Just Catching Up

So I realize that it's been eight months since my last post. In my defense, I told everyone at the beginning that I'm terrible at keeping up with this kind of thing. But, a lot has happened since my last blog so I thought maybe I should catch up.
Of course, most of you will already know everything I am posting about by now, but since I plan to use this site as my journal (I'm even worse at journals than blogging) I'm going to include it all anyway. Read it or don't, it's up to you.

So, where to begin . . .

The car

Last may -I think it was memorial day weekend- we took our truck in to the dealership for a recall. We also brought the Sentra so we could go do stuff around the Murray area while we waited. Except, that never happened. Instead, I decided to "just look" at the Muranos that Tyrel had been trying to talk me into for a long time. The day ended by leaving our Sentra at the dealership and drving off in the nicest car I've ever had the privelage of driving. If you can feel lust for a car, I did. Is it terrible to be turned on more by your car than your husband? It had all the bells and whistles and then some.

Now fast forward to December OF THE SAME STINKING YEAR! It was the 12th of the month and Tyrel was, once again, working out of town. We had been invited to a Christmas party at one of my old high school friend's house in Brigham City. I was very excited because several of my old choir buddies who I hadn't seen since high school were going to be there. On that morning, I woke up and looked outside. The weather was nice, but I thought to myself, "I should check what the weather is going to do the rest of the day." But, being me, I lost that thought in the morning's chaos, trying to get my kids ready on time (which will never in my lifetime happen. I'm sure of it.) As we got into the car, later than I'd hoped yet again, I thought, "I really should go back in and check the weather conditions before we go." But, we were already leaving late so I ignored that little prompting.

On the way there, I kept thinking, "You should turn around. You're going to wreck."
But I still ignored it. "Puh-shaw!" I thought, "You're being paranoid."
Shortly after passing the Morgan area, the weather started looking a bit foreboding, but still nothing terrible. I slowed the car to about 10mph below the speed limit and continued on, even when I got the feeling that I needed to pull over at an exit and just wait for a half hour or so. But, I did call my sister-in-law, Lisa, to ask how the weather was through the canyon up to Logan. I had decided I probablt wasn't going to risk dropping off the Christmas presents to them on this trip. I would just go to the party in Brigham City and possibly stay the night. The presents could wait.

Very shortly after I called them to say I probably wasn't going to come, I passed the marker showing I was only 9 miles out of Brigham City. Suddenly, the roads got bad in a hurry. Honestly, I should have slowed down much sooner than I did, but I was stupidly determined to get to this party before the roads got too bad. I should have realized that they already were too bad. But before I could even think about it and adjust my speed, the car in front of me slammed on its brakes. I tried to stop, but just kept sliding forward. I quickly looked to my right to find the lane clear so I tried to swerve into it to miss the car. I think I did miss the car (but I really don't remember and it wasn't on the police report) but we slid off the road head-on into a concrete foundation for the port's sign (or whatever it was. It was big.)

The entire front of my car was smashed in through the fire wall. Every air bag in my car deployed. It kind of looked like the inside of a jumpy castle. I didn't even know there were that many air bags. But most importantly, I turned around to find my kids crying, but perfectly fine, except for a very minor cut on Keenan's chin. It was only after that that I realized that I hurt everywhere! We were transported via ambulance just in case and they did a lot of X rays, but in the end, we were very lucky (not to mentioned watched over) to have nothing more than a broken pinky and some bruises.

I had a lot of family members come to my rescue. Shane spent several hours at the hospital with my kids while I was in X ray. Then he took us to the airport the next morning to pick up Tyrel, whose job had flown him in after he found out. Erin came up from Woodruff to get us from there and take us all home. And even though I didn't end up needing them, I had several other family members who were packed and ready to come and get me and the boys within an hour after I wrecked. I am so lucky to have such an amazing family.

The fact that my children are alive and there are no major affects is the most important thing to me and I am grateful everday that we did not suffer more for my stubborness and refusal to listen to the promptings I had. HOWEVER, now that all is well and I can be thankful for my children, can I just say, "My car! My car! My beautiful car!" I had planned to grow old with it. I guess I'll have to settle for Tyrel. Dang my luck.

Summer Visitors

Okay, now rewind back to the summer before the accident. My mom was able to fly up from Phoenix for the 4th of July weekend. I was really excited because distance and finances have really limited my ability to see most of my family. It was only the third time my mom has been able to see my kids.

We had a great weekend! We started by going to the Zoo, but got rained out about a half-hour after we got there. It was quite a rain! My mom and I pushed the kids in the stroller up all the hills running all the way and we were completely soaked when we made it back to my car (my beautiful car). But, it was kind of funny and we laughed the whole way.

Then we just spent the weekend relaxing together. The boys and my mom and I made a holiday cake out of whipped cream, blueberries, and strawberries to look like the American flag. It was pretty cute and tasty. I think that will become a tradition for us. We enjoyed the 4th of July in the absolutely most amazing place to celebrate it. Evanston, Wyoming. I never would guess I would say anything like that about E town, honestly, with all the fireworks that just the normal citizens light off, compbined with the city's, it truly is the most spectacular 4th of July sky in the world (I have confirmation of this from two brothers in the military who have spent it all over the country.)

When the weekend was over, we were sad to see my mom go, but we were glad to have gotten the chance to see her again.

Later in the summer my little sister, Darbie who is the funniest person I know, (she's made me pee several times in the recent past. Really. I'm not ashamed to admit it) came up for a trip to Bear Lake. It was just her, me, and our kids who were all ages two and three. We thought it would be the best trip ever--a trip that would give our kids all the memories we had camping as kids. We were wrong.

Turns out, we hate camping when we are in charge. It's a whole crap load of work and not much relaxing. Plus, we were visited during the night by two skunks who were in love *wink *wink. I take full responsibility for that because it was my bright idea to leave the leftover dinner in the fireplace and burn it in the morning (hey, it was late and we were tired). So we provided the "lovers" with a romantic dinner and a private room (our fire pit) to "express their affection for one another." I've never heard what skunks sound like before, let alone what they sound like when they're "happy." Turns out, they sound a lot like an aroused man and his nagging wife. If Darbie and I hadn't had to pee so bad, it might have been funny, but we were stuck in our tent crossing our legs just waiting for them to leave so we could go to the bathroom. (I've kind of used the word "pee" a lot in one blog, huh?)

We ended up leaving one day early. I think the kids did have fun, though, which is important. We spent the next night at my house playing sleep over. It was really good to hang out with my sister again. We were kind of inseparable before I moved back to Wyoming.

Pre-school

That fall, Keenan started pre-school for the first time. He absolutely loves it! His teachers inform me that he is one of their favorites because he is smart and he always listens to their directions and is nice to all the kids. Go figure. I don't know what I'm doing wrong at home, but it's good to know he is capable of being good. No, I'm kidding. He really is a good kid and I'm very proud of him. I love seeing all the papers and drawings he brings home. His little brother gets excited too. He gets excited to drop him off and pick him up and see Keenan's papers and hear about the letter of the week. Draiman knows all of Keenans' teachers and classmates' names. It has been a really fun experience for everyone and it gives Draiman some one-on-one time with mommy, which he's never had before.

Holidays

Next came Halloween. Keenan was Raphael, which was very convenient because we had the costume already (I made Tyrel wear it. It was funny.) Draiman was the black Spiderman. I got the smallest costume I could find and still had to hem the pants and shorten the sleeves. I didn't have to adjust the mask though, Nebeker heads are huge. ;) I was a witch and Tyrel was a bleeding-face skeleton thing. It was a fun night.

After Halloween was Thanksgiving at my mother-in-law's. I love getting together with Tyrel's family. It's always fun with lots of laughs . . . and Shane's dutch oven potatos and deep-fried turkey were amazing! Okay, Shane, even though I'm sure you get the joke, it really was great. I was pleasantly surprised by your potatoes and I would eat them again without hesitating. Of course, if my considerate husband had just kept his mouth shut about the fact that I normally don't like dutch oven potatoes, I wouldn't have to say anything, would I Tyrel?


Christmas

Okay, so you already know how my Christmas started. With a bang, no pun intended . . . okay it was intended and really bad. But, after we recovered from the physical and financial injuries from the accident, we had a good holiday. We went to Rifle, CO to spend the week with my sister, Tuesday, and her family. The kids loved it and so did I. I love going places where the kids are constantly entertained by other kids. It's nice.

Tyrel cooked most of Christmas dinner with my sister, so naturally, it was delicious! I think my sister's kids aren't used to his kind of cooking, though. Sometimes he forgets to be "kid-friendly" and my kids are just so used to it that they wouldn't know what to do with a normal dinner. Well, that's not true. Since Tyrel works all the time, they are stuck with my cooking a lot. That means grilled cheese sandwiches and soup, mostly.

But, overall, it was a really nice Christmas. The kids were very happy with Santa and so were Tyrel and I.

The New Car

So having just totaled our car, we were in need of another. We both decided that although we liked the Murano (okay, I passionately adored it), it would be nice to not have the huge car payment that came with it. Plus, we didn't have the kind of down-payment for a new one that we'd used on the Murano. So, Tyrel found a really great '97 Ford Explorer. It's old, but was in unbelievably good condition. It only had 51K miles on it and used to be a company vehicle so it had all of its maintenance logs and had just been really well taken care of. With the little money we got back from insurance and some from our savings, we were able to buy it out-right, leaving us car payment-free. It's a nice feeling. Maybe nicer than the deep love I felt for the Murano. Kudos to Tyrel for finding it. He's really good to have around sometimes.

Valentine's Day

I absolutely have to blog about Valentine's day because it was sooooo surprising. We have never celebrated Valentine's Day in our entire relationship. Tyrel says it's because he loves me EVERYDAY, which is nice and I always agreed before we had kids. I didn't realize how important it would be to have a day to set aside just for you as a couple after your kids come along. But nonetheless, we've never done anything on this day. And we still didn't DO anything this year. But . . . he bought me a set of real pearls--necklace, bracelet, and earings! This is a really big deal because he not only doesn't do Valentine's Day, but he has sworn never to get me jewelry. Apparently I told him when we were first together not to bother because I just lose all my jewelry, but I have changed my mind since then and he has refused to adjust. So it was a really nice surprise.

And finally . . . The Piece de Resistance . . . The Vasectomy!

Okay, I debated whether or not to include this since it is kind of a personal decision and not something that everyone wants to hear about. But, it also embarasses my husband. When weighed out, the pleasure of doing so is greater than the disgust any of you may feel for reading about it.

We have been throwing around the idea for a long time and when I had some issues that forced me to forego our current method of birth control, we decided to finally bite the bullet and just get him snipped. We love our kids, but we know our limit. Not that we think everyone else's limit should be the same, but we know ours. We are content, the boys are content, and we, personally, don't have the patience for more kids. Plus, Tyrel would really like to eventually get a job that allows him to actually see his kids. If we have more, he'd be stuck in his job longer.

So, last Thursday I took my husband in to get fixed. What a freakin' easy process! I know, I know, I wasn't the one who had to do it. But, if child-birth were as easy as a 20 minute trip to the doctors office and you just left with a slight limp and the need for frozen peas between your legs for a couple of days, we probably would have had another kid already. I have a friend who thinks we should have the vasectomy reversed and then done again. That way, we'd be even. Two for me and two for him. I kinda like that idea . . .

So that's it. I think I am caught up with all the major events from the past eight months. Plus, I've just written a novel, which is an accomplishment I didn't know I would do in my life. I should include photos but then this blog would probably overload the blogspot site and no one could read it. Maybe I'll follow up with the pics to go with the stories in a few days. (I promise, no vasectomy photos though.) Hopefully, I'll keep up a little better now.