C n' G Ontiveros

Wasatch Back

2011-06-21T15:54:00.003-06:00

For those of you not in the know, the Wasatch Back is a 200 mile running relay from Logan, Utah to Park City, Utah. Much of the course is along scenic country roads and old highways and some of the course is on dirt roads.

The race works in the following fashion…. “Each team is allowed two support vehicles. The first vehicle will drop off the first runner, drive ahead a few miles, cheer the runner on, and provide them with water, snacks, and plenty of love. That vehicle will then drive ahead to the first exchange point to drop off the second runner and pick up the first runner when that leg is complete. They will repeat this pattern for six legs until they hand off to their second vehicle. This leapfrogging pattern will continue all the way to the finish line.”

Most teams use vans as support vehicles and have 6 runners in each van. There are some, more elite, teams that run the race with only six runners. We were not one of those teams. I wasn’t even planning on running the Wasatch Back. About 10 days before the race, I was asked by my girlfriend Michelle to be on the team. Apparently one of the runners who was on the team decided not to do it. I tried to say no, saying it was too expensive ($1200 per team). Michelle stated that we were running for her work and that they were sponsoring it. Therefore it was FREE. I had been running an average of only 8 to 10 miles a week nowhere near I needed to be. I told her I wasn’t ready but then she said, “Well, if you have to walk, you walk. C’mon it will be fun!” Two days with Michelle and her husband Mike... PARTY!

Again, 200 miles split up into 36 legs (each person running three legs) means a person can run anywhere from 21.5 miles to 13.1 miles. Guess how many miles this gal got? Yup! The 21.5 miles. We started Friday morning at 7:15 up at Utah State University’s track and then our collective team ran all day and all night to end up finishing at Park City High School on Saturday night at 7:47pm

The Race

Our van had the first six legs and they all went pretty well. I was the fortunate one to start the race. I ran from Utah State’s track and ran 7.4 miles through the city of Logan, and then winding through the rural communities of River Heights, Providence, and Millville. The weather was a nippy 47 degrees... YIKES! I had an amazing van who met me at mile 4.5 with lots of water and goo. I even got a few kills. (In the relay world you get a “kill” each time you pass someone.) It’s fun to keep track, and a lot of teams will do so very visibly on the side of their vans. After our van handed off to the second van we drove up to the next van exchange, which was at Snowbasin. They were doing construction on the road so it took us a lot longer to get there than we expected. I had time to change my clothes, get my ankle re-taped, drink some Gatorade and I was gone.

My second leg was probably THEE worst leg. I ran 9.3 miles with the first mile almost straight uphill. I don’t think I saw one person run that gigantic thing! Once we got up to the top of that hill, there was still snow on the ground and we had to run about a ½ mile downhill in the snow. I should have just sat down and slid but heaven forbid, we get disqualified for something like that. The next 7 or so miles was down the Trappers Loop. The route descended almost 2,200 feet and my hips and knees were so dang sore and when I FINALLY handed off to the next runner and I just started to cry. When I finished my second leg, it was dusk and thus we entered the night portion of the race.

Night Running

Each runner has to run with a headlamp, a butt lamp and a reflective vest so that they can be seen by traffic but the racers now show up as bright reflective vests bobbing up and down, you can’t see faces and finding your runner becomes more of a challenge. This is where the race feels more serious, more like you are on a mission, but the adventure is still in the air. We finished up or second set of legs around 2 am and handed off to the second van without a hitch.

Sleep?

After the exchange we headed to a local high school to get some shut-eye. Local is relative I suppose because we probably drove about 30 minutes to get there. Anyway, we parked in the very full parking lot, grabbed our pillows and blankets and headed into the school. In the gym of the school they had laid down all the wrestling mats for the runners to sleep on. The gym was dark and all you could see were cocoon shapes all over the ground and could hear a constant whisper. Mike and Michelle decided to sleep in the van and me and the other girls got separated, I didn’t have my phone with me either so needless to say I didn’t sleep much since I was so nervous to be awake at the right time.

When I finally got up, I gathered my pillow and blanket, went to the restroom and went to find the van. IT WAS GONE!! Like I said, I was separated from the other girls and the van was nowhere to be found. Did they leave me? I walked and walked all over to see if they had parked somewhere else, etc. I was in a panic. What do I do? Where should I go? After a little prayer, I went back outside and guess what I saw... THE VAN! They had moved it down the street to get better sleep and the other girls were sound asleep in the gym. Whew.. They didn’t leave me! (They probably should have, since I was the slowest runner)

We got the call from the other van saying that they were about an hour and a half away from the exchange. We tried calling the girls who were still in the gym but they didn’t answer their cell phones. (They turned them off to sleep). UGH! We had to try and find them in the dark gym. Another prayer was said and another call was placed. They answered their phone but we didn’t have time for them to go to the bathroom or get them something to eat or anything. They got in the van and we had to hustle to the next exchange.

Last Legs

I honestly felt pretty good. I only had 4.8 miles to run and it was a fairly flat surface from Oakley to Kamas, but after a couple of miles, I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath. I felt like a fish out of water. Stopping many times to try and catch it. I thought if I threw up, I’d feel better but that wasn’t the case. I had the energy and my body felt great I just couldn’t stinkin’ catch my breath! Those 4.8 miles took me almost 110 min. UGH! I wasn’t the only one that did crappy on my last leg. It seems as though the last legs of our van really kicked all of us. The second runner came in with the dry heaves, our third runner came in with multiple blisters, our fourth runner had an extra mile added to her leg, our fifth runner forgot to take her asthma meds before her run and our sixth runner got lost. We were a mess and never were so happy to see the second van!

The Finish

The second van KILLED it! They had their toughest runs and they did them all in excellent time. Our van drove up to Park City High School, walked around, got something to eat and waited about 4 hours for the other van to come in. We tried to sleep but the excitement of the race was felt throughout the entire area and you couldn’t sleep. I was still having trouble breathing so when it was time for the last runner to come in the finish line (the whole team meets them about 100 meters shy of the finish line to cross the line as a team) I waited at the end and took pictures.

END END

My body was a little sore but who’s wouldn’t after 21.5 miles in 2 days with little to no sleep? Remember I was only running 8 a week. The only thing that kept bothering me was my breathing. I felt like I could never catch my breath. I ended up going to the ER and having a couple of breathing treatments, followed up with my primary care physician, having a few more breathing treatments and have finally been diagnosed with sports induced asthma, on breathing steroids and two different inhalers. Doc thinks it’s because I was running more than normal, I was running in the cold, the altitude and hay fever must have triggered it all. Next time, I just need to be on meds two weeks before the race (June 16 – 17, 2012). I loved my experience and would totally do it again! And by the way, if you read this, you should congratulate yourself. I wasn’t at all expecting this post to be this long, but I guess it was. Thanks for reading and you should consider putting running the Wasatch Back on your bucket list.

How time flies....

2011-03-23T11:04:00.030-06:00

Can it really be two years since I last blogged? YIKES! So much has happened both good and bad but all great life lessons. What would you say the top ten highlights of the past two years would be? hmm... let's see...

1. Mom and Dad came home from their mission as Temple President and Matron of the Oaxaca Mexico temple. They have been home for approx a year and a half. They are currently serving as temple workers (Dad is also a sealer) and I'm praying they will be home for a while.

About two weeks after they got home, ALL the family came for family pictures..
WOW has our family grown!

All of the family except for Jayden Kane Jones-Eric's baby- born the day before this pic was taken

All the Grand kids and Great-Grand kids

2. Gracyn was baptized! Gracyn turned 8 in August of 2009 but wanted to wait until Grandpa O got back from his mission so that he could baptize her. They got home on Tuesday and Gracyn was baptized on Saturday. She will always remember her baptism because she was actually baptized and received the Holy Ghost on Halloween! Ghosts/Halloween... spooky! LOL. Thank you to all who came on such short notice!

PICTURE TO COME?!?

3. Apartment Life. UGH! Gracyn and I moved into some apartments when Mom and Dad got home. I thought, AWESOME, no yards to clean, a pool to use, a gym to use, no sidewalks to shovel.. HaHa too bad for me that I didn't know how dang noisy people can be! We had a couple living underneath us. When they weren't advertising their affection, apparently he was beating the crap out of her. He must have been great in the sack, but the abuse she took was horrible. I'd either wake up to sex noise or fighting noise, and the latter was worse. Finally one night he literally picked her up and threw her over the 2nd story balcony! The cops came, took her to the hospital and him to jail. Needless to say they were both evicted and now we have a couple of LOUD college kids who like to slam doors! Just can't win, can we? Can't wait for our lease to end at the end of August. Not quite sure what we'll do but all I know is that we'll be outta there!

4. DO NOT, I REPEAT.. DO NOT EVER GO TO DR. JASON DICKERSON OR DR. SCOTT HAUPT! I had "sprained" my ankle and thought, oh, it will get better soon. I let it go for almost 2 months and finally went to the doctor. I was referred by my PCP to Dr. Jason Dickerson. TOTAL WASTE OF TIME! He stated that I just needed to go to physical therapy and work on getting my range of motion back. When three months later, I was still in pain he said, "Well, I can't tell that anything is wrong but if you want to get a second opinion I want you to go see Dr. Clark Larson. I went to Dr. Larson and he did an ultrasound on my ankle and found that I had torn ALL my ligaments and a tendon in my ankle. Dr. Larson called Dr. Dickerson and surgery to get them fixed was in place. (Dr. Larson said he could do it but for some STUPID reason I felt a loyalty to Dr. Dickerson as I had been seeing him for almost 6 months) Well, surgery went okay. Two weeks later I contracted an infection. I called Dr. DICKerson who stated that it was probably no big deal and that I would see him in a couple weeks. When I went to him there was a large gaping hole with puss coming out. Sure wish I had that picture.. (actually, warning, there are some ugly pictures with this post so prepare your eyes and stomach) long story short, DICKerson ordered a Wound Vac to try to get the whole to close. Well, he didn't know how to put it on correctly and ended up getting more infection. Eventually the infection was so bad, Dr. DICKerson had to go back in and surgically remove the infection. When he did that, not only did he NOT get all the infection, he left my tendon sticking out of my ankle. WTH??? Long story short, my tendon died. Had to get a cadaver tendon which failed, got another one.. failed, got ANOTHER one, then died.

Dr. DICKerson sent me to a wound care specialist who stated that I would have to probably be on a wound-vac for almost a year to get this baby to close. Why close it if this stinkin' tendon is dead? UGH! Went in for ANOTHER tendon and was referred to plastic surgeon Dr. Scott Haupt. He did a "skin flap" to cover the "hole" in my ankle.

Unfortunately, that didn't take and Dr. Haupt had to complete another surgery taking fascia from my leg and got another infection!! This time it was positive for MRSA, a flesh eating bacteria.

Just my luck, right? I was so fed up at this point and finally contacted my brother, Dave, who drove 3 hours from Burley, Idaho to come see what was going on and give his advice. He concurred with Dr. Haupt and Dr. DICKerson and they stated that there could be a possible amputation if they couldn't get rid of the infection. I was on multiple antibiotics, had a pic line and let's me honest, probably at one of the worst times in my life. Dr. Haupt went back in and scraped the octopus looking thing off and completed another skin flap from the other side. I was in the hospital for a couple days for infection and well what do you know... IT WORKED! I knew it was my parents and my family's fasting and praying.. THANK YOU SO MUCH! When it was all said and done, I was on crutches for ALMOST a year and between the two idiots had 12 surgeries in 5 months! So again I repeat.. DO NOT EVER GO TO DR. JASON DICKERSON or DR. SCOTT HAUPT!

4. Gracyn's tumor? So just when I was on the mend from all my ankle drama, (end of May 2009) I received a phone call at work stating that Gracyn was unresponsive at school and that the ambulance was called and she was being transported to Primary Children's hospital. I flew down to PCMC where I met her and the ambulance. When she arrived at the hospital, she was still unconscious and Dr's completed a few tests.
Since no one saw what happened, we had to kind of piece it all together. She experienced a gran mal seizure and finally "came out of it" about 2 hours after the incident. Gracyn was then seen by a pediatric neurologist at PCMC and had more tests. MRI, EEG, etc. The doctor stated told us that Gracyn had a lesion tumor in the frontal right lobe. He described to us that a lesion tumor is not a mass tumor but a "lesion" in the brain. He put her on seizure/epilepsy medicine which has seemed to help. This past fall Gracyn started having difficulty concentrating at school and I raised the concern to her pediatrician. He noticed Gracyn "staring off". He said that he thought that she was having a seizure. We made another appointment with her neurologist who then diagnosed her with absence seizures. They can last up to 20 seconds and it seems as though she is just "checked-out/daydreaming". When we went for our 3 month visit we unfortunately found out that her neurologist had retired and we were then "transferred" to the APRN. He reviewed her chart and found out that according to the tests, she did NOT have a lesion tumor. WHAT THE....???? He did verify that she was probably having absence seizures and put her on medication to reduce and eventually stop these bad boys. She is actually doing better in school and the teacher has been wonderful to give her instructions again and again as she may have not gotten ....Here's to hoping!

6. Since my ankle was feeling good, Gracyn and I started filling our Saturday mornings with hikes. We have been up Millcreek canyon, Bells canyon, Big and Little cottonwood canyons and I think her very favorite so far was the Mt. Timpanogos hike. She love going in the cave and exploring. I'll admit, it was really fun and can't wait to do it again.

7. TRIPS! I guess the reason we started hiking was because of one of my favorite trips of all time. I went and hiked Havasupai with 9 other friends (Devin Walker, Gary Webster, Rachel Eborn, Rob Abney, Carolyn Hanny, Blaine Botkin, Polly Bailey, Heather Elwell and Angie Burton) and had an absolute blast! Here are a few pics... JEALOUS??

After all the ankle surgeries and Gracyn and I started hiking again, I was invited to a girls backpacking trip to hike the narrow in Zions. Sometimes water was as high as the soles of your shoes and other times you had to "swim". SO MUCH FUN!

(Trina Poppe, Melanie Ray, Sarah Elwell, Heather Elwell, Angie Burton and myself)

8. Gracyn's sports! Gracyn has decided she wanted to be more active. She has been participating in softball, volleyball and basketball. She's a manaic. Hope she continue's to play well and learn.

9. TRIATHLONS!! So since I was on crutches for about a year, I needed something to motivate me to get back into working out and getting myself healthy. I was talking to one of my dear friends Devin Walker who convinced me to sign up for a triathlon. A triathlon? well folks... I DID IT! I completed my very first olympic triathlon on July 30, 2010 in Burley, ID. (1 mile swim, 26 mile bike and 6.2 mile run) My cute Gracyn and niece Quinlyn actually saw me on the running route and ran with me for about 1/4 of a mile. Thanks for the support IdaO's and for letting me and the crew crash at your house. I LOVE YOU GUYS! My goal was 3 hours and 30 minutes but came in at 3:36:21. Not bad!

surveying the river the night before

Devin and I doing our bike checks at 5:30 am the morning of the race

no swim pics.. I said no way.. have you seen how scary bodysuits are? YIKES! So here I am on the bike.

I'm in the middle surrounded by all the red shirts.. I tried to fit in.. LOL

Me coming into the finish line...

WE DID IT! I couldn't have done it without the support of these two guys.

Gary Webster, myself and Devin Walker

Gracyn liked the excitement of the Spudman Triathlon and begged me to let her do one as well. She did the Murray Family Triathlon on Labor Day (Sept 4, 2010) and came in 17th in her division. Way to go G!

10. Last but not least... While I was training for my triathlon, my ankle started giving me problems again. This time I was bound and determined NOT to go to Dr. DICKerson so I went back to Dr. Larson. HE IS AMAZING!! We did an MRI and an ultrasound and found that my tendons were subflexed. It means that the tendons that are supposed to be BEHIND your ankle bone were infact up and across and on top of my ankle and one of ligaments were torn (again). No wonder I had no stability. I told Dr. Larson that I had been training for a triathlon and that it was in a couple weeks. He allowed me to do it and I went and saw him the Monday after. (Yes, I completed my triathlon with torn ligaments.. YIKES!) ANOTHER surgery was scheduled to create a bigger groove in my ankle bone and get the tendons where they are supposed to be. DR. CLARK LARSON IS AMAZING! He was made aware of all my other problems and took extra procautions to make sure this surgery went well. He even got in touch with a plastic surgeon to help close my wound so it would be done properly and without infection. I was on crutches for about another 8 weeks and just been given the go ahead to do whatever I want. So now.. I'm training for my second triathlon, the Ragnar Relay and a half marathon in October!

Now you're caught up in our lives..

Lazy Blogging?

2009-03-19T11:38:00.003-06:00

Perhaps. I was so "gung-ho" about this blogging business even making it my goal to write three times a week. BOY WAS I STUPID! Life has been really busy ever since my ankle started giving me problems but now that I'm healing, let's hope I'll be playing and blogging more soon!

Family Pictures

2009-02-03T09:14:00.009-07:00

Halloween

2008-10-31T18:15:00.001-06:00

Last year, Gracyn was smurfette. The year before that she was an oompa loompa and I thought, or at least I was hoping, that she would give me an easy costume this year. BOY WAS I WRONG! Ladies and Gentlemen, may I announce...

MISS PIGGY!!

It was a lot of fun and she got lots and lots of compliments. Please give me an easy costume next year... PLEASE??!!??!!

Misc Boating Pictures

2008-07-30T11:58:00.004-06:00

WE LOVE BOATING!!

Skinny dipping, or in my case, chunky dunking in Jordanelle......

REFRESHING!!!

Youth Parade

2008-07-19T17:45:00.000-06:00

Our stake was invited to participate in the Days of '47 youth parade. Gracyn wasn't too happy to dress up as an apple but she had fun "hammin" it up during the parade.

Some of the other entries... Gracyn asked why she had to walk and these kids got to ride. TOO FUNNY!

Happy Birthday America

2008-07-05T13:11:00.009-06:00

Happy Independence Day!

This was a great weekend. First of all, Gracyn and I went to Granite High School on the 3rd and they had some good fireworks. It’s starting to get a little too crowded so this year just maybe one of the last... so sad. On the 4th of July, I had to work in the morning but later that afternoon it was a BLAST! No pun intendend. A couple days before the 4th, my friend Eric called me and asked if Gracyn and I wanted to go with him and his girls to Stadium of Fire. He got me a GREAT deal on the tickets so I totally jumped on it.

I didn’t tell Gracyn where we were going just that we were going to watch fireworks with Eric and his girls. Gracyn wondered why we had to travel to Provo for the fireworks but as soon as she saw the banner of Miley Cyrus on the stadium, she started jumping up and down and so excited she almost started to cry.

The stadium was filled to capacity and there was so much excitement. As the show began, 4 f-16’s from Hill AFB flew over… wow were they loud. From those planes, 7 para-jumpers came down and landed in the stadium. Man, it was so cool. The flag ceremony was next. This huge flag was being held by service men and women who had served in Iraq and Afganistan. So touching.

Then we were all entertained by the blue man group. These men are so interesting to watch, it's amazing the sounds they could make with these big pipes. I would love to see them again.. watch out Vegas, here I come!

The part Gracyn was waiting for… MILEY!! Miley was such a little rocker girl she was running around the stage singing her lil’ heart out. She was a head-banging, foot-stomping, jumpin’ crazy 15 year old girl and Gracyn was just as bad. Both of them rocked all night!

Once it got dark, the fireworks started. Gracyn was pretty worried about Miley though, because she was told that Miley was afraid of fireworks. Pictures of fireworks can be really disappointing as you can see but here are some pictures anyway.

We sure had a great time and I’m sure glad we had navigation because we were out of there... lickety split!

Happy Birthday America!

My ticket to be punched??

2008-07-02T19:10:00.007-06:00

Today was a real eye opener for me. I drove into work this morning as I had a meeting off-site. While taking the elevator up to the parking terrace, I hear rumors of a bomb threat at the hospital. As a level 1 trauma center we have to be prepared for all kinds of disasters, and we drill quite frequently. As I have participated in many drills, I really thought nothing of it. One of my co-workers, who works with Hospital Administration, said that it probably was just one of these said drills.

As I was driving to my off-site meeting, I heard on the radio that a case containing 1.5 million records of patients of The University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics had been recovered. The case had been stolen from a courier who had contracted with the hospital to move them to an off site location for storage. The whole incident had caused quite a stir, as some of the records had contained patients’ social security numbers. Yes, even mine! So news of the case’s recovery made for a promising day. However in the middle of my meeting, I got a page telling me they needed me at the hospital ASAP!

Shortly after 10:00 am, the hospital called a “code yellow” which means disaster. Hmmmmm...Maybe not a drill?? We all got notification to sweep our areas for suspicious packages. Soon thereafter we went into full code mode, locking down the entire hospital; no one in, no one out.
Again, as one of the Hospital Administrators has an office located near my desk, our group found ourselves in the middle of all the action as the day unfolded. It was really an eerie feeling being in a situation like this. The police had all access roads to the hospital blocked off. K-9 units, FBI, disaster personnel and emergency personnel were ready and waiting nearby. Medical helicopters and ambulances were diverted to other nearby hospitals. Patients who had been dropped off for treatment couldn’t be picked up. Family members who had come to see inpatients weren’t able to leave. Those who had clinic visits couldn’t come or go either.

Honestly, who calls in a bomb threat to a hospital? Being in the hospital or having a loved one in a hospital is stressful enough. No one deserves the added stress of a bomb threat. At one point, Hospital Administration started to discuss evacuating patients. If we had had to evacuate, to some of our patients it would have been an inconvenience but for others, it would have been life threatening.

After multiple phone calls by the guy with the fake accent, multiple sweeps of the building and close to 5 hours of being in lock down, the police found a few suspicious packages (and even made a drug bust) but it was determined that the threat was a stinkin’ hoax! We got the call to clear the “code yellow”.....Now, I don’t know who called in the threat, I don’t know if it was related to the recovery of the stolen medical records and really, I don’t care but who ever it was, really put things in perspective for me.

Granted, during the experience we all laughed and joked to make the experience a little lighter but in truth it was a pretty anxious day. It wasn’t until I picked up Gracyn from daycare that I really thought , “I was walking (running, really) around a building that could have been blown to bits at any moment.” I grabbed poor Gracyn and didn’t let go of her for what it seemed like forever from her point of view.

Wakeboarding...

2008-07-01T11:01:00.003-06:00

My three best girlfriends (Angie, Rachel, Erin) and I took some time off to go boating down at Utah Lake. The water was pretty high, calm and so nice to ski.

Rachel was the first to go....

Then Angie...

Then I attempted.....

but the good ol' ankle is still pretty weak to get up :(

SHOOT! Maybe next time.....

Utah Arts Festival 2008

2008-06-29T13:25:00.003-06:00

My brother gave me a couple free tickets to the arts festival. While I've never gone before and I don't really like "art", Gracyn and I decided to go check it out. We hopped on the trax train and headed on down to the City and County building! When we got there, Gracyn darted towards the kids section and did she ever have a great time playing all sorts of different musical instruments.

of course, the violin was her favorite....

Then we took some time and created a special arts festival hat. It was just a plain paper bag and we stuck all sorts of stuff on it. Glitter, ribbon, flowers, letters, stickers, chalk... you name it, we had it on that hat!

Gracyn and I then went around and looked at all the different art. Some were really cool like this fountain, origami and the cactus made out of steel.....

But then there were other things that just made me scratch my head and say.... "what the hell??"Oh well.. at least there was belly dancing!!

I think we'll for sure go again next year. Thanks for the tickets, bro!

culinary expert

2008-06-04T14:28:00.001-06:00

As some of you may or may not know, being a single mom can be a bit challenging at times. Working full time, laundry, house cleaning, lawn care, garden, softball games, piano lessons, soccer games, dance lessons, etc... I don't always have the energy to come home and cook. I don't always have the money to go out and eat so what's left?

GRACYN the CHEF!

Gracyn loves to cook -breakfast, lunch, dinner, she just loves cooking! Grandma O taught her some basic things in the kitchen and shes technically been cooking since the age of 3--that's right 3! She started out making sandwiches, graduated to hot breakfasts and the rest is cooking history. Gracyn can without a doubt give Emeril a run for his money and has given my mother a food challenge when she comes back from her mission. This recipe seen here is so quick, easy and oh-so-yummy! I'm so glad Gracyn has realized that it's either sink or swim.....

School Carnival

2008-05-20T11:00:00.005-06:00

My memories of elementary school include school carnivals, where everyone's favorite game was the cakewalk and totally hot break-dancers. Boy have times changed!! Gracyn had her school carnival last night and it was really, pretty fun. They had many inflateable jumpies....

and many activities such as the potty toss, hair color spray, food and good ol' monkey bars
BOY HAVE TIMES CHANGED!

Mason!

2008-05-19T10:19:00.001-06:00

So we FINALLY got to babysit my nephew, Mason. This cute little boy is about 10 months and since it was the first time we got to babysit him, we tried to spoil him silly.

Gracyn needed a new swimming suit (she's had the same one for two years and the once "tankini" turned into a itsy-bitsy teeny weeny bikini) so we decided to get Mason a swimming suit too. "So, what are we going to swim in, Mom?" Good Question, Gracyn. So we went over and bought a little pool, some sunblock and some "swimmer diapers" for Mason.

Both Gracyn and Mason loved the water. We had so much fun spending time in the sun and playing with toys.

We can't wait for Mason to come over and play again!!

Mother's Day

2008-05-12T13:34:00.002-06:00

I really, really, really hate Mother's Day. Not that I don't totally adore and love my own Mother but the fact is that we should honor our mother every day. Isn't that a commandment anyway?? Well, I bit my lip and put on the smile for Gracyn as she proceeded to give me her homemade presents. She made me a sun catcher at school and a painted wooden box at daycare. She made me quite a few cards and each of them really did make me smile.

My plan was to sluff church however, Gracyn had to do a "lesson talk" in Primary and she also wanted to sing in sacrament meeting; so off we go to listen to everyone talk about how great their mothers are and how they do this , and they do that, and how they buy their kids this, and let their kids do that, and then I get the looks (or so I feel I get the looks) of "gosh mom, why can't you do that and why don't you let me do that, etc. " I was dragging my feet and had a pretty bad attitude until I came across this most beautiful bouquet of flowers sitting on my car. They were from my good friend, Erin. I just love her!

Gracyn and I did go to church and left after the primary kids sang. I came home and Erin came buy after church and we chatted. Pretty soon the doorbell rang and it was my home teachers. They came over with a Mother's day card and some silly putty. One of them even took Gracy and I over to Sister Marie Callendars for dinner.

I had many texts from friends wishing me a Happy Mother's Day and to top it all off, I was able to talk to my own mother for almost an hour! All in all, I'll just continue to be the best mom I can be and remember this Mother's Day as one of my favorites

STAKE PLAY

2008-05-06T13:34:00.003-06:00

Disney's lavish musical is the classic love story of Belle, a kind-hearted but misunderstood young woman, and the Beast, a pompous prince who has been turned into an animal by the spell of an enchantress. To break the spell, the Beast must learn to love and be loved. Belle could be his chance, if only the Beast can control his anger and find the heart that he never had as a man. But time is running out and if he does not learn his lesson soon, he will be doomed to live in isolation for all eternity. Okay, that sounds innocent enough for a stake play, right?? WRONG!

ANYTHING that is copyrighted without the expressed written consent of the author(s) is absolutely against the law. It does not matter that you will not profit, the point is the writers need to compensated for their work. Disney is especially hard about this but thank goodness for us, the play was available to rent for royalties. The royalties were a bit less because it was for a church production and we weren't charging admission. Needless to say 6 weeks later there were tryouts, rehearsals, costumes, etc... WHAT A TON OF WORK!

I decided not to participate in the production but Gracyn really wanted to be in it. She ended up being a "napkin" and as any biased mother would say, "She was the best and cutest one!"
Long story short, I got sucked into helping with the production doing hair, make-up, props, decorating and anything else you can name. When we started this production, the second counselor in the Stake Presidency said that the purpose of this event was to create unity within our stake. The assistant director remembered thinking that needed to be his focus throughout the whole production. The night of dress rehearsal, there were those who thought this whole thing just wasn’t going to work. The mics weren’t working, we couldn’t get through the whole show without something going wrong, and tensions were rising, etc but it all was worth it when the "green room" was filled with people playing games, teasing and laughing with each other and there is was: FRIENDSHIP.

The show turned out to be a big hit and truly there were many, many, friendships that developed through this and I'm so grateful for the opportunity that both Gracyn and I had to be involved in this play. DEFINITELY a show that will be a highlight for me for the rest of my life.

Strawberry Burritos??

2008-04-21T20:34:00.006-06:00

Monday nights at the Ontiveros house is usually Family Home Evening. Gracyn and I sing songs, go over our calendar for the week, have a lesson (we are focusing on the Book of Mormon this year) and end with treats. Tonight I tried an experiment with Gracyn. We made crepes, filled them with cream cheese and strawberries then topped them off with even MORE strawberries and a bit of whip cream.. YUMMY!

As Gracyn was stuffing her face she said, "Mom, I sure love these strawberry burritos!" That's a sure sign she's Mexican, don't' ya think??

Has Spring Sprung??

2008-04-17T12:43:00.008-06:00

Last Sunday, it felt like Spring had finally sprung here in Utah. The trees were beginning to bud, the grass is getting green and the tulips and daffodils are beginning to bloom. It was close to 72 degrees and the warmth of the sun was wonderful. I stood on the front porch enjoying the warm air and got all excited. Baseball games, outdoor running...

Gracyn took these pictures to send to her Grandma O but they were just too beautiful not to share

HOW BEAUTIFUL

( Popcorn popping on the apricot tree)

THE DAY AFTER, IT LOOKED LIKE THIS.........

Conference Weekend Getaway

2008-04-07T13:26:00.012-06:00

Gracyn and I were invited to spend Conference Weekend down in sunny St. George, Utah. We had so much fun! Gracyn LOVED "hiking" on the petrified sand dunes in Snow Canyon; she could have stayed there all day!

While "hiking" she almost got pricked by this tiny little bugger-a teeny, tiny cactus :)

Gracyn REALLY enjoyed the fact that we were in St. George where "High School Musical 2" was filmed. We got great tans but unfortunately, they were gone by Monday :(

ABC TAGGED

2008-03-26T09:41:00.003-06:00

A- Attached or single: SINGLE!
B- Best Friend: I've had many best friends throughout my life. But I suppose, the corny answer is that Gracyn is my best friend now.
C-Cake or Pie: Cheesecake (it's a cake in a pie)
D- Day of Choice: Saturdays!
E- Essential Item: Stella (my car)
F- Favorite Color: Orange
G- Gummy Bears or Worms: neither. I'm into CINNAMON Bears or CINNAMON worms
H- Hometown: I'd have to say Salt Lake City
I- Indulgence(s): triscuits & cheese balls
J- January or July: July
K-Kids: 1-Gracyn
L-Life is incomplete without: family, laughing or water
M- Marriage Date: in the millennium
N- Number of Siblings: 5 brothers and 2 sisters
O-Oranges or Apples: oranges even though they are a pain in the *&!$#%& to peel
P-Phobias or Fears: heights and water
Q-Quote(s): "In all of living have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed not just endured." President Hinckley
R- Reason To Smile: vacations, Botkinisms, Gracyn's jokes, family and a clean house
S-Something new: work phone number
T-Tag: Tasha and Brit.
U-Unknown Fact About Me: I really hate doing dishes and laundry
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: I've done both.
W- Worst Habit: Procrastination
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds are more exciting but x-rays are cheaper
Y- Your Favorite Food: Smothered Burrito from La Puente
Z-Zodiac: Cusp... Aquarius & Pisces

Easter Time...

2008-03-25T09:20:00.011-06:00

Easter is the time of springtime festivals, a time to welcome back tulips, crocuses and daffodils. It's a time for new dresses, patent leather shoes, chocolate bunnies, colored eggs and peeps!

Easter weekend turned out to be one of those odd but fun weekends. Gracyn got an invite to her friend Sydney's annual Easter egg hunt but Gracyn also had Beauty and the Beast play practice. I was able to steal her from practice for about an hour so she could go play with Syndey for a little bit but, then it was right back to "be our guest". It was about 3 pm and remembered that I hadn't boiled any eggs for Gracyn to color. What is Easter without colored eggs?? I looked in the fridge and found 4 eggs. UGGH! Gracyn and I ran to the store (just to buy eggs), came home and boiled them and while they "cooled" we finished cleaning the house and did more grocery shopping. It wasn't until about 8 pm that we started to color the eggs. We had a really different kit this year that gave the eggs a bit of a "tye-dye" look. Gracyn had a great time coloring them and made eggs for Grandpa, Grandma, Mason and me. She almost forgot to make one for her!

Easter morning, Gracyn found her basket filled with chocolate, jelly beans, coloring books, crayons, a jump rope, a frisbee, t-balls, PEEPS (didn't I mention peeps before? mmmmmmm) and a whole lot of other junk she really didn't need. Next year, I'll have to write a letter to that Easter bunny before he comes! After digging through the basket, we primped and polished up and went to church.

The primary children sang a couple songs in sacrament meeting and all the girls had cute new dresses. Gracyn and I came home, spent some time together and believe it or not were in bed by 7:30 pm!!

Ey, it's St. Patty's day....

2008-03-21T13:36:00.016-06:00

St. Patrick's Day has come and gone but what is this day all about?? Here are some interesting facts about this day:

St. Patrick: The patron saint of Ireland and the Irish, was born about 385 A.D. in Northern Wales. He studied religion in Europe to become a priest and bishop. He then brought Christianity to the Irish by teaching in Ireland for 29 years. According to early Irish tradition, he died on March 17, 461 AD. The anniversary of his death is celebrated as Saint Patrick's Day. St. Patrick is most known around the world as driving all the snakes out of Ireland through trickery.

The symbol of shamrocks: An Irish tale tells of how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.

In the United States, it's customary to wear green on St. Patrick's Day because it is the color of spring, Ireland, and the shamrock. But in Ireland the color was long considered to be unlucky, says Bridget Haggerty, author of The Traditional Irish Wedding and the Irish Culture and Customs Web site. As Haggerty explains, Irish folklore holds that green is the favorite color of the Good People (the proper name for faeries). They are likely to steal people, especially children, who wear too much of the color.

I hope they don't steal this little green O'Ntiveros monster.....

(Green ponytail holder, green soccer shirt, green undershirt, green "scarf", green pants, green panties (hee-hee), green socks and even green fingernail polish!!)

Early 30's or Early 80's??

2008-03-17T11:01:00.014-06:00

Last week was one of the worst weeks! I have had some dental pain for quite sometime now and finally decided to make an appointment with my dentist to have my stinkin' tooth pulled. Little did I know that was just the start of the week.....
Last fall, I was playing a bit of volleyball, came down and landed on my left ankle. I heard a pop and it was bruised and swollen for a bit but I stuck to the R.I.C.E. treatment and thanks to one of my wonderful visiting teachers was able to "rehab" it a bit. Unfortunately, it never really got back to the same it was.
The day before I had my dentist appointment, I got the urge to keep up my running and "tweaked" the ankle again. UGGHH!! I was able to get in to my PCP (Primary Care Physician) who eventually referred me to Dr. Dickerson (the physician for Salt Lake ReAL soccer team). Dr. Dickerson wanted me to get an MRI and lucky for me, I have now torn two of the three ligaments in my ankle.
Now back to the dentist story.......I went to ,my dental appointment on Tuesday but when I got there, they had turned off the water to the building. Dr. Binns x-rayed my tooth that needed to be pulled and said, "there is no way I can do it, I'll have to refer you to a surgeon". Dr. Binns put me on some GREAT pain meds and off I went to the surgeon. Wednesday morning, I drove to Dr. Baldwin and was put out for the procedure. When I woke up, not only did I wake up with mouth pain but with a horrible reaction to the anesthesia. Dr. Baldwin prescribed me some medication for pain, antibiotics and muscle relaxers. Needless to say; here is what my counter looked like after seeing all these doctors.

THANK GOODNESS FOR INSURANCE!!

Cookie Cutters

2008-03-10T10:57:00.009-06:00

I found the best place for kids haircuts! It's called Cookie Cutters and I would recommend it to anyone who has kids! First of all they have a great waiting area with a PlayStation, slides, neon lights, balloons and everything kids!

Their "barber shop" chairs have been replaced with cars, firetrucks, motorcycles, tractors and even a princess carriage. The best part is that they have TVs and PlayStation's at each booth so the kids can either watch a movie or play a game to keep themselves entertained while the hairdresser does her magic.

Not only do they cut their hair, they also style and make them feel like it's all about them! Gracyn loved her haircut on the motorcycle and while watching High School Musical 2, she didn't even notice that she had almost 2 inches cut off! We will definitely go there again!

I love Dinosaurs!!

2008-02-27T21:24:00.008-07:00

(to the tune of "My Darling Clementine")

Mesozoic, Mesozoic! Mesozoic was the time, when the world was full of dinosaurs of ev'ry shape and kind!

I went with Gracyn and her first grade class on a field trip yesterday. We went to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. There were many kids and many adults which made it very nice. I was only in charge of three kids; Gracyn, Jaycee and Sebastian. I think I had the best kids. Here they are "swimming" away from the scary, scary shark and all three of them under that big ol' dinosaur. They kept telling me that if I didn't hurry and take the picture that the dinosaur was going to "come alive" like in the movie Night at the Museum.

Here we are creating a violent world where volcanic eruptions are continuously shaking the land, darkening the sky with ash and sending steaming mudflows surging through the canyons. Okay, okay, they were just playing in the sand with lots of water and plastic dinosaurs but was sure fun teaching them about how earthquakes could demolish their damns in one swoop. Here they are pretending to be famous paleontologists who just discovered a new important dinosaur discovery... a new species called the "thisisthecraziestfieldtripI'veeverbeenon-saurus!!!

And it came to pass....

2008-02-27T20:57:00.009-07:00

"Mom? What does "and it came to pass" mean and why does Nephi keep saying it?"

"It means, then this is what happened next"

"I don't believe you, let's call Grandpa O."

Gracyn calls Grandpa O. (in Oaxaca Mexico, mind you) and asks, "What does "and it came to pass" mean and why does Nephi keep saying it"?

Grandpa O then says... "It means, then what happened.." and in the old days that's how people talked. Kind of like some of your stories say, once upon a time."

"Thanks Grandpa! I had no idea!"

GRRRRR!! Isn't that what I just said??

Gracyn and I have been reading the Book of Mormon. We are only able to read a few verses a night but we are almost at the end of 1st Nephi. Her favorite part to date is when Laban was "smitten by the hair of his head". And it came to pass that this is all I'm writing since we have to read a few verses right now.......

Cindy, Cyndee.... what the heck?!?!

2008-01-20T20:26:00.001-07:00

Here's the story- I was born Cynthia A. Ontiveros but have always gone by Cindy. When I was in the 7th grade, I found my long, lost sister whose name also happened to be Cindy. We did EVERYTHING together; we were connected at the hip. We both enjoyed sports and ended up playing both volleyball and basketball at Evergreen Jr. High together. Although Cindy L was a year older than I was, it was still hard to keep us straight. Of course we couldn't just be known as Cindy L and Cindy O (which eventually became our nicknames) but the spelling apparently just became waaaaay too confusing for our coach. On the roster of one of the very first volleyball games in 1986, the spelling of our names would forever change my ever confusing life!!
Cindy L's name was spelled Cindy and my name was spelled Cyndee. WHAT?!?!? This is how Coach Empey decided to differentiate us and boy did ever catch on like wildfire. Before I knew it, all my teachers were spelling my name “Cyndee”. Since Empey, my math teacher and economics teacher were all BFF’s, they were the first to ruin the easy spelling of Cindy for me. I tried to fight the whole movement when I became a freshman (since Cindy L now attended Granite High) but with no avail; it stuck and there was nothing I could do about it.

The following year, I attended Granite High School. I thought... new school, old name. YEAH!
In the summer of 1989, I tried out for the high school volleyball team (yes, even before school started) and it wasn't long before I became accustomed to look for the name “Cyndee” when Coach Long put out the team roster on the gym door. Needless to say, I didn't even have a chance! Cindy L and I both played on the volleyball team, basketball team and even the softball team; we both even became student body officers. When I got my first job at16, yup you guessed it, I was so used to writing “Cyndee” at school, that it became second nature, and my brand new Smith's name tag had the letters of " C-Y-N-D-E-E".

I must say that the different spelling of our names really did make it easier on both Cindy and I back in the day but since I had to write it differently for so long, it has just stuck. I should change the spelling back to C-I-N-D-Y, but I kind of like having that borderline dual personality thing. It keeps me young and keeps my family and old friends confused as all hell. Ha-ha-ha!!

Mi Padres

2008-01-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

For those of you who may not know, my father is currently serving as temple president and my mother is serving as temple matron for the Oaxaca, Mexico Temple. They have been serving for about 14 months and have just over 22 months to go. My older brother Dan, his wife Linda, and their six month old son, Mason, were able to go visit them for Christmas. Here is a picture of my parents surveying the premises. (aka acting as "tour guides") While they are basking in the sun, I'm basking in envy!!

Friends

2008-01-10T17:31:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking lately about my friends. I have been blessed to have many friends and have had the opportunity to spend a great deal of time with such great people who I can go to in a time of need and there to buoy me up when I'm heartbroken or hurting. But who is my best friend?? As I thought and pondered this I asked myself.. what is my relationship with my Savior? So often when we describe the Savior, the closest relationship we tend to reveal is that He is our brother. Family is and ought to be stronger than friendship - 'blood is thicker than water', they say - but the thing that stands out about friends is that they must be chosen.

In John 15, Christ describes His friendship with His disciples. He begins in verse 13 by noting that "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." The Savior has already proven His friendship for me now it's up to me to prove mine to His. To truly become His friend, I must seek to keep His commandments. As He has already done so much for me, how could I deny Him this? He has asked me for my obedience after He has taken my sins upon His shoulders, but even if I do all that He asks, I can never repay Him. I will forever will be "unprofitable servant" (Mosiah 2:21-25) but He has granted me the right and priviledge to be so much more than a servant - I can be His friend. As I serve Him and keep His commandments, I will draw closer to Him, and rely more and more upon Him. He will forever be my confidante and closest friend; He will always understand my pain and grief, having borne them himself. He is always there for me, willing to be my friend. The only barrier in this friendship is me and how I choose to develop it.

bathrooms.....

2008-01-09T10:39:00.000-07:00

I work in a hospital, so I see many strange things. Things that would have bothered me a few years ago don’t anymore. I usually note strange behavior more than anything else now. Last week I stepped into the women’s room only to be forced back by a woman who was attempting to leave the restroom with her bicycle. It was the first time I’ve seen someone take a bike into the bathroom with them.

Several times I’ve seen women walk into the men’s room, only to realize the mistake and hurry back out blushing. But one day while I was in the hall waiting for a co-worker, I saw a woman walk in, and spend quite a bit of time in there. When she strolled out, she acted like she owned the place. Either she wasn’t really a woman, or she didn’t care, or she didn’t know. Either way, what do I care?!?!
I had one of my most embarrassing moments in a bathroom here at the hospital. I walked into the bathroom to find an older woman with a prosthetic forearm trying to pick a notebook up off of the floor. In an attempt to be useful, I inquired, “Can I give you a hand?” As soon as I said “hand” and looked again at the hook on the end of her arm I realized what an ass I am. She politely declined my help, picked up her notebook and left.
The funniest moment I had in that bathroom was one day when I was standing in line to use a stall when I saw a woman, clad in biking shorts, a backpack and a biker’s helmet enter. She was holding a clear bottle with some pink powder in the bottom. She turned the sink on, filled the water bottle, shook it up, and set it on the counter. She then stooped down to retrieve something from her backpack. Meanwhile, another woman stepped up to the sink, turned the sink on, picked up the biker’s bottle, and poured some of the biker’s “Kool-Aid” on her hands. After rubbing her hands together and rinsing them off, she dried her hands and left the restroom. I wanted to tell her about her mistake, but I figured she may like the sweet aroma of cherries on her hands.

First time for everything

2008-01-08T13:33:00.000-07:00

Here is my first post on my new blog. I'm just getting my feet wet and trying to understand how to make this thing work!