4th of July

We went camping and 4-wheeling up in the Uintas over the 4th of July weekend. We met up with my mom, Jim, Daniel, Aunt Karen and Uncle Gene. My cousins Staci and Kjerstin and their families came up the next day, just before we were about to leave so we didn't get to spend much time with them. This was Ryan's first time camping, and he handled it like a champ. We got some fun pictures, but I'm still kicking myself for leaving the camera at camp when we went on a "short" ride. The views were beautiful with the wildflowers in full bloom. We also saw a cow moose and her calf! We stopped along the trail for a quick break, and it just happened to be about 20 yards from the moose just downhill from the trail. It was pretty neat, but also a little unnerving. We stayed pretty close to the 4-wheelers and kept an eye on her. Neat experience though. Weekends like this make me really look forward to moving back to Utah so we can do more things like this with family.

Grandpa brought his gas-powered remote control car. The 'boys' had a good time playing with it on the dirt roads.
Marianne and Ammon in front, Uncle Gene bringing up the rear in his new, smooth-ride Grizzly.

Oregon Trip

The kids and I made a trip up to Oregon to visit my Dad, Theresa, Logan and Samuel. My sister, Michelle and her daughter, Danica, also drove down from Washington and my grandparents came up from Fresno. It was really nice to see everyone, since we don't get the chance to travel up that direction very often. (Sorry Tim and Anja, timing was really bad so we weren't able to come down, we'll have to try again later.)

Grandpa Mike with Ammon

Grandpa Mike with Ryan

The "Snake Hunt"

Lola, Michelle, Ammon and Danica

Great Grandma and Grandpa with Ammon and Ryan

Four generations! (Ryan was taking a nap)

Ammon and Danica cooling off, it doesn't reach 100 degrees in this part of Oregon very often!

Dad and Theresa watching the kids play in the pool.

Cousins

Kids with Uncles Logan and Samuel

Ryan update continued...

We thought this was all over, but we got a phone call this morning from the ER doctor saying that one of Ryan's blood cultures grew bacteria, so we had to go back in for antibiotics. Luckily they decided not to do another IV, he just got at shot in each leg and he takes an oral dose for the next 10 days. We were really surprised they called us back because he was acting like he felt so much better. So, the poor kid had two viruses and a bacteria (I'm not sure exactly which one he had, they just told me the family of bacteria; it's in the family that causes bacterial pneumonia, strep, and staph). I sure hope my life gets boring again soon.

Ryan update

Ryan is doing much better today. No fever and he can breathe easily. We went in for an ER follow up, and we found out he didn't just have croup. He had rhinovirus (common cold) and parainfluenza type 2. They are still watching a couple bacteria cultures to see if anything grows, but the doctor is pretty confidant that was it. Since it's a virus and he's doing so much better, we don't have to go back and no medication! Hopefully things will settle down around here now.

Emergency Room :(

I had my first experience taking a child to the emergency room this morning. I imagined Ammon would be the first to go with some sort of injury from jumping off something, but I was wrong. I woke up to a sound that sounded like the dog barking and a weak cry at 3:30 this morning. Ryan was making both noises as well as snorting and gagging on junk running down his throat. When I went to pick him up, he felt really hot. We all got a yucky cold, and he started having the same symptoms yesterday, but I was worried with how hot and weak he was. I checked his temp and the armpit reading was 102.6! After giving him Tylenol and feeding him, I checked it again and it was still 101.5. So, I packed him in his carseat and headed to the ER. I was hoping they would tell me to just give him more fluids and Tylenol, but they were as concerned as I was, especially since the rectal temperature was 103.4 after having Tylenol in his system. The poor little guy went through quite an ordeal. In just a couple hours, he had a thermometer stuck up his bum several times, a "pee bag" taped to him, two pokes for an IV, 240 mL saline pumped through his IV, snot sucked from his sinuses twice, a lumbar puncture, chest X-rays, and an arm bar to keep his IV from coming out. After all that, the doctor was still concerned about him because he wasn't putting up much of a fight and he was acting too sick to send home. So, Ryan and I got a lovely ambulance ride up to Primary Childrens Hospital. He got checked out by the pediatrician and they gave him a steroid to reduce the inflamation in his throat and an antibiotic. We're still waiting on the results from the cultures to see if he has a bacterial infection, but for the meantime, they're treating it like croup. We were able to take him home (the nurse told us we're really lucky, they hardly ever send babies home the same day after having a fever that high), we just have to take him back in the morning to the doctor to be looked over again and get his second round of antibiotics. He has been so sleepy, but a real sweety for how bad he feels and everything he's been through today. I'm so grateful for the hospital staff we worked with today, they were awesome! I think I handle emergency situations and times like this pretty well, but they made it even easier to stay relaxed and help Ryan be as comfortable as possible.

Disneyland

Here are some of the highlights of our Disneyland/Southern California vacation. Jeff, me, Ryan, and Ammon as well as my brother, Daniel, Bryan and Dana (Jeff's parents) and Ginny (Jeff's sister) made the trip. The pictures are somewhat misleading though... Ammon is pretty happy in most of these pictures. He didn't take a nap the entire trip, so I'll let you use your imagination of what the other moments were like.
http://www.rockyou.com/show_my_gallery.php?source=ppsl&instanceid=115249611

Catching up

As expected, we've had a very busy last couple of weeks. My last day of work was on Monday, June 2nd. We packed and got everything ready to head out to Utah on Tuesday. Drove on Wednesday (Ryan cried for half of the 14 hour drive). Jeff started work on Thursday, then we drove to Elko that night for a quick visit. Came back to Salt Lake Saturday afternoon for a barbecue with friends. Church and a birthday party on Sunday. Jeff worked while I got everything packed for Disneyland on Monday. We flew to California early Wednesday morning and got back late Saturday night. Here we are Monday, and I think we're still recooperating. The craziness has not ended, but at least we can take a quick breather before heading back to Elko for my Mom's birthday this weekend and flying to Oregon on the 25th!