July in Pictures

I have slacked on sharing our fun times this month. If your friends with me on Facebook or follow me on Instagram, then you will see repeats of pictures. But....I'm sharing anyway. July is coming to a close, so I want to recap our month. We have actually had quite a fun time. Lots of memories made and awesomeness unleashed. So without further ado....our July.


The boys got the opportunity to ride on the firetruck with their uncle during the 4th of July parade. Tyler got to ride up on the ladder with his cousin, and Ry got to ride inside (Nate opted to spend the holiday with his dad). His uncle made his day and let him be in charge of the siren and horn honking as we moved down the parade route.

Ry and his cousin Addi hanging out in the firetruck while we waited for our turn. He loved that flag.

Ty and his cousin Melissa chilling on the top of the firetruck while we waited.

Couldn't help it, had to get a selfie with Ry. He was soooo much in heaven riding in that firetruck, I had to capture it.

We also had a fun time hanging out with the in-law families at the park and later going to the movies with Grandma and Grandpa. It was a fantastic day all around.

The parents have finally (after much time, trial and tribulation) gotten their new driveway and patio poured. We got invited to have cousin handprints set in the wet concrete.

We wished the Alaska kids could've been there to help, then the sidewalk could've been complete but just know you were in our thoughts. I was touched that my SIL thought to add Grayson in the mix, and since he doesn't have a hand to cement in, we opted for a butterfly.

The SIL's and I started a little family tradition last year of taking the kids camping. With play practices and other appointments, we couldn't find a time that was easy for all of us so the best solution was taking over the parents yard for our camp out. It was sooo much fun!

Our little tent village in the backyard.

I can't remember who thought of it but someone thought it would be fun to watch a movie on the side of the house and it was absolutely perfect! We roasted some s'mores on a firepit in the backyard and watched Here Comes The Boom. It was a fantastic ending to a great night.

The next morning we decided to go on a hike. There is a trail from the painted C up the mountain from our house down to the bottom of the mountain. I did this trail back in my younger days and it was really nice, I enjoyed it a ton. So of course, I was all in and thinking it would be a piece of cake. Ohhhhhh boy. My mind obviously hasn't caught up with my very out of shape body. I am still sore from that blasted hike but it was a great experience, I learned I can push myself to the absolute limits and succeed.

The boys giving a thumbs up on a water break.

At the top of the C trail looking down onto Cedar City. Its beautiful views up there.

We also celebrated Pioneer Day, a Utah holiday commemorating when the pioneers settled into Utah. It was a nice quiet day that really was very enjoyable....except that a cold very quickly settled in that evening. I hate getting colds, especially in the summertime.

The boys got to walk in the parade for the play they are in, Beauty and the Beast.

We were slightly bored and decided to go to Cal Ranch and wander. They trapped themselves in the cage, I promise. However it may be a great timeout spot...... :)

The boys absolutely loved the chicks. There were a few that would follow our fingers around and it made for a hilarious game we played. Tyler wanted to get one soooooo bad but I have no clue where we would put one. He thought the bathtub would be great....I think hygiene is a little more important.

We also went to the Iron Mission State Park (although I think they have changed their name to something in regards to Frontier something or other) and had a ton of fun looking at Cedar's history. The boys loved this giant tractor. They got to go explore inside it and everything. And of course used allowances to get stuff from the gift shop. Ty and Ry chose some cute cast iron pencil sharpeners in the shapes of trains and cannons, and Nate bought a whip. I didn't realize it was a full blown whip until we got home though. Pretty sure I'm going to regret that one at some point.

We ended the day with sparklers at the grandparents house. The boys had fun playing with them and trying to light random things on fire like popits and leaves. Strange little kids, but I guess boys will be boys.

 I can't believe July is already over. It seems like this month went by soooooo fast, I don't know where the time went to. But it was a very fun month for us and I really enjoyed making lots of new memories with the boys. I still have the dang cold I picked up over the holiday, but it's slowly going away thank goodness. I can't believe August is almost here, which means school is starting soon. The boys are very excited for school to start (especially Ry who gets to go to big boy school with brothers). I love the fact my boys enjoy learning and going to school.

Welp, I think that is all for now. I will check in again soon. Hope ya'll had a great July and have an even better August!

A new battle

So as work has slowed down, so have my paychecks. And we all know what that means.....smaller to no paychecks. It's a little scary. I had a savings built up, but it's gone now after Tyler's surgery stuff and my lack of paycheck last pay period. I know the projection for the next two paychecks and it's not looking good. So, as much as I'm not looking forward to the drama it will cause, I am trying again for child support. I am not looking forward to it at all. But, I am struggling to meet the boys' needs on my own right now so it's time to try again. I really hate this whole process, it invokes too much stress and grief. But I have learned I've grown up in the last little bit and am not as weak as I used to be so I won't let people push me around any longer. So, unfortunately, ya'll might hear a little about the process if it doesn't go as smoothly as I am hoping. Who knows, I may even get a small part time job or something to help if I can find one. The only bad thing about that is that processing loans isn't a 9-5 job, I need to be available for the most part when work comes up. So if something happened during hours of a part time job, I'd be in trouble. I don't know. I'm just hoping that riding the rates wave will pay off and things will pick up again soon. Cross fingers.

Anywho, time to go to bed. Have a good night ya'll, sleep well.

Tyler Update

Well its been about two weeks since Tyler's surgery and he is doing awesome. His hip has all but healed at this point, the skin is still kind of dark and the stitch area is pretty puffy, but otherwise it's looking good. It is kind of interesting to compare the two hips as well. You can see where they took the bone from on the hip, there is a little lip where the incision is at. It's pretty crazy.
We are slowly introducing more solid food as well. I am still being crazy paranoid but we've moved into very soft noodles and sucking on graham crackers. I still won't let him have anything too tough but he's sure getting tired of the same old stuff, so I'm trying to mix it up a little and give him more variety. The activity levels are also kind of a bummer for him too. I am having him hold off from things that are too rambunctious right now and that is just straight up horrible for him. We went swimming the other night and I told him I didn't want to go because he still couldn't get in for fear of causing infections in his surgery sites, but he claimed he could just sit on the side and dangle his feet. So we both sat on the side and the poor kid wanted to jump in sooooo bad. I felt horrible. I think we will not be going swimming again until the doctor clears the activity. Poor kid. On the plus side, his pain is improving incredibly. He only has pain meds on days when his hip is really painful, which isn't often. Otherwise, he just runs and jumps like normal (well, maybe no jumps. I get after him for that). He is such a strong kid, I really admire him.
So that is where we are at right now. Things are going well, and all of us are doing fantastic. I hope ya'll have a fantastic week and we shall chat soon.

An emotionally exhausting day

Wooooooow what a day it has been. I mentioned in a previous post that the interest rates have risen, which means work has been slow. There have been murmurs at work about what is going to happen and whether people should stay on or look for other jobs. At the beginning of the week we got an email from the President/CEO/Owner guy of our company saying to keep our Wednesday open and be in office at 9:00 am for meetings. Obviously, this kind of made us all wonder what was going on. Well on got there this morning and a good chunk of the processing crew got emails asking them to go to the conference room at 9:30. Those of us who didn't figured we'd missed an email so started going over, but was told we needed to just watch our email for a different meeting time.

Of course, this got us all speculating about what was going on. Around 15 minutes later, we found out. A very large chunk of people have been laid off. People I never in my life would've guessed they would've chosen got laid off. People that in all honesty should've been kept as they were all-star processors. People who are better processors than myself, hands down. I have tried to figure out how the choices were made. Nothing makes sense really when you compare apples to apples on who they kept and who they let go. I am sure they had their reasons and I know it was tough for them all to try and decide, it just makes no sense.

It was one of the most surreal moments I have ever experienced. I was feeling extremely blessed that I had made the cut and was kept on, but was hurting for those that were let go. And what do you do in that moment? You don't want to just sit there and stare, but you don't want them to think your ignoring them. Do you help them clean out their desks? Or do you just leave them be? People were whispering, crying, hugging.....some where laughing and trying to keep a good attitude. For some it was a blessing, for others it was a very sad day. At our afternoon meeting, we went over how the company would proceed. I think what they did was extremely dramatic, but it makes sense with the rate of growth we had. I think it was just too much, too fast. I don't know.

I have no idea why I was kept, other than I (thankfully!!) have an amazing bossman/loan officer who has my back. But it has been an eye opener. I have gotten too comfortable and quite honestly a little lazy. This experience has shown me my faults and helped me to realize that I need to make some changes in order to exceed the standards I have set for myself, and the standards that will be expected from here on out company-wide. This experience has given me a renewed sense of purpose and a desire to be better than the day before, even if it means sucking up my insecurities and faking it 'til I make it with the things I struggle with.

So with that, it is time to relax and rejuvenate. It's time to enjoy my long holiday weekend and start fresh with a renewed sense of purpose on Monday. So enjoy the weekend....have a fantastic Independence Day and we will chat again soon.