Welcome Home

Josh's sister, Carleen, returned from her mission in Armenia just over a week ago. Yesterday we heard her report her mission in church. She looks great, served a good mission, and we're glad she's home! Unfortunately we only have a couple pictures we snapped at the airport and they weren't that great. This was taken as she was walking towards us after she got off the plane. We're proud of you Carleen!

The Fat Lady Sang

I flipped on the news this morning just in time to find out Romney was pulling out of the race. I was shocked first, then sad, followed by angry, and finally left with disappointment. Not in Mitt himself, but in our country. It's just sad to me that there seem to be diminishing numbers of conservatives out there, leaving me feeling like there's a huge magnet attracting people farther and farther to the left.

The more I think about Romney's speech the more I understand what's happening here. I do support Mitt's decision because I see what he's getting at with preventing a Democratic candidate from getting into office. Now is the time to let McCain mount his support as much as possible to give him a fighting chance in November. Yes, Romney could've continued to campaign and spend, but if those numbers can't crunch in your favor stepping aside is wise. Romney is irrefutably very smart, and I know he'll be back. To do as well as he did gives me hope for the future, be it distant, but hope nonetheless.

I'm not sure who I will vote for now. Time will tell. I do have strong feelings about the war and I can't see myself voting for someone who is against it. I've gotten too tired tossing it all around all day, so all I can do right now is accept what I have to accept and move on.

Political Venting

Until now I have refrained from commenting about the politics, but that's going to end. What a disappointing day yesterday was. I am still in shock at the huge lead McCain now has among the Republican delegates. How did this happen? Are there that many liberal republicans out there? And where did Huckabee come from?

My personal opinion is that Huckabee's victories came from folks not wanting to vote for McCain or Romney. How sad. It really is unfortunate that the southern "Bible belt" mostly wrote off Romney for religious reasons. Can't you just picture them saying (in a southern accent),"I'd be damned if I ever voted for a Mormon." I sure can. I really have a low tolerance for bigotry. And the sad part is that is a conservative portion of the country that really could've helped Romney.

So obviously I'm a Romney supporter and cringe at the thought of McCain getting the GOP nomination. We all know he will lose in the final election to a democrat anyway, so why give him the chance now? I'm not going to go on and on about why I don't like McCain, but it really isn't that hard to figure out if you do a little research. I've really agreed with and enjoyed reading the comments on Cristin's blog f0llowing the election, and I do have something to add. If you are a conservative republican in California and did not vote, then shame on you and don't tell me, because I will hold it against you. (Ok, not really, but I do feel strongly about voting). Hopefully in the near future we will see an exciting development in a positive direction. Keep your fingers crossed!

Ward Co-op

I joined a co-op group in my ward after a little persuasion from other mothers. About twice a month I have the co-op at my house for 3 hours in the morning. The maximum number of kids allowed is 6 per day, so each parent does have to call in advance if they're planning on having their child attend. Everyone "pays" for the time of their child with time coupons. It has really turned out to be a great thing since it rotates every day. If I have an appointment or something I need to do, it it very convenient to be able to send Macie over to play at someone else's home for a couple hours. She is one of the youngest in the co-op group, but definitely holds her own and thinks she is just as old as everyone else. She gets right into playing dress-up, dolls, princesses, you name it.

This picture above is a couple of her friends that came over last month during snack time. Today Macie had 2 girls over and it was so cute watching them play together. I found a recipie I had for homemade playdough that was so easy and very popular. We spent most of our time sculpting with pink dough.

Beloved Prophet

I just heard the news of President Gordon B. Hinckley's passing this evening.  I am so grateful that we had such a wonderful prophet to lead our church and love its members.  I feel very fortunate to have been in his presence in both the conference center and at a few BYU events to feel of his spirit and joy for life.  What he left behind is remarkable.  You can check out the article released by church news here. 

New Year, New Car!

Josh and I spent the last few months researching cars and looking for a great deal on an excellent car. Well folks, I'm happy to announce that we made our purchase. Take a good look at the 2008 Lexus GX. Here it is in our driveway:

Now here it is with the man who bought it behind the wheel: my Dad. While in town for New Years he headed down to the dealership and bought himself a new car. Way to go Dad! We loved cruising around in it until he drove it back to Genoa.

And yes, Josh and I really did buy a car. We call it our new, used car. It's an 03 Infiniti I35. We weren't looking for something quite this nice, but we found a deal that we couldn't pass it up!

Speaking of the New Year holiday, we did spend some fun time with my family in town. Here is a shot of everyone (except Miranda) in front of the Bellagio. With such a big family and so much traveling now can you see why it takes me so long to update my blog? We're always so busy!

Finally, a Christmas Update!

I guess it's time I get around to updating my blog. I added a few new posts since I haven't done it in a while. This slideshow is from our trip to Genoa to be with my family for Christmas. It was so fun and crazy getting everyone together. Enjoy!

Pimp My Ride

My family came to Vegas for my brother-in-law's graduation the weekend before Christmas. Since we were all heading back to Genoa for the holiday there were a few gifts we had to open that were just too big to travel with. One in particular was Macie's new bike, the Kettler air-happy kettrike. It features air tires, handbrake, steering lock options, and freewheel pedaling. Not to mention a removable handle in the back for parents. Apparently it also doubles as a passenger seat. I must admit that Macie's new bike is nicer than my own! She has already been spotted cruising the neighborhood in style.

Party Time!

I think this past December can officially be called the party month. Here are a few highlights:

Josh's office had a really impressive Christmas party. I had my first taste of king crab legs, Macie met Santa's helper, and they took a family portrait for everyone. I think ours turned out cute! The sad news is the pictures I took were lost when we cleaned up our computer.

We had the funnest party ever at our house (if you were there you know it's true!) but unfortunately all my pictures were lost. GRRRR! This is one I got from my sister's camera taken right before we started the unwrapping game. It pretty much resulted in a wrestling match. We had great food, good company, and some hilarious white elephant gifts!

My in-laws also had a nice party at their house, and some other friends as well, but yet again there are no pictures. How sad!

Pobre Trisha

I have so much to say yet so little time. That's how life seems to get this time of year I guess. I'll be updating my blog later about all of our Christmas season fun. For now, I have to take a moment to talk about sad little me.

Yesterday I had to go to the lab to have some blood drawn for a couple tests. This is never a pleasant experience for me. Not only do I have tiny veins, but they roll as well. This results in the phlebotomist digging around in my arm with a needle trying to catch my veins. Of course yesterday was no exception. After 3 tries my arms were hurting and I was feeling very sick. I am very familiar with the phases of passing out and knew I was getting close. First I get sweaty, start to go pale, get sick to my stomach (at which point my color turns from pale to greenish), have trouble breathing, tingle, see spots, and then the lights go out. When they finally did catch a vein the blood was drawing so slowly that at times it would stop, then start up again. I was DYING! I would much rather pass out sooner than go through the agonizing phases that lead up to passing out. However, I didn't quite make it to seeing spots when it was all over. After my recovery I was free to go with a few bruises on my arms.

Lucky for me, I had a similar experience around noon today. I was in the kitchen wearing slippers when I decided to run over to prevent Macie from spilling her yogurt. When I rounded the corner my feet shot out from under me and down I went on the tile, hard. Oddly enough I landed mostly on the knuckle of my right hand. I had a surge of pain and then nothing. I totally panicked and refused to look at my hand because it felt like my knuckles had smashed into my hand. I instantly had flashbacks to freshman year of college when I had a nasty thumb dislocation. The pain felt the same and I knew what an unpleasant experience that was. I picked myself up called for my brother-in-law who was upstairs, telling him the my hand was broken. He and my sister both came down at which point I started to enter the stages of passing out. This time it was prolonged by a bout of hyperventilation. It was miserable and I wished I had been knocked out because for me it is far worse going through the pain and misery. The whole not being able to breathe thing didn't help either.

So, hours later I am ok (obviously if I'm typing!) with a bruised right hand, knee and hip. Am I getting old or what? I wonder what will happen tomorrow...