Here... We... Go!!!

Things have been so crazy around here lately that I don't even have the faintest idea of where to start. But I'll give it a go anyway.

We celebrated our third anniversary about 3 weeks ago. It was the best! That day after work we drove to the hospital to visit my grandma. She was sick, but feisty as ever. When hubby walked into the room, she shot a "spit wad" (actually, it was just a Q-tip) at him. Just imagine my 77 year old grandmother lying in bed preparing for a quadruple bypass, and her main occupation is shooting spit wads at her visitors! Seriously, my grandma rocks! After the visit, we went to a really great restaraunt. While you're eating dinner, you get to watch an indoor cliff diving show. The hispanic food was pretty darn good too. After that, we went to the temple to see the gorgeous Christmas lights. That was the end of day one. Fast forward to Friday. We got the chance to rent a themed suite at a pretty amazing hotel. The room was themed after an old fashioned drive in movie theater. They had an "aaaahhhhhh that's comfortable" bed in the back of an antique pick up truck facing a huge movie screen. We watched a few movies that we've been meaning to catch up on, and it was so fun! Also included in the suite was movie candy, popcorn, a hot dog machine, an unlimited soda fountain, cheesecake, sparkling apple cider, and a full hot breakfast made to order. Of course, there was also a huge jacuzzi. We loved it so much that we want to go again next year!

Okay, after that we left to make the LONG drive to hubby's parents' house for Christmas. While there, we both caught the flu. That part of our vacation was MISERABLE, but other than that it was super fun! We stayed about a week, then made the LONG drive back home.

Of course, my husband is so dedicated that he showed up at work the very same day we got back in town. Plus, he's excited that he got into the lab that he wanted, and was eager to make a good impression on his new P.I. He's loving his work and often jokes that if I'm not careful, he'll drag our kids to the lab with him someday and turn them all into nerds. I laugh and then say NO WAY! I, on the other hand, was glad to still have a few days off before going back to work.

New Years Eve was pretty fun. I spent it with a few of my siblings playing games and eating too much junk. I, like most other people out there, thought "I may as well enjoy the good food tonight before I start my diet tomorrow!" Don't laugh, I know you thought the SAME thing! Admit it! And guess what? I DID start my diet! We've been working out every day, and making healthier food choices. My proud report? I lost five pounds over the holidays. Interesting tidbit: the average american gains about 7 pounds over the holidays. I am not the statistic! Wahoo!

Okay, a few days later the bad luck begins. I get food poisoning. From what? I have no idea. Nobody else got it. At least it only lasted a day. So I spent a lot of time over my vacation worshiping the porcelain god. Yuck! Then my niece was baptized. We're so proud of her! She asked hubby and I to speak at her baptism. Of course, we're headed on our way over there at ten minutes until the time it starts so I think, "Yes! We'll be a couple minutes early!" I should never have thought that.... we hear a popping noise and low and behold a flat tire! Of course, we're dressed up. Hubby in his suit, and me in a skirt and blouse without a coat because I had forgotten it. It was a balmy 18-ish degrees outside. So there we are in the I-hop parking lot trying to change a flat tire in our Sunday clothes. So we get it changed and hurry off to the baptism. We got there ten minutes late. Of course, the door we went to was locked. So we run around the building looking for an unlocked door. Of course, the sidewalk is covered in ice and I'm carrying everything because hubby's hands are covered in grease. I should have expected it to happen... I should never run in stilettos... on the ice... You guessed it! I pull a superman across the sidewalk. Everything in my arms goes flying and my whole front side is covered in ice. And I'm late. So we get to the baptism and everything goes well from there. I had to work that night and of course, there were huge nasty messes to clean up. What else should I have expected? After hubby picked me up, we run to the gas station. Hubby fills the tank up and we go to leave... the car won't start. We had a dead as a doornail battery! It will barely even take a jump, so we know we have to get a new one. By this time it was 8:30. Luckily, we make it to Wal-Mart (where else?) so hubby can get the old battery out, buy a new one, and install it. Guess what? The old battery is rusted into place... hubby can't get it out without certain tools... flush more money into the Wal-Mart drain. All this time, we have people waiting for us at our house to play games. They're all eating dinner and playing games and generally partying it up. I'm almost in tears at this point. Hubby finally gets the dumb battery out and manages to install the new one in about two seconds. I got home, and crashed. The following Monday, I had to go back to my "real" job.

That brings us to this week. There are a few other crazy things that have happened since my last detailed post. Here is the good news as of this week: My grandma's surgery went AWESOME and her recovery has been even BETTER! She's already out of the hospital and into a kind of intermediate care facility where they're helping her prepare to go back home. Hopefully she'll be doing that very soon. I told you she was feisty, didn't I? Our other piece of big news is that our caseworker contacted us to set up our final appointment before approval! Basically, she'll just look through our home to be sure it's a good, safe environment for a child. That will tentatively happen next Wednesday. Here's hoping we're approved before February! Wouldn't that be a great birthday present?!?

Please pray for my Grandma

So in a previous post, I told you all that my Grandma had a heart attack the day after Thanksgiving. She received some treatment while in the hospital and was then sent home to build up her strength in preparation for surgery which they planned to do after the holidays. She was home for a short time, then at about 2:00 this morning, she started having severe chest pains. My Grandpa and my mom took her to the emergency room, and the doctors decided to send her to another hospital via ambulance. Her doctors there decided that she will have to have the surgery as soon as possible. They will not be able to do the surgery for at least 72 hours from the time she was taken off the blood thinners, otherwise the surgery could kill her. They would much rather wait at least 5 days but she must remain stable until then. So we are praying that she will be able to wait until at least Friday. I would ask you all to pray with my family. We understand that she will recover if it is the will of God. But we are hoping to have a while longer with her. I especially hope that at least one of my children will get the chance to know and love her. So I am praying that she will get better and that we will be chosen for adoption quickly. I will keep you all updated. Thank you in advance for your concern and for your prayers.