Womens Conference

I had the opportunity to spend Thursday at Women's conference with my Mom, Sisters and Friends! We had a great time and enjoyed the classes. We left at 8 A.M and got home around 10 P.M. I have been such a freak about my exercises program and was trying to figure out how i could fit that in so i ran stairs in the Marriott Center, have you ever gone from bottom to top without holding on to the rail? Let me tell you, that is exercise!!!!
We attended the concert that night and the MC was Hillary Weeks! She is an amazing LDS singer/songwriter and has the funniest personality! The music was fabulous! Best day I've had in a long time:)

Look at all these women in one place!! OK, there were a few men....

P.S... Thats Hillary standing next to me!! Julie and I got brave and went down to the floor to get our pictures:)

Back in the game!

Madison has been given the OK to play soccer again! Although she still needs a lot of therapy, she has improved a lot in the past few weeks! Do I worry that she is going to get hurt again? YES, i worry every single practice and game! She has a great coach that can see when she needs a break, or moves her around the field to a place where there isn't too much running. Madi is a very strong girl and with her determination I know she will be an amazing Soccer player in the years to come! We are so proud of her!

The fields they play on are so huge!
We got to the game really early so while the girls were chatting I was catching some ray's!!

Scera Park Singers Alumni

It's very hard to really see these pictures but I decided to post them anyway. A very special surprise was planned for Ms. Greaves the 6Th grade teacher. She has been teaching for 40 years and she started a school choir back in the late 70's called the Scera Park Singers. All who could come on Friday were invited to come sing for her a few of the songs she taught us. She had no idea and when they opened the curtains and we were all standing there the look on her face was priceless! We had her lead us and it was if we went back in time!!

Jennie, Steve and I were great friends from Elementary through High School! One of Madi's best buds is Steve's son!

Here we are again with Patti Greaves! The best teacher there ever was!! She was an inspiration to all of us, and especially us who enjoyed singing, she gave us the courage to use our voices!

Madi was taking pictures from the very back of the gym so they are way blurry. It's funny how nervous we were! It was just like old times!

We had a great time, I enjoyed seeing people i hadn't seen since 6Th Grade! Channel 2 news and ABC 4 news were there and aired that night and Dak, Shelby ,Madi and I could be seen! John, Jordan, Madison and I have all had Patti! I told her she could not retire until Dak and Shelby made it through her class. Thank you Patti for all you have done for our family! We love you!

A 9 Year Journey!

After 9 Years of watching Biggest Looser, I find it amazing how many lives have been changed not only on the show but for those of us that watch it. I was on Facebook yesterday and I could not believe how many people were so excited to watch it last night. I know I have Blogged about this before but, for some reason last nights episode made me realize why I have been over weight my entire life, and here it is.... I've always felt like i have let people down because of my weight, sounds weird but, when you go through life feeling like you don't deserve love from anyone because you are over weight is a life long struggle for me and not feeling like i fit in anywhere has been difficult. It was easier to hide behind my food then to fix my problem. I thought about this for a long time last night and I wondered why my weight lose program is so different this time, why I am so determined, and then I realized the difference is, that I'm doing it for myself this time. I have had a huge awakening this past year with my health and I have chosen to change my way of living, to become physically, Emotionally and mentally strong.

Lately I have had a few women ask "When do you find the time to take care of you?" My answer is... I don't let anything get in my way! I need 2 hours a day to exercises, and track my food. I've had to say NO more often, I go to bed early so that i am rested for the next day, I'm totally focused!! It has to be the right time for YOU! I have spent so much money on my stupid diet fads, money I will never see, but now I KNOW that my life is worth so much more then money!

I am so grateful to all the contestants on The Biggest Looser, for their stories that inspire me for the trainers and all of the advice they have given. I would not be this determined without this show and now I know I can do this! I'm doing this for me:) I'm grateful for the loving support of my husband and my children, for the times when they push me, for when they eat Ice cream after I go to bed! So, for those of you that are struggling, find out whats holding you back and move forward, whether it's with weight or any other trial, You can do it!

Cola is on the mend!

Cola is welcoming kisses and hugs from the girls! It was a difficult week for all of us, but he is on the way to recovering from his illness. His blood is still not clotting, but his blood levels have come up which has given him his energy:) We have to watch him very carefully and take him in for blood work on Friday. We love you COLA!!!!

Cola

Cola is a very sick little dog! He is at the hospital in critical condition, and we are all so sad! We have had Cola for over 3 years and we love him so much! He is a beautiful, kind, loving and so protective of his family! I never thought I'd get so attached to him but, I'm lost without him:( The kids are very sad to see him so sick. Never thought I'd spend so much money to save his life but, it's not just me i have to think of, it's the four children that are attached to him too!! We love you Cola!!!!

Update: Cola's temperature has come down to normal, I went to visit him and he was so happy, they let me take him home for the night, but he will have more injections tomorrow starting at 9. We are kind of nervous tonight, so we are going to take shifts watching him.. Maybe he will pull through:) Prayers Please:)

Thursday"s Update:

Cola got really bad last night so we took him back to the hospital, The news is not good:( They want to take his spleen out. Looks like we have a big decision to make...

Sisters

We had the opportunity to go to St George a few weeks ago to have some time away from our everyday busy life. It's such a wonderful blessing to have 4 sisters, 4 best friends! We have so much fun together! My sisters are so funny, sometimes we laugh for hours about the dumbest things:) I love you sissy's!!

Shelby's first game!

Shelby has decided to follow in her sisters footsteps and wanted so bad to play soccer! We signed her up and she had her first game on Wednesday. Shelby is more of a dainty girl, one who likes to wear dresses and play girl things, so i was a little nervous she would get hurt, but she did just fine! She was more of a butterfly watcher, which was hilarious to watch:) I'm amazed at the difference between competition and just rec play. Shelby had fun and that's all that matters:Hmm... where did the ball go??

It was freezing cold and i kept running back and forth to the car to warm up! Hoping we will have warmer weather for the next 6 games:)

My little surgeon's!

On Saturday the Alta View Hospital was having a fair at which the kids could come and see whats it's like being the Doctor instead of the patient! This was a great activity for the young kids to really get a feel of what happens in the medical field.

Dakota and Shelby got to sit in the life flight helicopter and they thought is was so awesome

Shelby got to put a few stitches in a chicken breast, she said it was hard to get the needle in, but enjoyed learning about how they stitch up wounds.

Shelby and Nicole doing a little operation on some grapes:) They were so cute!

Dakota not really sure he wants to dig into whats hanging out on the table, I think it was spaghetti!

I am so grateful that we have these workshops that our children can participate in, they seem to have a greater appreciation for their Doctor's. Dakota and Shelby talked about this experience the whole day and I just loved how excited they were to have sewn up grapes for eye's, Chicken for stomach's and Spaghetti for intestines! It was a great day:)

Good News!

Today was Madison's last trip to Primary Children's! The x ray's look very good and she can get rid of the boot!! Madi is so funny, the shoes she decided to bring up to her appointment were ... yep you guessed it, Soccer shoes! The first question out of Madi"s mouth was" How soon can i get back in the game". Unfortunately she needs physical therapy 4 times a week for 12 weeks! We were disappointed with this news but, she was told she could start back at a very slow pace.

Madi and I made it into a fun day together! We went for a celebration dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then to the rec to workout together! We had so much fun together:)

Sher is the funnest nurse ever! We will miss her a lot!