Thankful for Family

At times of sorrow, comes an incredible gratefulness for family. I decided that I would put some pictures on of family this last week in our times we tried to get over our grief. Just a little bit of playing around during a week of sadness.

Sorrow and Blessings

This is the first time I have had a chance to just breathe in 3 days. Sunday night there was an accident near Hanksville, Utah. My brother in law, my sister and her 3 kids plus friends were in a horrible accident. We have lost my brother in law, my 7 year old niece which was our princess and my 15 year old nephew. I can't figure out words that describe our lost. I just have sat and cried for days and the tears seem to keep flowing and the engery keeps going. There have been times that my family has not slept for 2 days. During all this sorrow, there have been many blessings and seeds planted of the gospel. I have just sat and cried with many of my sisters because we have been so overwhelmed with the gratitude we feel for people and strangers we don't even know. I talked to a lady that donated a hand built casket for my beloved niece. It was just an amazing thing that this stranger is doing for us. We have had so many strangers tell us they are coming to the funeral to support the family because of the sorrow they have felt. There was a man that stopped right after the accident, at the time my sister was trying to lift the car which was on my niece. That kind stranger did cpr on my dear Alissa for 45 minutes until the highway patrol pulled him off and he went to my precious Tyler and then to my great Brother in Law. He has called my family because he has felt the same loss as we. He will be at the funeral and we are grateful that he will be there to help us through this trying time. We have people looking for my Alissa's scotty dog which was alive with the other dogs. We are still amazed and grateful the the grace of our heavenly father to allow my dear sister and amazing 10 year old nephew Marky (ping) to come out with only a few bumps. My nephew Ping is just a little man. He has been telling us about the accident and what he saw. Sometimes in more detail than we can even handle and he has just stayed strong. He will occasionally say random comments as he allows himself to really feel things. Tonight he said that he wishes God would just take people when they were too old to do anything. Such insight and such a great little boy who is so strong and sometimes will come and cheer us up when we are having our moments. I happen to be having one of those moments and he just said its ok, and gave me a hug... then of course he knows that playing WII takes my mind of things.. and tells me he is going to kick my butt in tennis. Its amazing how much strength he gives kids who have seen more than any adult should see. My sister is another story, she was praying last week and asked for a sign to see if there really was a god. She however, has been willing to listen to all of us about the plan of salvation and what we are hear on earth for. The hardest thing for me to see is her sitting there with stitches and bruises holding my Alissa and Tylers favorite stuff animals. She refused to wash her right hand because it has Alissa's blood on it and believes that is the only thing she has of her daughter. So many heart wrenching times, yet I am trying to keep that peace I felt on Sunday when we found out. I am just still working through my emotions, trying to keep them under control and yet in many times we all just fall apart. People coming to the house that we don't even know, and seeing the tears of Tyler's best friends that are just torn apart. Their old teachers and people who were always there for them. Their ward has been awesome. We have recieved so much food at my sisters house. Although I am really tired on cold cuts and rolls.. we have had that for 3 days.. today someone brought great pasta salad and soup it was a nice change. However, we are so blessed to have people care so much about my sister and her family that they would care to bring so much in. Well I have to go to bed, the viewing is tomorrow. Its going to be a hard day and Friday is the funeral. I just keep the thought of eternity and that heavenly father has a plan for us and he is there with us carrying us through the hard times. I will write more and post pictures as I can.

Flaming Gorge Trip Day One

We decided to go to Flaming Gorge with my sister Lori and her family. We were so excited to be up in the mountains and to have a fun relaxing trip. We rented a boat so that we would have 2 boats up there for those who wanted to put put around or those who just wanted to fish. This turned out to be one of those trying vacations that never seem to end. We were told that we could not bring Shadow. Dale was not happy about that however I figured he would come up with a reason he had to take Shadow and he was right. He called the hotel we were staying and told him that he was a veteran and suffered from Post Tramatic Syndrom. The hotel manager stated that we could take shadow. I knew from the first day this trip was going to turn out to one of those adventures in life that you never want to re-live. We were loaded and ready to go to Lori and Paul's house to get them. We were driving down Bangeter and realized the guy in front of us tire was blowing out. So of course the great citizen my husband is when we got to the stop light he ran about 4 cars down to tell the guy his tire had blown out (this is because he kept driving and didn't seem to notice it was blown out). The guy just stared at him, Dale just ran back to the truck and said he thinks the guy is on something and/or the car is stolen. Well the guy kept driving down the road around 55 miles per hour on a tire that was not there. People were honking and yelling at him however he just went on down the road. Strange thing to have happen and should have told us something about the rest of the trip. Well we were on our way. Thinking that Flaming Gorge was only 2 hours away, we were not ready fro 4 hours and steep switchbacks. Shadow was right there with his dad though, helping him through the stress.

While we were driving through Wyoming I realized that I didn't put a lot of the snacks for us in the front of the cab (thinking that it was only 2 hours drive). Well we could not stop because we didn't know our way and Paul a regular speed driver was hard to keep track of. So as we were starvng to death, I was looking at the clouds and was imaging them looking like mashed potatoes and how yummy it would be at that point. Dale was not happy and I was trying to keep him from dying of hunger. When we got to the top of the mountain we had to pay 5 dollars a day. Another thing I didn't know about. Well not having correct change I had to leave a 20.00 about 10 dollars too much... I was so frustrated. Then we go to leave and our tire rim on the boat flew off, I ended up jogging 1/2 a mile to grab it. Luckily a stranger had picked it up and was walking toward me. I through it in the back of the truck and we were on our way.

So after 4 hours we arrived at our destination with a lot of me calming Dale down because of the drive. We were excited because it was so beatiful. We pulled in after Lori and Paul and were anxious to see what kind of place we were staying in. After Paul and Dale went to check it out they came back and said there was no place for us to cook in there. Well, that would not have been bad normally, however we brought all our food to be cooked and we would just starve... so Paul went to talk to reservations and came back saying that we were staying in a trailer. Well, my first thought was a little trailer with no bathroom... it was a little better than that. It was a single wide, with a big porch and no air condition. Oh my bad, it had a little window air condition that kept the kitchen barable around 89 degrees. Being that it happened to be around 98 degrees in there. We were still too excited to even care. There were enough bathrooms to share and bedrooms for everyone.. we were happy.

The best thing about the trailer is the mule deer would come almost right up to us and just sit and look at us. These are the pictures of the trailer and the deer.

A horse is a horse of course...

So I was at my sisters new house and they happen to have their horses actually located right behind their house. I took a few different pictures and wanted to share them. I really have always wanted a horse, however just have never had one. I love to take advantage of riding as much as I can. Here are Doc and a a strange horse.

Heaven's Finest

I don't know why, but for some reason I am really into taking pictures of sunrises and sunsets. I just think we don't appreciate what Heavenly Father has given us. So I have put some of my pictures on the blog, hoping that once in a while more people will sit and appreciate the show from our heavens.

The Love of My Life

One thing about my husband that I love is his willingness to be crazy once in a while and put away his Army attitude gruff exterior. These are two pictures of a night when Sierra and I were playing around with a blanket and being models and practicing our walks. Ok, don't laugh. We were practicing our walks because Sierra had entered into a beauty pageant type of thing and needed to walk on stage. So as we were practicing our walks with the blanket Dale comes up and acts like a lady screaming. It was so funny, I added my slip to his head and took some pictures. Truth be known, he would not be happy if he knew I put these on my blog for the world to see. This was certainly a moment in time when I go... ahhhh... and revel in the love I have for him.

Motorcycles Don't Have Windows!!

So, I know this is crazy however one of the most important lessons I learned while driving my motorcycle is that things I say can be heard by other drivers with their windows rolled down. I learned this lesson a couple of weeks ago. I was driving down the street and I looked at the car next to me and he was texting and driving at the same time. I suddenly blurted what are you thinking texting and driving at the same time, do you know how dangerous that is!!! He suddenly looked at me and stated he was sorry and I turned red as can be. I motioned for Dale to come up beside me at the stop light and I promptly told him I forgot that we don't have windows and I have to be aware how loud I talk when I am on the bike. He just laughed. A lesson learned for sure.

My Boy Shadow

I found these pictures when preparing for a photo book. I just had to put them on my blog because they are the cutest ever. It was Halloween and I just dressed Shadow in Dales Army PT uniform. He loved it and greeted the door everytime to give little treats. He thought he was king of the neighborhood. I am actually surprised that he wore the hat.

Aftermath

Well, it has been a week and one day when I decided to stop breathing. I am still bruised and battered a little, however, indeed grateful that heavenly father granted me my life. Going to work was like a fog.. my memory was not good, however through time I have worked my way through the fog and now see blue sky. I have had a really tough time. I feel like I am going through detox. They had given me 3 pages of meds that I had been given during my 3 days in the hospital. It has affected my eyesight, balance, emotions, sleep, and just plain feeling yucky. I have been told that it takes almost 2 months for all the drugs to pass your body. I am indeed grateful for to be alive and grateful for the ability and determination that has been given me to get through what I am going through.

Blessings

There never has been a time that I have felt so glad to be alive as I am now. It's a long story and I may have to do this in small increments due to just getting out of the hospital and really shakey. It all started last Thursday. I was getting pretty sick and decided to go to the doctor late to get hep with my heavy feeling chest and cough. I thought about Saturday I was feeling pretty good. I woke up Sunday feeling worse than ever. I told Dale that I needed to go the the emergency room. So he got up and took me. When we got to ER they took me straight to the room, 2 hours later someone came in to find out what was going on. Dale explained what had gone on and that I was really dehydrated and needed some strong antibotics. The ER was really crazy and busy. All I really remember is Dale being patient and just sitting with me. We were watching the Jazz games, well Dale was I was not and the nurse came in and asked if I was in pain, I told her my throat hurt due to not being able to get water... later the nurse came in and said she was giving me something for the pain. Dale thinking motrin or something, the next thing I know she was giving the meds through the iv and i remember looking at Dale wanting to tell him to have her stop and I passed out. Dale noticed immediatly that something was wrong. The bells and whistles were going off and no one seemed to care. Dale came over and was shaking me, looked into my eyes and realized I had stopped breathing all together. Dale started yelling, my lips were turning blue and i was not alive. They moved me to another room, and got me back, the first thing I know is that I wanted Dale. I wanted Dale holding my hand, they would not let me and i pulled the shirts of people around me and pulled them to me and told them I am ok, get me my husband. They finanally had him in the doorway and moved him to me. I can honestly say that I am grateful for a husband that was there with me and was the one who realized I was gone. They moved me into the ICU and then told me that my enzimes were off in my liver. It just seemed that I have gone from worse to worse. I was upset I could not even talk. Getting a second chance in life gets you thinking a lot. I don't know, I am grateful that I am finally out of the hospital. I am black and blue and beat up pretty good. All of this they put me into a sort of diabetic. Something I am grateful that I am not. I have lived that life for 2 days and do not want to do it again. I am grateful for a loving husband that loves me no matter what and has actually saved me. I am pretty shakey right now. I will explain more.. just felt I wanted to write something down before these thoughts became dull.

My New Bike

Well, I have finally done it. I got me a bike. I calculated all the gas I would save if I had a bike to ride in the summer. I figured i would save 200.00 a month. So, with the help from my dear sweet husband, I got me a 2007 Yamaha Virago. The picture is exactly like mine to the T. Black Cherry sparkle color. Its a 250 CC engine which is perfect for me. I am taking a class at the college to help me learn to drive the bike better. Ahhh.... nothing better than to feel the wind on your face....

Friends

I just wanted to give my good friend Aim recognition. I have known her for almost 25 years. We were roommates many years ago. We have been through similar things in our marriage and have relied on each other through the bad times. Even though she lives in Oregon now, we speak often and visit each other as much as we can. These pictures were in St. George when we were visitng our other friend Doug. When we get together we are doing crazy stuff like this often. Remember my motto??? Let your hair down and ... act your shoesize! Yee Haw!

The A to Z Tag

Ok, this is my first tag and I am a little behind in getting it on my blog. Well.. here it goes.

A attached or single = Attached to the love of my life, I am lucky because it is forever and all eternities.

B best friend= Hum... this is hard. First of all my sisters, my husband are my best friends. I have a friend Aim, she and I have been through a lot together, we have known each other for over 25 years. I consider her one of my many best friends.

C cake or pie= Cake Angel Food with Strawberries my favorite.

D day of choice= Well its tied Thursday because its close to Friday. Sunday is my rejuvenation day.

E essential item= my camera. Heavenly father has blessed us with so many beautiful things. I need to capture it all.

F favorite color= Its a 3 way tie Purple, Yellow, and Pink. Tough choice.

G gummy bears or worms = neither

H hometown = Riverton, Wyoming

I indulgences= cooking magazines, chocolate covered strawberries...gotta have them

J january or july= July for sure

K kids= no kids yet many.

L life isnt complete without= family, friends and my heavenly father

M marriage date= well for the first 15 years I thought it was a different date... the real thing is 9-11

N number of brothers and sisters= 2 brothers, 6 sisters

O oranges or apples= oranges

P phobias or fears= extreme fear of spiders, fear I am not being the person heavenly father wants me to be.

Q quote= No one can make you feel inferior by Elenanor Roosevelt.

R= reason to smile= family, the beautiful sunrises, when my customers get a job, a funny movie, my husbands laugh

S season of choice= spring for sure

T tag seven: well since everyone I know has done this tag...hum.. I have no one to tag.. yippee

U unknown fact about me= I love to cook, photography, and I have only got one speeding ticket my driving career...and that was erased.

V vegie= trees, aspargas, beans, corn, all vegies except squash.

W worst habit= hitting the snooze button too many times in the morning

X xray or ultrasound = hum.. i have had so many xrays in my lifetime.. oh well

Z zodiac sign= Aries

Sea World

So I am running a little behind in my adventures in Life. I have yet to post our Sea World pictures from our vacation in November. The one thing I absolutely love about Florida is the flowers that are in abundance. Its the most amazing thing ever.

Seal Lions are the most energetic and loudest animal in Sea World. They were just too cute to pass up getting a few shots. I have more pictures and exciting things to talk about on our adventure through SeaWorld. I will have to come back and add when my pictures are working better.