May

May has been a fun month. Anna and Matt both had b-days. Anna had her bridal shower which turned out great. She also had her bridal pictures taken, which was so much fun to watch. She is going to be a beautiful bride! Ryan and I finally planted our garden and it's looking really good! Everything has been blooming like crazy with all this rain and it is looking awesome! But please sun, will you come out soon?

Thanks to Sister Wallace who brought her camera, we have some great shots from Anna's shower. There was such a fantastic turnout! Most of the laddies that came are all good friends of my mom's. All of these wonderful women have done so much for us this last year and we are so grateful for all of them!

So since we spent a pretty penny on this cage for Recon, it hasn't been used cause he just howls and howls when we put him in it. But we have found a new use for it. Instead of keeping Recon out of our yard, it will now serve the reverse purpose of keeping him out of our garden. Whatever works right.

I have attempted to plant some herbs in my pots again this year, braving the mouth of the yard beast. So far, they have lasted over a week and I even have cooked with them twice already! Keeping my fingers crossed that they will last.

And we now have a new protector of the yard, that has yet to be named, but perhaps he is the reason my herbs have not been shredded yet.

Ryan had a genius idea of planting these cute trees as a wall behind the basketball hoop. I'm excited to watch them grow. 

 I'm not the best landscaper, but I'm happy with how our yard is blooming so far this year.

 Our peaches survived the freeze a few weeks back! I can't wait for these juicy, mouth-watering treats!

Our new maple tree is really growing fast! I love it.

 Recon has been having fun just being a dog. If only my life consisted of the every day simplicity of gnawing on bones and playing tug-a-war.

Busy Busy

We've all been pretty busy the last few weeks. Here's a little update.

I had to work Easter day, but Ryan and I spent the night before at the Taylor's house. All the kids in their family were supposed to come over to paint eggs, but they all got sick and couldn't come so all us adults had to fill in for them. We had lots of fun acting like children ourselves. We had a lot of good laughs.

Pearl, me and Melissa

James was the only little tike there and of course cute as always

Ryan had the "painting easter eggs is stupid" attitude on the way to the Taylor's, but he ended up being the one who was the most into it and probably had the most fun! This is his "this is lame" look because he didn't want it documented that he was having fun, but secretly he was bursting inside with excitement from all the possibilities of color and design!

Ryan continues to let Recon push him around... Literally. I was on the computer last week and I look over and Recon is climbing up on the couch and sits right on Ryan's face. Of course Recon is never allowed on the couch, but by the way he always tries to climb on next to Ryan all the time, I get the feeling that the rules are not followed when I'm gone.

This had me laughing

Then Ryan started laughing

 Then Recon got what he wanted

 And then it got a little weird. Is this what goes on when I'm not here!?!

When we went to the Mayo Clinic, we stayed with my mom's cousin DeAnn. She would make us really tasty home cooked meals every night and she would always make fresh baked artisan bread too. It was so delicious. I told her how much I liked it and next thing I know when I get home she sent me the cook book and her secret tips! So I started making it last week and it is so surprisingly easy and delicious! There are so many recipes, I tried the basic artisan recipe first and it turned out so good! I made Ryan one of his favorite meals for his last day of his semester, chicken fried steak and my bread went right along with it. Then that weekend Ryan and I got adventuresome and made carmel pecan cinnamon rolls! We followed the recipe as best we could, but once they started baking in the oven, they started growing out of control! They were giant, but they tasted amazing! Next time we'll have to use half the dough. 

I was so excited to cut into my first loaf that I totally forgot to take a picture of it, but I copied this offline and it looked just like this! (http://www.yummydishes.com/2008/12/homemade-bread/)

Yesterday my cousin Maddie got married and we went to her fancy dinner reception. Her dress was beautiful, it was made by the same designer as mine, Pronovias. It makes me want to put my dress on and wear it around the house for old time sakes, but I don't think that I would fit into it. Hopefully that will change soon. Ryan and I are going to try and get in shape for our trip to Hawaii in August. 

So I have to post some pics of my dress because I loved it so much and I need to give myself some motivation to get back in shape.

 Today turned out to be awesome. My brother Phil and and his wife Nicole came for the wedding and stayed with us. It was fun to have them over. I was supposed to work today and I got up and ready and went in to work at 6, and by some miracle they had skipped over my name on the schedule and I didn't get assigned any patients so I got to come home and spend time with my family! We all made a fantastic crepe breakfast for my mom and gave her some presents. We had dinner up at the cabin and had more fun times reminiscing and being with my mom. It was truly a blessing being able to spend this day with my mom. She has been such an inspiration to me and has taught me so many important life lessons, especially learning to focus on what's most important. I love my mom.

Anna and Mike are getting super close to their wedding! In fact, they gave us their wedding invitation tonight! So adorable!

Eamon has started making lots of noise. He makes this kinda purring sound and it's so funny. I love it.

Analyn and Eamon, he looks just like a little Andrew

Dogs

Recon's gone and found himself a new girlfriend. She lives down the street and nearly every morning she escapes from her house and finds her way into our backyard. She gets into our backyard because our other neighbors who live next door, let their little white dog out all day and it drives Recon crazy. Somehow Recon must of broke part of the fence off from this little dog driving him nuts. So now that dog comes over all the time too. I feel like we are running a doggy day care in our backyard. Recon plays all day with these dogs and he gets so worn out.

2 love birds

So sad, he can't fit

At least he has good taste in women, she's pretty cute

Where the heck did spring go?

What a wonderful surprise this morning, we woke up to a few inches of snow and a very wet dog. It has been so warm and sunny the last few days, we even managed to get sunburns. Yesterday, we spent half the day doing yard-work (mowing the lawn, trimming the trees and bushes, weeding and putting lawn fertilizer down), hopefully all our early bird work won't kick us in the butt since everything froze last night. All of our flowers and fruit trees have been blossoming, we'll be keeping our fingers crossed so we can have some yummy peaches again this summer.

It's been a while since I've posted anything. I don't know if it's been the lack of excitement in my life or just no time to write up anything exciting.

About 2 weeks ago my parents and I flew to Rochester, Minnesota. My dad had set up an appointment at the Mayo Clinic for my mom. It was a busy few days, she had appointments with a few different Drs and lots tests and procedures scheduled. We met with Dr. Joseph's, who is one of the world specialists in my mom's condition and he gave us some good answers. It ended up being a really good trip leaving us with a better understanding of what we're dealing with. I had fun exploring the hospital grounds and looking at all the great art.

Last night, us girls went to our cousin Maddie's bridal shower. It was lots of fun seeing everyone and having Maddie entertain us with her hilarious personality.

Some other highlights from the last month...

Matt and Mitra announced that they are pregnant and Matt even came out to visit for a few days!

Ryan's cousin Cody stayed with us last weekend on his way home to Montana. He is leaving for Afghanistan this week. We are happy that we were able to see him again before he leaves. 

My Grandpa Clyde is doing great with his recovery from a skiing accident. He was hit by a stupid snowboarder leaving him with a sub-archnoid hemorrhage, broken facial bones and a lovely stay in the Breckenridge ICU.

Ryan started back to his job in the office a few weeks back. They have been busy with bids and the outlook for the year is looking good so far. 

The bees are back and working diligently on their hive, if only I could figure out a way to harvest their honey. 

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the spring weather (except for today).  I will try to be better with posting this month. 

The Simple Things

I just thought I'd write a little about my week. It actually turned out to be a really good one. I got a few things done around the house and at my mom's. I finally cleaned out her bathroom cupboards and organized all her makeup and things. I have been meaning to get to this for a while.

On Tuesday night we had a spa party with the Taylor girls! We did foot massages and pedicures, it was so nice to relax and have some good laughs with our best friends. We got out some old pictures from our trip to Ireland way back in the day, it was pretty funny. We snapped a few pics with Paula's camera, so when I get a copy I'll have to post um.

I had to work a few shifts this week, but they were actually not crazy ones for once. It's sometimes nice to have a slow day. Our ICU has been packed lately and we've had some pretty critical patients. It can be stressful sometimes and its hard to not get sucked up in the sad stories. I find it hard to leave the emotions behind when I come home. But on the other hand, it's always gratifying when I see a success or watch someone come out of something that you never thought they could survive.  I have learned from my work to never take life for granted. Life is so precious and can change so fast.

On Friday I took mom to physical therapy. I've decided that this is one of my favorite things to do with her. She has the most awesome trainer. We do lots of fun exercises together like throwing a ball back and forth or trying to bobble a balloon in the air. Mom has so much fun and finds everything to be so silly. I have never seen her laugh so hard or so much. It usually takes a lot to make her laugh, but at therapy she constantly has a smile on her face. Drew (her trainer) and I laugh too. Mom's laugh is so contagious, we all had one of those hysterical bouts of laughter when you just can't stop. Seeing my mom so happy brought tears to my eyes. I always leave the gym with a huge smile on my face and looking forward to the next week when we can have more laugh attacks.

Later Friday night, Ryan and I went out. We had dinner at Olive Garden. We decided to go out early instead of on Monday night just to avoid the crowds. Ryan and I also spent to weekend putting together our gym in the basement. We finally got a little TV in the workout room so I won't be so bored on the treadmill. I have used it a few times now and it really makes a big difference.

On Saturday, Ryan went snowboarding with Matt and some of his friends. I spent the afternoon going to lunch with Pearl and her mom Paula and Courtney, one of Matt's friend's girlfriend. We also went to the BYU Museum of Art with Carl Bloch's exhibit. I have been wanting to go to this for a while now, cause everyone that's been says it's pretty awesome. Well not that I've been, I can say that too. I found one of my favorite paintings of Christ, and I have never seen it before. I'm not a huge art person, but when I came into the room with this huge painting on the wall, I was immediately enthralled. It is a picture of Christ in Gethsemane being held in the arms of an angel. I was amazed by the emotion captured in Christ's face, I could see the agony and sorrow. But the way that he submits in the angel's arms and how she holds him also brings a feeling of comfort and relief. Very bittersweet.

Here's a picture from online, but it really brings no justice to the original. If you're around Provo and haven't seen the exhibit yet, you really should go. Unless you have a trip planned for Denmark anytime soon.

After the boys got home last night, we took Recon and went over to Pearlie's house for sushi and poker night. Courtney is becoming a chef and she gave us all quite the show making yummy sushi for us. I'm not a huge fan of the raw fish, but I must say that this was some pretty tasty sushi. Thanks Courtney.

Anyways, if you are still reading this, thanks. I guess my point is that I had a pretty good week. I am so blessed and I am trying harder to enjoy the simple things in life more. I am surrounded by some really great people. I can't tell you how amazing all of our neighbors and family members are. Without them, I don't know how we'd make it. Thank you to everyone, for all you do.