Monday, August 23, 2010

When Heavenly Father is by your side

I'm back from our vacation... scratch that... our adventure....scratch that....I'm going to call it our trip of miracles with the beautiful little soul on this planet.

I'd like to say that our cruise was 100% amazing but as you read on...it might not sound like that. In the end you will know why I call it a trip full of miracles and why I say that my Heavenly Father has been by my side.

Sierra and I got to Long beach a "little" late but safe! We boarded the plane and it was taking a LONG time to take off. Why? Because the pilot "felt" like there was a problem, went down to look at the wheels, and saw that there was a huge nail in one of them. So while we were on the plane they came and completely changed the tire. Thank goodness he looked because our wheel could have been flat by the time we landed and it could have caused an accident.

It was a beautiful day in Long Beach and Sierra immediately jumped into the pool and played on the waterslide.
On our day in Mexico, Sierra was excited about ONE thing...riding the horses.
I had booked us an excursion to ride horses on a beautiful trail over looking the ocean. The scene was breath taking! She was thrilled when they told her she was going to be riding one named, Chihuahua. Everything was great!
After the ride we ate tacos and everyone went over to take pictures with the horses that they had tied up.


Here's where it goes bad. My stomach aches just thinking about it.
Everyone was taking turns taking pictures with the horses.
Notice the horse that Sierra is standing next too? Most people took pictures with him. Soon after, everyone starting taking pictures with the horse next to him. We'll just call him horse B.
We were getting ready to leave and started walking away. People were still around the horses. All of a sudden horse B kicked his leg back and even though Sierra wasn't very close. He got her right in the stomach. It immediately dropped her and knocked the wind out of her.
I was standing pretty close to her and yanked her away.
One of the helpers got her and picked her up. Sierra was still not able to breath. It seemed like forever but really it was just a few moments.
We ran over to the bus and rushed back to take her to the hospital.
They were really good with her and stayed with us until we left the hospital.
Here's where I KNOW that Heavenly Father is by our side and miracles happen.
The horse kicked her on right side and just a hair underneath her rib cage. If he had kicked her there it would have caused serious damage.
They were awesome with her in the hospital. They did an ultrasound to see that there was no damage and that there was no internal bleeding.
About an hour at the hospital she was actually feeling a ton better and was smiling when I would talk to her. I asked her if she was okay and what she was thinking and her eyes filled with tears, "mommy, my feelings are hurt because the horse kicked me and he's probably going to get in trouble and I really loved him!" It was nothing about pain, it was all emotional.
I told her she was lucky he didn't get her even harder and on her rib cage. She said, "Mommy it's because Heavenly father is by my side". He really was.

So I'd like to say that the story ends there, but it doesn't. As many of you know, Sierra was a condition called, Hereditary Spherocytosis. She has abnormal red blood cells and the white ones don't recognize them and kill them. The spleen also has a lot to do with this condition and if it's enlarged it can cause more problems and may have to be removed.
The technician came in and should have only checked the side that she was hurt but started checking everything. I noticed that he started spending more time on the opposite side...the side that her spleen in on. I asked him what was going on and he told me that he noticed her spleen was large. He said it was due to her HS and to take her in when we got back home.
This is another miracle. Even though it's not what I wanted to hear, it's good that we found out. In June they had checked her and her spleen was fine. Now just two months later, her spleen has grown and it could mean surgery for her. Not detected? It could mean a lot worse.

We left there with Sierra feeling soooo much better and back to herself. I was SHOCKED!
She wanted to go shopping and play.
I was worried but she promised me that she was okay.
So off we went. I told her we'd hang out for a bit and then we'd go back to the ship.
Sierra had the time of her life! That day she played, swam, went on a scavenger hunt with a group of kids, ate, etc. That night she Karaoke'd! She received an award! LOL
She was spoiled by the Carnival cruise dr.'s who called to check on her everyday. She came home with shirts, back packs, stuffed animals, and more!
So that's the story. My little Sierra is running around right now playing with her dogs and has told everyone how Heavenly Father is by her side and how much fun she had. Best part? When she put her forehead next to mine so she was looking at me eye to eye and said, "mommy, I love you. I had the best time of my life".
Thanks for letting me share my trip of miracles with you!!
Hugs,
Suzy West

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Fun stuff with My Paper Tree House Kit

Yesterday I went to a crop at Scrapbook Depot in San Carlos!! A group of us get together every month to scrap and hang out. It's always fun to see everyone and to get projects done.
Here's what I did using the new My Paper Tree House monthly Kit!! The kit is filled with the entire Life is Good line by Echo Park and a lot of different embellishments. You all know how much I love Echo Park so it was easy doing these layouts.

The little blue pearls? I bought regular pearls and just dropped them into Shimmerz Pearlz by Shimmerz. The color is so bright and it looks so cool in real life because it fully coats it and it kinda looks like a little candy that you can eat. LOL
Here's how you do the top right of the page.

Even though I don't get a lot done I certainly have a great time!
Looking forward to scrapping with everyone again.
Hugs
Suzy West

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Fun class at Scrapbook Depot!!!!!

Attn: San Francisco, bay area scrappers!!!!
This class is for you!

I'm super excited about teaching this project that I made for Echo Park's booth at CHA!!
You will be playing with all their fun new papers, stickers, and more!!!
Besides their line...see those little epoxy's and clear buttons? You'll also get to play with Epiphany Crafts little tools!!! You'll make your OWN epoxy's!!!

The class is on: Sunday, August 29th
time: 1pm-3pm
cost: $40.00--everything included!!!

So it get's even better!!!!!!
See this girl right here? Read below....
This is Gina!! She works for Cannon. She's going to be bringing all her printers and after we create our books...you will get to print your favorite pictures FOR FREE!! That way, you can print them the size you want...(lots of cool little sizes--look at my blog post below)
and put them in your fun book!!
So come and join us for an awesome day!!!!
To sign up, call 650-592-2767

Have a great day!!!
Hugs, Suzy West

Monday, August 16, 2010

"the challenge" and my new toys!!!

Last Friday the four of us got together to get our scrap on at Scrapbook Territory! I started playing with the camera and had fun taking crazy pictures.
I told each one that we had to do a challenge and that was to scrap at least one of the pictures that I had taken.

Here's what Sarah De Guzman made
Here's the one that Gina Lideros made
Here's Tricia Wilson's layout
and here are the two that I made.
The first one I made using the products in the For the Luv of Art kit
Here is another quick one that I made using product that April from Studio Calico gave me in Chicago. If that wasn't cool enough already...
Today I got a nice little box full of her NEW MISTERS!!!!! They are awesome!!!
How awesome??? well the box came about 40 minutes ago and I couldn't wait to play with them...so I've created this and now I'm blogging about it. LOL
The product had it's debut at CHA!!!
I'm NUTS over them already!
I love that they dry almost immediately! SERIOUSLY!
They don't have glimmer on them...to me it's like I'm using spray paint. They are so cool!!!
No matter what color you spray on...it's color stays true!
Oh how I love you!!!!! :)

Thanks for looking!!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

A weekend full of friends and scrapping!!!!

On Friday night I got together with a lot of my good friends at one of my favorite scrapbook stores, Art Inspired in Brentwood!!!!

It was great to hang out with everyone and do a little bit of scrapping...and by little I mean nothing. LOL I did manage to eat, hang out, buy something, and eat some more. LOL



Love this picture of the girls

Here's another one of us just being ourselves. LOL



On Saturday I met up with my good friend Gina who works with Cannon and hung out with her at a fun event in Martinez. It was great to do some scrapping, eat, and really bond with her. I just love that girl!

Every photo in my project is printed with a Cannon printer that I love!!! It's freaking awesome and has a lot of cool features!

I had done a quick photo shoot of my daughter and loved all the pictures so every project I did that night was with her pics.

Check out the cool picture in this layout. Love the fun look of it.

I used Girl's Paperie and used the beautiful blue SHIMMERZ color to color in the measuring tape and the dress form!!!! LOVED IT!!!!

Margie had given me a ton of her Girls Paperie products to create with. Yesterday I went to town!!!! (check out the cute photos in different sizes through out the book: Cannon printer)

I made the project using my newest book: Spunky Sprout by Punky Sprouts.

I also use the Shimmerz to color the flowers, canvas, and more!!! Love their colors!!! They dry really fast too!! if you haven't picked some up you should!!!!!










Thanks for looking!!!

Friday, August 13, 2010

Beautiful inside and out

This morning we all went over to my parents house to eat and hang out. Angel looked so cute I had to take pictures!! I took out my camera and did a quick photo shoot!

Every time I'd look at her through the camera, I was just wow'd at how beautiful she is.
I love this gal! She's not only beautiful on the outside, she's beautiful on the inside too!
I'm proud to be her mom and honestly....she and my mom are my best friends!
Even though she wakes me up every morning, I look forward to my phone calls.
I love that we laugh at everything and that she's as crazy as I am. LOL
Tonight...I'm so excited that the two of us are going to get our scrap on! It's going to be awesome!!









Wednesday, August 11, 2010

So excited about our cruise!!

A couple of weeks ago Sierra asked me if we could stay at a hotel. I asked her what for and she said she just wanted to stay the night at a hotel. I was really busy that day so I just quickly booked us a night at one of my favorites close by. LOL
Later on that evening it dawned on me that she wanted to go on another trip so I went on line to look for some last minute deals. Well...I didn't see any last minute deals but as I was looking, I glanced over and saw this picture...a ship!
I went a little nuts and just booked us a trip there and then.
I LOVE cruises and couldn't wait to tell Sierra about it!
When I showed her the ship she almost pee'd her pants! She was so thrilled!!
We leave in less than two weeks.
We are going mini golfing on the ship
and playing in the pool
We are booking our excursions. She picked horseback riding and Kayaking.
She's also going to be spending some time in the kids section while I go get a massage! LOL
I can't wait to spend quality time with just her. No cell phones or computers!
Hugs, Suzy West

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Flashdance!!!

The other night Tricia and I went to Scrapbook Territory to "scrap!"
While "scrapping" we took a break because Tricia wanted to show off her "flashdance" moves! LOL As we know H20 is involved so we got the water out.
It was supposed to go straight up in the air but "gravity" made it go towards her and...well...she had her flashdance moment!! LOL



notice...the bottle is straight up...and not towards her! LOL


We all DIED laughing after!!!! LOL
Thanks Sarah for capturing the moment! LOL