Kirtland, July 2009

When my mom was visiting last year, we drove to Kirtland, Ohio. We got to see the Amish! It was really, really neat. We ate at Mary Yoder's Amish Kitchen and I bought a recipe book.

This sign was by the street.

And then the buggies flew by! They go so flippin' fast! Isn't my mom cute?

They seriously book it! I decided that I should become an Amish horse trainer. It looked like a blast! But I swear those buggies almost fall over.

Some of the old houses from the early church years are still standing near the Kirtland temple. I think that this was Joseph Smith's house when they lived there.

This is the Kirtland temple. It functioned more as a church and community center as well as a temple. It is very interesting. I love the story about how the spirit was so strong that it looked like it was on fire.

There really isn't much of a spiritual feeling there anymore. It kinda made me sad. The guide was a missionary for the reorganized church, which is now called the Community of Christ, didn't understand when we asked her if they did sacred temple ordinances there. She just didn't get it. It made me sad that people don't have the peace and knowledge that we are so blessed to have.

Me and my mom decided that this was definitely not worth the drive. Although, it was worth seeing the Amish fly down the road at top speed. That was neat. We also got to eat at Steak n' Shake in Erie. Yum!

I might add some more pictures later so you can see what it looks like inside.

Mamma Visits, July 2009

My mom came to visit last summer. It was a lot of fun. She had to sleep on the bed in the living room because that is where it was after Spencer's surgery, but it is cooler on the main floor anyways.

We went to the church sites in Palmyra. It is a really neat experience to go there with family. It was pretty busy though because people take vacations in the summer and also because the Hill Cumorah pageant was going on.

This is us in front of the Palmyra temple. I love the stained glass windows. They have trees like the ones in the Sacred Grove.



I love my mom. It was really fun to have her come visit.



There is a lot of Mormon merchandise during the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Or what Pete would call Priestcraft. I thought that this guy was funny with his sign and sombrero.



There is a trail to hike to the top of the Hill Cumorah. Along the trail there was a place that looked like something had been dug up and then recovered.... Mom did this funny picture next to the place that we think the Gold Plates were buried. She is being sacrilegious with her arm up like the angel Moroni.




Or is this where the plates were buried?! (It is the fake rock for the pageant.)

This is a picture from the top of the hill. The stage is all set up. And those are chairs on the grass. We got really good seats saved because we were there early that day. The stage is really neat. It makes the production really awesome to watch. It has a lot of pyrotechnics and spraying water and lights. It is neat.

Spencer joined us at the show. I am going to post more pictures later when I get them from my mom's camera.

Hernia Repair, July 2009

Last summer, Spencer had to have a hernia repair surgery. Poor kiddo. He really really hates IV's. I asked for special privileges to be with him when they placed the IV so I could be there as support while he passed out. They let me because I was a nurse. I really wasn't a brat, though. I just asked and they said it was okay.

I waited in the waiting room during the surgery. It wasn't supposed to take very long, so when it took 3 hours longer than what I was told, I started to freak out. The thing about being a critical care nurse is that you see the worst case scenarios. You take care of the patients who went in for a routine medical problem or for routine surgery and had complications. It makes us hypochondriacs. So of course I start thinking that there was a complication and I start getting teary-eyed and freaking out. Finally, I saw the surgeon and was horrified that he was bringing me bad news. Spencer was fine. He put in an extra layer so Spence wouldn't get another hernia. His job requires him to do a lot of lifting, so he was at a higher risk for that. I was so relieved and started crying. The surgeon was like, he's fine. I'm sure he thought it was weird for a nurse to be freaking out so bad. But I just really love Spencer so much and the thought of something happening to him was more than I could handle. He is everything to me. I really couldn't live without him.

So I was waiting for him and very nervous that he was awake from anesthesia and freaking out without me there. I was pacing and anxious. Well, another hour or so went by and I finally asked someone to find out where he was and what was going on. It turned out that they forgot to let me know that they transferred him up to a room. I was really annoyed, but kept myself in check. The nurses thought I was "one of those" family members. I couldn't help it. I was certain that he was an anxious mess without me. I finally was taken to his room and he was just fine. He was as high as a kite and completely relaxed. The nurses were like "You are more anxious than he is!" I was relieved that he was okay and not nervous like he was before the surgery.

Here he is on the phone with Bush and holding Spike.



Ever since Spencer was little, he always had to have his stuffed animal Spike with him, especially for surgery. This time was no different. Spike is the dinosaur from Land Before Time. When Spencer is tired, his eyes go mostly shut and he does a silly smile, so he looks like Spike. This is especially true when he is waking up from anesthesia.

To make it easier on Spencer, we put the guest bed in the living room. This way he didn't have to go up the stairs. I got it all set up for him and got him plenty of juice and Gatorade and pudding and ginger ale. I spoiled that boy as he recovered.

The dogs liked Spike, too. Brady wanted to play with him. Mia wanted to eat him in hopes of finding a squeeker.

The dogs are really good company when you are sick at home. I had to leave Spencer a couple of days while I went to work.

I put my nursing skills to work for my sweetheart.

When Spencer is sick, he is like a little boy. It is really cute. I love him. And I liked having the opportunity to care for him and demonstrate my love with service.

He is just so cute! Spencer's not bad looking either....:)

He had some bleeding for the first day or so, that made him nervous, but he was just fine. He recovered well and is still doing great. It took a while to get over the trauma of having an IV, though. And he still hasn't had his labs done since then. He keeps trying to work up the courage. We will have to make a date for us to go do it together...

Hanging out with friends in Utah, July 2009

We got to hang out with our friends in Utah. We miss them so dang much!!

This is at Dan and Jorden's new house!



We played cards and games with Dan and Jorden, Dave and Brooke, Dan Ditto and his sister, and Mama and Papa Lott. It was so much fun. We also relocated the Foosball table to their new house. It has lived so many places! (I wonder if it is even there anymore...)

Toby and Karissa and their baby came too!

Dan or Dave bought some nasty drink that they had tried in Italy on their missions to have as the punishment to get back into our poker game.

I didn't try any, but I guess it is just horrible.

We also got to go to Terra Mia, an Italian pizzeria in Orem. It is a lot like Sette Bello in SLC. Spencer loves this authentic pizza.

At the beginning of our trip, we went to Mama and Papa Lott's house. We walked over to the park to play Bocce.

Mama and Papa Lott were so sweet and played with Toby and Karissa's kid on the toys at the park while we played an intense game of Bocce.

We are pretty hard core with our Bocce skills.

We played boys vs. girls. I think that the girls won more...

We had some really close games. It was very dramatic.

The weather was beautiful. We walked back to the Lott's house.

Where we played games. Apples to Apples is a favorite.

And the best part is eating Mama Lott's food. We actually got to stay a night with them. It was so nice! They were so hospitable! We just love them. I am so grateful that they adopted Spence.

This is a funny picture of Mark playing with the baby.

Isn't he the cutest kid ever?!

Toby, Karissa, Dan, Jorden, us, and the Lotts were together that night. Dave and Brooke were still driving from Iowa I think.

We are so lucky to have such good friends. We wish more than anything that someday we can all end up in the same place so we can hang out all of the time and play games. Or at very least, we hope to be close enough to visit more often. We really love you guys so much! And we miss you!!

In Utah with Jenny and Mindy, July 2009

We got to spend some of our trip home last summer in Utah with Jenny and her family. Mindy came down to visit too.

This is a really nice picture of Spence and his sisters.



He thinks he's pretty cool.




Mindy with Ruby. I don't know if Ruby really trusts her Aunt Mindy.

We lit off some fireworks at Jenny's house with her family.

Spencer likes to tease.

Bently is making a funny face on purpose, I don't know if Ruby is on purpose or on accident...

I love the looks that Jonah gives.

We also went bowling.

Ruby went swinging.

Bently would always hold his arms up like this after he bowled.

John with Milo.

Max gets a little camera shy sometimes.

Ruby really liked the fan.

We also got to go to a big tee-ball game. Look at those mountains! I miss them so much!

Swinging.

And swinging.

He would step on the base so decidedly.

I also got to play Sorry with the kids while Spencer was sleeping.

Some of the kids were better sports than others. (I threw a temper tantrum when I lost.)

We had a lot of fun playing with Jenny's kids. Thank you for letting us stay!!