Father's Day thoughts...

I feel bad that I've been sick because I didn't get cards in the mail for my Dad or my Father In Law...they are coming, guys! So, I thought I'd write a bit about each of them to ease my guilt a bit...and so they know how great they are.

My Dad----If you don't know my Dad, you should! You are really missing out on a one-of-a-kind guy. He is funny, crazy, opinionated, smart, fiercely

patriotic, brave, con

victed in his faith, service minded, a hard worker and all around great. One of the things I love about my dad is that he has always been willing to do anything for his family. From quitting his job of being an undercover narcotics officer

---because it was too hard on family life, to going to school AND working 2 jobs to complete his degree, to agreeing NOT to look for jobs out of state and move his wailing teenage daughters away from their friends, to being willing to drop everything anytime we call to help us out. He is always there for us---ready to serve us, make us laugh, tease us, save us from the water snake that I swear was a rattlesnake, embarrass us, make us the best caramel popcorn in the world etc...... He is a wonderful dad and I love him! Thanks for everything, Dad!

Picture 1---My Dad at HS Graduation...so handsome!

Picture 2---My Dad now---told you, fiercely patriotic! :)

Picture 3---My Dad in true form! Crazy and eating a ding dong! (I'm not saying anything else, Dad!)

Papa Carl--aka my amazing Father In Law.

I have been truly blessed to have the most amazing in-laws EVER!!! Chuck's Dad is such a giving, caring man. Chuck and I went to Jr. High together and were an "item" back then, and his Dad was always so loving and wonderful. He said that he knew then (his mom did too) that we would be married one day. Yay that they were right! Carl is one of those men that has a genuine love for his kids...he too would do anything for them. He's a hard worker and can fix ANYTHING! I love it when he visits because not only do we get to spend time with Papa, but I get things done around the house! He stripped, stained and varnished our kitchen table so that it wouldn't get water stains....I love telling people that he did that because it was such a labor of love and it's a little piece of him in our home. Dad, you are a wonderful man with so much to offer and share with those around you. We love you!!!

Peritonsillar what???

So this has been an interesting week at our house. Sunday night I started getting a sore throat and felt weak and achy...."oh no", I thought....I'm getting the flu or strep. Ha! I wish!!! It actually did start out as strep and then progressed into what is called a peritonsillar abscess. Waaaaaaayyyyyyy worse than just strep! I could barely swallow...every time I did it felt like a knife was cutting my throat---yep---lovely, right? Finally went to the Dr. after 3 nights of not being able to sleep well and I had simply had it. He gave me some serious anti-biotics (yay!), steroids to reduce the swelling (whew!) and Lortab to help with the pain (hooray!!!!!). It's now Sunday morning and I'm almost back to normal. I still can only eat soft foods...bread is even too much. Still a little swelling and throat pain but thank heavens for medicine---sooooo grateful! Thanks to everyone who was so helpful-----Jessica, our sitter, who was a LIFESAVER and really went the extra mile with helping me out this week--you are amazing, Jessica! Karen & Anne for bringing dinner and watching my kids so I could sleep and recover. Jennifer & Paul, our friends who are a P.A and ENT Doc who gave me great advice and helped me understand things better. Netflix for having old episodes of Flashpoint online so that I could have a distraction while I couldn't sleep because of the pain. :) Lynn for bringing me chicken noodle soup---it tasted so good and felt even better on my throat. My Mom for coming this next week to help me with the kids so that I can catch up on the week I lost. My AWESOME family who really picked up the slack, let me rest, got along most of the time and even kept the house semi-clean! Chuck is and always will be the best....so helpful, understanding, calm and loving. I'm really blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people---love you all!!!

Last day with the Geislers

Had a great time…come again!!! (and these photos are the only proof that we have that I was actually a part of this fun week because I took all the photos…..I was there, though! Promise!)

Geislerama fun at the Edgington’s!!!

Our best friends, the Geislers, who we knew in Stillwater, (and now live in Utah---traitors! ) came out for a week and we had THE BEST TIME!!!  Swimming, watching iCarly, swimming, going to the Zoo to see the new baby elephant that Mommy took a TON of photos of (can you say obsessed?  I loved the elephants when I was little so it was amazing to see the new baby, Maylee!), swimming,  playing for the day at Frontier City, swimming, laughing, watching movies, swimming and just having the BEST-WEEK-EVER!  Thanks for coming out, guys….you are THE BEST!!!  Wanna come next week?

Geislerama! VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL