20 pounds in 30 days

The HCG update....
I am proud to say that I have completed 30 days of eating 500 calories a day, giving myself shots, not eating sugars, starches or dairy and drinking only water! Sounds crazy, but losing 20 pounds made it all worth it!
Seriously, I can't believe I did it! I never thought I would have the willpower to watch others eat all the fun stuff and be able to resist it, but I did. Now I am able to add a few more things into my diet...like more protein and dairy. This morning it was a big deal to be able to have a glass of milk with my scrambled eggs. I found myself almost feeling guilty as I was drinking it down. In fact, I couldn't bring myself to have any more than 1 small cup. It has definitely changed my thinking on food. I still can't have sugars and starches for three weeks, so I'm hoping for more weight loss. I've added in some heavier exercise and hope for some good results. We'll see how it goes....more updates to come.

Early Spring Break

Jaysie at Snow Canyon


Zions...Emerald pools hike

Teegan at Zions

The litte runaway...in Snow Canyon

We decided to break out the RV a little early this year. Where can you go camping in March? St. George!! I have been begging Trent to do some camping down south for a few years now and he finally gave in and took me to St. George. I was so excited, along with the kids, to feel a little warmth and soak up some sun.

We talked Grandma and Grandpa Humphreys and Brian and Julette into coming along with us and had a great time exploring Snow Canyon and Zions National Park. What beautiful places and great exercise!

One thing about staying in St. George in March is that you get to spend time with the snowbirds. There were plenty of them, but they seemed pretty accepting of us younger folk. We did have one run in though...it happened the first night we were there. We grilled some burgers, had a late dinner and were just enjoying our evening. By the time dinner was over, it was dark and the adults were busy cleaning up the mess. The kids were supposively on the other side of the trailer playing together and riding bikes. Well, my little Kate..bless her heart..decided to wander away. I don't know if she was following the kids and couldn't keep up or if she just decided she wanted to go to the pool by herself but she took off down the lane. Some women happened to walk by and saw this little girl alone and asking, "Where's my mommy?" So they picked her up and proceeded to go trailer to trailer asking if anyone was missing a child. They got to our trailers and asked us and we told them that we didn't think we were missing anyone, but decided to do a head count. Just as we realized we were down a child, the woman holding Kate walked up and we were shocked! I was so embarrassed and apologetic but this woman wasn't gonna go easy on me. She just kept saying...Do you realize what could have happened to her? She was way down there all by herself! I can't believe you didn't even realize she was gone! By this point, I just wanted to kick her but was also grateful to her for bringing Kate back. Let's just say I'm not in the running for "Mother of the Year" with that incident.

So after the rough start...we were very careful as to the logistics of all the children at all times. We came home with all of them, so I guess it ended well.

I hope to revisit St. George again next spring...it was wonderful!

The HCG Diet

Another New Year's resolution...to battle the bulge! This is a tough one for me...Why? Because I'm kind of a non-commital person and I like food. Now I can commit to things like my marriage and my family but committing to a diet is not something I like to do.
My mom and sister did the HCG diet this past fall and wanted me to do it with them. Being the person that I am, I can't jump into things that affect my health without doing heavy research first. So they did it without me and both lost 20 pounds in 30 days! They look great and don't have any residual effects, so I started looking into it more seriously. I went to my doctor and talked to her about it and read all kinds of information before taking the plunge!
In talking with my friend (who also did HCG), she put it this way. Doing this diet is like going to rehab. You go into rehab to change your lifestyle. If you come out of rehab and go right back to how you were living before, then it won't work.
So welcome to my rehab! I have officially checked myself into my own rehab. I am half way through and have lost 14 lbs! Now I know some people do this diet and keep it very hush, hush but I'm saying it loud and proud! My reasoning is to let people know that I am committed to changing my lifestyle forever! I am accountable! I want to be a healthy, happy mom who has the energy to keep up with my kids in everything they do. It's important to me and shows my kids how important their health is too.
No sugar...no starch...no problem!

Snowshoeing Adventure!

One of my New Year's resolutions is to do more ME things. I decided this was an important goal because sometimes ME get's put on the back burner. So one of the things I decided to try was snowshoeing! Some people might think...of all things, why snowshoeing? My response....I'll do ANYTHING to get out of the house, including snowshoeing! I've really enjoyed getting out on a sunny winter day and enjoying the beauty that winter brings.

Well, I thought I'd try and share my love of snowshoeing with Teegan the other day. I gave him the option of going to Aunt Rachel's to be babysat or coming snowshoeing with me. He decided to come with me, so I rented him some snowshoes and we headed up to North Fork for a leisurely trek with Roxy (the dog) and Kylie, my fellow snowshoer. We hadn't been on the trail for more than 5 minutes before these words came out of Teegan's mouth...."Mom, I shoulda gone to Rachel's" I knew right then that this wasn't going to be as exciting for Teegan as it was for me. Needless to say, from now on...snowshoeing will be a ME thing only!

Being NINE is Pretty Fine!

Even Grandma was excited to do gymnastics!

I have a nine year old! WEIRD!! I'm not old enough (mentally) to have a nine year old, it seems. As much as I hate to admit it, Jaysie turned nine years old on February 9th. She really wanted to have a party this year, so we rented Elite Gymnastics and let 29 kids come and bounce off their walls instead of mine. It was worth every penny! We invited all the family and friends that Jaysie could think of and had a great time....until Jaysie came down with an ear ache toward the end of the night. She made it through the rest of the party but once we headed for home, the tears started to flow. She was in horrible pain and by this time it was too late to take her to the doctor. We tried everything to ease the pain but nothing seemed to work. Finally the Motrin kicked in and she was able to go to sleep for a few hours, but by the next morning we were back at it. I took her in as soon as the clinic opened and got the not so surprising news that she had a horrible ear infection. After $100.00 in medicine, she was feeling much better (What a rip! Don't get me started on the pharmaceutical injustice in this country).

She was back to normal by her actual birthday, well enough to ask me to check her out of school to go to lunch. I checked her out and as we were walking out the doors, I asked her where she wanted to go. Without hesitation, she says...Olive Garden! I'm starting to realize that my little Jaysie has expensive taste. I got her to compromise on Fazoli's, instead. Her next request was to have steak for dinner...luckily I had some steaks in the freezer to satisfy her. Then it was cheesecake for dessert! Wow! If this foretells the future, she's gonna be hard to afford! Good luck to whoever she marries!

But seriously, Jaysie is a really sweet girl. She is friendly to everyone she meets and has the most tender heart. She is a great big sister and we love her very much. I enjoyed being able to spend this time with her and celebrate her nineth year. She is a special part of our family and we were happy to do something special for her this year. Happy Birthday Jaysie!

She's a dancin, dancin, dancin machine...

Kurt, Lisa, Kenli and Kalli came to watch Jaysie (you're a trooper, Kurt)


Aunt Mikah doing what she does best...

Grandma & Grandpa Humphreys

Jaysie showing off her long legs or sticks

Her #1 fans...Teegan & Kate (flowers by Trent)

Last night was Jaysie's winter dance recital at Weber High School. She did awesome and was the top dancer in her group (but I wasn't really watching anyone else). The girl's got rhythm, that's for sure! I was especially proud of her because she hasn't felt good the past few days and was still determined to perform. We had to take a couple breaks just trying to get her ready because she would turn pale and look like she was going to pass out. But like they say, "The show must go on!" She pulled it off and gave a good show for all her #1 fans. Thanks to the whole Bremser fam, Grandma & Grandpa Humphreys, Grandma Meyer and Mikah for coming out.

Where did my big family go?

Isaac's 24th birthday...not 35th.


Noelle's last night at home

Noelle and the grandkids..No one was crying until Kate kept saying "Bye, Oell-ee, Bye..." as we were walking out the door. Then everyone lost it! Jaysie also said as we got in the car, "Mom, I just want to stay with Noelle all night. I want to spend every last minute with her."

The whole fam on Christmas Eve...

Being the oldest of seven children is hard to describe unless you've done it. I can't say that I loved it when I was growing up because it involved alot of babysitting, no privacy and pretty much pure chaos everywhere you went. Now, I love it! I love having everyone together and laughing until you cry at some of the crazy things we've all done. We have so much fun!

Well, things change and I guess I have to accept it. The last few months have turned my large, chaotic family into a small, quaint bunch. With Marissa at USU, Noelle recently leaving on a mission, Isaac going to San Diego for nursing school and Becca living far away...things will be quieter around here.

Although I will miss her, Noelle will be a fabulous missionary! She was totally ready to serve the Lord and so excited to take on this new adventure. She is such a great example to me and I look forward to her letters and emails. Isaac left his safe, little world here in Utah to take on the big city. He will be tackling nursing school while also caring for an older gentleman who is in a wheelchair and needs constant care. He will have his hands full but I know he's up to the task. He will learn and grow beyond measure. Marissa, although we still see her now and then, has to brave USU without her older brother and sister to lean on. She will find out that she is stronger than she thinks she is and will meet tons of new people. Becca just flat out needs to move closer to home so we can see her and that cute little Porter more often. Maybe one day...til then, I guess we will try to survive without them.

The year 2010 will be different for sure, but we will make the best of it! I'm excited to see what the future holds and hold onto the memories from the past. Happy 2010!!