Updates Galore...

Alrighty then, this weekend was the official Elementary launch and it was awesome!

Soooooo, with that out of the way, I've got some time to update tonight.
Hmmmmm... where do I start... how about two months ago at the end of June, with our first official visitors in Colorado - The McLellans.




While they were here we all decided to take a trip up to Rocky Mountain National Park.
On the way up (literally up), I let the boys use the camera to take some "pictures".
There are brief shots of the mountains - totally breathtaking - either that or you can't breath because you want to puke from the scenery flying by.
This is what I found on my camera...



No kidding, I have at least three of these videos on here with things just randomly speeding past. I need to take dramamine just to watch.

Since we had two kiddos with us, we chose Bear Lake because it's an easy hike.



Though that didn't stop them from venturing up a bit further.





Look! It's like "Where's Waldo?" Can anyone find Ben?


I did feel bad for some of the tourists as we reached the beginning of the trail.
To understand why, you need to remember that many people go up to the mountains for peace and quiet. Keep in mind that they are all being extra hush-hush so that they might see a few animals... and then a few families from Austin show up who clearly haven't seen snow in years!





Even with all the chaos, we didn't drive all the animals away.
There was one chipmunk that was what Brandon called Bear Lake's "Paris Hilton".




I'm actually as close as it looks like I am as I'm taking this picture. This little cutie clearly lives for paparazzi. She would turn her head from side to side and pose... that's hot.


We did get to see some other animals, but I wasn't fast enough with the camera.
Brandon and Raine won the prize for the best animal pic of the day. Here they are with the ever elusive pocket moose.



Sorry, a little bit of an inside joke there. Thanks for sticking with me.


At the end of the day/week we had an awesome visit and miss them tons.
Here are just two of the reasons why.







--

The Verdict's in...

It's carpal tunnel and enough of the sensation is gone in my hand for surgery.
They said I could also try a steroid shot, but there's only a 50% chance it will work.

I honestly don't know what to do.

The shot is cheaper - but if it doesn't work, I'll have to pay for the surgery anyway.
Pain? They said they're both about the same.
The shot has a quicker recovery time, but if it doesn't work, I'd rather just get it over with.

So here's where I'm at:
If you or someone you know had the shot, I would love to hear from you. I'm going to do a little research online too, but I'd like to hear from someone I know.

Until next time, just call me Lefty...



--

Much tougher than I thought...

Well, to prepare my kids to get their licenses Matthew found an online practice test.

I found this out as we were driving to church one evening and he announced there was going to be in impromptu "pop quiz". Years of high school (no matter how long ago that was) have conditioned me to dread whatever comes next.
No worries though, this one was about driving. In the words of George Lopez, "I got this!"

Here we go...

If you're sitting in the middle lane (we were at a light) getting ready to make a left hand turn - which way should your tires be facing?
A. Straight ahead
B. The direction you are turning
C. Slightly in the opposite direction of your turn


The answer is clear to me... but maybe it's a trick question. Despite my wavering, I opted to go with B. Which, would be wrong. It's A - and if you got that right, here's a raspberry for ya - thbthbthbthb.

Of course, I am a hard sell and sure that the answer is B. So here I am ready to have a little "come to Jesus" moment with my husband. It has to be B, so that you can be ready for your turn, right?
I mean, clearly I would know. I've never had a traffic ticket of any kind and he, well he has.

While Matthew shared with the guys the reason for the answer, I was trying to figure out how I would tell him he was wrong and why!
This was when he shared with everyone that he found the online test and then he leaned closer to me and whispered that he failed it the first time he took it. Tooooo funny!

Alright, I took the defeat (for the moment) and decided I would go take this test myself. I may not have been a Chemistry genius in school, but "I got this!"

So today I took the test... I failed too! I think... I got a 76%. I'm guessing they don't want anyone with less than at least an 80% driving, though I could be wrong.
Part of the problem is that I over thought some of the questions. Sadly though, reality tells me that if I knew it, I wouldn't have had to think much at all.

Just in case you'd like to try here's the link -> Online Practice Test
Before you out of state bloggers give the excuse that this is a Colorado test, I want you to know that I learned to drive in Ohio and it can't be that much different than the one I took years ago. They're all the same laws that we've had to follow when we lived in several other states besides CO. No weird blizzard laws or mountain terrain. So if you were hoping to use that excuse, just know I already thought about it and it won't work. C'mon, it shouldn't be that hard. I gave you one of the answers.

Good luck!


--

You know you are loved...

when people will pay to have this done to you.





Just in case you couldn't tell, that was Matthew... Very fun!


This is our senior pastor. His video came out the best.









There were a few other people who were dunked, but I didn't think to use video in time - so I just took pictures. Those pics didn't come out well at all. I'll have to wait for next year...











--

Do not be deceived...

That's right! Do not be deceived by the deep sea lookin' jellyfish thingy.
It may also look like something out of the Matrix, or possibly something not of this world... unfortunately, it is.

This my dear friends is salmonella at it's best. Don't be distracted by the pretty colors. Run, I say, RUN! Do not come within a 100 foot radius and/or above all... whatever you do... don't... eat... the peppers!

As I shared in the last post Matthew had picked up a nasty bug (or so we thought).
It turns out that this little bug was, yes, salmonella.
Last week they added peppers to the list with tomatoes - which he ate on Sunday.
The man lost 11 pounds in that short amount of time and as tempting as it is to consider the possibility of the weight loss, I think I'll pass on his program.

I want to be able to share, literally, the miracle it is that he is better, but I would have to put some personal information up about him. Nothing weird, just bodily functions. Things moms talk about all the time, but guys just don't appreciate it being discussed. So, I'll try to give the summary without the details.

Matthew was put in observation on Friday, it seems his intestines were shutting down.
I called one of the guys at church to let them know what was going on, and he started the prayers. It just happened that beginning at noon that day they had just started 24 hours of prayer at the church (done quarterly I think). They started praying for Matthew and even called me to pray on the speaker phone. Right after that, Matthew was better... literally. Neither the doctor or I can explain to you why he was better for any reason other than God.
It was very cool and an excellent reminder for us that He is with us always and really does have things under control.


--