Water Weight?

We did the de-tox diet for 3 days - Marty and I.  Well and my brother Jared and his wife Ingrid.  They, actually are the ones that talked us into it.  We saw and ate alot of the above in the last 72 LONG hours.  (Why do I have to be so dental minded (all I see is a molar))

Anywho, we could only eat lean meats, raw veggies (if cooked- only in a little EVOO (as Rachael would say)), 2 fruits a day (one in am, one in pm) and 1/2 our body weight in ounces of water.  NO dairy, (ouch) or carbs (double ouch!)  So you may say "thats silly" or "what a stupid thing to do" or "get real"..etc.  And I don't totally swear by it myself.  I DO feel a little better- (I say a little cuz I really haven't been too 'regular' since I started on Monday which I usually am and pride myself in that.)  And I don't know if I feel 'cleansed' or 'de-toxed' , but the scale showed a 1_3 down from a 1_7.5 !  So yay for that and Marty got down to a 170.5 and his goal has been 168 or 169 for a while now- it actually seems attainable now! Plus he said he feels a lot lighter on his feet when he runs and his pants are baggier.

Well you may call it just losing 'water weight' as my sister Michelle would lecture-BUT we were drinking tons of water during the 3 days!?  Maybe, just maybe, it's real.  For the record it was a pain in my butt to stick with- but it certainly put me in a different mind frame- I don't want to 'blow it' by splurging or overdoing it now.  It took me back to the basics- dining on natural food and eating less fast/starchy, easy food.  So thanks de-tox , whoever you are. 

p.s. this also saved us...nice hot herbal tea with a little (sneaked) milk and some truvia...don't tell Ingrid.

20 day countdown...

We won an all-inclusive (paid-for) cruise thru an advertising company Marty used for his business ... SO, I got 20 days until our cruise.  This is what I looked like over 13 months ago.  SCARY.  Now I want to be bikini-ready in just 20 days.  Any tips.?  PLUS-We would still love if anyone could come on this cruise with us...any last minute-ers?  I'm trying to remember the do's and dont's of our last adventure on the Carnival...Not so great)- I was accidentally pregnant (SICK) and it sailed right during the swine flu blow-out so we didn't even make our 2nd of only 2 scheduled stops (in Ensenada).  Anyone been to Cabo San Lucas and have any DO's for us?  We are way excited.

On a serious note...I want to give a virtual hug to my dear friends April and Sean and their sweet little Zoe.  They are going thru a really tough time right now and are having to make a lot of tough decisions. Their faith and strength are AMAZING.  April started a blog here to keep us updated.  If you need someone to remember in your prayers, remember them.  I love you Fitzgeralds!!

Finding joy at home.



Who, knew ...the 'slant' in our yard (that we don't so appreciate in the summer), would be to our advantage in the winter!   







ya, Ruby loved this game until I accidentally hit her in the face with a snowball, then it was all over.  Before then she would not stop attacking me with them!

  



okay, so it wasn't the best sledding hill; but once we got a path paved out...going down was actually quite fun and we had a little bump at the end where it drops down into our patio...for the age of kids present, it was perfect and convenient.







Cousins make the best of friends...too bad they all look the same age but there is 3.5 years between Ruby and Tabitha and 1 full year between Liam and Tabitha (he being older).  Tiny kids have big brains, right? 





FINALLY we have our stolen computer back and running!

So, over Christmas break...while we were in Cali; our computer was stolen from our house...all doors locked upon return...nothing else taken or searched thru.  We didn't realize it was really missing for about 2 or 3 days cuz we thought it was misplaced- since there were no other signs of a break-in or robbery....anyway LONG, LONG story short we got it back ...it was returned to us by someone we know....it had been wiped clean of ALL of our files and pictures and even had a new windows operating system installed...the old one.  After HOURS upon HOURS of being on the phone with DELL- I FINALLY got a new Windows 7 OS disc sent to me.  And now we are almost back to normal.  Man, what a freakin pain it's been! Anywho...lots to catch up on...here are some of my favorite pictures from Christmas and Charlie's birthday.! 



OHH the drive (12 hours to San Jose)... at about hour 10 1/2
 I WANT TO DIE>



eating at the local dive...super awesome burritos!

Oakland Temple...

cousins, love it.

Never a trip to Cali without the beach...and what a fabulous day it was!!! We were so blessed.



p.s. sweaters and hats knitted by my MIL.  Love her.



Christmas Eve jammies...

He did it , blue bear came back and boy was Liam one happy fella...he held out hope that Santa would 'fix him up' and it paid off.  What a fun moment.

Uncle Dave was the kid's favorite.

what a great feeling for a kid...surrounded by a plethora of Christmas joy...

super easy pattern for these capes...Ruby and Liam love to run around as magical wizards...




Charlie's cake!  He loves bananas!

After birthday bath.




I want to go back~

 

Ruby loves, loves her aunt Kimby- and insisted on buying this necklace for her....hey, what can I say, the girl's got good taste.

Oh, I miss you California!!!  And all my loved ones there!

Simple Faith

If Liam can have this same faith that he portrayed as an angel in the Nativity Scene...

then maybe he'll believe this bear can be 'fixed' by Santa's Elves....

poor, tattered, 3.5 year old Blue Bear has seen his days...been thru many washes and sicknesses and long nights clutched in the arms of a boy....

packaging him up for the long hall to the North Pole...

I've arranged for the Post Man to pick him up tomorrow and Liam will hand him over. Then its up to 'believing' that he will come back on Christmas morning!  I think it might be enough! We shall see.

brave boy...

This little man got his tonsils out on Monday last week.  It's been up and down since; but mostly up.  He's done really well considering.  A couple of bad mornings though when he ran a low-grade fever and complained that his "mouth hurt".  I can't wait to have my happy go-lucky Liam back!  BUT -NO MORE SNORING!~ yeah!  Here he is in the waiting room giving me a 'thumbs up' for surgery.

The staff at Ogden Regional was so great.  They gave him a new bear and kitty stuffed animal (before going in for surgery) which he has not let go of since ...and a goodie bag of coloring books and activities afterwards and a new blanket to take home. 

He was only in the Hospital for 2 hours following surgery. Big change from the overnight stay that used to be the 'norm'.  Daddy came by to see him...



And so did Grandma Sharon - with a present! Thanks Mom.  Liam felt oodles of love during this not-so-fun time.  My question is ...his voice has changed, definitely a high-pitched tone; am I to assume this is permanent?  One of Ruby's little friends has this same squeaky voice..wondering if he's had his tonsils removed also.