Boulder Jensen '09

So here are more pictures from our vacation in June. These are pics from the Jensen Family Reunion, which was held at Uncle Earl's Cabins near Boulder Mountain in Utah... one of the most beautiful places on Earth, in my opinion! It's been sort of a family tradition for the past 8 years or so to go to these cabins and go four-wheeling, fishing, hiking, and whatever else comes to mind. Plus, it's really close to my mom's sister's house, Veola & Emmett, and it's always really fun to visit them. They're always so kind, and instead of a "Hell-O" for us, Aunt Veola always has an "Oh-Hell" for us. Haha. It's always in good humor, and for some reason, it's always been really funny to me to hear her cuss.
Anyway, more about the trip... Atley and I were sick most of the time in Utah (hmmm, does this sound at all familiar?) I had bad bronchitis and a nasty sinus infection, and Atley had tonsilitis and horrible ear infections that are still clearing up with her third antibiotic. However, we still had fun! We just stayed indoors most of the time at the cabins. But it's so beautiful in southern Utah, we just really enjoyed the scenery. :) And, it was super nice to see everyone together, since most of us live outside of Utah and in all different states. So, enough babbling. Let's get on with the pictures.

This is my adorable nephew Cayson, Jess and Jen's baby boy. And they have another one on the way!!! Due in December!

The Jensen siblings in front of Lower Bowns Reservoir. Me, Meriss, Ad and Jess. This is one of the few times I went outside the entire trip.

Andy and I. After this picture was taken, we went on a long drive through the beautiful mountains, and took as many off-road trails we could in our Yukon. We saw so many beautiful views! We truly love those mountains and the surrounding area.

This is Atley's little cousin buddy, Bryson. Aren't they cute? Atley had soooo much fun with Dev and Bry on the trip! She LOVED them. They could always make her giggle.

The two goofy sisters.

Atley posing on the cabin floor with some of her toys. This is where she spent 90% of her time at the cabins.

And here she is... reading like a little lady. Don't I have a sophisticated daughter? I know, I know! She just learned so fast! Who needs school?

Here is the boy craft that Aunt Rach helped them with. Tigers and cheetahs, if you couldn't tell.

Aunt Rach and Kyler buddy. What some sweethearts.

My dad and the nice sized fish that he and Bry caught!! Wow! Good lookin' cutthroat.

And my hubby with his fish! This lake is Fish Creek.

DiSnEyLaNd

I know it's been a while since our last post... our last adventures have been numerous... I will post about them in order, so here's the first... our trip to Disneyland with the Olson Fam in the beginning of June. We all stayed at some condos in Oceanside, CA, and went to Disneyland for two days, and then Andy, Atley and I went to the San Diego Zoo for one day (which is HUGE by the way, and wonderful... if you ever get a chance to go... this is the zoo beyond all zoos). Anyway, here are some pictures of the first week of our vacay in June... Enjoy! This is Asian Atley with Grandpa in Gunnison. She wasn't so sure about the hat...

Atley getting some grub after a swim at the condo in Oceanside.

Andy, Atley and I at the front gates at Disneyland. I love how they make the flowers into Mickey Mouse arrangements! It's so neat. Dumb pic of me, by the way. The picture-taker failed to count to 3, and so I was doing something funky with my mouth... and then Atley was too ornery to re-take the picture.

The end of the second day at disneyland... which is always time for SOUVINERS!! I love to shop, and love to buy things (Andy knows this fact a little too well). Atley sporting her mickey spirit.

Grandma Vickie with two of her cute granddaughters... Grace and Ali. Aren't they adorable?? They both LOVED the princesses.

The Olson clan is on the back row... this is the Tower of Terror ride. Yes, we cheated and took a picture of the picture with our own camera. Anyway, from left to right it goes... Tuna, Cam, Diana, me and Andy. As you can see, Diana and I are both screaming our lungs out!! Haha. We were too scared to throw our arms in the air. BUT, I know the guys looks all "at ease", and like they're having a wonderful time, but one of them (I won't mention names) had wet pants after this ride.

Second day at Disney, California Adventure... almost all of the Disneyland Olson Family... except for Cam and Diana and their cute little boys... and Kara and her daughter Grace... and Papos. Ok, so nevermind. I guess it's not everyone.

This is my neice Kaylee, and my nephew Grayson is on the fence behind us. They're both adorable and so much fun. Kaylee is one who always lets you know exactly what she's thinking... and she never fibs!! So, if you haven't, let's say, shave your legs in a few days, she will let you know about it!!! Or if you have a little hair on your upper lip, you'll find out about that too!!! Haha. That last comment has never been said to me... yet, but I'm sure it's soon-coming.

Kaylee and I on Thunder Mountain roller coaster (I think that's what it's called, I always get the name wrong). Regardless, it's some pioneer-looking roller coaster at disney. I had a blast on the coasters. They're my favorite rides!!

HAHA!! Classic Grayson picture! He always has just a little bit of attitude when you tell him you're taking a picture. This was in the line for the coaster, and Andy kept asking them if they were scared, and he kept saying in his defiant tone, "NO!"

My other beautiful neice, Maddison is in this one too. Such pretty girls.

Awww. I always have to take pictures like this one. Two little geese with their babies!!!

Yup. Same coaster line. It was sprinkling a little... thus the reason for the hood. It smelled wonderful.

I'm sorry... I couldn't resist. At the end of the second day in the park, we were riding the escalators to get back to the parking garage, and lo and behold, I noticed gum stuck on the but of the guy in front of us!! I HAD to take a picture. Classic amusement park bum. Haha!!

Lots of RandomNess

This post will be pretty random since I haven't posted any pictures in a while. We've had quite the eventful month, and I am sooo glad to have some Atley pictures without Pink Floyd (the cast) in them! This first picture is Atley coming home from pictures with Bethany last night... I made this little tutu and matching bow for them. She was adorable and so happy for the pictures!!! She just squealed and kept throwing her arms up the entire time. I think she just enjoyed being outside on the grass!!

Momma and Atley on my first Mothers Day!! We have so much fun together! Andy was very sweet this day. He made me breakfast, gave me flowers, and a nice lounge chair for my new finished backyard!!

Little Atley in her sunhat at the park across the street from our house.

Swinging... the first time since she's had her cast off. She only liked it for a couple of short minutes. And then it was over. I tried the slide... too scary for her!!! She just cried. Maybe when she's a little older. :)

This is when Atley had finally mastered moving the heavy Pink Floyd around. She could roll with him, and swing it around like a big heavy club. Word of warning: Never get in the way of a swinging cast with a leg in it!!! Those things can gain some speed and power!!!

I realize this isn't the best picture of Atley... with her mouth hanging open and her cast on. But it had been a suuuuper long day at church, and she was so tired. She had pulled her ribbon out of her hair. But I still wanted a picture because this is her in a dress I wore when I was little. My mom is so thoughtful in sending these to me. They are so special, and it's so fun to think we've worn the same things. I think it's still adorable, and I got so many compliments on the dress!!!

Floyd Free

Atley had follow-up x-rays yesterday, which went far better than her first ones! She has had a bit of new bone growth around the fracture on her femur, which means the cast could come off today!!! If she were walking, the cast would have to stay on a few more weeks, but since she's not mobile yet (thank heavens for her stubborn-ness!!!), she got it off today! Whoopee!

The sawing-it-off part was terrifying for her... poor girl. It was sooo loud, and since she's already scared of the vacuum because of the noise, I knew this would be no better. I'm pretty sure her scream was as loud as the saw. But, we survived it, and now she's floyd-free!!! Was Floyd ripe when he came off? He sure was... not as ripe as he could be come 6 weeks of the usual cast time. But he was ready to come off. We got her home and in the tub! She was so happy to be able to play in the water again! I can tell her leg still hurts her though. She would cry a little when I would pick up her legs to wash her "under carriage" as Andy puts it. :)

Speaking of bathing... that was not the only reason she needed a bath today. While at the dr.'s office in the waiting room, this big 'plump' man in a wheelchair came rolling up to us. At first I thought, "Ok. He just wants to look at Atley." Look was not all he wanted to do. He started touching her foot... then her leg... then her arm and hand... then her CHEEK!!!! Can we say BOUNDARIES people?!!! Atley looked totally uncomfortable with this. Not to mention, he stunk of stale smoke and some type of BO that hasn't been identified yet. He was very unkempt, and his fingernails... let's just say they left something to be desired. They were thick, yellow, LONG and had dirt all over them and underneath them. After a few minutes of trying to be nice and watching over and over the long filthy fingernails caressing my sweet baby's clean white skin, and feeling totally uncomfortable, Atley finally coughed. And so I picked her up and acted like she needed to be burped (even though she's wayyyy past that stage). And then I proceeded to tell this man(?), in my soft little voice "She doesn't like her hands touched" (which is true). Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he rolled away. And I got out baby wipes and totally wiped her down... every inch he had touched, and probably inches that he hadn't. I know a few of you may think this is a bit extreme... but you never know what people's hands have been on, and based on his smell, I'm guessing his hands weren't exactly purel-ed recently. I tried to be nice people, and I was. I think I was a little too nice, thinking back. People need to realize that babies have boundaries too! My point in telling this story was not trying to be rude about this man here... I just had to illustrate the story for you so you could picture it in your own minds. :)

Anyway, back to Floyd. The floyd-free privilege does come with its own little stipulations however. Absolutely no standing... probably no crawling for a while yet, x-rays AGAIN in two weeks, and then another dr.'s appointment to follow up and make sure the bone hasn't moved and everything is in place. But at least the cast is gone, and we can bathe in an actual tub now instead of the blessed sponge baths she was receiving with it on!
Pictures coming soon... :)

"I'M IN A HURRY"

In a hurry... this is a phrase I say to myself, or say aloud a million times a day it seems. "I need to hurry and get some laundry done", "I need to hurry and do the dishes", "I need to hurry and get my hair and makeup finished before Atley wakes", "I need to hurry and get my thoughts down on this page"....
So I've been thinking the last few days... when am I NOT in a hurry? And am I in such a hurry, that life will just hurry and pass me by? I have one baby (two if you count Andy haha), what will happen when I have two, or when number three or even four comes?!?!
Life never slows down... so instead, WE need to sloooow down. I need to breathe through my days, relishing each moment, and being thankful I can complete the tasks I do each day... with Atley, with Andy, and by myself. I need to take time to notice the beautiful creations that surround me. And not only that surround me, but the creation that IS me. Life is not all about chores, or even recreation or fun. It is about taking time to learn, to teach yourself. A good lesson in life, for me, is learning to get to know myself and loving myself for exactly who I am. This has been a challenge for me all of my life. So everyday, right when I get up in the morning, I look myself in the mirror, and think of at least one thing I like about myself... whether it's physical, mental or spiritual. A lot of this has to do with having a daughter now who looks up to me, and watches me every single day. I want her to learn to love herself and her body as she grows into it... and hopefully she can learn this partially by example, and I hope I can be that example.
Anyway, I hope that after reading through this minute of deep thinking I had (these moments are few and far between haha), we can all have more positive thoughts about ourself, about others, and take the time to do so, and also take the time to ENJOY LIFE!!! Don't be in such a hurry all the time!! Yes, sometimes I do have a screaming baby in the line at Kohl's, and I just want to shove everyone out of my way and get OUT of there!! But you know what? This too, shall pass. And when it does, I will miss it, just as my mom tells me. What a wise woman she is! :)

PINK Floyd

Today: She actually looks HaPpY!

This week has been an absolute nightmare!! I have never felt so frustrated and so helpless. Atley has been in so much pain and discomfort. We've been in and out of doctor's offices and waiting rooms all week, and she finally got her cast on yesterday. She's terrified of doctors now! Whenever anyone would come into the patient room, she would throw her arms around mine or Andy's neck and just grip as tightly as she could so we couldn't set her down. Poor baby. Naps have been a disaster... and bedtime?? Ha... don't even get me started. Last night she woke up twice (not bad right??) WRONG!!! She kept me up for 4 hours!!! 2-6 a.m. So today I am totally sleep deprived and probably a bit cranky.

Her pain seems to be a bit better today. She was able to eat breakfast this morning, which is good because she hasn't had an appetite all week long. And she's finally actually taking naps today which means I finally have a bit of time to myself... and I refuse to do house-work during this time. :) I figure it will always be there, and it can wait.

She is much much happier today, and I'm so glad she seems to be feeling better! We got out of the house for a little while today and went to the park with some other mamas and babies just to get some sunshine. She seemed to really like that. So here are some updated pics of her in her new PINK cast. Her new nickname is Pink Floyd, at least until she gets it off. The nickname stems from my childhood when Merissa, my sis, broke her arm and got a bright pink cast. My brothers, in the butt-rock era, decided that Pink Floyd was an appropriate name for her, and of course she hated it. So it definitely stuck!! So now, we pass the name on to Atley. She should feel so privileged. :) Haha.

Meet Pink Floyd.... up close and personal. He has some lovely features.

Pic of Atley right when we got back from the Dr.'s office. Here she is showing off her cool new cast. The other babies will be so jealous. The color is so "in" right now, and it's such a high quality material... virtually indestructable.

Poor little girl... although I must say, she is still dang cute even with a big old clumsy cast on. The cast is even cute. It's the most awkward thing in the world, and I swear it adds a good 2-3 lbs. to her! No wonder she can't lift her leg!!! Immobile for at least a little while longer... I guess that's why she has a mommy! :)

And she still smiles... :)

Well we sure had an interesting weekend. Friday and Saturday were great. We had fun at a friend's birthday party on Friday night (Atley came along and was soooo good!) and Saturday we had some babysitters so that Andy and I could go see the new X-Men Wolverine movie (really good by the way). Then Sunday came. We already had a tired baby... as Sunday always seems to bring with it. After church, we were checking out our newly-laid cement in our backyard. Andy was spraying off the concrete, and I wanted to go in the house for a minute, so I handed Atley off to him. He decided to follow in after me and forgot his feet were wet... stepped onto the tile from our patio... and lo and behold... had a great fall. Luckily, I have the smartest husband ever, and he turned so that he would land on his back and Atley landed on him... and then rolled onto the tile. We're not sure if Andy landed a bit on her or not, but anyway... I turned around to see both of my babies on the ground... and was sooo terrified! I ran over trying to comfort my crying Atley and my upset Andy. He was just so devastated.

The entire evening was full of tears and whining in pain from Atley. She would only let me hold her, and would just lay her head on my chest and whimper MaMa. I knew something was really wrong when she started to scream every time I tried to set her down, or would cry every time I would even move her. After a few hours, we decided it was necessary to take her to the Urgent Care (the most hated place on earth). We sat in waiting rooms forEVER and were there a total of 2 1/2 hours (not too bad). She had to have X-rays on her lower half... and that was traumatizing for us ALL! We felt sooo bad for our little bug... holding our baby down on a cold hard table in a dark room with strange machinery above her head that she didn't understand.

To make a long story short...the X-ray results showed a fracture on her right thigh... right above her knee. :( So little bug had to have a splint put on it today by the UC dr., and has an appointment tomorrow with the Orthopedic Dr. to get a long-term cast. Her little leg looks so sad... her not being able to move it, and she's been in so much pain. We'll keep you all updated! Here are some pics...