Time with Family

On Friday night we visited my dad's cousin and his family. I had never met them before...they were awesome and made us feel so welcome there. Before dinner, Paige showed us their beehives. I volunteered to be her "helper" and got to wear this! It definitely suits me, doesn't it? :) I got to see the different stages of the honeycomb and had bees flying around me...it was really cool!

Dinner was delicious...we had some AMAZING salmon. For dessert we had cobbler with fresh fruit...YUM!!! I loved the produce in Portland and Seattle...everything was so FRESH and full of flavor!!!

After dinner, some of us went to watch the Seattle Mariners game. They lost but we had fun hanging out there. My favorite part was watching my cousin Sophie dancing & seeing the boys all shaking their butts over the railing, trying to get on the Fan Cam. Ha ha! The next day we flew back to AZ...thanks a million to Mom & Dad for such an incredible trip!

Update

I'll start with the news that's not so great...the tooth next to the one I had the root canal on isn't showing any sign of feeling, so I'm having another root canal done on that tooth in 2 weeks. Now when I go to the endodontist for my regular visits they will be medicating both of the teeth instead of just one. Also, they are moving my appointments back to every 2 weeks instead of once a month which stinks...but hopefully now my recovery will be on the up & up from here on out. I am once again reminded of how grateful I am that my new dentist caught this. I would have lost my 4 bottom teeth and wouldn't have even had any bone left to put implants into. That would have been interesting. :)

Now for the good news...I am having SO much success with my acupuncture! I am so passionate about it...I have gone to so many specialists & had so many surgeries, & I've been on so many strong painkillers with hardly any luck. This is taking away my pain better than Vicodin or anything else ever has! It is AMAZING! I'm still not feeling perfect, but that's not really to be expected with how bad my endometriosis is. I'm still on Tylenol & Aleve every day (which is MUCH better than having to take Vicodin), & I still get tired fairly easily and have to take a break a few times a day and just rest a little bit. If I have to do that for the rest of my life though, that will be fine with me! Just yesterday I was thinking how great it was that I could shower & get ready without dreading it, and without having to sit down while showering because I didn't have the strength to stand up for that long. I can actually commit to things now & follow through with them! My mind is so much clearer, I can clean my house and go grocery shopping, & I have more energy to give to my friends and family. Thanks SO much for everyone's prayers!!!

Cute

We were over at the Moak's the other day...I saw Lincoln and Branson playing and had to snap a picture. I can't wait until I can see Lincoln doing this with our kids.

Happy Birthday Melissa!

I love this girl more than I can say. She has ALWAYS been that anchor and support that I've needed and is my best friend. She is the most perfect person I have ever met. Growing up I always had her example to follow...whether it was walking into our bedroom & seeing her on her knees praying or reading her scriptures, or watching how she interacted with people and how well she treated those around her. I loved analyzing our lives with each other for hours at night before we fell asleep. (I was shocked when I got married & realized that when Lincoln got into bed he didn't want to sit and talk forever. :) ) I love Melissa's smile and her laugh and how goofy we can be together. (I even have a whole different voice that I use when I am with her. :) Ha ha.) I know that she is going to be an incredible wife to some lucky guy...he won't even know that someone like her existed! I love how my sister & I have a one-track mind. (People hate playing us in Taboo...one time the clue I gave was "animal" & she said "zebra" & it was right, or we'll say, "Remember what we were talking about yesterday about how you hated this?"...& she'll get the answer. It's hilarious.) Anyway, I could write 10 pages about Melissa and the way that I feel about her. I am thankful every day for her.

Meliss, thanks for helping me clean my house, stocking my fridge full of food, that incredible scrapbook with my friends' letters that you gave me for my 20th bday, your uplifting emails, letting me borrow your clothes, playing "office" with me all the time when we were younger, teaching me how to love people, telling me how I great I am when I know it's not always true :), being so compassionate about my health problems, being so sincere, helping me want to exercise more and eat better, having the most powerful testimony ever, pursuing your education, singing with me, and for the part of my heart that you continually fill. I love you so much, you can't even fathom it. You are amazing. I hope that you had a great birthday. -Anj

Shawn & Stetson are home!!!

I missed my brother so much while he was gone! I'm going to miss getting his emails while he was out. He was an incredible missionary.
Shawn (my brother) & Stetson (my cousin)...were in the same home ward, entered the MTC together, went to the same mission (were in the same district there), & came home together!
The whole family back together again for the first time in 2 years!
They definitely had a big group there to welcome them home! I learned a really valuable lesson that day...NEVER wear heels to the airport! Lincoln & I went to the wrong terminal & couldn't reach anyone on their cell phones. We were running around everywhere & I had a lot of blisters on my feet to prove it. :) We showed up at the gate almost 20 minutes late...but by some miracle, the boys were just walking up. I would have hated to miss that moment! Welcome home guys!!!

Trying to Overcome It

I found this online & thought it was funny:

ScienceDaily (May 11, 2007) — Scientists report a genetic mutation, appropriately called "after-hours" (Afh), which affects our internal body clock and might help explain why some of us are “evening people”, only falling asleep in the early hours of the morning.

If you look at the time stamp under my posts I am sure you will find some that were written in the wee hours of the morning. My mind goes crazy at night! I start analyzing things & I start projects & all sorts of things, late at night. It is insane. My mom's side of the family are all like that. I am so proud of myself because I will be in bed before 11pm tonight! Here is to starting on the path to overcoming my "genetic mutation".

Hiatt Family Reunion 2008

Every year, Lincoln's dad's side of the family has a HUGE reunion at the cabin in Pine. It all started with these two great people right here. This year there were 142 people at the reunion. We camped outside & used our new tent & sleeping bags that my parents got us for Christmas. It was great...we even got some rain!

Lincoln tried the whole week to get work off Friday night, so that we could go up to the cabin on Thursday to spend some extra time with everyone...but he didn't have any luck with that. He thought he might be able to get off early that night if things were slow...so he went to work & I waited...& waited...& went to bed at 1:30am. I got a phone call at 3:30am & it was Lincoln asking me to pick him up from work. We came home & packed, then headed up to the cabin & made it in time for breakfast! It was crazy. A bird also flew into our antenna on the drive up. I should take a picture of our antenna...it is totally bent over! There were feathers all over it & on the side of the passenger door. Sad, but funny. :)

As we were pulling in we saw a huge group of 16 elk and 2 deer. It was SO cool...I had never seen that many at the same time!

Cutest Kids in the World

If it's not obvious already, I'm totally obsessed with these kids. They always make me smile. I have such sweet memories with each of them & each one definitely holds a piece of my heart!

Saturday Activities

The boys playing frisbee golf...definitely a favorite at the reunions.
Lincoln helping the kids shoot off bottle rockets...I got to pull the rope to launch the rockets part of the time. The kids had their own rockets made from soda bottles...they REALLY loved this. Nobody got hurt in the process either, which was a little surprising. :)

We had a carnival for the kids Saturday afternoon & then had dinner & a program. After the program, Deon taught us how to square dance. I begged Lincoln to dance with me (which shocked him because I absolutely hate to dance) & he gave in. We both had so much fun dancing with Trisha & Ben, Kenny & Wendy, and John & Anna. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. For some reason we could not catch on & were a few steps behind each time. The little kids were even getting it. :) Matt & Claire dancing...I love this picture. Matt & Danielle are such good parents. I absolutely love watching them interact with their kids & I take a lot more mental notes than they probably realize. :) Seriously, they are awesome & Linc & I hope that we can parent like they do.
Everyone was exhausted by the end, especially our niece Olivia. :)

Great Company

Uncle Karl, Dad & Lincoln...I love these three men!





We found out a few days before the reunion that Lincoln's sister Holly would be coming! We were SO excited...we hadn't seen her since Thanksgiving & had never even met our niece, Kaylan. She is one of the prettiest babies I have ever seen. It was great to spend time with Holly and the boys too. We sure have missed them. They lived in the apartments across the street from us before they moved to Utah. Holly, I miss the late night games, watching the boys, & our morning walks! Hopefully it won't be too long until we see you guys again. We missed you Jordan!

The reunion was once again a success. I'm so thankful to have such a gorgeous cabin to have it at! It was a very relaxing weekend.

Jackson's headstone

We finally got Jackson's headstone! We are really pleased with the way that it turned out. We will be putting it in either this week, or we'll wait until next month & put it in on his 2nd birthday. I am going to love visiting his grave and seeing his name. My brother Shawn just got home from his mission 1 1/2 weeks ago. He left 6 weeks before I had Jackson. I wasn't expecting it, but having him home has brought back so many memories of my pregnancy and Jackson's birth. I think because I never grieved about it with Shawn, I almost feel like I have to do that now...it's really weird. Before he left we always talked about how he would have an almost-2-year-old nephew when he came home. The age that Jackson would be right now is one of my favorites. I'm just really missing him right now. I am positive that he is where he is supposed to be, but there's still that ache in my heart that I know won't go away until I see him again. I'm just glad that I know that I WILL see him again someday. I really can't imagine dealing with this without that knowledge. Life is good though. I was talking to Bekah this past week about how a mother's strongest desire is to know that her child is safe and happy. I have the opportunity of always knowing that my little boy is safe, that he is where he is supposed to be, and that he is doing great things. I don't think that I could ever ask for more than that.

Don't Be Jealous

I found a new hobby this summer...going to the endodontist! I didn't realize how ridiculous I look until Lincoln came to one of my appointments and snapped this picture. Lovely. This is what I have been doing & will continue to do for another year or more. I've actually been exhibiting more symptoms of infection than I was at first, which isn't great. I had to go in a few weeks ago to get a pus pocket on my gums drained...the infection is just trying to escape however it can. It was pretty gross. Let's just pray that all of the bone grows back!
Ha ha, I couldn't resist posting this one. This is after having dental work done by my regular dentist. I was numb all the way up through my nose. I had to go to Target right after and was really hoping that I didn't see anyone that I know! I get to go in again to both the dentist & endodontist on Wednesday...lucky me.