Jan 25-31

Monday, January 25 - I spent a lot of the day working on the preparations for grandma Sharon's enrichment activity. It was fun but a bit more work than I had anticipated. Zackary loved it though. He got to lick the chocolate spoon I used to drizzle. :)

 

Tuesday, January 26 - Even though I was pretty busy and stressed about the enrichment activity, I decided to take a break from it for a few hours and go to the Bean Museum with my kids and a bunch of ward friends. It was a blast and I was glad I went! Bonus: When we got home, Marisa came in and helped me finish making the piggy sugar cookies. I couldn't have done it without her!

Wednesday, January 27 - Simon spent the entire evening ripping out the tile entryway that was here. The next step in our home improvement plan is to get the new wood floor laid. Once that is done, we can really move on with the bookshelves and everything else. Can't wait!

Thursday, January 28 - I had card exchange tonight but before I left, Simon asked me one last time if I was sure I wanted orange on the walls. I really wasn't sure! I have had a ton of anxiety about the color. However, when I got home, I was SO happy! I love it!! I can't wait to see how this all comes together!

 

 Friday, January 29 - I've been spending a little time with Dave so that he's not home alone. Especially now that Viv is back to work and he's still on strong pain-killers, he needs to be with someone. My mom and sister planned lunch and I wasn't sure if we'd make it but I ended up just dragging Dave along. It was fun to have him there with us. In the evening, Simon got all the prep work done to start working on the floor tomorrow. Yay!!

Saturday, January 30 - The floor is in! And it's amazing!! Simon, as always, did such a great job. I love the color and love how it made the room brighter and feel more open. Hooray for new flooring!

 

Sunday, January 31 - Random set of pictures, I know. Zacky got hurt at Grandma and Jim's tonight. I wasn't a very happy camper about it (to put it lightly). See the hole in his forehead and the giant goose egg? These are the results of about 5 kids doing stupid things in a formal living room. Head vs Coffee Table Corner = Coffee Table Wins!

Mom and dad left today for a 12 day cruise to Mexico. I always miss them when they're gone. Things just don't feel normal. And this is cute Alexis. She's 21 weeks. That is definitely not what I look like at 21 weeks!! :) That baby has abs of steel to get through though! :)

Jan 18-24

Monday, January 18 - Today is day 1 of a fitness challenge I'm taking part in. I just really need to lose my Ricki weight and I'm not super motivated to do it. I like my sweets! :) This was my original weigh-in photo (but my weight is conveniently blanked out)!  

Tuesday, January 19 - Today was eventful. In the morning, we had our sweet little friend Bridgette over to play with Ricki. They are cute friends...unless she wants to play with Ricki's toys. Then Ricki turns into a little baby monster! :) Early in the afternoon, I got a call from Ryan saying that his dad was in an accident with a saw in his basement and could I please run over and find out what is going on. I, of course, hopped in the car and ran to their house. The fire department was just spraying down the driveway from all of the blood. Come to find out, he nearly cut his hand off! I relied on Erin Coles, Tami Hansen, and my mom to take my kids while I went to the hospital to be with Simon & Viv. They took him into emergency surgery about an hour after he arrived by ambulance to IMC. The surgery was to take anywhere from 2-8 hours but it ended up being 7 hours when all was said and done. Poor guy! The great news is that they were able to save Dave's fingers. They didn't think they'd be able to; especially his pinkie. There were a lot of miracles that happened this day!

 

Wednesday, January 20 - This x-ray shows a little of what Dave went through. It's just crazy that they could even put his hand back together again! I have more gory pictures but I can't just post them. They give me nightmares! :) Our family went up to visit Dave and we were able to talk to the surgeon. We thanked Dr. Mackey for all he did to save Dave's hand. He really is an AMAZING doctor!! We're so glad Dave will be okay!

 

Thursday, January 21 - Jessie Price told me a few weeks ago that our enrichment night was coming up and that we were focusing on recording our own story through scrapbooking, journal-keeping, blogging, etc. It kept coming to my mind that I needed to help. That I may actually have something to offer for this activity. So I texted her and here I am...giving a little talk about journaling and blogging. It was a really fun evening and I learned a lot of good ideas for keeping my own personal history. Photo Credit: Regina Campbell - upon hearing that I keep a photo of the day blog! :)

 

Friday, January 22 - I had the wonderful opportunity of going to the hospital and spending time with Dave while Viv went home to shower and have a moment for herself. Dave should be going home at any time but his blood pressure keeps dropping (from lack of blood in my opinion) and he's in so much pain. They got him up and went for a walk while I was there and I got to sit next to him and visit for about an hour. In this picture, he fell asleep looking at a beautiful bouquet of flowers Viv's work sent for them. Everyone has been so amazing through this! Their neighbor across the street is already arranging dinners to come to them for the next week! More and more miracles everyday! 

 

Saturday, January 23 - Jenni had an extra ticket to the Hale Theater play "Beau Jest" so she took me as her date. BJ wanted to attend one of the boys' last basketball games. We went to dinner with just us 6 adults (my parents, McCullough's, and us) then the boys went home while we went to the play with my parents. It was really really fun! I enjoyed the play, the cookies, and the company very much! Meanwhile, Dave came home from the hospital. Wahoo!

 

Sunday, January 24 - I love that my kids love each other. Zack was lying on Ricki's chair and I needed to get her clothes out to dress her so I set her next to Zack. When I turned around, this is what I found. They were very cuddly and lovey so instead of dressing her, I took a picture. 

Jan 11-17

Monday, January 11 -  Ricki had her 18-month well check with Dr. Jackson. She is doing great but he put her on an antibiotic because of her nasty fingernail. At the Jazz game, if the other team missed their free-throws, each ticket was worth a free chicken sandwich at Chick-Fil-A. Doug and Liz gave us theirs so we met Simon for lunch again at Chick-Fil-A in Jordan Landing. Tonight, Grandma Sharon came over for family night. She had dinner with us then taught us a wonderful lesson about the sacrament and how we should act in church. The kids were so attentive and cute. It was a lot of fun!

Tuesday, January 12 - This is Dave, Viv, and Simon booking a cruise for April! I like to have vacations to look forward to. We haven't been on a cruise since Nick was a baby.

Wednesday, January 13 - I have been worrying a bunch about our upcoming family pictures and what we're all going to wear. This is what I came up with. Our colors are black, white, gray, and red. I hope this all corresponds okay.

Thursday, January 14 - I took this picture to show Ricki's silly hair. It grows from the back of her head forward. I wish I could sometimes leave her hair down but I can't. She would eat her hair all day if I did!

Friday, January 15 - Look at Gary & Alexis' cute little baby girl! Look at that button nose!! I can't wait to meet her in June! Ever since Ricki has been on antibiotics, her nail has thinned out and started flaking off. I was really worried that she would rip it off and sure enough, she came to me crying with a bloody finger. Poor thing!

Saturday, January 16 - Family picture day has finally arrived! We went to the studio at 9:30 am and took the pictures over the next hour or so. Our photographer was super nice. I like how our pictures ended up turning out!

Sunday, January 17 - Kendra had her baptism preview, Great to be 8, so we stayed home for dinner tonight. I have been promising Nick fondue for days now so we finally had that. I have been wanting to find a recipe for Brazilian cheese rolls and I finally found one in a cookbook I have. I didn't have super high expectations, because I love them so much, but they were amazing!! I see lots of cheese rolls happening in our future. And P.S. When did Kendra get old enough to be having her baptism preview tonight!?!?! I can't believe she's getting that old!!

Jan 1-10

Friday, January 1 - We (kind of) finished Ricki's room. Yay!! All we need to do is add some art above her dresser and a shelf on the wall above her changing table. But the two walls in the picture are done! Happy day!

Saturday, January 2 - This is our annual brunch for dad's birthday at Golden Corral. We have so much fun getting stuffed as a family. It's kind of true...our family time spent together DOES revolve around food! 

Sunday, January 3 - We celebrated Daddy's birthday today. We had quite the combination of food: pasta with mizithra cheese, twice baked potatoes, orange Jell-O with mandarin oranges, rolls, and peanut butter bars for dessert. I just love that we each get to choose the menu for our birthday dinners.

 

Monday, January 4 - In honor of dad's "actual birthday", we enjoyed one of these 1,100 calorie Reece's bars Simon got for Christmas. Yummers!! Happy Birthday Daddy!

Tuesday, January 5 - This evening was so much fun! Our ward temple night is always the first Tuesday of each month and Simon and I have sadly never gone. Marissa reminds me every month in an effort to get some friends to go too. Well, lots of friends showed up for this month then we all went out for dessert afterward. I know I say it a lot but I just LOVE my ward! I love all the people in it! Some of these girls have helped me get through the hardest time of my life and I am forever grateful! I am happy to be able to call every single person in this picture my friend. 

Wednesday, January 6 - With the kids off track, Grandma and Jim took us to lunch at Chick-Fil-A. They are in the middle of a horrible battle with the buyers, or really the Realtor, of the Mackay house. A month or so ago, a Realtor approached them about a potential buyer that loved their house. She brought them through and it was confirmed, they wanted the house. However, as the process has moved along, the buyers are demanding more and more from them. It frustrates me because poor Grandma is so stressed about it. Here the house wasn't even on the market and these people basically knocked on the door and made them an offer just to turn around and jerk them around with minute details of the sell. At this point, the sell is still on but there have been threats made and feelings hurt. I enjoyed talking with them though and hearing all about what they are going through. P.S. The beautiful picture is on the Mackay Mine Hill and my very talented photographer (Dad) captured it just perfectly.

Thursday, January 7 - First of all, Nick woke me up this morning to tell me that he lost his tooth in his sleep. He said he woke up in the middle of the night and the tooth was in his mouth. I knew it was pretty loose but have no idea how you actually lose a tooth while sleeping! Our darn Tooth Fairy is horrible at her job! It took 2 nights for him to get his lousy dollar!! :) This afternoon, I promised the kids that we would go to Sam's Club for lunch and shopping. However, when I ran the idea past the daddy, he suggested I wait until tomorrow because he already had lunch plans. The kids were bummed until they realized we could have "homemade Sam's Club"...hot dogs. We enjoyed our day together and playing with the Olsen's who came over for a little while.

Friday, January 8 - We really didn't get to see Simon too much today. He got up early to shovel the driveway, went to work all day, came home, packed his gear, and left for an overnight camp out with the young men's. Yes, this is a picture from his campsite! I can't believe the boys have to sleep in tents in this. I'm having a hard time wanting to even go for a walk outside let alone sleep in it!

Saturday, January 9 - When Simon got home from his scout camp, he started working on the living room. It's actually happening! Yay! In the evening, Doug and Liz Merrill invited us to go to the Utah Jazz game with them. Our tickets included free parking, free dinner in the VIP Lounge, and seats on the 6th row! Just to add to the awesomeness that was this night, the Jazz won! It was so much fun!!

Sunday, January 10 - We had dinner at Dave & Viv's. Ashley and the kids were playing ring-around-the-rosies and it was so cute when they would "all fall down". Especially Ricki who had no idea why everyone was falling on the ground!