Prelude to a Family Reunion

I wish I could remember everything so be patient with my writing.  My Sister in-law Sarah, and the kids came out to Utah a couple of weeks before our big family reunion.  My Brother Chris came out a week before it so he could be there with Sarah and the kids for her side of the family reunion.  Sarah and the kids didn't get to my mom's house until late evening on Friday July 29th to have a fun sleepover weekend.  We had dinner, and talked.  The kids played.  We made plans for the next day Zumba, swimming at the outdoor pool of the rec center by my mom's house, and to see the races at Rocky Mountain Raceway.  We have lived here in Magna for over 3 years, and we had never been to one, we live 5 min away from the track.
Sarah and I woke up bright and early and went to the rec center and did some Zumba.  I love Zumba, but it's so hard to do when the class is packed.  I can't concentrate.  It was nice when people had to start leaving and  space opened up, and I could concentrate.  Sarah is awesome at it, and it was fun to be able to go with her!  Next stop was swimming.  We were trying to decide whether to swim in the indoor or the outdoor pool.  The weather was kind of iffy.  We chose to do the outdoor.  It was nice at first and not very crowded.  We were able to stay for a couple of hrs.  It started to get windy and cold near the end.  The deciding factor of us leaving was when they blew the whistle telling people to get out of the pool because someone either pooped or threw up in the pool.  Good timing, and oh so very nasty!
Next stop Rocky Mountain Raceway.  We thought that the races started at 5 p.m.  We were so wrong and got there way too early.  You weren't able to bring in food or drinks, so I had to leave my backpack of snacks in the car.  We went up to the bleacher area, and only a hew other people were there.  We sat down for maybe 15 min. and the kids were starting to get board.  We went back out to the parking lot to the cars and had cookies and warm water.  Oh YUMMY!  Then went back up and waited.  It got very hot, just sitting there, so Rex the guy my Mom was involved with at the time bought us all snow cones.  I'm not a huge fan of them, but this one I so was, and so was everyone else.  Very thoughtful treat!
Luckily we didn't have to sit and watch nothing for too long because they started doing practice runs.  Then the real races started.  Some were fun, and others not so much.  I don't think I could ever get into NASCAR with  the hundreds of laps that they do.  It gets boring.  We wanted some action cars cutting each other off, tires squealing, you get the picture.  There were some races with lot's of close calls, and it was awesome!  I wish that it had been a demolition derby.  I love those, and they are so much more action packed!  The kids started to get restless again, and so we decided to leave early.  We went home ate some yummy food, and just hung out for the rest of the night.
The next day was Sunday and we had planned on going to my Mom's ward, but we were so tired from the day before that we slept in and took our time getting going for the day.  We decided that we would go to Temple Square for our church and walk around.  Maybe go on a hike up to Ensign Peak if the weather stayed nice.  We got ready, and left.  We parked a few blocks away from Temple Square by a park.  I can't remember the name of the park to save my life, but we were able to get some nice pictures with the kids there.
It was nice to see the Salt Lake Temple, and sit by the reflection pool, to go to the visitor center for the temple, to go see the visitor center at Temple Square and see the new family video, and to go see the Joseph Smith Memorial building.  It was closed, but they did have Church meetings going on.  They let us go and see the statue of Joseph Smith.  It was a nice replacement from church meetings for the week.  Sarah and my Mom were able to take some great pictures of the kids.  I'm so glad they have good cameras.  Thanks Sarah and Mom for taking great pictures. =)  The weather turned on us so we weren't able to do the hike, which was okay because we were tired.
We went home and just relaxed.  The kiddos in between rain storms played outside and started gathering snails.  Nasty!  My girls were the ring leaders of gathering, but the real ring leader was my niece McKell who told everyone what to do.  My nephew Gabe was kind of iffy about the whole thing, but gathered the snails anyways.  It was hilarious.  They filled up my Mom's little bird bath with snails.  Then my Mom gave them a huge zip lock bag to put them in.  We were going to throw them away, but the kids started to get upset.  So we compromised and took the snails to the park to let them loose. So gross to see this huge pile of snails by the lamp post in the park.  Hopefully nobody got angry with all of the snails being there.  That ended our fun sleepover party.  I'm so glad we were able to do it, and spend time together.  I love family!  Stay tuned for my post on our fun family reunion this year.  Thanks for reading, and enjoy the pictures below!

At the pool:

We really did have a lot of fun at the pool, but by the end our girls had had it, they were freezing.  I love the picture with my nephew Trace kissing Madisynn on the cheek.  Priceless!

At Rocky Mountain Raceway:

Like I said earlier, the races were fun, but they got old fast.  Madisynn fell asleep for a good 20 min. or so.  That girl could sleep anywhere!  Don't those snow cones look delicious?  They were so good!

At the park by Temple square:

I love how the girls are all wearing bright colors with flowers in their hair.  They are so beautiful!

At Temple square grounds:

Inside the Joseph Smith Memorial Building:

Inside the North Visitors Center at Temple Square:

Sunday night catching Snails:

It was so much fun to have them come and have a little party over the weekend.

Love this picture of them, so stinking cute and priceless!  Thanks Sarah and kids for coming and spending time with us.  We love you!!!!

Maintaining...

Anyone that knows me knows that I'm a die hard Jillian Michaels fan.  I have read her books.  I love her workout DVD's.  They are difficult, and they do deliver results if you are willing to give it your all.  I have all of the one's pictured up above.  I have been rotating them.  One week I do the 30 day shred.  So starting on a Monday I do level 1, Tuesday Level 2, Wednesday Level 3.  Thursday six week six pack level 1.  Friday six week six pack level 2.  Saturday if I feel like working out it's either Banish fat, boost metabolism, or No more trouble zones.  The next week Monday ripped in 30 week 1, Tuesday Ripped in 30 week 2, Wednesday Ripped in 30 week 3, Thursday Ripped in 30 week 4. Friday Six week Six pack level 1.  Saturday Six week Six pack level 2.  I do this to keep it tough, and so my body doesn't get used to it.  It;s nice to always feel the burn of a good workout!
It will be a year and a half next month since I met my weight loss goal.  I am happy to say that I have maintained.  I keep fluctuating between 145 and 150.  I have gotten up to 152 and that depressed me.  I have also gotten down to 140.  That felt awesome to reach that, and say that I was 140.  It's just too hard to maintain 140.  I have a problem though, and I don't like it one bit.... I feel like i'm starting to lose my focus.  It makes me mad, frustrated.  I thought that losing the weight before was hard, but you know what maintaining it is even harder.  I need another challenge with a reward at the end.  I found my challenge today.
So I decided to go onto JillianMichaels.com to see if she had anything new.  I was so excited to see that she did.  It was just barely released.  This is my new challenge:

I watched the preview, read the reviews, and I just couldn't resist I went onto Amazon.com and ordered me a copy.  I seriously can not wait until it comes, i'm so excited to have another challenge!  Shopping will be my reward.  Bring it on Jillian!

Back to school

Madisynn started school last week!  She was so excited, and so ready.  I on the other hand was not so ready for her to start.  She is my baby, and she is just so tiny, it's hard to believe that we are at this point.  Because she was excited, I needed to show my excitement for her, and I did.  So on the afternoon of the 29th I took pictures, and then we bravely walked to the school for Madisynn's first big day of big kid school.

Madisynn has a friend from church that is in her class.  I'm so glad that she has a buddy that she already knows.  So I had to take a picture with Maddie, her buddy MaKayla, Kenzie and MaKayla's little sister Kaley:

 

And of course a picture with just the 2 of them:

Then the time came.  Mrs. Dunbar opened the door greeted us, and gave specific instructions to help our kids get backpacks hung up and to find their desk, and say our goodbyes.  

Maddie at her desk all set and ready for Mom and Dad to leave:

I have to say I held it together pretty well.  I didn't cry in front of her.  I told her to have a fun day, to behave, that I loved her and that we would see her in a few hrs. Then kissed her and said goodbye.  I cried on the way home.  I got myself together though, and called my BFF Brittnie.  She made me feel better. =)  I made it through the rest of the day without crying and I was excited to pick Maddie up at the end of the day.

Maddie was a true star!

McKenzie started school today September 6th, and she has been waiting so patiently to go.  I decided to try something new this year with Kenzie.  I decided to enroll her in a charter school.  It's brand new this year so lucky us we get to be the group that works out all the bugs.  Why did McKenzie start so late?  Well the construction on the inside of the school wasn't quite done yet, and they didn't wan the teachers to be stressed and panicky so they moved the start date back a week.  McKenzie was supposed to start the same day as Maddie.  It really would have been nice to have had them start on the same day,  I was all prepared for it,  Oh well.  So this new start date only effects the end of school by 2 days.  That's okay with me, not a big deal.

Over Labor day weekend the staff and volunteers moved stuff into the school.  Labor day they actually had the open house to be able to go around and see the school.  See who the teacher's were.  How drop off and pick up work.  I really felt that Kenzie needed to see who her teacher was and know where she was going, and not just go into it cold turkey.  I was glad we went, it settled my nerves some.

This morning bright and early I woke McKenzie up.  She was excited to get up and wear her school uniform jumper.  She hurried up and got dressed.  Then I did her hair really cute, and then she ate breakfast.  We really had to hurry because we still weren't sure on drop off procedures. We grabbed her lunch, she has to have cold lunch all year since this building is only temporary until they build the new one.  This building doesn't have a kitchen to be able to do school lunch.  This doesn't bother me though because Kenzie had cold lunch almost everyday last year.  I had to do some cute pictures of Kenzie on her first day before going to school. 

Had to also get some of Kenzie posing when I did Maddie's pictures:

Everything went smoothly dropping Kenzie off this morning.  She went into shy mode when she got to her classroom.  It was hard to leave her there.  She was just so far away from what I was used to.  I knew she would do fine though.  I did not cry, which i'm very proud of.  I kept myself busy trying not to think about it, and before i knew it it was time to go pick her back up.  Pick up was going to be crazy, so we got to the school 10 min. early and already the pick up line was backed up.  We decided to go into the school and wait, since we had to be back to pick maddie up from school.  We picked kenzie up with no problems, and in the car she told me about her day.

She is so excited to be going to Endeavor hall, and to be an Eagle... She had an awesome day!  She told me about lunch, and art, and the library. She made a friend, her name is Sky.  Kenzie went on and on how at recess the school principle played football with her and Sky.  They just threw the football back and forth to each other.  I really like her principle he is an awesome guy, and is going to do such a great job running this school!  I am going to think positive and we are all going to have a fantastic year.  Really we are!  Thanks for reading folks. =) 

6 week re-scan

Matt had his 6 week follow up re-scan appointment yesterday.  It went wonderful!!!  When Kriss saw Matt she said he looked so good.  She said when she first saw him at his first appointment the thought that ran through her head was wow this is one sick Man.  She asked us how we had been doing, and then got right to business.  Matt put his hand on the hand pad and it started scanning.  Matt is doing so great, he is getting healthier!  He still has some issues, but we will work through them.
Matt is able to stop taking the chlorophyll, peppermint, and kidney activator.  He still has to take the evening primrose capsule once a day.  He still needs to take the Catnip and fennel 3 times a day 10 drops each time.  They added 1 new supplement and that is stress relief capsule 2 a day.  Sleep issues came up on the scan.  Matt has an inner alarm clock and he just wakes up automatically after 6 hrs.  Not enough sleep.  He, and we all need 8 hrs. of sleep.  The valerian root capsules make him drowsy.  They are a timed release brand, so you are supposed to get your 8 hrs.  Since it hasn't been working for Matt, Kris took him off of those as well.  It's hard to get enough sleep anyways when you work the graveyard shift.  I try to keep the kids busy, and quiet so he can sleep.  It's just hard all around because it's light outside, and people are out and about working.  It's just noisy!  We do have a dark blanket hanging over our window, but it still doesn't keep all of the light out.  We will work something out on that issue!
Some other issues besides stress and sleep, were emotional issues as well.  So he needs to go through some more emotional release, and Evox as well.

EVOX: Re-patterning/Healing

Are you ready to be free of emotional pain?

EVOX, a multi-sensory (ie: light, sound, GVSR) communication system which quickly, gently and effectively re-patterns the mind-body.

Emotional issues are addressed easily in a stress-free environment which allows you to release negative patterns (i.e., depression, anger, sadness, grief, fears, phobias). EVOX is a computer-based system that maps the subtle qualities of the human voice, and provides the significant frequencies for re-patterning.

These frequencies are then presented to the body to facilitate the subconscious adjustment. This process unburdens the mind body through a remapping process allowing the patient to quickly experience emotional healing.

How it works

EVOX is designed to listen to the subtle qualities of spoken voice and display them into what is called a voice map. Significant frequencies are selected and then presented to the body together with light and sound. This multi-sensory communication facilitates the subconscious adjustment that is often described as ?unburdening?. The process is called voice remapping. This process is particularly helpful if emotional healing is indicated.

The BioChemistry of Sound

By combining quantum physics, biology, and information theory ZYTO technology provides an interface between living things and computers allowing them to talk to each other.

Most of your daily activity is managed by an exchange of information that happens at a level below conscious awareness. Every second there are an estimated 100 million impulses of information processed by your body that you are not aware of. The mechanism that filters this information is a part of your brain called the reticular activating system and even though you aren?t aware of it, it is this information that keeps your body organized and healthy.

Information is the communication of knowledge and each cell of your body is built for communication. The outer cell wall is comprised of two layers of fat, called a bi-lipid layer. The lipid molecules are organized in a crystalline pattern that facilitates communication. You may be familiar with crystals and their use. Using very simple components, and no outside energy source, a crystal radio allows you to capture the waves from a radio station and convert them into audio energy. The crystal like structure of each of the 70 trillion cells that make up your body allows you to receive information in a similar way. As the cells compress and expand their structure generates the energy needed to pass information along, allowing your entire body to function in a coordinated and healthy way.

As your cells communicate, EVOX technology makes it possible to eavesdrop and listen to the conversation. This is accomplished by monitoring the changes in galvanic skin response, or GSR, as well as subtle changes in spoken voice. As we listen we apply proprietary formulas and extract meaning from what your body is saying; but that?s only half the equation, the other half is talking. Talking in this sense is communicating information to your body that will stimulate a response. To talk to your body EVOX technology converts computer data to signatures or frequencies that stimulate cellular response. We call these signatures virtual stressors or queries. The process of talking with the body can be seen as a stimulus-response exercise.

In other words, EVOX technology outputs a query (a virtual stressor) and the body responds.

Very interesting!!!

Acupuncture/acupressure came up on the scan.  Matt has done acupuncture before.  He did it when we first moved into our house over 3 years ago.  I didn't realize that he had done it.  I guess life was stressful.  He can go to the VA hospital and get it done for free.  Anything dealing with his back is covered and free! Matt said it felt great while the needles were in, but when they took the needles out, he felt crappy again.  Maybe now that he has had some emotional release, and keep having emotional release this acupuncture/acupressure will be able to help relieve his back pain issues.

Oh and he has to keep taking the Digestzen as needed.  He has been taking it once a day 4 drops.  He is now down to 3 drops.  Didn't say anything about the spiritual side of things.  We must be doing good in that area!  Sweet!  We will continue to go to church, and to the temple.  Matt was able to be an escort to one of his good friend/and old co-worker.  Him and his wife took out there endowments, and were sealed to each other, along with their daughter.  What an awesome experience for Matt to be able to be there for that!

Onto Matt's diet.  It has been a long 6 weeks that is for sure!  Matt started out with 100% raw diet.  He was on that for about 10 days.   Then they moved him to 75% raw diet.  He has been on that for the rest of the time.  We were hoping that when he was scanned that he would be good to start eating everything again.  Well Kriss muscle tested and she put Matt on a 60% raw diet.  She said that really this is where he should stay long term.  The good news is Matt is able to have bread again and red meat!

He can only have certain types of bread for now.  He can have Ezekiel bread, and Spelt bread.  He can have red meat once a week, Hooray!!!  He can have fresh motzerella cheese, cottage cheese, and Greek yogurt.  He can't have potatoes yet, or milk.  I'm not sure about pasta we forgot to ask on that one.  It was funny Matt asked about snickers bars, and Kriss just laughed and said oh i'm not even going to muscle test you on that one, NO! LOL  He can have as much fruits and veggies as he would like.  I wish that he would want them more, they are so good for you.  I feel like I'm always nagging him to get his veggies.  I guess thank goodness for wives or people that really want you to succeed and help you because nothing would ever get done if you were fighting it.  I hope that makes sense!  I really just want Matt to be healthy.  I want him to have the desire to be healthy.

We left the appointment on a high.  We went to my sister's and talked about the appointment.  It was a good visit!  Then we headed home.  On the way we decided to stop at a good earth food store.  Holy cow they are so expensive!  Eating good is expensive.  The bread was over $5.  It will be nice to be able to incorporate more into meals again.  It's been hard knowing what to cook.  Thank goodness for our pampered chef food chopper.  We have had a lot of stir-fry vegetables.  Eggs, mixed with spinach, and broccoli.  I even put in a mix of kidney beans, black beans, and pinto beans.  It really wasn't bad!  We've had lot's of green smoothies, and fruit salads, and oatmeal.  I haven't really made a full meal since May.  It will be nice to start making full meals again.  

We have loved bountiful baskets!  We were only ordering 1 basket here or there for awhile.  Then when Matt went on this diet I started ordering 2 baskets every Monday.  We eat every last bit of it.  It is so yummy and delicious, and so so so good for you!  Being healthy is important!  Take care of yourself, and make good healthy conscious decisions, you won't regret it!  I will keep you updated with Matt's health.  He has a re-scan in 6 weeks.  Thanks for your thoughts, and reading, and being in our lives!