the one about some Christmas happenings

Holy crap. I am so sorry to all of my faithful blog fans that I haven't posted in 2 1/2 weeks. I think that is the longest it has ever been in between posts. I am super sorry. I have been so busy. Like so busy in fact, that I have barely had time to stalk all of you. So now that I have spent a few days catching up on all of your lives, I can catch you up on mine.

Quayd had his first grade Christmas program last week. It was so cute! All of the classes sang some songs together, but then each class did something alone. They were able to perform and make it more personal. Quayd's class did a puppet show to the 12 Days of Christmas. They went through the whole song with their puppets and it was SO CUTE! I don't want you to have to watch the whole thing, so here it is starting at 12 and going down. Quayd is "4 calling birds."

The crazy kid at the end is Quayd's buddy Rylan. He is a nut!!! We love him!

We also had Quayd's class party. I love to help with the parties and stuff, so thanks to my rockin' boss, I was able to leave work for awhile and go help.




Another big event was the Holiday Inn Christmas party. Of course, Tara and I planned it. We wouldn't have had a party otherwise. Tara and I pushed for it, therefore got stuck with it. It was ok though. We had lots of fun. We played BINGO and we even had some sweet prizes. Tara and I went to tons of local businesses and worked out some trades. They gave us gift certificates, we gave them a free night stay. That worked out awesome! We also did a white elephant gift exchange, pot luck, and an ugly Christmas outfit contest. There were only like 5 people that dressed up. Brett and I were 2 of them. I am sorry for the obscenity. Brett "grabbed something" right before the picture was taken, and that was the only picture we got. Yes, we are wearing sequined berets. This is Spencer's hot outfit. He totally won, by the way.
And here are a few more random pictures of the party.



We also had the Galley Christmas party the other night. It was fun, as usual. Santa came and brought all of the kids pajamas. It is always fun to see all of the Galley's and it is such a treat to have the Gardiner's come from Castledale. Poor Amy. She had some weird allergic reaction to something and started swelling and itching everywhere. Rhonda actually had to take her to the hospital and she had to stay over night. It was totally weird. Poor girl. If it is going to happen to someone though, it would be her!!!! Love ya Amy!!!

I don't want to go into details because my heart is totally broken over this, as well as Quayd's heart, but we no longer have Itty Bitty Kitty. She just couldn't get over the peeing on the bed thing. It actually got way worse. We tried EVERYTHING!! Anyway, I don't really want to talk about it so I never will again. Please don't ask. And DON'T bring it up to Quayd!!!!!! End of story. I do want to share these cute pictures of cute little Itty with her brother Winston at the Galley's house when I was helping Tara decorate her trees.



A couple of weeks ago, I was over at Aunt Debbie's decorating her tree. Quayd noticed a picture of Brett's dad. I just watched him, to see how he would react. He stood there staring for a few minutes, in silence. He didn't say a word, but went on playing. I didn't bring it up, but on our way home, he said, "Mom, can we go up to the cemetery and decorate Papa's grave?" Of course I said yes. We had bought some things to take up there, so we came home, got the stuff and headed to the cemetery. I am always so amazed at Quayd's reverence there. He gets it. He is such a special kid. We worked hard to decorate it just how Quayd wanted it. Whenever we go there, and its time to leave, Quayd always kneels down and tells Papa that he loves him. Its so awesome. This is our work. Obviously this was a couple of weeks ago because now we have almost 6" of snow on the ground! Our flags are still there from Veteran's Day. I am so glad that Quayd remembers his Papa. He was 1 day away from being 5 when Mike died, so really, he could have gone either way. I don't think it is coincidence that he remembers him so well. He even remembers a lot about the funeral. We talked about it in the car on the way home that day. So amazing. What a great kid. How in the world did I ever deserve him? Even though there are SO many differences between Mary and I, I always think of her at this time of year and how lucky she must have felt to be the mother of the savior. What a sacrifice she made. Being a mom is the greatest blessing ever, and like Mary, I was blessed with the sweetest, kindest most beautiful son ever.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

the one about missing Papa

Again, I found these pictures while going through some old ones a while back. They are from Thanksgiving (2003, I guess) and Mike was in the VA hospital in Grand Junction, Co. We had dinner with my family around noon, then packed up a big thermos bag thing and took dinner to Mike. I had totally forgotten about these pictures. They were filed away in "Thanksgiving Pictures," and there were only a few in there (I mean who REALLY takes pictures at Thankgiving? Although, it is a perfect time to do so). Needless to say, they have been overlooked since, well, 2003. Mike was so excited to see Quayd that day. It was just Brett, Quayd, Talia and I that went to be with him, and it was sort of a surprise. Mike's reaction was priceless! Ohhhhhh, I really miss him.

the one about Father's Day

Kind of a strange feeling around my house today. Don't get me wrong, Father's Day was fun and great and I think Brett had a good day. But we definitely noticed the absence of one very important and special father. Mike. It is strange to think that we are approaching the 1 year mark since his death last August. And even closer to the 1 year mark of when we last saw him alive.

Strange story... Mike had a million and two health problems. And weird problems too! We still joke that if it could happen, it would happen to Mike. Anyway, he was on several medications for several different things and was pretty much confined to a wheelchair. He was a veteran and he was able to go to a type of rehabilitation center in Florida to adjust medications and get him adjusted to life in a wheelchair. He flew out early on July 24th. So on the 23rd, Brett, Quayd and I, Talia, Mike and Gleneita (I think that was all that went) went to dinner and spent some quality time together. When we said good-bye to him that night, that was it. That was our good-bye. It is so weird, but that night when we drove away from their house, Brett said to me, "That is the last time we will see my dad alive. He's not coming home." I totally brushed it off and thought he was totally weird, but he knew. Also, looking back, Mike was so insistent that he see everyone and tell everyone good-bye. It was so important to him. Isn't that crazy? He knew, without really knowing, you know? I miss him.

It was our ward's Father/Son camp out on Friday night and Brett always took Mike and Quayd, so it was a little difficult for him this year. These are scrapbook pages from the camp out 3 years ago.

This picture is from the last time we went to Hidden Springs Lodge. Just thought I'd throw it in here. (Brett, Randy and Mike playing cards.)

My dad lives so far away and even though I hate it, we just aren't super close. Throughout my 30 years, he has lived far away longer than he hasn't. As sad as it seems, it is just the normal now. We talk occasionally, but he has his life and I have mine. It is kind of a tough thing for me to talk about, so I don't very often. I love my dad though and I miss him too!

With the shortage of Dads here, we also realize just how blessed we are to have the amazing Grandpas that we do! Last night we got to spend some time with Grandpa Lane to celebrate his Birthday and Father's Day. We had a pizza party at his house. I couldn't pass up this great photo opportunity.

This morning, we got to be with my Grandpa for breakfast on his patio. My mom and I cooked, and my Grandparents provided the space! Brandon, Danette and the boys were there too. It was fun.

It was such a hot beautiful day today, that we couldn't pass up the invitation from Brayden and Brennen to swim in their sweet pool! Talia also invited us to go swim at the lake, but we thought the pool sounded much nicer. So she came here instead. Then we made Gleneita get out of the house and come hang with us. She brought lunch too, which was great!
So speaking of swimming, My son is a fish. Just so you know. He has always loved to swim! He has taken swimming lessons, but has never really caught on to swimming without a life jacket. And he hasn't really cared! He got a new life jacket this summer and when we were at the lodge last week, it really rubbed him and made sores all over. It was pretty sad. So today when we were getting our swim suits on, he said, "I don't want to swim with my life jacket anymore. I think I will learn to swim today." And you know what??? HE DID!!!!! Once he had it in his mind that he could do it, he did it with no trouble at all. Can you believe that? He was jumping off the side and swimming to the other side and everything. I am just amazed.

Well, I hope Brett had as nice of a day as I did. It was very laid back and relaxing. Quayd and I got him a golf pass and I am sure he will put it to good use! I am so thankful for Brett and the great dad that he is. He is so cute with Quayd and I love seeing them together. Brett is teaching Quayd to be a good man, just like he is. When I am with the two of them, I feel so safe and loved. They respect and love me so much, and I feel the very same about them. I am so glad I was able to give Brett his beautiful son and give the Grandpas and Great-Grandpas thier Grandson. I am so thankful for the wonderful men in my life!!!!

Happy Father's Day!

the one about Memorial Day

We have been a little stressed lately because we were promised and guaranteed that Mike's headstone would be set by Memorial Day. Memorial Day has been getting closer and closer and still no headstone. Really, we just wanted that final piece to pay tribute to the man that we love.

Finally on Thursday, it was set.

I think Brett and I were the first ones to see it, because it still looked fresh and nobody else had called Gleneita to tell her it was there. We rode the motorcycle up to the cemetery, and I have to say that it was a little harder to see it than I thought. Seeing his name (and Gleneita's!) etched in stone was kind of a shocker. It looks nice though and we are happy that we finally have something to look at besides a tiny marker. It is hard to tell in my picture, but the headstone had their marriage date, sealing date and the names of their four kids. Mike served in the Navy, so they provided a foot stone too.

Gleneita and I have spent several evenings together getting the flowers and plants just right for this weekend. We finally took them up on Friday night and everything looked great. We bought a cute pot with a frog and I got some nice stuff to fill it. We also got a small pine tree and planted it in a cool barrel planter. Quayd had chosen a dog with a solar light ball in it so it would glow at night. The cross was from Grandma Lane and the big arrangement from Mike's sister, Debbie. I think it all looks very nice.

We love you Papa!

the one about my Mother's Day

When I woke up this morning, I found this letter waiting for me.

Mandy,

I wanted to write you a letter for Mother’s Day and tell you how much I love and appreciate you. You are such an amazing person. This last year has seen some real highs and some super lows, but the constant in all that happened was our family, and our marriage. It’s hard for me to express how much you mean to me. You really are my other half I am not whole without you. I love how we can communicate and understand the others thoughts without even being together. I love sharing our lives together, and I am so proud to have you as my wife and the mother of our boy. It’s hard to believe that it has been ten years already. Thank you for being you i.e.: loving, funny, caring, sensitive, ambitious, intelligent, spiritual, well natured, driven, successful, motherly, nurturing, good humored, awesome, crazy, outgoing, down to earth, and patient just to name a few. Thank you for fighting when you were so sick for me and Quayd. We would never be where we are today without you. Thank you for writing down your birth story, it is hard to talk about and even harder to remember. It is that time in our lives that defines who we are today, and thank you for giving people a small glance inside our story. I cherish those memories from that time, but it still scares me to death to think about it. Thank you for being such a special part of my dad’s life, I really want you to know hoe much it meant to him and I. Thank you for helping me get through such a tough time. The wound is still open in my heart but you help me keep going. Thank you for being you and understanding me and my screwed up emotions, No other person on this earth understands me the way you do so thank you. Please know that I will always be here for you, if you stumble I will steady you, if you fall I will always pick you up. You are mine and Quayd’s world. Happy Mothers day to the BEST MOM and WIFE in the WORLD.
Love, Brett

We were outside playing this afternoon and Brett took a picture of Quayd and I. As I was starting to post this, I remembered that I had some pictures of Quayd and I on my first Mother's Day. Then, something totally strange happened. I went downstairs to find them and got in my little photo storage thingie. I am pretty organized when it comes to this stuff, so it only took a second to find. I had never scrapbooked these pictures so I had them in a little file folder thing. I do most of my pictures this way, then if there is any type of memorabilia that went with the pictures, I can stick it in the folder. I had totally forgotten about this, but in the little folder was a letter my father-in-law, Mike, wrote to me on that day. Of course, I sat down, read it and cried my eyes out. I really want to share it with you. I have scanned the actual letter, but I will type the words too because his handwriting is a little tough to read.

Mandy,
Just a note to tell you how much your being in my family means to me. When you became a Mom, I became a Grand Dad. When I became a Grand Dad, you became my daughter.
I will never be able to tell you how much I love you, and just how strong I feel about you being my daughter.
You are my hero and a big part of me. If I have to share my son with someone else, I want it to be you and if I got to pick wives for my son, you would be at the top of my list.
I hope I can always be there for you when you need me and know I will always try.
I will love you to the end of time and will thank you for longer than that.
I will always love you
Dad Lane

I am so glad I found that along with these pictures.





Ok, now that I have that all of the way, I can tell you about what we did on this awesome, fun, relaxing day. Well, last night after our big nap after our big yard sale, Brett had to go to the races for the fire department. I told Quayd I wanted to go on a date. I asked him to take me to the new Chinese buffet in town. When we got there, I saw my cute sister-in-law Brynn's family. They were all there just about to be seated. They invited Quayd and I to sit with them. We did, and it was lots of fun. After our yummy dinner, Quayd and I went to Lowe's and wandered around for awhile, bought a few items, then headed for Wal-Mart. Since Quayd sold a bunch of his old toys and he helped me so much by getting ready for the sale, I told him I would buy him a new Wii game. He chose Wii Playground (and hasn't stopped playing it all day!) On our way home, I realized that we were just in time to catch a late show at the theater. So we went to Speed Racer. It was cool, and he LOVED it. We met Brett at home, and I was off to bed. They stayed up and played Wii for awhile.

This morning, we talked about going somewhere to breakfast, but decided the lines would be too long, so we decided to cook our own breakfast. We made strawberry crepes. We had so much fun sitting around the breakfast table laughing and eating! I know my plates are ugly (they are just cheap Wal-Mart plastic ones) but look how yummy the crepes look! Eating crepes on Mother's Day also reminded me of these pictures I had in my picture box. It was Quayd eating the crepe filling when he was a baby.
Wasn't he such a cute baby? He loved this stuff!!

Brett gave me money to buy clothes for Mother's Day, so look what I got. Wow, the picture doesn't do much for it, but it is 6 CUTE shirts, a pair of shorts and some Capri's. I also got 3 new pair of Teva flip flops. I am so excited for my new stuff! I needed new clothes BIG TIME!

Since it is Mother's Day, I have to take a minute and thank a few of my Mothers. Of course, my mom. She is so special to me and I love her so much. For many years, it was just she and I. I treasure those times. We grew so much during that time. I am thankful for all she has taught me and for all of the fun times we have had together. I also want to thank my Mother-in-law, Gleneita. I love her so much too! She is amazing and strong and I admire her so much. Most people have lots of scary "mother-in-law horror stories," but seriously, not me. Gleneita is AWESOME and I wouldn't trade her for anything. I worry about her so much and I try so hard to make her life less stressful, but I probably just create more stress. Really, I love her so much. I also have to give my Grandma, Doris, a shout out. I lived with her for a period of time when I was a teenager and I feel like I can never repay her for all she did for me. She is so sweet and good to me and my family. She is just always there. I can always count on her. She is my rock. (I have no good pictures of any of my three moms, so these will just have to do.
Aren't they beautiful women? I love them all so much!!

I seriously had such a great Mother's Day. It was just so relaxing and I got to spend the day with my two most favorite people! I am so blessed to be married to such a great guy and to have such a special little boy. I love Mother's Day. I always have. I love that it happens in the spring time and all of the grass, trees and flowers are starting to bloom. It makes me so grateful for the WONDERFUL life I have.

the one about Quayd's birth...part 2

So, here is a continuation of my baby story. I need to warn you (Kristi) that there are pretty graphic pictures of my C-section here. Remember I told you that one of the nurses offered to take pictures for me? Well there are 4 of them on here. I think they are SO cool, but maybe you won't. Consider yourself warned.

I wasn’t due until September 16th. By mid-summer, I was going to the Doctor twice a week. Tuesdays and Fridays. After each visit with the Doctor, I had to go to the hospital and have a non-stress test and blood work. A few of the times, my Doctor made me stay at the hospital over night because my blood pressure was so high.

My dad and step-mom came to visit from Tulsa in August. I hadn’t seen them since my wedding, nearly 4 years earlier so I was pretty excited. Except I was stuck in bed. I couldn’t do anything fun and I was SO mad! They went and did fun things with my nephews and I didn’t get to leave my house, except for a couple of hours on Tuesdays and Fridays. ERRRRRRRR!!! They were pretty good to come hang out though, and they actually spent a good share of their vacation doing my laundry and cleaning my house. They drove, so their schedule was flexible. We hoped they would be here for the birth, but it was time for them to head back. We knew I was probably going to have the baby early, but we weren’t sure how early. They left on Wednesday, August 28th. For some reason, my regular Friday appointment was changed to Thursday (the 29th). Brett came with me to this one and I was 37 ½ weeks pregnant. We discussed the options, and decided it was far more risky for me to stay pregnant with my Pre-Eclampsia than to have the baby 2 ½ weeks early. My Doctor decided the baby was ready and it was time. He had been “checking” me” but I was no where near ready. He said I could have a C-Section and get it over with, quick and easy or he could start my labor, but it would be LONG and HARD. At this point I was so sick and decided a C-Section sounded very nice. So we scheduled it for the next morning. Imagine how excited we were! It was such a great day! We went to Wal-Mart and got the last few things we would need. I was so huge and puffy and I waddled through the whole store. But I didn’t care. I was about to be a MOMMY! Brett also took me to my favorite Mexican restaurant. His Grandpa Galley came over that night and helped Brett give me a blessing. Surprisingly, I slept pretty well that night (Thank you Ambien!)

We had to be at the hospital around 10:00 or something. After they prepped, poked, prodded and yes, shaved me, I was finally ready for surgery. My mom was there, Mike, and Talia (she got checked out of school to be there). By the time we had a baby, Our Grandparents came, my brother, Brett’s brothers and several other people. The support was AWESOME! Since I had spent so much time in the hospital the weeks prior to this day, I had become friends with many of the nurses. One of them, Megan, was not going to be working on me or Quayd during the surgery, so she offered to take my camera and get good pictures of the birth. It was great!

My goofy husband was right there by my side. I remember them wheeling me towards the OR and Brett was escorted to a room to change. They started my spinal block and got me all ready for surgery. Once they were ready to start, they brought Brett in. He was so funny. I could see the color in his face starting to change. I finally asked a nurse to check on him. She took him outside and he nearly passed out. She took him somewhere and she was fanning him and stuff. She had him eat some cookies and juice. Wherever it was that they took him, Mike could see him, and thought it was so funny. I was in the OR, about to have a baby and thinking, “Where is that pansy!” I was wishing I brought Mike in the room instead! After just a few minutes, Brett was feeling better and came back in. He was just in time for the birth.

I felt no pain. Not even a little. I just heard the Doctors talking back and forth and I heard them slurping the water and goo. It hadn’t been long at all when they told me we would have a baby in just a few seconds. So many thoughts and emotions went through my mind. I wondered if he would be cute, if he would be healthy, if he would really be a boy (still), I wondered if he would like me, if I would like him, if Brett was going to make it through the birth, if the baby was scared, or in pain, I wondered if after all of the health issues I had faced if he would still be ok, if I would be a good mom.... then I heard his cry. And I knew we would be just fine.
That was one of our miracles. They held him over by me so I could see him and he was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Even though he was covered in blood and slop. But man, was he ever mad! He cried like nothing I have ever heard before. They did his APGAR stuff and he scored a 9. (Then when they scored it a little while later he was a 10.) They wiped him down a little bit and Brett brought him over to me. It was such a cool moment. I looked up and Brett, he looked at me and we just cried. We have a picture of that exact moment and I just love it. Brett then had to take Quayd down to the nursery. I just laid there and relaxed while everyone else had to watch all of the mean things they did to my baby. They called from the nursery to tell me his weight and everything. 6 lbs 12.5 oz. 19.5" long. They said he was great. I couldn’t wait to see him. It seemed like forever before I got down to my room. In recovery, my blood pressure was high and it took awhile to get it down to a safe level. Finally, they let me go. When they wheeled me to my room, there were so many people there to greet me. It was amazing. My baby was perfect and healthy. I was amazed and sort of surprised that he had been so healthy and perfect. He was definitely protected in my belly. That was another miracle in the bank.

This is me a few hours after surgery. I really thought the puffiness would go away, but it didn't. You will have to stay tuned to find out why. And this is us the day we left the hospital. Man, my coloring was just terrible and I looked awful, huh. It's ok. You can say it. I looked pretty bad. I know. I can handle it.

Anyway, there is SO much more to this story, so you will have to check back. I hope you aren't getting bored yet.....