Fueled

About a month ago my sister Lori called and asked me if I was interested in going to the Women's Conference at BYU with her. I agreed and a couple of days later I signed up. Well, on Wednesday night Mom, Lori and Jessica got here and Thursday morning we headed out at 7:30 to the conference. It was wonderful. The day was filled with spiritual fuel that every soul needs at least once a year if not more. I went to classes about uncluttering your life, replacing fear with faith, how to manage stress, and many others. I took several pages of notes and I look forward to revisiting them often.

There is something about getting out of the house for a few days that makes the world seem ok.

Thank you Lori for suggesting Women's Conference. I thoroughly enjoyed being there and having you all here.

Training Update

I noticed on Brett's blog the other day that he posted a training update. It has been a while since I have done the same. My training hasn't been what I would have liked it to be. We've had sick kids around here and that always throws me for a loop. I'm not at all a morning person, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to become one if I want to get all of my mileage in for the three sports I'm going to have to endure in about 6 weeks.

Brett took Ryan to work on Friday for the 'Bring your kid to work day' and Sydney was at school so I decided I would take a jog. I ended up going 4.6 miles in 42 minutes and 30 seconds. I did walk about 1/4 of a mile uphill as the Dr has asked me not to run up hills. I do run up small ones, but this one is pretty steep, so I walked it and then finished out my run. I need to work a little harder on increasing my speed, but I was pleased with my run.

Yesterday I went on a 25 mile bike ride. It took me an hour and 38 minutes. Not the fastest time there either, but for my first really long ride I was pleased with the ride. The race route has changed this year for the Salem Triathlon, so for the next few weeks I am going to focus on improving my speed up Payson Canyon. I did get going 33 miles p/hr coming down hill, which is always fun.

This week I plan to be more consistent with my training. I didn't get any swimming in last week, but plan to swim 2 days this week along with running on Monday and Wednesday and a good bike ride on Tuesday. I also hope to get another good ride in on Saturday.

My mom and 2 of my sisters are coming up here from AZ on Wednesday afternoon to attend the Women's Conference at BYU on Thursday and Friday. I doubt I will get any exercising in either of those days other than the MUCH walking that will be done going from class to class at BYU.

I think I will probably post more training updates on my blog so that I am at least being accountable to someone, even if it is just cyberspace.

Brett's Blast from the Past

Here is a picture of Brett when he was a kid. That Possum is disgusting...

11 Years and Counting!!!

It's amazing how fast time goes by. Today Brett and I are celebrating our 11th anniversary. So much has happened in the past 11 years. Thanks Brett for being who you are. You're my friend, and my love. What would I do without you? You're an amazing father and I love that I can count on you. I'm thankful for the trust that we have in our relationship. I'm grateful that you are my eternal companion.

Here's a little look back:

Our Announcement

Our Kids

This one was taken when Sydney was about 15 months old...so...'04

This is our most current family picture - November 2007

Blast from the past.

I love reading other people's blogs. I read a blog a few weeks ago that had some pictures that were taken of the people when they were little. It is fun to see how they have changed. The crazy hair, clothing, etc. So, I thought I would do the same. I'll start with a picture of myself when I was three. I think I was pretty cute.

Goblin Valley

This week was spring break for the kids so we decided to take the family camping to Goblin Valley. The kids and I have never been, but Brett has been for the past several years with the boy scouts. It is a fascinating place. It was cold at night and pleasant during the day. We enjoyed having our cousins with us. A big thanks to Terry and Annette (Brett's dad and mom) for everything they provided. I think we'll invite you on more camping trips :).

Here are some pictures from the week:

This picture cracks me up. This is how you try and get cell coverage. Just climb up the back of the trailer. I'm pretty sure that the higher you are the more likely you are to catch a signal....

This is Stitch. He pretty much goes everywhere we go. On the way down to Goblin Valley, I told Ryan that we should start taking pictures of stitch and make a book called "The Adventures of Stitch". So, here is our first shot at making the book. I'm pretty sure it will be a treasure, and hopefully we will have Stitch for many years to come.

I am very blessed to have such great kids. Ryan and Sydney are not just brother and sister. They are great friends. I am so thankful for that

Brett is a pretty good photographer even if I do say so myself. He's got a pretty cute kid to capture too.

It's rare that Brett is seen with the kids in a picture. I hope that one day I will change all of that...

This is ME - Close to flying

On Friday morning we took a hike up a slot canyon. It was VERY cool.

Sydney Look alike meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Berger Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Geneology - Family history

Reminiscing

I hit the jackpot the other day when trying to figure out how to look at some files on a CD through Linux, which thanks to my personal IT Dept, I found out that the CD was in fact BLANK. Anyway, I found these pictures and since it's still the month of March, I'm going to indulge myself in posting them. They are all of Ryan when we were in the hospital in LA. Maybe you've seen them, maybe not.

Ryan before transplant 2/9/08

Ryan's Room

Ryan on chemotherapy. You can tell he doesn't feel too good. Miraculously though he was extremely well behaved. I think I may have screamed a bit more.

The Big Day
Ryan is just finishing his bath, given by Paul - a favorite of ours

This is what he looked like during the infusion. Since I couldn't be there, I have no idea where they were in the process. I do know it was being infused, and I assume this is just after his blood pressure sky rocketed.

Here it is - we call it the miracle juice. Out of 36 oz of marrow that was taken from my hip, this is what was left to give to him. Kinda crazy!

This is what you look like after you donate bone marrow. If the doctors tell you that you might feel some slight discomfort, the are LYING! You feel a LOT of discomfort. Man, I'm attractive.

Favorite Daily Activities

1 - Reading books

2 - Smiling

3 - Flossing gums with IV line

And...when you are stuck in a hospital room 24/7 you have to get your laughs somehow. Even Ryan thought it was funny that he could no longer bathe in the small bath.

I'm pretty sure this Easter Bunny is on steroids. It looks just like Ryan I know he was on steroids in this picture

There you have it. Kind of fun to look back. It all seems surreal, but it was VERY real.

Getting Better with age

The other night I was perusing through some old photos and I found a picture of some friends that is several years old. I'm guessing 6 years??? Jolayne can probably let me know if I'm wrong because I'm pretty sure the baby in the picture is Misha. Anyway, it is always nice to see old pictures and I think we are all looking better the more we age.
Looking at this photo also makes me miss our good friends. Maybe one day we will venture out to Colorado to see Chris and Jolayne, and who knows maybe we'll actually call Josh when we are in Arizona this time if we are close to his area.

Counting Blessings instead of....Cows

Today I took Sydney on a Bike ride to Salem Pond. The ride is almost 7 miles one way. We usually ride out there and have a picnic lunch and Syd plays on the swings, etc at the park, then we come home. Today we saw several animals on our route. As we passed each set of livestock Sydney would yell out "Hi Cows, Hi Llamas, etc"

We got to the park and ate our lunches. I pushed Sydney on the swing and told her that we had about 10 minutes to play before we needed to head home to be here in time for Ryan to come home from school. Right about the time I said that a group of handicapped children arrived at the park. There were about 6 of them and they each had a leader with them. I think they ranged in age from 5-6 years old. One child was blind and they were teaching him to walk with a stick. They others had pretty severe handicaps and they were getting some physical therapy by trying to lift their legs to climb the stairs. I was standing near a slide that has a wooden bridge connected by chains that spans from the steps to the actual slide. Each leader helped the children across the bridge and I told them I would catch them as they came down. The kids squealed with delight as they slid down the very short slide. They all had smiles on their faces and I marveled at what could put a smile on a face of a child.

As we left the park I silently thanked God for my many blessings. I have two healthy happy children. They can walk, they can talk, they can see, they can hear. There are so many things that I take for granted every day. I tend to get discouraged over my imperfections, and then I have an experience like I had today and it all gets put back into perspective.

7 Years ago today

Seven years ago today, I realized how important the sense of touch was. Ryan was 3 weeks post transplant and Brett and I were allowed to remove our gowns, masks and gloves. I'll never forget the feeling of having skin contact with our son again. We went over a month without it. I know that many others have it much worse, but I am so grateful for the miracle of that day. Here are some pictures to commemorate the day.

The Things I like to do - The perspective of a 4-year-old named Sydney

After being chastised by Sydney about not writing things down, I promised her that I would go home and let her tell me the things she likes to do at age 4. This is what she said:

• I like to play with my brother.
• I like to play with my mom and dad
• I like to play with my friends
• I like to ride my bike
• My favorite food is Pizza
• My favorite movie is "High School Musical I and II"
• My favorite song is anything High School Musical and I love "Stupid ol Pickup Truck" by Taylor Swift
• My favorite shoes are my princess shoes (she wears her brown knee-high boots with EVERYTHING though)

So, there you have it. A couple of years from now when she wants to know what she did when she was 4, I will turn back to this handy blog entry.

Didn't you write it down?

Today Sydney and I took the Camry to get the oil changed. As we were driving, Syd was asking me questions about what Ryan did when he was 4. I was only half way paying attention and I said "I don't know," to which she promptly replied "Well, didn't you write it down?" I think I have been called to repentance by my 4-year-old.

ABC's of ME

A - Attached or single: Uhh, Attached. I don't ever want to be single again.
B - Best friend: Brett
C - Cake or pie: Pie...I guess. Don't really like either.
D - Day of choice: Any day that I finish a triathlon. It makes the training seem much more worth it.
E - Essential item: Anything that helps in the kitchen. I'm a sucker for kitchen gadgets.
F - Favorite color: Purple, However, right now I think my favorite color combination is pink and brown.
G - Gummy bears or worms: Worms.
H - Hometown: Heber, AZ - aka - the middle of NOWHERE
I - Indulgence(s): hot bath, time for myself
J - January or July: Both - I love the seasons. I love the reflection of January, but also love having warm weather once July rolls around.
K - Kids: Two - the greatest kids a mom could ask for. Thanks Ryan and Sydney
L - Life is incomplete without: My family, the gospel, and a good pair of running shoes
M - Marriage date: April 24, 1997
N - Number of siblings: 5
O - Oranges or apples: How can you choose one? I love apples fresh from the orchard, and oranges too. Too bad we don't have an 'Orange Patch' in UT.
P - Phobias or fears: Losing Brett or my kids. Having to have knee replacement surgery.
Q - Quotes: The grass is not greener on the other side - The grass is greener where it is watered!
R - Reason to smile: A clean house, funny things the kids say, a healthy body
S - Season of choice: Spring/Fall - Not too hot/Not too cold
T - Tag three (or four) friends: Hmm, I'll pass on this one. I have no idea who even reads this thing
U - Unknown fact about me: If I told you, it wouldn't be unknown now would it?
V - Very favorite store: Cafe Rio - Is that a store? It sells food...
W - Worst habit: beating myself up....I'm bad at it
X - X-ray or ultrasound: Ultrasound
Y - Your favorite food: Ooohh, that's a hard one. I love Mexican food and Chinese

Z - Zodiac sign - Libra

Hobblecreek Canyon

I had forgotten how good it felt to run Hobblecreek Canyon. On Saturday, Ron and I drove up the canyon 6 miles and ran home to Terry and Annette's house. I absolutely love that run. Ron was gracious and followed my pace. I was sore for the rest of the week. I usually worry about my knees, ok, so I did worry about my knees, but they were fine during and after the run. By Sunday the rest of my body was so sore I could hardly walk. I will just have to run more often so that doesn't happen.

Catching UP

Last week Shane and Ron visited us from Texas. We took Ron ice fishing on Thursday and I think we are the wrong group of people to go fishing together. We didn't catch a thing. Well, Ron "caught" a couple, courtesy of some other groups out on the lake. It's a running joke around our house because every time we go fishing Terry, Brett's dad goes to Sportsman's Warehouse to buy bait. EVERY trip he ends up talking to some "old boy" (Terry's words) and they tell him the 'bait' to use. EVERY trip he spends 15-20 bucks on this 'miracle bait' and we never catch a thing on it. We usually catch fish with a trusty ol' worm, which I HATE to touch, but I'm getting better.

As we were getting ready to go out on the lake Terry befriended a 'professional' fisherman. Smart guys I think. They tout their stuff and get a free ride across the lake to their 'special' spot. I keep thinking that I'd love to mock them until my throat is sore, but they caught fish, and I didn't so they must be doing something right. We spent the day watching our poles very carefully only to leave empty handed. Ron proved that he would be a great candle maker as he lowered his pole and raised it several times only to have ice build up on his line. I've never seen so much ice buildup on a line.

When we got bored, we would go out on the snowmobiles. I no longer enjoy riding the dang things. There's something about flipping one that makes a person not want to get back on. At about 1pm we started packing up to go home. Terry and Ron were out on the snowmobiles so Brett and I put everything up and just laid by the sled that Terry has made to put all of the gear in. When they returned we hooked it on to the snowmobile. Terry asked me to go to the 'professionals' tent and let them know we were leaving.

As I approached their tent I said "knock, knock". They opened up the little zippered door and I let them know we were leaving. The guy said, "Well, are you going to pull us back with your sled?" I told him he needed to get ready because we were leaving right then. I wanted to tell him - It's not a sled - it's a S-N-O-W-M-O-B-I-L-E! Oh well! We took our stuff back to the truck and Terry and Brett went back to take them closer to shore. They didn't take their tent down! I wish I would have been watching as these men were trying to hold on to their tent as they moved their way back across the lake. I was too busy taking off my snow pants, boots, etc.

All in all we had a pretty fun day, even though we didn't catch a fish.

Sydney's new room

Today while Brett is out snowmobiling, I thought I would put Sydney's room back together. I have been painting it for a while and now it is finally back to where she can sleep in it again. Here are a few pictures of the before and after

Before:

After:

Next project: The front room aka Brett's office

"Mom, I pee like a boy!"

Tonight after Family Home Evening we were getting the kids ready for bed when I heard Ryan screaming - "She did it! She did it!" I went into the hallway and I asked him what Sydney did. He said "She peed standing up." Shortly behind Ryan came Sydney - She was so proud. She said she just spread her legs a little bit more and she peed standing up. Now that's a proud mommy moment.

Happy Birthday Bone Marrow

Today we celebrated Ryan's 7th Bone Marrow Birthday. We sent him on a scavenger hunt for a Nintendo game that we had purchased several months ago. He was really excited and played for a while. He complained of a stomach ache so we gave him some breakfast and I think he felt better. I am forever in awe that we have traveled the rocky road of a bone marrow transplant and that Ryan is a healthy, happy boy. He is very special to us.

So, to Ryan - Happy Bone Marrow Birthday, Happy Birthday!