A Week To Change A Life

(To view some deep info from our first conference, see the 3 posts from July 2010.)

These past few days I was in Dallas!! What?! Yeah...I travelled, with Brooklyn, to Dallas, Texas for the 2012 Nevus Outreach Conference. It was a whirlwind, but we managed to get there, visit with tons of people, meet new faces, learn a bit of information, & get back...all in just about 4 days! I went alone back in 2010 but this time Brooke needed to see Dr. Bauer to get a final say on what this last surgery would entail...so she went with. Originally it was supposed to be the 4 of us, because I won a family registration for filling out a survey from the 2010 conference. But when we got right down to it, we couldn't afford 4 plane tickets & the hotel. We wanted to save our money in Brooklyn's account for the last surgery, so we opted to have just Brooklyn & me go. I really missed Dustin & Cali while we were gone, but it was nice because we roomed with a great friend, another nevus mom, & her son (Amie Moller & Zac, who we were in Chicago with in January for our first surgery) while we were there so we only had to pay for half of the room. AND we gave them our extra adult & child free registration. So it was good, even though Dustin & Cali weren't there.

We left bright & early on the 4th of July (cause thankfully our party was on the 3rd) & flew to Denver then to Dallas. We had an "interesting" time on the plane...

...but after some bribing, we ended up on the shuttle bus in Dallas...happy!

 

The first night was a 4th of July party...but I tell you what...it didn't feel like the 4th of July at all. :(  Several of us hated that the conference started on the 4th of July, but that's the dates they were already locked in to. Thankfully though, we had our party the night before. :) 

 

So we had the 4th of July BBQ party, then went to bed. The next 2 full days were filled with speakers, meeting new people, catching up with old friends, & bonding with those super close friends that you'll have for life...just because of a nevus on our children. It's amazing what can bring people together. I wish Brooklyn wasn't born with a nevus, but I thank God that these wonderful people were brought into my life because of it.

 

There was free childcare offered at a local daycare, located right across the parking lot from the hotel we were at. So our kids played at daycare all day while we were in conferences.

 

One of the days, we had several hours of a break, so we talked the hotel into taking us to a mall so we could shop. :)

 

On the shuttle going to the mall

The last full day (Saturday) was the day we had our consult with Dr. Bauer. I'll write about that in the next post...

Saturday night was the big dinner & dance. It was a great dinner & Brooklyn actually didn't do too bad. She loved the hats!

 Mom's & our kids... In the above picture there's a great friend Melissa & her son Aiden, then Me & Brooklyn, & a new mom we met, Amy, with her daughter, Emily. Amie, my good friend & roommate is in the top picture on the far right & in the bottom picture in the middle. Amie was replaced by Beth, another great friend, in the bottom picture on the far right. Whew!!! We were just missing Christine & Josh. :(

Our flights back weren't as rough as the flights there. See for yourself...

And on to the next post to explain our horrible news....

Happy Birthday America!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!!

 

Like we do every year, this year we had another 4th of July party. It's like waking up in the morning. Automatic. No question about it. We have a party. :o) So of course, this year was like every other!! Take a walk through our 4th of July through pictures....

 

All the goodies I made...

 

Licorice wrapped in festive paper

Strawberry, blueberry, marshmallo kabobs

Amazingly wonderful white chocolate sprinkle strawberries

Strawberry Dessert Squares (and my personal all-time favorite)

Believe it or not, this is the very first cake I've ever made...so why not make it difficult! It was very crumbly (no idea why cause I'm not a baker) but everyone said it tasted good...& it was all gone by the time the night was over!

The fireworks. Nuff said.

And a little play-by-play of this picture.....

BOOM-BOOM-SPARKLE-POW-POP~SPARKLE~POP-POP-BA-BOOM-BOOM~SPARKLE~BOOM-KA-POW-BOOM-POP

 

We hope you all had a safe & happy 4th of July!



Happy 4th Birthday Cali!

Our little girl is 4!!

 

I can't believe I'm saying that! How time has flown by...that's for sure! We had a little party for her on her actual birthday (Wednesday the 27th) & then had her big party tonight. Here are some pictures from her party on Wednesday...

 

Opening up her crown & wand

Pretty happy with them!!

 

And here are some pictures from her party tonight...

 

She wanted her hair curled & make-up on...all dolled up! Plus she had her new t-shirt that says "I'M 4...and whatever it is, I DIDN'T DO IT!!!"......oh so true!!

 

Cali wanted a Strawberry Shortcake theme so we went to birthdayexpress.com & picked out a whole bunch of SS decorations. She loved it all!! The cake, however, was one thing that I loved the most. I went to the store to pick it up & was just so proud of it! I had both the girls with me so I purposefully put it in the back end of our Equinox so it wouldn't get ruined...& so Cali wouldn't see it. When we got home, Dustin went to get Brooke out of the car, but she threw a fit & wanted me to get her. So he opened the back & grabbed the rest of the groceries while I got Cali out of the car first. While Dustin was taking the groceries inside & while I was taking Cali around so she didn't see the cake, Brooke took it upon herself to climb out the back of the car & just get out herself. Well where else was she going to step but right on the cake box! I came back to the car to get Brooke & the cake, when I saw Brooke walking upstairs...& I just had this horrible feeling. I ran to the cake & the whole box was smashed in...& this is what I saw....

I guess it's not horrible, but it's definitely noticeable where she stepped on it (bottom right corner & bottom right of the decal). Oh well though, Cali didn't care & everyone said it still tasted good.

All set up & ready for people to come

 

The grill master

Opening presents

 

One of her favorite presents...a waitress outfit. It even comes with a little menu & writing pad. She LOVES going around taking everyone's orders!

 

Her new bike!

She had an absolutely great week!! Before you know it, she'll be 5! AAAAAGGGHHHHH!!

Life...Caught Up!

Wow time has gone by fast these past few months! There hasn't been a dull moment & we've been busy little bees around here!!! Here's what's been going on in the past couple of months.....

I taught Cali the greatest thing ever...how to lick the batter off the spoon  ;o)

And here she is patiently waiting for the finished product...

On May 12th I had a BBQ for my nursing class. It was a huge THANK YOU to them all for donating our left-over class money to Brooklyn for her surgeries. And it was like a 5-year-reunion...& was much needed!! Some of us hadn't seen others since we graduated. We had 15 graduate & 8 people showed up for the BBQ...it was awesome seeing those that came!!! This picture just shows 7 of us cause one had to leave a little early & none of us even thought to get a picture... :(  In this picture are (from L to R): Tim Ferguson, Marji Vance, Jim Ferguson, Gale Ferguson, Jenn Olson, Me, & Stacie Klemo. Shawna Cantrell is the other who was there but not in the picture. Gonna do it again in 5 more years!! :o)

Took Cali to Curtis' baseball game on Mother's Day...she had a ball!!

Little Brookie in the dress that my grandma made for Cali a few years ago. It fits awesome!

We've been playing outside a lot!! Here's the girls on our slide...having a blast.

Our nephew Taylor had a 5th birthday party the end of May. Here he is with his Angry Birds cake & cupcakes...which he's infatuated with!!!

The girls in their matching Dora pajamas

If anyone knows any contests I can enter this picture in, let me know!!! This is Cali...asleep on the potty, ON the chair, with the iPad in her lap! Priceless!!!

I went to a conference for my nursing license in Helena last week. I got to stay with our high school friend, Misti, & her family. Her & her husband have a 2 month old who I got to love on for a little while. :o)

Brookie flashing a smile...

 Today we thought we'd plant our garden. It's finally "safe" to do it since it probably won't freeze at night anymore (knock on wood). So the girls & I packed in the car & went to the "Flower Store".

Here are the girls with their gloves & tools...ready to work. Too bad it only lasted about 4 minutes...

And here is the finished product!!!! I'm super excited about this cause this is the first garden I've had at this house...& the first garden I've had in about 7 years. So this is a big deal for me!!! :o)

June 12th

June 12th has special meaning in our family...it used to be special just for 1 reason, but in 2010 it became special for 2 reasons. :)

 

I have explained our whole "2-anniversary" story a few times. Our "fake" anniversary is June 12th. We like to celebrate by going out to dinner & exchanging a small present or something. It's the anniversary of the best day of my life. Seriously...June 12, 2004 was THE best day. It was so much fun & I will never forget it as long as I live. I mean, we had all our family & friends around us (well, those that could come) & we all just had the best time ever.

 

In 2010 it became special for another reason, too. It was the day Dustin's younger sister, Marji, got married to Mike. This year Dustin & I had a little surprise for them. We have a deep-freeze in our garage, so we took their cake top & froze it for them to eat on their 1-year anniversary. Well life got in the way & all 4 of us totally forgot about it on their anniversary! Duh!! So on their 2 year anniversary we took Mike's birthday present to their house (his birthday is the day before...on the 11th), along with the cake; & while they were downstairs opening the present up, I ran upstairs, got the cake from the car, & put it in the middle of their table for them to see when they came back up. So here they are, on their 2-year-anniversary, with a 2-year-old cake top...which, I might add, they did eat!

 

And just for good measure, because I don't think I've ever posted pictures from our wedding.... (These are pictures of pictures so they're not the best quality.)

June 12, 2004 

Let Me Take You To Rio...

Ahhhh Rio! Definitely on my bucket list to go to Rio someday... Perhaps the 2016 Summer Olympics? I guess it's a good goal to have....

Anyways...Cali had her dance recital, which was called Let Me Take You To Rio & was a re-creation of the movie "Rio". Cali was a little Red Robin...& of course, even though I'm partial, she was super adorable.

Here are a couple pictures...and, of course, the video!!

In the car with her make-up bag :o)

 

Here's the video...

(She's the 5th LITTLE red robin to go on stage.)

After the recital...with Brooklyn & cousin Nevaeh

Happy with her flowers & make-up bag  ;o)

Posing with her favorite flower that she picked out of the bouquet

Cali with a proud mommy

And one last one for good measure...what a little turkey!

Animals!!!

I have a good friend, Stacie, that I graduated nursing school with who lives about 15 minutes out of town...& has lots of animals. My girls LOVE going out to her house & seeing the animals...so we try to go out several times a year to let them walk around & pet whatever they can pet.

 

Stacie's daughter, Calli, had 2 pigs this year for FFA. We were getting close to the fair, so they were getting plump! Here's Cali & our nephew, Kobe, laughing at the piggies being funny in the water.

Stacie got chickens a little while back so we got the eggs...and as you can see...the girls were being VERY careful with them!!

Here's Daddy & Stacie helping the girls pet the horse. He was a little skiddish that day, but they did get to pet him...

...and they got to sit on him too! Cali wasn't too sure, so she got right off, but Brooke LOVED it. She even gave us a little wave!

Even though Cali didn't like the horse too well, she was very at home on the 4-wheeler!!

Just HAD to share...

I know she'll hate me one day for this...but I seriously just can't resist.

 

I was at home with Cali...just the 2 of us. Uncle Curtis had taken Brooklyn out for a little fun-time so Cali & I were just playing around. I was paying bills at the kitchen table on the laptop & all of a sudden Cali was quiet. Well you parents know that quiet=BAD!! So I walked in the living room to find this...........

 

There's my little Cali...asleep. On the potty. On the rocking chair. With the "my Pad" on her lap.

Priceless