July 20th...already!?!

This month is flying by! I'm looking forward to a family reunion and mini-vacation next week, so that's okay by me!

I had surgery last Friday. It's something I've wanted for a long time. That being said, I have mixed feelings about it at the moment. Yesterday was a rough day, today I'm feeling more optimistic. From what I understand, it's somewhat normal to have this kind of a reaction to this particular surgery. The recovery hasn't been too bad. I spent the first night in the hospital with demerol shots for pain every four hours. That was great! ;) I spent a few days home in bed while Aaron chased after the kids. The pain is manageable, not as bad as I had anticipated.

Maddie is going to be in the Days of '47 youth parade tomorrow. She is so excited! I remember doing this parade when I was about her age. It will be fun for her.

The girls all had a stomach bug again last week, I am not a fan. This has happened almost once a month since March! Each time I have been reminded of that scene with Ashley Judd from Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Yuck. The babies are still having tummy issues of the diarrhea variety. It's been an exciting week.

The twins are starting to interact more. They usually enjoy torturing each other by pulling hair and grabbing at something the other one has. I'm trying to discourage this behavior by encouraging "loves" when I see them do this. They will usually stop and give each other a hug. It's really sweet. It is a riot watching them figure things out every day. They're working on putting words together, so far we hear an occasional "no" (of course), "ticka" (tickle), "quack" and then a few other things that sound mostly like baby babble but imitate phrases like "what's this?" and "I did it." Maddie enjoys chasing them around the living room and hearing them squeal with delight. They all seem to enjoy each other. I love it.

Independence Day

It's one of my favorite holidays. Oddly enough, I have more specific memories of my family celebrating the 4th than I do Christmas. Parades, neighborhood fairs, Lagoon, Stadium of Fire, barbecues...

I have a strong sense of patriotism. Despite the conflicts, the politics, the difference of opinions, I feel blessed to live here. I think that my appreciation for what we have here has only increased since 9/11.

Today we spent the day at This is the Place Heritage Park. Maddie enjoyed the train and pony ride, the petting coral and the tours of the houses and watching how the pioneers lived and worked 160 years ago. I have some cute pics of the kids I'll post later. Oh, and as an added bonus we saw Glenn Beck while we were there. He's in town to host the Stadium of Fire and he taped his television broadcast at the park this afternoon. We didn't officially meet him but he did wave and say hi to us as he was walking by.

We're planning on fireworks tonight, but the deal was that Maddie needed to take a nap first. It's been an hour and half since we got home and she's still restless. It's also 6:15. Aaron's asleep and I'm not sure how he's going to handle this when he wakes up. It's up to him. :) Maybe we'll head to Murray Park tonight, maybe not.