Momisms

I was lucky enough to spend some time at Walgreen's the morning. They have the widest range of products I've ever seen! They have everything from college sportswear to Chia Pet Unbelievable! I ran into a book on "Momisms." Simple explanations for the things your Mom (and yes there was a Dadism book) would say to you. Here are a few:

Dadism:

"It's just as easy to marry a rich girl than a poor girl."

The explanation cracked me up! This is something Harold says to the boys all the time.

Explanation: Dads have been saying this from the beginning of time. Your Dad didn't marry rich, his Dad didn't marry rich and now he is passing the dream to his sons!

Momism:

"I can't wait for you to have kids of your own."

Explanation: I can't think of a smart thing to say right now, but I know someday, somehow, you will get what's coming to you!

Haha! I hope my kids read this!

The MOTHER

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving week started out at my sister's father-in-law's funeral. The funeral was held at the church I attended growing up. Wow, talk about flashbacks! It made me remember all the Young Women's classes, dances, basketball and hours I spent in that building. My heart goes out to Cindy and Scott. Thanks for sharing your memories of your father.

We had family over for Thanksgiving. It's so nice to get out of the "work mode" and enjoy family time. I'm so thankful for our kids. We come in all different shapes and sizes, but at the end of the day we are family.

...And then the weekend ended with football. Utah & BYU. Our young quarterback almost pulled it off. The defense played great! Zane and Ben were studs (Kev's friends). But at the end of the day, we lost. A big thanks goes out to Max Hall for putting a big black stain on their win!

The basement gang

Kenny is our group photographer and chef. He's sooo cooking next year!

Nice one Aubrey!

This can't be Gabe? He's actually sitting still?

Doing what we do best...DISHES!

Josh and Jake

Jessa being beautiful like always, while holding Ava.

The football crowd

Jason with a full tummy

"Mr Dish Pan Hands"

Halloween 2009

Halloween Oeser style...I didn't get to see them, but look how adorable this picture is of Julie's kids!

Halloween was all about family and football. It was Kevin's last home game and everyone came out to support him. DSC honored the Seniors before kickoff. I can't believe Kev's graduating in December!

Michelle and her family had us over for dinner on Sunday

Cole and Beau (nephews)

My Dad and sister Michelle

Nobody does desserts like the Jones family

Todd, Ian, Savannah & Cole

Group hug "defense"

Proud Mom, Kev, Harold, Scott, Cindy, Michelle & Ian

#92 Kevin!

Dixie fans! We even had a Jason siting!

Mom, Dad, Jay, Karen, Harold, top: Cindy & Scott

5 DOWN!

On October 17th, we celebrated our 5 year anniversary! As is customary, we over-packed our bags and headed to an airport.

Ahhh Cancun! We had quite a little shock walking out of the airport, since it was 95 degrees and 90% humidity! We stayed at the Excellence Riviera Maya Hotel. It was our first all-inclusive experience. LOVED IT!

We slept in until 9:00 AM and took naps almost every day!

We laughed through the "natural element" experience at the spa. Turns out that walking on rocks - feels like you just walked on rocks! The spa simulated a waterfall and a river current in the pool, which felt like a huge amount of water just wiped out your head! I don't think the "younger" couples enjoyed our laughing! I think the locals were just trying to get the "dumb gringos" to pay money to walk on rocks!

Chichenitza (or chicken pizza) was our favorite day. We had a fantastic guide who showed us a History Channel documentary about the Mayan culture, on the bus ride. The guide went into a lot of detail about how the Mayan leaders used science as a source to control the "simple" people. He explained the "White God" and all the theories about it. Although, I wanted to run up the stairs of the Mayan temple and sing "Book of Mormon Stories," I couldn't because they have closed them off!

It rained like crazy sometime every day - this gave us good reading time. Harold read Richard Dawkins and I read The Spalding Enigma.

About the Spalding Enigma-
I respect every one's right to believe and practice whatever religion that they have a testimony of. I know I felt a strong testimony and was guided by the spirit when I attended the Mormon Church & the Cherry Hills Community Church in Denver. But if you are going to live and breathe one faith, you need to check objectively into the history. The Spalding Enigma gave great insight into the early LDS years. It presented many facts, along with the documentation. There was some "tit-for-tat," to sort through, but it is a very interesting book.

Okay, on a lighter note...
I love my husband! I will love that man forever! I love his intelligence, patience, kindness and thirst for knowledge. I would do anything for him and I know he would do that for me. I'm so glad we have the first 5 years under our belt! I can't imagine what the next 5 years will bring??? Kenny, Josh, Kevin, Jordan married? It could happen!

SORRY, I CAN'T HELP MYSELF KENY!

The other day, I was fortunate enough to spend some time alone with Kenny. Even though we were moving the model home, we took a minute to sit down and talk. I could go on and on about how proud I am of "Ney," but that would be very embarrassing for him. I'll be out of town on his birthday, so here's his birthday blog. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KENY!

Behind The Scenes

This is my version of Bill Maher's "New Rules."

HOSPITAL NEW RULES:

If you check into a hospital for a procedure, the phlebotomist must actually look at the orders when she is verifying the name of the patient. A patient's wife gets uneasy when blood is taken for no reason. By the way, I can hear everyone talking about the confusion at the nurses station!

Student nurses should not be allowed to put in, or take out, IV's on a Cumadin patient, especially in a hospital we are paying OUT THE NOSE for! Cumadin makes a person bleed. You don't have many chances to do it right.

Patients should be able to order take out, if it's been over 3 hours since lunch was ordered.

When traveling to St. George, DON'T GET SICK! Your spouse will be put in the Psych Ward because of the staff's slow speech! I hear "compound" accents!

Cardiac Surgeons must realize that all their patients aren't hard of hearing. Don't come in the room shouting. I'm only 46 and my hearing is just fine! We are smiling because we are laughing at you!

Spouses must not be allowed to watch a cardiac conversion, especially if the patient is not medicated enough! The paddle leaves a red burn for a reason. IT HURTS LIKE HELL!

AND FINALLY:

Specialty doctors have their place, but they must communicate with each other. We go to the Electrician, who refers us to the Plumber, who tells us to go to our Primary Care Physician, who is out of town. We go to the ER and they give us medicine that they shouldn't, admit us, adjust our medicine and we practically bleed to death when we go home. Then the headaches start all over again. OHMYHELL!

On paper, it looks like our Red Storm are struggling. It doesn't help that we played 2 games in a higher division. While Dixie gave Montana State and Western Oregon a run for their money, both ended with a loss.

But then there is the defense, which has the firepower to go up against the big teams! They have kept their strength and let our boys come home with dignity.

Quote from Spectrum:

"The defense has played well enough for us to be 3-1 right now, and that's too bad," Thompson said. "We turned it over a little bit against Montana State, not letting us win the game. Last week our defense scored a touchdown for us, got some key stops and we just couldn't finish the game. It would have been nice to get a win because the defense did everything they could."

So off we go to cheer on the Red Storm! Win or lose, we'll have a great time with our friends and family! Kev has given his heart and soul to this team and we couldn't be more proud of him!

Cumadin Is Evil And Must Be Destroyed!

Yesterday, Harold got a nose bleed at 8:30 AM. Because he is on Cumadin for his new hardware, he couldn't stop his nose bleed. Off we went to the big house (aka IHC). After running some tests, we found out he was 5x more likely to bleed and basically had no clotting factors in his blood, which explains the huge bruise on half his leg. We also found out his artery had an aneurysm (big bulge causing lots of pain). Thank God for huge needles and an ultra sound tech! Needless to say, he gets 2 nights in the hotel IHC, plasma, a big balloon up his nose, morphine and gourmet food for 2 nights. Some guys have all the fun!

I'd like to ask the patient next door to please leave his ventilator in. It's not nice to try to die, when so many people are trying to get healthy.

My Superhero!

Wednesday was a very stressful day. After grabbing some take-out, Harold and I finally made it home from work around 8:30. Around 11:00 Harold didn't feel well and we took his blood pressure. It was WAY too high. Pulse...very irregular.

A quick jaunt to Alta View and we found out his heart was back in Atrial Fibrillation. Around 2:00 the decision was made to transfer him to IHC in Murray. He had a wonderful ambulance ride around 4:00 AM.

Test, test, tests and more tests. Long story short - new stent put over old stent and a quick shock to get heart back in rhythm (they let me watch that and I don't recommend that to anyone). The doctors tweaked his medication and send him home on Friday.

Although Harold would love to keep this off my blog and not have told anyone, I'm so proud of my Super Man! If he wasn't in such good shape or didn't work so hard on being healthy, his outcome wouldn't be so good. But because he makes the effort to keep fit, he will have a very long life. He has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know! If we could only keep the stress away...IT COULD HAPPEN???

HIGH FIVE, Harold!

Interesting Interview - Great Point of View

Happy Birthday Jessa!

Today is Jessa's 17th birthday! At 17 Jessa is one of the most kind people I know. She openly give hugs and tells you she loves you. She works hard at doing a good job at school, being a good friend and a fantastic daughter!

I hope your 17th birthday is everything you hope for! You are an amazing daughter!

Football Season

Last week, Harold and I officially became Empty Nester's. Time to cut the apron strings and let Jay live his own life. It took me awhile to walk away. I still want to rush home and make dinner, do piles of laundry and spot clean the basement every day! It's amazing, the basement stays clean!

Rebel Creek Student Housing - We're not in Kansas anymore!

Thursday, is Kev's first game. My Dad informed me Kevin made the newspaper. He was mentioned in an article of key returning players. GO KEVIN! Harold and I stopped by a few practices last week. The mighty, mighty REBELS (okay, Red Storm) look great. Unfortunately, Kev took a bad hit and I walked in with him on the bench with ice on his neck. Never a good thing for a Mother.

He's going to need some Advil!

So next week we are off to St. George to cheer on our team. Kevin, Marston, Austin, Kyser are all buff and ready to play! I love football! Go #92!!

Kevin & Marston

The Spectrum - Sunday 8/23/09

Defensive End Kevin Wilks gave a hand bump to children as they passed by his seat. "It's fun to see all of the little kids out here and get them excited about football," he said.

A Perfect Day For A Foodie Like Me!

Grandma Wilks

Today was a perfect day. It started with coffee and The Food Network. The Barefoot Contessa was making chocolate gelato and I can't wait to make it for Jessa!

The weather was a bit cooler and I was lucky enough to wear a long sleeve shirts. Everyone knows how much I hate short sleeve shirts! You'd think Dr. Doorknock should be able to do something about my Relief Society arms?

Later, Harold and I did our shopping at Whole Foods. I love organic meat! Then to finish the day with a bang, Harold took me to go see "Julie and Julia." For a "foodie" like me, it was as good as a Sunday morning with Ina Garten!

Julie and Julia was fabulous! It captured so many of my feelings about cooking. We came home and I made a fabulous romantic dinner, which we enjoyed outside with a nice bottle of merlot. Ahhhhh!

In the beginning there was Mac and Cheese. We'd slather it with butter, Heinz ketchup and a sprinkle of salt, and it would make anyone a happy camper. Mac and cheese is a Kramer staple. Quite frankly, growing up I'd' much rather NOT cook. I'd rather be at the Front Page dancing with my big, plastered hair. I didn't think about food. I had no desire to cook...I'd rather do the dishes! You'd think, with my burrito heritage, I'd have instincts!

My interest in food, began with the "Nancys" Nancy Wilks and Nancy Milne made cooking look so easy. I knew every holiday was so going to be special, because they were hosting. The china, silverware and crystal always were on the table. The Nancy's wouldn't EVER buy a pie from a store. They would start slaving weeks before the holiday. I had no idea food could taste so good! Not only did we have the perfect dinner, Mr and Mrs Santa Clause always showed up to get the kids all excited about Christmas. Ahhh the final touch! The Nancys" could give Martha Stewart a run for their money.

So I started to get excited about food. After many bad dinners, I still didn't understand the joy of cooking. Then I realized, it's not really about the homemade pie. For me, it's about making the experience of cooking more fun. The cool kitchen gadgets, perfect ovens, gas stoves, good quality ingredients make things taste better and I have a riot doing it. I understand how much people appreciate the little things. So...bring on the holiday! Because this year, I'm going to find "frosty mugs!"

I've Got My Rock Moves

I love girlfriend time! It doesn't matter if it's at the hair salon, pedicure tub or local Starbuck's, chatting with girlfriends is healing. As Diva Hannie would say "Sometimes you need to hit the refresh button." Love that!

Many of you have heard my rock star analogy this week. Bottom line, everyone wants to be the star. They join a group, make it big and enjoy the good life! It's all good when you're at #1, but when things go wrong - shit hits the fan! You hear words like "I could do it better on my own." "They couldn't do it without me." Fleetwood Mac had Stevie Nick's on the team and they couldn't hold it together!

Okay, I believe it's time to hit the "refresh" button. We've given our opinions, had our team meetings and group hugs. Time to get down to work. After all, I still have my rock moves!