Our annual trip to Utah.

The first half of our trip was dedicated to the Adams side of the family. 

We had never met our soon-to-be brother in law so Scott decided a hike was a great way to get to know Tanner. This is from the top of the "Y" just above BYU in Provo. 

The reason for our trip was mostly because Scott's little sister was getting married. 

We don't really do bachelorette parties but a girls date to get pedicures before the big day was in order. 

(I didn't get a picture of my other sisters, Jamie and Janalee who were on the other side of me)

On the big day all the kids waited patiently outside of the temple for Krysten and Tanner to come out as a married couple. 

(Janalee and Randall's kids are missing...not sure where they are - I swear they were here when I took this pic!)

The happy couple: 

The girls at the reception:

And the boys...(minus Jaxon)
This is right before Henry got (accidentally) punched in the face by Brennen which spouted a major bloody nose! Just another aspect of boys I'm trying to get used to! Just a few minutes after Henry's ordeal Bronson got hit and it knocked his tooth out! Of course this all happened DURING the reception. 

Scott managed to sneak another hike into the busy wedding week. He just adores hiking with his brothers. 

Randall beat him to the summit of Lone Peak. 

There is runners talent running through the Adams' boys blood. 

Scott and Randall ran a half marathon together and they took first and third place!! 

Of course, Scott is "out of shape" according to his standards so his brother beat him but a 1:23 for Randall and a 1:26 for Scott is pretty amazing in my book. 

This is our farewell brunch. Jamie fed us all breakfast after Scott and Randall ran their race. 

I was going to say I finally got a picture of ALL the cousins together, but Brennen is missing!! Sheesh. 

These kids all love each other so much. It breaks my heart that my kids can't be closer to their favorite people. Utah is pulling at my heart strings...something I never thought I'd say!

Next up: our trip to Utah to visit one of my favorite families in the world! (and a spa date at my sisters school)

"The BEST surprise EVER!"

Scott and I have been planning to take the kids up to a small town at the base of the Appalachian mountains to go horseback riding for a few weeks and the kids knew there was a surprise, but didn't find out what it was until we pulled up to the ranch:

Gracie and Lydia are going through the "horse phase" that most little girls go through. 

They were more than ecstatic when they realized what we were doing. 

Henry loved the friendly cats. 

 Gracie led her horse out of the stable and she was just a natural. 

I was shaking like a leaf out of fear for these large, unpredictable animals I had never met and she just turned into a young horse whisperer. 

Scott and Henry rode on Rambo. 

Bless his sweet heart he is so old and slow.

But we wanted to be sure my baby was safe on a mellow horse. 

Most of my pictures while riding are blurry. 

It takes a lot of talent to not drop your iphone while riding. 

And that's Gracie up there ALL by HERSELF!! 

I had a momentary panic attack when her horse, RedWolf, decided he didn't want to climb up a rocky area that was slick from a little stream. She stayed so calm and just did what she needed to do and he eventually did his thing. 

I was so proud.

Lydia was my riding buddy. 

She spent a good amount of time pretending to shoot arrows, like Merida from BRAVE, and complaining that her bum hurt. 

Our trusty steed, who was much more interested in grazing on the grass than going for a hike, was named Cody. 

 Gracie kept saying she wanted to come back every day. 

She got one more moment to connect with the horse before we left. 

Afterward we drove into town to eat lunch and wander through the shops on main street. 

The Fudge Factory did not disappoint!

So many choices!

 I am stoked about this awesome phone I found in an antique shop. 

It's not nearly antique...a major counterfeit, but then again, I'm a wannabe too so we go together. 

When we got home this awesome guy welcomed us at our back door. 

I wouldn't get close enough to him to get a picture that shows you his size. 

Seriously 6 inches long!! The web was enormous. 

Turns out he was probably a harmless banana spider, but yikes!! Not at my house. 

I love all the small towns in the country here...but not the spiders!

# 1 Small town in America

On Saturday we ventured into Georgia country to visit a small town named Madison. 

Some facts about Madison, GA:

* Travel Magazine rated it the #1 small town in America 

* During the civil war when General Sherman ordered all of the towns in GA to be burned he made an exception for Madison because it was so beautiful. 

* The architecture for most of the Antebellum style homes in Madison have been amazingly preserved and restored. 

Here are a few of the many pictures I took:

(pictures are via Instagram)

Every street was just full of character and beauty, a photographers dream!

 

 This is my dream house:

It was about a mile walk around the main part of town to see the majority of the homes and buildings. 

Henry was just being a wimp and Lydia refused to take my advise and wear comfortable shoes. She has to learn all her lessons the hard way: 

It was SO hot and humid. I was just dripping sweat, and of course I showered and blew my hair dry that morning. I guess I have to learn my lessons the hard way too. 

This sign was hilarious, I thought:

*Historical Marker*

At this Location

On this very day

In 1862

Absolutely Nothing

Happened

 The antique shops were numerous and dreamy.

Most of the furniture had tags with the items history on it which made each piece even more sentimental and appealing. It was the thousands of dollars on each price tag that deterred me. 

Funny story here:

The house looked empty. 

There were no cars and it was quiet. So I started snooping in the 19th century windows and taking pictures and suddenly an old lady pops in m face and closes the inside shutters. It scared me to pieces! 

...and I felt bad for snooping. 

I did some shopping at a few great boutiques on main street and Scott took the kids to get ice cream and it was a wonderful day! 

House Tour (the main floor anyway)

Here it is. 

Every house looks (almost) the same.

 I hated that idea before we went house hunting, but this house is a dream come true for us! 

The Entry-way from the stairs

A view of the living room and dining room from the entry-way

The living room. 

The dining room. 

 Kitchen and hallway/buffet area. 

Family room. 

My mantel. 

I wanted to change it up from the typical clock above the fireplace. I think I really like this set up. 

 We donated our computer chair to the missionaries in Illinois when we moved because it just didn't fit in our truck. I'm still on the hunt for a cute chair I can paint and re-upholster. 

 (my mom has requested a look at our street)

 It's a very nice, quiet neighborhood. I feel very happy here!

The psychopath inside...ME!

We are all moved in and settled in our house!

Scott and I are machines and we kicked our butts and were completely done in 5 days! 

(I still have some pictures to hang in the kids' rooms)

Unfortunately, I think all that hard work affected me more than I thought it would.

We had a great day of fun in downtown Atlanta and I was commenting on how good my RA has been the last few days, then, at 3:30 in the morning it struck. 

I thought I was having a heart attack. 

I had so much pain and I couldn't breathe, I was afraid I was going to pass out so I woke Scott up just in case I did loose it and he called 911. 

Then began my worst  nightmare:

My heart actually calmed down before the EMT's arrived and when they did I told them I was fine and sorry for the inconvenience. They didn't accept my apology and started poking me and putting stickers all over my chest. My blood sugar was good. My heart rate was good for a minute and then it picked up again...163 BPM's. That was all the information they needed and they dragged me into the ambulance, put in an IV and took me to the hospital. 

 When we got to the hospital it was chaotic. There were several people in my face and they were doing all sorts of things and suddenly I felt awful. I told them I was going to pass out and I was gone. 

I had an amazing dream that I can't even describe and suddenly was shocked by bright lights and faces screaming at me. Apparently I had a seizure while I was out. 

Never done that before. 

So, I was admitted to the hospital and transferred from the ER to the Cardio whatever, whatever wing where I waited and waited to have a lot of tests done. Those took about an hour and a half and I waited several more hours for them to tell me that I'm healthy as a horse and to send me home. 

The doctor told me it was most likely an anxiety attack. The last time I had an anxiety attack was before Scott deployed. I didn't realize they could wake you from the deep of sleep but I guess it can. 

Last night when I got home the panicked heart racing and shaking came back. 

A hot bath and a Priesthood blessing from Scott helped me settle down, but it took several hours of controlled breathing before I finally fell asleep. 

My kids were good this morning and let me sleep unitl 9:00!!! 

I feel fine now that I got some good rest and even went to Costco today! 

I just feel so dumb to have gone through so much just to find out I'm just mentally unstable. 

Really, if we didn't have such amazing health insurance I probably would go into a coma thinking about all those bills I conjured up. 

A house tour will be coming soon! 

Mud Run

Scott and his buddies created a team to run in a 5k mud run yesterday. 

(David, PJ, Andy, Mike, Scott)

 At the last minute my friend Kara decided it would be fun to run, and being the good friend that I am was not going to let her do it alone. 

Here I am duct taping my shoes on. 

At first I thought it was a silly idea, but that very first step into the mud I was so grateful I had that tape!

This is a picture I stole from my friends facebook. 

She strolled down the trail to get some good mud pictures of her husband. 

This is an idea of what we were doing:

My friend Kelly (who's husband was on Scott's team) was kind enough to take on the task of caring for all 10 children! Whoa. Then our other friend (wife to Mike) came with her 2 kids and helped with the rest. 

They had to wait patiently because it took Kara and I 44 minutes to finish. 

I couldn't believe how much it slowed me down and wore me out. 

Might I add that Kara just had a baby 8 weeks ago? 

Yeah, she's a rock star!

 I had just got done telling Lydia not to hug me because I was all gross, but Henry didn't listen. 

Sheesh - I love those kids!

We really didn't get that muddy, mostly because it reeked like poo and I avoided it at all costs. 

Then they sprayed us down with a firetruck on the last stretch of the run. 

The manly men. 

Scott ran to the finish, then ran back and finished with Kara and me, then ran back and finished with his buddy. Seriously - he's such a show off. 

 But I love him and his skinny legs.