Abby's Surgery

Abby had her surgery yesterday on her 8 month birthday and everything went great. I am so relieved to have it over with! She is doing really well. The doctor said it will be several weeks before we know how "fixed" her eyes really are, but there should be a big improvement. I'm so grateful that she made it through the surgery and everything was okay. It was so scary to hand her over and walk away! I was feeling really good about everything, but it was still hard to wait. She went in for the surgery at about 9:15 and it was almost 11 when the doctor came back to say everything had gone well. I think the hardest part was when I first went in to see her and her face was so swollen and she didn't even look like my little girl. Her little body just felt so limp and there was blood around her eyes. I don't know why I wasn't prepared to see blood, but it was quite a shock! I try so hard to be tough, but the sight of blood, especially on one of my children, just about knocks me over. I got to hold her for a while and she was pretty groggy, but her vital signs were really good, and she had a good appetite. She was so sweet! She would start to get upset and I would whisper to her and she calmed right down every time. We took her home a little after noon. She had to have one muscle in her right eye, and two muscles in her left eye worked on. She has 4 stitches in the right eye and 8 in the left. They were also going to unplug the tear duct in her left eye, but it has cleared up on its own in the last few weeks so they didn't have to. I am so grateful, because her poor left eye is still so swollen and she can barely open it. I'm so glad she didn't have to have more trauma to it! She wasn't very happy for most of the afternoon yesterday, but by evening she was starting to get back to her happy little self and laughing at her brothers. She settled down and went to sleep at 8:00 and slept all night! What a blessing. Thank you so much to everyone for all of your prayers and support. I know her surgery really isn't a big deal compared to a lot of things, but she is my little baby and I appreciate your kindness so much! Thank you!!!

Thank you, Stephenie!

Stephenie Meyer has brought a lot of good things to my life. First, of course, was the Twilight series. Next came The Host, which I am almost finished with but don't want to read the last 50 pages because then I'll have to wait until August for her next book to come out! Then last weekend I went to her book signing with two of my favorite friends and had an absolute blast. It was so fun to meet her and listen to her speak. She is so down-to-earth and I can't believe that such amazing things can come out of her imagination! It was inspiring.I was so excited to introduce her to Abby. Someday Abby and I can talk about how much we love Edward and Ian, and I will tell her that she met Stephenie Meyer and she will be so happy and be like, wow, my mom was cool once! Well, probably not. Anyway, after the book signing, we went to the Cheesecake Factory. It was my first time and I LOVED it! I can't wait to go back (who's with me?). It was the perfect day. Continuing on with the list of things Stephenie Meyer has brought to my life, she was on Good Things Utah last Friday, so I watched, and they featured these ribs:

I made them last night and they were so good! They are called Angel's Quick Peachy Pork Ribs. You can link to the recipe on the Channel 4 web site, or here it is:

Simmer boneless country ribs in chicken broth 45-50 minutes.
While ribs are simmering place into a blender the following ingredients:
Quick Peachy Sauce:
1 (16 oz.) can sliced peaches, drained
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup vinegar
2 T. soy sauce
2 cloves garlic
2 t. ground ginger
1 t. salt
Pepper to taste
Place ribs on grill over medium heat. Baste both sides with sauce. Grill for 3 minutes; baste again on both sides. Grill for another 3 minutes. Because these ribs are pre-cooked you can grill them to your liking. We enjoy them when the sauce starts to caramelize and the grill marks are seared into the meat for a nice crispy outside and a moist, delicious inside.

I have never cooked ribs on the grill before and it was so fun. My favorite part was that they are cooked in chicken broth beforehand, so they were very tender and I didn't have to worry about them being raw in the middle. I have this thing with rawness. It just freaks me out, so I always cook meat way too long and ruin everything. But these turned out really great. The sauce was good, but it makes a TON, so you might want to halve it. So let's review... we've got Edward, Ian, Cheesecake Factory and ribs. I guess my point is, I just love Stephenie Meyer!!!

Cards, cards, cards

My very cute and talented sister-in-law Lacey, designs and teaches card classes for my mother-in-law's scrapbooking store, Forget Me Not, in American Fork. As you may have read on Wendy's post, Lacey has agreed to come and teach a class for my friends at the amazing price of $5 for 5 cards. If you are familiar with the world of scrapbooking, you know that this is an absolute steal! We are going to have the class on Tuesday, June 3. We will let you know location and time as it gets closer. Anyone and everyone is invited (up to 20 people). Just let me know if you are interested and get me your money by Saturday, May 25. This is important! You must pay in advance so Lacey will know how many kits to make. You can also talk to Wendy and give her your money. The great thing about Lacey is that she does all the "work" - designs the cards, cuts the paper, gets everything ready so all you have to do is sit down, glue, chat and have a great time. Plus, she is one of the nicest and funniest people I know, and you will absolutely love her! (oh, to have that kind of creativity!!!) Yes, we will be making the cards in the picture. They are super cute and not difficult, so even if you have never done anything "scrapbooky", you will have no problem at all. Just let me know if you are interested!!!

Some years about me

This tag is from my beautiful cousin Julia who has a secret and won't tell me. But I am going to do the post anyway. I'm sure when she decides to divulge, I will be the first one to know because I did the tag. So here goes.

20 years ago:
I was 11 and just finishing up the sixth grade at Mountain View Elementary in Burley. Sixth grade was a bad year for me. The three B's about sum it up: Braces, Bad perm, and Bon Jovi (that was the year he got married, I remember I was so mad). I still remember a substitute teacher telling us that the two boys who always got in trouble and had to sit in the "naughty chairs" or whatever, would end up in prison. They probably did, just because she said that. Maybe I should google them and see if I can figure it out.

10 years ago:
Finishing up my sophomore year at BYU and getting ready to go to London for my summer term at the BYU London Center (it is actually spelled "centre" but oh, that bugs me, so I refuse to spell it that way). I loved that summer so much! I wish I could have it back.

5 years ago:
My firstborn, Dallin, was 3 months old. I was working from home doing web design for the State of Utah and totally and completely loving my life.

3 years ago:
Dallin was 2 and I was pregnant with Lukie, just getting past the yucky sick stage. We were living in our old house. I loved that neighborhood! Yes, I know it is only 3 miles away and I know a lot of people from that ward better now than I did when I lived there, but I still miss it!

1 year ago:
I was pregnant with Abby and just getting past the yucky sick stage. I had just found out I was having a girl. I was the assistant camp director and trying to figure out all the food for camp so I could go and check it off my list and not have to worry about young women any more (ha ha!). The weeds in our yard were sprouting nicely. I'm glad it's not last summer!

So far this year:
I don't feel like I have had more than 5 minutes of spare time. We finally got our yard put in. Abby has been sleeping through the night since Valentine's Day. Dallin graduated from preschool. Luke puts me in time out on a regular basis. Jason made his first hunting movie and is getting ready to sell it. And me? I made an apron.

Yesterday:
Did laundry. Ordered some wheat and thought about rice. Got my hair cut. Did some Young Women's stuff. Planted my potatoes. Helped Jason put together the kids' new play set (if you've never heard my husband swear, I think he is going to be working on it again today - come on over!). Cut out some muslin to start a new stitching project. Cleaned the house. Hung out with three of my favorite peeps (Alison, Julia & Teresa) and ate Cafe Rio at Alison's house while the kids ran around like tornadoes. Fell into bed completely exhausted without watching The Office.

Today:
Looking forward to watching The Office from last night with Jason (we're not allowed to watch it without each other. We usually watch it twice so we don't miss anything. We actually haven't even watched last week's episode yet! I'm so excited.). Going visiting teaching at 10. Finishing the laundry. Working on the play set. Getting the outside windows cleaned if it doesn't rain, and yes, I am paying someone to it! Making the dreaded trip to Wal Mart. Going to help clean a friend's house, which will be bittersweet, but I'm looking forward to it.

This year:
Abby's surgery at the end of the month. Not going to Lake Powell with my family (sniff sniff!). Not going to girls camp, which is more stressful than actually going! Having a wonderful summer playing outside with my kids and letting the house go to pot. I can't wait for my garden! I'm secretly planting some sunflowers and I hope Jason doesn't rip them out because he hates them and thinks they are weeds, but they make me happy so I think I should have them. The Cassia County Fair is on the agenda for August, of course. We are taking the kids to Kansas in the fall for our family trip this year (can't wait!!!). And of course I'm planning on enjoying every minute with my beautiful kids and great husband!!!

I tag... you. If you feel like it. Maybe I will tell you a secret if you do!

I did something!

I have accomplished relatively few things in my life. Five, to be exact. Marriage, three kids, and now... an apron! Yes, you heard me right. I made an apron! A few months ago my cute cousin Tami posted about how she was going to make an apron. I thought it was so cute, and when she posted the finished product, I knew I had to try. I have never been much of a seamstress, but I thought, how hard can it be? I remember when Tami was born. If she can do it, well, I can do it, too. Never mind the fact that she is one of those extremely talented people that can do anything, and actually does do everything. But I decided to ignore that fact. I ordered the pattern, picked out some fabric at Broadbent's in Lehi, where they actually treated me decent for once (sore subject), and got out my lovely $88 sewing machine. The next month was spent perusing the pattern and trying to figure out sewing terminology. Yes, I took 4-H for about a hundred years. No, I don't remember anything I learned. But a few things did sound vaguely familiar and I spent a lot of time on the Internet figuring it out. I have a problem called "I don't learn anything unless I figure it out myself" and also another problem called "Stubborn as a mule" so although I could have spent an afternoon with my mother-in-law and had it completely done, with no mistakes, I wanted to figure it out myself so I would really KNOW something. I only called my mom about it one time because I was confused if having the fabric "right sides facing" was the same as having the fabric "right sides together". If so, why would they not just say "right sides together" all the time? Right sides facing (facing what? out or in?) must be the opposite of right sides together. But apparently no, they mean the same thing. So that is good to know. I also learned how to do the following things: baste, top stitch, create a gather, make a bias binding, make darts, use fusible interfacing, stab myself with pins repeatedly, and my proudest accomplishment: the invisible ladder stitch. That one took me a while, but once I figured it out, I loved it with all my heart. The apron is not perfect by any means, but I really don't care. It is like one of my children. Not perfect, but I will defend it to the death. I was actually really surprised at how much I loved the whole process. I found myself letting out little squeals of joy every time I made any progress. The most frustrating thing was not having a large block of time to work on it. I require complete silence and no distractions when I am really trying to figure something out, and that just never happens with 3 kids. I finally started getting up really early in the morning and working on it before the kids were awake, which was surprisingly fun. Now, let me explain the pictures. This apron is, in fact, reversible, so it is kind of like I made two aprons and have now accomplished six things in my life instead of five. It can tie in the front or the back. In the yellow picture, I didn't realize it wasn't tied high enough, so I kind of look like an idiot. Forgive me. I will not make that mistake again. Now, I would really love to learn how to make skirts. Skirts are never long enough for me, and I have such a hard time finding them, and how hard can they be, really.... I know, I know, famous last words.