Allergic

So we found that Spencer has an allergy (besides seasonal hayfever.)

Thursday morning while Ruth and I ran to the grocery store Spencer got stung by a bee 2 times (in different locations) on his face. They told me about it when I got home so I immediately gave him Benadyl (he has been known to swell with mosquito bites so I knew bee stings wouldn't be good...)

We went spent the day in Strawberry {had a fabulous time.}

8 hours post sting

We rolled in to Vale just minutes before midnight. At this point the Bedadyl was really starting to wear off and he was in a lot of pain. There was definitely some swelling going on. I woke Spence during the night to make sure he had Benadyl every 6 hours.

24 hours after the bee sting this is what Spencer looked like:

It just made my heart hurt to see him like this.

I found it odd that it was getting worse with time instead of better. I called the nurse who asked, "Can you tell if there is any swelling?" I laughed out loud {hopefully she doesn't find me rude because I know she wasn't in front of him but look at the poor kid!} She told me to keep giving the Benadyl and the Dr. would call in an epi-pen in case he started to have trouble breathing. Kurt and Jessie gave him a blessing. About an hour later the Dr.'s office called back. The Dr. wanted to see him before she prescribed the epi-pen but didn't have time to see him today. Seriously? o.k. I went to our clinic in Vale {they were all super nice and friendly btw.} Short story it was starting to get infected, they prescribed a antibiotic and steriod for immediate recovery. An epi-pen for future recovery if he were to get stung again. They cautioned me that subsequent bee stings will only get worse...

24 hours after meds {36 post sting}

Strawberry

Karen's friend from the mission, Jessie, came to visit. He got in Wednesday night. Karen and I were trying to brain storm great ideas of things to do while he was here. Strawberry Lake is my special spot in Oregon, I'm always happy to share it. We planned a day hike. We didn't get out of Vale until 11 am.



Once we got there we ate lunch and then started the hike up to the lake.


A little caterpillar came to say "Hi!" to Austin.

Emma Lynn had one of her famous-but-pretty-rare-these-days melting moments. You can not reason with her when she gets worked up. Ruth was already in the backpack and I was not carrying her up the mountain. I held her hand and literally dragged her up the trail (her feet were moving of her own accord so it was not a painful child abuse situation) while she shrieked and screamed all the way. Disturbing the quiet sacredness of strawberry. {{oh, it requires great patience. deep sign.}} Ruth sang with me all the way up to help ease the situation. At times she would put her arms around me and lay her head on my back, giving me a hug. It was so sweet and helped me carry on. The second Emma Lynn saw the blue of the lake she immediately stopped crying and ran down the trail happy as a lark. If only we could see the lake during the entire hike!



Tyler was a great help with Spence. {Thanks Tyler!}


I LOVE Strawberry Lake. It always makes my heart happy to be up at the lake.





Jessie showing Spencer how to fish.





After spending the day at the lake we hiked back down to roast dinner of hot dogs and smores.




I love to share strawberry.

Definition of

Summer brings a lot of "anniversary" moments.

June 18th - 4 years living in Vale {ya, I'm serious. This alone is HUGE for me. On the record, the longest place I've ever lived. e.v.e.r.}

July 26th - 2 years living on Graham Blvd {love this house.}

July 27th - 10 years ago Kurt & I got engaged {LOVE that man.}

Karen was so kind to inform me (on the eve of my 2 years living on Graham anniversary) that Malheur (the county in which I live) is a French word. The definition of Malheur is saddness, or woe.

LOL

Regardless this is home. And I'm hoping for many more anniversary moment in saddness county. ;)

lakeview

Summer wouldn't be complete without going to our favorite pool in Nampa {Lakeview.} We brought Kelli, Kenzi and Mollie along this time so they could fall in love too.

We had lunch in the park before.


Then tons of swimming fun.






















Memorable moments include Mollie falling asleep in the pool {seriously I didn't know anyone could do that! It was adorable.} And Kenzie havin' the time of her life. After all the kids had gotten out and were done Kenzie was still going strong. Kelli might be investing a lot of time at pools for the next forever.



Cousins continue the lakeview love.

Jeff's Family

Last Tuesday I got to watch Matthew for a few hours. Ahhh, he is so fun to love on. I always love me some newborns. Naturally we had to have a mini-photo shoot {how can you resist taking pictures of a precious newborn?!?!}







Thursday was Hallie's 3rd birthday. We were camping up at Anthony Lakes so we didn't get to go visit her grave. But today (a week after Hallie's) is Julie's birthday so we stopped at the cemetery to sing Happy Birthday and sent our birthday balloons up to heaven.







Saturday was also a baby shower for Julie and Matthew. There was a nice turn out and it was low key and yummy. Unfortunately Rooster was miserable with the side effects of her Anthony Lakes souvenirs {swollen mosquito bites and feverish.} I'm glad we could show our support and everyone could love on sweet Matthew.

We are blessed to have Jeff's family in our lives.

Back 2 School Mommy Date

I had a Dr. appointment in Boise today so I invited Austin to come with me for our Back to School Mommy Date. He was definitely a trooper to run all my {couponing} errands and hang out in the waiting room during my routine physical. Don't feel to bad for him because we did make time for a good lunch and his requested activity: Build a Bear!

All the other kids have done it so he has wanted to do it since March. He has had the whole thing planned out. He choose an owl, accessorized with glasses {wisdom} and didn't need shoes {b/c owls fly!}

We picked out a new backpack and a few new clothes for school. We also made a stop at Deseret Book b/c I had a gift card I wanted to use. We were there for an hour and a half. In the end I was waiting for Austin to finish up!

2 of my favorite moments from our date:

~ That my 7 year old is not too cool to hold hands with his mom in the mall.
~ Knowing my son finds as much joy as I do in spending time in a book store. And sharing it together.

I love spending one-on-one time with you Austin. You are a wonderful boy. I know I take that for granted mainly b/c I know your potiental. I hope that I can be a good mother to you. I will always love you!

Couponing Commitment

Last Thursday night I went coupon shopping with Marti and Renae Bair. We got home at 1 am and I was amazed with how much money I saved. I couldn't sleep when I got home after all my goodies were put away. I wanted to find more deals! A few days later after I got home from my camping trip I put together my coupon binder and committed to getting 6 Sunday papers. Now that is total COUPON COMMITMENT! ;)

As Kelli said, "You've been so anti-couponing. What happened?"

Reality hit when I saw our toilet paper and paper towel supply almost gone in our food storage room. I knew how much it would cost me to replenish my stash and I wasn't sure where that money would come from. And I also knew of the amazing deals Marti was always getting on every day items. I knew I needed to try it. Plus the one factor that made couponing such a turn off to me was TIME. With no preschool and no yw I simply couldn't use that excuse any more!

I really enjoyed Thursday night. It felt like a special treat to witness the coupon guru duos in action.

So today I went to Rite Aid by myself and got a few deals. It felt amazing to walk out of the store having accomplished it without holding someone's hand. A box of 325 wipes for $2 is a fabulous feeling.

Ya, I'm hooked.