Arrow of Light

Ethan will be eleven next month so this is his second to last pack meeting as a cub scout. How time flies. This one however has a little more special meaning. Ethan was receiving his Arrow of Light recognition.

It has been fun watching his skill with the flag ceremony increase over the last three years.

We were so excited to have Grandpa Mathie come to Ethan's Arrow of Light ceremony. Grandpa Mathie is a major scouter and Nate attributes his love of scouting to his Dad's love, dedication and enthusiasm for scouting.

Brother Crozier presenting Ethan with his Showman, Engineer and Sportsman pins. He has currently earned 17 of the 20 Webelos pins. He is currently working on earning the other 3 before his birthday next month. We are so proud of him and his perserverance in this accomplishment. Nate is one proud scouting papa, Ethan has already earned more Webelos pins than Nate did as a Webelo.

Receiving his Arrow of Light from the Order of the Arrow boys.


Ethan pinning me with his Arrow of Light pin. They always present the mothers with pins but in my boys case I feel that Nate is much more deserving of the recognition. He is the one in the scouting trenches day in and day out.


A proud Mom and Dad!

At our pack meetings the boys get to pick their favorite cheer when they are given awards. Ethan chose the Home Alone cheer. You can tell by his face how much fun he had with it.


Nate spent hours creating this Arrow of Light plaque for Ethan. First in designing it, then buying all of the little medals (they were harder to find than we thought), having the name plate made and routing out the wood. Once he officially leaves Webelos we are going to put all of his pins he has earned onto the plaque as well. It will be a great display of all of his cub scout accomplishments. I was so proud of him for wanting to put so much into making this for Ethan. Scouting is important to Nate and he wanted to show Ethan how much his efforts meant to him. Way to go Ethan and Dad!

Huntsman Excursion

We spent yesterday afternoon at the Huntsman Cancer Hospital down in Salt Lake City. It was time for Nate's check-up with his Oncologist. Usually when we go down we leave all of the kiddos with someone, however this time we took Evie along. She is a little energy pill, I tell ya. We started off by getting Nate checked over by the nurse. We just love her, she is always so positive and bubbly. Always with a giggle ready to erupt from her. She is also a Cancer survivor herself. Nate gets his blood drawn, his weight, blood pressure, oxygen level, and heart rate checked, among other things.


This day went a little out of order, normally after he gets checked in we head off to Radiology for an x-ray or CT scan, however because of the rain storm we arrived a wee bit late and headed right in to see Dr. Agarwal.

He came in, checked Nate over and told him he doesn't even want to call him a patient anymore, he is too healthy! Since we are heading into our third year with Cancer he wants to see Nate back in August for a CT scan. One of his last for quite a while, if it looks as good as we are all thinking it will. Since Nate is doing so well he doesn't want to expose him to anymore CT scans than he absolutely has to. He told us the radiation from a CT scan is like having well over 100 x-rays at once. Not something you want to continually be exposed to for sure.

Evie and I headed for a walk in the halls while Nate scheduled his next appointment. Along the way we found something new. It is a 24,ooo piece puzzle put together by Jon Huntsman's grandsons. It took them around 6 months to put together. They donated it to the hospital to display. Evie LOVED it! We spent about ten minutes looking at it, mostly counting the number of Nemo's in the picture. Isn't it amazing?

Once Nate was done it was off to Radiology to get an x-ray. Normally we walk right in and within 5 minutes he is pulled back. Today we had a bit of a wait. Fortunately Evie was very good this entire trip. You can see me in the background reading a magazine, I went through 3 magazines cover to cover this afternoon.



Once Nate got pulled back Evie and I headed upstairs to the Point Bistro. No trip to Huntsman is complete for Nate and I without stopping and getting a Carmelized Salmon entree. Usually we have time to eat it between his tests and his actual appointment, but today we got it to go.
While it was being cooked Evie enjoyed checking out the joint. She sat at almost every table, declaring each time that this was the one we would sit at. The closer she got to the windows with the amazing view, the closer she got to where Nate and I usually sit to partake of our salmon.

So glad to get through another Huntsman excursion with good news.

More On This Later

Today Nate and I will be spending the afternoon at the Huntsman Cancer Hospital.No worries, just his routine check-up with his Oncologist. So stay tuned for more info later on today. Wish us luck!

One year Blogiversary and a Muddy Mess

I can't believe it has been a year since I have started our family blog. Time sure flies. I have really enjoyed doing this blog, one of the reasons is that it is so much faster than scrapbooking. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy scrapbooking and will continue to do it, this is just so much faster! Another thing that I have noticed is that I hardly ever write in my journal now. I used to write in it atleast once a week. I need to get better at maintaining both, since I obviously share completely different things in each.

Saturday I took the girls with me to a nursery to pick out my annual flowers for my flower pots. Ally and Evie were having a riot running all around looking at birds, bugs, the koi pond, finding sticks, etc. All was right with the world until.....SLIP!
Evie took a nose dive down a muddy incline by an empty koi pond. She went all the way down. Luckily it was empty, otherwise she would have gone in head first. She was covered in mud.



We were pretty much ready to go, so we headed to check-out. I knew she was wet and upset about being muddy but I couldn't understand why she was carrying on so much. She kept saying stuff about snakes. I was lost as to what she was talking about. Then I saw them, tiny little microscopic worms all over her clothes. ((shudder)) Poor thing. As soon as I could we stripped her down and let her run around in her diaper. Poor cold little thing. Once the "snakes" were removed she calmed down considerably. We got her home and into a warm bath and all was right
with the world again.


Here are some photos of the flowers we got that muddy day. Aren't they gorgeous? Can't wait for them to fill in.

Photo Shoot Sunday: Mother's Day 2008

This particular Photo Shoot Sunday is actually of a Sunday photo shoot. You can tell. Want to know how? Look at their faces. They are either like Ryland and Ally, just enduring this toture or they are like Ethan, straining a smile to just get this over with. Why are Sunday photo shoots more challenging than others? Well, if your family is anything like ours we are still tying ties, shoe laces and hair bows as we rush out the door to try to not be more than ten minutes late to Sacrament meeting. Yeah, we are already late. So, you have to do your Sunday photo shoot right when you walk through the door before everyone changes out of their Sunday best. Of course, you know how it is. Halfway through Sacrament everyone is complaining about how hungry they are, how itchy their collar is, how their tights keep falling down.....need I go on? So, by the time they hit the door, the last thing they want Mom springing on them, is a photo shoot. Of course, Mom knows better than to tip anyone off, even Dad, to her plans til they open the van door to pile out. THAT'S why Sunday photo shoots are different.

Of course, this particular Sunday photo shoot, they knew they didn't stand a chance. It was after all, Mother's Day.

Fractured From Stress

The last few days I have had an annoying pain on the top of my left foot. As soon as I wake up and take a few steps, or sit for longer than fifteen minutes and get up to walk around it immediately presents itself. It's not excruciating, but it isn't a day at the park either. Usually after about 4 or 5 steps the pain lessens and then leaves. No big, right? WRONG! Apparently.

Last night I went for an amazing run. There was a a good breeze blowing, a bit of a sprinkling most of the time. Not too much, not too little, just right. I went sans ipod in case the rain picked up so it was just me and my thoughts. My pace felt good and strong, so I checked my watch to see how I was doing. What? I remembered hitting the button on my watch when I left, but there it was plain as day....00:00. GRRRR. Oh well, I know where I usually am at at this point in the run, it really feels like I am ahead of my usual pace, and I feel strong, so I will start it and set a goal to be back at a certain time. Now, go! So I did, with the strong breeze filled with rain droplets that kept me and my thoughts company. It was a great run. One for the books. I even got back eleven seconds under my goal. If I had actually turned the watch on at the beginning I am sure I would have been looking at a Personal Record. Fast forward to a half hour later. I was sitting on the couch reading story books to Evie. We got up to get her ready for bed, and OW! Starting to sense that I was playing with fire I decided to call Nate's "brother" but technically cousin, Chip. He has a degree in sports therapy and is also now a PA. I figured he was my go to guy on whether or not I was imagining this nonsense. Three minutes into the call he tells me I need new shoes. Whew! That's it? I can handle that. Then he goes on to tell me that I need to stop running for 3-4 weeks because it sounds like a stress fracture. What? Are you serious?


(this is not my x-ray. It is just an image off the internet of a stress fracture on a left foot in the general area of where I feel my pain.)


He said based on the fact that no trauma occured to the foot, I am consistently running, it only hurts after I have been resting and it is on the top of the foot, his over the phone diagnosis is that it is a stress fracture and to take it easy. If I don't it will only get worse and then I will be in a cast and won't even be really walking let alone running. I think he told me that because he could hear the "but I don't wanna stop running" and "it can't really be THAT bad" in my voice. So, he resorted to putting the fear of Chip in me. I am sad to say that it worked. Stress fracture are small cracks on the surface of the bones caused by consistent pounding, aka running. The reason it hurt after I was resting was because my body was working on healing it and I was essentially rebreaking it. Good times.

Now, I am not an idiot. I know there are worse things in life to have handed to you. A piddly little stress fracture that takes you out of the game for a month is nothing to cry over. My running career has been handed far worse before, but that is a story for another time. However, I would be lying if I didn't admit to being bummed just a bit. Okay, a lot. I have two, count them, two races on the books for the next three weeks. Let alone the fact that I LOVE running. Thus, the being thoroughly bummed. Heaven help my family, while I can't run. He did tell me it would be okay to take a bit of time off and try to stay race ready on my elliptical. I am hoping that the non-impact of the elliptical will let me heal but also keep me a little on my game. Oh and bet your booties I am off to the running store next week for some sweet new shoes that hopefully will help me prevent this crap down the road, the running road that is. Cross your fingers.

Flashback Friday: Ethan's First Race

Last year Ethan's elementary held a one mile race for the 4th and 5th graders. I love kids. They just decide they want to run and show up. No training, no worrying. Just show up and go. Stinkers. I always tell my kids that the reason they have so much energy is because they sucked it out of me when I was carrying them. I believe it too. Ethan did a great job, he'd never run a race before and I am so proud of him and how well he did.






(may 2009)