~HAWAII 2013~

I think that the thing I love the most about Hawaii ( besides the ocean) are the flowers.  I am pretty sure that it is mostly because we go over when the snow covers the ground here and we haven't seen anything colorful for months.  It still amazes me that even the weeds are beautiful there. That everything grows bigger, brighter and better. My dad would go nuts over the soil! Such a rich brown, no worries of frost and NO irrigating! The Lord takes care of that at about 4:00 everyday.

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We decided to ditch our comfort zones and try the new Zip lines up near Hilo one of the days that we were there. I have always LOVED jumping off stuff so this was right up my alley. It was great fun. Ann was SO brave. Jumping off stuff is NOT something that she loves, in fact,  she doesn't even LIKE it but, she did it, 9 times, over gorges,  waterfalls, treetops and cliffs! What a trooper! When we were done she even admitted that it was fun and that she would do it again!

The rest of our vacation was spent soaking up the sunshine at all of our favorite beaches. We were lucky to get into some of them before they closed them to work on the roads...The roads to them are four wheel drive roads but, usually you can make it in with a "rental" :)

Sure do wish we could have stayed longer but, real life tends to tap us all on the shoulder at some point and makes us return to reality so, tomorrow it is back to the OR for me and back to work for Steve.  All good things must come to an end.  Hopefully, we can return again next year and add to our list entitled "Out of our comfort zone" because not only does it make life interesting, it makes us "feel" young again and gives us great memories to talk about for a long, long time!

~FLOWERS and DRESS-UPS~

Steve had flowers delivered to my work for our anniversary.  He does it every year. It is the only time I will let him give me flowers because, I just HATE to watch the week long process of them shriveling up. I always feel like I should be doing something more to try and save them... There is this flower shop in The Riverwoods called the Veranda that does the most unique and beautiful arrangements and they actually last a pretty long time compared to most!  He is so thoughtful to always send them and I really do love them. I just wish I could keep them from dying.

Mostly, I love that he remembers every year! It is getting harder and harder for both of us :)

I threw in a couple pictures of Charly because she came to visit while my camera was out. She loves to play with the dress-ups.  Not so much the dresses but all the accessories. She will put on every bracelet, crown, and necklace she can find.  

I remember dressing up when I was little.  I remember dressing my little brothers up too. Bruce was always a fairly willing victim, Shane, not so much. So many times Bruce turned into my little "sister"

I still love him for that. There were just times that I needed a little "sister"!

~REMEMBERING IS HARD WORK~

So, I decided that I would try out that supplement everyone has been talking about that helps you focus and stay "clued in" better.  I thought that it might give me a slight chance of keeping myself from going completely crazy... I read the directions carefully to make sure that I would reap the full benefits of this AMAZING "natural" substance and took the first bullet sized tablet. I then laid the other three out for me to take to work so that I could take them during the day as the instructions had indicated.  I continued to get ready for work thinking that as the day went by I would surely feel like a new woman. What a relief knowing that I wasn't going to be so forgetful and scatter brained  anymore. Every one that I have talked to love the stuff and say that it has really helped them.  I am really excited...Except:

A.  I forgot to take the other three with me to work...

B.  For the last three days... and

C.  So far,  it is not working on only one, tablet a day :) 

Truly pathetic!

~LOVE THIS~

~LIFE IN THE OR~

Every now and again things happen in the OR that truly are worth mentioning. Today was one of those days.  There are not a lot of times when I sing the praises of a doctor because of the way he conducts himself with his crew. Usually, he is the "king" and we are his mere servants...Weigh this, weigh that, why did it take so long to prep that patient? I need a 4.0 Vicryl, a 2.0 PDS oh and a 6.0 Prolene...Turn the bovi up to 70, why isn't the suction working? Change the station, I'm not listening to that $#!* all day...Turn the lights on, turn the lights off,  turn the heat down, turn the heat down some more...Open the doors, it TOO HOT.   Hey Joey, I made a mess over here...Catch my drift...So, when one actually is kind it does not go unnoticed by any of  us! The surgeon that I worked with today not only helps us clean and dress the patient when the surgery is done but, helps us get her onto the gurney. He then helps tidy's up the room with the scrub and today while we were taking our lunch break...(a whole 15 minutes), I saw him fill up the fork bin because we were out of forks. He didn't just get one for him, he grabbed enough for everyone and FILLED the fork bin! DOCTORS DON'T DO THAT!!!  You could have blown me over with a feather.  I just had to write it down. I think sometimes I complain too much about how demanding they can be and forget to say anything nice.  There are plenty of nice things I promise.

Just for the fun of it, which Doc do you think that I worked with today? (I narrowed it down to just the plastic Doc's...Just to make it easier :)

Clayton
Pledger
Stewart
Rose
Crofts
Bishop

~ESTHER SHARON ROBERTSON~

ESTHER SHARON ROBERTSON (Essie)

(and her adoring Grandma Shauna)

Yesterday we blessed Essie. She is such a sweet little baby. 

I borrowed these pictures from her Grandma Shauna because she is our very own professional photographer...And Stephanie forgot hers!

Oh, they grow so fast. Seems like that old song the "Kinfolk" used to sing keeps tapping me on the shoulder to remind me just how important it is to enjoy and cherish each and every day with the ones you love!

"Turn around and they'er two, turn around and they'er four,

turn around and they are  young girls walking out of the door..."

~A B C D~

Sorry about the last post, I was having a migraine sort of day where I really can't think straight. Someone really should keep me away from the computer on those days...I don't know why my girls can't just tell me to "snap out of it" they know that is what I would tell them!  

I hope that this video works.  It is so cute.  This is what I should be posting not "pity party posts".  Please forgive me.  I will try to remember to stay far away from my office when I am having a "headache day" :)