Sick Day

Saturday afternoon I got a sore on my right ear where the earlobe attaches. It got more sore as the night went on when one of my lymph nodes got swollen. The slit goes from the front to the back. This picture is after I'd put neosporin on it for two days straight and trying to wear bandaids on it - they should market bandaids for unusual places cause that was tricky. It looks better than it was and better than it feels.
Druing the night Saturday more lymphnodes were swollen and I couldn't sleep on that side, from radiating pain. Monday I made an appointment for the Dr. and saw her that evening after work.

She prescribed some antibiotics and an ointment - apparently this is just a dry crack that has gotten out of control. It doesn't usually happen in this area of the body, you're more likely to see them on the sides of peoples mouths when their comissures crack. But because I wear a mask every day and the strings pull on my ear it hasn't been able to heal.

Oh and surprise ending to the Dr. visit.... I got a tetanus shot. It actually wasn't bad at all, I didn't even know she'd done it and she was already capping the needle. HOWEVER the next day is another story....

This morning I woke up with an incredibly sore shoulder.... TETANUS SHOTS = LAME
I was warned to move my arm after the shot so it didn't get too sore. Well Alex and I did a good job moving it until I went to sleep.
To make the morning even more interesting. I took my antibiotic when I got to work and within 5 min. could feel that something was wrong. My chest started hurting, like there was something stuck on the way down, sweats, heart racing and the feeling of needing to vomit. My hands were shaky as I finished the first patient and then took my blood pressure. It was pretty low, but I knew there was something wrong. I went downstairs to our break room and called Alex. I immediatley got rid of everything I'd eaten that morning, including the antibiotic. I felt a little better but still had the urge to purge. My sweet husband hadn't left for work yet, so I had him come get me.
Here I sit on the couch with not much to do. My brother brought some gingerale, but I'm not up to putting anything in my system just yet, still having the urge. Just waiting for the Dr. office to call back with what I should do.....
Reactions to medications = EVEN LAMER!!!

Babysitting

Recently Alex I have been doing a little bit of babysitting.
I don't personally remember the last time that I did and Alex had never done it by himself, until last week!
Friday I was asked to watch my visiting teaching companion's daughter for a few hours. Of course i said, "YES!" This little girl Emerson is everything that baby Gerber stands for. She is 15 months old now and although she can't form complete words, she gets her point across while roaming the house endlessly.
I was nervous at first thinking, "Do I know how to watch a 15 month old, what do I do with her the whole time? 2 1/2 hours is a long time, and do I remember how to change a diaper?" It's amazing what can leave your mind if you don't practice it. So as her mom was leaving me with all the instructions I started to feel ..... she does this on a daily basis, I can do it. I'm a woman - it's inherently built within me to have the capabilities to handle this.
Her mom shut the door and Emerson was off. I followed her around picking up things, putting them back, keeping certain cupboards closed, trying to get her to drink milk, and actually feeling sorry when she started to cry because all her food was gone. I never had to change a diaper, but at the time didn't care if I would've had to. I was so surprised by how little she needed to be "watched" and was actually entertained by her most of the time. My how the time flies when you're having fun. I was worn out and very impressed when her mom returned.... she does this on a daily basis - and she survives with a smile and positive attitude.
Bless you Riki!
The second opportunity came a few days later when Riki again mentioned she needed a babysitter for Tuesday night while we had our Relief Society dinner - I volunteered Alex :)
He went over right after work, and I met him after our dinner. Apparently Emerson's parents were going out after the dinner and so Alex and I finished the night off babysitting together. I was very impressed to see Emerson with clean diaper (changed previously by Alex) and a bucket on her head! Come to find out, he didn't feel the need to hover over her as much as I had. He was totally relaxed and completely in control..... until it was bedtime. We both tried different tactics for a few min. and then we just left her in the crib. 45 min. later when I had to leave she was still sitting up talking to herself. Determination of a 15 month old is amazing.
I was so proud of Alex for doing this on his own.... he will be a great dad some day. Especially if his kids like to play video games with him ;)
Believe it or not, we had had years without babysitting and our THIRD opportunity came only 2 short days later. Alex's brother Ryan and his wife had a party to go to Thursday and asked us to watch their 3 girls. I thought for sure this would be a piece of cake after Emerson.... and seriously it was. I have learned that if kids have each other to play with, babysitting is a breeze.
Their girls were so much fun.... we were laughing at everything they did whether it was really funny or not, kids just make us laugh. They are so impressed with the simplest things in life. We should try to be more like them. Thank you Jenny for giving us that chance, you have done an amazing job with them!

It's been an interesting week but we've had a lot of fun and we're learning a lot so that in the DISTANT future we'll know a little more, and be slightly more prepared to take on the joyous challenge of raising children :)

You all are heroes!!

PorSha's Decision

My neice PorSha made quite a big decision on Saturday when she was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by her Grandpa Hoffmann. She is quite the spirit sent from heaven. Born into circumstances that are not ideal, she has the strength to make it better.
Throughout the whole baptism there wasn't a time when someone wasn't crying. You could definitely feel the spirit of Heavenly Father all around as this precious daughter of God was receiving this wonderful gift.

I don't know why Alex posed like this and even though we took another picture, I had to post this one cause he just has a "booty"
We were so excited to share this day with PorSha. Alex was a witness and in the confirmation circle, and I cried through an invocation.
She is definitely her daddy's little girl. I don't know if he'll ever be able to let her grow up.

As aunts and uncles we decided to give PorSha her very own set of scriptures with her name on them! We went after her baptism to surprise her. She was so excited to pick out her own color and decide how she wanted her name printed on them.

She's already been marking off each page as she "reads" it.

Grandma and Grandpa Hoffmann let her pick out her own scripture case. I think she did a great job.She only turned 8 in August, and yet she's so grown up. I can't believe it's been over 8 years since this little monkey came into our lives. I asked PorSha what her favorite part of the day was and she said, "The baptism. I felt all warm."
Isn't it amazing how simple it can be, their young spirits just get it.
She was so worn out from the excitement of the day, that she crashed on the way to her dad's house..... precious!!!
That night, Jacob and Elaina and Alex and I went to the Delta Center (I refuse to call it by it's "new name") to see BYU play San Francisco. Mom got us free tickets from a lady at her work that couldn't use them.

Although we didn't know until we got there that the pairs of tickets weren't next to each other. Jacob and Elaina sat on the same row, just around the corner from us.

They wiped the floor with San Fran.

Self Portrait

Overall it was an amazing day! Full of the Spirit and fun. I couldn't believe it actually snowed, but PorSha said that it was good luck to snow on a baptism... so I'll believe her.

Some people call it Thanksgiving.....

My family calls it "Turkey Bowl/Movie Weekend"
Bright and early Thursday morning the boys from my hometown neighborhood get together to play football. I couldn't believe how cold it was just standing there - which is why there are not many pictures past the point of the game starting.
My brother Ben is an NFL player at heart. He came out just to show the young ones that age doesn't have to matter when you play the "greatest game EVER" according to him.
I don't know the official number of how many guys came to play, I would guess about 25 or more. This pic was taken as they were starting and several more showed up after my fingers were almost frozen off and picture taking had stopped.

This is known as "THE Field"

Run, Alex, RUN!!

Right to Left: Alex, brother Jacob, brother Ben, .... I can't tell who else

After football, we enjoyed a nice hot shower and then it was off to dinner at the Martin's. DELISH!!! It was so much fun to eat and play games. Ryan and Jenny (Alex's brother and his wife) left their girls for us to play with. I have never had so much fun doing shrinky-dinks. I actually didn't know what they were..... Oh and their daughter Dru and I played an inside game of soccer with a GIANT workout ball and we could only use our knees. It was such a fun Thanksgiving!!!

Now my family's tradition is NOT to stand in line on "black Friday" but to go to a movie. This year was a struggle because we had 8 people to decide on a movie we ALL wanted to sit through. Would you ever guess what the GUYS picked?.....

That's right!! They all were excited... ok more like willing and interested in seeing New Moon. Us girls were ok with that, and they all actually had a good time. It was said to "have an actual plot." Rachel and her boyfriend Jason came to the movie as well as my parents and Jacob and Elaina, but had to go back to work after. The rest of us carried our tradition to lunch :)
(See - they're holding their movie tickets with such excitement)

Alex was not happy when I asked if we could go to JoAnn's after lunch for ornament hooks.... but what a good sport, he went anyway.

The rest of the weekend was full of putting up Christmas decorations and more movies. We rented 7 Pounds because we had a coupon, and we wouldn't recomend it to anyone who actually pays attention to movies.... Hello, what kind of story line was that?
Saturday I went to a dollar movie with my mom and Elaina. Julie and Julia. Ironic that in a true story, she writes her experiences on a blog - life imitating art, imitating life?
I would recomend this movie to any cooking fan. I used to watch Julia Child with my mom on Saturday mornings and although I like to challenge myself with cooking SOMETIMES I'm not anywhere near Julie from the movie. (although if you do see it, plug your ears when the husband comforts his wife on the couch - trust me) We finished off the evening with a trip to Spoons 'n Spice - only fitting. It's like the Bed, Bath and Beyond for cooking. I LOVE IT!!!

Sunday Alex and I had to speak in Sacrament meeting, so of course I didn't pay attention to the menu calendar when it said "pizza" Umm... we don't have any cheese. So we asked Jacob and Elaina if they had any to save us this week (they saved us last week with refried beans for enchiladas) but they didn't have any either. In fact they didn't know what they were going to have for dinner either because all they had scheduled was a side salad.... hmmm

So our evening turned into figuring out what we had the ingredients for? TOMATO SOUP with TORTELLINI!! I LOVE this meal and it didn't let me down. It was so hot, it fogged up my lens. Since we wanted to have some kind of bread to go along with it I decided to whip out my cookbooks... apparently there really should be time and thought put into making a bread of any kind. We didn't have time. So I found ONE recipe for biscuits that didn't call for any time to raise (no yeast) and ..... well there's a reason they're not pictured. They were ok, but very dry.

As we conclude our Thanksgiving weekend, we realize how grateful we are for.... POPCORN!

And that is how we choose to end our evening. Saying good bye to one holiday while we sit next to the lit Christmas tree and pine scented Salt City Candle (the best) already thinking about the next holiday so we can eat and spend time with family :)

I have so much to be thankful for: amazing family - Martins and Hoffmanns, Randalls etc., great friends, AWESOME sisters and two moms who are so generous it's kind of ridiculous. We truly are blessed and I'm glad we have a time of year to remind us of that and to spend time with them all.

It's tradition again....

I didn't think to bring my camera today.... I know right, what was I thinking? But I guess it's best not to take pics in a theatre. That's right, it's that time of year when a new "Twilight Saga" movie has come out. New Moon
Seven of us young ladies all went to see the movie together, just like last year. Although we switched out a few of the girls it was just as much fun.

The movie was..... I'll keep my opinoin to myself and let you decide when you see it, cause you know you will. But it's fun to get out and get together with the girls regardless. Thanks mom for picking up the tickets almost a month ago and to Taunya for coming all the way over to watch it with us!
There were definitely memories we'll never forget.
On a side note, I'd like to mention customer service and quote from my mother-in-law, Taunya. When something goes wrong, "Don't say you have good customer service, show me."
I think she's completely right. You deserve good service, that's what you're paying for. So when a situation occurs when you should stand up and get what you're asking for, DO IT and get others around to help you. It's what we're for, and it works. You eventually get what you're asking for, and what you deserved to get in the first place.

Accidents happen.....

Two weeks ago I got a phone call from Alex on his way home from school. The words, "I need you to come get me, I've been in an accident" were unlike any I want to hear ever again. I had to remember that if he was calling, he was ok but that also meant his car wasn't. I've been the passenger in accidents before but have never been in the driver seat (knock on wood) and I can't imagine what he was going through. So I drove to Lehi to find my husband and his car :(

I felt so bad as I'm sure he did. He'd tagged someone from behind. Thank goodness the other driver was in a bigger jeep and did nothing to his car. Poor little Scion.Alex had to take my car during the day because he still needed to go down to school. So 2 weeks later after Alex having to get up "too early" to take me to work, rides home from co-workers, and borrowing my parents van in desperation, we got our baby back!!!
Alex couldn't have been more excited that his car looked "just as perfect as when I bought it." Although I don't recomend this as a way to get your car back to perfection ;)

We had the car taken to a shop in Midvale because a co-worker of mine has a brother-in-law that works there and swore by his work.

Everything turned out ok and thanks to insurance we didn't have to pay the $5,800 bill!! Who would have known there were so many things packed in the front of that tiny little car to cost that much? Thanks to Mac at Unique autobody you guys are the best.

Halloween, NUF said

Halloween pumpkin carving is taken so seriously in our family that it actually begins the day before Halloween.

Alex worked so hard to scrape out our pumpkins. Kind enough to clean mine out as well.

Like I said, pumpkin carving is taken seriously. The tools are representitve of how intense it is.

Halloween morning was our girls breakfast, so of course we dressed up. Elaina and I both made our witch hats. It was so much fun. Rachel was sick... we'll see you next time.

TRADITION! Anyone who knows the Hoffmann hosuehold, knows that donuts are always made for Halloween for as long as we can remember. We wouldn't have it any other way.

This is not actually my dad's costume. He reffed football games all day and we asked him to keep it on for a little longer and pretend he'd dressed up. Later on his t-shirt read "I am the Treat" ha ha that was even better.

Again, traditional Halloween dinner. Chili and cornbread. Just warm enough to keep us going during trick-or-treating.

Ben's girlfriend dressed her little boy up like a vampire. His binki just happened to go along with his costume ;)

PorSha was a seniorita and Lexus was Tinkerbell. Her skirt lit up and everything!

I was a witch brewing, but left my couldron on the table, my mom was a .... t-shirt and my sister was a witch of sorts.

BOO!

The pumpkin carving skills were definitely enhanced with dad Jim's dremel. We had so much fun. Jacob's always been a fan of Pluto and he did a really good job with this one.

I OF COURSE I would choose a peanut m&m..... they melt in your mouth not in your hand. I actually really liked carving this one.

Jacob again, pulled off a fantastic Mater from "Cars." It looked better in person as did many of them. It's hard to take a picture of such a delight in the dark.

This one was even darker, but Elaina put so much effort into her Boo from "Monster's Inc." It turned out fantastic.... guess you had to be there.

And again, the dremel proved useful for Jacob when creating..... well you can see. Spaghetti anyone? Jacob also did a Tinkerbell, he's so ambitious and talented.

Alex was posing for GQ.... do they do "skater version?" He wanted to dress as "himself" at work FINALLY hahahah

My BFFAE was Champ carebear, her neice made the costume (she's ten) I made mine, including the apron, but I'm a bit older than ten.

Yes we have a self portrait with donuts. It's what we do.

My family are movie buffs. So what other way to end the day than with a Halloween movie. This year it was....

Alex and I and our pumpkins. His 31 stood for Halloween, 31st. But his didn't show so well on the camer so we had to get an aftershot.

We had a good time this Halloween. Even better, sister Rayne came into town and brought her usual positive attitude and smiling face. We love being able to spend time with her and miss her, Tom, Aderienne and J & Bee so much! I just wish I hadn't forgotten my camera.