First Walk

The boys and I took Eliza for her first walk outside today. (our first walk since before I went to the hospital). I did not think to take a picture until we were back home and unloaded. Tucker and Eliza both fell asleep. I only snapped a picture of Eliza. . .
I love the fact that she fell asleep with Binky in grasp. Our walk was fun, I can't wait to go for another one! It's funny what simple things we can take for granted until the privilege is taken away (only for a small time, thankfully, in my case). I am even getting better at one handed typing. I think I will wait to type the whole story until my pins are removed (hopefully in three weeks or so).

Happy Halloween! Hopefully I remember to snap a picture of my kidlins costumes. Then I'll post them. :)

Hands

Before September 25, 2010, this is what my left hand looked like:
Wasn't it beautiful?!
After a split second with a table saw, a long ambulance ride, a life flight ride, several hours (21-22 hours) of surgery (including an emergency C-section), the safe arrival of our precious little girl, and a week in the hospital, I have this left:
It doesn't look that great right now, but it will. I am so lucky to still have my fingers. The first surgeon I saw in Southern Utah thought he could maybe save my ring finger, but my pointer and middle fingers were not salvageable (if he did the surgery). I ended up going to Salt Lake and Dr. Richard Fryer is my new hero! He worked all afternoon Saturday, all night to Sunday morning. I came out of surgery, he looked at my pointer finger, decided the color was not good, so he turned around and performed a few more hours of surgery to save my hand.
This whole experience has been really hard for me to endure, whenever I start to feel overwhelmed, I just look at this:

Eliza Kristine Nay
Born: September 26, 2010; 7:26 AM
7 lbs. 1 oz. (yes, four weeks early)

Isn't she darling?! This is the first dress she has ever worn. She is almost three weeks old in this picture. She will be four weeks old tomorrow.

Home made Ginger Snap Predicament

I made some home made ginger snap cookies last week. They were so Yummy! I can't remember where I read the recipe. It was on some sort of bottle in my pantry. . .oil, molasses, or something like that.
They were really good, and now I can't seem to find the recipe again. I finished using the contents of several bottles in my pantry last week, then I threw them away. If anyone has a wonderful Ginger snap recipe, please share!

Also, does anyone else lose their mind/memory during pregnancy?!? I can search all over for a pen that I put in my hair a minute before I started looking for it. It is driving me crazy. I am just glad I have still been able to bottle peaches and bake food for my family, as well as continue to function somewhat normally.

The Elk Hunt

We went Elk hunting for 4 days over Labor Day weekend. It was a lot of fun. The trip started out slow. Our 3 1/2 hour drive turned into a 5 hour drive because we ended up stopping a little more than we planned. We also had a tire blow out. Luckily it was 5 to 10 miles south of the Cove Fort Chevron. We ended up getting two new tires because our spare had some big cracks in it. We were just grateful it got us to the Chevron tire shop.
Brycen had lots of fun helping set up the trailer and our beds. We also went on lots of hikes, picked flowers and kept a little camp journal about what we learned about. He practiced writing some of his letters and the kids and I colored a LOT.
The boys both loved riding the four wheeler. Sadly, Brycen has grown out of his helmet, and we have not purchased a new one for him, yet. Therefore, we did not get to take the kids for as many rides as we would have liked to.
I was quite proud of myself too. In my pregnant state, I awakened before everyone else the first morning to set up the rest of camp and make breakfast. We all had a lot of fun!
Saturday night a big mama moose walked along the mountain side right by our camp. My little boys were SUPER excited to see a real animal so closely. I was glad they got to see the moose, because they didn't really get to see any other animals other than other campers dogs.

We left the mountain empty-handed after this hunt, because all Ryan and his family (the ones who were hunting) saw were cow elk with their little calves (who can shoot a mom with a baby?!?). I think he may have seen a spike or two, but it was too windy to take a shot.
Anyway, it was okay because my dad took Ryan hunting a few weeks ago, and Ryan shot this beast.
We have lots of meat now, but most of it is sliced for jerky because the elk he shot was pretty old, so the meat will be pretty tough. I think I am going to try bottling some of it too. We'll have to see how that goes. :)

Sweet Children

Ryan and I found out this morning that his Grandpa, Glenn Stratton, passed away during the night. He has been in the hospital for a few weeks so I guess some people would say it could have been a little more expected, but we still were not ready for the news.

I have been crying on and off all morning. I stopped for a little while, then started again. My 4 year old son came up to me and said, "Mom, what is wrong?" I said, "I am just sad that grandpa died." His reply with a smile was, "But mom, now he feels better. He is in heaven now."

I am so grateful for sweet little innocent children and their impeccable timing. I have always loved the saying from The Count of Monte Cristo, "God sees you out of the corner of his eye." I think he sees a little more than just out of the corner of his eye, but I am grateful that He always reminds me in so many ways that He lives and loves all of his children.

Bell Pepper Recipes?!

Does any one have a fabulous bell pepper recipe?

I love to make kabobs and fajitas. I have made an occasional stuffed bell pepper. In the pepper department I mostly have green bell peppers, but I also have some banana peppers, tomatoes, fresh rosemary, basil, parsley, and oregano. If anyone has an amazing recipe involving bell peppers PLEASE SHARE!

Thank you to everyone who reads this blog and shares information. :)