Tarbets' Top 11 for 2011

I kind of stole this idea from another blog but I thought it was a good one and wanted to try it.

I had to look at my 2011 posts to remember what we had done during the year.  Our year was fairly uneventful but not a bad year at all.

11.  The mammogram learning experience and finding out there wasn't any cancer.

10.  We put up another sprinkler/pivot on the farm.  Why is this a big deal?  It makes life much easier for Brooks and the others and as a result it makes my life a little nicer.

9.  The opportunity to watch our niece Lindsay be featured and play with the Salt Lake Symphony.  This girl has talent!

8.  Brooks and I went to St George last Spring, played some golf and just relaxed.  It's always good to get away once in a while.

7.  Another Lewiston 4th of July in the record books.  This is a huge tradition for our family and we love it!

6.  Hutchison girls sleep over.  This was really fun and we need to do it again!

5.  Lots of soccer games with Bryn and Jax.  This was Bryns first year and before we know it the other grand kids will be playing also.

4.  Bryns dance review.  I was impressed with the whole production.  Bryn was amazing!

3.  Family trip to Jackson Hole.  We try to do this every year.  We all stay together, float the river, do the Alpine slide and just hang out.

2.  Spending quality time with our grandchildren.  We are so blessed to have them all close by and we love it!

1.  My i Phone!  Have I said how much I love my phone?  I even convinced Kara and Jessica to get one.  I'll never go back to the other phones!

Christmas 2011

We had a really nice Christmas this past December.  I kind of enjoyed having it on a Sunday.  It really helps you think about the true meaning and maybe even become a little more grateful for what we have, and truly enjoy it ALL.  Our children all came to our house after their churches were out.  Ours was at 9:00 AM in Logan so we were done early and back at home ready for everyone to arrive.  We opened gifts first then ate our Christmas dinner.  Brooks and I tried a different menu this year.  Ribs, fresh rolls, cheesy potatoes, salad, plus lots of treats and pick-up food.  For the most part it was a success.  We need to tweak the ribs a little for the next time.

Here are some pics that I took that day.

Molly and Jessica after our dinner.

Kara, Phil and Jaxon.

Molly, looking at the other kids new toys.

Kara and Jax putting together Bo's new toy.

Grandpa Brooks enjoying his new book.

I think this new bag was one of Brynly's favorites.

Kelsey and Brady, nice pose.

Kade and Jax.  I can't ever get a decent picture of Kade and I'm sure he didn't think that I would post this picture.

These two little guys had way too much fun together.

Bo and Baine.  Very cute!

I hope everyone had a nice day.  My dad was and still is in the hospital but my Mom was able to come to our house and celebrate with us.  We really enjoyed having her and I hope that she had a good day as well.

Catching up

It's late but I can't seem to find the time to post at a reasonable hour so I'm doing this now.  We've had so much going and I'm just trying to catch up a little. I have no pictures.  I've been really bad using my wonderful camera lately but I will get better.

My dad is in the hospital right now.  He's been there for two weeks and not going home anytime soon.  He fell at home and dislocated one hip and broke the other.  We were told that it was a pretty traumatic fracture.  He had surgery a few days later and that's when everything went South.  He didn't make it through the anesthesia well.  After three hours in the recovery room, (average is 45 minutes) he was transferred to ICU.  I had gone home and when he made it to ICU, my mom called me and turned the phone over to the physician.  The MD told me that my dad was in cardiogenic shock, hypovolemic shock, and septic shock.  Any one of these three is potentially deadly.  In layman's terms it meant that he had lost a lot of blood, they suspected he may have had a heart attack, and he also had contracted a serious infection.  The MD didn't give us much hope.  To make a long story short, Dad pulled out of the worst of it but as a result he is now very weak.  Catching up from the loss of blood has been very challenging and as a result the recovery is literally baby steps.  He understands how challenging this all is going to be for him to be able to return home and so he has some good days and some really crappy days.  We all get a little down in the dumps about it. 

Getting old really isn't fair at all!  My dad has significant hearing loss, very little eye sight, and now he's stuck in bed with nothing to do.  My mom is spending most of her days with him and I know it really helps him.  Our family has really appreciated the good thoughts and prayers from everyone.  Please keep them coming, we need them all!

We had our Ward party last week.  It was exhausting and fun at the same time.  The kids are always so appreciative and helpful.  We are loving this calling. 

We had our Hutchison family Christmas this weekend at our house.  Another exhausting but also fun party.  My own kids are always amazing with the help they give me. 

I'm not yet ready for Christmas.  I have a fair amount of shopping left to do and I haven't wrapped anything.  Every year I swear I'm going to be more organized and it doesn't happen.  Maybe if I start in January it will happen. 

Jaxon turned eight on December 9.  I will post more about that another time.

A lot to say:

Brooks and I flew to Denver on Wednesday to catch the Bronco football game on Thursday.  It was a quick trip but a well needed getaway for both of us. 

Flying, the last few years, has become very frustrating to me.  No one wants to check a bag anymore because of the cost, myself included, but there are some things that I can't take onto a plane inside of a carry on so we always have to check one bag.  It just really bugs me when EVERYONE tries to bring their HUGE bags onto the plane and fill up all of the overhead bins and leave no room for those of us that have a small bag or coat that we'd like to place overhead. 

We flew on a smaller plane and so before we boarded we were informed that most carry on's would be too large and would have to be placed in the cargo deck.  Most of the passengers were compliant with this except for one.....This man was a former pilot and for some reason he thought that the rules didn't apply to him.  When Brooks and I were trying to get to our seats, this man was busy trying to shove his carry on into the overhead.  It required strength and some extra help to get it in.  It filled the entire bin and so Brooks and I had to find another one to put our small things into.  I wanted to say something to this man but I restrained myself.  When we were getting ready to land, we were ALL told to turn off our electrical devices.  We all did except for this same man.  He was busy doing things on his phone!  Finally the flight attendant saw him and asked him again to turn it off and then he did.  I didn't wait to watch him get his bag out of the overhead.  They probably had to dismantle it for him to get it out!

That evening Brooks and I took our hotel shuttle into downtown Denver to the 16th street mall and had dinner and looked around for a while.  It was really cold so we didn't stay very long.  We did see this building and I just had to take a picture.  I really needed some of this for the game the next day.

I took this picture of Brooks and I before the game started.  I told Brooks to smile because he usually doesn't.  He looks pretty darn happy!

 A few pictures of the game.  You can get a better idea of how good our seats are from the bottom picture.

I had to get a picture of this fat butt and no its not mine.  This man was on the front row and still kept standing up right in front of me!  It was a little nippy and as soon as I'd get all tucked in this guy would stand up again!  Of course he was drunk and didn't know half of what he was doing.  The guys behind us were completely wasted and kept bumping our heads and stuff.  I told Brooks that I could handle it as long and the guy didn't spill beer onto my hair!

When I go to a game, I really go to watch it and I really look forward to it because I REALLY LOVE football!  I don't understand why so many people pay a bunch of money to go and pay even more money for alcohol to get totally wasted and not even remember most of what they were seeing or doing!  Just doesn't make sense to me.

We flew home on Friday and just before we landed I realized that I didn't know where I had put our car keys!  I drove us to the airport because Brooks had been up early so I thought I'd be nice and drive.  On the plane I looked through my purse, carry on and all of my pockets.  Brooks didn't have them either.  I couldn't remember doing anything with them after I parked the car and we got out of it.  When we got off the shuttle and found our car in the lot, we looked inside and there were the keys still in the ignition!  The doors were also unlocked!  I was so worried about writing down where we were parked that I totally forgot to get the keys out and lock the doors.  I did pull the key far enough out of the ignition to stop the alarm.  Yea, another senior moment.  They are becoming more frequent.

When we got to Bountiful, on our way home, Kara called and told us that she had been in a car accident!  We are so very grateful that she wasn't hurt!  They are pretty sure that their car is totaled.  None of the kids were with her. (another blessing) She is a tough girl, a little sore, but going along as if nothing has happened.  She was protected!

So I guess this will be my thankful post.  We are a blessed family.  Even though the Fall months are hard for me I still feel very blessed.  I get a little melancholy and maybe even a bit on the ornery side.  I feel a little stress that I used to never feel.  I think it's mostly because of what seems to happen to our family during this time of year.  We have experienced major and minor accidents, death, illness, and health scares.  I know that we are not the only ones but it still hits me every year around October and lasts for a while.  In spite of this, I still know that I am a very blessed person.  I also know that it's from our Father in Heaven.  That knowledge is what gets me through it all and everything else.

Halloween

I went trick or treating with the grand kids again this year.  Grandpa Brooks decided to go with us also.  I'll show you where he was the whole time in a minute.  The Dads are always good sports to to to the doors with the kids.  Jessica dressed up as a witch but of course I didn't get one picture of her!

Molly as Minnie Mouse.  Jessica made her skirt and she looked adorable!

Bo was pretty happy to just sit and chew on his tail.  He's a cow in case you can't tell.

Jaxon is a vampire, he had a great costume.  Brynly is Hannah Montana and her dress was really "sparkly".  Don't they look cute?

At this house the family gave the kids full size candy bars.  Look at Molly's face!

Baine and Kelsey and Brady came when we were about half finished, I think he makes the cutest tiger!  (I mean Baine of course)

Here's where Grandpa spent the whole time.  I'm not sure why he wanted to drive instead of walk, it was perfect weather, not cold at all.

I wanted a group picture and it was getting dark so I had Brooks shine the car lights on the kids for the picture.  They are just too cute!

Vacation?

Be Aware

Last Summer was rough at work.  Many of the people that I work with were taking quite a bit of time off.  This meant that the rest of us really couldn't take much vacation time if any at all.  We also worked short staffed at times.  It made some of the summer pretty miserable.  As a result, I decided to take a week off in October.  I thought it would be a good time to go somewhere with Brooks because all of the harvest would be over and the weather would still be warm and enjoyable throughout most of the state to golf or do whatever.  Well, I didn't plan on the late Spring affecting us into October but it did and our harvest was not yet over by the time my week off rolled around.  At my job you can't just say never mind, I'm taking the next week off instead, so I just decided to enjoy my week at home and not do too much.  I thought maybe I could catch up on some reading, cleaning and dejunking. Was I ever wrong!

The week before my vacation I had an appointment with my GYN to get my hormones renewed. (this is important so I don't go crazy) My GYN instructed me to get a mammogram since I hadn't had one for a while.  I don't remember when I had my last one.  I've only had 3 since age 40. Yes I know, I should know better.  Anyway, I made my appointment for the Monday at the beginning of my week off.  I thought I'd just get it over with and then it would be done.

That Monday I went to my appointment, had the exam, and then left.  It wasn't as bad as I remembered it and I thought I was probably good for another five or so years.  Well Tuesday I got a call from the mammography center and was told that I needed to return for another exam.  They wanted me the next day.  I told them I couldn't come until Thursday and so they set it up for Thursday.  I was tending Molly on Wednesday and I was pretty irritated that I had to return.  I told Brooks that I was sure it was nothing.

Thursday rolled around and I returned to the center bright and early.  I must say that the Mammography Center at LRH is very nice and everyone there is Very nice!  They do the same thing day after day and they were all wonderful.  They treated me very well.  You get there and they give you these pink gowns that tie up and keep you covered.  You also get a nice pink bag to put your clothes in.  They have a nice private waiting room with juice and crackers for you that I didn't feel like eating but I thought it was nice anyway.  There were three other women in this same waiting area with me doing the same thing.  One of them didn't seem at all concerned but the other two were very upset.  I still didn't think that I needed to be there and so I felt kind of uncomfortable with them.  They were there for a good reason but I didn't have anything wrong.  I now look back and realize that they didn't know any more than I did at the time and I really did need to be there.

I was taken in for another exam.  This one was a little more uncomfortable but still not too bad.  After the exam, I went back to the waiting room and then a few minutes later I was told to get dressed and then I would meet with the radiologist. 

After I was dressed, they took me into the little dark room where the radiologist looks at the x-rays.  Every step of the way the girls at the Center had explained to me what they were looking at.  Calcification's is what they are called.  I was familiar with this and knew that most of the time they were harmless.  What I didn't know was that when they become irregular, micro, and are grouped together they become "suspicious" and need further checking.  This is what I had.  I still wasn't concerned but then the cute little breast care coordinator that was assigned to me announced that they had scheduled a biopsy for me the following Monday and that I would need to see the surgeon the next day on Friday.  Now I was a little put out because this meant that my whole week off was still spent at my place of work!

Well, I saw the surgeon and he explained exactly what the possibilities would be then I returned once again to the Mammography Center for my biopsy.  Not the most fun thing I've ever done but not the worst.  My surgeon told me he would have results by Wednesday and call me.  I stayed home all day on Wednesday and he never called.  This was the day that I started to freak out!  I started to let my mind really go with possibilities and I was getting really nervous.  I was working on Thursday and so I tracked my surgeon down and he hadn't yet received the reports but he promised that he would find out and call me.  He did just that, a few hours later he came and found me and gave me the good news that there wasn't any cancer.

Now you need to understand, I never really thought I did have cancer but of course a few things did cross my mind.  I never thought of death because I knew that if the results were positive it was very early and easily taken care of.  I mostly worried about treatments and would I still be able to work and do what I wanted to do with my family.  I thought a lot about my parents.  They have already had one child with cancer and lost him, they didn't need to face the cancer thing again no matter how minor it might be. 

I don't know if I dodged a bullet or not.  I have to have a followup exam in six months. I think this is pretty standard.  I won't worry at all about getting cancer but this was a good wake up call for me to have regular mammograms. I was STUPID not to have them all along.  I kept thinking that if I had had a yearly one for the MD to compare this one to maybe I could have avoided all of this other stuff.

So please if you are 40 or older please get your yearly mammogram!  Do your self exams and get your mammograms!  A fact that you may not know: most women who develop breast cancer do not have a family history of it!

The next vacation I take I'm going somewhere! 

Jo Jo

I don't post much about Brynly "only".  This one is for her.  Bryn has started soccer.  I don't know why we thought she would be any different than any other girls in the family but she wasn't.  As you scroll down at the pictures, you can see that she really isn't much interested.  She actually did a few cartwheels that day also but I couldn't catch it with the camera.  She has pretty good speed but she just doesn't care about the game really.  I think she loves the "idea" of playing and all of us coming to watch her but that's where it ends.  After the first game Grandpa Brooks said that Kara and Phil should just take her out of soccer and put her into something else so they don't waste their money.  I think she's improving just a little.  Let's just say I won't go broke giving her money for the goals that she scores.

Brynly also had a birthday this past week.  She turned five!  She'll start kindergarten next year so this year it's pre-school.  I took her shopping for her birthday.  We went to lunch, then shopped for a new outfit and then we went and she picked out a toy.  It was hard for her to pick just one but she did it!  I got the idea from a good friend at work.  We had a good time but I think any younger than five would be hard.  I just started this with Bryn so Jaxons turn is next and I think he's already planning it.  We'll see how it all goes.  I may have to set a price limit.

Here are some pictures of Bryn opening her presents.

I couldn't resist putting this last picture in of Bo!