CAROLING...

It's a DANGEROUS pastime.
Remember two years ago when Kaleb got hit by a CAR?!?!
And how my husband called me at home telling me:
"Kaleb's been hit by a car....(5 second pause while my heart dropped into my shoes)...but he's okay. You'd think a police officer would know to reverse the order of that sentence.

Kaleb ended up having some serious bruises and contusions, but he walked away from it thankfully. Tonight it was Stevie's turn. She came home with a nice "shiner" on her right cheek. Should be beautiful by morning. There's an even BIGGER bruise on her knee...I just didn't take a picture of it because her face is much cuter than her knee. I'm just sayin'...

PS: My blood work came back normal.
The end.

ONLY IN NH...

(45 minutes I tailed this guy. I was fluxuating between being totally grossed out to being somewhat jealous. WHAT? I like deer meat. But c'mon, THREE deer? And did they HAVE to be strategically placed like that, with the hoofs flailing about? SICK!)

"PATIENCE" Daniel Son!

It's not my best virtue. I try, I really do. Sometimes I pray for more patience, but that seems to get me into more trouble. Today was my first day back at my Muay Thai class. It's been about 17 days. That's about as long as I could wait. Remember I tore my calf muscle playing basketball RIGHT after one of my Muay Thai classes? Well, I finally felt good enough to go today. I let my instructor know to go easy on me. He understood because he's torn his TWICE! We did some light running, it felt good. I made sure to really stretch out my calfs...along with other muscles. Then we started hitting the bag. He warned me about the round kicks. (See picture) You have to switch legs quickly, which puts a lot of pressure on the calf muscle. I made a mental note and proceeded with the class. Halfway through we started doing pad work. I was working with Dashi (the grandmaster) and got distracted. I went to do the round kick on my left side and heard the 'POP' again. It dropped me to the floor. SO....I'm back on the bench, the injured, reserve bench. (sigh)

BLOOD WORK

Doctor's. They frustrate me. Six weeks ago I had surgery to remove half of my thyroid. Afterwards it was my resposibility to get my blood checked four weeks out of surgery. I kept reminding myself, but life sometimes gets away from me. Then I went to Utah. Because I had to take Stevie to the hopsital for an appointment the other day I thought I 'd kill two birds with one stone. Plus I haven't been feeling great. I brought my blood work with me and had it drawn. The results would be ready in a day or so. I gave them two days. I called this morning. All I wanted was a yes or no. YES you do have to take medication to regulate your now imbalanced thyroid for the rest of your life or NO everything looks great and your half a thyroid is making plenty of hormones to regulate your body. That's all I was looking for. Yes or No. After speaking to the secretary and asking for my results, I hear her quietly whispering to the doctor. After a few minutes he gets on the phone and proceeds to explain to me that he really needs to see me face to face so that he can give me the results. This isn't just something he can tell me over the phone. THAT right there gives me a hint. Remember the LAST time that happened? He called and wanted to see me to go over the results of my thyroid biopsy. (if it had been normal, he would have said so over the phone) I wanted to tell him..."Do you KNOW how hard it is for me to get out of the house with my son? I can't just throw him in the car and run over there, never mind the risk of exposure to germs at a doctor's office?!?!" Now I have to wait until next Tuesday. I could be totally wrong though and my numbers may be perfectly normal but I'm bracing myself for an abnormal result. I know it's not the end of the world to be on medication for the rest of my life, but I will still be sad. I love the freedom of not being dependent. After all...I AM a very independent girl. ;)

HAMMERTIME MEETS...

CYNDI LAUPER

(pictures like this are too good NOT to share)

Can't touch this!

Steve just called, he told me that

"White Snake" wants their lead singer back.

MAKE-A-WISH CHRISTMAS PARTY

Today was the annual party.
Here is our "Very Important Person" Because the crowd was LARGE,

our wish granters gave us a quiet, private room.

This was great for keeping all the germs away from Ben.

We enjoyed lots and lots of yummy food.
The chocolate fountain is always a favorite.

There were cookies to decorate...

crafts to make...

prizes that were won...
(even the special kid got a prize)

Face painting and games...

And pictures with Santa Claus.
(I love the way he's gazing up at him)

All that fun makes for a tired ride home.

We LOVE you Make-A-Wish,

and THANK YOU!

MY TWIN

Love you Ben.
And thank you for hosting me.

XOXO

IN THE PRESENCE OF...

This is how I spent my day,
surrounded by these dear children.
It makes being away from Ben a little easier.
I get to hold their hands and kiss their cheeks.

This is Hunter.
And Caleb.
And Chloe.

Thanks for helping me fill the void until I can return home to squeeze my own boy.

GIRL'S NIGHT OUT!

Tonight I went out with the girls.
LOVE these ladies.
They almost make me want to move out here.
(shhh...just don't tell Steve)

So do eateries like THIS...

It was the FUNNEST place...EVER!
Friendly and super nice.
We tried as many samples as we wanted.
They had everything from frozen yogurt to custard to icecream. The whole wall was a plethora of choices. We had our fill just in samples. BUT...because it was SO good, we decided to have even more...

in a giant cup!
Key lime was a top favorite of mine, yum!
April getting serious about her yogurt.
It was TOUGH deciding what flavors...
Emily sampling a few...
YUM!!!
Joy ready to indulge!
And let me tell you...indulge we did!!!

Here is a partial shot of the TOPPING bar!
Seriously, it went on and on and on...

You'd be totally excited too...

if you were holding that cup!
(but you're not, SORRY!)

This was my choice...what can I say?
I'm a LOVER of the fruits.

Are you jealous?

How 'bout now???

April and Emily

Joy and I

Thanks for a SUPER GREAT time!
(I'm learning the Utar lingo)
xoxo

HIKING THE "Y"

(Y Mountain)

Today we hiked Y mountain in Provo, Utah. What a BLAST! This was the first time I have ever done it, always wanted to, but never had. I'm so glad I did. My calf is still quite sore, but not bad enough that I couldn't do it. Check out some of the beautiful views that we had. Breathtaking!

My nephew Roger and I had such a great time quoting funny lines from different movies and tv shows. It was a good distraction from my

BURNING LUNGS!
(it's the altitude, right?)

Roger making the "Human Y".
Oh, by the way...did I mention how I convinced Roger to SKIP school today and play with me instead? I'm such a great influence, me and my rebellious self.
(and it was SO worth it, right Rog?)
THIS lady is my hero. She carried an extra 40lbs all the way UP the mountain in the form of her CUTE daughter, Haley. I could barely carry myself up, let alone an extra 40lbs.
Roger sportin' the "Hill Billy" look. That piece of grass was as tall as me!
Ben, Joy, Ethan and Haley. 6 year old Ethan led the pack the whole way up the mountain. Totally impressed!
This is Roger on the actual Y. You can't really tell, but it's quite steep and watching him on the white rock made me a little nervous. Quick fact: the Y is as long as a football field - WOW!
Here I am...on the Y. Don't laugh. I'm afraid of heights and the Y scares me. Kind of like my boots in the previous post. Don't worry. I left those behind. I crawled on long enough for Joy to take my picture as actual proof that I accomplished the hike. Yay me. :)