Watch out- He's a thumb sucker!

Well blogger decided to be dumb and not let me upload my all my pics and I am out of patience I tell you! Anyways, here is my new nephew Benjamin !!! The 15th summers grandchild!

The nurse was really nice (her name was Katie too) and when I told her I was an LPN she asked me to help her. We just did some basic assessments and a BG and PKU. What a cute little guy!
Happy mommy Lana and her 5th child!

He came out sucking his thumb like crazy and making loud sucking noises! Watch your fingers!

Grammy Ginger with Ben!

S'mores and Stethoscopes

S'mores in the summer... it doesn't get better than that! Seems like the past few weeks we've neglected doing stuff with friends, but we've been busy almost every night doing stuff with family! We are so lucky to have so much family just a few minutes away... we cant ever have a boring evening!
And what a better evening than by the fire with some s'mores?

Look at all our cute nieces and nephews! And we have 2 more on the way!

Ah, this is the good life!

ok I had to throw a shout out to all my fellow nurses since we had Nurse's day! First of all, being in Pediactric home health rocks, but I came across this message the other day that brought me back to clinicals and our times in the hospitals and nursing homes!

Bobbi and Tifani I hope you get a kick out of this!

You Know You're a Nurse When:

You rattle when you walk because of all your scissors and clamps in your pocket.

Every time someone asks you for a pen, you find at least three in your pocket.

You dont get excited about blood loss (unless its your own).

You have the bladder capacity of 5 People.

You've seen more "moons" than the Hubble Telescope.

You're mad that you cant cure stupid.

You hope there is a special place in hell for the inventor of the call light.

You were excited to get a B/P cuff for a gift.

You wash your hands BEFORE you go to bathroom.

You casually talk about body fluids and BM consistensies over lunch.

You have a mental list of Frequent Fliers.

You installed sanitizer dispensors in every doorway of your home.

People ask you, Who is Ted Hose?

You've seriously considered cathing yourself and your kids before a long car trip.

Your finger has been into more orifices than you'd care to remember.

You're patient finally had a BM and it made your day!

When asked what color the patients diarrhea is, you show them your shoes.

You arent bothered when a patient answers a question by vomiting on you.

If its wet, and not yours, wear gloves!

You have gloves in your purse right now.

You heed the Underwear theory when charting, cover your bum!

You've had a patient you refer to as NDBSB. (Not dead but should be)

A good lunch hour means you got it while it was still warm.

You understand nurse language, such as PERRLA, WDI, and AFO's intact.

When you suction your patients trach you say, Ah, nice and frothy.
You want DNR tattooed on your chest!

Well I got a kick outta this, as I bet Danna and anyone else who works with Drs and Patients. And to all you nurses, MAs, and even CNAs, remember you are important, because we are the ones that keep the physician from killing the patient. (:

The Life and Times of Blake and Katie... and sometimes Callie too

If this paticular post is boring and pointless to you, I will gladly explain why.

Last night at 9:30 my work called and asked if I would come in and work from 2 to 2. Hours are really competitive right now so I said yes. Thus I have been awake almost 20 hours and got about 3 hours of sleep, so there is a GOOD chance this makes no sense!!!

But hey, doesnt the weird just make life more interesting?

The other day I came to work and left with a tear in my eye and the warm fuzzies! My clients had found out it was National Nurse's Day, (what the devil? How did i not know this day existed?) and when I arrived to work they had a nice gift and card on the table for me!!!! (:

My clients mom is very chic, we get along well (: She bought me a new bag to put all my steth, BP cuff and other junk in, and an oil fragrance plug in!
How did I get so lucky to get such awesome clients? Little Telly I love you and happy 9th birthday!

Callie.

This "scorpion woman" somehow has control of my life for the last few weeks, and I dont think a day has gone by she hasnt dragged me somewhere... like shopping for her dorm room, shopping for mothers day gifts, job hunting, and OH YEAH, she had made me see like EVERY midnight movie that has come out in the last few weeks!!!! Hello extreme sleep deprivation!!! Oh and a shout out to Wolverine and Captain Kirk... whoa momma, they are hot stuff!

More shopping. If you know me and my sister, you will think nothing of this picture.

Sierra and Noah... ice cream time! As if time were little enough, we have our softball team for A+ Satellite. Its a fun work out but I only go to the games because I know afterwards theres snowcones... or icecream. Go team.

oooooooo yaaaaa.....

(our attempts at a Whats Up? face)

Its 5 O'clock Somewhere...

So, I most certainly dont consider myself a good cook, but for the past few weeks I have found myself addicted to Food Network (sorta have the hots for Bobby Flay, grrr) and ol' reliable Rachel Ray!

As I have been fascinated with some new recipies, I couldnt help but notice what almost EVERY cook makes at the end of the show... The Infamous Cocktail. Now, I dont drink, but after watching episode after episode of these fruity, flavorfilled delicious cocktails, I thought to myself, why should alcoholics get all the fun? (heh, not really... I dont consider looking like an idiot and barfing my guts out fun) but I decided, we drink juice dont we? why not be adventurous and spice boring juice up a bit by creating a simple regular old juice and fruit, no alchohol cocktail?

And so here it is! After finding a good recipe, I made this delicious virgin cocktail, or more properly named, Abstinence On The Beach! It was amAZingly tasty, and it was pure fruit and sugar, lol!

Blake won some martini glasses at his Direct TV convention, but I dont recommend using them because A) they hardly hold any juice, and B) You might give your family/friends a heart attack if they see you guzzling juice out of them!

This drink was SOOO good, and easy to make, and because its alcohol free you can enjoy as much as you want! You can find everything you need at the grocery store.

To make a whole pitcher full:

2 cups cranberry juice

2 cups Orange Juice

1 Cup Peach nectar (in juice aisle)

3 tbsp Grenadine syrup (you know, the cherry stuff)

add ice and enjoy!

To make it extra fun, wet the mouth of your glass and dip it in sugar, garnish with a pineapple wedge.

And what better to go with yummy juice than a yummy dinner? I dont think I have ever posted a recipe, mostly because I like to cook with all fresh ingredients and really healthy so my meals tend to be a little more expensive...

But I found a dinner that is easy, pocket-friendly, time friendly, figure friendly and best of all taste-bud friendly!

Teriyaki chicken Lettuce wraps

cut 3-4 chix breasts to bite size
brown in pan with 2 tbsp evoo about 5 min (med-hi)

add 1/2 cup Teriyaki sauce

add 2 tbsp brown sugar

cont cook 2 min (med-hi)

Serve with iceberg lettuce cups (peeled from a head of lettuce)

and chopped carrots and zuchini. Voila!!!!

The yeild is 4 servings, but this meal was so darn good it only fed the two of us!!!

Super delicioso!!!

Its 5 o'clock Somewhere!!!

I think Blake likes my cooking (:

Busy busy busy, but still HAppy as Can Be!!!

We are officially and irrevocably pooped from Spring activities already... but they said it is supposed to snow again in a few days so is it really even spring? Hence the title we have been busy, but a good enjoyable kind of busy!
For Easter we mostly visited family... cuz thats the best part! My sis Callie is holdng my niece Esme.

I cant believe my niece Hadlee let me hold her! She is such a sweetie! I miss her so much! If only I could get her to look at my camera!

My sister Madi and my nieces on the trampoline... white shirts for easter egg coloring!

Madi

Spring Leadership 2009!!!

We traveled to Spokane, WA to attend the annual Spring Leadership were our business mentors teach us about leadership (doi) among other things about building our business! It was a blast and I loved Spokane! There were almost 40,000 people in attendence so I heard.

Spokane Arena for the Leadership conference

I drove up with my buds Nate and Cami, and after parking we werent sure where the arena was, so Cami and I ended up walking a couple miles in high heels and 8 giant blisters were the result!!!!

oo thats hot Cami! Our business mentors and heroes, Brad and Julie Duncan, let us come look at their house in Spokane in between sessions! They have such an awesome house and they have ZERO debt! They let us come look at some of their toys...

I need one of these... they had three!!!

Me and Cami! Future diamond wives and Domestic Divas! (She is getting married around NOV! WOO HOO!)

Spokane pretty much rocks.

We went in to Brad and Julie's garage, and the door to their HUGE Hummer was unlocked... so I made myself at home in the passenger seat. They wont mind right?

Brad and Julie Duncan's house. 10,000 square feet of beauty!

Before I took this picture I was looking through the windows and one of their kids saw me... awkward...

The "Shed"

Nate and Cami, view from the Porch!

Brad and Julie leaving Spring Leadership.

That Porshe (sp?) is HOT!!!

Julie sharing some Girl Power!

Me and Julie Duncan!!!! Kudos to Notto for helping me get a picture of her!

So after an Anniversary, Easter festivities galore, family and friends, Spokane for Spring leadership and Dallas for Direct TV, our new favorite hobby is catching a few zzzzs!!!!!

Yet, still as happy as can be!

Two Years ALREADY? IT CANT BE!!!!

mmm even as I write this I am finishing off raspberry drizzle cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory where we decided that 15 bucks was worth two pieces for our 2nd anniversary! Yum!

We do our anniversary a little bit different... we take turns making all the plans of what we are going to do... that way I wouldnt always end up planning a last minute romantic retreat! I also didnt want to be the kind of wife that crossed her fingers hoping her husand remembered it was their anniversary... we remind eachother weeks ahead!

Last year Blake took me on a suprise get away to Ashley Inn in Cascade, but since we've been out of town so much I kind of didnt get to plan a suprise get away like I hoped, so I suprised Blake by taking him to Monsters VS. Aliens in 3d with our families, PF Changs for dinner and then dessert at the Cheesecake factory! I'd say it was a nice and delicious evening!

gross, get some floss girls!

I got my babe the nice shirt he is wearing, Abercrombie cologne, Ice Age and Best of all, Marley and Me!!! We are kids at heart, what can we say?

yummmmmmmmmmm

Blake got me Just Married, my favorite Hershey chocolates, ice cream and a massage!

At the end of the evening I was sure about two things:

one: We were both stuffed beyond repair and I am sure our stomachs doubled their capacity to fit everything

two: I am in desperate need of a nice camera, I wasnt happy with any of these pictures! Oh well, at least I remembered the darn camera...

Happy Anniversary Blake, I cant believe its already been two years, but its been the best two years of my life!
I love you more!

A Time of Mourning, and a Trip to Babyland.

Well here I am blogging between Conference sessions, haha. I love leaving the TV on all day playing Conference and various church videos. It puts such a sweet and peaceful spirit in the home. But I feel I have been in a high spiritual sensitivity due to the past events. Bittersweet, but I think overall very sweet. My mom left to be with her sister as soon as she recieved the news about the death of her 23 yr old son. She had already been gone to be with my grandma as she was near to passing away, so Blake and I offered to help take care of Brennen and Madison, but my mourning family members were near to my heart.

Monday was my grandmothers and Kyle's funeral. I know it was my Grandmothers time. She was ready. But Kyle was just a young man. He was such a happy kid, but he witnessed a tradgedy involving some of his friends that triggered schizophrenia, the most feared and misunderstood of all mental illnesses.

I was glad at his funeral the bishop explained a little bit about schizophrenia and the great suffering of those it afflicts. We all know Kyle was suffering, but in the end a sweet feeling of peace comes knowing he is no longer suffering, but in the loving arms of our Heavenly Father. That I know.

I took very few pictures, mostly because the physical atmosphere was more meaningful than the visual, and I thought by putting away the camera I would be showing more respect. Besides, Kyle wouldnt want a bunch of pictures of his mourning family. There was peace and joy though in having the whole family together, and I got to meet my cousin Ashley's first baby, Kate. So I feel pretty special having a relative named after me, (: And she is beautiful!

BabyLand

Driving home, Blake and I were in a very spiritual and pondering mood. We realized as we were driving that we were going to be near the Rose Hill Cemetary in Idaho Falls. Blake and I had the desire to stop there and visit a special family member who lays nestled in "Babyland." She is Blakes oldest sibling, baby Rachel Lee Summers.

She was hard to find because she was covered in snow.

We left her a note that said We Love You and a rose.

We sent the pictures to Blakes mom who was so grateful someone was there to visit her when it was so near to her birthday. So Blake and I added Happy Birthday to our note. She was stillborn April 4, 1972.

We cant wait to meet you Rachel!