I've been thinking!

After spending another entire day at Primary Children's in Salt Lake,
my heart is full and I feel grateful.
Grateful for modern medicine.
Grateful for the technology that allowed for our daughter to have the surgery two years ago that will someday restore her sight, I just know it.
Grateful that it's not ten years ago and that we didn't have to hear the words, "I'm sorry Mr. & Mrs. Hill there's nothing we can do to help restore your little girl's eyesight."
I spent the day yesterday observing. In between comforting our sweet baby girl. I saw such sweetness all around. The wonderful staff that have devoted their lives to helping these children. Parents comforting other parents. And the resilience of all those amazing babies. I felt sad, and happy and sad again.
As I was putting my boys to be last night they were having some kind of conversation about why people suffer.
DEEP, I know.
I had to tell them that suffering is a part of all of our lives.
We are here to learn, improve and love all those around us no matter what they have done or will do to hurt us.
Forgiveness is the key.
I hate knowing that any of my children will feel any sort of pain.
We have to love our Heavenly Father for giving us the experience here on Earth to feel happiness, sorrow, regret, elation, and yes even pain.
I've been reading this inspirational blog.
I am proud to call Abigail's parents my friends, neighbors and fellow church members.
I feel uplifted and spiritually enriched each time I read it.

INTRODUCING.........

Our new love.
Her name is Brooklyn.
We picked her up just last night and she is just fitting in beautifully around here.
She loves to sleep all the time, just like us.
And she has already pooped and gone wee-wee on the floor, just like we do sometimes (accidentally).

She makes our house feel more like a home again.

It's Been A Busy Week.....

These silly boys got the idea to play this with their little sis.....

And Little Sis had to get through this......

Another successful procedure at Primary Children's, and this time good news! No Glaucoma! YEAH! (You're looking at a heavily medicated Abby)


And while they do this.....

The rest of us end up like this.....

I think the rest of us know what's best for us!

So Missing My Nap Buddy

I remember this photo was taken just after I discovered I was expecting Isaac. I was so tired all of the time! Those were the days of white bedding, towels, couches, & carpet in my life.
Those days are over.

Sweet ole' girl this is how she would lay by our bed each night.

Before we had kids, this is where I wanted to be after a long day of work!

We're still missing our sweet girl. It comes up every day.
I am on the lookout for the perfect puppy.
We have changed our minds and want another lab.
I especially have my heart set on a Golden Retriever/Lab mix.
I hope to find the perfect addition before Christmas.
I know all of you think a puppy is not practical in our crazy lives right now.
We don't care. We still want and need a new doggie to share in our home.

7 Years Ago Today...

Justin & I became parents of this wonderful boy......
It was a day I will NEVER forget....
My water broke in the middle of the night.
It was cold, but I insisted on walking myself into the hospital.
When I got in, my pants were frozen, literally. That made us laugh.
I got to share this day with an old high school friend and sister in law.
Thanks Amy for keeping us sane and from keeping your bro from passing out.
I pushed for 4 hours of a 14 hour delivery, broke my blood vessels in my eyes and face. It was intense. Notice that's why you'll never see me post pictures after having HIM.
No one told me how to have a baby.
I got much better at it the next time, almost having #2 in the car.
After he was born someone offered me a donut.....I was so excited.
Then I found out it was a donut to sit on.
That made us laugh.
Fitting that Isaac means "great laughter".

He's someone who lives to help others....
He loves making people laugh.....
He has the most amazing imagination....
He likes blondes already :)......Although Carly Clegg is his first brunette crush, ha ha
He's turning out to be quite a good reader and student....
He knows "things" like DEEP THINGS we can't explain, he often explains them to us......
His favorite thing is to sleep in my bed and watch "Talk Soup" with me.
We did that just last night, celebrating a little early.
He always has just what our family needs.

His dad and I often feel much gratitude that we were entrusted to tend to this special Spirit here on Earth.

What's Better

Than spending your weekend with lots of little pirates celebrating
your 7 year old's special day?
It's sure to be a swashbuckling time mateys!
ARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH

Thursday's Thought

"You don't have a soul. You have a body. You are a soul." ~C.S. Lewis

Wouldn't the world be a better place if more people took as much care of their soul as they do their body?

I'm Smitten

With this Little Lady in my Life.....

Not Exactly.....

The sexy shoes I had been hoping for....but it's a start.

Do these shoes make me look FAT? Ha, Ha.

I'm doing quite well, thank you. I even ended my three day love affair with the pain meds.
They were giving me insomnia. And the nausea super-seeded the pain.
Surgery was Thursday.
I'll give you the highlights and the lowlights:
We arrived at same day surgery to check in and my nurse announced that my podiatrist wanted a conscious sedation.
Which means....I was to be awake for the entire procedure. YUCK!
So, I gratefully took my lumps and agreed.
Just a few moments before leaving my sweetie and being wheeled into the OR, someone slipped me a low-fast acting dose of morphine! No kidding!
I remember looking at Justin and laughing and saying something like, "I have no idea what is going on right now."
They give you this to put you asleep only for a short time while they numb the area they are going to "work" on, and then you wake up for the remainder of the surgery.
That was the idea, anyway.
Next thing I knew (seriously) I woke up in the OR and felt the incision they were making in my foot.
Before you freak out, it didn't hurt really. I just felt pressure.
That's all I remember.
Then I woke up in the Recovery room with a very sore throat.
Dr. Rogers was right there with a smile on his face.
I was mortified thinking I probably screamed my head off or something.
He assured me that I had been the perfect patient.
My proceedure ended up taking 2 1/2 hours unstead of the 1/2 hour he had thought.
Plain and simple, my right foot was just such a mess. He felt it was best to put me fully under for the duration because some of the challenges they incured as well as the fact that I insisted on "dancing" on the operating table.
2 plates and 3 screws later, it's over and done. I'm glad. I have a new foot.
Even if I have to wear this silly shoe for the next month and then trade it in for another on the left side.
Thanks to all of you who have been delivering dinners, treats, thoughts and prayers to our doorstep. We appreciate it more than you could ever know.

This Weekend.....

Be Sure to do some "CLOWNING AROUND"

This Utah Weather is going to be fabulous! ~See note at bottom of this post to find out what I'm gonna be doin'!

"Mom, we'll be your servants and you can be our master." "Oh that's just music to my ears you sweet boys."
NOW I'M HAVING FUN.....because,
Hubby is treating me like the Queen of Sheba, probably even better.
Oh man I love that guy!
Plus super nanny/bff/little sis thinks she is my nanny too this week and countless friends bringing me treats and dinner for the next week. BE CAREFUL PEOPLE....
I have had the opportunity to hire these two clowns to attend to my every need like:
fluff my pillows, get my drinks and snacks (they'll even feed me at no extra charge), tickle my back, play with my hair, apply chapstick, sing me songs, and whatever else my little heart desires.....
All they ask for in return is a weekend trip to spend $3 each at the Dollar Store.
Sounds like a great deal to me.....
Hope your weekend is as enjoyable as mine will be.
Where does little princess fit in to all this you ask? Did you need to ask, REALLY?
She's right here by my side expecting the same royal treatment. Just another normal day in her pampered life.
Oh yeah, and I HEART PERCOCET right now. Is that bad?
I'll share the gorey details of my surgery at a later date, but I'm glad foot #1 is done and I'm doing well. I might even be enjoying myself. Isn't that wrong?

Thursday's Thought

Tomorrow's The BIG DAY.....

That I lose an achy bone and gain a big bulky cast!
Wish me luck as I "go under the knife"!

Where Did The Time Go?

Needless to say that I have been looking in the mirror lately and wondering the answer to that very question. When I turned 30, everything changed. I would like to say it's better. The truth is, I am still working at loving the thirty-something me. Then yesterday, in an instant I felt really old. Isaac had kind of a bad day and was crying in the driveway when I came home from work. The whole truth is that he had gotten scolded for telling a tall tale. He seems to be doing that a lot lately. Not sure why, maybe he needs more attention or he's just testing out the limits his father and I have for that. After discussing why telling lies is such a bad choice, I attempted to pick him up and hold him. It was then that I realized he was far to big for me to pick up and comfort. When the heck did that happen?
Next week, our golden boy will turn 7. I call him the golden boy because that's just the truth, plain and simple. He sprinkles joy and sunshine in my life every moment of every day.
Don't believe me? Just look at these pictures, you can just see the everlasting twinkle in those sweet little eyes. I will eternally miss baby Issac, but it's really fun getting to know the BIG spirit in this growing boy.

Mission Halloween...A SUCCESS!

Just what every little girl needs on Halloween morning....a doughnut with EXTRA SPRINKLES, PLEASE!

3 Cute Kiddos, Ready to hit the streets...

Trick or Treat, fill my pillowcase with lots of good things to eat!

Our new next door neighbor

Super Nanny with her Super Kids!

A rare MJ sighting at a neighbor's house :)

The LOOT

Countin' up the stash!

Our Favorite THING.....

Have a Happy Halloween Weekend!

Warning.....

Attempting to get on Facebook while cooking dinner could result in:

Burnt Dinner

and a smoky house!
DRRRRRRRR!

Some of my FAVORITES

Oh the colors, the structures, the tastes, the textures, the smells.
NEW YORK HAS IT ALL!

Our Last Day in NYC

A Rainy Day in Central Park

Silly Mr. Hill :)

Does it look like we are FREEZING? Well, we ARE!

A Pure Architectural DELIGHT!

Day Number 3!

An All-American Moment for us!

On the Ferry to Stanton Island

SOHO (Our favorite area of NYC) We plan on buying a loft here someday :)

NYSE

Brooklyn Bridge

Shopping on Canal Street at night...the sight of many great designer deals that were found!

Darn that Subway though! We had just figured it all out and the A Train to uptown was shut down for the weekend for repairs, so we had to figure out how to take a shuttle to 169th street and catch the train there.

Day 2 Highlights

Attempting the Subway (It was fun and we figured it out)
Watching "Where the Wild Things Are" in Times Square
Radio City Music
NBC Studios
Chocolate Strawberries at Godiva
Ice Skating in Rockefeller Center on our 10 year Anniversary
5th Avenue
Romantic Dinner at Bleu Evolution

.....The rest is a SECRET!

Day One Recap

We toke the "red eye" into NYC. Whose idea was that anyway? I guess my thinking was we could put the kids to bed, fly (and sleep) all night and arrive refreshed and ready for action in the morning. WRONG! We arrived at the apartment in Uptown around 8:00 am. The cab driver had some difficulty finding it, even after we gave him the written step by step directions given to us by Imagine Learning's Travel Coordinator. When we arrived to the apartment, we couldn't get our keys to open the door. Then we realized someone was on the other side of the door! He let us in, welcomed us and explained he thought we were coming in the late afternoon and he would be leaving immediately. We reassured him that it was okay and that we were going to catch some zzzz's. We awoke in the late afternoon just in time to grab some food and make our 2:00 arrival time to the Letterman Show. We were probably one of the first 10 people in line. Within minutes though, there was 500 people or more waiting on the rainy streets. When it was our turn, we went up to the podium, accepted our tickets (which had special codes written on them)....I think ours must have said-cute couple with lots of energy, great smiles.....must have them in front row! We were then asked to return at 3:15. We went next door to a little Italian restaurant with some fun Canadians we had met in line. We returned to be told we had been chosen to be in the front row. How exciting! They had a guest comedian come out and "warm up" the crowd. then they showed us THIS hilarious video. I sat directly about 20 feet across from Dave! It aired that night...... Go HERE to see for yourself......Just as Don and Dave are sitting down, it pans out to the crowd and there we are! Dave himself even came out before the taping and gave us instructions on what questions to NOT ask, if you know what I mean. I can't believe how small the set really is and how many people are on the set during taping (I counted 30 or more at one time). The Band "Built to Spill" was the musical guest....Go HERE to see their performance. Their music is good, but they were not that entertaining to watch. Enough about that, but it was a great way to start off the trip!

Just before we stood in Line

After the taping...what a rush!

Experiencing Times Square for the first time (for me)

After the show, we did what all parents on vacation would do....went shopping in Times Square for fun stuff for the kids. We walked for blocks and blocks looking for the perfect place to eat dinner. We found this resturaunt called MODA, which had just opened a few days before. The meal was fantastic and they even showered us with lots of free extras. Agreeing that we were both still too tired to tackle getting home by Subway (the apartment is about a 30 minute train ride from Times Square), we paid around $40 to return home via taxi. Upon arriving in Washington Heights, we stopped at a darling Jewish Market...paid $30 for some cereal and Hagen Daas....sat on the couch and ate our ice cream where I uneventfully fell asleep on the couch! What a great day!

Here's A Little New York Eye Candy

Just to wet your whistle!
When hubby and I travel (which is rarely these days),
but back in the day when all we did was travel...
we loved to always get something for our home to remember the trip by.
That way each time we would look at that item, it would remind us of some exotic location.
As I scurried around New York City, I snapped lots of photos of the eye candy all around, thinking I would make this awesome collage to have blown
up and framed and perfectly displayed in our humble abode.
GO AHEAD, JUST GIVE HER A LITTLE CLICK...IT"S EVEN MORE FAB CLOSE UP!
Here's the rough draft....I think it's turning out great so far.
It was even worth all the incredibly confused stares I got from busy
New Yorkers wondering what the heck I was up to!

We're Back!

After many delays, airports and LOTS of sightseeing and SHOPPING...
We arrived home at about 2 a.m. this morning. We were greeted by this cute sign and our kids throwing up....AHHHHH
I can't wait to share with you the amazing things we experienced. I'm going to have to formulate some sort of strategy here, there are hundreds of photos.
It was all we had expected and so much more!
More details to come (after we get through the throwing up :)
I've added a new header just as a teaser.....

Cute Little Brit

Wasn't she the most darling little puppy ever?

Here's What We're Up To Today....

Ellis Island

Meeting Lady Liberty

10 Years Ago......

I won the love and affection of the man I adore for a lifetime.....
the man that all the mothers in our small hometown wanted their daughters to marry.....
the man I met at a New Year's Church dance in 1990 while I was a date of one of his best friend's....
a man that said, "Wow, where did you find that girl?" when I walked into the room that night (how exciting for me, he was a college boy).....
the man that sent me my first roses& a Guess Watch on my 16th birthday....
the man that didn't know what to do when his car overheated the first time he came to pick me up on a date and my mom had to hose his radiator down for him....
the man that taught me to drive a car (a Red Mustang to be exact :).....
the man that watched me courageously run the mile at the state track meet.....
The man that gave me "a penny for my thoughts"when I was 17, I still have that penny.....
the man that accidentally missed my high school graduation....
the man that took me to my first concert (Depeche Mode) as my graduation gift....
the man that moved me to my college dorm at SMSU my freshman year....
the man that told me that year he knew I was who he was suppose to marry...
the man I decided to ignore that freshman year because of some other silly boy....
the man that waited for me to come back to him....
the man that forgave me for ignoring him all those years and made me promise to NEVER ignore him again.....
the man that still wishes I would go to a haunted house with him (maybe this year is the year)....
the man that made me promise the night before our wedding that if we ever had a daughter, we would name her Abigail.....
and the man that I got to be lucky enough to raise three beautiful children with...
I love you so much!

The Story of Us

Sweetie and I went to see this the night before our wedding....
I sat and loudly sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed in the movie theatre in Lahina.
It isn't a sugar coated version of marriage, some sappy romance if that's what you're thinking.
It shows a couple and their life together, both the highs and the lows.
It shows how easily we can become selfish and loose that connection that we have to one another.
It shows how they find that connection again and recommit themselves to making things work. It's simple really, just say you're sorry and always be committed to being a better partner.
We own this movie and I love watching it now and again to be reminded what a blessing marriage is.

Bliss

Maui
October 17, 1999
Oh, and I want this body back ASAP!

Thursday's Thought

"Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave and impossible to forget."

This picture was taken at my bachelorette party just a few days before I got married and moved away from my sweet college girlfriends! I will never forget returning home from my first visit to Utah and sharing with them that I was suddenly getting married to someone special from my past. Undoubtedly, they all thought I was emotionally unstable. Then they met HIM....they fell in love instantly with his charm and good looks. When they saw us together THEY KNEW it was the REAL DEAL. It's not been easy, being so far away from all of them all these years. We've shared our happiness and sorrows over the long distances between us. Every couple of years I get the chance to go back to Missouri and spend precious time with them. We even have visitors to Utah occasionally. I am grateful they are all an important part of my life still.
P.S. Not sure what the yellow glasses are all about?

And We're Off.......

New York City, Here come The Hills!