Hiatus

Hello again! Its been a loooooong time...

It's been a fun and busy summer, and I can't believe I took that long of a 'blogging vacation'. I feel refreshed though, and I'm ready to begin sharing lots of updates and news as it comes.

There have been so many blog worthy moments these past 2 months that I wish I could've posted about, but instead, here's a few highlights of what I've (and WE've)been up to:

I think my blogging hiatus began when my parents arrived from Korea the end of May...and its pretty much been go-go-go ever since!

- In early June I rode in my very first bike race: "Little Red Riding Hood" in Logan, UT. I did a leisurely 15 miles. Next years goal is 35!

-Emmett is crawling, sitting, and gets himself up to a standing position by way of moms legs, couch, laundry basket, ect. (More on Emmett saved for another day).

-June 20, Krista (my sister) got married in the Salt Lake temple.

-Family trip to Lagoon

Emmett and Grandpa Winterton going down the water slide:

He didn't like water in his face so much...

-Family trip to Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house.

-Family trip to Island Park for the 4th of July!

We floated the Snake River (twice):

The inner tube was wider than the car itself

Emmett geared up and ready to go!

Aunt Kris and Mom on the kayak

Our beautiful view on the river that included a moose (squint your eyes...you'll see it)

On the 4th, Bills Island does their own little parade. Here's the whole clan (with some missing) while waiting for it to start:

L to R: neighbor friend (don't know his name), Mom, Mike, Me, Krista & Emmett, Nate, Hadlee, Heather, and Phil.

I don't know these kids, but this is what your typical parade entry was like: a 4 wheeler and streamers.

View of the lake at sunset

The night ended with fireworks over the lake.

-The following weekend we went camping (Emmett's 1st) with our good friends, the Fowers

Mike and Curtis fishing

Another beautiful lake at sunset

Katie was the lucky winner that actually caught a fish! (she didn't want to touch it, but it was hers)

-And most recently we just got back from a trip to Star Valley to visit with Mike's family. Mike and I went on a 2 hour, 4-wheeler ride to a pretty place that looked like this

And then went on another float-trip down a river. Which was quite the adventure to say the least and unfortunately too long to tell here...But here is a result of THAT trip:

No people, my husband does NOT have 'b'acne', those are mesquito bites. After my poor sister in law, Jill, had a bad encounter with a huge, nasty bush on the river, and multiple tubes were lost as a result, Mike joined his brother Nick, and Jill to walking along the bank of the river, which ended up being a serious feast for the bugs. I stuck to the river and hung on tight to my tube and only got 10-15 bug bites vs. 200. Needless to say, we've been itching ever since. Next time (if there is one...right Jill?) we won't forget the bug spray, OR a boat!

Last Chance!

Just a reminder, here's your last chance to let me know if you want an invite to my blog! I'm going private in less than 24 hours!

Going Private

I have gone back and forth multiple times for weeks trying to decide whether or not I should go private. And for now...I think I've decided to just do it. (Such a pain, I know). I'm just testing the waters, if I hate it I'll go public again. It has nothing to do with showing pictures of my baby, or family with the world...all it has to do with is me. I've always been a very private person and I think I would feel so much more comfortable knowing who is reading my blog. And in the long run, I'll enjoy blogging more than I have, and I'll feel more comfortable sharing more details of my life!

PLEASE let me send you an invite!!

Send your email address to lisagleue@gmail.com

Or leave your email in my comments.

Don't be bashful... ANYONE is welcome to receive an invite! I'll be going private officially in 1 WEEK, on Sunday July 19.

A Friend in Need...

From L to R: Mike Gleue, James Barnes, Bryan Jensen, Levi Scott, Ryan Hess

Mike moved to Star Valley, WY when he was 16 years old. He would admit that it wasn't the easiest move, coming from Mesa, AZ and at a particularly hard age. However months went by and Mike ended up meeting some of his closest friends while he was there. He thinks the world of them and will always say nobody besides family, truely knows him the way his Star Valley buds do.

One of those friends, Ryan Hess, was recently diagnosed with cancer. I am posting this blog in behalf of a friend in need.

The following is sent from Ryan's wife, Margie:

My name is Margie Hess, my husband Ryan was diagnosed on June 12, 2009 with a rare and aggressive form of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Since this is an aggressive form of T-Cell Lymphoma, his doctor has put him on an aggressive chemo regimen that will result in him being unable to work for the next 4-6 months and possibly longer. At the time of diagnosis he was finishing up his 1^st year as a Podiatry Resident at the V.A. in Tucson, AZ. Ryan is a devoted husband and fath er of two children, Hallie (5) and Max (2). By the end of this month (June 2009), Ryan will use up the last of his vacation and sick leave and will have to go on unpaid leave. Ryan is the sole provider for our family; I stay at home with both the kids. Without him working we have no income. I need to stay home to help care for him, so I cannot get a job right now, either. As difficult as it is for our family to have to ask for help, we have realized that we must do so at this time. We were told that any federal employee (ie: military, Border Patrol, DEA, FB I, Dept of Justice, EPA etc. EXCEPT Post Office employees) can donate vacation time to be used as sick leave for another Federal employee. We would be so thankful for any number of extra paid days we can accumulate. Thank you so much.

How can you help if you ARE a Federal Employee?

Go to your HR department and request to donate leave to Ryan Hess who works for the VA. (Your HR person will know the form that needs to be filled out- each Federal agency has their own form to donate leave)

Once filled out and signed, the HR person will then need to fax or e-mail the form to:

OLIVIA McCLURE - Benefits Specialist (TUCSON V.A.)

Phone #: (520) 792-1450 x 6076

Fax # : (520) 629-1849

E-Mail : olivia.mcclure@va.gov

ALSO, for those who are federal employees, please print out this message and post it in break/lunch rooms to help get the word out as well as emailing it to co-workers!

How to help if you are NOT a Federal Employee:

PASS this along to ANYONE and EVERYONE that you know and then ask them to pass the message along. Post it on blogs, Facebook...whatever you can think of.

If you know of anyone that might be of help to this wonderful family, please pass it along!

A Whole New Look

The last couple weeks at our house have been spent working tirelessly on finishing up a new roof for our house. I have a new appreciation for any roof that I see (and I wasn't even the one doing the dirty work). However I do know what goes into it now, and it was a lot of work. We had to start by tearing off the old shingles because of the multiple layers that was already on it, and start fresh. We definitely couldn't have done it without our wonderful neighbors and Mike's family. Just when Mike was feeling he couldn't do anymore, someone would show up to help and he'd get a new burst of energy to keep going. Here's a picture overload for you! I tried to keep them in order of: before, during, and after sequence. 

To give you an idea of what we were dealing with....

Mike's cousin fell through the roof here while working..

You can see in this picture (if you look closely) there was mold growing on the edges...

Side story... We almost got away with no major catastrophes, except for one minor incident. We had to borrow a ladder from our wonderful neighbor Tara, (yes, because we're too lazy to just buy one, after 2 years of home ownership you'd think we would just do it) so Mike was using that to get up and down the roof. Well, somehow the ladder became unlocked during its use on day 2, and unknown to Mike, he went to step down to get off the roof, and as soon as he stepped on the first rail the ladder buckled and Mike went falling to the ground (about 10 ft). I was in the house and heard a ladder fall, so I rushed outside to see Mike laying on the grass. He said he was fine, but that his leg hurt. The ladder was basically folded in half. He got up and decided to go back to work. Well, as the evening progressed, his leg got progressively worse to the point of limping, swollen, and major pain. I suggested he go to the doctor to make sure it wasn't broken. So at 9:30pm that night he agreed, and we went to the ER. 

Here's a picture of the ladder and the location it was in, when it fell.

And here's a picture of Mike's ankle, taken from my phone at the ER. You can't hardly tell, but it was huge. Bigger than a baseball.

Luckily the X-rays showed no broken bones, just a sprain. So thankfully the next day Mike was able to work on the roof again with a 'boot' on and did just fine. It could've been a lot worse, since at this point in the project we weren't even half way done, and if he had broken it our friends and neighbors would've had to put the rest of the roof on FOR us. Lesson learned: buy yourself your own ladder. Now we have to get a ladder for us, and our neighbor!

All in all, we hope to never have to do this again in any house we live in. But as Mike and I look at our house, which we love, we never realized how beautiful shingles really are!

A Very Merry Unbirthday

Took Emmett to the doctor today for his 6 month well check!

18lbs -80%ile

27 inches long -80%ile

Head (don't remember) but it was 80% as well

He is one proportional kid!

On Sunday I made up for my lacking of no Easter basket on Easter and made Emmett a 1/2 birthday cake for his 1/2 birthday. And Mike and I reaped the benefits of it. He did get a good taste though.

Please don't zoom in on the cake, its quite ghetto. 

You zoomed in didn't you??

And I just have to add this picture: It reminded me of the movie Dumb and Dumber when Harry stuck his tongue to the frozen pole and it got stuck there. I couldn't find a picture of that, but the one from "A Christmas Story" gives a good description too. 

Hopefully this isn't going to be Emmett in 10 years.

Stop growing...please?

Tonight Emmett fell asleep on my shoulder after I finished nursing him. It was his bedtime and I looked around my house as I held him and thought about all the things I needed to do. My house was a mess, the dishwasher needed to be unloaded, the kitchen floor had mud all over it that Mike happened to track in, Emmett's toys were strewn across the family room floor, and it needed to be done before I went to bed myself. But Emmett is the kind of baby that prefers sleeping in his crib over anything and will rarely fall asleep in my arms anymore. So as I was holding him snoozing on my shoulder, his little legs now going way past my lap so I have to scrunch them up, I decided to ignore the messy house and just hold my sweet, sleeping baby.

Because he turns 6 months old tomorrow, and pretty soon those legs will be longer than mine. 

I better go to bed before I start to cry. Just kidding. Maybe...

Ps. My house is spotless now. Phew.

(Picture taken at a park in Bountiful 2 weeks ago)