what a beautiful mess

Trevor took this picture and we were like "WHAT? Emilys reading!". It doesn't happen often. We've started a new rule for Sundays- no electronics. I'd say she picked a mighty fine thing to be doing instead of being on her phone....

Lately it seems my mind flits around from thought to thought and never settles on one. I'm happy, I'm sad, I'm discouraged. I'm weak one minute and strong the next. Seriously...how am I supposed to come up with something to blog about when I can't settle on any one thing? But Trevor likes when I blog because he says it gives him more insight into my brain. So for that reason and because my family likes it, I'm going to try. And the winning thought goes to......: Date night. Cause it's Friday night and that's generally what we do. Tonight we are going to go see Intersellar and I'm super excited! We've been seeing the trailer for it for months and have been so anxious to see it (at least I have!). Trevor and I love going to movies together...like it's probably our favorite thing to do together. Last week we celebrated our 15th anniversary and we had an amazing day together. Trevor planned it and we did all the things we've loved to do tog...

Right now Carl and I are laying on my bed resting. He's sleeping and I'm relaxing with my hot, well slightly warm now, rice bag. I've done all the things on my phone I generally do in the morning like look at craigslist,  read Houzz.com, check my email....and now updating my blog. I drank my chocolate milk and got the kids off to school with a warm breakfast in their bellies and their packed lunches. I've listened to the chickens cluck their eggs out and I've put dirty clothes in the hamper and towels in the wash . It's been a busy morning...I think I deserve a quick nap... (Hi trevor! I know you're reading this at work...you should come home early and take a nap with me ;) just kidding...kind of)

And by the A word I mean accident. I get tired of talking about it, thinking about it and living it. The kids have healed so well. The only problem is Emilys backpack hurting her back from being so heavy. Hopefully we have a solution for that that she'll be ok with. (I have my douts...Vans do not make a backpack with wheels) There isn't a morning yet where the first thing on my mind is something other than my neck and the same thing goes for the last thing on my mind before I finally fall asleep. I went to the doctor again this week for xrays and a check up. Trevor came away feeling great about it, I came away slightly discouraged. The surgery part of my neck is healing perfectly. However until an issue I'm having in the vertebra below the surgery sight resolves, I have to keep getting xrays. Granted I don't need them again until December but still it could go on for a long time... I can now lift up to 25 lbs and exercise more which is great. But I have to stay inside...

Emily is in 8th grade, Annabelle is in 7th grade, Stephen is in 5th grade and Joshua is in 2nd grade. They all had a really good day. Everyone came home happy (although Anna didn't stay that way!) And are ready to go back to school tomorrow. Trevor took me to lunch at the best Mexican restaurant. And tomorrow I get to go to lunch with one of my favorite people in the world. So all in all, a successful start to a new school year!

This past year, Stephens been in 4H raising and training cows/calves. For the most part he's really enjoyed it. This last week they entered their cows into the county fair. Stephen did a really good job. There were lots of things they were judged on but I can't remember them all. However he did win 3 first place ribbons! We were so happy for him and proud of all the hard work he did to train his cow.

A great day! Joshua got the go-ahead from his doctors to stop wearing his brace and we are so flippin' excited. I couldn't stop smiling after his appointment, I was so happy. It feels a little bit like closure. I think we all feel a little more healed emotionally. It hurt to have to tell him that he couldn't do things and have to comfort him while he cried. But he always took it so well and had such a great attitude! He starts school next week and as long as he has good neck movement, he won't have to have any restrictions; he can be a normal little boy again! Today we were able to visit with aunt chelsey while in Salt Lake. We love that girl! The kids were so excited to see her and we had a great time visiting with her. We will never be able to thank her enough for what she did for Joshua and us... It was a really, very, most definitely, great day. As we turned onto our road at 10:30 tonight, Trevor said that it was his favorite turn of the day. We all definitely a...