Its been a little crazy around here

     I feel like the last several weeks have flown by at a rapid pace. Baby Dawson is scheduled to arrive in three weeks, minus a day, and I feel like there is lots to do before baby comes. One blessing of having children that don't want to come on their own, I'm fairly confident that I've got the full three weeks.
     First crazy thing around here is that I chopped off my hair. I was ready to get a haircut before the baby comes and decided to see if I could get any money for it. I looked online, found a hair site and posted an ad. I had some slightly dubious requests, like shaving my hair into a military style or really short or really interesting half buzzed 'dos. I had one guy tell me  to cut two small sections on each side in prep and I was like, really, no. So after a month I was kind of wondering if it would really work out. But I had someone contact me about selling it for extensions and they deposited the money so I took the plunge. I ended up cutting 23 inches and selling it for $800. Which is totally crazy to me, but hey, to each their own, I guess. I packaged it up and shipped it through the post office. I love my new short hair, with the exception that I have to do it, and I'm still figuring out how. It is pitiful to watch me try to finagle a round brush and a blow dryer at the same time. I think Chops kind of misses it, and I sometimes do too, but it is a fun change.
     Second crazy thing, I have a mole that was a birthmark that got removed when I was 12 or 13. There was always a residual scar and it started growing within the last couple of months. It was looking pretty gnarly so I made an appointment with the dermatologist. They biopsied it and told me they would let me know when they got the results. I wasn't too worried and figured that my pregnancy hormones had triggered the growth, it seems like it had once before and then quieted down. I got a call from them telling me that it was basal cell carcinoma. And I would need to come in for a treatment where they remove as much as they think they need then check the perimeters to make sure they've got it all. They repeat the process as many times as it takes so I had to plan on being there indefinitely. Or approximately until noon.  I wasn't really worried but between everything that I'm trying to accomplish at the farm, feeling like I've had my brother watch my kids as much as I see them and a dentist appointment that day, I eventually broke down and bawled like a baby.  Chops brought home Chik-fil-A and a mango Mountain Dew and life felt much better. He also had his mom come up and watch the kids the day of the procedure and he took the day off work to come with me.
     We headed over the a couple days later. They numbed me up and got started. There were several times that I could feel them working so I got numbed several more times than I had originally planned. The actual procedure portion was fairly short but the waiting around for them to process and check things out portion took a while. At one point I was just going to take a nap and I realized I couldn't close my right eye. I was so numb that my whole right side just kind of stayed the same, like some botox procedure gone wrong. I tend to get the giggles at the dentist, doctor etc so I am laying there, laughing to myself like an idiot because I can't close my eye without intense concentration. Yea, didn't really get that nap in. The stitches were the most interesting part. I kind of wish that I could have watched but I was also extremely grateful that I couldn't because I'm pretty sure they were taking scissors to my face so they could stretch my skin over the gaping hole that used to be my scar. I didn't want to ask because the thought kind of grossed me out.  Let's just say it was a good thing Chops stepped out for that part.
      We headed home and spent the afternoon picking up medication, eating lunch and buying baby chicks (post later....) and relaxing at home. I really didn't feel too bad and even by bedtime there wasn't too much in the way of soreness. The dr checked in on me and was surprised I wasn't in more pain. I took one pill before bed but that was all I ever needed.  When I took the bandage off I was surprised at how long the row of stitches was. I knew it was going to be big but I kind of felt like Frankenstein. I just went back in on Thursday to get them removed and was pleasantly surprised with how unFranky it looks. I still have steri strips on so I guess we'll really be able to see when those fall off.

 I walked all over town with this face

 This is actually several days into the healing process

Au Revoir Max!

   In looking back, trying to figure out what huge events are missing from the blog I realized that I never wrote about Max's mission to France. Max has been working hard. He wrote a musical with a good high school buddy of his called Prisoner of War. It the story of his Drama teacher's grandfather whose plane was shot down in WWII and he was a POW in Germany. I always kind of told him that he should head off on his mission before it was put on by the High Sschool (sacrifice brings blessings kind of deal) but it really was awesome that he got to see it come to fruition. Lehi High School performed it and I'm a pretty tough play critic but it was amazing. Some of the music was pretty technical and I didn't love the lead's voice but the story and music were fantastic. The man whose story was being told was able to attend the performances and it was so touching to salut and honor him at the beginner of the show.
     Max put his papers in right after and we all gathered round when his call came. He was called to Lyon, France and when I heard the place it made me wish that I had served a mission. I always wanted to go somewhere French speaking. I am making it a personal goal to go pick him up afterwards, even though Chops is doubtful I will be able to leave a one year old. And seeing as I miss my children if they are gone for even a few hours, I can see his point.
     He is doing well and having fun experiences. He has the perfect personality at serve there and fit right in. I need to brush up on my French so I can start writing letters to him in French. He always puts in a paragraph of it in my letters and I can understand but can respond too well. We took some family pictures before he left- they were kind of last minute and it was getting dark so we worked with what we had.

Sledding

    The first of December was really cold, painfully cold. Then we got some snow and it was still cold but not so bad. I went through a time where winter was not so fun but when you have kids its fun to get excited about a big snowstorm. Maybe not the twenty minutes it takes to bundle everyone up though...
    Carly and Travis invited us to go sledding with them so we bundled up and headed out. Wyatt fell asleep the moment we got in the car so he took a nap for the first part while we played. Both of my children have inherited some of my cautiousness, which I don't really mind. It was fun to see Addie get progressively braver the longer we stayed. Wyatt was awake for long enough to go down a couple of times but didn't really warm up to it as much as Addie did. It's fun to have cousins close by that we can do things with, although we probably don't get out as much as we could.

 A funny note about Carly's snowsuit. She won it at a Atkinson family white elephant. It was supposed to be a gag gift but it is seriously awesome for doing barn chores in while its so cold and great for sledding too. Her niece was surprised that she wore it and Carly's thinking, uh "best white elephant ever".

 Wyatt was fine going on the big sled with Auntie, but did not enjoy the solo ride...not too surprising

Cuzzins

As I'm looking back trying to figure out what to document from my blogging sabbatical, we have several times where we got to spend time with cousins that live in New Mexico. When Jade and Haylee were here we went up to the Tracy Aviary. We've made it a tradition to take the frontrunner train and then a bus over to Liberty park. It's always an adventure and we've always almost left someone at one point or another and we are always making a mad dash not to miss the train, or just missing the train, get to hang out for a while waiting for the next one. This time it was Haylee and Wyatt that almost got left.  It also seems like we go when its freezing cold or really, really hot. It is fun though.
We also got to spend time with their whole family when they came up in July. We went to Seven Peaks one day, only to have thunder and lightning kick us out. We headed over to the BYU ancient history museum to wait it out, tried again and then decided to go to the Provo rec center instead. It was quite a fun set up and about ten minutes after we got there someone pooped in the pool...so everyone had to cram into the lap pool.  The kids still had fun though.

Ophir- Labor Day Weekend

    There's a little old mining town just after 5 mile pass off the road to Tooele that we've discovered to be a fun place to camp. The boys have been hunting there for a couple of years and this Labor day we pulled the trailers up and camped out for the weekend while the boys hunted. Alli and Cam brought their girls and Ben and Chelsea came as well as Jordan and Kirk so we had lots of cousins to play with.
    We camped right next to the creek and the kids had a grand time playing in the water. Wyatt loved riding his balance bike basically all over the place. One night I had just changed him into his PJs and he rode down the hill into a mud puddle. He was covered in mud and we had to wipe him off and change his clothes. Cam showed the kids how to makes bows and had brought some arrows that they could shoot. We also had fun riding the four wheeler through the water and around the trails.
    The first day we were there it was just me and the kids while the boys hunted so we drove the four wheeler down to the town museum-which consists of several of the old houses that have been preserved, some were moved, others remained where they originally were. It's always fun to get a little bit of history and the kids were on the lookout for rattlesnakes. After we were done, I couldn't get the four wheeler to start and was dreading having to walk a couple of miles back up the canyon with two kids...but luckily there were a couple of locals that helped me get it started. It was something silly like, I wasn't in neutral..
     It's a fun little spot and I wouldn't mind making it a tradition to camp up there. Not too far away, but so pretty and the kids loved it.