Christmas!

This is kind of late, but we had a fantastic Christmas this year!  We were so lucky to be able to go out to St. Louis and spend just over a week with Jeff's entire family!  We had a blast!  

Jeff actually ended up getting called into work so he had to fly all the way back to Palm Springs for a couple days just to sit and be on call.  We are very blessed though because they let him leave a few hours early so that he could make it back to St. Louis for Christmas.  We picked him up about 11 o'clock on Christmas Eve night Ha ha!  

He's one lucky duck.  He's at the bottom of the seniority list yet he was able to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with me and our families!  

The Wegner Family 

(missing Grandma and Grandpa Golightly who left early to beat the storm)

Home Sweet Home

Well it's officially official.... We are back in UTAH!  For good :)  Well, at least for the foreseeable future.

Jeff is still based in Palm Springs at least through January, and it may be 2 to 3 more months even, but we're crossing our fingers that a he will be transferred to Salt Lake soon.  But for now he will be commuting... not so ideal, but once again we're hoping it won't be for very long.  As for now we're looking for a place to live and a job for me.  

We are very happy to be back in Utah, but I have to admit..... (and anyone who talked to me before we decided to move knew how anti-moving to California I had been and wouldn't believe that I'm actually saying this...) .... I miss california! :)  

But it is nice to be back, and having snow on the ground definitely makes it feel more like Christmas that's for sure!

A Quick Trip: D.C.

A few weeks ago we took a quick trip out to Virginia to visit Jeff's grandparents!  It was great to see them and they live pretty close to Washington D.C. so we got to take a day trip into the city.  It was my first time going to D.C. and I LOVED it!!  You always see those monuments in movies and on t.v. but it was awesome to actually see them in person!

The World War II Memorial was pretty cool!

We Love Utah!!! :)

That's one big Abe.

We decided to get in our exercise and walk over to the Arlington Cemetery, and I'm indeed glad we did.  It was breathtaking.

This picture only captures a very, very, very small number of the amount of headstones that cover the grounds...

 John F. Kennedy Memorial in Arlington cemetery with the Eternal Flame (not in picture)

Last stop:  FDR Memorial

We didn't actually make it out to the Jefferson Memorial but I got a pic of it

Neither Here Nor There...

I feel like we are just a couple of Nomads these days.  Our belongings are spread out over three different locations... here in Crestline, my parents basement, and a storage unit in Bountiful.  As you can imagine this often gets quite confusing.  There have been many times when a lack of communication (Jeff wanting to leave something at my parents house and me taking it to Cali) has led to some occasions of Jeff having to wear my dad's floppy clown shoes to work, or his uniform to church - the shoes was the best though ha ha.

While we are living in Crestline, we are probably gone more than we are actually here.  This last week was especially busy!  Within the last 10 days we have slept in our own bed 3 of those nights.  Last Saturday Jeff got a one night trip to San Luis Obispo, CA so I decided to tag along!  We arrived at our hotel (on the beach!) around noon and then had the rest of the day to play!  San Luis Obispo is a beautiful area and the hotel was right along these gorgeous cliffs (see below).

I felt like a creepster snapping pictures of Jeff in his plane before they took off to LA... but I did it anyway ha ha.

So we got back from that trip on Sunday, and then Monday morning decided to fly out to Utah to surprise my lil' bro (who's not so little anymore) for his 13th birthday!!  They were gone to a movie when we showed up so we decorated the house a bit and then hid in the dark before they got home.  Boy did we surprise him ha ha!  It was great. 

Presents...

On an unrelated side note...... 

Does this not look like that creepy fish from Finding Nemo??  The one with the big scary teeth and a light hanging in front of his face?

So grown up!

And yummy pies instead of cake!

On Tuesday we did a bunch of errands, watched the election stuff, and visited with one of my high school best friends that I haven't seen a little while.

Wednesday..... what a fantastic day.  Full of much laughter and wonderful friends!  We finally got a chance to go up to Logan and visit a bunch of people we haven't seen in a while.  Jeff dropped me off on campus so I could go visit my old work while he went out to the airport. It was so good to go back and see everyone!!  I have so many great memories at that place and we always had lots of fun!  We also visited one of my old roomies and very dear friend Cherokee.  She cracks me up so much I just love her.  Then we met up with my other high school best friend and her hubby and went to dinner and chatted until it was time to go.  Good, good times in Logan :)

On Thursday, we didn't do much other than hang out at my parents house... then we flew back to Cali on Friday... ya know, we had such awesome weather while in Utah, but had to leave once it started snowing ha ha.

Saturday we drove down to Mission Viejo for dinner with Jeff's grandparents, aunt, uncle, and brother and his family.  It was fun to see and visit with everyone! 

 Ya know what's really great about getting married?  You inherit a whole other family!!  And if you're as lucky as me, then they are just as Awesome as your own family.  I sure do feel blessed!  

Life Is Good.

Double Trouble

My sisters twins were born in September and are now a month old!  They are just the sweetest little things and I can't get enough of them!  Since they were born a month early, they had to be in the NICU for a couple weeks.  They got to come home but have been on oxygen since.  Within the last few weeks Jeff has gone on a couple 4 day trips so I flew to Utah and my mom and I spent those days in Mapleton helping my sister out.  It's kinda crazy to think my sister went from a family of 4 to a family of 6!  Crazy crazy!  I can't imagine having twins... it sure is a lot of work! 

Brynlee loves her little sisters and was pleasantly surprised to see two babies brought home instead of one!  

 Bath Time!

 I'm pretty sure Brooke is on the left and Carlie on the right..... I think.  Ha.  

Such tiny little things!

On our first trip down there my mom and sister made lots of fun cookies with the girls.  I love these "owl cookies" that my mom used to make with us when we were little.

With the girls being hooked up to oxygen it is easiest to have them sleep in the living room and when ever you hold/feed them you are tethered to the corner.  We ended up having one big sleepover with the babies in their crib, me on the couch and my mom and Katie on an air mattress on the floor.

On our last trip (just last weekend) we decided to stay an extra day so that Katie and Danny could go to church together in the morning and we would stay home with the babies.  Well it's a really good thing we decided to stay, but they didn't make it to church... they ending up taking Brooke to the ER at one in the morning because her oxygen levels were low.  They were able to go back home  on Sunday afternoon and she is doing better now.

We definitely had our hands full, but we had a great time and I sure miss those precious things!

Little Bit of This and That...

This is kind of a random catch up post, because as usual I have neglected my blog for the past month.  I could ramble off a list of excuses... except I don't really have any good ones.  

Here's a bit of what we've been up to the past month or so:

 The very first thing we did in Cali was go to the beach of course!  

(Newport Beach)

 We are about an hour and a half from the coast.  However, in california language that translates into 2 and a half hours of traffic.  

There is a Park City type destination about 45 minutes from us called Big Bear Lake.  It's got a couple small ski resorts, lots of cabins, outdoor adventures, and a big lake!  Oh, and apparently bears too...?  

 We found this big guy after we refused to pay 17 dollars for this itty-bitty zoo, and instead drove around the premises.  Here we are peaking through a crack in the fence ha ha.  Check out those claws!  I would hate to catch this guy in a bad mood.

 We took a short and sweet hike to "Heart Rock" in Crestline.  Apparently it's completely natural, and there is usually a waterfall coming down just to the right.  We also had our first encounter with a rather large rattle snake!  Freaked me out pretty good.

 It took many attempts to try to actually get a picture of us with the heart in the pic as well.  Meanwhile, we're standing on the edge of this huge cliff... Yikes!

 We got lucky this month and Jeff ended up with the first 6 days of October off, which allowed us to finally take a trip out to St. Louis to spend a few days with the in-laws, and then back to Utah for my cousin Jen's wedding.

While in St. Louis we went to a Cardinals baseball game.  Going to a baseball game was a new experience for me.  Honestly I was surprised at how much I really did enjoy it.  Though it would've been more enjoyable had they won the night we went... Now the Cards are in the playoffs only a couple games away from a shot at winning the World Series for the second year in a row!  

 And our most recent excitement was DisneyLand with Jeff's bro and sis, their spouses and cute lil' kiddos!  We had a blast!  And it was so fun to be able to go with them!

Apparently this is what I would look like if I were trapped in an elevator falling to my death......

I didn't even know I could make my neck do that... ha ha.  We even tested it twice and got the same results. Same exact face both times.  It didn't get any less scary.

Home Sweet California

Well we made it here to California officially!  Yesterday was our first full day here and what better way to spend it then heading out to the beach and sitting in traffic.  I LOVE living in the mountains.  It's so beautiful up here and the trees are huge!

We can't get internet until next week so here we are sitting in the McDonald's parking lot eating ice cream getting our internet fix :)  And my computer is about too die so sorry this is a short one.... but so far we are loving it here!

One Big Extended Vacation

So I apologize for failing to mention this piece of Wegner news earlier (for those of you who actually care to know what's going on in our lives and read my blog ha)... but it was only officially decided a few weeks ago, and then suddenly in the blink of an eye, it's here!

The winds of change have come and Jeff and I are about to embark on the biggest adventure of our married lives........... We are moving to CALIFORNIA!!  

Tomorrow, to be exact.

Our ultimate goal has always been to get to Salt Lake as soon as we can but when we realized that it was not going to happen as quickly as we had been hoping, we decided the best thing for the both of us would be to move to our base rather than have Jeff commute for months and months.  We were not keen on the idea of living in Fresno, so we put in for a transfer to Palm Springs, CA and got a spot!  Jeff starts in Palm Springs on September 1, and we will be driving the truck out there tomorrow and Tuesday.  

Everything has worked out so perfectly for us and we are feeling very, very blessed!  Jeff's grandparents have a vacation home in Crestline, CA that is a little over an hour away from the airport, that we will be living at.  This is a HUGE blessing for us, because we were worried about finding a place that was cheap, safe, and had month to month rent (since we are so noncommittal these days :).  This place is up in the mountains east of San Bernardino so it is much cooler and way more beautiful than Palm Springs.  And plus I've always wanted to live in the mountains ha ha :)  We will be there for at least 2 months but probably no more than 6 or 7.  But really... we have no clue ha.  So pretty much we're just going on one big extended vacation :)

We are VERY excited for this new big adventure and can't wait to see what's in store for us! 

One Week Down!

Well this experience hasn't been nearly quite as bad as I was expecting it to be that's for sure.  And true to everyone's word it has gotten a little worse before getting better.  

Day 5:

Still waiting for the "worst of it," and thinking "Hey, maybe I'll just pass that stage!"  Took hardly any drugs that day.  Pain = No. Big. Deal.

Days 6 & 7:

Waiting is over.  Hello pain!  Ear pain to be exact... which means I was happily reunited with my drugs. I've been fine through out the day (thanks to medications ha), so the mornings really are the worst part.  They said it would come and it finally did.  But hey I'm half way there!  One week down, one-ish (i guess) to go!

I'm beginning to get tired of my "soft-foods" diet and have been craving crunchy salads and pizza.  Also conveniently, my dad decided to get cable TV a few days ago, so not only have I had a full week of laziness, but I've gotten my fill of Saved By The Bell, Boy Meets World, Mythbusters, and various movies on demand.  Nice timing Dad!

So Far So Good!

Day ONE:

Surgery actually went really well and it wasn't all that bad.  Thank heavens for anesthesia :)  All the nurses and doctors were very kind and made me feel as comfortable as possible.  I even got huge paper shorts to wear under my gown - bonus!  The only bad part, which just happened to be the part I was the most concerned for, was in fact the IV experience.  I was squirming and near tears all throughout it and it didn't help that she had to try twice.  On the second time she was struggling and made the mistake of mentioning "Your vein just keeps rolling."  Gag.  Not what I wanted to hear.  

Anyway, I was disappointed to find out that I'm not very funny when under anesthesia.  Upon awakening I just kept repeating "that was so weird" and how bad my neck was hurting.  Once I was reunited with my mom I had a little giggle fit that was half mixed with tears.  Speaking of my Mom, she is crazy and decided to take the opportunity to watch my surgery!  They sent me home with this little souvenir and my mom really wants someone to watch it with her ha ha.  So if there are any takers out there....?  Ha ha crazy Mom.

The rest of day one wasn't too bad, but it was my worst day so far.  The pain medication (which just makes me super drowsy) works great and I was able to eat some popsicles.  I made the mistake of trying some jell-o which did not sit well my stomach, and resulted in the rest of the night hovered over the toilet.  But it wasn't until I took my next dose of nasty liquid narcotic that instantly had me puking.  This action of course caused bleeding so we had to call the doctor and gargle cold water to restrict the blood vessels.  Anyway...  the first day was an adventure to say the least!

Days TWO & THREE:

Good news is... I have survived days two and three as well!!  With great success!  I was able to eat a lot more this day and started on more solid foods such as scrambled eggs, go-gurt, rice, mac & cheese, etc.  It was fantastic :)  Hardly any pain these days as long as I was taking my medication and My brother and his family came up to stay the night with us so it was even better to have company! 

The only downside to this experience so far (other than the puking) is that the drug has made me super itchy all over - no rash, just very very itchy.  So now we've also got benedryl thrown into my drug mix... but anyway, so far this hasn't been a bad experience at all.  I have truly been enjoying being so lazy and getting lots of extra sleep.  Though they say the worst is yet to come....  My nurse told me that around day 5 you start to feel like you are digressing pain wise, because that's when the scabs start to fall off..... ew ew ew!  

*Side Note:  As I mentioned in my pre-surgery post I was having a very hard time justifying getting my tonsils out, because it wasn't a life and death situation and I couldn't see a dire need to get them out.  However I am now very grateful that I did it, because when my doctor got them out he said how disgusting they were and so full of holes, crevices and garbage that they definitely needed to come out.  So I feel much much better about it and am grateful to my Heavenly Father for giving my the little push I needed (as well as the strength) to go through with it.

Can I Just Skip Tomorrow??

....In fact can I just skip the next two weeks?!?

I have been making up excuses and ways to get out of my Tonsillectomy tomorrow ever since I scheduled it on Monday... That's right I said Tonsillectomy.  To say that I am scared would be an understatement.  Terrified?  Mortified...??  Yes, those are much more fitting.  

I have never had surgery.  I have never had anesthesia.  No stitches.  No drugs (lortab, percocet, etc.).  I have never even been a patient in the hospital!  In fact I can probably count on one hand how many times I've visited a hospital!

I hate needles, blood, protruding objects, swallowing pills, drugs, doctors, hospitals, and pretty much anything medical (oh and Dentists too).  Plus I love food way too much... 

The long story short is that I started to have minor tonsil caused issues the past year or so including tonsil stones and occasional sore throats.  I finally went into a specialists who told me that since I'm young I should just get them out.  At the time, I completely refused that option and couldn't justify such a drastic solution for occasional mild sore throats.  I still actually have a very hard time justifying it (hence all the excuses this week), but it's to the point that I get at least one sore throat daily and now really is the best and only time to do it - while I'm jobless, childless and young... less?  

Anyway, I am doing it up in Logan since that was the quickest way to get it done.  It'll be an early morning since the surgery is scheduled for 7:30 a.m.  I'm pretty sure I'll be passed out before they even get the IV in me.

Well wish me luck!!  I sure am going to need it.  I'll keep you all posted.  Don't worry I'll spare you the dirty details :)

Get Ready For a Long One...

Redd Reunion 2012

Location:  Midway, UT - Dairy Farm 

Lots and lots of cows.... and what comes hand in hand with cows??  That's right... wonderful odors and flies!  These cows also were feeling a bit left out, escaped and were found roaming amongst our tents :)

Dressing up Grandma for the photo booth!

Chicken Launchers!!

(Seriously entertaining)

Theses two are just too competitive... which almost always inevitably results in battle wounds.

Where's Marah??

Cute Taylor.  Very cute.

Some how the photo booth dress ups got incorporated in and got passed from person to person, which only made it more entertaining to watch :)

The launchers!

 Zip-lines!

 Can't forget the classic Candy Cannon!

 The adult rounds are always the most entertaining.

 Second annual Redd Cup games - Olympics style.

And the Winners are....

Redd-Lee-Baird Family!!

Talent Show

Redd Family Tree

Fun Fact:  My sister's twins that will be born in September/October time will be #99 and #100 in our family!

Me and My Pilot (who was unable to attend)

And we can't forget all the cute kiddos!!

Baby Luke 

I seriously LOVE this little Blondie!!