Yeah! My Camera is Working!!!!

Well, actually, it's been working, but I wasn't able to download pictures. Anyway, I have a lot of pictures that have been waiting to be blogged. So here are some of them.


This picture is from way back in November when the Karpowitz family came to visit. Here is Jake, Emma, Summer, Kate, Ryne, and Brook all ready for church with the girls in their matching dresses.

This is the picture from the Fosse Family Turkey Bowl on Thanksgiving Day 2007.
The rest of the pictures I will post under their own titles. I'll probably have to finish it all tomorrow.

Camera Phone

Okay, I am not very good at taking my camera everywhere. If you are, wow. I am really not. Anyway, Christmas of 2006, Fax got me a new phone with a camera on it. I have a wee little memory card in it that stores quite a few pictures. So, whenever I am somewhere that I should have my camera, but don't, my phone gets to do the honors. The pictures are not great quality, but I decided to download them onto my computer anyway. And I thought I'd share some. Some are old, but who really cares? (If you do, too bad.) Above is Summer, circa Spring 2007.
Jake, Brook, and Wynn eating popsicles. Isn't summertime fabulous? (Summer 2007)


This was one of those, "I never got to do that when I was growing up" moments. What I remember is that growing up they only had little ride-on toys at K-Mart. I'm pretty sure they were dirty and nasty and also a waste of money and that's why we never rode on any. Anyway, I had 50 cents I didn't mind wasting and for some reason my kids were thrilled, so I took a pic. (Summer 2007)

Here's a picture of Summer and Bryce at a park by Mark and Jen's house. (Summer 2007)

Summer, Jake, Brook and Gracie. This picture turned out so cute that I had to include it. We went to see Christy at the hospital the day she had Gracie (which is also our anniversary) and, of course, I didn't have my regular camera. (August 2, 2007)

Jake's first day of school outside his Kindergarten class. (August 2007)

Kaleb and Jake playing Guitar hero. This was pre-Rockband. Jake actually prefers singing. This is rather obvious since he's only strumming. (Fall 2007)
This is a picture from our trip to Las Vegas to see the Karpowitz family. Emma, Ryne, Jake, and Summer. (I think, but I'm not positive since it's a shot of their backs.) April 2008


Gretchen might kill me if she knows I blogged this, so please don't tell her. This was taken Monday, May 19th, 2008. This was in ICU 5 days after brain surgery. Because children aren't allowed in ICU, I took this to show to my kids so they wouldn't be shocked when they saw their Aunt GG without any hair and sporting a HUGE scar. (You can't see it from this view.)

On a lighter note, this is Summer at the Discovery Park during Jake's "field day." (May 27, 2008)

More Updates

Well, I'm happy to report that Gretchen came home from the hospital on Friday. Which was a week early out of the ICU and about 5 days early from the regular hospital ward. Anyway, she still has some recuperating to do, but overall she's doing really well.

My Playlist

So, thanks Leah for showing me the playlist. And thanks to Fax I got the code thing figured out very quickly. Anyway, some of the songs I just like, but others I like for specific reasons and here they are: (Not that you care, but if you do...)
On any other day - Funny song. I think we can all relate on some level.
Like the Weather - Reminds me of my mission. I never wanted to get out of bed. I did, but I didn't want to.
Leaving on a jet plane - Reminds me of Leah and Jenni and I driving in the mustang trying to harmonize.
Just the Way You Are - Right before I got married someone said, "Women get married hoping that their husband will change. Men get married hoping that their wife won't."
I may know the word - Many times I could have done something, or said something and didn't. I'm trying to do better. The hardest part of listening to the spirit, for me, is doing what it tells me.
Tears in Heaven - I think this is the saddest song ever. I'm on the verge of tears every time I hear it.
Do Something - This is my favorite from the Eagles' new album.
Boys of Summer - Still my favorite "radio song".
Banana Pancakes - I prefer blueberry, but every once in awhile it does sound good to just have a kick-back day.
Summer Breeze - They didn't have "summer's here" so this will have to do.
Fire - Reminds me of playing cards at Karen Wright's house with her parents who were Hendrix fans
Blister in the Sun - One time Laina and I were driving with Merris Locey and this song was on. Anyway, Merris covered her ears and yelled, "Turn it off! It's feeding me subliminal messages." (Good times!)
Mirror in the bathroom - I personally try to avoid them (mirrors).
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now - I like the line, "Why do I give valuable time to people who don't care if I live or die?" I like it because everyday I give my time to people who actually do care. You can't get that at a regular job.
Girlfriend in a coma - Fax had me add this one in tribute to my sister Gretchen (who is now out of ICU and could be coming home this weekend!).
I hope you enjoy the songs.

Just the Joy....

Okay, so today I was cleaning the kids' bathroom and I asked Jake if he wanted to scrub the toilet. Now I know, why would anyone want to scrub the toilet, right? But usually Jake really enjoys helping me out and trying new things. Lately he's been into scrubbing the toilet with the scrub brush. For his effort I let him pick out a quarter from the massive change jar we have. Anyway, today I asked him if he wanted to help and he said he did. So he came into the bathroom and said, "Am I going to get a quarter for this?" Now, I don't know why, but I said, "No, you will just get the joy and satisfaction of a job well done." Then he replied, "Oh, no thanks then." So, don't get me wrong, it didn't surprise me or even disappoint me. He's 6. But as I continued cleaning the bathroom it got me thinking. It got me thinking about why I do things. I thought about all the jobs I do, and mostly (especially as a Mom that stays at home all the time) I don't get paid and often the things I do go completely unrecognized. So, all I have is....the joy and satisfaction of a job well done. I think that alone should mean more to me. Anyway, those were my musing for the day.

Updates

Well, I thought I'd give a quick update on how my sister, Gretchen, is doing. Yesterday she did some walking around her bed and in the hallway. She had assistance, but still did quite well. The doctor said that if she continues to improve as she has (baring any complications) she can move from ICU to a regular hospital room in 4 days. That's all I've got today.

I KNOW!! I'M A SLACKER!!

Okay, I don't have a good reason for not blogging, but I do have one. Our computer crashed about 2 months ago and since then I have not been able to download the pictures from my camera onto our computer. I know, lame, but none-the-less. Fax has assured me that he will fix the problem soon. So, until then you will just have to deal with my ramblings, absent of pictures.

Our Trip to Vegas

Okay, so the kids and I decided to drive to Las Vegas to see Leah, Matt and the kids for the last few days of spring break. The weather wasn't great up here in Utah, and it sounded like fun. Plus, I never take the kids anywhere, so we went! We were due to leave Sunday morning, April 20th, so the kids would be back for school on Monday. Matt had been feeling pretty sick and so I decided to stay a few extra hours while Leah took him to the E.R. (We figured he needed some adjustment to his current medication.) Instead it turned out that he need surgery to have his colon removed and also a grapefruit-sized tumor. Which also turned out to be cancer. We only stayed until Tuesday, but I just want to say how amazed I always am by the power of fasting coupled with prayer. After a total of about 10 days in the hospital (on two separate occasions), Matt is back home and doing well.

Our Trip to Costco

So, yesterday I had my usual Wednesday errands to run. I left about 9:30 so that I could be back before Jake went to Kindergarten. After a fabulous time at Walmart we headed over to Costco to finish up. As I stepped out of the car around 10:15, Cory called and told me Gretchen had collapsed at the school and was being taken to the American Fork Hospital. She had just arrived when we got to the hospital. She was still very out-of-it, so Jake, Summer, and I stayed in the waiting area. After some sedation and a cat scan they noticed that she had some bleeding on the brain. They intubated her and after a blessing from Cory and Fax, was loaded into the ambulance for her transfer to Utah Valley Hospital. We arrived there around 1:20. They took her in for another Cat Scan to see if they could get a better image and figure out where the bleeding was coming from. This didn't show anything else, so they proceeded to do an angiogram. This did produce results. Gretchen had an aneurism and it had bled. They had her in surgery by 3:00. Thankfully they were able to repair the aneurism and Gretchen is doing pretty well, all things considered. She is able to move her legs, feet, arms, and hands. She can also speak and were going to remove her feeding tube today. Once again, I am amazed at the power of a simple thing like fasting and prayer. I'm also very grateful for family and for the Priesthood.


So, that is what has been going on here. Plus, Jake and I went on a super fun fieldtrip to a farm today. I only had my camera phone with me, but I'll try to make some time to post some of those pictures tomorrow. And I'll hopefully have some other pictures to post once the software for the camera is found and reinstalled.