Happy birthday Gina!!!

Today is Gina's 32nd birthday!!!!


Who is Gina? Well, when we were in 9th grade, she knew who I was and DID NOT like me (something to do with my loud and obnoxious attitude) and THEN.... her brother and I started dating. Every sister's nightmare!!! She held out as long as she could, but eventually I got her... hook, line and sinker (must have been my loud and obnoxious attitude)!!!



She's one of those friends, that our friendship has gone to a different level. It sounds silly to say that she's one of my "best friends", she is more like a sister to me. That has only happened to 2 people in my life and Gina is one.

Here we are in 1995 on our High School graduation trip!!!
And another trip when we went to see Mickey on Christmas Day!!!

She is someone who tolerates me and loves me no matter how dumb I can be. She has never made me feel like she is judging me, and she's had EVERY opportunity to!!!

Here she is a long time ago, doing one of our favorite summer past times, swimming in her pool, jamming out to cool tunes!!!


So, 4 years after her brother and I started dating, it was time for him and I to end our relationship, but I got to keep Gina!!! How lucky am I?

Full Witchy Poo make up for Halloween and still loves me?



Here we are at the Ellen DeGeneres Show in Vegas. G is always up for fun!!!! One of the most spontaneous people I have ever known!!!!

We have been to the depths of Hell together and every time our lives take a dump on us, we seem to pull each other up. I would have never guessed 17 years ago that I would be THIS close to Gina McLaws, but I am so glad I have her in my life!!! She is beautiful and has a GREAT sense of humor. She is open minded and helps me see things in a different way. She enjoys rocking out with me to some of the funnest concerts I've ever been to. She makes me stand a little taller, laugh a little harder, and brings true happiness to my life. She can dance like no other!!! She is goofy and runs into walls and makes me laugh till I pee a little. She has allowed me to be a member of her family, her husband's favorite "sister", her son's favorite Aunt, and most of all, she has allowed me to learn and grow with her without ever growing further apart.

This week, she delivered a baby girl, Emily. I couldn't be more proud of Gina. She is such a gem in my life. I am so glad we are as close as we are!!!!
Happy Birthday G, I love you!!! Now, BURN IT UP and shake your booty to the rest of this song!!! But be careful and don't put your uterus in shock!!!

Randy's latest appointment!!!

Randy went to the orthopedic surgeon today. It has been 5 1/2 weeks since the crash. His separation on:

Day 1- 20mm
2 1/2 weeks- 12mm
today at 5 1/2 weeks- 8mm


The surgeon is still shocked that Randy didn't need surgery and sad because he's trained to FIX people surgically and Randy didn't need him!!!! He said that this is as good as it MAY ever get. We might have another appointment with him in 3 months, if it's requested by our lawyer.

Randy gets to work full time again. He needs to strengthen that left leg back up and when he's comfortable, he can ditch the crutches (today)!!! He can drive heavy equipment as long as he can get in it (no clutches for at least 2 more weeks), but that probably wont be right away because he physically can't bend enough to climb into any loaders, cement trucks or water trucks, ect...

We are so happy with the progress he's made. The surgeon was shocked, so I guess we know that every one's prayers are working!!! He told us that sleeping on a regular bed might be an issue for a year or even more. That made Randy feel better. He's been pretty discouraged about not being able to sleep in our bed. The doctor also told us that his patients with pelvic injuries also have good luck with foam mattresses. So, maybe we can get a foam top for our bed and see if that helps.

Randy wanted to know when he could haul wood off the mountain and run his chain saw again, the doctor told him he could do anything that HE could tolerate. Randy was pretty happy about that!!! He misses his saw!!!

So, it was a GREAT visit!!! We are so happy right now!!!! Sounds like normal life isn't that far off!!!

This is today's x-ray...


This x-ray was 3 weeks ago...


It's hard for most people to see the difference, because of the difference in magnification, but there is a difference and that is NOTHING BUT GOOD!!!!

Another good thing we found out, we will get most of the insurance money back. We had just paid his yearly premium 18 days before his crash. ALSO, the state and county will refund our taxes and licensing on the bike because it was totaled less than 30 days of registration!!!! YEA US!!!! I guess if you're gonna total a car, do it right after you register it, cuz then you get the money back!!!! I like this good news stuff, let's keep it going!!!!

We're still waiting to hear back from the urologist about his test, is it stingy to hope for positive results on THAT too? I guess I can deal with being called stingy!!!!

Zzzzzzz......

So, this guy......





Is having a hard time doing this.....



In here......



So we're going back to this room......


I'll be sleeping back on this......

And he'll be sleeping on this.....



Then hopefully it will make him feel like this......


Just another confirmation that this healing process is going to be long!!!

WOOHOO A CONCERT!!!!!

Gina got tickets for Randy and I to go to Lady Antebellum and Due West at the Sunbowl as a late Christmas present.

I thought it was funny that she wanted to make up for a Christmas present, but when I heard what she was doing... I didn't argue one bit!!! I am so sad, because Gina is 9 plus months pregnant, ready to pop any day and wouldn't be able to go with us. So, we put it out there that we were going and hoped someone would want to go with us. Well, we got some takers!!! Our friends, Jeff and Chanieca Moss decided to come with us!!!

Pretending to have fun....

Having fun!!!


Also, my niece, Brookie sat by us also (yea, I'm the loser aunt that didn't get a picture of her)!!! It was at the Sunbowl in July, when we pulled up it was 107 degrees. Thank goodness there was some clouds that rolled in and cooled it down.

A group called Due West opened for Lady Antebellum. They were REALLY great. They are on their way up, that's for sure!!!

I was so excited to see Lady Antebellum. I kept feeling a tingling in my legs, I thought it was from excitement, then I remembered I had dry shaved my legs before we left!!!! I kept looking up at them, knowing that they are opening for Kenny Chesney tomorrow night, they've been on countless award shows that I've watched over and over and they were in my town!!! It was sooo fun!!!


I LOVE music and they are one of those groups that are just amazing. The vocals of Hillary Scott are angelic, along with the harmonizing with Charles Kelley and then add in the musical lullaby of Dave Haywood.... PERFECT!!! I get adrenaline rushes from going to concerts and going dancing. There isn't a lot that I'd rather do than go to a good concert!!! The screaming, singing, dancing and having fun with friends and family... that's what I call a good time!!! Randy is always so supportive. I know he doesn't love it like I do, but he's a good sport and goes but keeps everyone having fun in the meanwhile!!!

I don't know who's a bigger dork, Randy or Jeff. Look at the lady's bum behind them!!! HAHAHA!!!
Yea, Randy wins... BIGGER DORK!!! None of us could keep a straight face.


It's hard to know what made us laugh harder, the people that were there that didn't own a mirror (surely they wouldn't go out looking like that if they had a mirror and could see themselves) or Randy dancing with his broken pelvis. If you've ever seen Randy dance like a moron, yea, that's how he danced the whole time!!!!

The kids had a sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa Clyde, THANKS MOM, so we could go tonight. We had a great time and I got my "concert fix"!!!! We rocked out to Lookin For A Good Time, Love Don't Live Here Anymore and I Run To You, along with others. It was just a blast!!!

Randy being normal.....




Never mind... this is Randy being normal!!!
Good company, good music, good moves, sweating, screaming, singing..... ahhhhhh!!!!!

Our "stay cation"!!!

So this weekend, we went to Salt Lake City and had a BLAST!!! We weren't sure how Randy was going to hold up, but overall he did ok!!! My sister, Blanche had this trip planned for her family a couple of months ago and I invited myself to go. When Randy got in his crash, I told her we were out. But as time went on, Randy was doing good and so we decided last minute to go anyhow!!! So who is "WE" on this trip?

My sister, Blanche and her husband, Michael. Their son, Matthew and daughter, Brookie. Blanche's oldest daughter, Brittney, Chuck and their 2 kids. My mom and dad. Michael's brother and his 7 kids and us 5. That's right, there were 23 of us!!!


The trip up was pretty fast. We stopped in Nephi for lunch and to meet up with my parents. Then off to our hotel in Murray. The Pavilion Inn is where we stayed. I would recommend it to anyone. They had a full breakfast, 24 indoor pool and workout room, free laundry, the lobby was fun to hang out in, free wi-fi and 2 computers in the lobby to use, and the rooms weren't that bad either. I can't complain one bit about it!!!

After we checked in, we headed out to the The Living Planet Aquarium. It was pretty cool. It wasn't huge, so it was ok for Randy to just walk with the walker.

Here's Tyler and Brookie touching the sting rays.
Maddison was excited about this clown fish.... NEMO!!!!

Cambelle was soooo excited to see the sharks. All I heard was, "that's nice mom, where are the SHARKS????". Over and over. I'm so surprised that my sweet daughter is so interested in the aggressive predators!!!! Just kidding, if you know Cambelle, you know she's a SHARK!!!

Here's all of us at the Living Planet Aquarium.
Then it was off to the hotel pool for a few hours, a nightly ritual.

The next morning, we were up bright and early for Hogle Zoo. We can thank the McInnes family for the suggestion to go in the morning, cuz we were going to go in the afternoon. To us, SLC is cooler than St. George. But in July, it's still 100+ degrees up there. We had borrowed a wheelchair from our friends, but if I would have remembered how steep the hills were at the zoo, we would have sprung for the $25.00 motorized ones!!! It was sooooo hard pushing Randy up those hills, even though he was helping with his arms, it was killing me. Going down wasn't much easier!!! But, we survived and it was a fun experience for the kids. There was a monkey there that sounded like it sang opera, that will be one of the favorite memories!!! Also, the bird show was enjoyed by everyone!!!

There's my mom and dad with Maddison and Tyler on the TRAIN!!!!

Daddy and Cambelle!!!



After the zoo, we headed to Welfare Square. It was so amazing to see what our tithing and fast offering money does. I have never doubted the way that the church handles funds, I just never knew how much it helps people around the world and locally. As some of my friends have said that touring Welfare Square has changed their lives, it has done that for me also. Unbelievable. I loved every minute of it. It is amazing what can happen if you are doing something with the Spirit of the Lord behind you!!! If you ever get the chance to take that tour... don't pass it up.

We were all pooped and H O T, so it was off to the pool for a few more hours!!! Then we got a call from my Aunt and Uncle that live in North, North, North Ogden, close to Canada. They were down for the temple open house with their girls and so we met up with them for dinner. We had an absolute blast. There aren't even words to describe how much I love my Uncle Bear, Aunt Iva, Dallen, Danielle and Elizabeth. They are just wonderful people and they make me feel not as loud!!!! There are a few of us Albrechts that are just FREAKING LOUD.... I'm just one of them!!! Ohhh, we love that family.

Saturday morning, we had the opportunity to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. Randy got to cruise in style in a wheelchair again. It was soooo amazing. I was pushing Randy, so the rest of the family was ahead of us (we used elevators and they used the stairs), which means I wasn't with my 2 oldest kids, but Cambelle rode on daddy's lap. It was fun to tell my 3 year old where you get to be married in the Temple and to hear her expressions on how pretty she thought everything was, just fun. What a beautiful building, again, it's amazing to me what can happen when the Lord is behind the plans!!!

When we got done with the Temple, we went to my good friend, Amber's house to change our clothes. It was so fun to catch up and visit with her and her husband, if even for only a few minutes. It's always fun to hang out with Amber and her little boy is just edible!!!

Afterward, we went to Temple Square. We went through the Church History Museum, which was really cool with my parents. They remember so much about church history and the monuments, it was a lot of fun. The Relief Society Room was my favorite. I came out of that room feeling happy and privileged to be a woman in this church!!! Cambelle's favorite room was the Primary room, with the babies!!! SHOCKER!!!

We walked across the street and found a sister missionary that has been teaching my nephew and his wife the missionary discussions in Kingman, AZ. When sisters get called to Temple Square, they get sent out for 3 months, state side to proselyte. Sister Mok got called to the Las Vegas mission, which includes Kingman. Brandon and Lacey just LOVE her. When he found out that we were going up, he asked his mom to find Sister Mok.... easy enough, right? There's only 160 sisters on Temple Square everyday!!! Well, on our 3rd stop, guess who we found? Yep, Sister Mok. It was so great to see the sister that touched my niece so much. By the way, that niece will be getting baptized in the next couple of months!!! After that, we were DONE for the day!!!

The kids got to sleep in a double bed for those 3 nights. Good thing our kids are snugglers!!!
Sunday morning, we got up and went over to Tooele to see my oldest sister, Tisha. She just had surgery on her shoulder. I'm glad she's home and can get to healing.

The trip home wasn't short enough no matter how fast I drove. It was hard to see my parents go back on the mountain for the rest of the summer. We had a great time and we're glad we went. Randy had a hard time sleeping flat, so we just stayed up really late so he wouldn't have to sleep for so many hours. The only thing he complained about was after 2 days of sitting in the wheelchair, the crack in the back of his pelvis was bothering him, but overall, he did GREAT!!!!

We got home just in time for Naomi's (Randy's niece) birthday dinner at the Clyde's. She turned 8 on Sunday. She was excited because today she got to get her ears pierced. They asked if Maddison wanted to come with. She did, so this morning, while we were getting ready, I asked her if she wanted to pierce her ears too. Her response was a simple, "YEA!!!". I have always told her that she can get her ears done whenever she wants to. She was afraid of the pinch and the clicking sound the gun makes (she's so sound sensitive that she plugs her ears when I blow dry her hair). She always said no to doing it... until today!!! We headed over to Claire's in the mall. Naomi went first and didn't even flinch. Then it was Maddison's turn. She picked the flower petal earrings. There was a minor complication with the petals getting stuck in the casing, so the girl had to pretty much dismantle the gun to get the earring out WHILE IT WAS ON HER EAR. So, that kinda freaked her out, but she went ahead with the second ear and it went perfect. She looks sooo cute with earrings!!! I know she's really happy about doing it!!! I asked Cambelle when she wants to do her ears, she said, "when I'm 4 and I AM NOT getting flower earrings!!!".

Naked ears!!!!


Ears with holes!!!!

The crowd that was there to support Naomi and Maddison!!!
We spent the next half hour going to Aunt Launa's house, Aunt Blanche's work and Gina's to show them the new Maddison. She said that Gina's reaction was her favorite... something about a grown woman screaming and jumping up and down (as much as a 9+ month pregnant woman can)!!!

So, it's been a big weekend for us and I'm ready for it all to slow down, but I know it's not going to for at least 2 more days, but that's the way our life goes... WE LOVE IT!!!

The big TRIP!!!

So, we buckled down and decided that we are going to SLC with my family this weekend. We will leave in the morning. On our agenda is... the zoo, the Temple open house, Welfare Square, the Living Aquarium, the Ronald McDonald House, and what ever other adventures that allow wheelchairs!!! Our friends, Jeff and Chanieca Moss let us borrow a wheelchair that one of their grandparents had, so that way, any of the things we need to do, we can just throw Randy in it and not have to worry about hurting him!!! He's not worried about the drive and he's slept the last 2 nights in our bed and he's done ok. We tested him this week with walking around the mall and at Wal-mart. We went to the mall first and it was ok. The next day we walked around Wal-mart and that was a little too much for him, so I think he'll be cruisin in the wheelchair this weekend!!! I'm so glad we have it. Is it convenient? Not really, it's heavy and bulky. Is it the only way he can go? YEP!!! So, it's a good thing!!! I know we'll have a good time and if it ends up being too much for Randy, we'll just lock him in the car!!! Just kidding!!!

Today Randy went to a chiropractor (pronounced: CRACK-errr-BACK-errr). He was impressed that Randy's spine wasn't messed up. He's been complaining of a knot between his shoulder blades. After the doctor finished the work up on Randy, I wondered if he was glad he went or not. He was grunting and groaning when the doctor was trying to loosen up the tight muscles in his back. Randy has a tight back like his dad, so it was kinda funny seeing this poor chiropractor trying to loosen him up!!! He goes back on Monday.

Anyhoo, that's what's up for us right now!!! Hopefully we'll have a fun time this weekend and make some fun memories for our kids!!! Blog ya later!!!

Randy got to 3rd base!!!

Ok, not with me, but with the urologist. We saw Dr. Taylor this morning. He's the one that rounded on Randy when he was in the hospital. We needed to go in today to see if everything was the way it is supposed to be. I'm sure every man LOVES it when the doctor tells them to "turn your head and cough". Well, Randy got "special treatment" today!!! He didn't get to stop just there, but the doctor got a nice old feel of it all!!! Randy didn't love it, let's be honest, but it's not like us girls like the stur-ups either!!! So, he was a good sport even when I was making jokes between him and I about going to 3rd base with the doctor!!! The prognosis? There is still a lot of swelling that he hopes will get better with time, everything seems to be fine. We'll (meaning HE) will do a semen analysis to see if THAT'S all working and hopefully we'll know next week. If there's a problem with that, we'll have to go in for more testing (no pun intended) and then go from there. If it's all good, no more visits with the urologist!!! So, we're hoping that everything comes back normal and we wont have any lingering effects from the crash as far as THAT is concerned!!! WOOHOO!!!

So, I never posted about our 4th of July festivities!!!


We went to Gina's house in the morning and the kids took a nice swim. Randy sat in the shade with his walker and I kept an eye on the kids. It was a lot of fun for them!!!! After that we went home so Randy could rest.





Then we went to Anna's sister, Katie's house. The kids swam again, Randy played Guitar Hero with the boys and I got a lot of BSing in with Anna's family. They are one of the coolest families I know. I love them so much. We had a great time!!! Look at Kesley and Cambelle playing!!! SOOO CUTE!!!


Then Anna and Nephi came to our house when it got dark and we did our "el cheap-o" home fireworks and saw a little bit of the city show. We kept joking that Randy should be the one lighting the fireworks, can you imagine him with his walker, lighting them and then shuffling away from the danger???? HAHA!!! It provided us with lots of laughs!!!

When the night was all done, our kids were pooped!!!

Cambelle asleep UNDER the book!!!
Nighty night!!!
Tyler chillin like always!!! Asleep!!!
It was a great day!!!

Another Sunday!!!

Today was Randy's first shot at a regular Sunday.... meaning he's at the church my 9am and gets home around 5pm. When I left, he was doing great. Walker and all. The doctor told him that he can use crutches, but he's not that comfortable on them and he REALLY doesn't want to re-injure himself.

Friday was his first day back to work. He worked about 4 1/2 hours. Drove himself over and back and was just tired when he got home... no biggie!!! He was so happy to be back. He missed his guys so much and the contractors and all of it. He was a happy man!!! I had a little anxiety about it, since the crash, I had only left him without adult supervision for 1 1/2 hours one time!!! But he did great!!!

Monday he'll work for another 4 hour shift. Tuesday, he has an appointment with a urologist, so he'll take that day off and then we'll see what happens the rest of the week. My family is going to SLC to the temple open house and to the zoo, ect... this weekend and I'm leaving it up to Randy if we're going or not. I think the drive will be ok because we will stop a lot, we would borrow a wheel chair from our friends and when he doesn't want to do something, we can just chill at the hotel. I know Randy is concerned with the money end of it, but we are postponing our D'land trip this year and he'll only be missing 4 hours of work anyway!!!! So, I guess we'll see how he feels about it. I will support whatever decision he makes!!!

Randy still preferres the recliner to sleep, so I've been on the air mattress next to him. Maybe he can transition a little this week. He's doing pretty good, though. I am so happy that he's taken this recovery seriously so he can just heal. He's been a good boy and not over done it. So, wish us luck this week. We are so thankful for all of your love and support.... really thankful!!!!

Today

So, this is where we stand today. Randy wanted to try to go to work today, but I talked him out of it last night. Today is the 3 week mark and I still think it's too early. He CAN drive his truck and my Tahoe. The doctor said as long as he's off of the big pain meds and can physically drive his truck (it's an automatic), then he has the green light. So, we tried it and he was successful. We tried sleeping in our bed again last night and it's obvious that it's just too early to do that. We got up at 3:30am and came back into the big room. Him on the recliner, me on the air mattress. I'm glad he didn't try working today, even though it was only gonna be a couple of hours, it was a long night. He MIGHT go in for a couple of hours in the morning, he's gonna call. We wont even try the bed tonight and I think I might give him some Benadryl to sleep. He's just not sleeping since he got of the pain meds.

Yesterday, we had kind of an issue. Randy was getting out of the shower and I think he almost forgot that he was hurt and tried stepping out of the shower like normal and halfway through that step, his body wouldn't work that way and he missed his footing and kinda slipped. He didn't fall, but it definitely jarred him pretty good. I think it kinda scared him, I know it scared me. He took it easy the rest of the afternoon and says that there isn't any problems because of it. It's just another realization that there is a lot more healing to do. As many celebrations as we have about the good job he's going, he's still broken and will be for a while.

Tonight was stake Bishopric meeting and when he was getting ready, I heard him kinda giggle. When he came down the hall, I could see what he was giggling about.... he was wearing his motorcycle tie!!! He's such a goof. He is, and always will be, a bike rider at heart. You either are, or you're not!!!

I want to, again, thank everyone for you love and support. I know we are going through this trial for really good reasons. I feel blessed to have this happen so we can receive blessings and service from all of our loved ones. THANK YOU!!!! Every comment, note, call, visit, ect.... has a huge impact on us!!!

Happy Birthday Anna!!!

Today marks another birthday for my best friend, Anna. Last year I did THIS POST
for her birthday. I still mean everything I said then plus so much more. She is an amazing woman that I know if I model my life after hers, I'll be alright.

This is us on our first day of 4th grade at West Elementary, ironically almost the exact age of our oldest daughters right now!!!




You've heard the quote, "a true friend tells you that you look lousy when you look lousy and then offers chocolate ice cream therapy".
That's my Anna. She's seen me when I am at my worst and still comes back for more. THAT'S a best friend. When things get really hard and most people disappear, she's the one here holding my hand. Literally, she was holding my hand during a needle biopsy on my breast one day. Randy had made arrangements to take the scouts snow skiing and couldn't cancel, even though Anna had plans to go to the Parade of Homes with her family, she left them to be with me. THAT'S a best friend. There are so many reasons that I love her but the biggest reason why I love her is because she never judges me and is ALWAYS here to support me and my family.

Anna, I hope you have a great day. You deserve it!!! I love you, happy birthday!!!