"Celebrate your country by blowing up a small piece of it." --Bart Simpson

Well folks, we're still alive. June was a crazy, crazy month and included a lot of working and a trip to Seattle, girls' camp, and surgery recovery. All in all, it was a very good month. The end of the month is crunch time for us with work, but that period of looooong days is now over! This means I have time to blog! Here are some exciting things coming up in July:

• the 4th! This is my favorite holiday, second only to Christmas, and even then, only sometimes. This Saturday, we'll be heading to the lake with family, then setting off some fireworks at Jesse's Uncle Dean's place. Yippee! I miss Medford on the 4th. We used to meet my grandparents in Ashland for the wacky parade, then have a big pool party/BBQ complete with homemade ice cream (everyone took their turns at the crank), then we'd do fireworks in the street with the neighbors. Oh well, this year will be different, but just as fun.
• Liz's wedding! This is going to be a great day. Our friends Liz and Jacob are getting married on July 10th in the Rexburg temple. They are a grrreat pair, and we can't wait to celebrate with them. Jesse has wanted to take his bike on one last hurrah before England, so he'll be riding down. I'll be driving down with KELLY and the baby in a nice, sturdy car. Can I just say that Kelly is one of my very favorite people? She's fun, sweet, kind, and although she has four kids, she'll still wrestle Jesse. She doesn't always win, but it's really entertaining. I'm going to miss her so much when we move.
• My birthday! I have secret plans for myself...
• Sav's birthday! I have secret plans for her too...
• the gym... Now that we have time to breathe again, I'm excited--yes, actually excited--to go back to the gym. Our Y up here is really nice and really comfortable. Jesse has been helping me with my goals to get stronger. Despite Jesse's advice, I've always thought if I wanted to lose weight, I should just do cardio. I didn't want to bulk up, and let's face it--the weight room can be an uncomfortable place for a weenie girl. But last month, I started lifting (does the bar count?), and I was amazed how fast the results appeared! After 3 arm workouts, I could actually see muscle develpment. Of course Jesse is gloating, but he's been really helpful. Hopefully the last two weeks of sitting in a car for 12 hours a day and scarfing Taco Bell when we had a chance hasn't ruined my chances for improvement...

• SUMMER! I'm a summer girl, and now that it's finally warm, I'm going to live it up!

Mission Accomplished.

So the surgery went wonderfully! I had the best doctor, the best nurses, and the best support I could have hoped for. I woke up to Dr. Hardy telling me that he was able to remove all the endometriosis he could find and that both my tubes are all clear! And I got a great nap out of it, too. I'm a little sore, but it was definitely worth it. I was able to take a little walk around the cul de sac with Jess last night, and even got to eat some of Kelly's delicious Mexican food. I feel sooo lucky to be surrounded by positive people. Thanks for all the prayers and happy thoughts--I felt very protected yesterday.

Peek-a-boo...

By the end of the day, I will have met my spleen. That's right, today is the big day wherein Dr H. will poke around my organs (taking lots of great pictures, he says) and see what the deuce is up with our lack of babyness. I'm a little nervous, but he's the best doctor ever, and if this is what it takes to produce little Jesse/Kathleen spawn, so be it. Here's to unobstructed fallopian tubes!