Ice Cream and an E.R. Visit

So I went to dinner with Jaycey and Emmitt and his family at one of his parents' favorite places.  I was supposed to have a hamburger.  But then I saw halibut on their menu and...well...me and halibut?  That's where I go every time.  And I had to take a picture of the marquee for Camille...

Then, we went for ice cream.

I'm not big into ice cream.

I have said before and I'll say it again, it's a gift from God that I don't love ice cream or potato chips.  Otherwise, I'd weight 300 pounds.  I can take or leave them...and seriously, I usually just leave them.  But Jaycey has been wanting me to try her favorite ice cream place for quite some time...and I ought to have trusted her opinion right away because if anyone in this world is a lover of ice cream, it's Jaycey.

So, to SubZero we went.

And right away, we started off by breaking the rules.

And then, I had the most amazing ice cream...bubble gum and cotton candy with gum on top.

Never claimed to have grown up taste buds.  If I'm going to have ice cream, let's make it something fun and delicious.  And man oh man...they do that well!  I highly recommend it.

I tried Emmitt's dad's...Peach Cobbler...

!!!

I thought my pink stuff was magic.  Oh...that peach cobbler was even better!

The next night, we did one of my MUST-GO-TO places.  Morelias.  Chile Verde Enchiladas.  Heaven.

Brittany wanted ice cream.  I was all...seriously, I just had ice cream.  That doubled how much ice cream I've had this year...probably more than I had last year... But she really wanted to go.  And I thought I'd just sit there while they ate but then remembered that peach cobbler...and was...okay.

So Jaycey and I are following Emmitt...and Brittany is following us...and I'm talking on the phone with Doug when Jaycey gets annoyed because she saw in her rear view mirror that Britt had stopped.  So she calls Britt to say, "Come on!!!  Ice Cream's a-waitin!!!"

Next thing I hear, "Mom...Brittany's been hit!"

My brain goes, "??? no one is in her car, how could someone hit her ???"

(cuz i'm brilliant like that)

"Someone just hit Brittany's car!"

Tell Doug I need to go because Brittany has just been in a car accident...

My brain is still playing catch up because she was just behind us, how was she hit?

She was.

No one stopped.

Call the cops.  Try to calm her down.  Officer arrives.  Jaycey grabbed the hubcap..took pictures...Emmitt comes back to find us as I call him to say, um...come back.

She was lucky.  The tire didn't get hit.  The gas cap is fine.  None of her tail lights broke.  No airbag.  The bumper isn't happy, and a small reflector broke, but she was lucky.

And she still wanted ice cream.

So to SubZero we went again.  And I got the peach cobbler this time.

And then the workers both went in back...so I went behind the counter a bit to be an employee...

And then Brittany went WAY behind the counter to be an employee...she is way braver than me...

Then, later, her neck was hurting, but she insisted she was okay and I can't force her to go to the hospital, but I did get a promise that she would call her neck man and make an appointment...because I'm all: did anything move from your surgery?

But then...I learned something...when Diana finally looked at her phone and called Brittany...and what I learned was this:  when I want to make Brittany do something, I need to call Diana and get her on my side.

Because Ms. Fired-Up-Latina did NOT like the idea of Britt not going to the E.R.

Long phone calls shortened, I ended up going with Brittany to the E.R.  Which is good.  Because I needed to know that her neck was all okay.  That nothing had been undone from the year before...because I know that spine is still healing.  And Brittany is thinking, "Grrr....another bill..."  And I'm thinking, "yup...this is my child that costs the most medically...but better to see what's going on ..."

And I think these wheelchairs are horrible.

I did sit on it.  It feels how it looks.  Like you're sitting on an oven rack.

And this is the room where we were for a few hours.

While sitting there, we heard a doctor yell at a patient across the hall from us, "Can you hear me?" a few times....and we heard them say just as loud, "Can you squeeze my fingers?" a few times.  And, "Can you wiggle your toes?" a few times.  And we sat there quiet.  And Brittany looked at me and said, "Reality check."

We'll take a stiffening neck that hurts over whatever was going on in the other room.  We'll take some ouchies to her car over whatever happened to the person in the other room.

And I was grateful that my daughter personalized the moment and was grateful for what didn't happen to her.

And then...because Brittany isn't a scaredy cat like me...she just looked at her x-rays on the computer.  I said I don't think you can do that.  She said they are my x-rays, so yes I can.  BUT...it ended up being a cool thing because the doctor only showed us side views that they took, he didn't show us the front view.  And we hadn't seen the front view of her plate before...so it was very cool.  And I did tell her I was going to blog it, so, I think that covers HIPAA rules.

That's just cool.

And I was grateful I was in Utah.  Able to go with her...instead of getting a phone call and worrying from afar.

Flashback Friday

2005 - 2013

The Office

they made me and my family laugh and gave us classic lines we use in life...and my daughter may have far too many episodes memorized...

and their finale was good...i may need to start the series all over from the beginning...

and the actors aren't snooty...they still made time to come to the town of scranton for a proper goodbye.

oh, and they twitter with my daughter...that's just down right cool.

"There ain't no party like a Scranton party cuz a Scranton party don't stop!"

Family Dinner

so i got to utah saturday evening.  my daughters took me to ogden to see my dad.  that was very good.  weird to see his swelling, but it was so good to see him.  put my mind at ease.

sunday, two of my kiddos and i went back to the hospital to attend church.  i've never attended a condensed sacrament meeting before.  then we ate some lunch with a few sisters and some of their kiddos...then headed upstairs to see dad before the evening's festivities.

which was called: Family Dinner at Susan's.

thanks to susan and todd for hosting the loud rowdy bunch.

here's a few pictures:

brandon, bryce, emmitt, jaycey, & brittany...

ladawn making something...

here's part of a song that dan wrote when he was a teenager...kari went downstairs and played it on the piano...we tried to remember the lyrics...dan's medal is from the previous day's marathon in provo (he ended up only doing half of it due to his asthma kicking in...and him not having his inhaler...michael did the whole thing...i'm proud of both of them...)

here's ms. andrea...

meaghan (and those twin babies inside her) and abbie...

aidan, caspian, levi, caydi, and liam...

chloe & janae...

jason...

mark...

kari...

kiddos playing...

young wyatt...

three generation picture...william, susan, & makayla...

three generation hands picture...

we did a 'Happy Birthday' song for our may birthdays...introduced our noisy selves to susan's neighborhood...and started a long round of clapping afterward (not on the video clip) that people didn't know why they were clapping but they joined in...good times...

levi adding his masterpiece to the cement...

young mr. caspian getting comfort from his aunt andrea...

waiting for a sibling picture...

one of the two hundred sibling pictures that britt took...ashley stood in for will...missed tamra...

brittany pulling a face...brandon hopping in...

getting a hug from miss cj...

aidan and janae with some plane...

some of the boy cousins paused their playing for a picture...joshua, aidan, wyatt, riley, and jakob...

it was good to see so many people.

love them all.

Mother's Day - 2013

Time to play catch up...

Happy Belated Mother's Day!!!

A few months ago, when I was sad because it wasn't working out for my girls to all come here for Mother's Day, Doug said, "Go there."  So I did.  I flew there a week before...spent the days (while Jaycey was at work...cuz she let me use her car instead of renting one...) at the hospital with my dad, and sisters...then would spend as much evening time with my girls.

Come Saturday, Mother's Day Eve, I spent the last bit of time I had with my dad...tried to keep it together, but my eyes let go while he was getting a blessing.  I tell you, once you lose control over those tear ducts, it's difficult getting them back under control.  It was good to have time with him.  And I was glad to see improvement that week...and so excited that he got to go outside that day!

But more on that later...cuz this post is on mothers...namely, me.

So, after my dad said he'd come see me at my house, I drove south to finish out the day with my girls.

We went to play laser tag...my first time!

Some of us planned ahead and painted our fingernails with glow in the dark finger nail polish...it worked! 

One of us did not think their shirt choice through for glow in the dark hiding...um...that would be me.  The vest covered a lot, but...I was still way easier to spot than others...

Jaycey and I teamed up.  At one point, she said: your eyes and teeth are really freaking me out...and I said: I was thinking the same thing about you!!!  So, we took a pause from the game to take pictures...

I didn't do so great.  14th place.  Out of 18.  Sigh.  I'll do better next time.  Maybe.  I loved it though!  Even though it makes you all hot and sweaty.  Loads of fun to chase strangers through a maze, shooting at them.

We went to Outback...seems to be the annual choice for this dinner.  Which is fine by me.  Emmitt had left us to go fishing though.

Some knife game.  I don't quite understand, but we ended up with a 7 knife game...we lost the 8th one. 

Britt and Diana passed out the coasters, then we proceeded to play poker.  Some folded.  Jaycey and I did not.  But she beat me because she grabbed more things to gamble with.

And yes, if you have an eagle eye and know your Utah bakeries...you'll see I have a cakebite container there.  Because we stopped at Sweet Tooth Fairy for my free Mother's Day cupcake.  If you are anywhere near one, go try this month's flavors.  The Mexican Hot Chocolate cakebite is so good.  The Churro cakebite is so good.  Their cupcakes are always good.

Come Mother's Day...Brittany changed my Dr. Pepper cup to a Mother cup. 

And we hung out at the hotel with Kim...since she had volunteered to take a co-worker's shift so they could be home with their kiddos...what a woman.  She pulled a 16-hour shift.  She's a good egg.

And we went into the lobby bathroom so they could give me my Sharpie tattoo.  They each hung out on my right side when I was pregnant with them.  I don't have much torso room and towards the end, I would be pushing back on their hineys because they'd be pushing on my ribs..not a pleasant thing...so I said I wanted a tattoo of three words...each of them writing "MOM"...tada!  My fake tattoo:

Then came the tough part.  Saying goodbye.  I got the most amazing presents (looking forward to part 3 in the mail...).  Tried not to cry while going into the airport.  Got my carry on suitcase searched...my purse searched...a full body search...well, a full body pat down, we were in the open...apparently, something in my purse set off the sensor.  She said it could have been makeup.  It was a distraction.  So it's all good.

Then, I go up the escalator...not even a minute later, a Mexican lady (it's okay, i'm not assuming...i saw her papers) stopped me and needed help.  But my extremely limited spanish did not make me the best helper.  I took her to a little store and asked the clerk if they spoke spanish.  She said no, but if I take her down the escalator to the guards down there, they would be able to help.  I'm thinking:  yeah, but I just got searched, and even though the lady TSA worker and I got along splendidly, I really don't want to go back down there. With a foreign speaking person.

If you know what I mean.

Luckily, a security guy was going by and stopped to help.  We looked at papers...I said I think she needs to go to luggage claim...I asked if I could leave her with them, they said yes.  Smiled at the old grandma lady and went along my way.

Eleven hours later, I find Doug at the curb and laugh at the back of the car.

That's a mattress from the bunkbeds there.  He was ready to sleep on the way home.

I breathe and try to forget that there isn't a sheet on there...he's a grown man, if he doesn't want a sheet, he doesn't have to have a sheet...get in the car.  We figure out way out of this airport complex (woah...that was not easy!!!), make a pit stop at the side of the freeway, he hands me what I'd asked for to help keep me awake, and he attempts to sleep while I got us home.  At 3:30am.

And it was all worth it.

I didn't see as many people as I would have liked to, but I saw a lot of family and I spent time with my dad and daughters.

Sang to him:  If it wasn't for your father would your mother be your mother so remember dad on mother's day!!!  Then gave him a present for his room.

But you'll see that in another post.

I used to be stepmom to Lori, Jeff, Emily, Samantha, and Andy.  I think of them on Mother's Day.

I am now stepmom to Chris and Stephanie.  They're good people.  Glad we're family.

I am one of Janet's daughters.  And always grateful for that.

But mostly, it's about those who gave me the title of mom.  Brittany Michelle, Kimberly Isabel, and Jaycey Elizabeth William...I wouldn't trade any of them for anything.  It is true, what they say, about how your children are pieces of your heart, walking around out there in the world.  Thank you for giving me what I asked for.  Thank you for being incredible women that I am proud to call mine.  And thank you for letting me invade your space...love you...love you...love you...

Flashback Friday

July 2006

Kimberly, Brittany, Jaycey, Allison, Gpa Coleman

Flashback Friday

27 December 2012

Emmitt, Jaycey, Brittany, & Kimberly

(good representation of them...emmitt plays along with my taking pictures...jaycey plays...britt smiles nicely for the camera and kim hides...i like that her block says, 'This is as merry as we get"...)

Man in a Uniform

I have dragged my feet a long time.

It's because I'm partially in the land called "Denial".

Only a small part.

Sigh.

So here we go.  If you notice, there has been an addition to the pictures on the left side here.  The yellow ribbon around the tree.  Because my baby brother has gone to war.

Just typing that made a cold thing go across me.

I argue with myself in my head.  That I ought not worry so much...because he puts on a bulletproof vest every day that he goes to his regular job.  Because every day of his working career, he's putting his life out there.  He's way far away now though.

And it's going to be hot.  Like, hot.  So I feel really bad for him.  (that was the comic relief)

My heart breaks for him and his family.  For everything that they are giving up...going without... I know a little bit of it...because dad was gone every summer.  And it sucked.  And poor mom...every stinking summer...didn't have her husband...had all her kids, down that 'Damn Lane'. (that's not swearing, that's the name of that road...)  Cows...whatever animals we had...children and everything that goes along with that...anyway, getting off subject.  So Ashley and their kiddos are in my thoughts and prayers every day because they're sacrificing a lot.  And he's their husband and daddy.  And holy cow, he's missing out on a world of difference in his kids.  Glad they can skype from time to time.

Anyway.

Some pictures that people took at his unit's send off...

Here is my dad with two of my brothers...

Add in William's younger son and now you have three generations... 

This one made my eyes water, because even though Betsy looks ticked off, the fact is, Betsy went...she's our brother-in-law's mom, and just proof that Will has a lot of people who care, love, and support him.  We have Betsy, Will, Jesse, LaDawn and Will's daughter. 

Here is a true bromance.

Here's dad's normal picture behavior...lol...

Here's my beautiful middle daughter with her new darker hair... 

Here's Will with his newest little namesake...and his momma, our niece....so, two Williams and one Makayla. 

Some of my sisters made a good sign.

Here are all but one of my Utah siblings.  One of the moments where I wish for a never-ending bank account...I would have flown me and Tamra in for the evening...

Will and our baby sister LaNae...

Will and our nephew Joshua and his daughter Miss CJ...

Our cousin Kathlene and Will...she is one special woman...

Our LaDawn...

Our Susan...this one makes me smile...whoever got this moment got good smiles...

Our Tara...

Every so often, it dawns on me that he's a BIG brother also... 

Will & Ash's family...defenders and protectors of our nation...home and abroad. 

Here's to this next "year" passing quickly and with as little friction as possible.  We have a few guardian angels we're calling upon extra...that's my baby brother folks...I cannot even express with words my pride and love for him and his.