Leah's visit, a trip to Farmington and more life in Gallup

And the Cousin of the Year Award goes to... drum roll please....

LEAH MARTINEAU!!!

Seriously though. This is the thing about service. You can tell when someone is doing it just to be nice or to do their "duty", if you will. (Duty... hehe) Ahem. But then you can also tell when someone is helping you because they WANT to and LOVE you. And Leah definitely portrayed the latter. And it brought me to tears many times that week. 

When we left Mesa, Tuesday night, she caravaned back to Gallup with us with her kids. 

Then, for the next 3 days, she did EVERYTHING! I can't even put into words how pathetic I felt. I was sitting right there, but she was the one, picking up Olive and putting her to bed. Getting her out of her crib, changing her diaper, etc. etc. ETC!!!! I kept thinking, this is so silly, I can do this!! I just had to keep rehearsing in my head, that for every day I take it easy, that's one more day towards a quicker recovery. And it was interesting that when she left on Friday afternoon, Travis took the boys out to a carnival and I insisted I would be fine to put Olive down to bed myself. Welp, that's exactly what I did, followed up by an hour or so of putting around the house, lightly cleaning and putting things away. It was honestly nothing. But I regretted it immediately afterward. I was in so much pain, I had to take a Hydrocodone just to get to sleep. And that was the first time I'd taken one in over a week. So it was almost a good experience for me to have, to realize that Leah's help really was that. Helpful! And besides being super helpful, it was FANTASTIC, just being able to chat with her. Leah and I have always gotten along. Back in our younger years when we had sleepovers, Shelley would fall fast asleep, and we'd be up til the window would start to light with the morning sun. THEN, we'd finally decide to roll over and catch some Zzz's. It makes me laugh to think about. What did we talk about for hours on end at the ripe age of 11?! I would kill for an audio tape of even a portion of our conversations. Needless to say, that's exactly how it was for this visit. But honestly, we haven't had that much time to talk since those teenager days. We were catching up on like a decade of events! And I loved every second! Thank you so much for EVERYTHING, Leah!!! I love you like a sister. Cuz let's me honest, that's exactly what you are!

Her little girl was pretty taken by Olive. She loved to feed her, her bottles and hold her.

Freeze dancing!

This picture cracks me up. Everyone take a limb!

Olive was teasing us by getting on all fours. She did this first with my mom when she was in Mesa. My mom text me a picture and I immediately replied, "Push her down, Mom!! Push her down!" :) Crawling babies are mischievous babies.

Here's that carnival I mentioned. 

We tried out a new restaurant here, first, called Don Diegos, then the men took these four to get cultured with the carnies.

And here's just some random pics of our regular 'ol glamorous life! 

Travis is so good to play and wrestle with the kids. They absolutely love him for it. We used to never see him after work because he literally changed right into his suit and was gone until late at the church. So he's started taking off work an hour early so we actually get to see him!

Mmmmm, peaches and cream! I was so excited about this, and prefaced by telling the boys this was a special treat we only got at Grandmother's house when I was little. They seemed drawn in by that, but shortly after, Collin questioned, "What kind of milk is this?! I don't like this milk. It's yucky." 

Insert my crestfallen face. Dang kids don't know a good thing when it smacks them in the face!

I hesitated to share this picture because it's damning evidence. Yes, I buy Lunchables. 

Grosssss. 

Yes, I know.

We're dealing with it. So should you.

 

Kabrin and Kreighton came to play! It was a boys kinda day!

Well, the week after Leah left, Travis had to go out of town from Thursday-Sunday. I was really scared at the beginning of the week! I wasn't sure how I could handle it. My back was still constantly sore and painful. Well, I was blessed, because Thursday was my first day with no pain!! *Hallelujah Chorus!!!* It was an AMAZING feeling! I really wasn't expecting to be free of pain at 4 weeks. I definitely attribute it to those first two weeks of not having my kids, and a third week of still not really taking care of them. BLESSED.

I still hate when Trav is out of town though. 

(He had a CE course in Carlsbad, California. It's a RUFF life. :)

I don't sleep very well when he's gone. I waited until I was exhausted, then fell asleep with the lights on and hymns playing on Pandora next to my head. I need help. 

And I was super happy I didn't forgo checking on the boys one night before bed. I literally couldn't believe my eyes. He was only half way on that night stand, with his whole lower body sticking straight out! What the crazy. Didn't know my son practiced planking. :)

My saving grace that weekend was Farmington. We drove in on Saturday morning and got some Costa Vida, then spent several hours at the Bloomfield pool with our friends, the Hathenbrucks. Then I dropped the boys off at their house for a couple hours while I took Olive shopping with me to Hobby Lobby and TJMaxx. Then finished up with some take out to Si Senor. My favorite kind of day! :) I absolutely adore Liz Hathenbruck and loved spending so much time with her, catching up. We spent the night at her house, then got to go to our old ward on Sunday! It was so fun to see everyone. I felt like I was home. :) Right after church, we headed back to Gallup, but I couldn't resist getting some Mikasa first. We were on "vacation", right? I need that emoticon face with the teeth showing.

Travis beat us home by about 20 min. Then we had a BBQ at the Shaheens because Shannon Showalter was in town, visiting. Very full day!

It's like Christmas morning sometimes around here. With no shopping, it's Amazon to the rescue! 

I may have an addiction. I always light up when I see my porch like this.

Here are my test results from that blood/allergen test I took in Mesa! I was ECSTATIC!!!! I can't even put it into words. WAY better than my birthday, Christmas and summer vacation, all in one! 

ANSWERS! FINALLY!! ANSWERS!!!

I've been dealing with stomach/intestinal issues for at least 15 years. 

I was really hoping this would tell me what my body was struggling with. 

The second I read the results my spirits plummeted. I mean downward spiraled into the depths of despair and hell!! 

My blood reacted negatively with EVERYTHING!! OK, not ANY meats. But everything else? Yup. It was on there. Eggs, cow's milk, yeast, wheat, pineapple, peas, lettuce, sugar cane, almonds, coconut, rye, corn, rice, white potatoes, coffee, and vanilla, among other things. So basically I can eat meat, seafood and vegetable. BOOO!!!!! I don't even know what I'm going to do about this.

We went out to dinner last weekend with some friends and I was just getting a kick out of the boys struggling with the babies. Just look at Steel's face! Hehe. Bron was getting a run for his money.

Trav knew how to tame Miss Olive. Let her suck on a lemon rind.

Ever want to sleep in on a Saturday? Maybe even make it a special kind of morning, if you get my drift? Haha. Well, don't. Or at least know you'll have to replace that tub of cream cheese you just bought. They've never been satisfied with the amount of cream cheese I put on their Eggos. It was finally their day to have it their way! 

YUCK! 

Half way through, even Weston admitted, "I not want this Eggo anymore, Mommy. It yucky." 

Ya don't say.