The Big 6-0!

We celebrated the big 6-0 with this guy over the weekend; his way. Which was very low key and just how he wanted it. Our family's favorite Mexican, lots of chips and (the best!) salsa and lots of laughs. It was perfect.

I feel so blessed to call him Dad, we all do.


Happy Birthday Dad!

A St. George Parade-y Kind of Weekend

Over the weekend I joined my Parents and my two sisters for the St. George Parade of Homes. We have gone to it for the last few years and it's a weekend I look forward to. The St. George Parade of Homes always has a couple of must see homes on the list (like the one above, from this year). I'm mean C'mon...that view every morning?! (YES, please!) They always make the most of their beautiful red rock surroundings.



Other than the over-the-top, Must-See-Homes, I love to take away little decorating ideas. Here are a few images I snapped at a smaller home that was decorated with more of my style. Most of the homes are pretty rustic and dark, so it's so refreshing to see a few with light, colorful decor.

We also went down to Vegas to the Town Square Mall to visit the two stores that we don't have: H&M and Sephora. Maybe one of these days we'll have those two here in Utah.

It was such a fun weekend together (with my besties ) , and I'm bummed we didn't take any pictures together. I owe a major big Thank YOU to Kyle for taking time off work so I could get away.

We Heart Thatcher

Saturday night was a special night for my side of the family. It was the Epilepsy Association of Utah's Winter Gala. The keynote speaker Susan Axelrod is like a rockstar to my sister Becky and her husband Dave, since my nephew Thatcher was diagnosed with a form of epilepsy. Susan Axelrod has done so much to raise funds and awareness about epilepsy, and she is a light to the families who are dealing with it on a regular basis.

We were all so happy to be in attendance that night in support of our little Thatch-Man.

Here is the The Axelrod's 60 minute interview with Katie Couric, telling their story about their daughter Lauren who has epilepsy.


Watch CBS News Videos Online

The Lazy Man's Tubing

Once you've tried the Lazy Man's Tubing, you'll never want to go back.

New Year's Day we joined my side of the fam up at Soldier Hollow. It was a gorgeous day, and warm too. A few of us even shed our third and fourth layers. This was our second time up there. Our first time was on Avery's 5th birthday - see our fun little video HERE.

It was a great way to start out the new year.

ps. I love that my parents both still have their 2002 Winter Olympic jackets (and gear) from when they volunteered. It's almost that time again... Vancouver 2010!

Christmas Past: The Sears Perm

The best thing about this Family Christmas Card (via 1982) is my sister Shauna's hairdo.
That year my mom took my sister to Sears to get a perm. We all still laugh about it.

We can hear my mom now: "I'll take some Craftsman tools, a lawn mower, and a perm please."


PS. My sister Becky commented saying Christmas Past week is more like embarrass your siblings week.

Dangit! She's on to me. ;)

Christmas Past: Piggy Pudding

The Christmas of 1977 (before I was born), my mom sent an audio tape to my Grandma in Montana of my two older sisters: Shauna (who was 5) and Becky (who was 2). To this day we all still quote my sister Becky saying "It IS Piggy Pudding!".

This audio makes me want to record my kids voices, just so I don't forget the sweetness.

Here's Piggy Pudding:


Apparently there is a Piggy Pudding! (Beck, you were right!) Although I think I'd have to pass on both Figgy and Piggy...yuck!



All this week I'll be posting little treasures from our families' Christmas past. Little things that we still quote to this day and that I wanted to have documented (and digitized).

A Giving Heart

image taken October 2008

I'm so proud of my younger brother T.R., he really has a big heart. For the past few years, right before Christmas, he has organized donations for refugee families in the Salt Lake Valley. On Monday night, one of our local news stations covered this service project to help get the word out. You can see the clip HERE

If you would like to donate or join in this service project, you can find more information right HERE. Next Monday night, they are doing it all again.

Way To Go T-Bob!

Vote For Tee!

I spent a good part of the day with my family on Saturday helping my Dad deliver flyers for his campaign. A few things were noted:

It was a beautiful fall day and hot! Especially if your name is Becky and you had a turtleneck on.
Headphones with Rockin' music came in handy at the end.
If you have a big dog in your front yard, then you probably didn't get a flyer.
If you were the larger woman mowing your front lawn in a pink bikini...then yes, that was me, and we did happen to drive by 3 times.

I'm proud of my Dad, and I know he will do a great job.

Gooooo Tee!

The Killers: point and shoot

with your camera, of course.

I loved having my point and shoot with me at the Killers show this Saturday night. Not only to capture Mr. Flowers rockin' out in his skinny jeans, but to capture the crowd doing the exact same thing I was; documenting his every move.

Once again, we joined the Cloves for what I like to call "A Killer Clove Weekend". We always have a blast with these two: Mindi and The RBC.



It was fun to compare the two set lists from the this show next to the show in Vegas.

Two of my sibs (Beck & T-Bob), along with their friends Lynette and Jen, joined us in the hot, stinky crowd. I loved having them there, it made for a fun night.

Probably my favorite part of the night was when we were showered with confetti, I loved it!


That Brandon Flowers sure puts on a good show. On a scale from 1 to 10, he is skinny.

Last Thursday Night at The Fair

We hit the fair every year, and I love it. Kyle? ...not so much (but he plays along).

I always wish that we had more time, I could spend a whole day there. The fair that comes to Utah still has the "Come See the Tiniest Woman in The World" and booths like that. I guess most Fairs have done away with the "come look at the freak show" bit because it's not so P.C. Which is probably a good idea.

I wish the Utah State Fair had the row of old photo booths like this one.



One of my favorite posts: Top Ten Favorites of The State Fair is always good for a laugh.

Bear Lake 2009 - listed

• hangin' Lake side for a few days is ideal...Ideal Beach, Bear Lake
• our accommodations for the trip were not ideal, I think mediocre could name it better
• Kae and Tag were missed
• I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I had hoped to on this trip
• I think it's because I get lazy a bit when I'm with "my people" as my sister Becky calls us

• Avery could not get enough of her cousins or Mike and Ty
  
• I love my sibs...all 3
• I love my sisters
• It makes me sad sometimes to think Avery might not have a sister

• it's fun to see my mom with "her people"
• it's more fun to have them pose for a picture and then give them a surprise splash
  

• it's not so fun to have a sick baby boy and have to come home a day early
• poor little guy, look at those eyes
  

• the drive to Bear Lake beats the drive to White Fish Lake
• although Bear Lake is not White Fish Lake, MT
  
• Bear lake raspberries are definitely worth the drive up...Mmm

Why my sister stopped blogging...

Warning: this is an extra long and wordy post for me, but it's a story I want to tell.

When I first started this blog (almost 2 years ago), my sister Becky was the first in my family to join me. We shared (and still share) a lot of the same friends via blogs. Around the same time she started her blog, her life was changing a lot more than she knew at the time. This last Sunday marked the 2 year anniversary of her second son (and middle child) Thatcher's first seizure. His seizures are called partial focal seizures. That means that he typically has them only in his face (focal to the face) and that he doesn't lose consciousness (partial). His seizures have left him unconscious several times, but it's not typical.

After his first seizure, it was a month before the next came. After that, they came much faster! They actually waited 5 months before medicating him and only did so because they believed his safety was at risk. They tried two different medications and only watched his anger and aggression grow to what they called "Thatchie Road Rage". They didn't know what was really going on...everything he spoke was through gritted teeth, and temper tantrums became violent toward every member of their family. Their doctor (at the time) told them that he had behavior problems and that it had nothing to do with the seizure disorder. After a couple of psychiatrist appointments, they decided to switch Neurologists. The new Doctor (who they LOVE!) wanted all of his tests redone (MRI and EEG). It was only then that they got the diagnosis of:

Landau-Kleffner Syndrome.

LKS, as it's known, is a rare seizure disorder that keeps your brain in a constant state of non-convulsing seizure while you sleep. Thatcher's brain never achieves REM sleep (rapid eye movement sleep). Essentially, his brain never rests. His seizures are caused by electricity in the left frontal lobe of his brain - that is where your language and behavior are housed. When that part of your brain is rest-deprived long enough, it causes regression in development. This is where the syndrome gets really complicated. Briefly put, you lose your language because the auditory connection from your hearing to the processing center in your brain is severed. Your hearing is fine, but you can't process what you've heard. Worst case scenario: you can go mute. Some LKS patients never regain their speech. Behavior regression is manifested in many ways: anger fits, failure to complete simple tasks, etc. With Thatcher, it's easy to forget that giving him a multi-step command like: "go get your shoes on, go to the car and get your seat belt on." is something that he simply CAN'T do. It's so difficult for Becky to see Thatcher take these steps back when he could do all these things with ease a few months ago.

By November of 2008, Thatcher would glaze over when spoken too. Becky often complained that he "just couldn't hear her". He began drooling profusely and was always tired...making him mad all day. At the end of the month, he had his first Tonic-Clonic (Grand Mal) seizure in the middle of the night. Scared to death my sister called 911 and 5 (burly!) firemen were in her bedroom at 4am on a night her husband happened to be out of town (party!?).

So, after the diagnosis of LKS came, they panicked, found a specialist (though no one is really a specialist for LKS because it is so rare) and flew to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota this last December. The specialist confirmed the LKS diagnosis and helped them with a treatment plan. The treatment options are slim, risky, and all still very experimental. They chose the treatment with the fewest side-effects.

That treatment worked great while he was on his medication, but you don't stay on the medication very long. The theory is short term use should provide long term effects. They are now in the process of tapering him off of the treatment, and currently his symptoms are flooding back.

So, the abbreviated version of this story is...
2 years of seizures
1 Cat scan
2 MRI's
7 EEG's including 2 overnight EEG's
4 Doctors
4 medications
38 Doctor appointments in 2 different cities

After all this, they are in the exact same place they were back then. A little more educated, but still with the same worries.

The main reasons I wanted to share her story are:
- it's real and it's happening right now to my sister and my sweet nephew, Thatcher, whom I love.
- I want to help raise awareness about LKS.
- blogging is known for sharing only the pretty, happy times in our lives, leaving out a lot of the sad and hard reality we deal with.
- Many of you know Becky, but haven't had the opportunity to hear this story.
- it can be therapeutic to know that your story is 'out there.'

She told me that each time she shares his story she feels stronger and more patient. This is no small thing, because there are a lot of days when she has neither strength nor patience.

Scenes from this weekend

What a wonderful Mother's Day Weekend we all had. Here is a view of what deems wonderful to me.

Pink Lemonade French Macarons

Saturday I made pink lemonade french macarons, which is fancy for lemon macarons with pink food coloring. I have been obsessing about them since our little trip, and I was up for the challenge.

Like they say on Access Hollywood, "What was Britney thinking"...that's what I kept saying to myself. Geez-Louise, talk about a lot of work. I think for a first try they were good enough. I had mixed reviews (thanks a lot Shaun ;). It was between chocolate and lemon, and I decided to go with lemon because I have been wanting to make Lemon Curd (thank you, Stephanie). I followed this recipe for the macarons with the help of this conversion chart and this mascarpone substitute.
If I ever do make them again (key word 'ever'), I will definitely make them a lot smaller...I made these way too big, and I think I will go with chocolate. I am however excited to use all the extra lemon curd, and I was thrilled to find out that you can freeze it too. Yum!


I took them up to my mom's house that night to join everyone in seeing off my darling cousin Trisha who is headed to Romania for a few months. I was sure glad I did, because we didn't have nearly enough sugar to go around. ;)



Good Luck Trish, we are all excited to see and hear all about your adventures.

W is For...

Wicked!

Last Thursday, I was thrilled to be able to join my big sis Beck, my good friend Laurie and her darling daughter Carlie to see the matinee show of Wicked. My Sister Shauna last minute decided to take off with her family over Spring Break, so she sold her ticket to me. Thank you, Shaun! I loved it! It was FANTASTIC!
The music is my favorite part of this show. Since the show, I can't get enough of these three songs: For Good, Popular and Defying Gravity. The cast of our show, did such a great job.

My only complaint was the that the lady next to me started trimming her fingernails during the show...I KNOW!! But don't you worry, you know what I did?! ...I leaned over and I gave her "The Look". Yeah, you know the look. And then you know what I told her?! In my best low-mean-what-the-heck-do-you-think-you're-doing-lady voice I said..."HEY". Yeah, I told her. Thankfully she stopped.
Seriously, people...C'MON already!

Anywho...I loved the show and would see it again right now if I could.

Fun...and not so fun

Meeting the oh so sweet Vanessa to give her the prizey that she won was FUN.
at Mickey D's not so FUN.
with the kiddos...FUN.


A little getaway trip down to St. George with family was FUN.
Finding the sweetest treasures while shopping with my mom and sisters was FUN(ny).


Laughing a ton at all the quirky things that we found was FUN.


Being with my sisters and mom (really, my whole family) all weekend was FUN.


Going to the St. George Parade of Homes was FUN.
Feeling trapped in a bathroom at one of them with 20 other people was not so FUN.
Seeing this book in one of them was FUN(ny).


Having breakfast with Mindi, Amy and fam was FUN.


Coming home to two darling kiddos, a clean house and my man who Rules was FUN.
Thinking this post reads like a 3rd Grade Summer Report is not so FUN.
Saving time by recapping my weekend this way is FUN.

Here's hoping you all had a FUN weekend as well. ☺

Hot Tub!

Quite the ladies man this weekend in the Hot Tub, and he loved it too.

80 Years Young

My sweet Grandma turned 80 this last week, and we all got together to celebrate. We each took turns telling one of our favorite memories about this one of a kind lady. What a fun night in her honor.

Shauna Shauna Bo Bonna

Banana Fanna Fo Fauna! Today is my big sis Shauna's birthday.

Here is my Shauna list:
She loves babies, that's why she has five...now they are her big babies. ;)
She loves the words classically classic.
She is married to the biggest Ute fan (Is that an understatement?!).
She can get my brother T.R. to laugh like no one else can.
She is making a difference.
She loves music, she made up funny songs when her kids were babies, and to this day I still sing them..."Drinkin' bottle milk and feelin' groovy".
Even though Becky was our leader on our NY girls trip, Shauna did all the fun research (ie Food Network).
She is always trying to get all of us to do it bigger, whether it be a funny face, a silly dance move or "the slithery dee".
She is the best big sister and I love her!

Happy Birthday Shaun!

ps. Beck - you can both be the best.