the one about the pouring rain

The pouring rain, you ask? Well, it has been made clear to me lately that when it rains, it pours! That is not meant to sound negative, but in this update, every story has something to do with rain or pour. Plus, we have had so much going on lately, that.. yes. It does seem like when it rains, it pours!

I'll begin with rain/pour story #1. (Warning, this story is kinda long, so feel free to skip ahead.) As probably everyone knows already, I have some issues with my heart. I really hate talking too much about this but I have been having some problems recently and thought I would share. In January, I went in for my regular check up. My Doctor decided to take me off of my medicines because I had been doing so well. It was decided that the negative side effects of my medicine were not worth it anymore and as long as I didn't get pregnant, I was fine. The first few months were going well, but lately I have noticed things were changing. My energy was crap and my blood pressure and heart rate were getting high again. I got super sick with flu like symptoms during the first week of June. I went to my family doctor and she said I had a virus. I had been fighting a fever, aches, chills and all of that fun stuff. I started feeling a little better within 10 days or so, but still not awesome. I was up and down for a week or so, then i got really sick again. I was feeling awful and I knew it was my heart. Brett had called my cardiologist and made and appointment, but until then I was supposed to stay down and track my vitals. (Sure is handy having an EMT for a husband!) My appointment was set for Thursday July 1st. The Friday before, I could feel I was going down fast! I felt awful. I had a RESTING heart rate of 120-140. I had headaches, body aches and a sharp pain in the left side of my neck. We were super scared. We called the cardiologist and he didn't seem to concerned. He kept saying that my heart looked great in January when I had my last echo cardiogram. Well a lot had changed since then and I didn't feel like he was taking us serious. By Tuesday night, Brett was scared enough that he felt like we needed to go to the hospital. I didn't want to go to our local hospital because I knew they would just send me to SLC. We packed up everything, sent Quayd to my brother's house and hit the road. We got to SLC around 11:00 pm. When I got to the ER, there were several people there waiting to be seen. As soon as they took my vitals and heard my symptoms they marked my chart as "URGENT" and took me right back. I saw a Doctor right away, they started an EKG, blood work and a million other tests. I had a fever of 101.5. They did several different tests and scans on my heart and decided that except for the high heart rate, it looked good. They knew there must be an infection somewhere but didn't know where so they didn't dare give me an antibiotic. (BUG! What is with doctors and antibiotics these days?!?) They gave me some meds and IV fluids and I started feeling better. They released me the next day. I still had an appointment with my cardiologist on Thursday so we just got a hotel room and crashed. When I went to the cardiologist, he was a total jerk to me! He made me feel like I was wasting his time. Don't get me wrong, I was glad that he said my heart looked good but he didn't even take the time to listen to everything that had been going on. He pretty much told me that I was old and fat. OLD???? I am 31!! Fat??? Yes, but had he looked at my chart and cared a little bit, he would have been impressed to see how much weight I have lost since I last saw him. He adjusted my medicines and sent me home. He was a huge ass! We drove home and I was feeling worse than ever. On Friday, I went back to my family doctor and she said that it was obvious that I had a terrible sinus infection. I had a fever of 102 and she gave me an antibiotic. I have been feeling better, but my heart rate is still high. I still have body aches and I just don't feel that great. I guess it will just take time. Whatever. Anyway, I can't end this story without telling about the HUGE outpouring of love I felt during all of this. I have such great family and friends and they were right there, bringing us meals, stopping by bringing treats, visiting, calling and texting and it seriously meant the world to me! My pal Cara let me borrow her New Moon movie so I could get all caught up before I go see Eclipse. She also brought me some popcorn, licorice and these fun vampire teeth!

Love it! Thanks Cara! We had tons of fun with these!

Ok, rain/pour story #2. It was the Annual Galley family camp out this last weekend and it was a blast, as usual! We had a huge turnout and I love being around this great family. We were able to go river rafting on Friday morning, and even though I wasn't feeling great, I still had a great time. (There was on incident that happened that kind of put a damper on the weekend, but I am saving that for story #3.) The weather wasn't totally cooperative. It rained and poured almost the whole time. Oh well. Nothing can ruin our camping spirit!

Not even rain/pour story #3. Brett, Quayd and Finn headed up the mountain for camping on Wednesday night. I needed to stay and work another day, so I rode up with Talia Thursday night. It was so nice to get there and have camp all set up! Brett and Quayd did a great job. After we ate dinner that night, we were all chatting around the camp fire. Brett started playing around with some of the teenage boys. Not sure how it started, but they started having a fly swatter war. Some how, Brett stepped back in a hole and hyper-extended his knee. He was in a lot of pain but said it would be ok. By Friday afternoon, he was about to pass out from the pain. He decided to head to town and go to the ER. The ER doc said he tore a contour ligament and that he needed to see the ortho specialist. He said it would most likely require surgery. The Doctor put him in a brace, gave him crutches and sent him on his way. Brett made an appointment for Monday (today) at 4:30 with the ortho guy. We weren't sure what a "contour ligament" would be, so when he got back to camp, we googled it. (Yes, we had Internet on the mountain. Talk about "roughing it!") It is either the ACL or the MCL. Both are very bad. We decided to wait and see what the doc said on Monday. We went to his appointment and were told many different scenarios of what it could be. All sound pretty bad. Brett has to have an MRI of his knee so the doctor can see exactly what is going on, then we will go from there. I keep reminding Brett that he is not as young as he used to be, so playing with those teenage boys was probably not his best idea. Actually, he is suffering enough with the pain, so I have tried to keep my mouth shut. So when it rains health drama at our house, it pours!!!

Rain/pour story #4. A few weeks ago, Brett had to teach a HAZMAT class in Price. He had already been in Denver for a few days for work then 3 more days in Price. I had been feeling crappy and stressed and I just needed my hubby. Quayd and I packed up and drove there so we could spend the weekend with dad. we ended up staying an extra day and we had a great time! Brett was teaching with his friend Todd and his family ended up coming down too. One night while Brett was teaching, Todd's wife and I took Quayd and the other kids to Toy Story 3. The next day when Brett was finished teaching we went to the wave pool.

The waves were seriously pouring down on everyone! It was so much fun!

We were lucky enough to get to go boating with my brother and his family on July 4th and 5th. That brings me to story #5. We packed a nice big lunch, bought fishing licenses, caught night crawlers and got all ready for a fun day on the lake on the 4th of July. We were there for a couple of hours and guess what? It started to rain! And when it finished raining, it started to pour! We tried to stick it out for as long as we could, but we were freezing! We had caught several nice fish. We thought if we just cruised around the lake for awhile, it might clear up. We had been going pretty fast for awhile when we realized that our fish basket was still hanging off the side of the boat. We stopped pulled it in and it was empty. :( All of our fish fell out the bottom. It was raining even harder, so we packed up and went home. Empty handed. Because of the long holiday weekend, we packed a new lunch and headed out the next day! It was perfect! We caught lots of fish (and even came home with them!) and cruised around on the lake for hours.

The tooth fairy is responsible for rain/pour story #6. She has been hitting our house so hard lately, it seems like it is raining tooth fairy magic! Quayd is at that age where he is losing tooth after tooth after tooth.

It seems with each tooth comes less drama! Quayd used to freak out when it was time to pull a tooth. Last week, he lost one while eating a ice cream cone and it was never retrieved. He lost another last night and he came to me and asked me to pull it. The tooth fairy has brought "scratch and win" lottery tickets for the last two teeth lost. He thinks they are so cool. :) He is getting so big! I love and hate it!

So I guess that does it for my "when it rains it pours" blog. Kinda hokey, I know. And very long. Sorry about that. Once I finally take the time to sit down and blog, the word seem to just pour out!

the one about salsa

The Galley family has the best recipe for salsa. They used to make it every year. The bad thing about it is that it takes so much work that everyone who makes it is kind of stingy with it, so nobody ever really got any. (After making it, I totally understand that!) We are such salsa people so we knew we needed to figure it out. Brett and I started making and canning it about four years ago. It is seriously so good!!! We made a ton in 2005, 2006 and 2007 so we were well stocked. We actually should have canned it again last year, but we were just to busy. We ate our last jar this winter. This is the perfect time of year to make it, so we started last week. We made one batch last Monday and another on Friday. We will still probably do another batch or two, but we needed a rest! It is SO MUCH WORK! And you don't really get a whole lot. When we are making it, I always think, "This is in no way worth all of the work and the HUGE MESS!" But once I see it all bottled up, I am glad we did it. And I am even more glad once I eat some! It takes forever. First, you have to cut and chop all of the peppers, jalapenos, chilies and onions. Then you have to blanch all of the tomatoes and, of course, they need to be chopped too. You add all of the other stuff and once you get it all put together, it has to cook for 2 hours and it must be watched carefully. (We helped some friends make it several years ago and they burned a whole pot of it!!) We try to recruit people to come and help us, and Talia was the lucky winner of batch #1 and Gleneita was here for batch #2. Yes, we shared..... a little bit! ;) Anyway, this is the fruit of our labor. Isn't it beautiful?
We have already eaten some and it is delish! It is definitely worth all of the work.

the one about the Burns reunion

We got home Sunday evening from the annual Burns family reunion. That is Grandma Galley's family. This year, we went to MillSite State Park near Ferron, Utah. It was such a neat place! I had never even heard of it but it was a super fun place to go. It was very nice and clean. There were very nice camp sites right on the beach of the lake. There was a really cool golf course there and the guys hit that a few times. We had a nice pavilion and full bathrooms and showers. Of course, I have my own bathroom and shower in my trailer, but it is still nice to have it there. The weather was sort of nasty the first couple of days, but Saturday was PERFECT! We had a lot of rain, but that wasn't even that bad part... the WIND was AWFUL! But only a small part of the time so it was bearable. We left Wednesday afternoon. the drive should have only been about 3 and a half hours, but it ended up being about 5. We started having vehicle problems at the summit of Indian canyon. We pulled over, popped the hood and Brett discovered a blown radiator hose. He had to totally McGyver it with an old leather glove and his belt, but it got us to Price so we could get the parts we needed. We traveled with Tara's family and by the time we got to the part store in Price, the kids were ready to stretch out.

They had water guns so.... do the math. Antsy kids cooped up in cars, slow, hot travel; add in a few water guns and... well you can only imagine! After that little bump in the road, and a pit stop at Subway, we were on our way. Setting up camp was pretty easy, since there wasn't much leveling to do. Spence looks totally weird in this picture, but it was so funny that he kept putting his head in the trailer and yelling things like, "Mommy! I'm hungry!" "Mommy! I'm scared!" etc. etc. He is such a nut!!! He took a tent and we put it right by our trailer. I was so worried that he was going to get attacked by a bear. Brett assured me that there are not many bears in the dessert, but I was still concerned. They also told me they sprayed the tent with bear repellent so that eased my mind a lot. ;) We were all hungry around 10 pm, so I made TONS of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. Thursday morning, we headed for Goblin Valley. It was about an hour and a half drive from our campground. Like every camp out, Quayd and Drake are attached at the hip, so Drake rode to Goblin Valley with us. They are such good boys and they have so much fun together. Here are some pix from that day. Brett, Spencer, Quayd, Drake and I all walked into the valley together. Can you see Brett and Spence way up at the top of the above picture???It started getting really hot and it was time for lunch but Brett and Spencer still wanted to hike so the little boys and I headed back to the pavilion. Grandma Galley had brought a nice big lunch for everyone. We spent a few hours there, then headed back to camp. We were all hot and tired and I think everyone of us, except Brett since he was driving, fell asleep. Friday morning we played Bingo. Grandma Galley takes her Bingo pretty serious! She shops all year long looking for sales and good deals on prizes for the kids and adults. Brett was the bingo caller and I helped set up prizes. Can you believe this? There were close to 80 people there and everyone that played went home with with a paper grocery sack full of stuff! On Friday evening, with the swords they got from Bingo, Brett and Spencer decided to have an ultimate fighting/jousting competition on the water trampoline. It was so funny. They both ended up bruised, scratched and sore the next day.

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Saturday was spent mostly just relaxing and playing in the water and on the beach.








On our last night at the reunion, Brett and Spencer decided to make a craps table. They used the back of some wrapping paper and it it actually looked pretty good!


Brett had packed his poker set and it had everything in it for craps. They invited anyone who wanted to play. It ended up being Chad and Marcie, Scott, Shae, Brett and Spence. They had so much fun! The kids stayed up late that night riding bikes, playing with glow sticks and roasting marshmallows. Tara and I stayed up and fed our Bejeweled addiction. Yah, we totally had WiFi at the campground!!!

This is Chad's little boy, Evan. Isn't he so cute? I just love him!!! He gives "face lovies." So CUTE!!! It got kind of windy once it got dark, so it ended up being sorta chilly. I don't know how or why... but a few "people" decided to "take a dip" in the lake, if you know what I mean. Burrrrrrrr, it was SO COLD, but it sure was fun!!!!! It was a good way to end this fun camping trip. Quayd loves camping so much! I like it, I always have fun, but even if I didn't it would still be worth going, just so Quayd could have fun. It's funny, actually. I feel like I hardly even see Quayd when we are camping because he is off playing the whole time. He stays pretty busy exploring and playing. I'm so glad he loves it so much. He is so much fun! I just wish he would stop growing....

By the time we got home, cleaned everything up and re-stocked the trailer, I had decided that I had enough camping for awhile. But, now I have changed my mind... I am ready to go again. I actually think we might go this weekend. Anybody want to go???