Country Roads take me home....

Welcome me back bloggers! It has been a little while since I posted and time has flown! The past 9 days have been marvelous. I will try my best to recap but will make it short and sweet lest you pass out at your keyboard from information overload!

We got into town last Thursday night (Mc struggled this time on the flight- mobile children were never meant to be confined to the seats of a Southwest flight)- we have been staying @ Mimi's and Papa's house. Friday was full of party prep- 2 different stores for mini cupcake papers, the balloons, food, making paper poof balls- basically all the stuff Mc won't even remember :) The Party was on Saturday- it was great! I have never "hosted" a birthday party before- we had lots of people come and it was so fun to watch Mc delicately devour her cupcake that matched the life size cupcake. She was such a doll and it was fun to have everyone in one place. She also made a haul on presents, tons of toys for the tub (which she loves and the old ones have hit the dishwasher mold removal threshold), tons of books (another favorite), clothes, socks, $$ and best of all, lots of hugs and kisses.

Here are the tasty cupcakes....made 175 of them!

This was the cupcake cake from "So Cupcake" a delightfully sinful gourmet cupcake shop.
Mc's little cupcake matched it.


This hasn't been much of a vacation for my sweetheart. He has been working on our house in West Jordan since we got here. We put in central air, re-roofed, made shutters and repainted the exterior. We did take a break Wednesday night (YOU ARE A LIFESAVER MARSH!!!) and we headed up to Park City to stay. It was wonderful! We left early afternoon, drove through the gorgeous canyon that is barely starting to show it's fall colors, rented "Wolverine" from the Redbox, got from Dunford Donuts for breakfast the next day and had a gourmet meal @ Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. My steak- to die for! I am not a huge meat eater but that would convert me to a carnivorous diet any day! It was a great night and just so different to spend time with the two of us. I was bummed though because the zip line is only running on Saturdays- we just missed it!

Me and my sweetie in Park City. This is the view from the Condo patio

Lots of shopping too- Tai Pan, Gardner Village, Quilted Bear...Mom is a great shopping buddy. All the Halloween decorations are out and I can't wait to get back to put up my fall and Halloween stuff. We also found Mc's witch costume and I scored a darling hat for her @ a yard sale this morning- yes, even in Utah the yard sales continue.


I got fitted for some kick butt running shoes too- amazingly worth it! I have been running every morning since we got here- 3 miles or so. The air is so crisp in the morning and I can run so much further. 5k here I come!!

This is a picture of Mc and her Papa- she has been quite attached to him since we got here. She loves to go with him outside to the garden to watch the chickens. While we have been here Mc has learned to say "baby" and that wherever she points, Papa will take her.

It has been a great and well deserved vacation. 10 whole days but we get back on the plane tomorrow. We do miss our friends in Arizona and our house....Utah just always feels like HoMe!

Pitter Patter

For those that don't live in Arizona, you take rain for granted, seriously. Now don't get me wrong, having the sun all winter long and no thoughts of seasional depression are nice, but you begin to miss those "sweater" or "chicken noodle soup" days that a cloudy day inspires. We had a few great days of rain this weekend- Saturday morning, though yard saling was ruined- we got to get up to black skies (which make you sleep in a little longer) and the smell of rain, sheets and sheets of rain. It was awesome! Mc loved it too- she sat and watched it for quite a long time. You can see she has her pointer finger out and ready to fire- it appears she has learned that she can indeed look up and there are things that exist above eye level- she points at EVERYTHING as if to lead you in the direction she wants you to go, something she wants or something that she doesn't understand. The wheels are always turning and having a baby means never a dull moment.

A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.-Author Unknown

Surgery Day!

It's Friday. Bree is STILL in the hospital! Poor Brynlee has spent the first two weeks of her life @ St. Marks. Bree is doing ok- she is still getting fevers and they aren't really sure why. She is on blood thinners, potassium and now her throat is hurting really badly. She is having a hard time eating and drinking hurts too. Today however, she got to GO OUTSIDE!! The first time out of the hospital since last Monday! She really is a trooper and definitely the stronger sister! We are hoping good news will come this weekend and she can FINALLY go home!

Mckinley had her first surgery today- we had her frenum-
(Oral tissue: Frenula of the mouth include the frenulum linguae under the tongue, the frenulum labii superioris inside the upper lip, the frenulum labii inferioris inside the lower lip, and the buccal frena which connect the cheeks to the gum) snipped. We got to the surgery center @ 6:00 this morning. The worst part is Mc couldn't have a bottle and but she was so patient. We thought they weren't going to let us do the surgery because she had Motrin yesterday (Motrin apparently kills platelettes and can cause uncontrollable bleeding). With it being such a minor procedure we were ok. They took her back and 5 minutes later we could hear her screaming from the waiting room. SHE WAS MAD!!! She cried the 15 minutes we had to wait, all the way home and for about 30 minutes after. She did take a great long nap, had some solids, but we are still struggling with the bottle...I am sure sucking on a bottle when you have had your tongue snipped doesn't feel so good. She has been a trooper though and we are glad it's over. Lisp and front teeth gap averted for the time being. :)

Vacation countdown: T minus 6 days. Can't wait to get to Utah! The new baby, Bree, the weather. So excited!

Lastly- honesty sometimes costs more. We lost the "17 again" DVD that we got from Blockbuster. We think we threw it away..didn't even get to watch the movie. Instead of lying and saying it never came, we were honest and therefore, had to pay $21 for a DVD I have never watched. Lame.

"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% what you make of it....

Just wanted to post a quick update about Bree and Brynlee. Bree is going in for a CT scan this morning because she has a hematoma that might need to be drained. She also has a bacterial infection but is being treated for that. She also has a Potassium IV that is trying to help make her strong so she can be released. Mimi got to take Brynlee for a few nights to make sure she didn't get sick. Her staples have been removed so she has been up walking and geting about. We are hoping that all goes well today and she can go home. Today makes a week for Brylnee being born and Bree being in the hospital.

Bree looks good and I can't wait to see her in 2 weeks!

Reunited and it feels so good.

Bree and Brynlee got to be together yesterday for the first time since Monday! I talked to Bree this morning and she said today is a great day. She sounded happy and ready to spend all day with Brynlee. Tomorrow is also Tyler's birthday so it would be a great present to be able to go home. Bree should be able to get up and walk today, take a shower and eat solid food- the simple pleasures in life!

I am like a STAR shining brightly

Just found out that Bree is getting out of ICU today. Her heartrate and blood pressure seem to be returning to normal and she is returning to her pinkish self. Not such a good picture from my dad's phone (sorry Bree) but you can see she is back to her smiling self. I had to share a funny story too- My dad said that she woke up and asked why her stomach was so big, "I thought the Dr. gave me a tummy tuck"....love you Bree! She will get to see Brynlee today for the first time since Monday. Her arms are still really weak and she is sore but I am glad she is still with us.

Side note- the nurses all said what happened to Bree is super rare and we are lucky to have her here. She has gotten 9 pints or so of blood since Monday (DONATE BLOOD PEOPLE!!!) and they are still hoping her body will start producing it's own platelettes.

Prayers truly are answered. I am so glad to still have my little sister here! Life wouldn't be the same without you!

Sweet Brynlee Jade

Here is my darling niece Brynlee Jade. My sister Bree had her yesterday morning. Unfortunately for Bree, she had to have a hysterectomy to save her life. My sweet sister, the one that dreamt of being a mommy time and time again, won't get that gift anymore. It breaks my heart that I can't be there with her-even in the lobby with everyone else. I want nothing more than to hug and kiss her and snuggle her new little one. Living far away is hard. It makes me wish I could be there....we send our love Bree and our prayers for you to hang on-Baby Brynlee needs to know how amazing you are and what you went through to get her here.