Family

 I just got these photos from my mom from when we visited in July.   Most, if not all of these were taken on Washington beach.

My beautiful daughter and friend:

A rare picture of Kenzie and me that isn't a selfie:

Right after Kenzie and I got off the plane (5 am flight) we (my sisters, Kelsie, Kenzie and I)  went to see my old young woman's leader, Diane Anderson because she had been in hospice.  Here's a pciture of us all togther.  I know Sister Anderson will hate it, but....it's not often you get everyone together like this.

A picture of Mom, Anjee and I at Washington Park.

A picture of just the women of the family.

I guess we decided to try a more sophisticated pose.

Missing just one sibling in this (Rick)

He was there, just not at Washington Park.  Here's a picture of him with Dad and little Ricky.  We're going to entitle it the three Rickys.

And one with Mom too.

And finally, two more of the whole family.

Fall colors

The fall colors here are just beautiful.  Today we decided to get out and go on a drive to enjoy the beauty of the area we live in.  Fortunately, we were all together.  Unfortunately, our camera didn't work and, even more unfortunately, I didn't bring my iPhone because I'm trying to show my children that I don't always need to have it around.  So...not very many pictures are available but I will share the few I have.

On our way to Ouray we stopped at Andrew's Lake and hiked to where we could see the top of Snowden and Naked Lady couloir (Brad's always scouting the mountains for next season's back country trips he will be taking with the boys).  We got two pictures and then found out the camera's battery was dead :/

Fortunately, we had a charger in the car and a port to charge it so we thought we'd try it on our second stop on our trip.

Unfortunately, it didn't charge enough and that was the only picture we captured...but fortunately, Brad did have his phone and we got this.

Unfortunately, Jake was closing his eyes.

We stopped at Box Canyon, hiked a little then went to Maggie's; our favorite burger joint.

On the way home, we also hiked a little (while scouting some different couloirs like bear couloir and sultan couloir and traverse couloir).  Fortunately, this time I didn't care if the boys saw my phone or not.  I was going to get some pictures.

Just now I got the following text from my daughter:

Accompanied by these photos:

Apparently, great minds think alike;)

Homecoming 2022

Riley and Jake had homecoming this week.  I knew Riley would be going to homecoming with a date.  The one that surprised me was Jake.

Jake is a freshman and...you know, freshman are a little nerdy.  And I didn't think Jake had much confidence in the girl area.  Well, I was wrong.  Riley came home one night and said to me, "Jake sure did an awesome thing tonight mom.  I was at the football game, sitting by Brooke (one of Riley's friends) when someone gets on the intercom to ask a girl to homecoming.  Brooke says to me, "Listen Riley it's Jake."  And sure enough it was Jake asking a girl to homecoming in front of the whole school.  That took a lot of balls (sorry for the language that is what he said)!  I was cheering so loud for him."  The girl said yes."

Throughout the week I asked Jake some questions. 

Me: "So Jake since you asked a girl to homecoming are you paying for her ticket?"

Jake: "What I'm supposed to pay for her ticket?  I'm helping set-up so I can get in for free."

Me:  "So Jake are you taking her out to dinner since you asked her to homecoming?"

Jake:  "I'm supposed to take her to dinner?"

So lucky for Jake, who has very little money, the girl had already bought herself a ticket and wanted to get ready for the dance with her friends so they met at the homecoming dance and matched.

I don't know if that is a real date but it is a real first dance with a girl he likes.  Also, as a side note he is learning a song to serenade to her and he is sounding SOOOOO good.  That makes me happy to see him use his musical talent.

Riley went with his girlfriend Isabella and another couple.

I'm the best mom ever because I helped Riley make dinner for everyone and they came to our house before to eat.  This is a picture of me being the best mom ever hiding in the garage while they ate the dinner I prepared.

Really I'm just putting that on there because I think I look cute (and the older I get the more I realize I need pictures of me in here) but it really is me hiding in the garage during their dinner.

Finally, here is a picture of all the kids together (including Jake) before they headed off to the dance.

Also, I don't know where to put this next picture so I'm stuffing it in here.  It's a picture of Jordan rock climbing in Provo.  He, Molly, Kenzie, Ben and Molly's brothers have been going quite a bit and I like this picture so I'm stuffing it end at the end of this post.  I think this was a double pitch climb (if that is even the right term).  Love all of my kiddos.

Surgery and recovery

 August 30th I had surgery.  I'm not much one for secrecy so I'll just tell you (even with all the judgement around plastic surgery) I had an abdominoplasty and diastasis recti surgery.  I'm super glad I did it.  It was my first surgery.  It's an elective surgery.  With the size of babies I had (all around 9 lbs and Ben 1 once shy of  10) my abdominal wall was spread pretty far apart.  Technically it is a hernia.  That along with some loose skin that I could never quite tighten no matter how hard I worked at it led me to the decision to have the surgery.  With the surgery, they go in, sew up your abdominal muscles and then take any loose skin and cut it off.  I feel like I was in pretty good shape before the surgery so that made the recovery quicker.  I was back to work the Tuesday after surgery and I was out hiking the week after.  I had to slow down on my exercise regimen quite a bit so I hiked and hiked for the last 4 weeks.  Here are some beautiful pictures from two of the hikes I went on.

I love the waterfalls I cross when I try to summit a mountain.

Also, it's fun to see huckleberries now that I know where to look.  I see the plants everywhere but not the fruit as much.  I really think it has to be the perfect mix of moisture, elevation and sunshine.

These were my views from the top.

Blue is my constant companion on these hikes.  I'm glad to have him there.

Different hike and landscape.  That's the coolest thing about where I live...deep mountains on one side and lovely desert landscapes on the other.

I will actually kind of miss the hiking but have decided that I will retire into this as I get older, even try to keep up with this at least once a week now.  

Here are some things about recovery from an abdominoplasty.  The first few days you are really tired and really weak.  Carrying and lifting is difficult.  Standing feels funny, but stand and walk, walk, walk.  Sleeping is the WORST!  Be sure to have lots of pillows around you when you do sleep.  After the first week you are not as uncomfortable but you are super itchy as your body starts to heal and you wear this garment that squishes you all the time.  I had the surgery in the summer and it was hot and the extra garment made me so much hotter!  Also, I felt bound all the time with the garment and sometimes was around the house without a bra to feel less bound.  You may not like the following quote but I thought it was so funny that it should make it in my blog.  One day at the dinner table I had taken off my bra and I thought I had a loose fitting shirt on.  Apparently it wasn't loose enough because Riley said to me, "I'm all for the free the nip movement for women, mom, but only for 30 and under."  Thanks Riley for clarifying that.  Again, considering everything I am super happy I got the surgery done.  Already I can feel my abs are stronger and I am excited to get back into the full swing of things.

This week I got to get back on my bike, rower and weights.  It's a slow start and I'm having to be careful (I could only squat 70 lbs....ugh!) but I am loving it.  I'm grateful for a healthy body and I'm excited for the new changes I do see in my body and for the progression of strength I should see from here.