no more pictures

i am so incredibly sad not to have lovely pictures to post on here. we had an awesome vacation, and i had pictures from caleb's bday party to post. sadly, i will never get the chance. i took pictures all week, and was so excited scrolling through them. i didn't bring the camera cord with me, and the card was so old, my laptop wouldn't read it. we had to wait till we got home to upload the pictures. now, i am just kicking myself. let me start at the beginning of the week. i had been having pain in my side for several weeks, but monday it started getting bad. tues, i finally gave up and went to the er. after blood tests, hours and ultrasounds, they said i had a ruptured ovarian cyst. nice. i went home and took some strong stuff, and went to bed. i woke up wed super dizzy and out of it. i still don't know if the drug triggered it, or i was set to have vertigo anyway. i spent the day in bed, and the next morning, the kids packed their own stuff for the stay at ajs house, and nathan did everything else. i went with nate and my sister tat to the airport, getting immensely sick while doing so. i can't say i have ever gotten so ill on a plane before! then we had a 4 hr drive to our hotel from the kansas city airport. thankfully, i started feeling better about half way through the drive, and had a great time while there. we toured all the houses and buildings, and historic sites. we played old time nauvoo games, walked on stilts, learned dances, and pulled sticks (i won!!). we watched the pageant, which was awesome, and spent time with family. i talked to my brother more this trip than i have in my entire life. it was a great time. the pinnacle was going through the temple with my little sister, and seeing the wonder in her eyes. she got sealed to her husband, and did all that was required of her to do so. she has had to change her whole wardrobe, and basically everything about her. she has done it though, and it was so exciting to be with her for it.
the next day, we went to carthage on our way to the airport. there is such a peaceful feeling in the jail, and you can almost see how it would have been for the Prophet Joseph. we took a lot of pictures, then went to return the rental car. somewhere around here, i put down my camera, and will never see it again. i have called everyone i can think of, but have had no luck so far. i can live with the lost camera, if i could only have the pictures on it! they are priceless. we survived waiting in the smallest airport i have ever seen, and the turbulence of landing in a giant thunderstorm (in phx, really??). we are home now, and back with our kids and our own home and beds. grateful to be there!!

family reunions!!

ok, again, these are in backwards order, so i will start from the end! we were in natalie's backyard and posed the grandkids with their bear blankets, that great grandma nehmer made for each and every one of them. they are well loved, and appreciated!!
what gorgeous kids!!
here is the whole clan, minus heather's 4, who are in the philippines
caleb was mad about something, and went to pout inside. here is where we found him not 5 minutes later!!
lake tahoe was freezing, but here is rebekah and alissa holding rachel
caleb
colby and cousin out on the rock
grandpa with jenna and morgan out on the rock
rachel and caleb playing in the soft sand of the beach at lake tahoe
rebekah and colby were crazy and brave enough to go out in the 53 degree water with most of the cousins and grandpa
here is caleb at the beach in san francisco. much too cold to swim!!
caleb, sam, andrew, and rachel playing on the beach

this is several of my cousins and other awesome family members that we got to see after almost 15 years without them!!
caleb holding a tiny baby chick
colby loved holding the baby chicks
sam and rachel looking a real live cow!
the cousins lined up looking at the pregnant cow
i didn't have my camera on me during some of the most enjoyable days i can remember. my sister kirsten got married, and we had so much dancing at her wedding! the rehearsal dinner and wedding produced a lot of fun pictures and memories, but alas, they were captured by a professional! i will see if i can post some of them later!