A Midway Memorial Day

For some reason, we didn't have an extravagant plan for the "kickoff" of summer.  This was OK with me.  Now that we're all playing grown up and have a house and kid and such, it was time to plan local activities.  We did take a trip to American Fork on Saturday so I could do some more "research" for girls camp at Costco.  I love that buying food at Costco isn't necessarily cheaper, just BIGGER.  We did find a ginormous bag (10 lbs!) of chocolate chips that I can melt down for pre-fabricated smore graham crackers for only 9 bucks! 

Sunday was Dad's birthday and for once, we let the party come to us!  It was great.  The cousins had a blast playing in the field, we had some good food, Dad got some good presents, and (the best part) we didn't have to drive home!
 

I did work from home a little Monday morning, so we missed the town's pancake breakfast.  Oh well. We'll catch 'em on the Forth.   Later on, we went hiking up Dutch Hollow Canyon, which doesn't actually take you anywhere spectacular like a waterfall or an arch or a lake, but just some random canyon covered in scrub oak and sagebrush.  It's a big haven for mountain bikers, who, I guess, don't spend much time looking up at the scenery anyway.  Because we did something that I wanted to do, next we had to do something that Bevan wanted to do... the driving range!  I welcomed the soft, manicured grass with a view up Snake Creek Canyon (now THAT'S a pretty canyon!) and Anna loved the freedom to walk wherever she wanted, except in front of the other golfers.  She found broken tees, pine cones, and a herd of golf carts!  She was in heaven!  Our next stop was Midway Cemetery to see all the pretty flowers, and visit the only headstone we knew personally, cousin Carey.  The cemetery really was beautiful.  You can tell they take good care of it.  We ended the night with a mini BBQ of hot dogs, chips, potato salad, and some VERY over-priced hot dog buns (thanks local Midway merchant).
   

Can anyone tell me how to turn off the date stamp for a Nokia Coolpix?!  We just got this camera and it's driving me nuts!

Have you ever seen a carseat strapped to a gurney???

We have had the worst luck lately staying healthy.  It all started 2 weeks ago (yes, that long ago) when Anna got a bad goopy eye, followed by a snotty nose, and finally a raspy voice. The next evening, after our walk, I noticed her breathing getting really heavy.  About an hour later, I noticed it getting REALLY bad and she was literally gasping for air!  I started freaking out and called her pediatrician.  I'm so glad he answers at 10PM at night.  Love you Dr. Dave!  He told us to take her in immediately, which we did, to the hospital in Heber.  It was a slow night, so we got in immediately.  They were so quick to get her on oxygen (since her sat. level was only 70%) and even some albuterol.  I just held her the whole time, praying she would relax.  Her heart rate got above 230 bpm and that seemed high to me.  She is such a sweet girl, it broke my heart to see her so miserable.  They didn't know if the rapid pulse was a result of the albuterol or something more serious, so they recommended that she be transferred to Primary Childrens.  I thought we would drive her down ourselves until we saw the ambulance crew in the lobby.  It was all such a blur to me since she didn't want me to let go of her.  They asked if she had a car seat.  Huh???  Oh yeah, I guess you can't strap a baby to a gurney very well.  I rode with her and Bevan followed behind us.  We made great time, although I got a little "car-sick" riding in the back.  The ER at Primary Childrens was hopping!  But we saw somebody immediately, actually a lot of people.  Among the oxygen treatments and steroids, she was finally diagnosed with croup, which is an inflammation of the larynx, caused by a regular cold virus gone really bad.  That really explained it.  When things settled down and she started falling asleep (it was 1AM by then) I started noticing things,  like a timer on her monitor of how long we've been there.  I also noticed how every doctor and nurse there was younger than me!  Seriously!  These beautiful, young women were MD's!  If I had stayed in school, I to could be a doctor fulfilling my residency working the night shift.  It gave me a new perspective.  After 2 hours and 5 minutes, they discharged us with some backup steroids and instructions to keep a humidifier on her while she sleeps.  That's it!  Stupid viruses have to go away on their own, I guess.  Anyway, we rolled back into Midway by 3AM and we all fell into bed.

After the scare with Anna, we were all to pleased to see her improve so rapidly, within 2 days!  THEN Bevan gets a sore throat and a few days later I wake up feeling crummy!  Bevan bounced back pretty quickly but I got stuck with an ear infection.  Even 7 days of antibiotics later, I still can't hear out of my right ear!  It's so annoying!  What a cold virus!  I'll be happy when we're ALL healthy again.  Cuddling a sick baby shouldn't come with retribution.

Mother's Day Miracle

We all thought that Anna's "walking" had plateaued about a month ago.  She refused to take any initiative and walk on her own!  That was until Mothers Day.  All of the sudden it clicked!  We sat in an area at church where she had some room to practice.  She just got up, and started walking.  It was back and forth, back and forth, almost the whole time and suddenly she was a pro.  Needless to say, I wasn't paying attention at all to "mother I love you, mother I do...."  or any of the speakers.  Bevan and I were shocked and couldn't take our eyes off her.  She was able to show off to Grandma Beverly and Grandpa Lloyd later on at dinner.  I was so confident I even dressed her in LIGHT-COLORED pants, even though we were eating outside (I was so tired of scrubbing the knees). 
We had a fabulous barbecue followed by some essential croquet lessons. I really needed the Lewis gang to back me up! We just sat and talked for the evening while Anna walked in circles around us. Now I need to start thinking about new tasks, like how to keep her out of the street, what if she figures out doorknobs, and can she climb a bookcase? I guess we'll find out!