23 Days til Spring

Really feeling the spring fever. I am wanting to get in some good Dirt Therapy. I guess I will have to make due with my Paint Therapy for now. Of course my secret hush-hush project is keeping me busy as well. Gotta hurry and get those things wrapped up before the big thaw!
Tick tock, tick tock.

Love and Taggarts Grill

Taggarts Grill. Have you been there? I am now lucky enough to say that I have. My wonderful hubby took me there on Valentines Day. We doubled with my in-laws. It was a great date night. Taggarts Grill is up I-84, east of Morgan. It reminds me a lot of Maddox Restaurant in Perry. Very yummy home cookin'. Cozy atmosphere. Taggarts is nestled right up against the mountain. I am told that they have peacocks running around the grounds outside during the warmer months. How fun! The entrance into Taggarts Grill.

Me and my love, Nate.

My in-laws, Janet and LaVere.

They are so fun. Nate and I really enjoy when we get the rare opportunity to go to dinner with them, just the four of us. The conversation is always enjoyable.
It was a wonderful
Valentines Day.

Reclaiming My Space

Today I reclaimed my Laundry room. I wish I would have thought to grab some Before pictures of the disaster that it was and has been for more weeks than I care to admit. While cleaning and organizing it I decided to take some pictures to remind myself of what it CAN and SHOULD look like. Also, it is true what "they" say....."Take a picture, it will last longer." So I did. I also figured it would help me this year to have these pictures to reference to while I make BIG plans for this room. Because I do. Have BIG plans for this room. I can't wait, but I will, so will you. Until then, I will enjoy the multi-function and organization of this room. Compared to my last Laundry room, this place is a palace. In our old house I pretty much had to give up on putting clothes in and out of the dryer by my 7th month of pregnancy. My girth and I just couldn't fit. Although now that I have had this beauty for over 3 1/2 years there are some upgrades that I would like to implement to make it even more amazing for our growing brood. So, anyhow, I hope you enjoy this tour of my Laundry room, because I guarantee, it won't look this good if you ever come see it in person.

I really love this yellow basket I got at Tai Pan Trading. It holds all of our umbrellas in it. I really like my 3 nesting boxes too. They are more for decoration that function. I have always planned on putting some words on the label holders but I am not creative enough to come up with something. Of course I could do, THIS AND THAT, or ODDS AND ENDS, but something in me would love something more original. It's already been over 3 1/2 years, they can wait a little longer, right.

Thankfully the builders of our home had the foresight to bump this little area into the garage. I thank them mentally almost daily for this little gem. I LOVE this area. Nate was awesome and installed the beadboard for me last year. We then added these amazing hooks from Restoration Hardware. Love them. They hold So Much Weight. Ethan tests this out weekly, wish I could get that kid to clean out his backpack more often. Then again, who am I to talk.....have you seen the inside of my purse?
I LOVE having these bins. I even emptied these out today, vacuumed them and everything. In the summer we use one for the girls shoes and one for the boys shoes. During the winter we combine them, one becomes our home for gloves, scarves, hats, etc. and the other one ends up with all of the kids shoes. You have no idea how hard I had to fight myself to NOT go put all of the winter gear in the bins in the garage. I just knew that if I did I would be pulling them back out tomorrow because of some snowstorm. Spring fever, what are ya gonna do? I figured I would be patient, no sense in jinxing myself.

I love this thing. If you don't have something like this, get one now! Super helpful.

I got these cute little drawer pulls on clearance from Pottery Barn. I love having them for labels for the kids.

I LOVE having a sink in my Laundry room! It is great for rinsing off muddy shoes, and putting gross towels in so they don't have to mingle with the rest of the clothes until I get them washed. Nice. This plastic ironing organizer is great. I have had this same ironing board cover since our wedding. I have wanted to replace it for something fun for a while, but have yet to find one that calls to me.

We asked the builders to extend the countertop from what they were originally planning on doing. So glad we did. We just did a standard counter top so my w/d stick out a bit, but it was less expensive than a custom cut one.

I keep these signs in here to help remind me that one day all of this laundry will be gone. So will the kids. It keeps my perspective in check when the mountains of laundry seem to multiply by the second.

This board is about to undergo a bit of a makeover. This is where we keep the kids chore charts. They are also undergoing some review. Can't wait to have them redone. I bought them at Tai Pan Trading. The corkboard is really thin and hard, so the pins don't stay in well. That is part of the makeover. Add nicer corkboard so the darn thing can actually serve it's purpose better. Function before form in this case.

So there you have it. I noticed you can't really see my hampers in any of these pictures. I do have them, they are at the end of the countertop underneath the clothes rod. Yesterday I spent the day making them completely empty. Today, one of them is already full. Welcome to the Laundry room of a family of six. Should have taken a picture yesterday to remember that later. Oh right, keep my perspective.

Huntsman Center Ramblings

It has been a week since Nate and I spent the day at the Huntsman Cancer Hospital, and I just realized I have yet to update you on how it went. We always call these days our "marathon" day. They are usually quite long and they do. take. all. day. We left around 8:30 am, after the two older kids were off to school, leaving the two littler ones in Grandma Hales capable hands. The drive itself is usually about an hour, give or take, depending on the traffic. We usually rush in, (Thank you to the amazing valet parking!) and hurry upstairs to get Nate's lab work done and or put in a central line for his CT scan. This day is usually filled with a variety of emotions and moments. Both of us go back and forth with moments of calm, then angst, then quiet. Usually we just enjoy being next to each other, quietly reading some random newspaper left lying around. This particular day we ended up sitting next to two "Chatty Cathy's". At the same time. It made for an interesting wait to see Dr. Agarwal. Nate got to visit with an elderly WWII veteran who was obviously missing his wife. She died over a decade ago. Lost her within 2 weeks of being diagnosed with Cancer. I sat next to a very loud talking woman, probably in her early fifties who is currently in remission from her SECOND fight with a rare form of Breast Cancer. I am sure they were both chatty because, like us, they were worried about what they MIGHT hear from their oncologist today. Yet, unlike us, they were alone.....and scared. She was alone because she said her husband deals with her Cancer in a different way then her. He drops her off and then goes and wanders around a local salvage yard. She understands that that is how he "deals". I thought two things, how sad that he doesn't feel up to being there with her. What if she gets bad news? Who will comfort her? Who will hold her hand? I also thought, that is great that they have that level of commitment and understanding in their marriage. That they know each other well enough to know and understand how each of them "deals" and they are okay with it. Just to let you know....we saw them both later and they got great news. This day is usually a different day for Nate and I, even though we are both there together and seemingly going through it together. In a way, yes, we are. In another way, no, we aren't. For Nate I am sure the day is much worse. While we are both dealing with the "What are we gonna hear today?" What will our life be like tomorrow, and the next day?" stuff, he is also slowly drinking and digesting two bottles of Barium. Sometimes this day puts my stomach into knots as it is, let alone having to drink that nasty stuff on an empty stomach while stressed. Poor guy.
While we were grateful to have been told six months ago that he looked so good they didn't need to see him for six months, we were now on the flip side of the last six months. A lot more can happen in six months time. Thankfully, we didn't worry the whole six months. In fact for me it only crossed my mind a handful of times during that time. Then you come up to about 48 hours prior to the marathon day. Those of you who have seen me this week can see the evidence on my face of what that was like. The day before, I awoke to a new cold sore......tale tell sign that i've been stressin. It was all for nothing, which I will admit I knew deep down that it would be. Dr. Agarwal gave Nate a clean bill of health. STILL IN REMISSION! Love. That. He wants to see him again May 4th for labs and a chest x-ray. Then we get to start year three of living with Cancer and he moves to a different schedule of checkups. We are told once we hit five years Nate is considered Cancer free. We are looking forward to that. Of course, he will be checked yearly for life, and I am sure I will get atleast a yearly cold sore. :) Another bright side to this particular day was that Nate and I got to have our all-time favorite, Caramelized Salmon, at The Point Restaurant in the hospital. Have you had it? It is amazing! Whenever we are in Salt Lake we talk about going there just to eat. Although, truth be told, I don't think either one of us wants to spend any time there we don't have to. As amazing and nice as the people and the facility are, no thanks.

I am so grateful for how the day went. It is another reminder that we are constantly being looked after. Cared for. Last night we got another reminder of how easily things could have gone the other way. A co-worker of Nates just found out yesterday that his wife has Breast Cancer. She starts treatment today. That is how it is living with Cancer. Life changes dramatically from day to day. We talked last night about how quickly things change when you are diagnosed. We were remembering those first whirlwind days.

Day one: Doctors Appointment. Cat Scan. Ultrasound. Blood Work.

Day Two: Appointment with Surgeon.

Day Three: Surgery

Post-op: Feeling like your living at the Huntsman Center. Waiting for the verdict, Chemo, more Surgery, or both.

And on and on and on.

On A Whim

On a whim Friday I added this vinyl to my hallway. I bought it over a year ago to go in the master bedroom. Then we found something even more perfect for the space so this vinyl sat collecting dust under my bed til I could find a home for it. I usually work in two different ways. I obsess over something and over analyze it til I finally paralyze myself with fear that it won't look good, thus doing nothing. OR I find something on a whim and immediately take action and hope for the best. This situation is a combination of the two. I like it. Although now I feel even more painfully aware that something isn't right about the hallway now. Is it the color of the paint? Truth be told this color bores me to tears, but there are so many other projects calling my name around here that I know this won't be repainted til the walls are screaming at me instead of just whispering. Plus, what color do I choose? Do I need a different size of art at the end of the hallway? Who knows? We have been in our home for over 3 1/2 years now. While I can see that we have made tremendous headway in making it "ours" I still feel like it is moving slow. Oh well. Will it ever be done? Probably not. That's okay, I rather enjoy doing these little projects. My home is like me....always changing. Hopefully for the better atleast.

Man meets Moose 2008

Most of you know that my Dad and his wife Fran were in a terrible accident two years ago today. Since I wasn't blogging back then it never made it on here, and since my primary reason of blogging is for our own memories here it is. I have a lot more photos than this but I tried to choose ones that would tell the story without being too graphic. Still, if you have a weak stomach you might want to tread carefully.

Nate and I received a call from my older brother Travis around 3:30 am on the 5th of February, 2008. He informed me that my Dad and his wife Fran had been in a terrible accident on I-80 coming home from my sister Heidi's house in Bear Lake. They were ten minutes from their South Ogden home. At the time we didn't have any idea what had happened. The Highway Patrol had just told us to hurry. Not a good sign. They figure he hit the 1500 pound Moose around 1:30 am, there were no skid marks to indicate that he tried to brake at all. We figure because of how dark the night was and the color of the Moose they hadn't seen it, he doesn't remember it at all. It was like hitting a brick wall going 50 mph. Right before the accident Fran said she became thirsty, so she bent down to get her drink off of the floor when it sounded like an explosion had gone off. Both of them lost consciousness immediately. Their truck then coasted a half mile down I-80, miraculously along the river, it then came to rest along a concrete barrier. Within a few minutes Fran regained consciousness. She said she tried to rouse my dad but he wouldn't respond. She dug around in her purse to find her cell phone. It was amazing she could even see, when they hit the moose and she was bent over the impact made the radio fly out of the dash. It hit her on the left side of her forehead. I cannot reemember the number of stitches she had to have but her wound went down to her skull, she was bleeding quite heavily into her eyes. It was amazing she was able to get cell coverage where they were. She immediately called 911. About then people started driving up behind them and stopping to help. They gave them blankets to keep them warm, talked to the dispatchers, took care of their two dogs that made it through without a scratch and waited with them til help arrived.

Fran was taken by ambulance to McKay Dee where she was stitched up by a VERY good Plastic Surgeon. Even though he was hurrying so that she could be with my Dad (to say goodbye, they thought) it still took a couple of hours.

This is about 2 am February 5th, 2008, this was taken by the Highway Patrol while they were using the jaws of life to extricate my Dad from his little pickup. That night it was 1 degree. The workers had to take turns sitting in a truck to warm up while they worked to get my dad out. The freezing temperature saved his life though, it kept the swelling in his brain and his other injuries from getting worse. Meanwhile, Life Flight was standing by. Once he was out of the truck and en route to Ogden Regional the paramedics thought they had lost him. They could no longer get him to respond. Once I got off the phone with my brother, Nate and I made arrangements for the kids the next day and I immediately headed to the hospital.

This photo was in the ICU a couple hours after he had been taken to the hospital. This was not how my Dad looked the first time we saw him that night. We first saw him in the ER. That is where we started hearing what had happened. There was a warming blanket on him, just like the one in the above photo, to bring his body temperature back up. He also had a nurse hand pumping a ventilator to help him breath. He was heavily sedated and we didn't know what we were gonna find when and if he woke up again. They told us that night that his entire bone structure in his face was broken and that he would need extensive surgeries to place plates in and reconstruct his face. They also told us that he had bruising and swelling in the brain. He also had a collapsed lung from the impact of the steering wheel. Note to everyone.....WEAR YOUR SEATBELT! It did not look good. My Mother-in-law later told me that when she hung up from me calling to tell her that she turned to my Father-in-law and told him that they needed to prepare for a funeral that would happen later in the week.


This photo is of me and my 2 sisters about mid-afternoon that day. It had been about 12 hours since the accident.


My Dad's recovery was fast and slow. For those of you who have gone through something like this you understand. He spent 2 weeks in the ICU at Ogden Regional. He amazed us all, our family was the recipient of so many blessings during this time. Every time they did another scan of him he had less injuries. Remember all of those surgeries his face was gonna need? They ended up just needing to go in and fix a crushed nose and fix his deviated septum! They still weren't sure of the extent of the damage to his brain because he was still on some pretty high doses of pain killers that kept him fairly confused. The very first day we decided to keep a notebook record of everything we were being told. There were so many doctors and so much information coming our way it was confusing. Over time it became something more. We wrote about all of the visitors, his progress, our thoughts and feelings, experiences we were having, what the UHP told us, etc. Officer Shepherd of the UHP was amazing. He was one of the officers on site that night and he came and visited atleast 3 times during his stay. He provided us with pictures and official information from the accident. He was so amazing and so caring. By the time my Dad got released from the hospital a month later the book was almost completely full. It has been a treasure to have. My Dad has been able to hear about things that he doesn't remember, we have been able to remember so much from that scary and blessed time.



These are some photos of my Dad's truck, well what is left of it. Fran said that when she regained consciousness she could look up and see the stars. The moose had pushed the roof of the cab back, then with the jaws of life they peeled the rest of it back. You can see the steering wheel here and the force with which the moose hit my Dad.

The force of the moose and the airbag is what we figure did so much damage to his face.

Drivers side of my Dad's truck.

The impact of the truck knocked the legs of the moose out from underneath it. Then it landed on the hood of the truck and slid in through the windshield and hit Dad. Since Fran was bent over and also unconscious we figure the Moose went right over her and then fell off to the side of the road. They had to bring in heavy machinery to get it lifted off of the road and into the landfill. He spent two weeks in ICU, then two weeks at McKay-Dee for rehabilitation. They initally had to go over how to write, how to eat, how to balance a checkbook, how to walk, etc. He came through with flying colors. We were so relieved. We had no idea if we would get "our Dad" back when he woke up. What a blessing we were given to get more time back.

This photo was taken 4 weeks after the accident. My family has gone to the Laketown Lodge in Bear Lake twice a year the last few years. We had scheduled a trip there the first weekend of March 2008. The Hospital let him go up for the day to be with us. He was released the next day.
The only remaining evidence of the accident are the scars on their faces, Dad has a hearing aid now and he moves a little stiff. We will take it! It could have been so much worse!

As I remember back two years ago to this accident I am again so grateful for the gifts in my life. The gift of time. The gift of my Dad and Fran in our lives. The gift of prayer and fasting. The gift ot Temples. The gift of Family.

We love you Dad and Fran! So glad you are still with us!

52 Days til Spring......

Just in case you were wondering