Vegas, Baby!

I seem to have completely skipped my surgical procedure on this blog. I was incredibly nervous about having my gallbladder removed, but thanks to lots of prayer, support, and a wonderful surgeon and nurses, it went better than I expected. It turned out that one of the nurses goes to my church and she was the last one I had before going to the O.R. Recovery has been ok. I tend to do too much (especially having toddlers) and have ended up feeling as bad as a few days after the surgery, but I'm trying to lay low and allow myself to recover. The thing with laparascopic surgeries is that you feel better pretty soon after and you think you can do things you can't....like walk around Vegas a lot. Ya - we had a trip scheduled to Vegas since last December so I tried to plan my surgery sort of around that trip. I still had to go less than 2 weeks after surgery, so walking the strip was probably not the greatest thing to do....as I found out afterwards. We'll see if the surgery took care of all my pain and issues - we can only pray that things will get better over the next few weeks of recovery. Thank you for all your prayers!!!

Bryan and I were excited to get away, without the kids, and enjoy a pretty much free vacation (thanks to a timeshare presentation) in Vegas. Thank you mom and dad for watching the kids and spoiling them!!! We drove there through the HOT sun (it must have been 125 degrees at one of the bathroom stops) and arrived at a really nice hotel where we immediately dropped our stuff and headed to the strip for dinner. We ended up in New York, New York where we ate at Il Fornaio, an Italian restaurant. They had homemade rustic bread (a favorite....MMmm) with olive oil for dipping, and we enjoyed a yummy meal.

After dinner we walked a bit and here is a picture of Vegas from the bridge connecting NY, NY to MGM. It was gorgeous with all the lights. We walked the M&M store and the Coke store which was fun.

At the Coca-Cola store they had their little mascot (or should I say big) on site. He moved and blinked and opened and closed his mouth like he was real. Ok a big fear of mine is standing next to something like this ("real" fake, and big) so it was a little intimidating. They let us take a picture with our camera, and they took one with theirs too. We were one of the last ones to stand with the guy. It was a little creepy, but cool.

AND....the mecca of Bass Pro Shops. This thing is not only attached to a casino (why wouldn't it be in Vegas?), but it was 4 acres big. I mean there were fish tanks galore, along with any lure or hunting gear you could think up. Bryan was in his element, even though we really didn't spend too much time there. We did grab a Starbucks (yes, it was in there too) and enjoyed looking a little while.

I had to include a picture of the bathroom. THIS is the bathroom. I felt like I was in Hawaii or Tahiti or something. They really went all out in there. All in all, we had a great time and really enjoyed our stay.

A Washington Wedding

A few weekends ago the 4 of us (the original 4 Boersma's) traveled to Washington to attend my cousin's wedding. It was sort of surreal/cool to be just the 4 of us again. I felt the same way I did many years ago as mom is navigating the map and dad is turning around because we went too far....and Riva and I and mom are all gabbing nonstop (sorry Dad) catching up on all the happenings. I have such fond memories of our roadtrips as kids. I've been reliving them a lot because they are such wonderful pasttimes that I remember.

We're all waiting at Long Beach airport to take off. Can I say that I felt like I was in an old '50's movie when we went to that airport? I mean is it a REAL airport? I think our plane was one of maybe 4 that left that day. It was a little bizarre, but cool.

At the OUTDOOR wedding (can you believe it in Washington??) we signed the guest book and little Ryan was smiling adorably as 100 cameras were trained on him. He so knew how to be cheesy for the camera. Good training, Julie! ha ha!

The first wedding casualty. Those pillars outside in the garden were pretty man-eating. Even a brush against them took some skin off....as Dannie so quickly learned. Dad was right there with a band-aid and things were running smooth again.

Riva, William and I pausing to smile as we are standing to watch the wedding. This was about 15 minutes before I heard him ask Uncle Dannie where the bathroom was. Their poor family had a case of food poisoning or a really bad flu so they almost all missed the wedding - all but William until it hit him halfway through the wedding. Poor things. They had to live it through all our millions of pictures the next day. Sorry guys - we really did miss you there.

Kate and Nate. It was a beautiful wedding and the most amazing, HOT (I know - odd, huh) weather that I don't remember ever in Washington. I mean am I really supposed to SWEAT in a state that rains most of the time? Goodness....but the food and fellowship was worth it.

Dad being his haughty self at the reception. We all had Thai food that was so yummy, along with a latte/italian soda bar that was open. I couldn't drink coffee but I had the girl pour Coconut syrup, then nonfat milk and ice into a cup (she recommended it) and it was SOOO good. Non fat, sweet goodness. I'll be duplicating THAT recipe at home.

Riva and I shared a hotel room (thank you Uncle Gary and Aunt Nancy) and we had such a good time being together. It's nice to have some talk time away from our 5 kids and all the distractions of life. She is honestly my best friend and I'm so thankful we live close enough to see each other once every few weeks. I love you Riv!

The day after the wedding at the Massingills. All of us cousins posing for the cameras. Let me say there were more pictures taken on this day than I remember EVER. Someone out there has the picture a little to the left, and a little to the right of this one. Oh well. It will never be lost, right?

The brothers, sisters, and cousins together. What a blessing our family is. We are all so close and enjoy so many fun times together. Family is so important to me and when I can spend a weekend with the ones I love, it makes my heart happy.

Don't Give Up on Me!!

I'm here guys! Really. A little sore from the surgery, but here nonetheless. I had to show you pics of my before-surgery month. I know - you've been waiting tirelessly to hear news from the Hill homefront. Well, wait no longer.

My friend from long ago, Caron (didn't want to say OLD) had her bridal shower last month and I was so excited to attend. I'm so happy that she found someone who is perfect for her. Today was the first time I met him and he is such a wonderful guy! We had fun and ate yummy chinese food - and Caron I must try that "favorite dessert" you were talking about. We need to get together!!

Father's Day. I know - this is really old but bear with me. Through a series of random plans, we decided to have several generations of dads to our place to enjoy a "Thanksgiving meal." I cooked turkey (a 22 pounder) without a bag for the first time (I usually use turkey bags) and I must say it was so moist and delish! We had mashed potatoes and salad (thank you Riva), bread (thank you mom) and fruit salad (thank you other mom) along with stuffing, gravy, and pie for dessert (thank you gram)! Everyone contributed to honor our dads and grandads and it was such a happy time. In the picture above Grandad was dancing to tunes with Bryan's new noise reduction headphones (which stopped working later that evening... figures since I bought them). We had such a fun time! I love all the dads in my life!

We (me and the boys - sort of) made Bryan a kleenex box with each boys' picture on one side, and their handprint and name on the other. It turned out really cute and Bryan took it to work for his office. (Doesn't that counter look so smooth and beautiful?? I still love my new kitchen counters).

Here's Ethan's side of the cube.

Mom came over and kept me company for an afternoon. The boys liked her reading to them. They always like their Gram to come over and play.

The kiddos at the beach. The tide kept coming up higher and higher. At first Austin didn't want to be out there, but soon he was waist-deep in water and didn't care. It's nice to go to the beach with someone else so you don't have all that sand, salt and mess alone. hee hee!