Happy Halloween!

Going to the Theater!

Troy and I have a date tonight!

First dinner, then to the theater to see The Mystery Of Edwin Drood, by Charles Dickens.

This hilarious musical whodunit was a smash hit on Broadway where it received rave reviews. Loosely based on Charles Dickens' famous unfinished novel, it takes audience participation to new heights by letting them directly effect the play's outcome by voting for whomever they think murdered the unfortunate young Edwin Drood. Presented as a 'first night performance by The Music Hall Royale', a troupe of decidedly hammy Victorian actors, this affectionate recreation of a bygone theatrical age is certain to prove an enormous hit with everyone. The witty and tuneful score contains such numbers as "There You Are", "Moonfall", Perfect Strangers" and "Off To The Races".

Fall Photos

The boys let me take some pictures of them....Yeah!!

Fall cleanup

Our neighborhood comes together each fall and pulls all the dead flowers from the entrance area. It saves the association some money, gets us outside and brings the neighborhood closer. I was pulling flowers in the mornings during my walk and decided it would be "fun" if the boys did it with me after school yesterday. They weren't too thrilled at first, but ended up having a great time. Especially, when I told them they could ride in the back of the truck back to the house. It really is the simple things that excite them!

This was the area we worked in. Just look at the beautiful colors on this tree! Mmmmm, that gives me an idea... maybe the boys will let me take a few photos of them by this tree. I'll keep you posted... wish me luck talking them into that!

A new favorite series...

My boys LOVE these books! Have your kids read these yet? Do they just love 'em?! Can't wait for the new one to come out...

Surgery Update and Thank You's

Troy's surgery went well. The Dr. said he was VERY happy with what they accomplished. God was really looking out for us when he led us to Dr. Murdock! Troy will have his first physical therapy appt. on Oct. 25 and the second on Oct. 31 so we will know more about his progress then. I will be sure to update you all on that. I want to thank you all for your prayers and special thanks to Carrie Loewen and Sara Weber for the delicious meals. You made our arrival home so much easier for me knowing that I could feed my family and not worry about cooking. Thank you Rachel for being there for me while I was in the waiting room. Thanks to my parents for always being supportive and there for us, even though distance separates us. Thank you Clark, Cindy and Carrie for being there for the boys when they got home from school. We couldn't have kept the business doors open if it wasn't for Troy's dad...thanks so much Chuck! Thank you to my Bible study sisters for the support and the generous gift! We received so many prayers, emails and phone calls today...I am overwhelmed by all the love that was given to us today. God has blessed us with a wonderful family and terrific friends. Today would have been much rougher on our family if it wasn't for all of you! We love you...THANKYOU!!!

Free!!!

Free hot drink at Barnes and Noble!

This is a really sweet freebie and I had to do a little research to make sure it was legit. Sure enough, it is!
Go to the Barnes and Noble website here to print out your coupon for a free tall-sized latte, cappuccino, espresso, freshly-brewed coffee, or hot tea (up to $3.20 in value). This coupon can only be redeemed once per customer but I assume that means each person in your family could print and use one. The coupon is good through October 31, 2008.

(Thanks, moneysavingmom.com)
So, who wants to meet me at Barnes and Noble for a latte?

Surgery Update

We met with a terrific surgeon today and Troys surgery is scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday October 21st at 1:45pm. It will be done at St. Luke's in Downtown Boise. The surgery will take a couple of hours, but the rehab will be about 3 months. We would appreciate any prayers you can send our way!

A Harvest Party

The Burgess family invited us to their annual Harvest party...we had such a great time! We had the perfect fall day...warm, in the 70's.

Silly boy has a balloon under there!

So handsome and growing up too fast!

Troy had a great time playing with the boys...being VERY careful with his left hand.

A trip to the E.R.

Right after the boys got home from school this afternoon and we were looking through their backpacks, we got the phone call. Troy's dad said, "hi, I don't want to alarm you, but Troy got his right hand index finger stuck somehow in a pipe and it was severed while working on a car." Well, I gathered the kids up and we ran over to the hospital. Of course, since the shop isn't in the town we live in it took us over a 1/2 hour to get to the hospital in Nampa. I was surprisingly calm, and we prayed on the way there. Chase was taking it pretty hard and was having a difficult time holding the tears back, he was really worried about his dad. Tanner just wanted to know if there was going to be a lot of blood. When we got into the room Troy was in, that was when it hit me. It is awful seeing someone you love laying in a hospital bed all hooked up to I.V.'s with nurses and doctors surrounding them. Tanner wanted to hold his dad's good hand to give him support while Troy was getting the shot to numb his hand. Once the Dr. started cleaning the wound and flushing it out, Tanner turned white. Troy told him it was ok, but the tears started and Tanner couldn't hold back anymore. Poor guy....

Well, to make a long story short. Troy's finger is ok for now. It is his left index finger, not his right. He is on medication right now and is feeling ok. Monday morning he will have surgery to reattach the tendon. Luckily he didn't loose his finger and surprisingly the bone wasn't touched. Tonight when we finally had a chance to sit down and talk I realized....I didn't take any hospital photos for our blog!!! Troy just laughed and let me take a couple of it all wrapped up. I don't think you'd want to see it unwrapped anyway!

I've been tagged!

Which means you get tagged! (Thanks Elaine!) No really, this is a fun one. You find your 4th picture in the 4th folder and post it!

This is a picture of Tanner carrying the flag at the Pack Meeting in April.

I tag...Marie, Amanda and "Devoted"

The dinner...

OK, I know you have all had this experience...(if not, please don't tell me). I got the great idea that I would only use what I had in the pantry and freezer for dinner one night. So I started a pot of rice and then went to the pantry. I found a bottle of sweet and sour sauce and a can of pineapple chunks and thought, "hmmmm what can I do with this?" So I pulled out some frozen meatballs (italian style, that is probably where the problem started) and came up with the brilliant idea of sweet and sour pineapple and meatballs over rice. Sounds pretty good...right??? Then, I found a bag of frozen edamame and served that on the side. Well...my family DID NOT enjoy this dinner! To say the least! I served it with some chow mein noodles and that was about all that we enjoyed. But not how you might think!

Awwww, he still loves me, even though dinner stunk!

Didn't leave the dogs names out...they even enjoyed a few that fell on the floor

"I love mom and dad and Chase and Roxy and Charlie"

This was one of Troy's many "creative" noodle words....the others I couldn't post! Oh well, what was I thinking! My family doesn't even like Chinese food!!! We did end up enjoying some delicious Gala apples and the edamame, so I guess the meal was somewhat nutritious! Thank goodness for chow mein noodles...bet you never knew how much entertainment they could provide!!! They saved our dinner!

The view from our kitchen window

Well, it snowed yesterday! The earliest recorded snowfall in Boise in years...almost 2 inches!
5 1/2 inches fell at Bogus Basin (local ski area) which is what this photo is of.

Not much stuck here in the valley...but the mountains are beautiful!