but for the most part we accomplished a lot. My only regret was not starting it sooner.

Gardening

This is our second year at trying our hand at gardening and I love it. There is something very rewarding about sticking a tiny seed into the dirt and watching it sprout and grow fruit over time. This year we planted corn, string beans, tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, spaghetti squash, honey dew, cantaloupe, beets, radishes, spinach, cucumbers, onions, lots of varieties of peppers, peas, and carrots. Our family has been eating fresh veggies since the middle of May and nothing tastes as good as something you've grown yourself. We have bottled just about everything we can and I'm very grateful to a mother and mother-in-law that have taken the time to learn canning from their mothers and in turn, have shown me what to do. I have big ideas for next years and hope it grows just as good as this one.

Beaver, camping

We LOVE going to Beaver to camp - the weather, scenery and the wildlife are some of the reasons why we love it so much. And it's a heck of a lot closer to home than Fish Lake. And we got to enjoy it with most of Kyle's family.

This year we stopped in town and visited with some good friends of ours. It was fun to see their new little house and sit and visit for a while.

After arriving on the mountain Friday night, the four-wheelers were unloaded and neither Kyle or myself saw the two older boy again until Sunday afternoon. Literally, the only times the four-wheelers were shut off were for either bedtime or meal time. Other than that we didn't see much of them. And because of all the dust-eating, they were the filthiest kids we've had in a long time.

Enterprise . . . Fishing

Back in July, the weekend of the 4th, we spent oneo of the days fishing. Although we were catching fish, Colton and Payton had no interest in it. They spent most of their time hanging body parts over the boat to see if their clothes would get wet or not. Around one o'clock we anchored the boat and went ashore to eat lunch. Little did we know we would spent the next two hours (or more) crawdad hunting; catching all different sizes.