Happy Halloween

Thursday before Halloween Lucas had his Halloween Parade and Party at school. Grandma Janice and Aunt Tonia helped me get both of the boys ready in their costumes and then Aunt Tonia dropped Lucas off at school. Grandma, Aunt Tonia, Landon and I then headed back to the school 30 minutes later so that we could watch the school parade. I was sad because I was supposed to be helping with the Halloween Party for his class but was unable to do much of anything. I am just thankful to have had the help with the boys and thankful that I was able to attend the parade. Friday evening we brought the pumpkins in from outside so that we could transform them into jack-o-lanterns. At first Landon did not want anything to do with putting his hand in the pumpkin and getting all gooey but then we could not stop him from cleaning out the "guts" and seeds. He even decided on the face for his pumpkin and I just did the carving.Lucas was not hesitant at all about getting dirty and told us exactly what he wanted the eyes, nose and mouth to look like.Saturday morning Lucas had his last soccer game of the season and luckily Grandma Janice and Aunt Tonia were able to attend his game. We then headed home where, as for tradition, I started a big ol' pot of chili. We had Grandma Judy, Papa and Aunt Erin over for dinner as well. Then because the state of Utah decided to trick-or-treat on the 30th of October rather than the 31st; Grandma Janice and Aunt Tonia were able to be here for the festivities. Since it had been such a busy day I was not feeling real great but did manage to go to the first couple of houses with the boys before sending Aunt Tonia out in my place.

Around 7 pm the boys were done trick-or-treating and wanted to stay home and hand out candy. We had a couple of groups of kids after that but not a whole lot. The boys tried to stay up extra late but the sugar rush from all the candy wore off and they both wanted to go to bed. Barley must have been tired too because he decided to retire for the night with Landon.

Sunday morning we were all sad to see Grandma Janice and Aunt Tonia head back to Wyoming. I am forever thankful for all they did during their visit but I knew it wouldn't last forever and knew I had to be prepared to go it alone.

Luckily my friend Sarah set up a schedule for my friends to bring dinners to our house and so for the last two weeks we have had food deliveries every other night. I am so happy to announce that I am almost 3 weeks post surgery and I'm feeling great. My back gets a little sore by the end of the day but each day that gets a little better. I am still supposed to limit my driving, no lifting anything heavier than a gallon of milk and no bending, lifting or twisting for another 3 weeks. I keep having dreams about running and can't wait to get back out there but promise to wait for the go ahead from the doctor. I want to thank all my family and friends who have been there for me through this whole thing. I love you all.

Back Surgery

Sunday after getting back from Wyoming and Nebraska I went to Insta Care to try and figure out what was wrong with my back and leg. They gave me a couple of prescriptions and told me if it didn't get better by the end of the week to get an MRI. After 4 more sleepless nights I went to the emergency room where they took and MRI and then sent me to another hospital to see a Neurosurgeon. By four o'clock in the afternoon I was being wheeled from my second emergency room of the day up to my "suite" on the 14th floor. I was diagnosed with a severe herniated disc and scheduled for surgery first thing Sunday morning and would be staying in the hospital for pain control until then. Not exactly how I thought I would be spending my weekend but I was relieved to find out why I had been in so much pain and was now on my way to solving the problem. The view from my room was absolutely beautiful and I was able to see the sun shine, a rain storm and a gorgeous rainbow at the end of the day. I had multiple visitors and telephone calls from family and friends while I was waiting for surgery and am so thankful to have such a large group of people who reached out to me during this difficult time. One of the hardest things about being laid up in the hospital bed was knowing that my Ragnar Team was in Las Vegas without me running the 200 mile relay race - including my three legs of the race. I felt like I was letting my whole team down despite my friend Abril's best efforts at lifting my spirits. In the end my team finished the race thanks to Abril's husband TJ picking up my legs. I just hope to be healthy enough to train for the Wasatch Back Ragnar in 2011 and may just have another chance to run the Vegas Ragnar as well.While I was in the hospital Steve brought the boys up to see me as much as possible. They would go downstairs to the food court and bring their meals up to my room to eat with me and we made sure they had lots of toys, books and things to color while visiting me. When it came time for them to leave at the end of the day the boys would get sad which would then make me sad. They did get to spend lots of time at grandma Judy's and Papa's house where they even got to have a sleep over one night.

I was released from the hospital Monday around lunch time. Steve took Monday and Tuesday off from work so he could take care of the boys and wait on me - when I was awake that is. Tuesday afternoon my mom, my sister Tonia and Barley Dog got into town to help out with the boys so Steve could go back to work.

Wednesday we got a snowstorm that brought enough snow for the boys to go out and build a snowman with Aunt Tonia. I am not sure who had more fun - the boys or Aunt Tonia. Grandma Janice and I watched from the front door as Frosty came to be and the snowballs flew through the air.

Lucas and Landon had so much fun playing with Aunt Tonia and Barley. She was up at the crack of dawn each day - getting ready, getting the boys fed, dressed, delivered to school and ready for the day. By the end of the visit the popular phrase from the boys was "I want Aunt Tona to do." Grandma Janice tried to help with the boys, the house and meals but for the most part Aunt Tonia was three steps ahead of all of us. I am so thankful for the two of them and relieved that they were able to be here when I needed them most.

The King/Revelle Wedding

The day of my brother Robert's wedding Kathy and I woke up and took Lucas and Landon swimming for a couple of hours. Then us girlies had to take a couple of hours to primp before we headed to the church to have pictures done.Landon decided to take a little snooze before having any pics taken.

Wyoming & Nebraska - Before the Wedding

Last month we took a road trip to Wyoming and then on to Nebraska for my brother Robert's wedding. We left Utah Wednesday afternoon and drove to Laramie where we spent the night at mom's house. When we woke up Thursday morning I realised that I had left my dress I was planning to wear to the wedding hanging in my bedroom at home. I was so sad because I had shopped around a lot before finding the right dress and now I was going to have to find something else. My mom, Steve, the boys and I loaded into the truck and headed to Cheyenne where we met up with my sister Tonia. I had been having a lot of pain on the left side of my lower back that went all the way down into my calf. I knew I had a pinched nerve and so we decided to go and see my sisters chiropractor in hopes of an instant relief. After our appointments with the doc we then headed to the mall to find my dress. Unfortunately I did not find the dress I wanted and had to settle on another outfit. We finally got to Nebraska with just enough time to check into our hotel before heading to dinner and then on to the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal party.

We got back to the hotel where Steve was able to take the boys swimming for an hour before we all hit the hay.

Painting Pumpkins

Once the boys have picked out their pumpkins from the pumpkin patch they are always so eager to go home and carve them. The problem is we usually get the pumpkins in early October and if we carved them that early by the time Halloween rolled around they would be nothing but mush. A couple of years ago we started painting our pumpkins and then the night before Halloween we wash off the paint with a little bit of water and carve our pumpkins. Twice the fun with only one pumpkin. The last two years we have met friends at Wheeler Farm and made painting the pumpkins a fun group activity. This year we were joined by Sarah, Sean, Gracie, Lori and Nate as well as my friend Michelle from my MOPS group and her two little girls. We look forward to keeping this tradition going for years to come.

The Pumpkin Patch at Wheeler Farm

As per tradition we took the kids to Wheeler Farm to pick out their pumpkins and to go on a wagon ride. This year we took our friends Kobe and Khloe along with us for the day of fun. Even though there were tons of people the ducks still seemed to be hungry enough to devour the bread we brought for them. Landon has always been a fan of cows and would have stood and watched them all day had we let him. His fondness probably comes from the fact that every time we would go and see Aunt Tonia in Wyoming he would feed their steer.

The kids really enjoyed the wagon ride and the hay maze and just hanging out with their friends.