Welcome back and counting my blessings!

My life has drastically changed in the last 9 months, my married life, my personal life. These changes are of course, on the whole for the better.  But I did have a few changes that made me aware of other peoples struggles in life. From my parents health struggles and me living so far away. To physical changes, I lost quite a bit of hair during my medical procedure. I was talking to another lady who had the surgery the week before me. I was telling her that it was kind of freaking me out. She said, I know and then started describing massive hair loss problems. I wasn't having it nearly as bad as she was. So I stopped complaining. There are 2 ladies in my ward who have had cancer and lost their hair. They were sweet to me and shared some little secrets with me. My hairstylist was also helpful. But I did loose a patch of hair right up front. I was able to do the little secrets and felt good about my hair.

Well it grew back, welcome back old friend! My hairstylist even says it is a bit more curly than the old stuff:-)

Mike and I go out bike riding a lot. We go out on Saturdays and see lot's of couples out exercising together. It makes me happy that we aren't at home sitting on the couch. We are out enjoying this beautiful world God gave us.

Mike ran into a "bump" in the rode on one of our rides:-)

He is so cute in his biking clothes!

He rode 90 miles yesterday, he is training for a 105 mile ride next week. I think he has it covered!

I told Mike I wondered if he would still have a midlife crisis, or if our surgery and outcome would keep it away. I think 99% of men go through some sort of mid-life crisis, but they all handle it differently. Mike had a mentor who told him years ago that it hit him. It messed him up for a short time, but then he turned to his wife. He said, I just need to re-invest in my wife. I was always glad he had talked to Mike, hoping that when the time came for Mike he would handle it well. When I told Mike what I was thinking that maybe this surgery would avert it, he said he thought mid-life crisis came on because men weren't happy with their careers and lives. Mike said he was very happy with it all. So who knows maybe we averted a "crisis" in our journey together!:-)

My parents health isn't great, but they are on a good road. I realised that my life had some pretty extreme stress for months. but for the last few weeks things have calmed down. I have so many other friends going crazy right now trying to keep up with life. I'm not saying this to jinx anything, just to count my blessings. Life has let up, I know it is a blessing from Heavenly Father, and right now I'm stopping to smell the roses!

Very Good Changes!

Me and that Christmas guy.....

The kids are gone on a fun 2 week long vacation to California. They took Nathan along to help with the girls and have some fun. They are staying in a beautiful condo on the beach, they went whale watching yesterday. Then next week they are staying in one of the Disney resorts to much fun. I went over last week to take them some stuff for the trip. I was playing with the girls and enjoying their company, because I would miss them for 2 weeks. Issy was on my lap we were talking about all of the pictures on the walls. Erin and Jon have decorated their home with huge pictures of their family. So I would ask who is that... "mommy, daddy, Issy and baby"... When we had talked about all the pictures we could see Issy said,  "and over their is a picture of me and that Christmas guy." Loved it I'm sure she will figure out this year his name is Santa! 

Issy has been going through some changes lately. With her food, Erin told me if it is supposed to be hot she wants it cold. If it's supposed to be cold she wants it hot. Well she was at my house and wanted a "lollipopcycle" I gave it to her and a few minutes later she ask me if I could warm it up!

We had company in July. Gary and Cathy came and stayed a week with us. We had fun playing and we did the grandma thing and babysat the girls for the kids anniversary. Issy was enjoying having a second grandma around.

We went off on a little adventure or two while Gary and Cathy were here. This is us at the Dairy Keen in Heber. Mike had his first train burger, they are locally famous for that burger:-)

We went out to Provo Canyon and enjoyed Heavenly Fathers beautiful blessings!

I went to hang out with the girls one day. Issy was a garden fairy.

Issy got my camera and snapped a few pictures. I liked this one of her sister!

We were watching "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" I told Erin that my favorite part of the whole movie is when it snows icecream. There is a scene where they are panning out and all of the kids are making snow angels, with their face down in the icecream. Issy said like this, and showed me how they did it.

Steven had a birthday this month, we had a little family party the day after he was to busy with his friends on his actual birthday! He is 21.... my how time flies!

Then my best friend from childhood sent her baby off to school in Provo. So here is her baby and my baby.

The funny thing is they both have the same family nickname.... Nay and Nea.

Her husband Chris who moved to Gilmer when we were in Junior High, so I have known Chris a very long time too. Stayed with us while he got Kristy all set up. We went out with them one night and had fun. Their daughter-in-law manages a Cold Stone, so we indulged in some sugar free icecream, Yum! This is Chris and their daughter and son Steven and Kristy.

Mike and Chris

Mike and I had some fun time together too. We caught up on many of the summer movies!

 

Again visiting the grandbabies is a high point for us!

Jon has fixed their back porch up so nice with a fire pit and all. The girls got their own little bench. but Issy calls it a couch.

 This was our July. Busy and full of company and friends. Here hoping for a little rest in August:-)

A big day!

I can't believe it's been another month. I will do a little back tracking soon. But I will just go forward from here! Mike took a couple of days off of work and hung out with me. WE had a great time. Today we got up and rode our bikes. I rode are you ready for this?

30 miles yeah! The furthest I had gone before was 23 miles. This was exciting for me!

Then we came home showered and headed for Mirror Lake. Notice the beautiful blue sky.

                          It was so pretty up there. We stopped at Provo River Water Fall.

The rocks were so cool all of them looked like steps.

Then a friendly lady ask us if we would like a picture together.

There were a few little water falls all down the way.

People were having picnics and hiking around, enjoying the cool weather and scenery.

We moved on trying to find Mirror Lake but we found other pretty things to see.

We finally got there. The car was wheezing from the high altitude and climbs!

The wild flowers were so pretty. The pictures don't show how pretty it was.

There were lot's of families having a nice time around the lake. We chose a picnic area way far back, to be alone. Oh and Mike is not doing what it looks like he is doing in this shot, he was looking at the cougar tracks around the water.

 

 We found a good little spot and sat down to enjoy the lake I had been wanting to go to for 3 years now.

It was so pretty when we got there but then it started to sprinkle. The sprinkles became more frequent so we moved under some trees.

We watched people walking around the lake, we talked to them as they passed us. We talked to the people in canoes who floated by, it was nice. The thunder at that elevation bouncing of the other mountains was awesome. It was loud and made us take notice!

Then it started raining pretty hard.

We hid in the woods to figure out what to do.

While we were taking these pictures it started hailing hard, the rain was coming down in sheets  and the lightning and thunder were so loud we decided to pack up and make a run for it. I was laughing so hard, because as I mentioned we headed towards the back so we had a long way to go to get to the car. I had a towel over my head, but Mike had nothing. The hail was pelting us and actually hurt a little. Mike was getting hit on the top of his ears and he kept saying ouch! I pulled the camera out to take a picture but it was raining way to hard.

We made it back to our car freezing and soaked!

I told Mike we didn't need cold drinks we needed hot chocolate! We got in our car for just 2 minutes and the windows fogged up immediately. We turned our seat warmers on, and the heater to dry off.

Yes you see that right it was 50 degrees outside the end of July it was heavenly!

The rain fell pretty heavy all the way home. But we had fun!

A month at a glance.....

Wow I let a month go by without blogging yikes! So this is a picture of my sweet Elizabeth wanting Grandma to pick her up!That has started to happen all the time. When she sees me she holds her hands out to me and because she loves me!

Erin called there was a "Princess Tea Party" that afternoon. Issy had out grown her princess dress and needed a new one. So I met them at the mall and we went shopping for a new princess dress. But there was nothing to speak of at the store. When we got Issy's first princess dress there were at least 10 to 12 dresses to choose from. When we went in that day there were only 4 and none in her size. But her mother was determined and found a Tinkerbell dress her size. All was right with the world we had a Princess Tinkerbell!

I met up with them later to go along and they were darling. Issy made a beautiful little Tink!

Nathan just being cool as all teenagers are.

Me on my stinking birthday. Wow 46, that really bummed me out!

Mike and Nathan have been riding a lot. They left to go on a ride and I left later to go to the store and saw them riding so I grabbed my camera and took a few shots.

I watched my princesses one day, I really enjoy them. Elizabeth was eating cheerios with Ophie watching and hoping she would share.

Elizabeth taking off her sock, and Ophie sitting by hoping for a bite of her cracker!

I ask Issy how does a princess look and this is what she gave me. So this is Issy version of a princess.

Mikes Dad and Sister came to visit. We had a nephew getting off his mission so they came to see him. I started riding a bike 4 weeks ago. I had been riding a couple of weeks and doing pretty well. the exercise bike was doing some good! But the day I took this picture, Mike and I left his family and rode 21 miles! Since then I have ridden 19 a few times. But 21miles is my biggest ride ever. This is a picture of the path it starts near our house, it is just beautiful to ride on.

Murphy the day he got home from Argentina, just a little tired!

Mike and his Dad they enjoyed each others company:-)

Keven and Kris they enjoyed each others company also!

We went and saw Toy Story 3 with our niece Elise, Nathan (which was a treat he never goes with us to a movie!), Aunt Keven , Granddad,  Mike and Me. We also went and had dinner at our new favorite pizza place. It was a good movie and yummy food. A great evening all together!

Aunt Keven looking cool in Nathans glasses.

Nathan looking cool in his glasses.

I had a girlfriend invite me to her house for breakfast. She made a crustless broccoli, cheese, and bacon quiche. I loved it and had to make that weekend for myself.

I made a big one because I thought the boys might like it. But they didn't really like it so I ate it for a week!hahaha

I got money for my birthday so I went and bought a few new clothes. It has been a while. I was happy because I bought medium sizes, even a size 10 pair of pants! I have lost 92 pounds so far. Since I started riding the bike a gained a couple of pounds. I rode today and I have racked up 275 plus miles in 4 weeks. Mike rode 70 miles today. He has been riding longer and has like 900 miles racked up. He wants to ride a century next month which is 100 miles. He has gone crazy on the bike! Also I was trying to look like a cute grandma with my new clothes. Mike took me to an early showing of the new Eclipse movie. I grabbed the Twilight books years ago, I saw them everywhere I went, and had heard a few people talk about it. Something clicked with me and I really enjoyed reading them. Mike decided if I liked them that much that he would read them to. We read them all together. I'm so happy that Mike is secure enough in his manhood that he is willing to read those books and go to those movies:-) There are quite a few husbands who have taken their wives in our ward. But some men wouldn't even consider it. As a matter of fact this month I read my first classic novel Wuthering Heights. I wanted to talk about it with Mike so he read it too. I am happy that we have these kind of interests together:-)

June came and went in a flash. We enjoyed our company and I have loved riding my bike. There has been a lot of sadness and stress, but that goes along with life. My parents are having so much heartache dealing with the aging process. It has been hard on me being so far away. It has also made me glad that Mike and I have chosen a healthier life style.

Now off to a busy start for July. We have Gary and Cathy coming to visit for the week!

Happy Fourth everybody!