4th of July Weekend

Val, Landon, Brylee and myself had such a fun weekend. I really am glad things worked out the way they did. I was glad we were busy and had a lot planned for this weekend. It helped me keep my mind off "the move". Except Landon and Brylee talked about Teegan the whole weekend!! We went to Stadium of Fire on the 4th. It is a fire work show in Provo. The Blue Man Group and Miley Cyrus were the big attractions and Glen Beck was the MC. Val and I are big Glen Beck fans so that was fun for us! Saturday we went to Seven Peaks. A water park in Provo. Val and I went down some crazy slides that scared the *&#@! out of me. Sorry but it is true! Val couldn't stay on his tube for the scariest slides which made it even worse for him, but hilarious for us! I was trying to be brave and a "cool" mom by going on these slides, even though I wasn't enjoying it. I didn't want to be left alone on the side lines. Afterward, Val and I were talking and he confessed the only reason he went down those crazy slides was because I was!! We should communicate better:) It was tons of fun though. The wave pool sucked after the one at Typhoon Lagoon. That placed ruined all wave pools for us! Sunday we took Landon and Brylee to Little America's Sunday Brunch. It is always so good. Land and Bry thought they had died and gone to heaven!! After that we went miniature golfing (Bry and I each got a hole-in-one) and to the movie. It was such a fun weekend!!

***Everytime we go to Seven Peaks we think of Michelle! There is a slide called Lasers Edge. It is completely dark with laser lights. You can't tell where you are going. When Chapman's came to Utah many years ago, we talked Mich into going down the slide by telling her it wasn't very scary...it really wasn't for the rest of us. She was the last to go down. We were all standing at the end of the slide waiting for her to come out. When she did she swore at us and started crying! It was the best and a memory that will always stick with me....Sorry Michelle but it was funny.....Kind of like Indiana Jones at Disney Land:) Another Michelle memory!

The Saddest Day Ever

Thursday, July 3rd was the saddest day ever! The day came when we had to say goodby to Britt, Josh, Teegan and Camdyn. I knew it would be hard, but it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. They didn't leave until the morning of the 5th, but I had bought Stadium of Fire tickets the first part of March. Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) was performing so I bought them for Brylee's sake, not knowing then that it would be right when the move was taking place. We had hotel reservations in Salt Lake July 3-6. We didn't leave I.F. until 11:00pm because I couldn't make myself say the bye word! We miss them so much already! Dental School in Virginia will be an amazing experience for them! I'm sure I will be making several trips to Virginia over the next 4 years......And Brylee too.....she misses her babies!!

A Day In My Life

I had a few pictures of myself with some of my co-workers (and friends) at the surgical center and decided to post them. There are soooo many things I love about my job but one thing I really hate. It is the BLUE hair that I wear every day! As you can see it is not very attractive! I never do my hair in the morning before work...why bother, it will just be "Blue". Some weeks, Sunday is the only day I have a real hairdo...Sad. The picture on the left is with my friend Shelley. She is an OR nurse and an awsome one at that. When I hired her, almost 2 years ago, she had no OR experience. She came from Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center's ICU. We trained her to work in the OR and she picked it up faster than any other new OR nurse I have ever seen. She is not intimidated by the Surgeons, is not afraid to ask them questions, and loves a challenge!! Everything you need to be a great OR nurse (circulator is what an OR nurse is really called) I love Shelley...She is the one who recently took our family pictures. They are still at the editors so I have not seen the final product, but couldn't resist posting one of them. Jill is the nurse in the picture on the right. Josh thinks she is his "personal" nurse. She took care of him after his first back surgery, and after his second, she wasn't working but stopped into the center to ask me a question. I was in Josh's room where she found me and Josh was so excited because he thought she came just to see him. He was on drugs! Jill is another good friend. She works in PACU and admitting and discharge. She is also an amazing nurse!! She makes work so fun...she is the centers comedian and keeps everyone laughing. (Even the doctors) Her specialty is "fridge dancing". Since we don't have a pole:D Her husband also works at the surgical center. He is a nurse anesthetist and did my anesthesia a month ago when I had my knee surgery. Their son is Landon's age and one of his best friends. We have officially lived in Idaho Falls for 3 years. I can't believe how time flies by. It is amazing how you can move to a new city, know very few people, feel like you don't belong...then 3 years later feel like you are part of your community. I will admit, I don't know many people outside of my work friends. That is where I spend the most time and am comfortable enough to be myself. I don't know many people in my ward or neighborhood. For some reason I have a hard time letting people in. But at work it is a different story. I guess that is my comfort zone.... I do work with some of the most amazing people I have ever know......and I am able to associate with some of the nicest most talented surgeons! I am blessed in this part of my life.