Family Reunion

 Over Father's Day weekend we attended for the first time the Rondo and Lois Manwaring Family Reunion (Nathan's grandparents from his Dad's side).  It was in Hurricane, UT, and we were lucky enough to be able to rent a "villa" at the Sand Hollow Resort for all of our immediate family too.  It was quite fun, games, catching up with cousins, family history lesson, singing time, and of course great food! The reunion part was held on a homestead belonging to one of Nathan's aunt's family, Helen Manwaring.  It was a fun place, with some farm animals, a place big enough for the kids to run around, and they even had pecan trees, so James and Jack joined the cousins in cracking nuts on the driveway with rocks like monkeys.  Then we could enjoy some fresh pecans, quite tasty I might add. 

Clockwise starting top left: James and Kayla(3) at the homestead; James checking out the cows; James on the riding tractor; Grandma with cute cousins Jack, Kayla, Elisa, and James; and Daddy with Jack on an ATV.

 

 Lining up for the egg toss.

Nathan and I won!  But the egg did break over me and it got in my hair,

 it was kinda funny, and we went to a water park afterwards so it was washed out soon after.

 Clockwise starting at top left: Jack running a race; James in his running race; James found a tricycle; cute Jack; Alan, Brian, Gayle, and Danelle singing with Renee playing piano for some song learning.

 Cute brothers after a day of swimming!

Playing at the homestead

 My joys

The next morning was church and Father's Day!

 Nathan with his boys

 Richard and Rachelle and their kiddo's 

 3 generations, the Manwaring name will keep on going through this line

 Nathan and Alan, I think they look an awful lot alike

Nathan, Alan, and Richard, his 2nd and 4th boy

After having a tasty lunch, we headed back home, 

and we got to take Richard's girls with us for the week!

Bring on the madness!

Some June Outings

Some pictures from June...

We went to Colorado to see how we could help my Mama.  I drove both kids out, and Nathan flew in from Houston after a business trip. We had dinner at Uncle Kyle and Aunt Carol's house one night:

 Jack and Uncle Kyle

Had a good time chillin' in the front yard blowing bubbles another day at our house

 Get the bubbles!

 Daddy the bubble blower

 Running and playing with mommy

 Jack's expression here is great!

James and I took a trip to Colorado another week in June to see Grammies in the hospital.  She was looking so, so, so much better (and anyone would look better after being on their death bed). 

We stayed with Grandma Kitty, and had a great time there too!

 Bompa and James

We stopped at the Lincoln memorial in Wyoming on our way home, this was in the visitor's center:

 Mommy and James with Abe's giant head!

If going out to Colorado twice was crazy, the next two weeks were even crazier!

My Mama

On Friday May 24th my family received a frightful phone call.  My mama had suffered a heart attack that morning, and she drove herself to the doctor's office where she then collapsed.  She was then rushed to the hospital, and as we still piece together the story, she had actually died and was brought back in the ER by a doctor who said he'd never seen someone so far gone come back.  She was intubated for mechanical ventilation while her heart hopefully would heal from the shock it had lived through, and because while in the cath lab she had thrown up and had aspirated some of that back into her lungs.  The hospital didn't actually call my Dad, but he knew that my mom wasn't feeling well, and had said she should go to the doctor.  She did not have the usual signs of a heart attack, but had what she thought was appendix pain and a stiff neck.  By the time she got to the doctor, she said she was having a hard time breathing.  My Dad kept calling her phone that day, and it wasn't until that evening when a security guard was going by her room and he answered it that we found out what had happened.  On the way to the hospital, he called me, and then I called everyone from there.  My Dad stayed by her side as much as was allowed that first week.  She had two stents put in to open two of the main arteries, the circumflex was occluded 100% and the left anterior descending artery was occluded 99%.  It was a pretty major event. We went out there that Monday to see her and help where we could.  She was still intubated, but had pulled the tube out herself when the sedation had worn off a bit.  Her heart at that time couldn't handle the strain, so they had to reinsert the tube.  After a week though of intubation, they were able to take her off ventilation successfully, and her heart was doing the work.  She then was moved from the ICU to the progressive care unit (PCU), where she is still currently.  Right now they are working on getting all the fluid out of her lungs before they send her home. I went out again last week, and James got to go with me to see his Grammies.  He knew she was sick and in the hospital.  He's been praying for her at every prayer to not be sick anymore and to be able to go home.  Each day she is getting a little bit better, but it is a long recovery.  We have been overwhelmed by the love and prayers and words of encouragement.  Thank you!

 My mama and me when I was a year old

 Mama and our horse Cinnamon

taken a week before the heart attack

 Mama in the PCU a week and a half after the heart attack, 

she'd been sedated for about a whole week before this.

Two weeks after the heart attack with James

Looking and doing better and better each day!

She can now walk unassisted, but her voice is still very hoarse from 

when she took her own tube out, that could take up to a month to come back.

More updates will follow her progress.

May ReCap

Sorry for the long, long, long post this time. 

 Here's our May recap, I didn't realize we had done so many things.  

To start out the month, Nathan got Lasik surgery, and now no longer needs glasses or contacts.  He was a perfect candidate for the surgery, and we decided on a whim since our eye coverage started over on May 1st, so we decided to go ahead and get it now.  With our Health Savings Account we have set up through Nathan's work, we were able to pay for it without having to take any personal money from our savings.  

Nathan with glasses for the last time before he went to have surgery.

The surgery went great, and he could see more clearly the next day than he could with contacts!

Then I took the kids that same day to another "Baby Animal Days"

 put on by the USU extension in Kaysville.

 They loved it! 

Jack's favorite again were the chicks and ducklings.

He even held one himself :)

There was a small train to ride too!

 

On Mother's Day we celebrated with Grandma Hiller in Salt Lake.

Mommy and her boys

 I love this shot of Nathan playing on the grass (in their white shirts!) with James and Jack.


It is hard to get a good picture with these two, they are such clowns :)


Another day there was a small petting zoo just down the street from us.




 Riding horses
Jack's first time, and
this time he wanted to AND
liked it!






Random making the "surprised" face in the mirror after bathtime

We also visited the Treetop Museum.
I was thinking of going to see the mummy exhibit that is in town right now in Salt Lake.
Upon further investigation into that, it would have cost an arm and a leg, and I don't think the kids would really appreciate it yet.  My luck Jack would be scared the moment we walked in too.
So off to the children's Treetop Museum in Ogden.
What a hit!  So many neat things to see, touch, do!



Driving a firetruck



Jack the engine chief


All sorts of things to do, musical instruments, milking a cow, and the medieval area where there was a sword in a stone to try to pull.


Wooden train area with hats to try on too

James had his last day of preschool this month as well.
There was a fun party in the park to celebrate, with a slide show, bounce house, and the kids even sang some songs and said some nursery rhymes for all the parents.


James and Ms Meghan


James with Ms Mindy and Ms Meghan
We are lucky that they will be his teachers next year for the older class of preschool.


Another cute bath picture

We went to a friend's house a few blocks away, and they are raising lambs for the county fair.
These are the lambs we got to help feed when the Dorrity's were out of town.
James decided he wanted to ride one so he just climbed on!
 
Looks like we might try mutton busting this year!

Wow, what a post, hope you made it through, and at least enjoyed the pictures!

Best 7 Years

Nathan and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary today with a day all together.

Nathan took the day off, and we started with a brunch at GriDeli's (I just got that the name is trying to say Grill and Deli, and Nathan just figured that out too).

Then we headed to our favorite spa in Salt Lake, the Kura Door, a Holistic Japanese Spa.  I had an ofuro bath, and then we enjoyed a couples massage.  Afterwards we had dinner at Chili's, then ended the evening by seeing Iron Man 3.  It was so much fun, and after seven years, I am more in love than the day we were married.  I am so very blessed.

 May 6th, 2006

 May 6th, 2007

 May 6th, 2008

 May 6th, 2009

 May 6th, 2010

 May 6th, 2011

 May 6th, 2012

May 6th, 2013

I love you so much Nathan, I don't know how I got so lucky that you are mine!