Goodbye Betty

Today I said goodbye to my little car. I almost cried when I left it sitting in the parking lot. Here is a recap of some of the good times I've had in this car.Freshman year of college my roommates came home with me for a weekend. We visited the Vernal Temple grounds and a homecoming football game. On this adventure Ol' Betty got a new dent from some boys who were hitting on us and flipped a piece of wood up and hit the car. My sophmore year of college myself and these wonderful friends went to The Howl in Logan on Halloween. I think the best dance party was in the car, not at The Howl.A few months later we went to Park City during the Sundance Film Festival to look for celebrities. We didn't see any, but we did see look alikes of Bruce Willis and Mathew McConaughey.Baily and I drove little Betty to the airport when we went to San Diego for a weekend in June 2007.



Kit and I drove the car to Denver on our Honeymoon...For our 2 year Anniversay we drove the car to Las Vegas.

I guess now it's time to move on to Bigger and Better things....This is honestly my dream car. I never thought I would be able to own a Range Rover, but somehow I do. I feel so lucky! I love it soooo much.

The good news is...

The big news that is going on with us right now is that we are trying to figure out why EVERYONE else is having babies and we're not. We've been in the process of this figuring out for about a month.
There are a lot of things that could be going on, but there is only one thing we know for sure.... I am ovulating. The doctor said that he likes to see the levels at a 12. I was close to a 10, which isn't a 12, but is better than a big fat 0!
In the coming months there will be more tests and possibly some surgeries, so I've decided that I will write it on here. I might not even publish this post, but if I do and if I publish more info in the future I will only put what we know for sure.
This has been pretty hard on us and has caused a lot of stress, but I am happy that we are starting to get some answers.
In other news, my dad had his knee replaced yesterday. He seems to be doing okay. Tonight is my work Christmas party. My caseload at work has dropped tremendously and the big things in YW that I have been stressing over are done, at least for now. I'm hoping to enjoy a low-stress holiday with my family. I hope that you will all have a great Christmas filled with lots of fun and family, maybe even both at the same time! This year I am going to make an extra special effort to remember Jesus as I celebrate. Everything that I have in this life is because of his great sacrifice.

LaKeN LoUaNn

These pictures are of my cute little niecey-poo Laken. She was born in October and is such a doll. She does not love me as much as little Presley does, but she's still adorable.

Tiffany Morton took these photos. To see more of her work visit tiffanymortonphotography.com

Halloween

The Pumpkins......
The costumes...

The dog...The Festivities....

Saturday morning Kit and I went to the airport to watch my dad do a pumpkin drop. We ended up flying in plane with him. I was the one dropping the "bombs". I didn't do very well. It was a difficult task. Our target was the 55 gallon drum by the sage brush. As we were flying by we couldn't see anything. Our closest drop was 17 yards from the barrell.

My dad in his plane before the drop.After that we went to Vernal to get a few things. We ate at Cafe Rio.YUM! At Wal-Mart we saw two different girls with their pregnant bellies hanging out of their too small shirts. While we were there we decided to dress up. That's where the costumes came from.

We went to my mom's to hang out the rest of the night. I passed out a lot of candy. It was a pretty fun Halloween.

Fall

We have done few blog-worthy things this month. A few weeks ago we had our first family barbecue at "The Ranch".

It's always fun to spend time with our family.

We have had a few more parties there in the the last few weeks. It's a fun place and I look forward to many more parties there.Last Wednesday we were offered free tickets to the Nickelback concert. We went with my cousin Whitney, her husband Justin, her friend Kimmie, Kimmie's niece Chenae, my sister Michelle and her husband Wes. We went out to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen with the guy who gave us the tickets, then sat in the Key Bank suite at ESA.This was my first rock concert and probably my last unless it's a cool '80's hair band. Let's face it, I'm pretty mild. My favorite parts of the concert were when the sang Garth Brooks and Journey songs. I pretty much felt guilty the whole time we were there for missing Young Womens, and everytime they said the "f" word I felt even worse. ha

growING

Our family, that is. On August 15 we welcomed a new nephew, Parker James Caldwell. I don't have any pictures of him, but he is dang cute!

On August 31 Preslee Jo Horrocks was born. She weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces.

She is a month old in this picture.

On October 6 Laken LouAnn (Pattie Lou and Shirley Ann) Huber was born. She has sooo much hair. She weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces.

I am just loving all of these sweet little babies!

The Short Version

I decided to do a short version and a long version because it's a pretty long story, even the long version is missing a lot.

• Tuesday August 24th: Grandma Shirley in Ashley Regional ER with Kidney failure.


• Wednesday August 25th: Grandma Shirley moved to hospital room. Condition the same.


• Friday August 27th: Insurance Meeting, Work, Grandma moved to the Villa Hospice room, Poppy in hospital with pnemonia.


• Saturday August 28th: Layton for work, visit Nana, visit Grandma, new microwave, dinner with sister and her family.


• Sunday August 29th: Church, Set apart as YW pres, At Villa, Grandma Shirley passes away.


• Monday August 30th: Work, visit Poppy, work, Poppy might be life-flighted, Traci gets started.


• Tuesday August 31st: Mom tells me Nana is in hospital, go to work, get text saying to get to hospital, Poppy is doing better, Nana won't make it, Traci has Preslee, Nana passes away.


• Wednesday and Thursday are a blur.


• Friday September 3rd: Grandma Shirley's funeral.


• Monday September 6th: Poppy released from hospital.


• Friday September 10th: Nana's funeral.

So there you go. In summary that's how it all went down.

The Notebook-ish (Long-Update)

This post is depressing.....

On Tuesday August 24th I was working like a normal crazy work day. I got a text from my sister telling me that my grandma Shirley was in the hospital with kidney failure. I left work, met up with my sisters and headed to Vernal. We got to the ER, where they had my grandma on dopamine to keep her alive until everyone could get there. She was actually making a lot more sense than she does usually. She had been fighting an infection for the last six months, which was making her more crazy than normal. That may sound rude, but she was always getting things mixed up and this got much worse with the infection. They kept her on the dopamine until my uncle Steve got there and we were all able to say goodbye. This was about 1 pm. The doctor told us that it shouldn't take long, maybe a few hours. We waited there until 9:30 with no change. She would stop breathing for quite a while and all of the levels would drop, then all of the sudden she would take a deep breath and start going again. My Grandpa sat next to her the entire day, not getting up to eat or go to the bathroom.

The next morning nothing had changed, so they moved her to a hospital room. Her blood pressure and everything actually went up. On Friday things were still about the same, so they decided to move her to the hospice room at the Villa. I had worked a little bit on Friday and was on my way to see her when I got a text from my sister telling me that my grandpa "Poppie" was in the hospital with pnemonia. This is really scary because his lungs are horrible and the doctors have told us that it will most likely be pnemonia that kills him. I visited both of them and stayed at the Villa the rest of the day so my grandpa could rest.

Saturday Kit and I ran to Layton to do some of my work. When we got back I went to Visit my grandma "Nana". When I got there I told her that I felt like I needed to go see her. She said, "Why? I'm not going to die". I was able to help a little around the house and visit with her for a little while. I then went back to the Villa for a while. That night Kit and I went to Vernal with Michelle, Wes, Austin and Kade to Don Pedros. We definitely needed the night away.

The next day we went to church. After church I was set apart in my new calling. My parents were able to come. We left straight from there and went to the Villa. Things were about the same, but my grandmas eyes were open. This is really disturbing. My grandpa was sitting in the chair next to her, sleeping and holding her hand. This was pretty much his post the entire time. I had been there about ten minutes and was standing with my sisters and mom around the bed, just visiting. I was watching my grandma when her eyes focused on something, then shifted from one corner for the room to another. I told everyone what had happened. My mom woke my grandpa up. She took a few more breaths, then she was gone.

I later found out how long my grandparents had actually been together. When my grandpa was in 6th grade they started bussing my grandma to his school. He was lined up with some friends watching the kids get off the bus. He saw my grandma get off her bus and thought to himself that someday he would marry her. A few years later he did. And by a few I mean about 3.

The next day I needed to work for a little while. Around 10:30 I went to the hospital to visit my grandpa. I could tell that he was a lot worse than he had been the last time I had seen him. I was really worried about it, but had to go back to work. Later he was put in ICU. They were thinking about life flighting him, but Nana, who was doing pretty well at home, said to wait for 24 hours and call Dr. Staker. I was at the hospital when Dr. Staker came in and told us that he thought things would turn around in the next 24 hours. At this time Traci was getting checked in so she could get started with her baby. At seven I had to leave to go back to work.

On Tuesday my mom let me know that now Nana was in the hospital with pnemonia. I thought I would at least go to staff meeting. I was there for about an hour when my mom told me I needed to get to the hospital. My grandma was in ICU, and they were just moving her bed next to my grandpa's. He was out of it, but they tried to wake him up. We knew that it was the end for my grandma, but weren't quite sure about my grandpa. The crazy thing is that my grandma had more strength than he did.

So here they are in their hospital beds, holding hands and trying to say goodbye. This is the part that reminds me of the Notebook.

Meanwhile, in the OB, Traci's labor was progressing nicely. We were going back and forth between the rooms. Her room was much more pleasant to be in.

They then moved my grandma to a regular room. A lot of family came. They thought maybe she would make it until my Aunt Maggie got there, but probably not long enough for Heston to get there. He made it. My grandpa came to enough that he knew what was going on. He tried to get up so that he could get to her. They wheeled my grandma back in with him until they realized that he was too upset. They had to sedate him. They moved her back into her own room.

At around 12:30 Traci had little Preslee Jo. She was so alert and beautiful. I was able to take a picture of her to my grandma to see. She really wasn't alert, but smiled and laughed when I showed her the picture. About two hours after Preslee was born Traci was able to be wheeled down to say goodbye to Nana. At about 4 the Doctor came in and did an assessment. He decided that it would be best to take off the oxygen. At about 4:30 she died. This one really did not sink in for a while. I watched her die. I knew she was dead, but I couldn't make myself believe it.

They had to keep my grandpa sedated for a few days so that he could get better. They didn't tell him that she had passed away for a few days. He got out of the hospital on Labor day.

So this is my crazy life. It's hard to believe that this all really happened, but it did. Everyone seems to be doing okay, it's just hard. I'm so thankful for such a great family. We are able to laugh with each other and be supportive of one another. It's always easier to be around people who know what you're going through and how to help you deal with it.

New Calling

On August 18 my Bishop and his 2nd Counselor came to my house. I thought there was no way I would be getting a new calling because I had just barely been called to be the first counselor in Young Womens, even though I had not yet been set apart. So I'm sitting there completely calm while the Bishop is talking to Kit, then he turns to me and says that they are actually there to talk to me. He asked me if I would be the new Young Women's president. Instantly my mouth went dry and I wanted to cry. I have been a leader in Young Womens for most of my married life and I love it! I love the girls and being able to learn and grow from them, but Young Women's president? I mean, I've only been out of Young Women's for 6 years and let's be honest, I wasn't the best girl in the group. How can I lead these girls to become their best selves when I'm not at my best? But in all honesty, I guess I knew this was coming, just not this soon. The Lord makes things known to us so we can prepare. I only wish I would have prepared more.

The next day I accepted the calling and started thinking about who to call as my counselors. There are some great women in our ward, and I think we will have a good presidency. I've been on the verge of tears since the night the Bishop showed up at my house. It is overwhelming and humbling. I've pretty much been in Young Women's since I was 8 because my mom was the president and I went to activities and camp with her. I have had really good examples of how to be a good Young Women's president from my mom and the two presidents I have served under. I'm really nervous. I have big shoes to fill, but know that the Lord will help me make it through.

2 WHOLE YEARS!

On the 28th Kit and I celebrated our second anniversary. We have had some really good times and some really bad times and all of those experiences have made us stronger as a couple. Kit is my best friend.

Our anniversary fell on a Monday. Kit sent me beautiful flowers at work. I got him a new bat for softball. After work we went to dinner and then to Toy Story. It wasn't anything too romantic, but it was fun. We were saving up the excitement for the weekend.

Friday I spent all day helping my mom move. Kit got home and we drove out to Provo and stayed the night. Saturday morning we got up and drove to St. George where we went to lunch with Kit's aunt and his two cousins. After that we drove down to Las Vegas. We got there about 2 PM Vegas time and got checked into our hotel room. We stayed at the Mirage.
We walked over to the Venetian and picked up our tickets for Phantom that night. Then we just walked around the north end of the strip until it was time to go to the show. Phantom was good. It is the only big production play I have ever been to. I have to admit that I like the movie quite a bit more. After that we went to Treasure Island and watched to pirate show. We waited around forever to watch it and it was pretty lame.

On Sunday morning we got up and started walking down to the south end of the strip. We went to the botanical garden at the Bellagio, told a few people that we did not want to sit through their spill on time shares, and walked through the mall at City Center that has some awesome architecture. We were walking through New York, New York because I think it is pretty awesome when we found a deal on the Bodies exhibit, the shark reef, and the dolphin and tigers at the Mirage, so we got that. Bodies was crazy! It was really cool to be able to see everything (it would have been way helpful in some of my college classes), but it kinda freaked me out all at the same time. Some of the bodies still had arm hair and toe nails. The part that freaked me out the most was the skin. It reminded me too much of Silence of the Lambs.

The Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay was really cool. I've never enjoyed an aquarium so much in my entire life. My favorite was the lion fish. They also had a really cool shark that I think is called a saw fish, but I'm not sure. We stayed there for a long time. None of my pictures turned out very well.

I've decided that if you want to stay away from all the porn dealers you have to stay on the West and North sides of the strip. The Southeast end is horrible. I felt so bad for all the little kids walking around with their parents that had to see all that crap.

We spent a lot of time at the MGM looking at the lions. Kit was mesmerized by them. It was pretty cool to see them interact with the trainers and to learn about their lifestyle. We saw the cutest little lions that reminded us of Koda because of how playful they were.

We then went back to the Mirage and changed into our swim suits and went to the dolphins and tigers. The dolphins were fun to watch. I thought the tigers were boring, but again, Kit was mesmerized. After that we went swimming for a little while, then got ready and went and ate. After we ate we walked down to a spot I had picked out earlier to watch the fire works. We got there about 40 minutes before the fire works started and got a really good spot. It got really crowded, but we were able to kind of be away from everyone. The only bad part was that there were some pesky cockroaches near me. Kit had to keep killing them. The fireworks were awesome. I have never seen anything like it before. Sorry Longhorn Days, Vegas did a way better job. After the fire works a crazy black guy came up to Kit and just started talking to him. We were trying to get away, but he just kept singing some song about being in the green berets and how Afghanistan is not secure. As we were walking away he said that he was sorry for scaring me. I told him I was not scared (I really was) and he said, "That's okay, it's what I do for a living". We walked away pretty fast.I probably did not take as many pictures on this trip as most people would have, but I have decided that I don't like to see my vacation through a camera lens. I want to see it with my eyes. We had a lot of fun on this trip and it was nice to get away for a long weekend.

Busy, busy, busy...

We have done a lot of things in the last month and a half, so I have a lot to blog about. At the beginning of June I went to Young Women's camp. Koda was not happy that I was leaving. The night before I left while I was packing she was freaking out. She does this whenever we pack. She had been following me all over all night. I sat my backpack that I was taking on the kitchen floor. She did not want me to pack her so this is what she did.

Camp was fun. I rode on the bus with the young women on Monday and left late Wednesday night. That was about all I could take. I was very tired. On Tuesday morning our ward camp directors woke us up at 4:45 so we could go on a hike up a mountain to watch the sun rise. It was a good experience, but I do not like to wake up that early and I had to go on another 4 mile hike later that day. Here is a view from the top.

After camp I worked one day and then went to the parade home in Utah Valley with my mom, my sister and my niece. It was a lot of fun and we saw some pretty amazing homes. My sister just got a new car. After we left Heber my mom spilled a whole bunch of water all over her. She thought her pants would dry out faster if she took them off, so she was in the back with no pants and I was holding them up to the heater trying to get them dried. My niece got a little car sick as we were getting into Provo and starting throwing up. My mom was in the back seat trying to help her, but she still had no pants on. It was pretty funny. These are some of the homes we went to.

On June 22nd my brother-in-law received a kidney from my mother-in-law. We were out with them for the surgeries. They are both doing pretty good. It is nice for him to have the kidney and not have to go to dialysis anymore.

That weekend Kit played in the all-nighter softball tournament in Vernal. That made for a really long weekend. I was not sad when they got beat out and we were able to come home.

June 28th was our two year anniversary. It's crazy that it has been that long. We have been through a lot together, good and bad. I know that we are much closer now than we were when we got married. I am going to do a separate post on how we celebrated.

July 8th was my sister's baby shower. We had it at my mom's new house. She has a good party house. My sister got lots of clothes for little Preslee, who is due at the end of August. Here are some pictures from the shower.

Friday my niece came over to play with me. We played with babies, a little doll house, drew pictures and watch Up and the Princess and the frog. I just love my little Cam.

We have also been working on the yard in our spare time. I hope that by the end of August we will have it all done. The date keeps getting pushed back. We need to stay home so that we can actually get it finished up. I can't wait to have a yard. Softball has kept up busy this summer too. I try to go to most of Kit's games and support him. I'm glad that we have been busy, but I am ready for things to calm down just a little.

1 and 4 years...

Memorial day is always a little emotional for my family. Not only do we remember those who have served in the armed forces and are no longer living, we remember loved ones who are gone. My wonderful aunt, Lily, passed away the day after Memorial Day four years ago. It's sometimes hard to believe it was that long ago, but sometimes it seems like much longer. We miss Lily's fun personality and "delish" food so much.

This little hero

(Corbin before transplant #2, looking pretty good)

passed away one year ago on the 28th. On Friday his family held a little memorial for him at his grave. They are still really struggling with his death and we try to be as supportive as possible. Corbin's story has touched many people. He was a fighter and a good example to the rest of us.

(Corbin with his broken leg and Will Smith at the hospital)

His mother, my beautiful aunt Thyrena, is one of my heroes. She is so strong in her testimony of temples and the atonement. She is such a great example to me.

(Thyrena and Corbin shortly before his death)

Andrea, Corbin's twelve year old sister wrote this poem for Corbin and they placed it where his headstone will eventually go.

PHEW!!!

While watching the season finale of this I decided that the whole episode was setting it up to be a series finale. The whole cast was in it and all of the problems were getting resolved, which is totally not normal for a One Tree Hill season finale. I had heard that OTH may not be coming back next year, so it made sense for all of these resolutions, until the very last scene when two cast members get shot! So I had to get online and find out if it is coming back......AND IT IS!! Thanks Mindi for getting me hooked on it years ago.

Also coming back is this little gem. If you haven't watched Life Unexpected, you probably should. They play reruns of the first season just about every day. It is about a girl who grew up in the foster care system, but then finds her bio parents at 16 and they are normal and can take care of her. This is completely unrealistic in most cases, but it is a fun show and things like this have happened before. I think you will love it from the start and you'll be rooting for certain characters right away. Me, I like Baze. He's quite the hottie and I'm still hoping that eventually he will get the girl.

Someone Had A Birthday...

And her name is Koda! It's crazy to think that we have had this little pup for a whole year. We have also been in our house for a year. We are finally getting started on the yard. We did actually do a lot to the yard last year, but no one would notice unless they had seen it when we moved in. We hauled out a few loads of rocks, dirt and garbage last year. This week we had a back porch and sidewalk put in. Kit and I have also been working on a retaining wall in the front yard. We have our bid back on our sprinkler system. The next step is to rent a trencher and get the trenches dug, then we will get the sprinkler system put in, and we need to order the sod we are putting in.

Kit has started playing softball again in Vernal. He is having fun, but his team is horrible this year. He is trying to get a team put together for Men's league in Roosevelt. It starts in a few months, so if any of your hubbies would want to play just let me know. I'm not playing this year because I usually play with my sisters and they are both pregnant, like everyone else.

Other than that, we really haven't done anything exciting. I have been crazy busy at work and Kit is starting to work more hours. My grandparents finally made it home, which is really great for our whole family. It has been a stressful year so far. Now if we can just get the other grandma taken care of we will be doing good.

Easter Weekend

We went to St. George this year for Easter. We had a fun time, but I still really don't like to be away from my family on holidays. I'm sure someday I will get used to it. There were 17 people staying at Kit's aunt's house, and two dogs. There were also other people in and out all weekend, so it was a little bit crazy. Friday we hiked to some waterfalls. Then went home and had dinner.



After dinner it was time for the big draw.

Kit has an uncle who is loaded and an alcoholic. Every year he goes to the hunting expo or sportsmans expo (I can't remember which) and buys these really expensive tags. The drunker he gets, the more he buys. So this year he bought like six different tags, one of which is the same tag he had last year. Once he sobered up a little bit, he realized there is no way he will be able to go on all of those hunts. He sold a moose tag to a friend and decided to give the Henry deer tag to one of his nephews. Kit has been putting in for this tag for 11 years. This is like his lifetime dream. Earlier that day, Kit's cousin who has never hunted and really has no desire to hunt told Kit and Chant that if he drew the tag, he would trade it to one of them for their baseball and football cards. They were all over that until their uncle told them that there was no trading. There were four people in the drawing, Kit, his two brothers, and their cousin. They drew numbers out of a hat to see who would get to go first. The cousin got to go first and Kit was the last to draw. There were four Aces on the table face down, each with a different buck and the hunter who had shot it. They were mossback cards because this is also a hunt guided by Doyle Moss. Whoever drew Kit's uncle and his buck was the winner. There was also a second place that went to whoever drew the card of another guy from Vernal. Second place gets the hunt if for some reason first place cannot go (i.e. not passing hunter's safety). Everyone picked which cards they wanted, and kept them face down on the table. They all turned them over at the same time. I couldn't tell who had one because no one got really excited. Kit yelled "Dangit", so I knew he didn't win. His mom (who had drawn for his brother who wasn't there) was just laughing, and Chant and Cole were just standing there. Cole, the cousin, ended up being the winner and Kit got the second place card. After the drawing Cole went to his room and cried. Kit and Chant were pretty upset, and still are. Colt is not upset because it was a relief to him not to have it. He is the brother who needs the kidney transplant and he doesn't handle stress very well. His wife is also pregnant and due around the time of the hunt. I think Kit is getting more okay with it because he knows that he will draw in the next five years, but he will have to do his own scouting.

Saturday we went four-wheeling/dirt biking. Kit, his brother and two cousins were on dirt bikes. I had to ride on a four-wheeler with Kit's uncle, which was a little bit uncomfortable for me... We rode to some pretty cool spots and went to a spot where we could over look a lake. Once we got there, we traded with Kit's mom and her husband (I don't like to call him Kit's step-dad, it's a touchy subject). They had been driving a razor. Let me just tell you how great that was! The ride back was so much smoother and we were able to go so much faster. I also felt more safe in it. Kit and I have been looking at them and will probably buy one someday (in the distant future). When we got back, we had dinner and then the kids dyed eggs.

Sunday morning we got up and hid the eggs for the kids. Kit helped his cousin find tons of eggs and then helped him eat all of the candy he got. After that, we loaded up and headed home. We were able to listen to the last session of conference in the car, so that was nice. Now I need a weekend to recover from all of the excitement.

New Hair Do...

Kit is a very impatient person, especially when it comes to getting his hair cut. He gets a little angry when he needs a hair cut and someone can not fit him in right then. He also thinks that the cutter of hair should come to him because his mom used to cut hair and she could do it whenever and wherever he needed it done. Well, for the last week or so he has been telling me that he really needs a hair cut. He made an appointment with Baily. She was staying late at work to do it, but then he had to stay even later at work, so he couldn't go. I was out of town working and he texted me to see if I cared if he shaved his head. At first I kinda thought he meant he was going to bic it, but he said that he was just going to buzz it. I told him this was fine since he had buzzed his hair last winter after the mohawk. Well when I got home that night, he had done his own hair. The clippers he used didn't have the guard he wanted, so he did it without a guard. It's pretty short. Here's a picture of the damage. Sorry it's the same as the one in the other post. I don't take many pictures. Oh, and here's a picture of him and his new glasses. Ha ha....