City Sleek and Shabby

Mat was invited to take pictures of the Temple Garden Tour Guides and it happened to be on the day that the new City Creek Mall opened. I decided I better come and check it out with the kids! Right across the street from the SLC Temple is a wonderland of Bellagio fountains, classy high end shops, and good eats.

Let the adventure begin!

Behold the Fire Place



While sitting by the fire we were entertained by our famous local cellist Steven Sharp Nelson. Um, he's amazing and with the atmosphere it was so perfect!

West Virginia, Mountain Mamma Takes the Girls Home

Gretchen and her side kick have been working on the song Country Roads by John Denver.They've got it memorized and they have actions!

Studio 5 High 5

Here's Matty live!  He did great and nothing phased him. What a calm, put together soul you are.

The best part about this day is that I got to put make up on him! I feel people look a tad pasty on the show, so I gave him a little color.  He was a good sport and at the same time MANLY ashamed, but I thought it made him look as handsome as ever!





And, as soon as he was done, my masterpiece make up came off....imagine that!

Mat's TV Debut

Mat will be featured on Studio 5 tomorrow11-noon, a local TV station here in SLC talking about his Vietnam trip and what to do if your child gets bit by a dog.  You can also read about more about his trip on his blog .  He goes into a little more detail about what went down in Hanoi.  Thanks for watching!

Baby Doll, Let's Talk

Baby Doll is our beloved mini van who is a practical prankster! Last Wednesday, I went to start the car to take the kids to school, and it wouldn't start. (Mind you I have 4 minutes until the bell rings because that is the way I roll most mornings.) This is nothing new with Baby Doll, I give her a little gas and she starts to purr more like growls.  I shift her into Reverse and she dies.  I give her a little encouragement and rev her up again, throw her into R and she stalls right in the middle of the parking lot blocking the way for two people to get to work. Shameful. My sub-She-ra kicks in and I pop it into Neutral and push her into the stalls behind me with my wee arms and bellowing grunt all the while time is ticking to get my off-spring to school. "Kids, head to Daddy's car.  Hurry, move, move, out, out, we're going to be late!" They were late, but when I got back to the parking lot, I looked Baby Doll square in the headlights and told she better start.  Well, she did, but only enough to pull her half way back into my stall. You're pathetic. "Forget it!" I yelled. Ooooh, I could of kicked her tire!  I'm taking Mat's car for the remainder of his trip because there is no way I'm going to be left stranded with my kids. And, that's what we did. 

I tried to start her Sunday, figuring she had some time to think, but she choked on my hope. Monday, I charged her for twenty minutes with Mat's car, gently IVing her with gas, but as soon as I left off, she died.  Could this be the end of our dear, sweet not-so-sweet Baby Doll? I called the tow truck Monday and he drove her to the shop until that night.  Our mechanic appears on my caller ID and spring to get a pencil and paper to write down the dreaded costs. Queue pit in my stomach.
Me:"Whadya find out?"
Mechanic: "Nothin'."
Me:" Excuse me, but did you say nothing?"
Mechanic: "Your van started right up."
Me: "No it doesn't. It hasn't for the last 5 days. I even had trouble with it stalling to get it on the tow truck." In my head I'm saying--Story. Of. My. Life. Mechanics are voodoo car doctors as far as I'm concerned.
Me:"How much do I owe you?"
Mechanic:"Nothing." voodoo car doctors who have the heart not to charge when they don't find anything:)

Picked her up today and it was the silent treatment the whole drive home. For your information Baby Doll, April fools day is weeks away! I still love you though, I'll just be mad for a day or so.

What a history!

Returns with Bacteria

I was rather excited to have Mat home Sunday, but he is sick with bacteria in the gut. Dog sick. He must have eaten something or drank water from the rice patties. Whatever it was, it has had him laid out for a few days now only eating applesauce and Gatorade. He had to cancel his patients on Monday and he barely got through his 2 surgery cases on Tuesday.  Fortunately, the Dr. of infectious diseases at the U squeezed him in at the end of the day and we got him on an antibiotic. He is looking perkier although jet lagged. He'll leave to St. George tonight and hopefully be back to his normal self when he returns on Friday.

Be sure to watch Studio 5 on Tuesday! Mat will be on talking about dog bites and Vietnam.

Child Labor Laws-Out

I put Micah to work stuffing 100 bags with eye gels for patients after surgery.  Her payment, 1 mint. She couldn't watch her normal shows at the office anyway because she didn't make her bed.  I know! Oh the consequences!  She kept telling me: "Oh, I'm sooo tired.  Mom I've done like 789." Then I'd ask how she was doing a tad later.  Micah: "Oh! I've done like 927." She was practically a prewar Mary Crawley from Downton Abbey.

The Signs That You Need to Come Home

Dear Mat,



This picture is of you leaving in case you forgot.  It's probably about time you come home from Vietnam. I won't tell you how many times we have had waffles or cold cereal, but let's just say that eggs, milk and salt are being added to my grocery list.

This is 1 out of the 10 Consumptions


I've also let the kids stay up until 9:30 sometimes 10PM at night because there is no one there to tell them to go to bed. I've also stayed up until 1AM myself watching White Collar. I will rewatch them with you when  you return if need be.

I don't send the girl's back to their bed if they want to crawl in with me at night.  I kind of like them their for company AND I actually have slept better since they have been warming your side of the bed.

I have been starting to pack since we don't know when moving will sneak up on us and I am also almost caught up on all of my business ends too.

Other than that we're good and can't wait to see your pictures when you get home.

Love,
Mic

3rd Child

Hate it when you forget to keep up on shots and unfortunately with each child, you get a tad spacier as to when they need them. My excuse was that Micah wasn't broke (sick), so I never took her into the doctor , hence she didn't get her shots the entire time we were in WV.  Fair enough?  It all comes out in the wash anyway.

She did need 7 shots in the legs to qualify for kindergarten.  She had no idea what was about to hit her and I wasn't going to let her know so she could stew about it and get all worked up in the waiting room.  A few tears were shed by the third poke, but she was alright after 5 min of meltdown and sparkly bandaids.

Just a "Plane" Scare on Mat's flight out to Nam

Mat's own words:


Medical mission starts early: I'm at the airport in Taipei on my way to Hanoi. On the 14 hour flight I had 3 "patients", each worse than the next. I was called on first to help a man who was reportedly very ill, but only turned out to have a headache. A few hours later the stewardess asked me to see a lady with a nosebleed that wouldn't stop. Then, when I thought I'd done my duty and we are in our final descent, I'm told a woman has passed out. I get back to her and she isn't breathing and has no pulse. I listen with a stethoscope and there are no heart sounds. I check her mouth and then they bring me an ambu-bag to resuscitate her with. I show the stewardess how to do a jaw thrust and work the bag and we start trading off - her with the bag and me doing chest compressions and occasionally stopping to listen for a heartbeat. After about 5 minutes I check her pupils, which are unreactive. I continue with compressions and breathing until we land and the EMS people board the plane. They bring on and AED, but she has no shockable rhythm. I'm pretty certain she died. Let's hope the rest of the trip goes better.

Parade Of Homes St. Geoarge Favorites

We went a couple of weeks ago to the St. George Parade of Homes to get some inspiration.  It was a tradition growing up and always so fun to do with my aunts.

Here's what I got out of the Parade of Homes:

I'm digging the round table at the end of the bar that is like a table and a bar.  I wouldn't do it exactly like this, but something similar



Blurry, but behold the cupboard that would hold all of my small kitchen appliances w/ plugs. I'd make mine a tad deeper to fit my biggies and maybe doors that slide in. Still mulling it over.



Kind of liked this carpet. Kinda like that girls painted toenails too.



The square wainscoting on the wall looked nice. Just like Casey drinking whiskey looks nice too.



Wallpaper map on the ceiling of a bathroom



I'm attracted to pieces that highlight multi-colors  using a different material.  The picture looks bleh, but the frame is awesome.



This corner pantry was spacious and disguised



Plate framed



A nice tie rack to hold all of Mat's ties



Hide



Cute square windows



Dog and cat silhouettes



Headboards

I've Always Wanted One of These

We did a little favor for a friend here in the apartments and this is what she sent in return.  I have always thought they were so clever and tasty, but never got to hold one in person.

Motivated Mover

You know how there are motivated sellers? Well, living in our little apartment has made me a "motivated mover."  I know it is a 1st world complaint in many ways compared to the rest of the world, but my place is so unorganized and jammed that I need to be set free with a basement to run in. Don't get me wrong,  I truly am glad where we planted ourselves here for this first while.  I've got a couple of good buddies, a running/walking partner who faithfully meets me in the mornings and I have found my way around most shopping centers and libraries. There were also so many unforeseen things this new year that I'm glad we hunkered down and sought out patience before our wants of a house.  But, now that we're getting hang of things, we have passionately started looking for a house. We have found one and have had our offer accepted as of last Sunday. When the news came I froze and wasn't WAY excited about it like a new homeowner should be. To be honest, I'm a little nervous to buy a house seeing the economy right now, since the house we'll buy will be in for life and if we didn't love it, it would be hard to sell.

It is a little Frank Lloyd Wright-ish, straight out of the 70s, but I feel like we can make it our own with some renovations. It also fits us with it's unique character and access to the mountains.

So here are some photos from the inspection.

Living Room with lots of natural light



Picture from the living room looking up to the dining room/ loft up above



Loft with extra seating to the left



Downstairs basement with Becket meditating



Mat's man cave/slash gym (pardon the cupboards being open, there was an inspection taking place)



Girl's room



Guest room with bathroom



Part of the kitchen--sorry I didn't take a good picture of this one



Laundry Room



Dining room



Our loved Realtor who is part of our family, meet Ron.