An Unexpected Friend

Today I had to make a run to Walmart on my way home. I was coming from Boise so I stopped at the Garrity Walmart... not my usual. I laugh that I always run into someone I know at Walmart. It doesn't matter if it's 2:00 AM and I'm looking "pretty." Today was no exception, but I was completely shocked as to whom I ran into. It was my friend Kerri Costley! She and her family lived across the hall from us in our first apartment. I haven't seen her since Ashley was born. They moved to Michigan and we moved to Colorado. Now they live in Texas and we live in Idaho and it's so crazy that we ran into each other at Walmart!!! I've thought about them so many times and tried to track them down. But since I dropped my phone in dish water I've lost touch with lots of friends. Their daughter Lorin used to sneak over to our apartment so I could paint her fingernails. The last month we were there was really fun. I wasn't working and I was itching to have my own baby girl. It just so happens that Kerri had their second daughter 2 days before I had Sammy. They also have a daughter just 7 months younger than Ashley. It was fun to laugh with Kerri and Cory about having all girls. We of course exchanged phone numbers and blog addresses. I got sucked into reading her blog all afternoon! I think they are my new heroes. Their daughter, Izzy, who is Sammy's age was diagnosed with Leukemia and she has gone through 2 1/2 years of therapy. I cried my eyes out reading Izzy's blog. Seeing pictures of Cory holding Izzy in his arms you can tell how much he loves that sweet little angel. I can't even imagine what Kerri goes through as a mother to see her child endure such pain. Izzy has more strength than I ever new a child could have. She's had to endure many, many spinal taps and blood transfusions that it makes my heart ache. The good news is she had her last treatment recently and is finally in remission. If you want to see her journey video click here. I'm so glad I ran into Kerri and I'm excited for future conversations! Good luck Izzy with your journey to come! I know your family loves you so much and so do we!!!

We're Back!

Okay, I know I've been a slacker on the blogging thing but we've been out of town. Since I last posted I ran my 4th half marathon race (Saturday the 11th). This one was called Fit For Life and the finish line was across home plate at the Boise Hawks Stadium. My official time was 2:03:14 and I think my face said it all. I was completely shocked since I only ran once in the previous two weeks and I still managed to cut another 6 minutes off my time. Who knew I had it in me?

Later that day we celebrated Andy's birthday at Tucano's with some friends... Yummy food, great atmosphere, and awesome company. He got spoiled once again and got Guitar Hero World Tour (new guitar included). Happy 30th, Andy! I love you so much and I'm glad you were born!

We left Sunday to go down to Utah. We stayed a couple nights at my brother's house and while there I did my second Lia Sophia show for my SIL, Cindy. It was a success and we had a good time. Andy I think would disagree. He took the girls to a movie while the show took place. He came back and said he was NEVER taking Katie to another movie.

Tuesday morning we headed up to Midway for the annual Wyne Family Reunion. We were the last ones to arrive and it seemed everyone was already having a ton of fun. Our girls played, ate, played, got wet, played, ate and slept... a little. They love being able to play with all their cousins for 3 whole days. And now they are big enough to do sleepovers with them.

Andy and I had to make the most of our room and tried to laugh about it. I asked Andy where our room was and he said, "We're in the fish bowl." Huh? That's right! We slept in a fish bowl.

It was a two story room in the middle of the cabin with windows on all sides. Andy's sisters, Dana and Mindy, were kind enough to find sheets to hang up, but they fell down shortly after. So, we changed in the bathrooms, put Katie down for naps in the Brown's room (thanks SO much for offering), and awoke to little faces pushed against the windows. Our family activity we planned was Family Jeopardy. Each category was a family and there were 6 questions in each. The last category was "Who Knows" which meant it could come from any family. One of the questions was, "Which cousin said, 'Jesus has eyeballs in his pocket.'?" (Sammy) Mindy made some comment on how it wasn't on my blog... Sally piped up and said, "Actually it is on her blog." Ha, ha. At least I know someone pays close attention to the funny things my girls say.

One of my favorite things while at the reunion: getting to know my SIL, Gwendolyn, better. She and Nate got married 2 years ago and they live in California. So we only see them about once a year. My not so favorite thing: running up hill for our last mile with Amy and Emily. The other 6 miles of the run was fun and I'm glad they (including Lisa) will run with me as slow as I am. You can check out Sarah's blog for more on the reunion.

Friday we headed back to Adam and Cindy's house. We layed the girls down for naps after all the playing on little sleep and they were OUT. I went to Amara... yahoo! And later that night our friends Kurtt and Marilyn came over for some games. It was so fun to see them again. It's been way too long.

Saturday we got up at the crack of 7:00 and went to Lagoon!!! That was part of the deal coming down to Utah and believe it or not Andy didn't disagree with me. Check out Cindy's blog for the awesome day we had.

Eye Infection Update

I saw my optometrist today and... my eyes are getting better! Wahoo! Now for the best party, I get to wear make-up and my contacts for about 8 hours a day. Plus, no more yucky eye drops. I know this sounds crazy, but they made me so nauseous. I know I'm not crazy though, the doctor told me he's had to use them before and they made him sick, too. The only other thing I have to do is put a damp, hot wash cloth over my eyes 3 times a day for about 5 minutes. Sure, I'll obey those doctor's orders. It gives me an excuse to lay down.

Eye-eye, sir!

About a week ago my left eye was bothering me and I decided to give it a few days before I saw a doctor. I threw out my old contact lenses and that helped. After a few days my eye seemed to be back to normal. Yesterday around 7 in the evening my eye started to bother me again. I had a hard time sleeping and by morning my pillow was drenched with tears. When I looked in the mirror I found my eye swollen almost completely shut. I visited my doctor and the verdict...

Double eye infection!!! What does that mean? No contacts, no make-up, and eye drops for about ten days! I hate not being able to wear my contacts but if it allows me to see I'll obey the doctor... and I guess it makes for easy clean up in the morning if I can't wear any make-up. Shaving, and drying my hair might be interesting because I am seriously blind without my contacts or glasses. Wish me luck my eyes get better fast! I'll see my doctor again on Friday to see if there's any progress.

4th of July Celebrations!

We celebrated the 4th of July at home with our neighbors and friends at a block party. The kids decorated their bikes and scooters for a parade. We ate lots of food! Afterwards the kids rode their bikes down the street where they received prizes at the end. Then we had a water balloon fight. It was still light outside so we sat around and visited while throwing snaps at each other. When it was dark enough Ron Knapp put on a pretty awesome fireworks show! It was so much fun and we look forward to next year!