Cascade Springs

Ella's eyes started to water and swell while we were there. Not sure what the allergy was because she did fine the rest of the summer. And, apparently she was hungry. 

End of Year Kindergarten Cowboy Program

Macy and her teacher, Mrs. Tomlinson. We loved her teacher!

Macy's Dance 2013

The posing was all her. She is a ham. Love it!

Spring Break 2013

We started out spring break Friday with the neighborhood egg hunt. After that, we were off to St. George.

The Easter bunny came Saturday morning and the girls loved the bubble machine she (I say she, Macy says he) gave them to share.

Easter dresses

We have been to St. George many times and this was one of my favorite trips there. We did so many things we have never done before. The wildlife museum was great for the girls and us. They give the kids little binoculars to use, which I thought was adorable. 

We drove to Gunlock state park hoping to see the falls. Unfortunately, there was no water right now. I was really disappointed and want everyone who goes down in the next few months to try to see them. Since they weren't falling we decided to follow a sign to another reservoir. This ended up to be a long drive up a dirt road with no lake in sight and we finally turned around to save the new van, but on the way home from this we were able to see the old volcano in Veyo. Macy is very into volcanos so it ended on a good note.

Some other new things we tried included the St. George art museum, which was okay. The kids liked painting at the end and the exhibits rotate and it was cheap so we may try it again. The other great new experience was the Water Walk. At the top of Main Street is a little walk to a fishing hole and a hike. We had a great time here!

We are so lucky Ella is so happy and easy going. She spent a lot of time in the stroller and the car seat.

And of course, there was swimming, many trips to parks, tennis, walks, and lizard catching. We were there from Friday to the following Saturday and were still not ready to come home. 

We are so grateful to Grammy and Grampy for sharing their house with us. It is a magical place!

Ella's Very Bad Day (January 14, 2013)

I wanted to write down our experience because I feel so blessed with all the little things that happened that kept the situation from getting scary. Such a strong reminder again of how Heavenly Father is watching out for our little family and especially our sweet Ella.

Little Ella has been diagnosed with asthma so little colds turn bad quickly. On Thursday, January 10th I noticed she was wheezing a little bit and watched her closely. Friday afternoon I started albuterol breathing treatments every four hours even throughout the night. She was very miserable throughout the night, panting and wheezing and pulling on her ear. So I took her in Saturday knowing she had an ear infection and wanting advice on how to manage the asthma better. Our pediatrician wasn't it so we saw one of his associates. Turns out she had a double ear infection. He gave her two breathing treatments in the clinic and added an inhaled daily preventive to the granule preventive she was already taking.

Ella's breathing was still labored on Monday morning so I called for another appointment. I wanted to see our doctor this time so I reluctantly agreed to take the only appointment he had available at 4:30 that afternoon. About a half an hour later I noticed her fingers and lips were blue. I called the clinic right away and took her in. 

I saw the new doctor who was very nice. Ella's stats weren't so bad when we first got there but as they gave her a breathing treatment her oxygen levels started plummeting. At that moment the adorable MA for our pediatrician walked in. She had heard we were there and wanted to stop in and say hi. She smiled looked at the machine and very calmly said I'll be right back. About 20 seconds later she was there with an oxygen tank. She turned Ella to 100% oxygen, all very calmly, making small talk. She left the room again and came back in a minute later to say, "the ambulance is on the way." What!?

So, little Ella earned herself a full lights and siren ride to Primary Children's hospital.

her shirt was soaked with drool

She was diagnosed with RSV. We were fortunate that she only had to stay in the hospital for 24 hours. They needed the room and sent us home with Ella still on oxygen. 

Having a baby at home on oxygen had its own challenges. The oxygen machine is so loud, I have no idea how people can sleep with them on. She kept pulling the canula out of her nose, I was so nervous all night. 

The next morning I needed to take her back to the doctor to be checked. I could not get the darn tubing out to put it on the travel oxygen tank. It was a total joke. So I hurried and put her in the car to run to the doctor's office without the oxygen, feeling like a terrible mom. Luckily, once we got there her levels were fine and that was considered a good enough trial and we were allowed to stop the oxygen. We were so lucky to put the whole thing behind us in less than a week. Just in time for JD and I to get the flu. JD's was the worst case our clinic saw all winter. 

Whew, we are glad that winter is over!

Salt Flats- September 2012

I have wanted to take the girls' picture at the salt flats for a couple of years now. Here are a bunch of pictures we took. My brother, Greg, took most of them. The salt flats are so cool.