ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY

 This last month has been quite a journey with my husband, Tyson. To tell the story best I will just share his two Facebook posts explaining what he went through.

"Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers. For those of you that are unaware I came down with a sinus infection at the end of June. I struggled to overcome it and most of the symptoms went away with the exception of my cough. Last weekend I got significantly worse and went to insta-care for a chest x-ray. The x-ray revealed that I have pneumonia but i'm not entirely sure how long it's been brewing. I've lost 17 pounds in 4 weeks (awesome weight loss program), and this past week I have been so nauseous that I can't keep anything down and i'm not improving. The doctor insisted that I go to the hospital and try to be admitted for further assistance. Long story short the ER didn't think I was worthy of their services. The doctor didn't take enough time to listen to my story and tried discharging me with the same medications and recommendations that I have been on for almost a week now. Which was obviously frustrating for us because my symptoms have not improved, i'm still losing weight, and the x-ray done at the hospital today showed no amount of improvement from last weekends. Enough of my rant. We are home and waiting a little longer to see if any improvement is on the horizon Again, thank you for your thoughts and prayers and hopefully this will clear up some of the confusion"

About a week later this was his next post:

"I'm putting this out there as an update for those of you that are still interested. We visited the doctor yesterday and one of the blood tests from last Thursday came back positive. I've got what's called Valley Fever or Coccydioidmycosis. It's a microscopic fungal spore that got into my lungs from the soil most likely from breathing in dust. The treatment will be 6 months of an anti fungal oral medication to prevent a possible relapse. And this is most likely what brought on the pneumonia. I'm showing some good signs of improvement but the doctor still wants me to wait until I have been on the medication 10 days and we can re-evaluation before I return to work It's good to finally have some answers so we can start treating it right. Thanks again to my amazing friends, family, and wife"

It has definitely been a big struggle, but we are so grateful for everyone's thoughts and prayers. Tyson is continuing to get better each and every day, but still struggles to keep up his energy like he used to. He is back at work, but only part time due to the Doctors request because he wears out quickly and can't seem to shake his cough. Although this was much worse than we originally though it was, we are so blessed that it was not more serious or permanent and that he is healing so quickly. We are so grateful for modern medicine and most importantly for priesthood blessings. He has had too many to count and although I know the medicine is playing a big part in his recovery, I also fully believe the blessings are what have held him together and gotten him through this ordeal. 

After finding out exactly what Tyson had and getting him on the right medications for it, he finally started feeling a little better. He gradually got some of his strength back and was able to not be in bed all day. To celebrate we went fishing to Kolob on Blue Springs with Tyson's dad and sister. It was such a nice way to get him out of the house without tiring him too much. And as you can tell from the picture below, he was so happy to be outdoors and out of bed. 

Although we had a great time, we also had some unsuspected visitors. The first one was a cute little deer, but the second one was a....MOUSE! 

It may be a little hard to see, but that is the mouse's tail hiding under Tyson's seat. 

Below is his lovely reaction to seeing his unwelcome companion. 

We all had a wonderful time, and hopefully it wont be long until Tyson gets feeling much better so we can return.

Pioneer Day Weekend

I always love July 24th in Utah, because we get to celebrate Pioneer Day. I am so grateful for all of the Pioneers that were so selfless and sacrificed so much for us to live where we do today. I am in awe at all that they endured through, yet kept moving on. Their faith just amazes me!

To start off Pioneer weekend, I did what I'm sure most of Southern Utah does....SWIMMING :) 

 I went swimming with Shauni, and a new good friend, Lisa, who took us to her hubby's Uncle and Aunt's guest house, and WOW was it amazing! 

Then later that week I went swimming with Tyson, Maren, Logan, and Cathie. We swam at our Uncle and Aunt's house. It was super nice until out of no where it decided to get windy. That's Hurricane for ya...

Then Wednesday night my family decided to celebrate with our fireworks because we'd all be gone our separate ways the next day. It was so fun to watch the kids faces as they played with theirsparklers and got scared by the bigger fireworks. I love spending time with my family. They mean the world to me! 

(none of these pictures turned out very good, but they're memories nonetheless)

I know Liam's eyes are closed, but I couldn't help it. These two are the most adorable best friends...when they want to be :)

It's a little dark, but there's the whole fam damily ;)

   

Tyson adores these little kids. I can't wait to see how he is when we have our own (Mushy, I know, sorry)

On Pioneer day Tyson and I went up to his Grandma Winders cabin on Panquitch Mountain with the rest of the family. It was so nice and relaxing. We even went fishing for a couple of hours and everyone caught at least one fish. Maren probably out did us all by catching the most! GO MARE!

               

Sometimes I pretend I'm a professional photographer....please play along ;)

I don't know what I would to without these people. They make vacations so much fun!

Our trip unfortunately ended short because Tyson was coughing so much and couldn't really breathe due to the elevation so we headed down the mountain and took him to instacare the next day only to find out that he has pneumonia and has had it for the last month not knowing it. The poor thing has been going to work and carrying on like everything was okay. He's so tough! 

Pioneer weekend was amazing (even with a sick hubby) and to finish it off perfectly we got to see a beautiful sunset thanks to our family dog, Shadrach. He was scared of the fireworks so he kept scratching at the back door and when we went to check on him, this is what we found....I couldn't help but think of the hymn, For the Beauty of the Earth. I feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful place and to have the freedoms that we do thanks to those who fought and still fight for our country and especially to our pioneers and ancestors. We are truly blessed. 

 



"I'm feeling 22"

Yesterday was my birthday, the big 22 and I was lucky enough to share it, (like my past 21 birthdays), with my best friend (and twin) Shauni. To make this year the best yet Shauni, my mom, and I went and did some family sealing's at the St. George Temple. Being apart of something so special for those who were not able to do their work here in this life is always such and amazing experience. The spirit was just so strong. I can't imagine the joy these families and spouses feel as they become sealed to one another for time and all eternity. I'm so grateful Tyson and I were able to be sealed and have this knowledge that we'll be together FOREVER. I'm hoping this will be our new birthday tradition to carry on through the years.

 After the temple we met up with Whitney and Berkley for lunch and our best friend, Janessa, showed up with a cute little treat and balloons for us. She's such a great friend! I don't know what I would do without her! She has always been there for me and I hope we stay friends for a real LONG time :) 

After lunch we went shopping and got spoiled! 

That night we went to my moms for our birthday dinner where she made our all time favorite food, chicken pillows! 

I got a lot of birthday wishes and I loved them all, but I'm not gonna lie, my most favorite "happy birthday" came from one of my little nephews, Liam...wonder why? You'll see for yourself.... 

To finish off the night perfectly Tyson's family took me for kokamo sno and spoiled me more with presents. One of my most favorite presents was probably the one from Tyson...a new couch and recliner! :) They are the most comfy pieces of furniture I have ever sat on. I told Tys if we ever get in a fight, "I call the couch!"

 He's such a sweetheart! I sure love him and all that he does for me! 

This birthday has been so wonderful and not because of the presents or things bought for me, but for the quality time spent with the ones I love the most. <3

Mama Bear and Papa Bear

Last weekend Tyson and I got to play house! For a brief and quick 3 days we got to pretend we were parents of 5 amazingly cute kids. Their parents went on a cruise for a week so we got to watch them for the  last few days before they came home. At first Tyson was a little reluctant to watch them, however that quickly changed within hours of being at their house. The two youngest little girls were immediately attached to Tyson. They would hardly even talk to me, but once Tyson walked in from work they would be trailing his heels the rest of the night telling him EVERY detail about their day and all of the fun stuff we did. Tys and I decided that when we have kids of our own one day, we hope they're half as great as these kids are. :) 

The first night we took them to feed our pigs with us. Which at first I thought for sure they would think, "Ew, gross!"especially the girls, but boy was I wrong. Not only did they love the pigs and horse, but they were chasing a mouse around! Those brave, adventurous souls.

They all took turns helping Tys feed the pigs...

and even the horse.

This was a typical shot of these three. Papa bear and his baby cubs tagging along :)

On Friday we met up with my mom, Liam, Whit and Berkely at the Hurricane splash pad. The younger girls had been begging to go all week so I decided I could definitely use a tan!

       

After starving out in the sun we went to my moms for a little BBQ while the kids played out back and became adoptive parents to a baby bird they found struggling to fly.

       

                        

They made a cute little nest and even tried to feed it. It was so cute to watch how concerned they all were for it.  Tyson attempted (several times) to put the bird back in its nest, however it kept jumping out of his hand. Eventually he got it back with its family, making him their hero for saving the bird. Even Berkley gave him a nice smile, which is big for her because she's not too fond of Tyson if he gets too close. haha

     

                 

Saturday morning we were up bright and early to go play in Skyler and Melissa's irrigation water. The kids had so much fun puling each other around and Sky even joined in on the fun!

Liam tried SUPER hard to pull his daddy....i told him, 

maybe daddy needs to loose some weight ;)

My 3 little trouble makers and best of friends :)

As if we didn't get enough sun already, we decided to go swimming at the kids gma's pool

To finish off the day Tys completely won over the girls with his homemade cookies. Yum!

His two sidekicks were such good little helpers

they had to stay hydrated just to keep up though ;)

Before their parents came home the kids decided to make a cute "Welcome Home" sign and color some pictures. I think they all turned out great!

By the time Sunday morning rolled around for us to say our goodbyes and head to church, Tys and I were laying in bed, he leaned over and said, "I'm not ready to say goodbye"  :(

It was definitely hard to say goodbye, but it was a great weekend and maybe if we're lucky we'll get to watch them again really soon. :)