8 Things....from Tanya

8 things I am passionate about

• My Husband
• My children
• My feelings for the Savior
• Food, cooking eat, eating it, sharing it....
• The need to laugh my way thru life
• My favorite pillow
• Helping others
• My church calling

8 books I've read & enjoyed

• The Book of Mormon
• The twilight series
• Pride and Prejudice
• The five love languages
• No Doubt about it
• Being the Mom---AWESOME!!!!
• If you give a moose a muffin
• All relationship books!

8 words/phrases I say often

• Maybe later
• Right
• That is what I'm talking about
• Um no
• Sure
• That's what I thought
• Love you more
• You. Are. Awesome

8 things I want to do before I die

• Go on a mission
• Send the boys on missions
• Cooking school in Italy
• Own a sailboat (30' sloop for those who care)
• Visit Jerusalem
• Nursing degree (bachelors)
• Become a grandma
• Watch the sunrise every morning for 1 year

8 things I've learned over the past

• People are more important than things
• Debt is not a necessary evil, it is just evil
• Happiness cannot be bought from money
• Everyone needs vacation
• No one cares if your house is clean, you shouldn't either
• My relationship with Brian is more important than anything
• The Lord never stops loving us, just gets disappointed in us sometimes
• It is more important to be who you are than who everyone else thinks you should be

8 places I want to see.

• Italy
• Jerusalem
• Yelapa-again for longer this time
• Fiji
• Egypt
• Oahu-again
• Southern Caribbean
• New York

8 things I need

• My house to sell
• A vacation with just Brian
• A new nail polish color
• To loose 8 lbs.
• To go back to Washington with my family
• Some Seattle fish and chips-Steamers to be exact
• A real baseball team in UT
• Another vacation with just Brian

I TAG:

• Kecia
• Jessica
• Carmen
• Ashley

Have fun with this! It's nice to just reflect on life a bit!

Brian Update...

I would have posted a picture with this...but I think my days would be numbered if I did!

Brian had his surgery on Monday. It took the healthy side of 5 hours. The doctor was very pleased with the results. They were able to remove the disc, scar tissue and a little bone, which they used in a graft with donor bone and a compound to create a cage and support system for his vertabre. He had a really long night on Monday night and at 4am Tuesday morning he decided he just wanted to walk. Amazingly enough, he was able to stand, with the help of a nurse, and walk about 10 steps down the hall, and 10 back.

From my perspective, I haven't seen Brian walk so well in months. He was not leaning to one side anymore, he was straight up and down. He didn't need to lift his right leg for each step. From his perspective, it was the easiest time he's had walking in months. The most pain free.

Funny thing, when Brian came out of surgery and the pain meds had worn off, he said it was the least pain he'd been in for months. It kinda made me feel a little bad about griping about him laying on my new couches for a month and a half! Poor guy.

The doctors are hoping to send him home Thursday morning. I would love that! It would be nice to have him home. Thank you all for your prayers and calls. We love you all!

My 10 YEAR Reunion!!

This last week I was lucky enough to go to Washington for my 10 year reunion! I had a blast! I stayed with Grandpa Joe, who was very patient with my late hours and made the best breakfast I've had in a long while. I was able to see so many friends and visit so many special places, I will be smiling over these memories for a long time to come!
Above is Katie, my longest-term friend, we had a blast together. This is Kristen, and we had some good laughs and good times catching up on all we've been thru the last 10.
Here is Brianna, Me and Tiffany. I was able to drive into Seattle the day before the reunion and have lunch with Brianna. I was also able to have breakfast with Tiffany the monday after the reunion. It was so nice to see her new baby, Blake.
This is Matt, me, looking a little more than tired and Kristen. I think the best part of the reunion was everyone falling back into our old jokes and friendships, it was as if the 10 years were just a week or two.

All in all, the reunion was a blast! I was really terrible about taking pictures, so there weren't much, I"m waiting for someone else to stick theirs up and I'll add them.

Pizza....for a hundred?!

Jake has become the line chef of the family. I was making pizza for us and the Kofeds, our good neighbors and dear friends. The recipe makes 5-6 large pizzas, so we had dough to spare! Jake was nice enough to help me knead the dough!
Besides I think he liked making such a big, "okay" mess!
What a pro!
That is one happy kid! Think play-doh, but bigger!

We ended up with 6 large pizzas and a large tray of cinnamon sticks.

First Day of School

Finally! I've found the cord for the camera to get some pictures on here! This is Tyler on his first day of school. He was so excited to wear his Indiana Jones shirt. Not to mention the pride in taking his lunch to school in his Camo lunch box!

His teacher is Miss Neilson. She is just incredible! We went and met her two days before the first day, and he just adored her. I think it's going to be a good start!

A Real mommy.....again

So this morning I had a "real mommy" moment. Those moments when you think to yourself, "wow, I guess I'm a real mom now."

This morning I packed my first school lunch. Yes, thanks to year round school, I have sent my oldest child into the world until 3:30. As I was putting mayo on bread, I was reflecting over the many "mommy" moments I've had in the last 6 years. So because this is the only record I keep of our family, I am going to record them here. For those of you adverse to sappy, this might not be the post for you to read.

My first mommy moment came when I had my face peed on by a newborn. I distinctly remember thinking, "wow, this is really my baby". At the time, I'm sure I thought that would be the last and most important time of experiencing that feeling. It was official, I was a mom. However, as the years fly by, I am realizing that not only have I had many of those moments, but I will have many more. So, without further adieu, the mommy moments.

1. Getting peed on
2. The first night I had to stay up all night, worrying about a sick child and wondering when exactly you call the doctor on call.
3. The first time little arms wrapped around my neck out of sadness.
4. When they switched from calling me mama or mommy, for the slightly more demanding, MOM.
5. The first peanut butter sandwich I cut the crusts off. (Which I have never done since, seriously, if they don't want the dang crust, then can tear it off themselves!)
6. The first soccer Saturday, which lawn chairs, snacks, and a parka, because it was snowing.
7. Crying in the car on the way home from dropping my first off at Kindergarten.
8. Going downstairs, at midnight, to warn those kids, AGAIN, that if they didn't turn off those lights and go to bed, there would be serious trouble.
9. Going downstairs at 12:03 and taking the light bulbs out of their lights so they had no choice but to go to sleep.
10. The first time I realized, why in the world would I clean the house everyday? It's just going to get messy again tomorrow. A good clean twice a week is plenty.
11. And today, which, as always, feels like the pinnacle of mom-ness, I made a school lunch. I packed it in a lunch box and sent it into the world with my once very small baby.

I know there will be many more mom moments to come, but each one feels like a milestone that is a crowning victory for making it through baby-hood, or toddler-hood, or whatever stage we have just come out of. They are some small way to measure the days and years of my life right now. Although trivial to some, to me it signifies a life worth living. That a couple of cookies and a juice box can indicate to me that we are moving forward is a wonderful thing. The mommy moments help me focus on the little things in life, and all those little things make up a big thing, happiness.

The house is listed!

We have listed the house. In the first 24 hours we've had 3 groups come through to see it. We were blessed enough to have some surprise help from family and friends. Which really, when friends are this great, shouldn't they just be called family anyways?

Friday afternoon Glenn, Kecia, and Emma showed up with their air mattress (since we've sold the guest room furniture) and ready to help out. About 30 minutes later Chris (Wright) showed up. We were able to get the re-grouting done in the upstairs bathroom, some minor landscaping changes done, the front door painted, the outside front railing painted, and a small ceiling repair done. All in time for the first viewers at 5:30. We then left for an hour and met back at the house for a HUGE dinner. After all that work we were hungry. Well, in the middle of dinner the doorbell rings, it was the 5:30 people, they were late! So we let them do their thing while we ate dinner.

After not much sleep, due to Emma having a rough night and Glenn and Brian figuring out the mysteries of the universe until 4:30 in the morning, Kecia and I were out on the porch when my dad showed up to finish a railing on the deck we had not finished. The guys loved the saw at 7:30am! I loved having the railing done! To celebrate we had stuffed french toast.

We spent the rest of the morning getting ready for today's showings, which all went well. I am profoundly grateful for the people in our lives that are so willing to give of their free time and their talents to help me get done things in one evening that would have taken me a week alone. We are very blessed for these great people in our lives.