My Quirks

I've been tagged by my good friend Lauren. Heaven Help the Horsley's is her blog. It is a really good one. I am envious of her writing abilities. And for really great mommy tips check her other blog out her mommy blog. Anyway, I am supposed to blog about 6 unspectacular quirks. I must say that I have been stewing about this one for a few days. But I finally figured a couple of mine out.

#1 Talk Radio Junkie

I am nerd I know but I listen to talk radio most of the day. I am turning into my dad. I always used to hate it when he had KSL 1160 blaring in the car, in the kitchen, in the bathroom. You name a place he had a radio and was listening to talk radio. I have a couple of favorites and I am writing this to defend myself. First one Dr. Laura. I know all of you are rolling your eyes. I am right there with you, I agree that she is mean, arrogant and hypocritical sometimes, but for the most part I think that she gives good advice and honestly has helped me become a better wife and mother. Second one Glenn Beck. Sometimes he seems to be doom and gloom but other times he is really funny. My kids will catch me LOL when I am listening to him and they are like "Mommy, what are you laughing at." I love it when he makes fun of his wife. (Sounds Awful) But, most of the time the things he says are so true on how woman act, and he uses this funny, nagging voice to do it with. I also enjoy a little Dave Ramsey, Bob Lonsberry and 1160 for the news and traffic reports.

#2 Dave Matthews Band Groupie

I have attended about 15 Dave Matthews concerts. I have seen him 3 times here in Salt Lake, 10 times in Washington and 1 time in Las Vegas. My husband and I both liked them when we got married but his friends are crazy about him and have dragged us into this obsession with them. My favorite concert was when he played in Las Vegas. Dave wasn't with the band he played an acoustic concert with his good friend Tim Reynolds. They are both amazing on the guitar. It was also just more intimate than the concerts with the entire band.

#3 I hate my belly button to be touched

I hate it when anyone touches my belly button. Namely. my husband or my kids because I know there aren't many other people that would just randomly come up and touch it. I have hated this for along time even before I got married. I hate it because and I don't know if it is just me but when it gets touched a lot it gets sore and it really hurts and it gets kind of scabby. I know it is kind of ironic but I once had my belly button pierced. Maybe that is where this all started?

#4 I love to pop zits and peel skin after a sunburn

There is something wonderful when you squeeze a big juicy zit and pus comes out and hits the mirror. And believe me I have had much zit popping experience. I enjoy attacking my husband as well. Now for the skin peeling thing, I am kind of picky on this. It can't just be little pieces of skin flaking off it has to be big pieces and it has to make that sound it makes when it is being torn off the flesh. Does anyone know what I am talking about?

#5 I hate the word " panty"

I have always hated this word. They are not panties they are underwear. Panty just sounds too feminine and sissy to me. I really can't explain my dislike for this word, I just do

And since I have to do Six my last one is

#6 I am obsessed with checking my caller ID

I check my caller ID several times a day, even when I know no one has called. And it gets worse, lately our caller ID hasn't been working but I still check it. Just in case I miss that very important call I have been waiting for all my life. I don't know.

Now that you all know that I am officially crazy, I get delve into some of your lives. I officially tag Jill Armstrong, Ed Griffin, Paige Fotheringham, Corinne Hannan, and Stephanie Hunt

Happy Birthday Rylan!!

Presents!

The "Hard Hat" Piniata

Jude Horsley - "Part of the Crew"

"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to"

The Relay Race

The foreman giving instructions to his workers.

Like Father, Like Son

The Cake!

We celebrated Rylan's 5th birthday on Saturday the 20th. We had a construction themed birthday party. We held it at the church so that we could use the gym for the games. Luke brought his loader, excavator and dump truck and gave rides to all the party participants in the parking lot. It was a lot of fun! Happy Birthday Rylan!!

Shoes Need New Owner

A pair of ROXY slip on flats needs loving owner.

I bought these darling shoes in Washington, while we were on vacation. They were on the super clearance rack. Ten whole dollars. Can you believe it? I was not going to pass up this bargain even if they were a 1/2 size too small. Shoes stretch out, right?

Maybe, if you are patient enough to endure the pain, which I tried.

I walked in these shoes for 2 hours on Sunday, while at a Farmers Market. My toes were a little uncomfortable at first and then they started to rub against my heel. I decided to just walk on my toes and that started to get annoying so I took the dang things off and walked around barefoot.

Later, I took the shoes back to the hotel room and replaced them with a more comfortable pair. No big deal. We got home from our trip and I went about my daily tasks on Tuesday. That night I saw that I had a blister on my right heel and it was painful to walk and to move my ankle around. I still didn't think anything of it. The next morning it was still hurting and I decided to take care of the blister by squeezing the pus out of it. ( sorry for those that have weak stomachs) I sprayed it with some numbing spray and it felt better. A few hours it started to hurt again and It was painful to walk again, I noticed quite a bit of redness around the blister and it looked like it was spreading to my ankle. It was also warm to the touch. It seemed like some of the symptoms of an infection. I called my doctor and his nurse told me to come in. The doctor squeezed the pus out of it and gave me some antibiotics and said that she was glad that I came in and that I was starting to get cellulitis.

Can you believe this, all because I couldn't pass up a good deal. I could of bought a really cute, comfortable pair of shoes for the money that I spent at the doctor and my antibiotics.

My heel, the day after the doctor visit. It actually looks a lot better
then it did yesterday.







I am serious about finding a new owner, If anyone has size 7 feet and wants these shoes let me know. I am never going to put them on again.

Our Annual Dave Matthews Trip

The Beautiful Scenery

Luke, Melissa, Jamie and Nicole (my cute sis)

We just returned from our 5Th annual Dave Matthews Band trip in George, Washington at the Gorge Amphitheatre. We went with my sister Nicole and her husband Jamie and then some of Luke's friends who attend every year as well. The concerts are held over Labor day weekend and they play Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We attended all three concerts. They play a different concert for each night. Some of his new songs are repeated but overall the songs are switched up. All three concerts were great, but Sunday's was my favorite. He played some of his more common and upbeat songs, like Ants Marching, Lie in our Graves, When the World Ends, What Would you say, Corn Bread, So Damn Lucky. The band saxophonist recently died from complications of an ATV accident, so every night they had a video tribute to him. On Friday night glow sticks were handed out before the concert and during the tribute everyone was throwing the glow sticks, it was literally raining glow sticks. One thing that was different this year then any year is that it was freezing. Friday was OK, I had to put on my Jacket and I was fine. Saturday, I wore jeans and had two jackets on and was still cold. I was so cold toward the end that I couldn't enjoy the music. I had to go buy some Hot Chocolate and I almost walked back to the car before the concert was over. Sunday's concert we came prepared with long socks, and shoes vs. flip-flops, hat, and blankets and it was perfect. Below are some pictures. I got some footage of Dave dancing. The last song on Sunday night was Thank You, a cover song, but supposedly his guitar string broke and he gave it to a member of stage crew and then began to go crazy. It was pretty cool to see him let loose like that. You can't see it very well on this video though. Someday it would be awesome to be on the front row.

The Gorge is a crazy place, you see some pretty weird people. It is fun to just people watch. Many, Many drunk people running around, falling down, doing crazy stuff.

Happy Anniversary!!

Luke and I celebrated our 7th Anniversary last night. Our actual anniversary is on the 16th but we were at the Griffin family reunion. We take turns planning, and this year was my year. I was reading in the newspaper that they hold free concerts at the Brigham Young historical park downtown, and it just so happened to be Peter Brienholt and Nancy Hansen who would be playing. I was so excited because Luke really likes Peter Breinholt and you can't beat free either.

We got to the concert and found a spot on the lawn. There were no seats left but that was ok by me. I kind of wanted to lay down on the grass and cuddle:) anyway. It was a really good concert. I planned to get dinner beforehand and eat it on the grass but ran out of time, so we decided to go to the Melting Pot. We went there two years ago for our Anniversary, I guess it's starting to be a tradition. We ordered the dinner for two, which for those of you that haven't been there includes the cheese, salad, main dish and the chocolate. So yummy. I was so super stuffed though and could hardly enjoy the chocolate. Someday I will have to skip the dinner and just order the chocolate. It was a really nice night.

Love you Luke!!

Rylan's First ER visit (unfortunately, probably not the last)

So I thought Rylan was doing pretty well being 4 and not visiting the Emergency Room, but Sunday afternoon ruined that thought.

We had just gotten home from church and had had a little snack, Rylan got up from the table and walked into the garage, I was trying to get Mason ready so that he could take a nap when I heard Rylan screaming. It was the kind of scream when you know something is really wrong and you know your child is really hurt. I ran into the garage and saw that Rylan had a yellowish-whitish powder all over is face, one hand was holding a pin to the fire extinguisher and the other hand was grabbing his eye. I could tell that Rylan had a large amount of this powder in his eye, so I grabbed him and ran him into the bathroom and started to flush his eye out with cool water,after a few minutes of flushing he was still screaming and crying. Not knowing what kind of substance this powder was and not knowing if it was going to seriously harm his eye I decided to call 911. I told the operator what had happened and she told me to keep flushing his eye out with water and that she would send the paramedics over. I kept just drowning Rylan with water and could see all of this powder just pour out of his eye and it didn't seem to be getting any less. (Through this whole thing my heart was just pounding and I was shaking, thinking all the worst thoughts about the future with a blind son and how he wouldn't be able to ride his bike and drive(which might not be such a bad thing) and watch movies and how he was going to have to learn braille, etc, etc.)

After what seemed to be several minutes the paramedics arrived and I explained to them what had happened, they just kept telling me to keep flushing it out but Rylan would not open his eye so that I could get all of that stuff out. The paramedics took over and was trying to get him to open but he would not relent, he just kept screaming saying that it hurt too bad. They tried to flush his eye with some saline from an IV bag and he still would not open his eye. They finally told me to take him to the hospital so that they could give him something to calm down. Oh and in the meantime I had asked them what kind of substance that powder was and if it was going to harm his eye. They told me it was and "inert" substance, basically like dirt or sand getting in your eye, so that made me feel a little better. So Luke had gotten home a few minutes before and was wondering what was going on, I gave him the update and he said that he would take Rylan to Alta View hospital so the doctor could clean out his eye after they gave him something to calm down.

I stayed home with Mason and Luke drove Rylan to the hospital. The paramedics offered to give Rylan a ride to the hospital but I thought it was just as easy to have Luke take him, and Rylan wanted to go with Luke and not ride in the ambulance anyway.

About a half hour later, I decided to call Luke and see how things were going, he told me that he was still waiting to be seen, I told him to call me as soon as he had seen the doctor. I told him I was scared and didn't know how this was going to all turn out. Luke told me that he thought that everything was going to be ok and I shouldn't worry. When I got off the phone with him I got on my knees and prayed. I prayed that everything would be ok and that Rylan would not have any complications. I felt a little better but still felt nervous. I called my mom and my sister and told them what had happened, I just needed to talk to somebody, analyze everything. We came to a conclusion that since they didn't seem to be rushing to see Rylan at the ER that it would probably wouldn't be threatening to his sight. In the meantime, Luke called me and said that his cell phone was going to die and that he would just see me at home later. So I started to bake dessert for dinner, and about 45 minutes later Luke calls from the hospital in a panic and says "you need to find a babysitter for Mason right now, we have to rush Rylan up to Primary Children's," I hung up on him before he could tell me why. I was thinking in my head "Find a babysitter" so that is what I did. I finally found a neighbor who was home after a few different attempts.

Luke pulled up to our house with Rylan in the backseat and I rushed to the car with Mason in my arms, mason's shoes, two diapers, a sippy cup and a container of wipes. Rylan in his groggy state is no longer crying or screaming but is saying "look Mom, I can open my eyes, see." He wasn't really opening his eyes, his right one maybe but not his left, and then he proceeded to fall asleep. We dropped Mason at the neighbors and began our trek to the hospital. I asked Luke what the doctor had said and this is what the doctor told him "this is the worst eye injury that I have seen in 30 years, Rylan needs to see a specialist." Then Luke asked the doctor about Rylan's eye sight and the doctor says "well I am hopeful that his eyesight won't be affected, I am worried about his cornea." "Hopeful?" what the heck does "hopeful" mean. Is "Hopeful" positive or negative?

We got up to Primary's and checked Rylan in and got taken back to a room. Luke gave Rylan a very nice blessing and asked that no permanent damage would be sustained and that he would be brave for the doctors. The doctor came in and said that he had just talked to the opthomologist and the he was just finishing up a consult and that it would be 45 minutes but while we were waiting that he would go ahead and put an IV in so that the sedatives could be administered through it when the doctor looked at his eye. It just seemed strange to me that the doctor at Alta View said that his eye was so bad and rushed us up to Primary's and the doctors at Primary's were just thinking that this was no big deal and were taking there sweet time. So about one and a half hours later the opthomologist finally arrived and started asking us questions about what had happened and he had the nurse administer the sedative and he started to clean his eye out using a q-tip and then checked the acidity level in his eye and tried to find out more information about the fire extinguisher and the powdery substance it contained. They decided to flush his eye with some saline. They put what looked like a contact lense in his eye that was connected to a hose which was connected to a saline bag. They decided to start with 1 liter and then they check his eyes acidity level again which the doctor said was at 7 which is neutral which is good. He wanted to flush his eye with 1 more liter of saline just to make sure.

He checked the eye again and it was at neutral. He proceeded to do a few more test and then said that the cornea looked pretty good but it had an abrasion on it. When I asked him about his eye sight he said that it depended on whether or not there was going to be scarring on the cornea. But he sounded pretty positive. He did say that they were going to do a CT scan to make sure there were no particles behind the eye that they couldn't see. If there were, they were going to have to do surgery to remove them.

While we were waiting for the Radiology Tech, Rylan started to wake up from his sedative and started saying some silly things. He said "I- talk-like a Ro-bot." (in a robot tone) Then he said "Ro-bot Time, Ro-bot Time." It was so funny, he was still out of it but saying these crazy things. We asked him what his favorite Transformer was and he said "Bum-ble-bee" My mom and Dad were in the room and we were all just cracking up.

But he got his CT scan and the doctor came in about 1/2 hour later and told us that there were no particles behind his eye. Yeah!!

The nurse gave us some discharge information and said to see the pediatric opthomologist the following day. They gave us some antibiotic ointment to put in his eyes and sent us on our way.

The next day Rylan saw the eye doctor and he checked his eye sight on both eyes and he said that Rylan was going to make a full recovery.

Rylan's eyes are looking really good, there is very little redness or swelling.

What a miracle, what a blessing. I don't think it was a coincidence, I know that the Lord healed him. I am grateful that Luke was able to give him a blessing and that I have such a supportive family who were all concerned and said prayers on his behalf.

Cache Valley Cruise-In

All clean and ready to go.










I know about a month has past, but over the 4th of July Luke and I and the kids headed to Logan to be part of the Cache Valley Cruise-In. Luke's truck was finally ready to be entered into a car show. For those of you who don't know, Luke has an '86 GMC High Sierra truck, he has had it since he was 16 years old and has done a lot of work to it. We have been talking about entering the cruise-in for years but after Luke put a 502 ram jet motor in it last summer, it was completely ready. Several days before the show, Luke worked till 2 or 3 in the morning putting on the finishing touches. I thought the truck looked great, but he is slighlty obsessive complusive when it comes to his truck.

Luke, under the hood and basically inside his engine compartment

When the truck was all ready he carefully loaded it on the trailer and pulled it up to Logan with his duramax.

There were several different events that took place throughout the weekend, but the main events were on Saturday which included the show'n'shine and the famous parade down Main Street. He spent all day Saturday at the show'n' shine and had many people come up to him and tell him what a nice truck it was. Luke's favorite event was the parade, when he actually got to drive it and rev up the engine. I got to ride in the passenger seat. It was really kind of cool having admirers. I have complained a lot about this truck throughout the years, whining about how much money he has spent on it and how much time he was working on it, but it all seemed to pay off this weekend. I was proud of Luke for working so hard on it and providing memories for our family to enjoy. I think this is going to be a yearly tradition.