Family Photos

Some of the pictures from our family pictures. I like the ones of the kids the best!!

Arizona Times

I wanted to share some pictures from our trip to Arizona this past week. There will be more where these came from because I haven't posted pictures from all the trips we've been taking.

 But here's a start.

This is an awesome place called Jump Street. It's basically trampoline land. The kids had a Blast! We will definately be going back!!

We took a trip to the grand canyon. It was memorable because we were only there about 45 min. before we got rained out! :) I didn't get good picts of the rain, but some of the group picts were fun.  

This series of sister pictures has a great story. Pict. #1 Family picture FAIL. Stephanie called it the prom pose! Pict. #2 is when Stephanie realized that had something weird going on. We'll call it the "what the hell" picture. Then Pict #3 is the "no way" and Staci is still hanging on. Our belly's hurt from laughing. Then Pict. #4 we finally got it right. Good times!

 Outside the cabin we have some really good times. The kids getting eaten by the rocks, rock jumping, finding sticks and making bow and arrows, fire and marshmallows. It's so relaxing and beautiful there.

And finally our little outing to down town Williams. I really didn't want to go, but I was glad I did. Everyone enjoyed walking around and it was a beautiful day! Williams is the cutest little Route 66 town ever. It's a tiny place, but plenty to see and take in.

Pictures

Another great day!! But first, these are the pictures from Cascade Springs yesterday.

Cool little pathways made from wood.

The springs coming out of everywhere making cool little waterfalls.

A handsome boy being boy!

Me and the boy on one of many bridges.

Us, having a great time.

Beautiful mountains!! Everywhere!!

This is today at the Olympic Park. We did the Alpine slide and the zip lines. LOTS of times! :) 

At the zip line.

Over the edge!

Ski lift.

Us in front of the olympic ski jump. We got to watch some people training for nationals here. It was really cool!! We had a wonderful day!

Hanging out in Utah

 Baillie, Brodric and I are hanging out in Utah while Carter is at a BYU Music Festival. (Band Camp) :)  And today was a nice day. Well, mostly.

We kinda got a late start but we found a secret surprise for Scott for Father's day. We were all so excited about it! Then we drove up American Fork Canyon in hopes of going to Timpanogos Caves. They had a big waiting time though so we scheduled to come back on Friday morning and we headed up the mountain to go to Cascade Springs. It was such a pretty drive!! Baillie and I really don't like the edged os the road and the drop offs, but besides that we loved it!! We took a few pictures that I hope to share later when I have a card reader.

Right now we are in Park City, and we hope to have a fun filled day tomorrow at the alpine slide and the zip lines. Baillie has been in a horrible mood tonight, it might be due to her feeling ill, but we're not sure. I hope she isn't sick and can still play tomorrow! It would stink if she was sick for real.
I will post pictures as soon as I can.

Partied too hard?

Home sick today with Bay and Brodric.
I think Brodge mainly has a sunburn from yesterday. Big pool party yesterday. We had a great Memorial Day party. Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches, fruit, friends, sun and lots of fun.
Baillie and I, just some stomach thing. It's been hanging around our house a few days now. Not fun.
Here's some fun though!

This pool was really hopping! Lots of kids enjoying themselves!! 



 Goofy boy.

 Girls will be girls.. Pushing each other in the pool, not so good though.

 We got these pop ups, they make all the difference! That's Troy cooking some of the chopped steak for the Philly Cheese Steak. YUM!

 Visiting and more visiting. Good people!

 At the end of the afternoon, when everyone had had a lot of sun, most of the kids ended up in the house watching Psych... What? Kids....

Happy

I'm happy to be blogging again. I don't know why I fall out of the habit. Probably time. But I'm glad to remember now.

I was out for a couple of hours this morning doing yard work. My hands are all sensitive now, like I may have gotten blisters if I went another second. So I didn't. But I got a lot done. I love spring and being outside and doing yard work! Seriously.

Scott and I decided we wouldn't have a huge garden this year. But we wanted something. So we got a little unused garden bed in the front yard and we prepared it for our garden. I'm excited to see what we can do with it. We'll grow a few things.

This time of year always makes me happy. The greens of new grass and the bright colors of flowers make me happy! Baillie and I are going to work on the flower garden. We are going to plant these flowers we bought the other day and also add a couple more rose bushes. I also need to plant some other bushes in the front.

We have a ton of work to do in our yards still. We have a ton of work to do everywhere. Someday we'll get our projects done. That was a lie. We'll probably never get everything done. :)

8 Months

Eight months ago I has gastric bypass surgery. I made the decision long before that and it took what seemed like a life time for it to come to fruition. Now I'm looking at it from the view of 130 pounds lighter. It's been an interesting, tough, amazing, incredible eight months. It's kind of a miracle if you ask me!

I'm healthy. I eat healthy foods. I try to stick with things I know are going to increase my strength and health. Protein shakes, greek yogurt, fruit and hopefully vegetables. I eat a lot of nuts, and chicken. I am doing my best. I also take my vitamins nearly every day. I want to do that forever so I can keep my bone density (and every other good thing vitamins do for you). I track pretty much everything that goes into my mouth. That's not to say I don't eat unhealthy things. Because for sure I do. Like last night for instance... the left over Easter chocolate was calling my name. I tracked every bite and ate about 430 calories of junk! So you see, it's not all fun and games. I do my best and sometimes I fall short. I am trying though and I am getting back on track when I loose my way.

I move a lot! My goal is to walk every morning with a partner, (I guess alone would work too, but it's much better with a partner!) Right now we do about 4 miles a day. There are days we don't go, but we celebrate every day we do go!! I have also joined a gym. I try to be in the gym at least 4 days a week. Sometimes it's for a one hour class. On Mondays I do two classes back to back. And a couple days a week I don't go at all. But I'm super grateful for the gym and my ability to go. (And I really enjoy the classes... even when I'm really tired!)

 My body has been wonderful and has responded to the efforts. I am grateful that I have the energy to do what I am doing. Without clothing my body isn't very amazing... :) I have lots of loose skin, and still some remaining fat pockets throughout that skin. It's kinda yuck... But I know I am building muscle and when the clothes are on I don't think it looks all that bad.

I'm not sure what my weight loss goals are for myself. I thought I wanted to loose exactly half of what I was. That would mean I would loose 153 and weigh 153. But from where I am today that would mean loosing another 24 pounds. I think my body can definitely sustain that, but I wonder what people would think. (Already people are commenting that I can't loose any more, and oh my goodness, "you are getting too skinny". But really, they don't know my body and they don't know where I'm at.) On a healthy weight chart it says that for a person my height I could weigh

5'9"	129-142	139-153	149-170

 that is the numbers for a "small frame", medium frame, and large frame. I don't know what frame I am, but let's suppose I'm a medium frame (although I tend to think I am probably large framed) the high weight is right where I want to land... 153. I do think that it would take a while for me to get there. I don't think I would drop the weight quickly or without a lot of effort. But I could still be healthy and weigh 153. With that said, I could also be perfect at 165 or 170. Actually, I am really perfect at 180 or 190 or wherever I am!! I don't think it matters much. I'll just keep eating healthy and working out. That's what matters most.

The next question is how has this effected my family? And my answer is, I don't know. No one talks about it much. I don't want to bring it up or sound fixated on it. So I don't. I guess maybe I should a time or two. Just to make sure everyone is ok with everything. They all know my proetin shakes are precious around our house and there are always greek yogurts in the fridge! :)

So that's my story as I begin my 9th month since drastic life changes. I hope it is an eternity of change for me. I hope I continue to make healthy choices and keep myself free from disease and hurt that weight carries with it! I understand it well. I lived it and I continue to battle the mental fight of loving and desiring food, healthy or not so healthy!

Six years ago I looked into the surgery and I knew it wasn't for me. I watched my sisters and others as they had success and found some peace from carrying extra weight. But still it wasn't a choice I was willing to make. When I was diagnosed with diabetes I felt like I had no other choice. I obviously couldn't do it on my own. I felt like a failure. I felt like surgery would mean I had given in to the ultimate failure. But I had no choice except to embrace it. I wish I could of lost weight without surgery, but I know that would never have happened. And I couldn't hope or wish it to be reality.

Today I am ever grateful that I have this tool and that I was able to rely on it for a bit of the focus or strength I didn't have inside myself before. I have taken advantage of all the tool has offered. (I am keenly aware that it is only a tool and that I could easily eat myself right past it, and that is why I am so vigilant about my daily calorie intake.) I feel blessed and grateful.

Super Sunday

Last year we watched the Super Bowl together as a family just to say we did. Or maybe so that when the talk began at the water cooler, we wouldn't be left out. Other than one game a year, we're not really foot ball people. I like sports so I wouldn't mind watching with my sons sometime, but it's not really our thing.

But the rest of the day was super too. We had a nice three hours of church. I substituted for Brodric's class in Primary, as well as for the singing time lady. It was nice spending time with the kids in Primary again.

I'm grateful for Super Sunday's spent with my family!