Category: Family

More summer pictures

Lucas made some milkshakes for everyone
Checking out the animals at Reed’s Dairy
Taking a break by the river after checking out the farmers’ market
#GoCougs
Lucas ready for football
McKinley wanted the foot bath but Samuel had to join as well
Sam loves the cats

 

Trying out the tire swing
I love the look he’s giving 🙂
Beautiful sunset
Washing cars
McKinley has wanted to ride a horse for a long time and she finally was able to! Someone in our ward has horses and said we could come ride whenever wanted, so McKinley was super excited

William was brave enough to try riding as well and he loved it

Quick Utah trip

End of July we decided to make a quick trip down to Utah. We hadn’t been in awhile and Lucas was going to be starting football, limiting our options on going places. It was fun to spend some time with family.

Playing at the splash park

Brain freeze

Playing in the water
Climbing on rocks

He wanted to climb on rocks like everyone else
Best buds (usually)

Hiking up a trail
Playing with cousins

Concert

I had gotten Kryssi tickets to see Tim McGraw and Faith Hill for Christmas, and somehow I got roped in to going with her. I don’t particularly like country music, so I didn’t know any of the songs, which makes it hard to enjoy a concert. But they did put on a good show and I had a good time. At one point, both Tim and Faith walked through some aisles where the crowd was, and they walked just a few feet from where we were sitting. Kryssi embarrassed me and pushed her way forward a bit and reached out and touched Tim. I think it was her favorite part of the show though!

Outside the arena. Had to get a picture of the Jazz logo
On the “red carpet”
Ready for the show

Faith Hill stopping right in front of us
Tim McGraw walking right by us. Kryssi’s in there somewhere, with a bunch of other women who rushed forward

Lucas’ 10th Birthday

It’s hard for me to believe that I have a 10 year old! I’ve been a father for a decade! Definitely makes me feel old.

Lucas had a party with some of his friends, going to Leo’s place, playing games there and having pizza. We then had family over that night for cake and ice cream, and then he stayed up late watching a movie. We are so lucky to have Lucas in our family. Over the past year he’s been such a great help around the house, doing anything that we ask of him, and being a great example to his siblings.

Breakfast cereal he picked out
Opening some presents while we skype with my parents
Talking to grandma and grandpa
Opening presents!
Trying out his new ripstick. Didn’t take him long to get the hang of it
New birthday clothes
The cake he wanted, a design from Zelda

4th of July

We didn’t do much for the 4th this year, which was fine to have a more laid back celebration. I had a few fireworks we did earlier in the day, though Samuel and William were pretty scared of those. We then went over to Kryssi’s parent’s house that night for dinner and then they took Lucas and McKinley to bike into the fireworks. Kryssi and I went home and watched the fireworks from our front yard, which was nice.

Doing poppers. William wasn’t scared of these, though Samuel was
No one wanted to get any closer than on the deck for fireworks

Sparklers!

William’s surgery

At the end of June, William had his tonsils removed. It was something we had talked about for awhile, and every time he had a checkup with the doctor, they would mention how big his tonsils were. He snored pretty bad at night as well as his breathing didn’t sound the best, so the doctor was worried about sleep apnea.

We finally decided to get it done this summer, so he would have plenty of recovery time, as we heard the recovery from this surgery can be rough. The surgery itself went great, he woke up from the anesthesia fairly well, all things considered, and a couple hours after we got home, he was acting pretty normal.

He was kind of up and down for the next 8 or 9 days, pretty grouchy and whiny, but very rarely did he complain about any pain. He mostly just took tylenol, instead of the stronger prescription pain killer he had prescribed. I think the biggest issue was he couldn’t eat as well, so that made him grouchier then normal. Nights were also rough, as I think his throat would dry out when he slept, so he’d wake up every couple hours crying. If I could get him to take a couple drinks, he’d usually be fine and go back to sleep.

But after that, he was pretty much normal, which was great. We were told it could be 2 weeks for recovery, so he did better then that. He now sleeps basically silent, which were still getting used to. I go and check on him before I go to bed and I can never hear him now, so I have to go farther into his room to make sure he’s okay. I’m sure I’ll adjust soon though 🙂

Ready for surgery
The hospital let him pick out a stuffed animal, which he was excited about
Getting ready to roll out
After surgery, trying to wake up. He didn’t really cry but wanted me to hold him the entire time

EIRMC family fun day

For the last couple years, EIRMC has hosted a Family Fun Day in the summer, where the main attraction is a teddy bear clinic. They give out free teddy bears and then you take them through multiple stations, progressing from getting checked into the hospital, getting prepped for surgery, having surgery and then getting released. It’s meant to prepare kids that end up needing to go to the hospital not be as scared.

There is also free lunch and a bunch of other games and activities you can do, most of them free. It started to pour on us right when we finished lunch, so we went running to our car and left at that point. But the kids got their teddy bears, so they were happy.

William got a free bag and some other goodies
Meeting Charlie the Chukar while in line
Waiting in line
Getting the bear checked out

Samuel loved his bear
All done through surgery