The Vampires Attack

Last Friday, I made my bi-monthly visit to the blood suckers at the American Red Cross Blood services. (On a side note: I just finished the last book in the Twilight vampire series, Breaking Dawn. It was magnificent!) I donated my 12th pint of blood!
Here's the number to call to make your own appointment to donate.
I had a record time; it took me just slightly over 6 minutes to fill my bag. To my credit I drank nearly 3 liters of water the day before, so my blood was very viscous.
I brought the boys with me and they played in he enclosed area in the background. I turned on the movie "Babe" but it didn't hold their attention any more then it held mine.
I am not sure who has heard my life-saving blood experience with blood, platelets, to be exact, but I thought it might be a good time to share the story.
Once upon a time, when I was 9 mos pregnant with Timmy, I developed preeclampsia. Because I was full-term, they induced my labor, but after 12 hours of labor, I was not progressing, and my platelet count was dropping. (Platelets clot your blood.) The doctor was worried that if I labored too much longer I wouldn't have any success, so he scheduled an emergency C-section.
Talk about shock. In a state of total disbelief I asked Troy and his dad, Brad, to administer a blessing before the operation. The delivery went well, Timmy was born and very healthy, and I was exhausted. However, my platelet levels continued to drop, so I received a transfusion. A normal range for platelets is about 250,000. My count was about 40,000. We didn't realize until later how terrified we should have been, but, it was life-threatening. The technical name is HEELPS syndrome.
Well, I am leaving out all gory and boring details, but, the story had a very happy ending. We got our Timmy boy out of the deal!! Now we are working on the "all living happily ever after."
The Happy Miracle Boy!
His brother arrived much more traditionally, with less scare. (Notice I chose "less scare" not "no scare") They both love going to the "blood store" and all the employees and volunteers are so patient and kind. When Spencer was only 6 weeks old I donated for the first time since becoming pregnant with Timmy. The nice ladies there took great care of him while I was in the screening and donating process. They both love the pretzels, oreos and juice they get after I finish.

If you have never donate, I would strongly encourage you to. I don't know whose blood saved my life, but I will never forget the selflessness and will continue to make my donation every 8 weeks.

Another tag

5 things on my to-do list
1.Clean my bathroom
2.Clean my kitchen
3.Clean my bedroom
4.Clean my boy's room
5.Clean the living room

5 snacks I enjoy
1. Mint Oreos
1a. Sour Patch kids
2. Cold Stone Ice Cream
2a. Fruit fresh off the tree, vine, bush, etc.
3. TCBY's frozen yougurt strawberry and white chocolate swirl. They don't have TCBY's in Utah
3a. Doritos Nacho Cheesier chips
4. Original Chex mix
4a. Betty Crocker Funfetti frosting refrigerated by the spoonful
5. Crackers (especially Ritz and Triscuit) and Colby Jack cheese
5a. Mother's Pink and White frosted animal cookies
(I couldn't pick just 5)

5 things I would do if I were suddenly a billionaire
1. Hire subcontractors to speed up the construction of our house
2. Buy Troy a 450 race bike in every brand: Honda, Yamaha, KTM, Suzuki, Kawasaki, a new 650 to replace the one in AZ, a Harley, and a mechanic to come on every camping trip, so Troy can spend every minute riding, and a diesel semi truck to haul them all and our camping trailer.
3. Attend pilot's school, get a license and buy a small airplane to fly to AZ whenever we wanted
4. Hire a maid to clean my house every day.
5. Go on a cruise with all of my family and all of Troy's family (minus all the babies)

5 places I have lived
1. Phoenix, AZ
2. Peoria, AZ
3. Provo, UT
4. Salt Lake City, UT
5. Holladay, UT

5 Jobs I have had
1. Cold Ctone Creamery (gained 10 pounds at that job)
2. Substitute Teacher (decided not to become a school teacher at that job)
3. Cake decorator (ironically, I don't like to eat cake)
4. Retirement home caregiver (makes baby diapers seem like cake)
5. Tupperware Lady (now, and love that I can do it as much or as little as I want, and I get a great discount!)

5 things people don't know about me
1. I love to wear lingerie. It makes me feel sexy, which can be a challenge for a stay-at-home mom.
2. I have been diabetic since I was 5 years old. I tool insulin shots until I was 17, and have worn an insulin pump ever since.
3. I enjoy doing family history research, but don't get to do it as often as I'd like
4. I will walk up to perfect strangers and inform them that my sister in-law or friend thinks they are attractive. I have done this for many different people, and 4 that I know of led to a relationship. At the time, they were mortified and embarrassed. They all got over it.
5. I have a passion for games of any kind: board, card, mind, solitaire, numbers, ANY! I will play any game I have the chance to.

5 bad habits
1. I sometime cheat when I play games. (Only sometimes)
2. I like to sleep in as late as possible.
3. I mumble, especially if I am tired or have a blood sugar
4. I am a slow driver
5. I procrastinate, then get stressed out at the last minute.

5 people to tag
1. Tasha
2. Gretchen
3. Rachel
4. Alisa
5. Shalaun

More Demolition?

Well, this is the progress we have made on the framing. We have 4 additional walls built that we haven't stood yet because we have to do some demolition first. Yes, I thought we were past that, too. But, I seem to have forgotten that the back wall of my existing home, the one I am living in , sleeping in, cooking in and half-heartedly cleaning, needs to be removed and replaced. So, rather than building this week, we have been installing bracing posts in preparation for the walls to come crashing down around me. (And I don't mean that figuratively.)Before Troy could install the posts in the kitchen, (Yes, they will be permanent fixtures until we move into the new house.) I had to empty the cabinets and drawers. He is being really nice and postponing the installation of the post that will be located behind the kitchen sink until it is absolutely necessary. My friend Tonya gave/loaned me a truckful of plastic storage crates, (you can see some on the counters) to temporarily store my cleaners, medicines, dishes, pots & pans, utensils, spices, Tupperware, cookbooks, baking ingredients, essentially EVERYTHING I normally keep in my kitchen. This is the main cause for the disarray.
To make our house more energy-efficient, we blew insulation into the space between the roof and the ceiling about 4 years ago. When he broke holes in the ceiling to support the roof with the beams, the insulation started falling out. The black garbage bags are for collecting it, and putting it back up in the small cavity around the post. They add such a nice touch to the decor, don't they?
Here is our bedroom. That door used to lead to our walk-in-closet, which has since been torn out. Yes, that is our bed. A saws-all and a shop vac are also present. Notice the nice plastic storage container. That one contains everything that used to fit under my bathroom cabinets before we shrunk the bathroom by 25 square feet.
Here is our first post. Notice the insulation-filled garbage bag? Like I said earlier: Permanent Fixture. *Sigh*
Here is the bedroom on Saturday morning. All 3 posts are installed and the warm, cheery sunshine in shining in through the hole in the wall! Troy spend most of Saturday on the roof, pounding out concrete, and in the bedroom battling with the walls. You can see some of the smaller holes. They grew.
As you can see, he won the battle, but it took a lot of effort. He broke the "Virtually Indestructible" handle of his 16 pound sledgehammer. He enjoyed a brief break while I went to Home Depot to return it. I was pleased that they exchanged it, no questions asked. It is only 5 years old. But, the label said it was indestructible. If you look closely into the gaping hole, you can see the bed we slept in Saturday night. It was so romantic to lie in bed and look up at the stars through the hole in the wall! We are not sure how many of the neighbors can see in. Hmmm...
We all climbed up on the roof yesterday, and although it was nerve-racking for me to have the boys up there, they had a blast. Timmy climbed up the chimney and looked down, and asked me if Santa lived down there. He doesn't.
This is what the back of the house looks like when you are standing in the new part. Every inch of white you see, and some that you can't see, needs to be torn out. We think this will be a fairly lengthy phase. See the two windows? When we build the wall to replace the cinder block one, those windows will not be re-installed. I am so sad about that. I love to look out the window while standing at the sink and admire our accomplishments. The boys love to climb onto the counter, sit next to the microwave and watch Daddy work. It is nice when Troy and I are out working on the house after Spencer is asleep and Timmy is watching a movie to peek in the window to check on him. I will really miss those windows. This was the first thing I saw when I awoke this morning. Did I mention that there are live electrical wires behind those posts that are now exposed?
No, I'm not stressed out. But thanks for asking.

My Sister's Wedding

The newly married Bride and GroomThe night before: Setting up for the Reception
Troy goes to great lengths to help set up the lights
Uncle Dan and Tyler finish hanging their strand
Can you see the family resemblance? Dad and his brother, Uncle Dan
Mom and the fake candles that are really flickering lights
Brandon and Spencer, second cousins. Spencer looks a little too small for the doll carriage
Timmy in a sea of chairs
Hanging the chinese lanterns to look like polka dots
Aunt Lisa and Tara arranging the floral centerpieces
Mom struggling with a huge cart of chairs
Me and Spencer arranging the chairs around the tables

At the Temple

Spencer fell asleep in the car on the way to the temple. Timmy insisted on pushing him in the stroller to the entrance. It took a long 10 minutes to travel the short distance from parking lot to front door.
Aunt Lori, Mom's sister, greets the boys
The bride and groom arrive at the temple. My mom is carrying her dress, but doesn't it look like she's wearing it?
Grandpa Kirby Joe gives great hugs
Me and my Daddy
Uncle Dan's family: Troy (my cousin, not my hubby), Uncle Dan, Tiffany, Aunt Lisa, Tara, Tyler, and little Brandon in front
Aunt Wendy, Mom's 'lil sis
Troy and Spencer trying not to melt in the heat as we wait for the Bride and Groom to emerge from the temple
Kirby attempts to comfort Spencer, who just wants his Mommy
The future missionaries: Garrett, my bro, and Ryley, my cousin
Timmy is tired of waiting, literally
Some of Brian's kids, Kristoffer, who recently got a mission call to Texas, Mandy, Melissa, Gavin's back, and Rand's profile
Shannon on cloud 9 as she exits the temple
All Shannon's new in-laws
The combined families outside the temple
Just our half
Shannon is wearing Dad's sunglasses; Jake still managed to identify her in spite of the disguise
Shannon and the best man...
... my boy Timmy!
Shannon's childhood friend, Wendy
Some of her high school and college friends: Erica, Nikki, & LoraLynn
Moving in for the smooch
Now I know we're not in Kansas anymore: Yes, there are cacti at the temple!
Ahhh, how sweet
The New Kids on the Bench: Kristoffer, Melissa, Mandy
Cousin Tina and her sweet smile
Grandma and Grandpa: she said, "In his suspenders?!"
Timmy always manages to find a tree to climb
Mother and Son: my dad and my grandma
Jake can make some of the funniest faces
Grandma brought this sit-on walker, and Garrett giving her a lift back to the car: what a gentleman

At the Wedding Luncheon
Ryley playing with Rachel and Rand
Lori and her big bro., Brian
Shannon's dress, just hangin' aroung
Jake found somewhere to stash the veil

At the Reception
Jake's parents, Jake and Shannie, and our parents
All dressed up: Timmy's matching tie didn't last the first 5 minutes, oh, well.
Me and my parents
Grandma and Grandpa, minus the suspenders
With Grandma Darcell
The beautiful bridesmaids
Garrett and Gramps
Look at the face on the bride: you'd think she thought I was going to drop her. I didn't.
We didn't drop Superman, either
Putting our best side forward
My sexy man
Guess whose feet are whose...
Me and my baby sis, all growed up and married...
So Skinny!
Playing "Stomp the Bouquet"
the Daddy-Daughter dance
Their first dance...
Some friends from the ward I grew up in: Staci, Wendy, Amy?, and Michelle. I am so embarrassed that I can't remember everyone's name.
Spencer with his Grandma and Grandpa
Timmy and his Great Aunt Lori
There they go!

After the Reception
J.D, my best friend from 7th to 12th grade, and still my pal, with his girlfriend, Beth
My favorite Primary teachers: Bill and MaryEllen
Garrett taking down the "polka dot" lanterns
Troy on the ladder again
The cleanup crew
Spencer couldn't keep his eyes open a minute longer and I was ready to take off the dress.

We had a wonderful trip, and wish Jake and Shannon the best as they start their eternal journey together.