Wisdom Teeth Removed for Christmas!

A week ago Jeff learned our medical insurance coverage was changing in 2009 and not for the better. Even though our medical budget was gone by May (Andrea's knee surgery), we decided to have Dylan and Andrea's wisdom teeth removed. Doing so in 2008 instead of 2009 saved us a bunch of moolah. The only dates the oral surgeon had available were December 23 and December 31. Neither date was optimal, but at least the 23rd was d0-able. I'm just glad he had time in his schedule for both of them.

What a way for them to spend Christmas!

Going, Going, But Not Yet Gone

I know it won't last forever...
Three days of frost and gray skies have wilted what was left of my lemon sorrel. The spinach might be salvageable, that is if the sun comes out tomorrow; carrots are becoming more difficult to dig out of the frozen ground (especially since Jeff packed away the trowel and now I'm using a kitchen spoon instead).
Tonight's menu: chicken with potato-carrot-onion casserole. No, the chicken did not come from the garden!

December 3rd in Northern Utah and Garden Growing Strong!

September in Utah is the month that people clean out their gardens and prepare it for winter. For the most part I did the same thing--tomatoes, squash, green peppers, and lettuce are long gone. However, I am pleased to report that my garden is still doing well with beets, carrots, spinach, lemon sorrel, onions, and potatoes. This is the second year we have gardened using tires. I am continually amazed at the benefits--plants are contained, no weeding, water usage is dramatically less, and best of all, two and three yields of produce! I haven't even covered the tires with straw yet to keep in the heat for the plants; the tires keep the heat on the plants. Last year we just played with the idea of tire gardening, didn't put much effort into doing it, even so our crop last year was phenomenal so much so that we decided to do it "right" this year. I highly recommend tire gardening!

Tonight's menu: split pea and ham soup, baby carrots and onions, homemade bread, beets, beet greens, and baby potatoes! Bon appetite!

Pandemic Fireside

I don't want to freak anyone out, but I learned this week that the world is at level 3 out of 6 on the pandemic scale. It is that high primarily because of the bird flu. I also learned that the World Health Organization is currently preparing for a full scale outbreak of "something" estimated to be upon us within the next 20 to 30 months. Now, I have to sit back and laugh just a bit because of what our prophet and elders have been telling us specifically over the last 2 years--and that is that we need to have 3 months of food and water as an immediate reserve in our homes. Three months is the typical quarantine period. I may not have finished college, but I sure can put two and two together and get four.

On Sunday a church official whose calling is specifically to teach and help prepare people for a possible pandemic event held a special fireside at our church. She gave us a whirlwind of information. I will not put it in here, but within the next few days I will be scanning her handouts and my notes of her presentation and have them available via email for those who are interested in them.

We started our own blog.

I decided after many sleepless nights (ha ha thats funny) that i would make our own blog. I really did think about it because i did not want to leave Powell land, but i decided that i will always be a citizen. Check it out.

http://richardandmeghannbateman.blogspot.com

Love ya lots

Megs

Another day in Paradise for Richard.

Richard has had it rough with all of the medical problems over the last two years. He had a little internal bleed that had to get fixed so he went into surgery today. It was not an evasive surgery, thank heaven, but he is still in a lot of pain.

This is him waiting his turn into the OR. He was so nervous, I think no matter how many times someone goes through procedures it is still nerve racking. But we are thankful he is okay and hopefully there will be no more problems with bleeding. I love him so much, even sick he is so cute!!!

To answer your question Sarah...

That's what I wanted to do also but school is so hard to get into its just crazy. You have to have your BSN and have so many years under your belt as a nurse in critical care and there is a ton of requirements to even apply, plus school is so expensive. I work with 6 different nurse working towards it and it seems like in a few years there will be a low demand for them.

For now I want to work in ER/ICU. I am going to get my BSN and my CCRN and reevaluate from there. Since there is no more NP program (that's what i really wanted to do,) and you have to have a masters to teach, I will most likely get a masters in nursing with a specialty.

But to be honest medicine is a long career and it is already getting old. I wouldn't going in a totally different direction all together for my master either. Like human relations or family counseling plus I also really want to do sign language still. All in due time....

The life of a Bateman

So its been a while since I posted anything, sorry life just gets so darn busy!

To update 0n Richard, he still hasn't heard anything on the settlement from his work injury. It has been 1 year and 7 months since he was zapped and 1 year since workman comp dropped him. It has been very difficult trying to make ends meet, thank heaven for my parents that have done so much for us. On a happier note Richard is back to work (against medical advisement,) it just got to the point that we could not do it anymore with out him working. He is back to his same job in the ER, but he has to retake his EMT because it expired while he was out. It is so nice having him back to work, and its so awesome our bank account isn't in the red anymore!!!! He is also going to school at SLCC working on general classes. I am so proud of him and all that he has overcome, its been really hard on him, me and our relationship but we are pulling through.

I had to take a year off from nursing because it was too hard trying to do it all. But I am still in school. I am taking a Chemistry class with a lab (which is like its own little class,) a Math class, an Art class and an institute class. Although it is a full time schedule and challenging classes it feels relaxing not worrying about nursing. In nursing there are so many other things that have to be done other than the class and the clinical. I still work at the hospital too but I have moved to the patient care floor, which I don't like but it was the only job available when Richard went back to work. (I was working the ER, Richards old position. So when he went back I had to leave.) Its kinda sad because Richard and I only really get to see each other coming and going and on the weekend because of our schedules, but we are making due. Oh the best thing so far about this year is I don't worry about school or work as much anymore, I have some free time!! I inherited from my mother a little OCD so when things aren't clean enough or organized it literally drives me crazy, and it has been so nice to have a chance to get things done.

We are still in the condo in SLC and I really like it there. I like my neighbors, my ward, where it is located, its wonderful.... I love it!!!! Thanks mom and dad for getting it for me to go to school, you guys are the greatest and I would not be able to do any of the things I have done with out you. We have painted all the bedrooms and will be start on the bathrooms soon but we need my dad for that. Our goal is to get the condo looking as good as we can get it with minimal work. I will post pictures later of what it looks like.

Getting back to a day in the life of a Bateman lets just say it keeps going and going and going....

Summer's Over - Back to School

This has been a busy and exciting summer for many of us. I am actually glad school is starting tomorrow. Not that I want to "get rid of my children," but I must admit to wanting some quiet time.

Family Update:
Meghann and Richard: Richard started back to work yesterday after 18 months medical leave. He is still in a lot of pain from shoulder and thoracic nerve damage and his lungs are still damaged, so we all hope work will go well and distract him from the constant pain. Both Megs and Richard are starting back at school this week. We are very proud of both of them for everything they have had to go through the last year and a half!

Samantha has held down two jobs this summer and still had time to have a social life. She took a "west coast" vacation with some friends and had a great time hugging trees in the Redwood Forest. She is in her second year at USU with dual major in German and International Studies with emphasis in world economy.

Dylan is a senior this year. If all goes as planned he will actually graduate from two high schools: the local high school and the correspondence school from which he has been taking extra classes. He is still working at the pizza parlor. He has reached the one year countdown to his leaving on a mission. He's been thinking a lot about that.

Andrea is doing extremely well in her recovery. I have to laugh about her knee surgery because one very good thing came out of the situation. I am totally opposed to mandatory physical education in the public school system. Because of the surgery, Andrea will be exempt from taking P.E. for the remainder of high school!!!! Yeah!!! She is currently a sophomore.

I'm Engaged!!!

On June 6th through the 9th I went to Utah to visit Matt who just got home from his mission only two days prior to my visit. He had no idea I was coming and went to the airport with his sister (lara) and Mom (Rayleen) thinking he was picking up an uncle. When he saw me coming out of the terminal he just about flipped his lid. He couldn't believe I was there when he was just talking to me just hours before about when he was going to come out to Colorado Springs to see me. Seeing him for the first time in 2 1/2 years felt great. I Still wanted to be

with him but I didn't want to rush anything.

After my trip to Utah Matty and I started planning his trip to visit me in Colorado Springs for my 21st b-day since he missed three of the others while we were together in high school and while he was on his mission. He came out to the Springs on the 8th of July and stayed till the 13th. While he was here I was sick for three days! I was sick on my b-day which sucked but it still went great since I got an engagement ring for my b-day.

I guess I should tell everyone how he proposed. It wasn't anything big with tons of people around. It was just him and me. We were lying on my bed talking. I was trying to make him feel guilty about me moving to Utah. I was telling him about how many great friends I've made and how I love the Stockton’s (the wonderful couple I'm staying with) and the beautiful mountains and hiking out here. I was kidding of course. I wanted to be with Matt. I was planning on moving to Utah to be closer to him to see how things would work out with us and if things went well we'd get married. I wasn't expecting what happened next. He said to me, "Well, maybe your b-day present will change your mind." I told him his b-day gift to me was his flight out here. He told me that he wanted to give me something special. That's when he pulled out the ring. All I did was laugh and smiled big and said, "Are you serious!!!" Obviously he was serious. :) And I obviously said yes.

We are getting married November 28th in the Las Vegas Temple at 11:00 a.m in the morning. We will have a reception around 5 or 6 p.m in Vegas and then a small open house in Kaysville, Utah about a week or so after that. All the planning is exciting but stressful at the same time. We've got a pretty small budget for everything and I can't find a dress I like anywhere. I take that back...I found a dress that is PERFECT in everyway except for one thing. The Price. The damage is $1000! OUCHIE! Oh well, I guess I just gotta find something cheap and close to what I want.

I'm hoping that as much family and friends as possible can come. I'd love to see you all! I know it will be hard for a ton of people to make it since this is the day after thanksgiving. But we thought it would be nice to have a Thanksgiving dinner on the 27th with his family and mine as our rehearsal dinner so that our families can meet.

I'll be moving to Utah Aug. 14th so that Matt and I can plan the wedding together rather than in separate states...and cuz I want to be with him. This distance stuff sucks and it's extremely hard. I'm so excited to go out there but I still love it in the Springs and it's going to be so hard to leave. I love being close to Sarah even though we hardly get the chance to hang out and the Stockton's are wonderful. They've done so much for me. They're like family to me.

Well, that's enough babbling outta me. I love you all so much and I miss you.

XOXO

JULY HAS BEEN A GOOD MONTH SO FAR

July has been a fun month for us so far! To start out the month was the fourth of July celebration-- my favorite holiday. Andrea is doing much better than expected with her knee, has been fitted for a special sports brace and is glad to be free of the huge monstrosity she's had to wear the last couple months. Aunt Donna came to visit us for a couple days; always enjoy our visits. Rabecca and Brad had their son, Aiden; I was able to be there for that. Wrote a nice long (long) letter to Gramma Jean. Aunt Kim came out to join us on our annual river rafting trip. This year we did 5 runs down the the river instead of the 4 we usually do; everyone enjoyed it, but agreed the last run wore them out. Yesterday I registered Meghann and Samantha as official members of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers International Association (DUP). They are eligible to be members because of Jeff's side of family--not mine. However, I contacted the Daughters of the American Revolution Association (DAR) to find out what I need to do to get myself and daughters registered as members. This they are eligible because of my side of the family--not Jeff's.

Wow and it's only half way through the month!

Another Daughter?

I am doing updates on all the kids in separate blogs, but I realized I have another daughter--Samantha... That must be the blond blurr I see running in and out of the house!

Update on Andrea

Andrea has about 85% of her knee flexibility back already. She still has to wear the brace to protect the sideways movements of her knee and until the doctors are assured the bone graft completely takes (another 2 months). It's cool how you can feel the screw in her leg. The doctor said he can remove it in about a year if it bothers her. If not, then it can stay in, but she will beep going through metal detectors. Cool--I have a beeping daughter!

Dylan Soars With Eagle Award

Dylan finally received his Boy Scout Eagle award. He did the project last year (August/Sept) , had all the paperwork completed and signed in November, but we waited until nice weather to have the actual Court of Honor Ceremony. We butt heads with the Scout Committee Chairman a little bit because he said no one would come to the ceremony if we didn't hold it on a Sunday and at the church building. Well, we took our chances and had the ceremony the way we wanted at the time and place we wanted--Friday evening at our house. Guess what--we had 48 people attend! Many people came up to Jeff and I afterwards (and at church the following Sunday) saying that it was the best Eagle Court of Honor they have ever been to.

The biggest thing that Jeff and I wanted to avoid was having the ceremony feel like a church meeting. We did have opening and closing prayers, but everything else was very much BOY SCOUTS! I made a slide show presentation of Dylan's life titled "Being Dylan" and we had 12 people "roast" Dylan for about 2 minutes each. Each person spoke on one of the characteristics of a boy scout from the boy scout law and how Dylan represents that quality in his life. It is something we have never seen or heard done before. Dylan and Jeff made a special 13 candle holder to represent the 12 characteristics.

The whole night was a success. Much thanks go out to all those who participated, both family and friends! Congrats Dylan!

news article about the fire

Here is a local news report on the fire.


http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=3647815

Check it out, we were there!!!

When your life flashes before your eyes

It is said that when something tragic happens your life flashes before your eyes. Well i think Richard and i had this happen on Sunday afternoon. I had worked from noon Saturday till Sunday morning at 0700, then i stayed up to go to church; after sacrament meeting i went home and went to sleep about 1pm. By 1:30 i was evacuated from the condo, the south side of my condo building was on fire and the whole building was a risk and needed to be evacuated. There was a fire in the attic of the condo and the firemen were having a hard time controlling it. When Richard and I found out what was going on and the whole building was at risk. We rushed back into the condo to save our animals (two cats, two birds, and a do.) The police wouldn't let us in but Richard, fought his way in to get the cats, the cop followed, to grab him while i ran in and got the birds and the dog. The cops started to yell at me but I just ignored them, (those darn pigs!) The cats were left inside but we were able to get the others out.

After an hour of everyone running around like a chicken with its head cut off, we were told the fire was under control and the north end of the building (where we live) was safe but we would not be allowed in until the whole building was safe. There were four condos completely burned, but 12 units were unlivable. The north end was cleared to go in but our neighbors were kicked out.

Richard and I were talking how close it came to losing everything and there was nothing we could have done. It was very scary especially when we didn't know what was going on and being man handled by police and fireman (well, as if i mind i married a fireman! lol) We are okay, our animals are okay, our stuff is okay, but we did watch everything flash before our eyes.

Some of you have asked to see pictures of Andrea's knee. Well, I don't have a good one of her knee when it was HUGE!!!, but here is one I took today (19 days after the accident) in which you can see the knee is still swollen--about twice normal size. Her surgery is tomorrow. Keep her in your prayers!

Surgery Required

The verdict is in from the doctors and surgery is definitely required to fix Andrea's knee. They have to reconstruct part of the knee as well as fix the Anterior Ligament (ACL). Andrea is not happy about it because surgery is scheduled her last week of school. She says the last week of school is all fun stuff. Oh well, I told her to get mad at the doppleganger that pushed her off the long-board and not me.

The docs all said that the first two weeks post-op are going to be the worst. Then she'll be on crutches for 4-6 weeks, be wearing a special brace for 4 months, and in physical therapy for 6 months. What a crappy way to start the summer break. She won't be able to go on the Martin's Cove Trek with the youth from the stake and she won't be able to go in the raft during our annual white water river rafting trip. (Hey Rainey, you said you thought it would be fun... well, we got a place for you now if you want to join us!)

Hope all of you are doing better than Andrea! Our love to all.

Andrea was in the play The King and I back in January and the black hair rinse never came out of her hair. She spent four and one-half hours at the hair salon last month. Here's the end result.

Dangerous Sport -- Long Boarding!!!

Well, now it's official. Each of my children has been to the emergency room. Andrea was the last hold out at 14 years 10 months. However, last Thursday she decided to join the ranks of the medically challenged by turfing off the long-board. Her knee was swollen about 4 times normal size and she had to wait five days for the swelling to go down enough for an MRI. The end result...

Andrea has torn the ACL, MCL, and damaged the meniscus in her left knee. We are still waiting to hear whether or not surgery will be needed. If so, then she will be the first child needing any type of surgery.

How to Cook a Husband

The following is from the Yankee Kitchen Cookbook, circa 1800, author unknown.

How to Cook a Husband

A good many husbands are utterly spoiled by mismanagement in cooking and are so not tender and good. Some women keep them constantly in hot water; others let them freeze by their carelessness and indifference. Some keep them in a stew with irritating ways and words. Some wives keep them pickled, while others waste them shamefully. It cannot be supposed that any husband will be tender and good when so managed, but they are really delicious when prepared properly.

In selecting a husband, you should be guided by the silvery appearance as in buying a mackerel; not by the golden tint as if you wanted salmon. Do not go to the market for him as the best ones are always brought to the door. Be sure to select him yourself as tastes differ. It is far better to have none unless you will patiently learn how to cook him.

Of course, a preserving kettle of the finest porcelain is best, but if you have nothing better than an earthenware pippin, it will do--with care. Like crabs and lobsters, husbands are cooked alive. They sometimes fly out of the kettle and become burned and crusty on the edges, so it is wise to secure him in the kettle with a strong silken cord called Comfort, as the one called Duty is apt to be weak. Make a clear, steady flame of love, warmth and cheerfulness. Set him as near this as seems to agree with him.

If he sputters, do not be anxious, for some husbands do this until they are quite done. Add a little sugar in the form of what confectioners call kisses, but use no pepper or vinegar on any account. Season to taste with spices, good humor and gaiety preferred, but seasoning must always be used with great discretion and caution. Avoid sharpness in testing him for tenderness. Stir him gently, lest he lie to flat and close to the kettle and so become useless. You cannot fail to know when he is done. If so treated, you will find him very digestible, agreeing with you perfectly; and he will keep as long as you choose, unless you become careless and allow the home fires to grow cold. Thus prepared, he will serve a lifetime of happiness!

I hope this is what you were asking for Aunt Beverly:)

For all of you who could not be at the sealing or reception, it was beautiful! I know some of us were questioning "why San Diego Temple?" but after the day was over I could see why! It was so amazing from the weather down to the words in the sealing. I find it hard to believe there is only one more Sellers not married, no offense Tracey your still a baby. Congratulations David, Jennifer is a cutie, and Jennifer.....I hope he doesn't play with Lego's anymore;)
As for their reception, it was a blast. Their was never a dull moment. They looked so happy. It has been too long since Curtis and I were married, I almost don't even remember being without him. Good luck you two, you have a lot of people who love you!

David and Jennifer's wedding

Andrea and Sam

It's hard to believe there is a 6 year age difference between these two cuties!

High School Graduation

I know it may sound a bit silly to some of you, but Meghann just received her high school diploma even though she is in her 4th year at college.

It just goes to show that you don't need a high school diploma to get into college or university.

She has been one "American Literature test" away from graduating for over three years. Silly isn't it? Oh well, the games people (and institutions) play!

Nonetheless, we are very proud of her for all the work she has done, especially now, this being her first year of nursing school.

Keep up the good work Megs!!!!!

Up date on the Batemans

Hi everybody,

It is 4am, I am at work in the Emergency Room at the hospital, and it is slow... really slow. I thought I would update everyone on whats going on in our lives. Well to say the least it is busy, well at least for me!! I transfered to full time, weekend, graveyard shifts in the emergency room. The ICU wasn't able to give me full time hours any more and that was hurting us. It has been nice to have the change and have more responsiblity with patient care. Richard doesn't like the fact that I am in the ER now. He thinks I am replacing him, which I'm not but it is understand able.

Richard is still not working because of his health. His health keeps going down hill and the doctor doesn't know what to do anymore. It will be a year Feb 20. He and dad met with lawyers and the workmen comp people about Richards injury and it is looking good for us that way. But our goal is still to get Richard better. His right lung is not able to produce oxygen to his body which makes him short of breath. The other day he was chasing/playing with the cats, got out of breath and passed out on his way to the bathroom. He hit his head on the corner and had to get stiches. Man I will tell.. if i know this boy was going to have bad medical problems I would have rethought some things. LOL a week before that he slipped on the ice, landed on his arm and had to go to the ER to get x-rays. Luckily he did not break it just hurt it bad.

I am in nursing school which is a challenge!!! I have never felt so overwhelmed with school before. I am only taking two nursing classes with one lab/clinicle. But the hard thing is I have tests every thursday moring. And I'm not the smartest because I signed up for an extra math class, twice a week. So I have my hands full with that!!!!

We had one of Richards friends Ryan living with us, so he could get on his feet again after some money issues. He ended up screwing us over, money wise. His 18 month daughter was living there too, and she was the cutest thing. But he ended up kicking our cockatoo bird across the room and killing him. His daughter pulled twilight's tail so he nipped her to get free. Ryan and i went into the bathroom to put some medicine on her foot, but ryan went back into the room with the bird and richard and kicked him out of richards hands, acroos the room into the wall and killed him. We called the police and had him arrested for animal curlty, and the county is going to prosecute. It is sad because we lost a part of our family.

Thats all the info on us. We are just trying to make it in the big bad world! Love you all

Meghann & Richard

It's a girl!

So we are having another girl. Curtis is mostly excited. Don't get me wrong I am too but Curtis wants all girls. Anyway we are thinking of naming her Sydney Kriss Rockwood. Let me know if you guys think that flows at all. I can use a few suggestions for middle names cause we aren't sure. I miss you guys and I hope something comes up so we can see each other again. Love ya!

Hello! I Love you! Happy New Year!

It seems forever since I have spoken to any of you. I hope all of you had a great Christmas and a very Happy New Year. I am so excited about this year's Sunday School topic of study (BOM) and Relief Society topic (J.S.). Our teacher showed a power point presentation with pictures of New York and various church sites and I got homesick. Yes, I still do not like living in Utah, but I've learned to be more tolerant (maybe that's why I've been stuck here all these years!).

Family Update: Meghann has decided to stay in Nursing school. This was a big decision for her because of the stress she has been under because of Richard's situation. She just got a transfer to the emergency room and Richard took her job in the ICU. Kind of ironic when you think about it--they switched jobs. Richard is still in pretty bad shape but at least he has good doctors working on his side now which has helped a lot. The new doctors have actually "found" certain problems that the other doctors didn't. Also, good news! Apparently the company that made the defibrillator that shocked Richard has a class action suit against it and Richard has been added to the suit. If they see any money at all from this accident, it will be from this law suit, so pray for a quick and financially beneficial outcome!
Samantha is back at school now that the holidays are over. She has decided to do a double major of German and International Studies. For both of these degrees she needs to do international internships and study abroad, so next year she will be leaving us for Germany again.
Dylan has become a pizza-making wizard. He works for Papa John's pizza and is the manager's favorite pizza-maker and store-closer. He enjoys his job. He is back at homeschool for this semester and is working on getting the required high school credits out of the way so he can take the college classes that are offered at high school. Both Meghann and Samantha did this and it was very beneficial.
Andrea is working very hard at playing! Currently she is in the community theater's full-scale production of The King and I. She is very excited about this.

We wish all of you a great 2008!!!

Expecting again!

I don't know if all of you have heard but, we are expecting a new baby in about June! I just wantd you all to know! love ya!

problems with wiring not IPS

I've been without internet for over a month now. Yuck! It is amazing how attached one can get to the internet and its vast resources. For example, I haven't been able to find new recipes, so the family is stuck eating the "same ol', same ol'."

When the house telephone wiring gets fixed, I'll have internet access again and will put some recipies on the blog. Until that time I have to use the library computers and only have limited access at that.

My love to all!

Rockwood October adventures!

Royal Family Update!

You would think that I now have all the time in the world to do whatever I want since I am home alone all day and no longer homeschooling. Wow, 20 years of homeschooling!!! Well, think again, I am so busy doing all the things I have neglected over the years, such as organizing the food storage room, cleaning out closets, learning to cook, and reading the myriad books in my expansive library.

I found that I like to cook! I am having a blast learning how to use my food storage. I've known for years I am allergic to MSG and corn products, but have recently added food preservatives, chemicals and additives to the list of "no-no-foods" which basically means everything I eat I have to make from scratch. I now make my own pasta, yogurt, bread, tomato sauces and pastes, soups, etc...

I will be teaching a "whole foods" class each month for a Relief Society sister's activity group. As I was talking to a woman about this, she started to brag about how she already makes everything from scratch, so I asked her if she made her own spaghetti sauce. Of course, she answered yes. So I asked her how she made it. She proceeded to tell me how she adds one can of this to one can of that, mixes them together, adds seasonings and "ta-da"--spaghetti sauce. People--this is not making sauce from scratch!!!!! This is making sauce from other canned goods! I didn't bother to explain this to her because she wouldn't have understood anyway! I'm hoping she will attend the class and learn humility as she learns to cook.

Andrea and Dylan are both in high school --Andrea is a freshman and Dylan is a Junior--and doing well. My heart goes out to them because they have early morning seminary instead of during school hours this year. This is their choice--there were just too many classes they wanted to take during the day to take time out for seminary.

Samantha is taking 16 credits this semester at Utah State University. She is regretting taking such a heavy load her first semester at school, but she is doing better than she gives herself credit for. She is also working part time at the Logo shop (the place where Rabecca worked). She likes working there.

Meghann and Richard still have their problems fighting with insurance and workman's comp people. However, one good thing recently happened. The mean lady who was his workman's comp case worker was fired(!) and the new caseworker is very nice and, so far, very helpful. I'm sure Meggie will add to the blog an update of their situation when she gets a chance. She is working full-time, going to school, taking care of home and husband. In other words, she has a lot on her plate right now!

I hope everyone is well! Our love to all. HEY, DON'T BE STRANGERS! Let me know what's going on in your life.

An up date on Richard

Since the wedding Richard has had many doctor appointments to try and find out what is wrong with him. He is still suffering from the work accident back in Feb. So far non of the doctors have been able to help him they just keep telling him they will need to do more test to rule out more things. Richard has had two injections in his back hoping it would help but it has made things worse off than when they started and now they are saying this might be something he has to live with the rest of his life and they want him to go back to work. We are having a hard time trying to get through to the Workman's comp. nurse that is over his case she just seems to think that he should tuff through it. Two doctors have said that they are going to present Richards case to a panel of doctors and see if they can't work something out. But that isn't for four weeks.

Everything is okay other than that we are just moving along best we can. Love you all

Meghann

Now You See Them... Now You Don't!

Annual Family River Rafting Trip, July 13-16, 2007

Call For Pictures!

Would you please send me any pictures you took at Meg's wedding, reception, and Open House... I would like to put together a wedding picture file for Meghann and Richard and your help would be appreciated! You can either snail mail a CD or email jpegs -- I'd prefer the CD if you can because my computer is still not working correctly.

This month we took our annual Snake River River Rafting trip. Brad, Rabecca, and Elliot joined us this year. It was fun! We are already making plans for next year's trip.

Jeff and I celebrated our 25th anniversary yesterday. I like living in Utah because each year on our anniversary (July 24) the state celebrates with fireworks (Utah Pioneer Day celebration)!- heehee

I want to say thank you again to all who helped during the wedding week and all who attended the wedding. It was a wonderful event. It was a mixture of unconventional and traditional--just the way Megs wanted it!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Hi Everyone! I'm Home!

Hi everyone. I love you. It's good to be home.

Sammy calls this picture "The Road to Nowhere." It is of one of the roads near her host family's home in Germany. However, I have renamed it for this occassion "The Road Home!"

I took this picture of Sam while we were visiting the British Museum. Security personnel are at the entrance and exit of each exhibit. There are signs all over the place "DO NOT TOUCH THE EXHIBITS!" in 5 different languages. The security guy monitoring this exhibit nearly tackled Samantha as she "pretended" to kiss the statue. He stopped about 5 feet away from her when he realized that she wasn't really kissing it afterall. Kissing and lips are just part of who Sam is.

Hello Everybody!!

Hey guys. It's been a long time since I published a blog. I never really know what to say. It's mostly because I never do anything worth reading. But now that it's starting to warm up in Colorado I'm starting to do a lot more. I've been doing a lot of climbing with Ross and his dad. Our favorite spot to climb so far is Castlewood Canyon. It's so beautiful up there. I wish I had scenic pictures of Castlewood but I do have pictures of me climbing.
The climbing walls out there are around 50-80 ft. high. I thought I would be more scared than I was. I just had to keep telling myself that I'm on a rope. I'd really like to do a lot more climbing, hiking, camping and etc this summer. There is just so much to do and so much to see in so little time. :) I'm really enjoying myself.
I'm also moving out with a girl from the Singles Ward. I'm really excited to finally have a place of my own. I know it'll be hard and at times my room mate will probably drive me nuts but I think It'll be worth it. I'll learn a lot about myself and It'll help me grow. I'm just glad she has a strong testimony and good standards. An 18 year old is going to move in with us in August. So there will be three of us total. It's a three bedroom apartment with 2.5 bathrooms so we'll each have a toilet. :] Anywho, I'm getting anxious. I start moving in the 22nd that means I'll have only four days to help Mellisa unpack and organize the apt before I go to...DUN DUH DUH DAH... UTAH! for Meagans wedding. I can't wait to see everyone in just a few short weeks. I'm so happy for Meagan and I can't wait to meet the lucky guy.
This is my plan so far for the trip: I'll ride up to Utah with Sarah, Curtis and Curtis' brother and sis-in law and Spend a few wonderful days in Utah with my family and then I'll ride back down to Vegas with mom (I think she's still planning on driving) and spend a few days there to see the rest of the family. I'm going back to Colorado the 6th of July which is three days before mine and Andrea's birthday so I'm hoping to do something with the family for my birthday before I go back to CO. That pretty much sums it up. I can't wait! I miss the family so stink en much! I still get homesick a lot. Especially when I see video of Lauren and I receive pictures through e-mail.

SEE YOU SOON!
<3

Schedule of Events for last week in June

Wedding invitations finally done. The printer messed up on them a couple of times which made them a week late and Jeff's name is still spelled wrong. Well, not going to wait another week for a name. Invitations are late already!!!

My computer has a blown capacitor and it is risky even typing this post because it can crash any second. But I really need to get this info out to everyone so pray for my computer to hold up a few minutes.

Schedule of events for June 24 to June 30

Sunday, June 24: Sammy and her Aunt Kim arrive SLC airport 1:45 PM (American Airlines flight 1125). We are going right to Benihana's Japanese Restaurant from the airport. This was Samantha's last meal before she left so we thought it would be a good excuse to go there again when she gets home. (It's sooooo expensive so we only get to go every few years.) If anyone is in Utah on the 24th and wants to see Sam and go to Benihanas, plan on $30/person plus extras.

Monday, June 25: Nothing formal planned. (However, sleep sounds good right about now because I'm geting tired just thinking about everything that will be happening this week.)

Tuesday, June 26: Gramma Rainey arrives SLC (Delta #922, 9:35 AM). Donna arrives--she is driving so arrival time unknown, but she is planning sometime in the morning 9-10 AM. Sarah, Curtis, Robyn & Tracey arrive--they will be staying in Provo--arrival time unknown.
Welcome home party for Samantha in Logan.


Wednesday, June 27: Meghann's formal bridal shower. One of her very dear friends is throwing her the bridal shower of a life time. If you did not get an invitation ( and you are a relative reading this), please consider yourself invited anyway!!!!! It will be in Logan. Meghann has all the particulars. Contact her.

Thursday, June 28: There will be a family dinner--at Jumbo Buffet restaurant banquet room at 5:30 PM. (6930 South State Street, Salt Lake City). If you can attend, RSVP is needed. You can RSVP to me and I'll get the info to Debi (Meg's future mother-in-law). You should receive an information card in the wedding announcement with information about this dinner. If you don't, contact me.

Friday, June 29: Sherry, Joshua & Savannah arrive--arrival time unkown. Meghann wants to go tubing down the Logan canal in the afternoon. The more the merrier! Tube rental is $10. If interested, let me know so I can get enough tubes. Friday evening at my house (Logan)) will be the Open House. Since they won't be married at the time of the Open House, there won't be a formal wedding party "line." It will be more of a "meet and greet" for those who attend.

Saturday, June 30: I was hoping to get all of the family together for a family brunch, but because we will be spread out from Mapleton, Utah, to Rexburg, Idaho, this will not be practical (especially with the price of gas what it is now!). Maybe we can all just think about each other as we eat breakfast-heeheehee!
Wedding in SLC. Need to be there and in your seats by 5:15 PM. Formal reception immediately following wedding ceremony.

As you can see there is a lot of back and forth between SLC and Logan during the week. It will definitely be a busy week, but fun at the same time! Looking forward to seeing all of you!!!!!

Beverlynne

A little bit of this and a little bit of that.

So apparently I cannot write a comment on the sellers blog.
Can some please invite me? <megaboo14u@yahoo.com>

Also how is Beverly and Rose? I haven't heard anything since Rose was born. I was just wondering, could someone give me an up date, that would be fantastic!!!! I was hoping to see them at the wedding, but I guess we will have to go to Las Vegas to see them instead!

Wedding planning sucks!!! Just to let all of those out there no I having a very hard time getting things done. I live in the big city now so things shouldn't be that hard right? It has not been enjoyable, many times I have said, “I don't care let people run around naked for all I care!” But then I think of that and it motivates me to start caring a lot more... it isn't pretty picturing Jaba naked!!(Richards large step mother which he nik-named)

How is Johnny and Ashley. When are they due?

Richard is getting better, his long thoracic nerve was fried when he got shocked. The long thoracic nerve starts in the neck runs down the lung cavity wall and branches off into the shoulder. His left shoulder is really messed up and they can't get rid of the pain. Because it is on the lung cavity wall every time Richard takes a deep breathe in it puts pressure on the nerve and it hurts. All of his meds was making him go a little crazy in the head and it was scary, but the doctors say stay on them because they are suppose to help. So he has been on bed rest until something happens.....

Well something did happen... he is sick of the doctors not doing anything for him and basically sedating him with all the medication. He has stopped taking all his meds and now just takes IBU for stiffness, and he is working out on his own. He feels better the pain has gone down his attitude, emotional, and mental state is a lot better. He is going to tell the doctors to put him on a month of physical therapy and hopefully after that he can go back to work and have a real life.

My Bird is growing his feathers back!!!! Twilight decided to pluck himself bald because he was mad at us and now it is growing back. He is a funny funny bird. I heart him!! He is basically my bird he wont go to Richard any more in fact he bits Richard when ever I hold him and Richard comes around, and we were told by the bird lady that Twilight is in love with me and doesn't like it when Richard touches his woman!!! Ha ha isn't that funny.

Oh nights on the ICU can be very slow.... very very slow. But they wont send me home just in case something happens. (Which is hardly ever.) but I better go now and look like I am doing something worth while.

God Bless
Megs

Hey Aunt Beverly!

Can you give me more details about the things going on like times and stuff. When does Sammy get back and if she is having a welcome home party. we will be getting into Provo on the 26th and we are staying there most the time. we are going to stay with becca for the day you have stuff going on so we don't have to drive so much. You are probably really busy with the wedding and sammy so if you get a chance to read this, i hope you do, just let me know. thanks

where is everyone!

i know it's summer but that should mean everyone is doing things post worthy. well for mother's day i got to take pics with robyn at the penny's studio(by the way i work 1 day a week now) since i cant take them myself. they turned out better then i thought. i dont really have high expectations for the photographers there. They dont train them well and they arent picky who works there. anyway i also got a family size george forman grill! i love it, i was so thrilled cause the one we had you can barely fit a burger on. As for memorial day our ward had a family bike ride daown the Sante fe trail, and then a picnic. we just went to the picnic cause of robyn and we dont have bikes. it sounded fun though. we also got to watch the thunderbirds practice the the airforce academy's graduation. i got a few pics of them flying around. since we are in the mountains parcialy they were flying kinda low where we were. it was neat. anyway. i am so excited to see everyone for the wedding i am going to bring my studio lighting so if anyone is interested in getting portraits done let me know. indoor or outdoor. well here are a few portraits of robyn and i. love you all!

He is so darn cute!!!!

These are some pictures of us we took for our engagement. We can only pick one, but all of them are just so cute!

You'd Think She'd Never Been To A Zoo Before!

Sammy just called home to tell me about her wonderful day at the Krefeld Zoo. She was so excited about some of the things that she saw and did I hope I can capture that excitement for you. I even took notes of the telephone call, because she made some Samantha-ism type comments (italicized in the text) that just cracked me up! She gave me permission to post her experience, so you can share in her excitement too.

"Mommy, mommy, Krefeld has a zoo! It's much bigger than Willow Park Zoo but smaller than Hoogle Zoo. I went there today with my friend Jenessa and our Krefeld exchange program representative. I had some fun and exciting things happen to me at the zoo. The zoo has elephants, camels, llamas, monkeys, birds, and FLAMINGOS! Guess what mommy, I actually saw a real flamingo! I mean I've seen pictures of them and little lawn statues, but I actually saw my first real live flamingo. 'And guess what! They really are pink! And they really do stand on one leg! And it was so cool because they act like real flamingos!'

"At the zoo there is a building with no cages--it is an open building with crocodiles, monkeys, and some other animals. As we were walking on one of the walkways, Jenessa stopped and screamed because there was a monkey in front of her. She got behind me; she was so scared. I got down, held out my hand, and said, come here little monkey. And wouldn't you know it. The monkey came over and stepped into my hand. He actually stepped in my hand. It was so cool. Then he gave me an underhanded 'high five.' I actually touched a monkey. When he saw that I didn't have any food in my hand, he got down and stepped on my shoulder as he walked away.

" 'I spoke with the peacocks. I had so much fun; the zoo people probably thought I was ten.'
(When I asked her how a peacock sounds, she didn't miss a beat in speaking peacock to me over the telephone.)

"Next, it was so cool because the elephants danced for us. They danced! They were outside waiting to be fed and they rocked back and forth on their legs, wiggled their ears, bobbed their heads, and stepped around--'they did an elephant dance.'

"I talked with the penquins too. (I then asked her if they talked back to her.) Yes, they did talk back, but they scared me because they were speaking in a weird way, in a 'penquin sex talk' kind of way, more of a groan and moan instead of talking.

"Our representative had to leave early, so Jenessa and I stayed at the zoo. When we got to the seals, 'they gave us an impromptu seal show, given by the seals, just for me and Jenessa.'

" 'I was wearing a clean shirt, but I got crapped on by the birds in the bird house.'

" 'I wanted to curl up with the lion, that is, if he wouldn't rip my head off.'

"Oh, mommy, I had such a great time today at the zoo. The worst part of the day was that I didn't have my camera with me! So I'm gonna go back again with my camera."

What's In a Name? A Rose By Any Other Name...

A little over an hour ago we had an interesting telephone call from the local police. Mind you this call was at 10:30 at night! Here's how it went.

"Hello, this is Beverly"

"Hello, I am Officer W. from N.P. Police Department and I am calling concerning some charges of harassment that have recently been filed against Samantha P..."

Needlesstosay I was somewhat shocked by his announcement, but not enough to stop me from telling him, "Stop right there. My daughter is out of the country and has been for a year."

He hestitated somewhat before asking, "Are you sure she's out of the country?"

"Yes," I responded with a slight sarcastic tone, "I just got back from visiting her in Germany where she lives and has been living for almost a year."

"Oh." Pause. "Is she nineteen?" was his next question.

"Yes, but what has that to do with anything? I don't know who filed a complaint against my daughter, but it is obviously false."

"Well, I could have the wrong Samantha. So I will check the complaint again."

"Good, you do that and once you find out who filed this complaint against her, I want to press formal charges against this person for this false complaint."

"Okay, well, I'll check the complaint again."

"You do that and let me know. "
And then we said our goodbyes.

Jeff was half-heartedly listening to my side of the conversation from the livingroom. When I told him what just happened, he called the police station immediately. His intent was to find out if this was a prank telephone call or not. He spoke with an officer, who transferred him to Officer W. who then informed Jeff that he had the wrong Samantha P. He needed a Samantha P. in Idaho.

Okay, the questions that started darting around my brain were numerous. Questions such as Why did he call at 10:30 at night? Does he not have any civility to know that is not an appropriate time to call people? Shouldn't he have checked his complaint report in detail before calling and scaring the wrong person with this information?

Maybe I'm just a simpleton, but, come on now people, whatever happened to basic common sense!

I feel bad for Samantha knowing that she has a doppelganger in Idaho. It's something she will need to be aware of at least until she gets married and changes her name.

There is a Jeff P. in the same town as us. We often get calls for the other Jeff P. Just last week a bill collector called about an outstanding bill. I had a heck of a time convincing this guy that he had the wrong Jeff P. My Jeff has had to deal with a bunch of crap having to do with the other Jeff P. ever since the other Jeff P. moved into the area about 6 years ago. It has been a "royal" pain in the arse!

I looked up my name on the internet once and found five people with the exact same name (first, middle and last names).

The more people there are the greater the likelihood that someone else will have the same name as you. In this age of fraud and identity theft our names aren't safe. Don't ever let things slide if they concern your name, but not you. Such as this telephone call from the police. This could have become a BIG complicated mess if we didn't take an immediate stand and see it properly resolved.

Be safe and do whatever you need to protect yourself!

Measure Twice Cut Once

Jeff and I have been together for 33 years now (8 1/2 dating, 25 married), and you would think in all that time I would have learned the carpenter's phrase, "Measure Twice, Cut Once." I admit I have heard Jeff say it 200 to 300 times in the last 33 years. But it's a guy thing; I never paid too much attention to it because I don't do any carpentry work at home. Jeff and Dylan do it all! It's a good thing too because they knew how to shave, cut, and strip part of the wall and the cupboard to get the refrigerator I bought to fit!!! I guess 3/4 inch does make a difference after all!!!

Moral of the story: Measure Twice Cut Once is a good thing for women to keep in mind when buying refrigerators.

Another Crook update.

Me, Brad, and Elliot went down to Tucson, Arizona for all those who didn't know and we had a BLAST! We stayed in the Marriott Hotel for the first three nights, then stayed over at Nate and Jyll's through the weekend. The hotel was very nice, but expensive and even though Brad's work was paying for it, I didn't want to spend the money on the extra things. So While Brad was at work, I would stay in or go hang out with Jyll. It was nice seeing Nate, Jyll, and all the nieces and nephew's again and I know Elliot loved it as well. He had a blast! I think hanging out with the cousins helped him walk more, because before we visited them he would only would walk to us, now that we've been home that's all he's doing! Just walking around, if he falls he gets right back up. The things we did in Tucson was......

Visiting "Old Town Tucson" for anyone that doesn't know what that is is basically where they shoot all the western movies, Brad found a book that listed all the movies that filmed there, and well I think it had like 100 pages, so TUNS! We got there at 5:00pm and they close down at 6:00pm the only reason why because after five is only five bucks! I think it was plenty of time to hang around, watch a little cowboy fight, and take some silly pic. Overall it was fun.

Watched Tristens, and Caleb's baseball games, and that was a full day for itself but we had a lot of fun as well. Watching the games made me more excited for our boys to grow up and do these little activities. Plus watching Tristen pitch his first game is priceless, he was awesome, better then the 11 year old (well, I think he was a 11) but he was great, Caleb is getting to be a good player as well, we only caught the last half our from his game, but what I had seen those two boys are gunna make mommy and daddy rich one day. :)

We also did little activities such as....Eat out, had some good home cookin, hung out watched movies, chatted, and just had a good time. I actually told Brad that I wouldn't mind moving to Tucson, the feeling I had there reminded me so much of Las Vegas but I would never move back to las vegas, but Tucson? now theirs a possibility.

Now for alittle update, Brad is doing his final exams and is pretty much busy with that. Elliot is now walking and keeping mommy busy, but Brad and I are proud. I am slowly giving Brad hints that next weekend is our fourth year anniversary, so he can prepare something amazing!! :)

Some more pic

Some pic I thought you guys would enjoy :)

The first picture is of Elliot in his little toy box down stairs, he climbed in all by himself. How cute!

The second is him in the bath tub taking a bath.

The Third is him playing in the park.

The fourth one is Elliot closing his eye's, it just looked darling!

And the last but not least is him walking!!

Andrea is on the Blog!!!

Hey,
it's Andrea. My mom told me how to use the Blog. Well, I just got home from school. We had a guest speeker in 7th hour. She talked about Pork. It's way funny when ever we have a speeker on some type of food. They tell us how great the food is and they tell us things that we can do with the food, but it's funny that the food market most be so low that they have to start telling KIDS to get it and make it and to tell their parents it is the BEST thing ever. I bet by doing that the kids go home saying, "Oh mom we learned about this food it is so cool and good!!!" and the mom is like "Well ok we will try it today!" then the sales go up! It is all a gimik! They are not trying to teach you about the food they are trying to brain wash you into bying it! Today the lady gave us a sample and she told us how wonderful it is, and you start thinking "mmmm that sounds good!" so in your mind you think it is good already! Then she gives you the sample and it...SUCKS!!! Believe me I was the only one that did not raise my hand when she asked if we liked it. Also I was the only one who did not think it even sounded good. I did not even think of it! The point is that the world has weird ways of brain washing now-a-days.~*~*Andrea*~*~

HELLO!!

Hello Family!!

I'm still here, sorry you haven't heard from me in a long time. I've been...well, we can say busy...but what I really mean is playing in the German pool with my German host siblings in GERMANY! I have a little sun burn, from the German sun... I'm not obsessed really!

Yep, thats right, I'm still here and I'm going to be for another two months. It's weird to think that I have spent almost a whole year in another country away from Family and Friends.... Weird! I do have to say, the weather here is amazing! It's the warmest/sunniest April Germany has had in many years. Everybody is saying that I'm lucky to be here this year cause it's been so beautiful. I must agree, I am lucky to be here, regardless of the weather. It's almost been unreal...

Enough rambeling, I wanted to let you all know that I'm still around....well in Germany but still alive at least. For awhile I thought I was going to slowly turn into a German cause I'v been here a long time, but then I realized, that's what they want!! AHH!! Don't worry I'm still me....mostly!

Love you all so much! My family means everything to me, it hasn't been the easiest 8 months of my life without you. I'm looking forward to seeing most of you (I hope all of you) in June for my big sister's/best friend's wedding.. Until then!

babysitting info again, please.

i have a question about the whole babysitting thing for the wedding. do you have babysitters available or do we need to find someone? we would like to come but we don't know what to do with Robyn. She will be 10 months then if that changes anything. we have family in provo but we don't want to leave robyn there because we would like to stay as long as possible.

Changes to Powell Family Blog

Due to comments from non-members of the blog on May 15 I have decided to restrict the blog to just those who have been invited to use it. The process now for reading the blog will require you to sign in first with your username and password. If the 'sign in' box is not showing, all you need to do is click on the big blogger "B" to get it to show. If you need another invitation or you know another family member who would like one, let me know.

Time to Plan for 2008 Family Reunion

Gramma Rainy will be sending family members a proposed schedule for the 2008 Family Reunion. If you do not receive one either by e-mail or regular mail, contact me or Rainy to receive one. I would like as much input from family as possible and as soon as possible. It's not to early to start planning for next year's event!

No Wedding Brunch Afterall

This is to inform you the Wedding brunch that was tentatively scheduled for Saturday morning (June 30) has been removed from the schedule altogether. Everything else is the same. Official announcements should be going out the first week in June.
Lots of love!

Asphalt, sandals and skateboarding

So today me, Richard and Andrea were over at Richards mothers house on a hill. Well we brought the long board (extra long skateboard), needless to say no one would go down the hill on the board so i decided to be the courageous one and attempt it. As i was flying down the hill my board started to tip and ...well... i went flying through the air landed on the asphalt and slid about two feet on the asphalt. My main concern was my board, but i ended up with 10 abrasions and i split open my toe because... i was wearing sandals.

The moral of this and as i later explained to Richards nieces and nephew was... you never go skateboarding with out the proper equipment, ie helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, and of course real shoes!!!! So what does asphalt, sandals and skateboarding have in common???? A real rough ride and yet another embarrassing moment foe Meghann.

Good Question

Someone asked me the other day if the wedding plans have changed because of Richard's accident. I figured others might have the same question in mind. Rest assured, although Richard's recovery is going very slowly, wedding plans remain unchanged. He will be on bed rest for another few weeks, he is scheduled for an MRI this week, and still antsy to get back to work.

Recap of wedding plans:
June 27 - Bridal Shower in Logan
June 29 - Open House in Logan
June 30 - Wedding brunch (Place, time, cost still to be determined)
June 30 (evening) - Wedding* and reception*

(*reminder: no children under 14 allowed. This isn't our rule; it is the wedding/reception place's requirement.)

Looking forward to seeing you in June!

Who Would have "Thunk" It!

The results of a major research study comparing every city in the United States has recently been published. The study focused on a number of factors including population growth, income, employment, education and higher education, etc... and ranked the cities from best to worst in the US. It blew me away when I saw the number three ranked city was none other than Logan, Utah. All these years I've been bitching to get the hell out of Logan only to discover it is the third best city in the US. Who would have "thunk" it.

It's ironic that the only negative comment made about Logan was that its population is 70% mormon.

Please pray for Richard

All hospitals have a "Code Blue" team, that is a team of employees that is called when there is an medical emergency, and Richard is on that team at Pioneer. On Feb 20 Richard responded to a code and was giving CPR. During the compressions the person working the defibrillator did not yell clear and Richard touching the patient got the full blow of 360 joules of the shock. To non-medical this type of shock is to stop the heart and reset it in a normal beat. This bolt of electricity went through Richards body making all of his muscles cramp up, the doctors say that it crossed over his body in his chest and exited his left big toe. Thank goodness it did not stop his heart, but it did throw him into a slower heart rhythm . For the first two weeks Richard has been dealing with his arm being numb and chest tightness.

But Richard has been complaining of chest pain the last week, so he got checked out and they found that when electric bolt crossed his chest it burnt his right lung and nerves to his lungs giving him a hemorrageic contusion. Because of that blood has leaked into his lungs and he is at risk for pulmonary embolisms(PE which are deadly) and he has contracted an infection and pneumonia. He has been put on bed rest with very little activity-he can't get his heart rate up because it would cause his lungs to expand and dislodge a PE. This is very serious because this can cause permanent damage.

So that is all the news i have to update people on sorry its not good news but hey news is news.

Passed the First Time!

Dylan passed his driving test the first time! The ironic thing is that neither Jeff nor I even knew he was taking his road test. He did it at school with the Driver Ed teacher. Dylan may have his license now, but Jeff and I feel he needs more driving experience, especially highway driving. So we will be taking a road trip to Vegas one of these upcoming weekends. We'll let you know when--look forward to seeing you!

The POWER TO POST!!

Yaaaay!!! I regot the invite!! Ahem, I forgot my user name and password from before.... :-)

Oh wait, I should have something to say, huh? Um, Meghann's forwards are really funny. I'm trying to find a Wii for Dylan, because they ROCK and I bet the Beverly will even get totally into it. Um, well, that's about it. Seriously thinking of moving to Utah in a year, but we'll see.

Okay, that really is it.

Love you all!!!!
Kim

Snow At Last!

We were beginning to fear the trees would bud early because of how warm it's been in the valley. But no fear snow has finally come! There are only three inches on the ground and the mountains still have more trees than snow visible and it will probably melt by tomorrow but... at least there's snow for today!

Samantha Doll Gets Ready For Easter

The Christmas costume was getting out-dated for the wonderful spring weather we are having, so Samantha Doll asked me to get her an Easter dress. The only problem I'm having with her right now is she doesn't want to take off her elf hat. She said that if I find the "most perfectest" Easter bonnet, then maybe she'll reconsider. Golly gee, she is as stubborn as her name-sake!

Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

I've looked all over . . .
and still can't find my Sammy!

Good and Bad News

Bad news first. Jeff won't be transferring to the Aircraft Sustainment Division as Branch Chief afterall. Everyone in his current division (and I do mean everyone from the Manager, Supervisors, Engineers, and the workers on the floor) went to the Senior Branch Manager and put in a "stop request" on his promotion and transfer. Because of this he has been deemed "Mission Critical" to the Airforce in his current division. :(

Now the Good news. The Airforce will be giving him a promotion of title and the pay increase he would have gotten with the original promotion just for staying where he is and doing what he has been doing. Plus, being deemed "Mission Critical" is now in his file. This will dramatically increase his chances for promotions and advancements within his current division. :)