Utah Vacation 2011

We had a lot of fun last summer on our vacation.  We decided that we wanted to go and visit Curtis' Grandma Hasfurther.  She is his only living grandparent & she is in her early 90's.  Grandma is fairly healthy, except for having macular degeneration, which has caused her to lose her sight.  The only problem w/visiting Grandma is that she lives in St. George, UT....a 10 hr drive away.  At the time, Curtis' sister & her family lived in Magna, so we went for a visit to see them too, especially since we have a new niece.  So the dates were set....even though it was one of the hottest parts of summer. 

While we were visiting the Shores' family we got the chance to have fun being Aunt & Uncle. Curtis & I babysat the kids so Heather & Ben could go on a much needed date (to the movies).  Yes, we even watched little 2 month old Annie.  All weekend we had fun playing with the kids & visiting with Heather & Ben.  We also went and visited my CF Camp Grandma Carol Wood while we were in the area.  We also went & visited with one of Curtis' college roommates Karl & his family.  We brought the boys along with us on this visit & they had a lot of fun playing with Karl's little girls. :)

Then we made our way down to St. George to visit Grandma Hasfurther.  While we were there we helped her around the house...well it was more Curtis helped & I just sat & watched bcuz the heat just zapped me & we had a few problems w/O2.  Heck, Grandma, who is 93 & is blind & had a broken ankle was running circles around me!  Anyway, while there we took Grandma for rides around the area, shopping, & we visited with some of the other family in the area, some of whom Curtis hadn't seen in over 10 yrs!  We also went to the St. George Temple & did a session w/Grandma.  The St. George Temple is the OLDEST operating LDS Temple, & it was amazing to be there & to feel of the pioneer spirit that is there.  It was a wonderful experience that I will cherish forever!

On the way home we stayed w/the Martin's.  Chelsea had graduated from beauty school a few months before & I had FINALLY consented to let her cut my hair.  I also decided to be brave & let her put highlights in too.  I think it turned out really cute.

Disclaimer: Blogger changed the format of how pictures are put in, so the pictures are posted from last to first of our vacation.

My new do after we were all fiinished 

 Curtis' cousin Nancy & her family 

Grandma took the picture which explains why its not centered. :)

 Grandma & her sister Cleo

 Curtis' cousin Cathy

 Us w/Grandma & her sister Alma

 Carol & I

 My adorable little nephew Matthew!

 Uncle Curtis w/all the kids. 

 Spencer LOVES is little sister Annie

 Old college roommates

 Cute nephews

Isn't she adorable!!!

Going Viral

Apparently I am going viral....or at least my story of living with CF is going viral. I knew at some point this was going to happen for a couple of reasons....1-I'm waiting to get a lung transplant & people want to hear my story & 2-my sister Sam is in charge of the CF Great Strides Walk this year in Boise & she is trying to spread the word to help raise awareness & funds for CF (& she also has A LOT of friends!) Sam sent me an email today with links to 4 different blogs that have mentioned me & also the information about the CF Walk this year. Sam is also directing everyone to my blog so that they can hear my story......So I suppose I should update my story huh....

I am going to try and work on that over the next few days! I promise!!! Honestly the biggest reason it's not updated is because I like to have pictures with what I'm talking about. The last 8 months have been quiet busy for me....5 hospital visits (or about 72 days...if you were counting), family birthdays, holidays, 2 lung collapses, Sam's wedding, going through the process of getting on the lung transplant list...ok, you get the picture. I have some cool pictures from when my lung collapsed the first time (well, not cool having it or dealing with the pain...but if you are interested in how the body works & are a visual person, then you might think it's cool). They have been on my cell phone & just this week learned how to transfer them from my phone to the computer so that I could save them & post them on my blog. I do want to go into some detail about everything that I have been through. It's been a crazy roller coaster for us this past year. It has been hard, but we know that the Lord's hand has been through it all! We have NEVER been alone through all of this! Through all the pain & ups & downs of trying to figure out what we need to do to help me, we have had love & support from our family, friends, doctors, nurses, RT's, hospital staff, strangers, & our Heavenly Father! We have had soooo many tender mercies & miracles & I want to make sure that I document them while I remember them.

Here is a brief update of what's going on with the transplant right now: Curtis & I are attending the Lung Transplant Education class tomorrow (April 19th). We will also be finishing up the last bit of paperwork that we need to do. After that is done we have been told that I will be on the lung transplant list here in Seattle & that I will be high on the list. We do not know when I will get my transplant...it could be w/in a couple of weeks or it could be months. I'm now living in the Seattle area so that when I get the call for my new lungs, I will be there as soon as I can.

So in the meantime....please keep me in your prayers! You can also help by Walking &/or Donating to the 2012 Boise CF Great Strides Walk that will be held on June 2nd. Join my team "Laughter is the Best Medicine" & help raise money (if you can...donations are not required to walk). Go to this link here to help!!!

Thank You!!!! :)

April-June 2011

April-

I've decided that I really shouldn't put off blogging/journaling for a year. I can't seem to remember what happened now. Thank heaven for pictures!!! (well, when I actually remember to take them...) I do remember that April was really busy. When I was looking back at pictures, I saw these pictures from the zoo with Ethan & Aidan. Then I realized that they weren't really from April, they were from one of the last days of March. BUT, I love these two little boys & all the fun that I have w/them, so I can't help but put the pictures up. :) As a side note: I probably should stop calling them my little boys because they are almost bigger than me! (and yes I know that it doesn't take much to be bigger than me)

Ethan next to the Lion King

Aidan "petting" the King

My attempt at getting a picture w/the 3 of us & one of the tigers,

not too bad for being a self-portrait :)

Don't they just look soooo adorable!!!

In April we did have some pretty cool thunderstorms roll through the valley. I love listening & watching the storms here in Idaho. This particular storm brought lots of vivid colors with it & I had to try and capture it on camera. Of course the color never looks as good on the camera as it does with the naked eye, but I still think it turned out pretty good.

Full rainbow

Huge guests of wind came with this storm. One took out half of the neighbor's tree across the street from us. I heard it crash. I was SOOO glad that it wasn't one of our trees. This storm was also very stressful for me. Before it came Samantha decided that she was going to leave and go run 1-3 miles before it started to rain. About 15 min into her run is when it started pouring. I watched it just get worse & worse. Then the thunder started & the huge wind gusts & I saw the tree break. I was beside myself with worry while Sam was gone. She didn't take her phone w/her, I knew approximately what her usual route was, but she also had several different routes that she took. Worst of all, I couldn't leave because the Oxygen guy was suppose to be at my house any minute to fill up my O2 tank, someone had to be there for them & I had to leave w/in a 1/2 hr to go to a dr appt. The storm passed quickly & Sam came walking in 10 min later, soaked to the bone & laughing. She thought it was the coolest thing ever to be running during that storm. I wanted to strangle her because I thought that she was going to be hit by lightning, or knocked out by flying debris from all the wind & that no one would know who she was. I cried the whole way to the Dr office, because of worry for her & also relief & thanked Heavenly Father for protecting her. Next time she had better take her phone! :)

May-

I do remember how busy May was. I jokingly called May, the Jensen month! With the end of the year it always brings lots of school performances for various groups & also graduation. Curtis & I love going to concerts & plays, but don't usually get to go because we either don't know about them or find out about them after it's too late to change our plans. Since we don't have kids of our own, we usually try and ask some of the families/kids that we know about their stuff. More often than not we just end up going to the Jensen's kids stuff (honestly we don't mind!). Last year they were involved in the following activities: Riley in drama & choir, Amanda in drama & debate, and the boys in TaVaci & maybe some other beginning sport. Since last year was Riley's senior year, we tried to go to at least one play & one or two choir performances. I didn't get any pictures of these performances, sorry...but the were a lot of fun to be at. :) The boys also had their Spring TaVaci concert that we attended. This concert is always entertaining!!! (I have a video of one of the songs that they sung, for some reason it posted at the end of this post...not sure why, but it is totally worth watching!) The end of May was also Riley's graduation. So once again we headed off to Kuna High School's graduation. (It's Curtis' favorite school!!!! We've gone to KHS graduation 4 times in the 6 yrs we've been married! Go Kavemen!!!)

I didn't get much out of graduation as I was trying to help keep these two entertained. Aren't we cute!

Jensen family

The new graduate! Isn't she beautiful!!! :)

Don't you love it when boys dress themselves....

Aidan is a heart-breaker w/the hat!!

Ethan's dog Sasha is super cute too!!!

On Memorial day we decided to take a day trip to go see Shoshone Falls over in Twin Falls with Curtis' parents & brother. Since there was a lot of snow the previous winter, the falls were running at one of the highest levels it has in it's history. The irrigation district usually diverts some of the water from the falls to the farmers, so it significantly cuts down the flow rate over the falls. I think we made it over to see the falls just a few days before they started diverting the water. I did manage to get some good pictures, but again these pictures still don't completely capture the beauty of this natural wonder.

Aren't we cute! :)

Chuck, Judie & Tim

I don't have a picture for this but I have to mention it. On May 31st Curtis & I became and Uncle & Aunt to a beautiful little NIECE!!! Her name is Annie Kate Shores & she is adorable!!!! I was SOOO excited when Heather called me an hour after she was born to personally tell me that I could buy PINK!!! Now don't get me wrong, I love my nephews, but they just aren't the same as having a little girl in the family to dress up in cute frilly girly things. So that afternoon I went out shopping to 2 or 3 different stores to my our niece some of her first pink/red/or purple outfits! I Loved it! I do have lots of pictures of Annie that I will post later! We love you Annie Kate!!!

June-

This year June started off with the annual CF Great Strides Walk. This year it was pretty exciting because they made a few changes. First off the new "theme" for the Walk to to "Blow CF Away" and they are using pinwheels. Also the Boise Walk was moved from the Veteran's Memorial Park to Ann Morrison Park, which is a much better location for a big 5k walk to be held. We kept the same team name this year....Team Sister's, and had several new walkers on our team. It was soooo much fun! This year the weather was nice, the scenery was beautiful, and the company fun & amazing! I can't wait until next year!

Sara, Mary, Perry, Sam

Team Sister's

Adolf family

yearly Sister picture! :)

Tim & Chuck's first time at the walk :)

BFF's

My cheerleaders.

Some of them walked/ran the whole thing & then came back to

help me finish the "race" I may have been the last one back, but

I DID FINISH!!!

Sara, Becky, Riley & Amanda

I love you guys!!!

Here is Ethan's TaVaci song that I recorded...I hope it works....

January-March 2011

I never thought that I would get a year behind on my blogging, but I have. Being the type of person that I am, I can't just skip what I've missed & start with what's going on now....I have to go back & write about things. Every time I start journaling I do the same thing...I want to write about what has happened to "catch up" to what is going on now. I'm going to attempt to not be too wordy...(can't promise anything on that one though). I did have lots of pictures that I wanted to share & I'm going to attempt to keep those "under control" too. So we'll see how I do.

January-

I remember at the time that January was really busy. I can't remember everything that went on then, but I do have a few memories about it. Usually the big event in January for my family is Sam's Birthday. This year she spent the whole month celebrating. She was always gone with friends doing something "birthday related". Sam & I did go out to eat together for her 23rd Birthday....Tuconos Brazillian Grill!!! YUMMY!!! She signed up for the birthday club deal, so the month of your birthday you can go in and get a free meal if you have the card. It's totally worth it! The company was great. The food was AMAZING! (Grilled Pineapple is HEAVENLY!)

Happy Birthday!

We also had a family party at our house to celebrate Sam's birthday. We had my immediate family, Grandma & Grandpa Ward, Aunt Leah, Marguerite & Issac & their 1 month old baby girl Danika. Having a cute newborn around the house kinda stole the thunder from Sam, but no one cared. We all got to take turns holding her. Here are the cutest ones that I got:

Won't Curtis make a wonderful Father someday!

Brenda did really well holding Danika by herself. :)

I also had sinus surgery this month. (can't remember if it's #8 or #9...). I was absolutely miserable before surgery. My left ear hurt all the time & the pain was going down my neck. I had constant sinus headaches. Then my left eye was constantly twitching because of all the pressure in my head. Coming out of surgery I could tell an immediate difference! My ear stopped hurting & the annoying twitch went away. I is kinda annoying that I have to have sinus surgery on average every 1 1/2 yrs, but for the relief I get afterwards for about a year is sooo worth it. (My chronic sinusitis comes because of my CF. If my body would stop producing extra thick mucus all the time then I probably wouldn't have as many problems. But I'm not going to complain about it because I know other CF patients who have sinus surgery several times a year),

February-

February started out pretty busy. 1st weekend of the month was the annual Klondike Scout camp out/activity for the district. This is the hardest camp out to get ready for because 1) it's a winter camp out & 2) they are competing against other scout troops in the district & they are graded on their knowledge & preparation, so in other words there is a lot of equipment to bring up. Even though it's cold, the boys always LOVE this activity & look forward to it every year.

Troop 140

We also had a visit from my cousin & his family the first weekend on the month. Their kids are 4, 2, & at the time 1 month old. Caleb & Audra came to be able to go to the temple & also because Marguerite was going to have Grandpa Ward give Danika her name & blessing in church that weekend. My Mom & Brenda came over for a while to help me watch the kids while Caleb & Audra were at the temple. They loved it! We had a lot of fun playing w/the kids that weekend & visiting w/the adults.

I got Jessie to smile! :)

Jewel was sooo tired. This is how we found her

My Mom thoroughly enjoying her time with the kids. She got both of them to sleep!

March-

Of course the big thing in March is always my Birthday. This year was a big one too....the big 3-0! I was very spoiled on my birthday. Several people made it special for me. I woke up to my house completely decorated with Birthday stuff everywhere. Sam stayed up late & cleaned up the kitchen & decorated the house for me. I didn't here her at all & it was a great surprise. :) My friends Robin, Annette, & Jolene took me out to breakfast at JB's. I was then able to go with my Mom & Nicole to the Boise Temple, which was wonderful. I honestly can't think of a better place to be on your birthday than in the Lord's house! After that I was showered with notes on facebook, email, and some phone calls. Curtis came home from work with roses & a gift for me. We then got some take-out and enjoyed a quiet evening at home eating dinner & watching a movie (although I can't remember what movie we watched....). For my birthday I wanted to throw a party with some of our friends, but I didn't want to pay a bunch for it (ie. rent a room at a restaurant or pay for games at Wahooz) & March is a tricky month with the weather. So we set a date, planned on going to the park, & had a plan B for the party at our house in case the weather was bad. Turns out it was raining a bunch that day, so we ended up at our house. It was lots of fun. We got to see several friends that we don't see very often. They also brought their kids, so we go to play with them too. It really wasn't an "exciting" party, but it was perfect for me. Some yummy food, good company, & lots of fun with kids. Maybe next time we should do something in the summer. :)

Here are my pictures for my Big day:

Officially 30!

Beautiful roses!!!

Balloons 1-29. One for each year of my "youth"

Sam thought it was pretty funny.

Kitchen view of the decorations

Another view

Mom & I at the Temple

Nicole & I w/Mom in the window reflection : )

Having fun w/the kids while we enjoy visiting with the adults too.

End of 2010 with Lots of pictures

Ok, some I'm finally getting around to updating our blog. Eventually I'll catch up...(maybe...) So I wanted to post pictures of the other things that we did last year (besides dealing with health issues) I honestly could have posted more pictures, but I tried to only pick a few for each "highlighted" activity so that this blog post wouldn't be miles long. In September my sister Nicole went to the Temple to receive her endowment. (You can read more about Temples here) It was such a wonderful blessing to be able to be in the Temple with Nicole, my Mom, both Grandma's and a few other close friends.

It was such a beautiful day!!! What a beautiful daughter of God! :-)

In October & November we celebrate many family birthday's. In my family we celebrated Mom, Parley, Brenda & Nicole's birthday. Just so you don't think this is all focused on one side of the family, we do celebrate many birthday's in Curtis' family during August and September...Tim, Heather, Ben & Chuck...but I never seem to have pictures of those celebrations, sorry guys, we still love you! Happy Birthday everyone!

Sam & Brenda's self portrait

Parley

Nicole laughing during one of our family dinners,

I think we were hitting balloons around the house...

This next picture doesn't involve me, but it's really cute. Sam took Brenda to a BSU Men's Basketball game the week of Thanksgiving. Sam knows several of the b-ball players from her classes and she told Brenda about them. Part of the "condition" to go to the game was that Brenda would let Sam do her hair and she would get to have "tattoos" and get to wear lots of orange & blue. (if you haven't guessed from other posts Brenda is a HUGE BSU fan, if she could get away with only wearing BSU clothes, she would....oh wait, most of the time she does...) Anyway, they had a lot of fun and we all thought that Brenda looked SUPER cute!!!

Go Broncos!

Thanksgiving was a busy one for us. We ate dinner with my family at 1 pm at Grandma Ward's house and then we went to Curtis' parents house for dinner around 5 or 6 pm. We ate a lot of food that day, but it was worth it...especially since we got to spend it with family. Again, these pictures are going to seem "one sided" but I promise we spent time with both sides. (Maybe I only remember to take pictures of the Ward family because someone is always taking pictures, so I tend to remember more....)

Sam & our cousin Marguerite

My Mom & I

Parley, Dad, Grandma Ward & Mom

Christmas was fun and busy too. Christmas Eve was spent with my family and Christmas day was spent with Curtis' family.

My Dad LOVES to play Santa. This year he came over right after he had stopped by several homes to help spread good cheer. Brenda wanted a picture with Santa and we made Parley stand in the picture too (he was NOT excited about it, but humored us anyway)

All the Ward Kids

Do we look like we are related and love each other?

I can't pass up a story with this picture...As stated above Brenda LOVES anything BSU related. This is her reaction to realizing what Sam got her for Christmas....

A 2010 Fiesta Bowl picture with a few autographs on them...one of them included Kellen Moore, the BSU quarterback. (Sam had a class with him and a few other FB players too) Brenda thought it was the "Best Present Ever!"

Opening presents with our nephews Spencer & Matthew

Heather with the cross-stitch that I made her for Matthew

Uncle Tim playing on PBS kids with Spencer

While here visiting for a week, they boys got to come play at Uncle Curtis & Aunt Sara's house. Of course the first thing Spencer wanted to do was build with blocks!

Playing Hide & Seek with the Santa doll.

Matthew thought this game was absolutely hilarious!

Aren't they cute BSU fans!!

I wouldn't have bought the t-shirts, but they were only $2

on the clearance rack...good thing they will grow into the shirts!

Spencer wanted to "sleep in the tent" with Uncle Curtis. Since it was winter we made an indoor tent instead....When it was done Spencer said "it's a Dog House!" Ha, ha!! I can't wait until he actually understands what that means...(by the way, this is the only time Curtis has "slept in the dog house" since we've been married)

Getting ready for bed inside the "dog house"

Nap time!!!

For several years I have wanted to build shelves in the garage. After Christmas my brother Parley finally had time to come over and build them for us!!! I was SOOO excited!!!

Wall before

Hard at work

He make this look easy....

almost done

The finished product!

Sam was my official photographer during this process. She was also trying to get Parley to let her use his power tools. Because she was "bugging" him, it took him about 1 1/2 hrs to build the shelves, if she wouldn't have been there he probably could have done the whole project in about 1 hr. Sam thought that the shelves looked like bunk beds...we threatened to kick her out there...

A few more random pictures:

BFF...Shasta & Sara

We got to spend a Saturday together....loads of fun!!!

Dec. 1st we got a ton of snow here in the valley. So much that schools and the colleges all had a snow day. Sam and her friend Becca had fun in the snow at our house. Here they are with their boyfriend Pierre. He is so handsome...

Here is a close-up of the cross-stitch that I made for my nephew Matthew.

I LOVE they way it turned out!!!!