Good-bye tonsils & adenoids!!

Our poor little Caleb buddy had to have surgery!! He had to have his tonsils and adenoids removed and have new ear tubes put in. We went in thinking it was only going to be ear tubes replaced...but instead he had the whole works done! One look at his tonsils and the doctor said they had to come out! Caleb was a trooper but it was quite the ordeal for our little buddy. What a terrible surgery to have done.

 

Caleb had a really hard time following surgery. It was an outpatient surgery so soon after surgery he was released to go home. He had so much pain and the pain medicine just didn't seem to help him. He was also quite nauseous and couldn't keep anything down. He was pretty miserable. Three days after surgery he was down 2.5 lbs. He wasn't keeping anything in him and refused to eat or drink. We decided it was time to go to the ER. They put an IV in Caleb and gave him morphine, anti-nausea medicine, and fluids. He was so dehydrated. As the medicine started working he began feeling a little better. In fact he even asked for a burrito for lunch, he hasn't wanted to eat anything for several days! We were sorry we had to take him back to the hospital but grateful it helped him get feeling better.

 

It took a good two weeks for Caleb to feel better. Even his behavior and mood were effected by the surgery. he was so teary and would cry over everything. He just didn't feel great. Finally after two weeks after surgery Caleb was back to his happy self eating cheeseburgers and french fries! His two week check-up went great. His throat was healed, his ears were clear for the first time in several months, and he was back to his happy cheerful self again! 

I felt so bad for Caleb, I hated seeing him have pain and suffering. As a parent that is the worse thing: watching your child have to go through pain and suffering. I wish there was some way I could have taken on his hardship instead of him. But I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who heard our prayers and blessed our Caleb to get feeling better!

A day in the great outdoors!

What could be better than a nice summer adventure in the forest? Well....maybe a nice relaxing summer day in an air-conditioned house! We decided to have a family outing up the Manti La-Sal National Forest. It was a beautiful day, a little hot, but a fun day for fishing, a picnic, and hiking!

We found a nice lake for fishing. It was scenic but I don't think there were any fish in the lake!

We tried and tried to catch a fish but we didn't even get a nibble! Sometimes we have good luck fishing and other times not even one fish!

Next it was time for a hike! We parked one car at the top of the trail and the other car at the end of the trail. It was a total of 5.5 miles and for a prego-mama that is a long hike! Mara enjoyed collecting things along the hike: flowers, rocks, snail shells, sticks...etc.!!

This was a pretty good hike, except it was long! We followed the stream most of the way and saw several water-falls on the hike. 

Caleb hiked part of the hike but needed a few rides along the way! Sometimes he wants to hike on his own, other times he wants to ride! We didn't realize the difficulty of this hike. We thought it was down hill the entire way...little did we know it was up hill AND down hill! Mara did great but she even got tired and needed to ride on her daddy's shoulders! Which meant Caleb wanted me to hold him! Carrying TWO kids is quite the workout!

Along the hike the boys looked for bones...(for Ty's bone collection!) but amazingly enough Nate found a birds nest with eggs in it amid the sagebrush! Only Nate's good eye could have found such a thing!

We FINALLY made it to the car! I didn't think my legs were going to make it! We were all pretty exhausted after such a long hike and I don't think my legs have ever been so sore!!

It was a fun adventure and I'm glad we could spend quality time as a family!

The newest cub scout!

Although Ty hasn't officially turned eight he has officially started cub scouts! Because Ty has a summer birthday he is allowed to join the scout troop when school is out. He is so excited to be a scout!

Ty went to his first scout pack meeting. Some things never change...like pack meetings! After going to pack meetings as a kid for my brother's I realized everything about scouts is the same...including the cheers and chants!! 

Ty has so many friends his age in scouts! I'm so glad he has lots of friends and good examples in scouts.

Ty was welcomed into scouts and given his own scout bag for his book and all his scouts things! He is going to be a great scout just like his dad! Too bad his dad can't be the scout master for five more years and have Ty in his troop.

Final Dance Recital!

Mara finished her dance for the year! She did a great job at Stars Dance! This dance program has been a great experience for Mara. She learned a lot and I could tell it helped her learn and grow! She made lots of new friends and really liked her dance teachers.

 Mara had her final dance concert at the college. She did an awesome job! I was so proud of her and it was sure fun watching her perform her dances she worked so hard on all year.

 What a little princess girl! She just loved getting all fancy for her dance recitals! She never complained when it was time to do her hair and make-up! She thought it was pretty cool! 

 

 Mara in action! She is such a cute little dancer! I could tell she really enjoyed dancing!

A few clips from Mara's dance recital:

This was my favorite dance of Mara's! She took both ballet and hip-hop. This was her creative dance/ballet.

This was the hip-hop dance they learned.

 Way to do Mara Lew! What sweet-sweet girl and pretty dancing girl!

 

Mara's favorite thing about the dance this year was having her friend Kyanna in her dance class with her! They are such cute little friends!

 

 

 What a bunch of cute girls!

First fishing trip of the year!!

Our first fishing trip of the season was very successful! The pond was full of fish and we had the right bate to catch several fish!

 I'm so glad Nate will get the fish off the hook! That is the one part of fishing I just can't stand!

 Mara caught a few fish which made her very happy!

 And this 'cool dude' (as we like to call him with his glasses on) even pulled in a fish or too--that is when he could sit long enough to hold the pole! He was too busy to sit and fish!!

 Ty is really into fishing! He takes it quite seriously! He couldn't even turn around to have his picture taken!! He is quite a good little fisherman!

  

Check out that BIG fish! Way to go Ty! He caught the biggest fish of the night! We took home all the fish we caught and had them for dinner the next night! They were very tasty!

Nice job Nate! Thanks for being such a great dad and taking your kids fishing! It sure was a fun family outing!! Can't wait to do it again!