August re-cap

We had a lot of fun during August, and it's been a long time coming to write about it.


We went to the new location of Red Robin A LOT when it first opened. We're always excited when somewhere different to eat opens near us (in this case, literally down the street). One night, we had a cousin date night with Cat, Richard, Christine and Ben.




Our annual ward party was at Sugarhouse park and it was so fun to hang out with our friends and especially to see all the new babies.



We took advantage of Amy and Blake actually living on this continent and Andrea being on break from nursing school and went bowling at the Union. It was like going back in time to our (early) college days.





Our extended family has been growing exponentially in the last few years. It seems like almost all the cousins are in the baby-making mode. Suddenly, infants and toddlers are everywhere you look! I am one of twenty Spencer cousins and it's beginning to be difficult for me to remember all of the great-grandchildren's names! They are really cute, though, and I love seeing all my aunts and uncles surrounded by babies!

My nephew, Sam (at age 4, he's one of the "older" great-grandchildren)



My cousin-in-law, John Wirthlin, and his youngest daughter (they have 3!) Claire



My cousin-in-law, Annie, holding her niece, Sarah.



Jack, with his dad, Joe.



My Uncle Stan, holding Grayson, and my Aunt Yvonne, holding Stone. They have had three new grandbabies in the last year, including their first granddaughter.



Jacob, age 4



Preston, age 3 (his mom is expecting his little brother in January)



Baby Grayson



Baby Stone

Dr. Feel Good

I've decided to take my almost 8 years of college schooling and my self-bestowed honorary doctorate and extend my 'expertise' to the field of medicine. Johnny started having abdominal pain early Monday morning and I encouraged him to go to the emergency room just 18 hours after his symptoms began. Oh, wait, maybe that wasn't a good thing.

Anyway, the emergency room visit turned out to be quite productive. After several hours of tests extending into the wee, dark, cold hours of the morning, the diagnosis was in: APPENDICITIS!!

Long story short, John went into surgery at 8:00 this morning and emerged 90 minutes later minus one swollen and infected appendix.

The nurses, CNAs, and doctors were incredibly nice and helpful and we couldn't have been happier about how the whole experience went except for one problem. The University hospital has two patients per room and John's roommate was a crazy, LOUD, conversational kook! He really was insane! He was totally looped out on medications and wanted to rip off his bandages to show us his 6 inch incision. EW! I felt so bad for his poor nurses- he called them every 10 minutes with irate demands to talk to the doctors, concerns that he wasn't hospitalized (to which his poor nurse replied, "You are already IN THE HOSPITAL), and freaking out on the poor nutritionist who came for his dinner order who happened to have an East Indian accent.

Nutritionist: What would you like for dinner?

Crazy guy: Stay right there, I want to talk to you about something. [Dials nutrition department] I have one of your guys here, hey, what's your name?

Nutritionist: Sunny

Crazy guy: I've got Funny up here and he's totally screwed up my meal.

Nutritionist named Sunny: My name is Sunny.

Crazy guy: Funny? Finny?

Nutritionist: SUNNY!

Then the phone conversation awkwardly ended and Crazy Guy pretended like he hadn't harangued Sunny for the last 15 minutes and asked him to read him the dinner menu again.


After all the drama with Crazy Roomie, we were very happy when the doctor decided to release John early instead of keeping him overnight.

NieNie Day auction results!

Thanks for your generosity! NieNie Day was a huge success all over the internet! I kept getting outbid, which I thrilled me! I can't wait to see how much was raised! I appreciate Catherine donating jewelry and cards- check her blog in the next few weeks for details about her upcoming jewelry sale!

If you are one of the winners, here's what to do next
1) Make your donation to the Nielsen's PayPal account
2) Email me a copy of your PayPal receipt (barbaralynnthornton at gmail dot com) along with your address

Here are the winners:
-Laura won the silver and ceramic necklace for $25.00
-Tan and the Girls won the shell button necklace (although I don't have an email address for you- contact me!) for $30.00
-Lisa won the cards (again, no email address!) for $20.00
-Lacey won the quartz and crystal necklace for $20.00
-Barbara won the turquoise and silver necklace for $15.00
-Lisa won the freshwater pearl bracelet for $30.00

All together, we raised $140.00 for Nie!!! What a wonderful community of support and love! I am so touched!

Nie Nie Day!

For Nie Nie Day, I am auctioning off several pieces of Cat's handcrafted jewelry as well as some lovely handmade cards from both of our collections.

The jewelry pieces I will auction off separately, and the card collection as a whole.

Please be generous! The rules of the auction:

-Please only bid in whole dollar amounts.
-You may bid as many times as you'd like.
-Bidding will be open until Sunday, August 31st, at 12 midnight.
-Once you have won an auction, please send your donation to the Nielsen's using the paypal donation button on the sidebar of this blog. Then email me a copy of your PayPal receipt (barbaralynnthornton at gmail dot com) and I will send you your prize!
***Edited to add: Since PayPal deducts a small fee for each transaction, if you'd rather make a donation in person you can donate to the "Stephanie Nielson Fund" at any Wells Fargo Bank or at any Bank of America under the "Christian and Stephanie Nielson Rehab Fund. Save your receipt and send me a copy.
-All shipping costs will be paid by me.
-PLEASE visit Design Mom's blog for a HUGE list of the other participants!

The reserve for the set of cards is $5.00.



Shell button necklace. Reserve $5.00.



Silver and ceramic necklace. Reserve $5.00.



Quartz and Swarovski crystal necklace. Reserve $8.00.



Freshwater pearl bracelet. Reserve $5.00.



Turquoise and Hill Tribe Silver. Reserve $10.00.

Online Auction for Nie

Tomorrow I am joining in on the good feelings spreading across the internet in behalf of the Nie family. Design Mom had the brilliant idea of holding online auctions to raise money to help pay for Christian and Stephanie's medical bills (which are likely to be in the millions) and help pay for their family's living expenses. Almost a hundred bloggers are participating by holding their own auctions (Anne and Donna already have theirs up) and many more will be opening their pocketbooks to bid for the cause. I hope that you will take the time to visit Design Mom's site tomorrow for a complete list and visit some of the participating blogs- even five or ten dollars from each of us will add up quickly.

I will be auctioning off a set of handmade cards in addition to a few other goodies. Check back tomorrow for more details!

Gratitude... emphasis on the 'tude

I start school tomorrow.

Boo. Yuck.

I will be in class all day and studying all night, forced to go to bed early and get up early, and unable to leisurely approach each day in my pajamas.

Ugh. Blech.

I am SO OVER school and just WANT TO BE DONE ALREADY.

However, instead of feeling sorry for myself and generally having a BAD ATTITUDE, I am focusing on the blessing that receiving a college education is and that I am in a position to even go to school at all. I mean, how ungrateful would I be if I just completely took it for granted and gave into the WHINER inside of me.

(Plus, I am totally aware of the fact that its my OWN DARN FAULT that I am, at age 25 and 3/4, still slogging through my bachelor's degree.)

So, here's to school starting tomorrow!! I don't feel ready, prepared or even excited, but this is my opportunity to rise above my nature and SUCK IT UP.

Tragedy in our community

You may have heard about the terrible plane crash in Arizona, involving Stephanie and Christian Nielsen and Christian's flight instructor, Doug Kinneard. Christian had just earned his pilot's license and often flew with his wife and sometimes his children. His flight teacher passed away from his injuries, and both Christian and Stephanie are seriously burned.

Although strangers to me, I feel so connected to their story. Stephanie Nielsen's father is Representative Steve Clark, whom I worked with at the legislature. Her sister, Courtney, writes a blog that I follow called C Jane Enjoy It and Stephanie herself writes a blog called the NieNie Dialogues. And finally, this family shares my faith. I feel like I know Stephanie and Christian through reading these blogs. I admire this woman and aspire to be like her in her close relationship with her sister(s), her sense of style, her obvious love for her husband, and the way she mothers her children.

I have been keeping them in my prayers and I hope that you will, too. Courtney writes updates on her blog and she has listed many ways that we can come together as a community to help (writing cards or donating money, etc.)- whether we feel a connection through our faith, blogging, motherhood, or just reaching out in compassion and humanity.

Thornton Family Camping Trip

We went to Moosehorn Lake (again) in the Uintas for a fun family getaway. The wather was beautiful and we enjoyed taking walks around Moosehorn and Mirror Lakes, playing board games, making good camping food, visiting Provo River Falls, and enjoying each others' company!!!

Staycation

Mark, Chelsea, John and I treated ourselves to a "staycation" this weekend. We decided to leave the heat of Salt Lake and head up to Park City for some cool mountain air. First stop, the Alpine Slide and Alpine Coaster. We hit the slide first. Mark was saying that it doesn't seem as fast as it did when we were little kids, but it was still fun. Then we tried the coaster. It did not disappoint! It's similar to a roller coaster, but you ride on an individual "coasterbob". These bobsleds are similar to the sled you use on the slide, except they're attached to the rails, which they needs to be, because you really go whipping around those corners!! You can control your speed, just like on the slide, and although I tried my hardest to be brave, I still had to use the brakes a few times. The coaster can get up to 35 mph! We ate lunch at Main Street Pizza and Noodle, spotted a few sweet cars, then headed to the outlets (where I was too busy shopping to take pictures). It was a great day!!

Vote Smarter

(photo source)


Because I have a background in politics, I am often asked who I am supporting for president. Truthfully, I am still undecided. It is difficult for me (and I presume, many of you) to wade through all the advertising propaganda to find the truth about what each candidate really stands for. KCPW had an article this weekend highlighting Project Vote Smart, a website devoted to being a "voter's self-defense system" against the hype.

Project Vote Smart has compiled candidate's responses to surveys, voting records, public statements, campaign financial disclosures, and special interest group ratings into one easy-to-read website. They also provide this information for each state's candidates for governor, legislature, and Congress. There really is no excuse for not researching which candidate should earn your vote!!