Joseph Selling his Bike

Joseph is selling his mountain bike, here are some pictures, anyone want to buy it?

Joseph's Post on Craig's list:

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/bik/1324349718.html

I love this bike. Originally purchased for $1600 in October 2006. I just had the bike tuned up at the local bike shop including a new chain put on and the wheels aligned. Pedals: egg beaters. These are $200 dollar pedals. The egg beaters are indestructible. They are easy to clean and easy to clip in and out of. The pedals are about 5 years http://www.crankbrothers.com/eggbeater.php Brakes: hydraulic, Avid Front suspension: recon rock shox Rear suspension: fusion X with lockout capability Wheels: 26", specialized Shifters: Shimano Deore derailleur : shimano Deore XT color: red HANDLEBARS: Specialized XC low rise, butted alloy, 640mm wide, 6 degree up, 8 degree backsweep Frame size: M More info: I am selling it because I have not gotten enough use out of it. I bought it in October of 2006. I broke my arm shortly after and haven't ridden much after that. It has been in my garage ever since.

Link to product page at specialized.com: http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=22033

The Specialized FSR gets top reviews: http://www.buzzillions.com/reviews/specialized-fsr-xc-comp-reviews Video on the FSR: http://bit.ly/4kqfUr

Going to Florida

Hey Floridians - we're going to be in Tampa over the weekend! Joseph was scheduled to go to the shuttle launch in Cape Canaveral on Monday, and plane tickets were really cheap, so we're all coming! Hope you can play!

My baby sucks...

literally! L has skills with his new palate! It was really amazing to see him figure this out after not ever before having that capability. And now that he's learned it's like he can't get enough of it! He always has an empty bottle hanging out of his mouth now and even though he just turned one, I'm not ready to yank away this newfound comfort just yet!

After M's gymnastic's class this afternoon, I noticed that he didn't have any stamps on his hands, feet, arms, belly, or face (where I usually find several). And while I find them annoying and distracting, I've never said anything negative about them because they wash off really easily and he gets very excited about them. So, thinking that he didn't follow directions I asked him why he didn't have any stamps. He replied, "I told coach not to put any on me today because Heavenly Father doesn't want us to do that to our bodies." I guess he really did listen to the FHE lesson on "Our Bodies are Temples"!

In other news, I enjoyed a weekend getaway - by myself (thank you hubby and gma) - to hear my little sister, A, play her sophomore piano recital at BYU. J came down from BYU-I and we had a great weekend together. A was flawless and fabulous. I could listen to her all day! Because I am 12 years older than A & J, I was kind of like a 2nd mom to them growing up so I think I doled out 2 years of advice in the 2 days I was there! A lives in the same apt. complex I lived in while at BYU! What a time warp - I felt like such an old fogie watching young lovers text each other on their cell phones! :)

Here's me at "Regency 212" where I spent 2 of my college years with some of my best friends! Good memories...never to be exposed!

4 sisters after the recital (can you tell which one is the in-law :)

Don't give up on me!

OK, so I have been less than faithful at posting. Probably most of you don't really care and I am apologizing just to fill my own ego because I like to secretly think that people get as much satisfaction about my kids' antics and photos as I do! This whole blogging thing hasn't panned out as a success for my families - they seem to like personal letters better (and web album with LOTS of pictures) - imagine that!

I find myself sucked into the blogging world as least once a week reading stories of friends and complete strangers and I love it! I am constantly impressed by what other mothers are doing and especially grateful that we have a means to share those things now! For example, most recently I have become a "coupon shopper". I'm not talking about clipping a few and saving $0.55 cents off a few products. I've learned (thanks to Jarah for getting me started) how to match coupons with store deals and save more than I end up spending! Yesterday, I got facial cleanser, rice cakes, and toilet paper for free! My total grocery bill this week was under $50.00! There are so many great blogs and sites that show off their systems and match all the great deals for you.

Anyway, the purpose of that tangent is that I love how the blogging world connects us all and even inspires us to be better. Even though my posts have been few and far between, I've still been reading yours! I love to watch your kids grow and read about your fun activities.

So, while my blog can't teach you piano (maybe I'll get back to you on that one) and is never articulate or witty, I hope that you, my friends near and far, will check back occasionally so we can stay connected. I've got some other projects that I'm working on, so by "occasionally", I mean 1-2 posts a month. Maybe I'll tell you about the projects next time. I know, the suspense is killing you! Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to lately!

All the grandkids in their Christmas jammies (I know, I'm just getting to Christmas)!

For Christmas, Michael really wanted a sled and a spaceship, so we decided to build the two in one! We got a big box and covered it with shiny material, colored duct tape, mirrors, decals, lights, marshmellow shooters, control pad, joy stick, ... put it on wheels and called it the "fire sled".

Our entry into the annual family gingerbread (graham cracker) house contest. Ok, so it's not a house but it took first in the train category!

Michael eating "ice trickles" off of the swings.

Bad pic - but I ended up getting to go (last minute) to the Celin Dion concert. I'm not a huge fan of her music but her voice is flawless and she is a really great entertainer! It was fun!

What a relief!

I am happy to report that Landon has been ill-free for three days now - woo hoo! In the last month, the poor baby went through palate surgery, wouldn't eat and had to be force fed for 10 days, cut his first 5 teeth within three weeks, got C. Diff (overgrowth of bad bacteria in the GI tract) from the hospital antibiotics, battled a cold with major congestion, got a left ear infection so was back on antibiotics (not good for the GI tract), got a right ear infection with lots of blood a week later and his left ear infection still had not gone away, and last week started projectile vomitting for six days and so wouldn't eat again. Poor guy has lost weight and has been so lethargic and uncomfortable, of course not sleeping well and just not himself. Because all of this happened right after surgery, I was worried it was all connected to something else and so we were back in the surgeon's office three times, to the ENT, and at the Pediatrician's office four times. But, I have to say that I am grateful for caring doctors who took the time to see Landon and reassure me. His Pediatrician stayed late twice so I could rush him in to be seen instead of going to an urgent care clinic. I should also mention how grateful I am for his health during Christmas. On Christmas day and the few days surrounding it he was doing great and it was so wonderful to celebrate with family with a healthy baby. Now, he seems to be back to his cute self sticking his tongue out again and even letting me put him down to play. He's got two medications to finish up and here's hoping nothing else comes around!

Landon Post-op

Thanks everyone for your kind words and prayers. Everything went as planned with Landon's surgery. Now, several days later, he seems to be back to his happy self (mostly). My main worry now is getting him to eat. He doesn't like being fed through a little tube. I can't say that I would either, but you'd think he would get to a point where he doesn't care how it's coming, just that he's getting something. I know his whole mouth and throat are so sore (even with narcotics) so that doesn't make it very fun either. We are glad to be home from the hospital. The doctors and nurses were all wonderful, but a hospital is no place to recover.

The first night after surgery, of course we were all exhausted and it is very difficult to sleep in a hospital anyway. It was 1am and we had just gotten Landon to sleep for the umpteenth time and closed our own eyes for the first time. The tech who comes in the room every 4 hours (although it feels like every hour) to take Landon’s vitals (temp, blood pressure, etc.) snuck in the room to do so trying not to awake anyone (he really was trying to be careful). Landon did wake up (don’t know how he thought he was going to get a leg out of jammies and put a blood pressure cuff on without waking him) and then it took another hour to get him settled down again and back to sleep. Well, as soon as I laid him back down, the regular nurse came in to check his IV. When I said that I had just barely got him to sleep she insisted that she had to look and would be very careful. Well, of course, he woke up again screaming and throwing a major fit. After one more hour of going through all the motions to try and calm him down, we finally got him back to sleep. Joseph and I had had enough interruptions by this point so Joseph went to the nurses desk, told them kindly to get their schedules coordinated and don’t come in the room until we ask you to and then he put his air mattress right in front of our door so anyone who came in would have to go over him first! Ha ha! It gave me a good laugh for the night seeing him sleep guard at the door!

Landon in his tiger hospital gown, all ready for surgery.

Landon at home post-op. He'll wear these "no-no's" (are restraints) for three weeks until he's all healed and there's not risk of injuring his palate if he sticks his hands or an object in his mouth.

Here is Landon with another of Dr. Genecov's patients also named Landon! He had the same bilateral cleft lip/palate and was at the hospital the same time as us to get bone put in his palate now. He is seven and so so sweet!

Palate Surgery 12/10

I love watching my sweet Landon sleep! He's so peaceful and I love how he sticks out that bottom lip!

He'll be having surgery on Wednesday to close his palate. We feel confident that everything will go smoothly and hope for a speedy recovery for Landon that isn't too painful. Thanks for your prayers!