I have no clever ideas for a title...

Oh my poor neglected Blog. How I've missed you! Recently, I've discovered FACEBOOK and have turned my attention toward IT. NOT because I like it more... but because I can't figure the darn thing out. I should have never strayed from you, dear Blog. You have always been true to me!

ON TO BLOGGING! Today was the "launch" of BODYPUMP at the Layton Gold's Gym. (A launch is when new music and exercises are introduced to a class... usually by several instructors who have practiced special choreography and position to give the launch a little extra something and make it more fun for the participants. It's kind of a big deal!) So, how 'bout a picture? (yes, I actually took my camera to the gym and snapped a few... even though I was scoffed at!)

This is our team....HOTNESS abounds. :)

Now, if you don't know what BODY PUMP is... you should find out. There was actually a newspaper article about it's AWESOMICITY last week. Here's the linkie... http://www.standard.net/live/news/170371/

That's all for now, dear BLOG. I'll talk at you soon!

Post op...

Here's a little update on the ol' eye...

These are pics from the day after surgery... at the doctor's office.




These are pictures from TODAY... 16 days later...


It's amazing how kids' little bodies heal themselves so quickly!
The doctor expects this tiny scar to fade away entirely.

Just an FYI... the tumor autopsy came back. It was benign... so not cancerous. AND it was a good thing we got it out when we did because it was infected and ready to burst. If it HAD burst, it would have infected his eye socket and perhaps done some serious nerve/sight damage.

Quote of the week...

We were getting gas at Maverick when Survivor's very famous ROCKY song came on. Jack started pounding on the windows yelling...It's Igor the Tiger that's the king of the fight.

I'm never telling Jack the REAL words.

All done!

Today was the day! FINALLY!! Today we took our little Porter in to get his TUMOR removed. Here are some pictures from the event... (who takes pictures of hospital visits? sick-os

that's who!)

The tatoo on his head says, "Correct site. YES" so there was no question WHICH side to disect. If you look close, you can see the lump between his nose and his eye. Say goodbye, Mr. LUMP!

This picture breaks my heart. I can't look at it without crying. This is the relization moment... he knows he's scared but doesn't know why.

I explained to him that the doctor needed to get the sick out of his eye. I told him, he'd fall asleep and the doctor would take the sick out and then Porter would wake up with a bandaid on his eye. Then in a few weeks he'd be all better... no more sick. Just seeing that little boy's fear on his face... it just tuggs at my heart. WHAT A HORRIBLE FEELING! Knowing that you're doing what you think is right, but also knowing that it will hurt your child... oh, it was AWEFUL! I held him on that bed for a while... trying not to cry. "Gotta be strong for Porter," is what I kept saying in my head. STAY STRONG.

Then they had me hold him as I walked him down the hall. Handing over my baby to the nurse might be the hardest thing I've ever done. For sure the scariest. Spence and I said our I LOVE YOUs and watched him lie in a stranger's arms as she walked into the surgery room.

GOSH! What a DOWNER POST! I'll try to keep the BLUES away from here on out.

An hour (plus) later, the doctor came out to see us. He told us that everything went very well... it even went quicker than he anticipated. He said the tumor was a ball that had started leaking... and so they had to suck all that 'butter' out as well. (SICK!) Don't worry... I have a picture of it, but you'll have to wait until the end to see.

Then we got to go to RECOVERY. We watched him sleep for a half hour or so and just waited for the nurse to release him. Here's the little guy with his new eye patch...

Don't say anything about being a pirate... that really makes him mad.What a brave little boy. I'm so grateful to Heavenly Father... I know he was watching over our little angle for us this morning. He also helped ME stay in control when I was probably more afraid than Porter was.

Thank goodness it's all over.

OK... now the part you've been waiting to see. Mr. Lump is floating in some kind of liquid that the nurse is holding for us to see. Here it is... the BUTTERY TUMOR.

That's my first TUMOR sighting... was it yours? Kinda gross, huh? That white stuff on the top is the butter the doctor was talking about. EEEEEEWWWWWWW!

Quote of the week...

Jack asked Porter if he wanted to watch the movie Ratatouille, to which Porter replied... They watched Monsters Inc. instead.

Porter is 3!

Here are just a few things Porter, at the age of 3, is IN to...

(yes, the list is small, but he just barely got a personality... give him time!) HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Porter!

Thanks for the hugs, the laughs, the fun, the love you've given me these 3 years. Each day you get more sweet, more daring and more funny... I can't wait 'till next year! I sure love you, Bear!!

Love,

Mom

Disneyland...

We're back from Disneyland... the happiest place on earth. Spence and I didn't tell the kids we were going... we wanted them to figure it out for themselves... just to see how long it would take. Here's how it went...

We waited for the boys to fall asleep Friday night and then Spence and I had a PANIC packing session. We got the trunk of the car totally loaded and went to bed. Saturday morning we got the boys in the car for a long day of 'errands' beginning with a stop at Mimi and Ed's (those are my cute parents) house. What a coincidence! Mimi and Ed had 'errands' to do, too! Why not do them together?

So off we went. We drove and drove and drove and the kids were totally content with the 'errand' explanation. It was about Cedar City when Jack asked if we were going to CABALA'S. "Yup!", we said. We stopped in St George and visited cute Marme and Par (my grand-parents... for those of you who don't know.) They were so cute not to spill the beans about our final destination... even though I think it was pretty hard for them. After a good 45 minutes, we were off again.

We stayed that night at the EXCALIBUR in Las Vegas. The boys loved the whole CASTLE idea. They also loved the Jousting Tournament where they got to eat with their hands. It was a fun night. The next day we had more errands to run... we just had to get to Cabelas. So we drove for a few more hours until we finally made it to our hotel. We stayed about 2 blocks away from Disneyland.

After we got situated in our rooms, we decided to take a walk over to Downtown Disney for dinner. Every bus that passed said DISNEYLAND... every kid we saw had Mickey Ears on... there were Mickey balloons all over..."When You Wish Upon A Star" was playing in the background... the Matterhorn was right in front of us!... still the kids had NO idea what we were doing or where we were. We were walking under a sign that said DISNEYLAND and I finally said, "Jack, we've got to teach you to read." and he said, "Well, I know that (pointing to the side of a bus) says DISNEYLAND." We stopped and looked at him for a second... Nope. Not a clue. It was about 5 minutes after that little conversation that everything finally clicked inside that little head and Jack asked if we were in DISNEYLAND. YAY! Finally. This is the moment of realization... It would only have been more obvious if we were on SMALL WORLD sitting with Mickey himself!

It was such a fun trip... THREE fun-filled days of the park. Here are some pics...

We had few celebrity sitings... Tom Bergeroff (spelling?)... you know, the guy from AFV and Dancing With the Stars. I actually spoke with him! (I feel pretty special.) and this guy...

I was so stealth taking this picture. His name is John Michael Higgins and he's 'Phil Knight' on KATH and KIM and one of the gay guys on BEST IN SHOW and Jennifer Aniston's brother on THE BREAK UP. Pretty exciting.

We tried a few new things this trip... one of them was eating breakfast at GOOFY'S KITCHEN. It was so much fun and the food was delicious. I'd go again in a second. The weather was nice, the rides were fun, we all put on a few pounds and we had a ball... what else can I say? That's our trip in a nutshell. Spence and I joke that we have met our "good parent" quota for a while... we probably won't do anything fun again until 2012. (that's a joke... mostly.)

Thanks to Mimi and Ed for putting up with us and making this trip great!

Quote of the week...

I took the boys for a walk last week. After about 10 minutes Porter said... Poor shoes... we'd better give them a rest.

Shhhh...

Shhhhh... don't tell the kids... we're on our way to DISNEYLAND right now... and the kids have NO idea! I'm sooooo excited to see their faces when they poop their pants with JOY. See ya all soon!

Quote of the week...

Jack and I were talking when Spence came in and interrupted us.

Jack kindly said...
Seriously, so butt out.