Cranberryfries rocks my socks

Debbie is having an awesome contest in honor of her 3rd year blogging, go check it out!

http://www.cranberryfries.blogspot.com/

Hailey and Mom head to Vegas

It's been three weeks since out Vegas trip, and here are the details.
Hailey and I headed out around 11 am on Saturday and got to Vegas at 12:30. We parked at Bellagio and explored the gardens and lobby, which are gorgeous. We then walked over to the Forum Shops and oooooed and ahhhhhhed over all of the beautiful things. We especially liked Tiffany's. After lots of walking, talking and fun being had, we headed to Serendipity for dinner. The portions were huge, and the food was divine. It was the best ceasar's salad I've ever had, hands down. We also shared a frozen hot chocolate and were happy to find it lived up to the hype!

Then it was off to the car to change and head to the Mandalay Bay to see her beloved Jonas Brothers in concert. It was complete pandemonium as 12,000 girls and their mom's were trying to get in. I even saw a few dad's there, and told them they were very brave.

I'm going to make a slide show from the actual concert, those boys were awesome. They played for over 2 hours and put on an amazing show. No, I'm not a Jonas Brothers fan, but I will say that I can respect talent, and those guys have it, playing and writing all of their own music. Can their voices mature a little more? Yes, especially Nick's. It's a little whinny at times, I think Joe sings better. (Hailey will kill me for saying that, so it'll stay just between us.)
The main stage was circular, and rotated, and the middle came up and down. At one point they had a trampoline over the opening and the boys were flipping off of it. It looked like they were having fun up there. When they came up the first time, I really thought the roof would come off the place. Have you ever been in a medium sized arena with that many screaming girls? My ears rang for three days afterwards.

I hope Hailey remembers this day forever. I can't describe how happy it made me to see HER that happy. When they came on stage, it was like she was going to come out of her skin. We had great seats, and could see every expression on their faces, which made it even better for her. She kept saying "I can' believe it's really them!". (Her friends have named her OJBF, meaning Obsessed Jo Bros Fan, and is she ever!) She was hoarse by the end of the night, but so happy. She was on a high for the next week and I hope she knows how much I loved sharing that day with her. She is such a blessing in my life and this was an experience I will always treasure.

Love Bug Video

This is Hailey's favorite song by her Jonas Brothers. She asked me to post it to 'try and convert some of your friends to their awesomeness.'

July review

As I called myself a TSM a few weeks ago, I think I'd better live up to it and summarize the month of July for posterity, instead of doing little posts about each one.
It was hot. We baked every time we went outside. We had fun while the cousins were visiting for the 4th. I'll post some pictures from that fun weekend, and anything else from July that I want to remember. Honestly, it's been a hard month and I'm looking forward to the normalcy school will bring in a few weeks.

L to R: Elise and Ali at the carnival, Trent and Seth going down the slide, Elise and Ali on the swing.

At the top of Foremaster hill, to watch the fireworks. L to R, front row: Ali, Elise, Lily, Joseph, Trent, Chase and Seth. Back row: Abby, Ethan, Sabrina and Hailey.

"All the Singles Ladies" has been playing in our house a lot lately, ever since Rachel decided she likes to groove to it. Here are some pictures of dancing in the kitchen. I wish I could have gotten one of her doing 'put your hands up!', because it's her favorite part, but she wouldn't cooperate.

Greg took the boys for a drive to see where they are building the new airport here in St George.

Chase Bank opened a new branch in Santa Clara (northeast of St George) and they had a big opening. The kids got their faces painted, ate too many cookies and got a tour of the firetruck. Elise was going to a tea party afterwards, so she is a little overdressed for the occasion.

Christie Hardy and Cami Young were in town with their families, it was so great to see them! I am very short next to Amazon Woman, as you can see. ;) I don't know why we stood in front of this boring wall and not outside by the brick. Oh yeah, because it was 110 degrees. The kids had fun running around and I loved getting to chat for a little bit.

Kids L to R: front row-Whitney H, Jackson Y and Rachel. Back - Kyle H, Reagan Y, Trent, Nate H, Seth, Ally H, Elise and Hailey.

Before they came over that day, a door at church attacked Elise while she was standing next to it. Here is the result the next day:

There you have it, a sliver of life here the last month.

Definite improvements

I am happy to report that Greg is markedly better than last Sunday. He is by no means healed, solid food still tends to hurt his throat. But he is able to almost speak normally, though at a quieter volume. We go to the doctor tomorrow and will hopefully be able to get rid of the oxygen machine. He is also going to attempt to head back to work tomorrow for a half-day. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the end is in sight.

Surgery sucks and other observations

It's been 5 days now since Greg had half his face worked on, and he's still hating it. To be exact, here is what he had done:
*tonsils, adenoids, and uvula removed
*deviated septum repaired, as well as some polyps removed
*holes drilled into his sinus' to stop his recurring sinus infections
We knew it was going to be bad from all the horror stories we'd heard, but it's still terrible to see him going through this. We would both agree though that this surgery and recovery absolutely suck and everyone should try and avoid it at all costs.
Here are some of our other observations:
*There is nothing better than Cream of Wheat with some milk and brown sugar in the morning.
*Jello and pudding are the best invention since the wheel. Especially in those little cups.
*Creamies should come in more flavors.
*It's amazing what can be conveyed with a few hand gestures, and not just using the middle finger.
*Ice from Sonic works wonders. (How do they get them so small and perfectly crunchy?)
*The sound of the oxygen tank turning on will send a dog fleeing a room to go poop next to the recliner.
*It is possible to make three trips to Walmart in one day, and the cashier to say "Weren't you just in here?" And you humbly reply that yes, you were and you are an idiot for forgetting things to make your husband feel better.
All of these were made with Greg barely able to whisper, so I may have gotten some of them wrong. Except the Walmart one, that's all me.
My loving husband has recently even taken a picture of his throat, but I will spare you. I gagged when I saw it. It's even worse than my gallbladder pictures from last year, and those were pretty gross.
All in all, it's safe to say we're housebound for at least another week, but I hope that next time I report he'll be feeling a little better. Thanks to those that have called or emailed to check on him. We really appreciate your concern.

Trent is 9

Trent's birthday was extra fun this year. His cousins Sabrina, Joseph and Ali, and his Aunt Ginger were visiting from Orem, so they got to celebrate with us all day.

I was surprised, in a very good way, that Trent slept until 7:30 that morning. It's usually up at the crack of dawn on his big day. He loved his new Transformers and his much needed clothes. (He really does like getting new clothes.) He also got a Nerf target set with two guns, so no need to ask what all the kids were running around doing all morning.

He asked for the ultra-nutritious breakfast of homemade donuts this year, so we had a lot of fun with those. The Fourth of July is the perfect day for our Trent to be born. He really is our firecracker and loves to keep all of us on our toes. He is a tenderhearted guy that loves his family and friends and we are so happy he is ours.