Rocky Mountian High!

There is nothing that feels better as a mother than knowing you did a good job.  Now I get to send this person off in the world to teach for our faith.  Thank you LORD for helping me have the strength to stick with this kid! Thank you Steiner for giving me the knowledge to teach these children properly!

He will be serving in the Colorado Springs Mission and he leaves September 9th!

Spring is here!

With our seasons almost all feeling the same, we have to really pay attention to our farmer's market to see things change. I was so excited to see strawberries this week. Strawberries to eat and more for syrup!

6 weeks of busy and Happy New Year!

I last posted just before Grandma Pam arrived on December 4th... then a few weeks later HeMan arrived and then my dear friend Debbie arrived.... throw St. Nick, Christmas and New Year's in there and let's just say that while it was an AWESOME ride, I am glad to take a nice breath out this week.

Lots of fun. Sam was in the Nativity play at church, we all enjoyed awesome burgers at Hodads, Ellie and I got some mother/daughter time alone and I can't resist taking a picture of the girls in front of the hippie house in Ocean Beach - it is an International Hostel. 

The Doctor and the little ones enjoying the lights at the San Diego Temple, our beautiful tree, Christ's birthday cake, and our Christmastide celebrations.

I couldn't be more proud of these guys.  They are all different as can be an I love each one of them! I am so blessed to have had them all under one roof, it has been years and so much has happened. My heart is full as we walk into this new year.

The first week of Advent

The first week of Advent is the festival of stones.

It was so nice to have kids around the table for our Advent story tonight, even the big kids humored me. It occurred to me that this is the Doctor's last Advent as a child and the last one he may spend with us. It is bitter sweet. He'll be off on a mission in the spring and then gone for two years. When he comes back who knows...

I love the anticipation of the season that Advent brings.

Happy Festival of Stones everyone!

How is it October?

Somehow this didn't post!

Holy cow!  I am not sure how almost 3 months have gone by!  We have been up to a lot of fun, a few mishaps and we have done a lot of dreaming.

We got back to school after recovering from all of our awesome summer guests.  Sam got baptized somewhere in there... grandparents came...

Comic Con happened...and Optimus Prime showed up.

Harry worked his buns off...and took a few selfies.

Now we are taking a deep breath in and seeking calm... tranquil autumn. hahahaha as if that can happen with this clan.

HEALTH update:
So I am coming up on six months since my stroke.  FINALLY I got to see a doctor that isn't just interested in giving me more pills. I got in to see the neurosurgeon that saw me in the hospital.  He didn't get to see me much because they were so concerned with my heart that the cardiologists hogged me.  The neurosurgeon said I have had more than one stroke.  We are looking at LEAST two, maybe more. My recovery is amazing but he wants to know why my speech and my legs (two different parts of the brain) are giving me trouble.  He has ordered a set of 3 MRIs to see if he can get to the bottom of some of it.  He isn't convinced it is a heart issue and is worried that something neurological could be to blame. I feel so validated after being told that I may or may not get it back and we hope it doesn't happen again so I should just take 21 pills a day and walk on.  I will do an update after I have had them.  They are scheduled for the 28th.

Enjoying Summer

We have enjoyed two weeks of grandparents and sun and beach now we are chillin for two weeks before the best 4 days of the year get started. It is really odd to watch this he of ours be invaded by people like us. Lol. There is a buzz of excitement in our house.

Harry is still enjoying Legoland and was told today that he will likely get carried past the season and he is super excited.

Ellie is excited for upcoming meetings with agents.

Sam and Sariah are enjoying friends and sand :)

Update on me.  I am finally getting in to see doctors. While my legs are better, they are still wonky.   I feel pretty great, lost 30 pounds and am enjoying life. My brain issues still loom, mostly in the form of word recall, hallucinations,  some stuttering and the most irritating my extreme lack of focus, but overall I  am loving life - you should be too.

Another week in Paradise :)

I keep being scolded to slow down, LOL... I know I am healing but goodness, that is the hardest order ever.  Two teens in this house and two little ones.  The drugs and lack of being able to drive are about all that slows me.  I went to pick up my second month of medications this week, WOW.

When you see it all out on the table, it is a bit frightening.  We had to pay cash for it all this month as I am waiting to get on an insurance policy and I found it odd and a bit disturbing at the pharmacy. When I first went, they assumed I still had MediCal, it was emergency insurance for my hospital stay and I was covered for 30 days.  We are extremely thankful because I know that bill will be huge. I knew I had to get a new policy as we were just a bit over the line for the free stuff.  ANYWAY... the pharmacist ran my prescriptions and said that they had been denied, no huge surprise really. So I asked for the cash price and she quoted me almost $300.  I nearly died.  What is wrong with this country?? So I went home to do some figuring and find $300 extra dollars.... like it might be in the couch cushions or something. I sat and figured what had to be purchased right away and what I had a bit extra of and could wait a few days. Seriously, I can't imagine doing this every month. It is so sad that people have to make those kids of decisions. I could start a rant but that would no be productive and will raise my blood pressure. LOL.  So I went back with my list in hand and once they knew I was paying cash, suddenly there was a huge discounting process. It was down to $140. So now... who is scamming who?  If they can run it with insurance then it is double but if you are paying cash then it is half? Now you are welcome to rant.  None of these things meant too much to me two months ago. Sure, I realized people struggled, but I didn't need prescriptions so I wasn't worried.  BAM. Guess who worries a bit now? No blanket statements.

We did have a nice week otherwise...

We started back to some school work this week. We will likely go for most of the summer to make sure we are ready for the fall.  Grade 2 and grade 8.  WHERE DOES TIME GO??

The Dr. asked if he could stay on at Legoland after the summer so he can continue to save for his mission... umm yeah, I am on board with that! So he is planning to get his state test done and then he will be done.  He really wants to graduate from Seminary so that may mean pushing his mission to this time next year, we shall see.  Him working is a blessing, to him and us. He loves it.

Our beach day had some excitement this week.... no sting rays, but the little boys in our group found a crab and had a bit of fun with him.  Spiders of the sea I say, but even Sariah was entertained.

On the me side, other than my drug wars, lol, I have been walking on, waiting for new insurance so I can go see new doctors. How am I doing?  Spirits are good, although I feel my temperament changing a bit, I hope I am still pleasant down the road.  People assume that because I look fairly the same, I probably am the same....nope. So things that aren't totally rosy.  I have hallucinations, at times my vision goes totally blurry, I have extreme focus issues at times, the most frustrating is probably memory loss.  I realized this week that I have lost a fair amount from the weeks before my incident.  Only time will tell on the rest.  I start back to acupuncture this week, hoping that will help :)

Blessings to all!  Have a great week!