What we have been doing..........

-1-
Wedding at Coors Field.
One of Dan's co-workers got married at Coors field.

This is the set up at Home plate, where they are exchanging their vows.
The bridal party came out of the dug-outs, boys out of one and girls out of the other.
The ring bearer was dressed with his rockies jersey and carrying the ring in his mitt (pretty cute).

Dan and I before we got all "crazy" (j/j). We had a great time and I even did a little dancing. And, of course, the food was great.

-2-
Limo progressive dinner in Colorado Springs.

One of Dan's District Managers bought this "deal" at an auction to support March of Dimes and invited 3 other couples besides himself and his wife.

Here is our group we went with. I won't name names, since I haven't gotten their permission. You can't see Dan and one other guy. It was a bunch of fun. We had appetizers at one restaurant, soup and salad at another, entree at another and dessert at another place. It made for a late night. (we had to be in the Springs by 5:30 and didn't get home til 2:30.) Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for helping us out!!!!!



-3-
CINZETTI'S
Need I say more! For those of you that haven't been, it is an all you can eat Italian food place. Again, need I say more.


Dan and I took the "crew" for Dad's b-day and to thank them for watching the kids the night before! We couldn't leave out Jason and Ellen, we love them too!

That's what we have been doing. The end (for now).

Pools, Kankles and diapers........

Jayla wanted to put a diaper on her Cabbage Patch so she put one of Jakes diapers on her. VIOLA...... a diaper dress!

Anyone know what kankles are!?

I love Jakes fat legs! They have slimmed down, but they are still so adorable.

So this is what happens when mom isn't paying attention............

A pool in the sand box. I can't be very angry, because I remember making our garden into a mud pool as a kid, and making rivers in our sand box as a kid as well. I did have help (you know who you are). But, as a kid what is better than playing in mud. I guess life does come full circle. (Sorry, Mom and Dad, for the mud lakes, rivers, etc.)

I got tagged, AGAIN........ 6 quirky things............here is goes........... ( I asked Dan what some of my quirky things are, I should have had him do this post)

1. Right now, it would be itching my throat. I have allergies (onset after baby #3) and my throat itches like CRAZY! So I do this weird thing with my throat, that makes a weird noise. Mostly at night and in the morning.

2. I am not a social butterfly. I am friendly and make small talk with people, but to go out with a bunch of people makes me nervous. I feel like I'm back in jr. high and all my insecurities come out. I am trying harder to put myself in social situations. This results in NOT a lot of friends but many acquaintances.

3. I have to check the weather channels every night.( comcast 212, 249 )

4. I carry a marker with me everywhere I go so I can mark things. ie, my kids names on their cups, left overs, pretty much anything so that I don't have to here my kids fight about who's is who's.

5. Hi my name is Emily and I am a blog stalker. :)

6. I like pinching my kids butts. They are just so cute that I have to pinch them, especially Zach and Jake because they are still little enough that it isn't creepy yet. Tanner and Jayla I just smack theirs like a love tap.

Tag-your-it: You know who you are!!!!

Sorry.... not a good way to start my ambitious organizing project. I will make this challenge "due" next Fri.

Thank you for all of your 'well-wishes' for Dan. He is doing good. His Dr. told me "I aggressively cleaned out all the old scar tissue and cleaned him up. He had a lot of junk in there." They cut him open at his calf and lengthened the tendon. Dan says his ankle feels great, but that his calf is what is really hurting him. So, hopefully this will just prolong the inevitable. His Dr. also said that as long as this "cleaning him out" thing keeps working we will just continue to do this unless the pain doesn't go away after the surgeries. So about every 2-3 years he will continue this cycle.

It seems that I am always on edge. I am tired of constantly trying to "fix" the house. I have pin-pointed some of my anxiety, as things not being organized. I am challenging myself to get a handle on this. This is not a remodel. Just a organization effort

I start to try, and then say "it is too expensive, I give up." I am not using that statement as an excuse any longer. I am going to be frugal and get inventive so that I can finally have peace of mind.

My challenge: to take a room a week. 7 days is all I have to spend in that room to get it organized and then move on. I will be inventive and try to think outside the box to get that room in order.

First room: laundry room- I spend way more time there than I want to. It is the entrance from the garage and I want it to be the main entrance for the fam. Here is the before.........



I will post an after next week. Any and all comments or ideas are greatly appreciated. (my camera is working! YA!)

My camera isn't taking pictures..... I am really bummed! I am trying to take more pictures of my kids in their "element" rather than all the posed pictures. But alas, the camera is being STUPID!


I am starting to get nervous for Dan and his surgery. He wanted it done ASAP and the Dr./Surgeon he is seeing just started at the Steadman-Hawkins clinic in Denver. His "papers" haven't gone through the board in Denver so he can't do any surgeries up here yet. So we have to drive down to Colorado Springs to have it done, which means we will have to drive back up here after it's over (it's an out patient thing).

Dan is anxious to have this done so he will at least be off the crutches and just in the walking boot before football starts (He is coaching Tanners team and they are now a competitive team. Instead of just playing the local communities we will be playing the other competitive teams in the North Metro area) He wants to be fully healed by Oct (we are going to Mexico on Farmers dime) and then he goes to Africa to go visit his parents in Nov. Weird, but he wants to be able to walk pain -free for those things.





For those interested in what he is having done, here is my dumbed down version (correct me if I'm wrong honey!) He is having his lft ankle cleaned out of all the spurs and having his calf muscle lengthened to help the Achilles tendon (on the verge of erupting) in the hopes that this will give him back his range of motion and alleviate some of his pain in walking. This will give him a few more years until he has to have all this done again. How exciting! Eventually (hopefully when he is in his 60's) he will either have to have the joint fused or completely replaced. Maybe by then they will have a better treatment that will allow him to stay active.

-Our 4th of July Weekend-

Here's how it went down.....

Thurs: I was recuperating from the crappy migraine, and my friend Kathy called to see how I was doing. During our conversation she asked me how my Relief Society lesson was coming. What R.S. lesson!? Short story I was scheduled to teach that Sun. Topic; "The Latter-day Saint Woman". Vague. I didn't know if there was a lesson manual so I started to look thing up at lds.org.
Packed Tanner and Jayla for their trip to Utah with G'ma and G'pa.
Dan got home late from his business trip to Grand Junction.
Fri: Got up early to get kids ready for the annual Scout Breakfast for our wards scout fund-raiser. Dan had to be there by 6:30 am to help cook. We were planning on meeting the G'parents there to pick up the older 2 for their trip. G'parents got there about 8. Ate breakfast and packed the kids up in their car.

Getting the kids things into the trunk.

Tanner and Jayla can't wait to get going!

All ready!

Dan and I took Zach and Jake to go see Kung-Fu Panda (2 thumbs up). Hung out the rest of the day. Jake and Zach fell asleep before fireworks, and Dan and I had an eventful night of watching "The Great Debaters" and then going to bed. Happy birthday U.S.A!

Sat: Got up and ran with the dog, Sassy (pic below)

(cont.) . I missed Tanner and Jayla. Dan went golfing.... he has to get as much of it in ASAP before surgery on the 16th. Zach and Jake fought together, played together, fought, played etc. etc. They have a very love/hate relationship! Went grocery shopping and to Dicks Sporting Goods, that just opened up by our house. Had Dan's bro. Steve came over and we ordered the UFC fights. GREAT fights, even the under cards!

Sun: Went to church and gave my wonderful lesson. I found out after the fact that there is a manual. I now know for next time. (I don't teach again until Nov.) Still missed Tanner and Jayla.
Mon: Got up and went running, came home took the boys and Sassy for a walk (Sassy needs some work on the leash when she runs w/ me) Dan went to work. I hung out with the boys, prepared 11 family home evening lessons to pass out that night ( I am in a FHE group that meets quarterly and there are 11 families in the group). Did Dan's laundry, cuz he was leaving for Kansas City on Tues. Went to the FHE group mtg. Zach pee-ed his pants at the park we met at. Got home, gave the boys a shower. The G'parents stopped to drop off Tanner and Jayla. Who, by-the-way, had a GREAT time. I'll blog about that later, or Tanner will.

Tues: Walked the dog. Cleaned. Took Dan to the airport. Cleaned. Cooked dinner. When Dan is gone I hate cooking (I hate cooking dinner anyway) So I usually do something easy that the kids will eat. So Pancakes it is........

To make myself feel better about the food, they are wheat pancakes to get some nutrition in there. And now, here we are.

Football is already starting.....

Tanner has been doing a Speed and Agility camp this month. It is 1 hr 3x's a week. His last camp was Wed. (July 2). Usually while he does this I put the other 3 over at the long jump area, because there is sand and shade, and I try to get in at least a 1/2 hr run around the track( the camp is at the H.S. ) I say 1/2 hr. because it takes me at least 20 to 30 min. getting the other kids situated. Well since this was Tanners last day at camp I decided I should probably get some pics. Due to the unforeseen migraine that graced my being, these were the only pictures I could muster before I felt the nausea set in.

getting ready to warm up

doing some warm-ups

Running

playing some "buff" ball (?) They can only take 3 steps and then have to throw it to a team mate.

Some of the other drills they do are agility ladders, parachutes, boxes etc.

Random Pictures........

Tanner wearing the "Guatemala" hat. I don't think that it is supposed to be flipped to look like a peter pan hat.

Zach..... Oh Zach! He looks like he is having a terrible time, but I think that every time I take a picture of him he always has to look like he's sad. He's really not!

I kept telling Jayla to slide down the slide and she wouldn't. Why ? Because they are hot. I kept telling her "no their not, they're plastic" but they were.

Jake, finding the shade with G'ma and Jayla. That was the only "safe" spot from flying wood chips. He was doing the "flying".

This is a family picture from the Lewis reunion. I don't have a yellow ear. Zach had given me a beautiful flower, a dandelion.

I guess I have some sort of "thing" with making food look like other food. This was for Zach's B-day. It is a sherbet watermelon.