Hair affair

I got my hair cut again the other day. This growing my hair back out thing is going to take forever at this rate! I keep having to trim and reshape so that it looks decent as it grows out. If I ever get it long again remind me not to cut it again! Actually, I have all the reminder I need here in my own house. This was the conversation when Jackson saw me when I came home from the salon.

Jack: Mommy, your hair looks bediculouse. Maybe it should be longer.

Me: Really Jackson, why do you say that?

Jack: Long hair is pretty, short hair is kind of bad.

Yeah, I don't think I will have a problem keeping it long if it ever grows out again.

Jackson making silly faces for mommy

Artist link

My sister Jordan, is an amazing artist. I thought I would share the link to her website on my blog. It is http://jordandainesart.com/ . I love her work and they way it reminds me of home. Enjoy.

The Smith River, cont.

We just got the pictures from out friends the Smiths from our river trip last weekend, so I thought I would post some more pictures and tell you a little more about our trip.

Our trip began 16 May, and we woke up before 7 am to load the boat and trailer and drive the 2.5 hrs to the launch ramp 20 miles outside White Sulfur Springs. When we arrived at 11 am we found out that we were the last ones there for the day and there were no campsites available until 24 miles in. It was 1pm when we were finally floating down the river, and we were a little worried as the water flow at the start was slow. Thank goodness for a full moon, because that is all we had when we pulled in just before 10 pm (even with Mitch rowing for 3 hours straight).

The Bear Outside our tent

When we arrived at Sunset Cliffs we hurried and set up camp. We were cold and tired, so dinner was short and we were in bed almost as soon as the sleeping bags were unrolled. I fell asleep immediately, I woke up a few hours later to Wesson, (the Smith's dog) growling. It was a little annoying but I thought nothing of it, and fell back to sleep. A few hours later the growling woke me again. This time I heard April ask Christian what Wesson was growling at. Christians response; A BEAR! Now, I was really awake and so was Mitch. April and Christian were looking out the tent door at the bear maybe 20 feet away on a cliff above our tent. I was tempted to go over and look but I was too scared to move. I looked over at the doorway and saw the shadow of Christian's gun, and that made me feel so much better. If we didn't have that gun, I don't think I would have slept again the whole trip. Christian said that if the bear had made any motion toward the tent would have shot a warning at the tree which should have scared him away. After a few minutes, that felt like hours, the bear walked away. I don't think he was a fan of Wesson's growling. I am so grateful for the dog who warned us and to Colt, or Browning or Smith and Wesson (do you get the dog's name now?) or whoever I need to be grateful to for the gun. When it was all over we were able to talk for a little while about how exciting that experience made our already super cool trip.
Since I married Mitch I have had way too many close encounters with bears! I wonder how many bears a person can see before one eats you? I hope that I never find out!

The next morning was beautiful with our site right across the river from sunset cliffs. We only had 16 miles to travel that day so we had a lazy morning of fishing, hiking and sitting around camp. We cooked hot dogs for lunch, and when we were back on the river, enjoyed another sunny, warm day with unbelievable scenery. We drifted under one tall towering cliff after another. We saw deer, beaver, the bear, horses and a ton of other wildlife. Jackson and Syndney sang songs and played guessing games on the front of the raft, and we took a few swimming breaks throughout the day. We arrived at our camp that night much earlier, and the kids threw rocks to Wesson for hours on our rock beach. The camp site couldn't have been prettier. We had spagetti and made smores before the kids went to bed. The next morning was beautiful as ever as we traveled the final 21 miles downriver to the takeout. Once again more incredible scenery as we cuddled with the kids and talked. We were off the river by early afternoon. We could believe how great the trip was, and hope we get the chance to do it again.

We took the cutest kids on this trip! We had our Jackson and Asher, and Sydney and Jackson are the Smith's kids. Also, if you were wondering, April is 7 months pregnant, such a trooper. For the three days this is how we sat, back to back on a cooler usually while holding a child. It was surprisingly comfortable. I rowed for about 10 minutes. Mitch and Christian did the other 23 hours and 50 minutes. Such a beautiful trip. We feel so lucky to have been able to do it, and on the only three warm days of the year so far.

Our bout with ITP

As many of you may already know our sweet little Asher just got out of the hospital due to ITP. You are likely asking, What is ITP? ITP is Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura which, as the name indicates is not completely understood. It is a fairly rare condition that is thought to arise after a normal viral infection occurs, and a persons immune system malfunctions after fighting the infection and starts to attack the persons own platelets (component of blood that promotes blood clotting). Therefore as the platelets get low enough (normal is 150 K to 400 K) below 50 K the patient starts to bleed and bruise very easily. We had just got back from a remote 3 day river trip on the Smith River, here in Montana, when we noticed a few extra bruises on our accident prone Asher. On Monday Wendy noticed some petichiae (blood specs/broken capillaries) on his back and a blood blister or two on his lips, and a strange black eye, and then on Tuesday morning he woke with blood blisters on his lips, petichiae all over, and bruises all over. Wendy rushed him to my clinic, and we got him into pediatrics where his blood was drawn and his platelets were 6 K. Luckily the rest of his blood count was normal (or fairly normal) which was a strong indication of ITP. His lack of other symptoms and his age and recent viral illness (stomach virus the week prior) led to the diagnosis. He was admitted to our local hospital. Then after 10 hrs involving numerous unsuccessful IV sticks complicated by his low platelet count and his superhuman strength, he was taken to the operating room where he voluntarily placed the anesthetic gas mask over his own mouth and put himself to sleep in daddy's arms allowing the anesthesiologist to place the IV without any trouble and start the needed IVIG (intravenous immune globulin) required to stop his immune system from attacking his own platelets and allow his platelet count to rise to normal levels. Six hours after the infusion his platelet count was already on the rise at 16 K, and he was allowed to go home. He is expected to do well, and this hopefully should not be an ongoing issue. We appreciate everybody's concern, calls and prayers. We want you to know he is happy as can be and doesn't act sick in anyway, despite his terrible appearance. As Wendy says, he looks like he was put in a dryer with a bunch of rocks.












Notes on Asher in the hospital: Mitch inflated the surgical gloves to entertain Asher. Asher started calling them "bye-bye's" even when the nurses were wearing them. While under the influence of Versed, he said some crazy things, he kept saying "hot dog, hot dog, hot dog" we later realized that he was referring the Micky Mouse on his diaper (Micky Mouse Clubhouse, "Hot Dog" celebration song.) When he got his blood drawn for the first time he watch in awe, he thought it was so cool. After another 15 needle sticks he wasn't quite so patient. It took six adults to hold him down in the effort to place his IV, and in the end we still needed the anesthesiologist to do the job. He was such a trooper, he would cry, scream and even try to bite us when we had him pinned down to stick him with needles, then he would immediately return to the pleasant little boy we know and love. He had all the nurses under his spell. He was such a charmer.

The Smith River

We just went on the most amazing adventure. Mitch had been trying to get a permit for our us to run the Smith River here in Montana for awhile now. He got really lucky on Tuesday and were able to get a permit for this last weekend. It was such a lucky trip.

1. He got the permit, they are very limited and hard to come by.

2. Our friends the Smith's were able to go with us this weekend to add to the fun.

3. A 10 person raft was available from the ORC on base with a dry box and large cooler, all nessecary if you are going to spend three days on a river with 8 people.

4. The weather here in Montana has been really quite cold, but for the three days we were going to be on the river it was 85 to 90 degrees, perfect weather.

5. A wonderful woman that Mitch and Christian work with offered to drive us the 2 hours to the put in so that we wouldn't have to drive shuttle the night that we got off the river, and she hooked us up with a second trailer for the raft at the pickup location.

6. We got the some of the best campsites on the river, they were amazing. I couldn't believe the views we woke up to.

7. The best one of all, the kids were so good. I was amazed at how well they did other than a few melt downs (Asher is two) the kids were so cute it wouldn't have been the same trip without them.

I could go on and on. I will probably post about this again once we get the rest of our pictures. And I could always say more about what a great trip we had. It was so beautiful. Mitch had told me how beautiful it was (he flies over the Smith River in his helicopters,) but the beauty was more than I even expected. I hope we get the chance to do it again.

Mitch at the oars.

Asher sleeping

The favorite pass time was fishing. They were fishing with washers so nothing was caught.

Jack & Syd

Our second campsite

We woke up to this beautiful sight. What a great trip!

My Mother's Day gift

Jackson gave me a book for Mothers Day where he wrote answers to questions about me. I had to share what he had to say.

My Mom's name is: Wendy

She is 10 years old

She is 50 pounds

She is little feet tall

Her shoe size is: 10

My mom's favorite outfit is: dress

Her job is: puts band-aids on me

My mom loves me because: I am a good boy

My dad loves my mom because: She's good

I love my mom because: She's the best mom

I like it when my mom: Does good things

The funniest thing I have ever seen my mom do was: sticks out her tongue and pulls a face

The thing I hear my mom say the most is: chick

My mom's favorite TV show is: The girl that wears a hundred dresses

My mom's favorite Primary song is: I Am a Child of God

My mom's favorite food is: Every food

My mom's favorite color is: Pink

Her best friend is: My dad

She is happy when: I do what I am told

My mom would like to go on vacation to: Where Daddy goes

I want to buy my mom a: pictures

A portrait of Mom; by Jackson

I thought his answers were so cute and some of them so insightful. Some were a little strange, (the thing he hears me say the most is "chick" what's up with that?) This was by far my favorite mother's day gift, these are the kind of gifts that make a mom's heart melt.

9

Nine years ago today, I married the man of my dreams in the Logan temple. It has been nine wonderful years. These are nine of our favorite experiences:

1. The birth of children. Of course I had to say that. They made our family what it is and we are never happier than when we are with them.

2. Alaska. We spent the summer right after we were married in Alaska living in a little shack in the woods. It was heaven.

3. Portugal. We took a spring break to Portugal, Spain & Morocco. We kind of broke the bank to go but it was totally worth it.

4. Maine. I look at Maine as out last trip before we had kids. Acadia national park is so beautiful. It was also hot, about 103 degrees, we spent most of the trip just sitting in Echo lake. In this picture we are on top of the Precipice. A horrifying climb with an amazing view.

5. Hawaii. When Jackson was 18 months old we were lucky enough to get to take a trip to Hawaii without the baby. Thanks to our parents and Jordan. It was a dream vacation and so good to get away just the two of us.

6. Living in Hershey. The first year was hard, but as time went on we made great friends, learned so much about who we are and really became a family. We loved our time in Hershey. If for no other reason than Jackson was born there. It really is the sweetest place on earth.

7. Christmas 2006. The first Christmas we did all on our own was so wonderful. It was just so peaceful and fun. The kids were magical. Jackson kept saying, "this is the best Christmas ever!" and we had to agree.

8. North Carolina. The first trip we took to NC was at the end of our first year in Hershey.It was the beginning of all the good things that happened in Hershey. We went again just before we left and it was just as great the second time. Both times we went with great friends, had some good laughs and saw beautiful scenery. We really love North Carolina.

9. The day we got married. That day made all of the 9 million great memories possible!

My big boy

I moved the high chair out of the kitchen today. Asher refuses to use it, and it was just taking up space so we moved it out. For the past four years I have had a high chair in my kitchen. When I walk into peoples houses and they don't have a high chair I think something is missing. It's so cute to see Asher sitting in a real chair, he won't even use a booster, eating like a big boy, but it kind of breaks my heart. He is getting big too fast.

He wants to do everything Jackson does and he loves everything Jackson loves. When Jack was this age he was into Thomas the train, loved watching "Finding Nemo" and sat in a high chair at every meal, in fact the high chair is the only way I survived once I brought Asher home from the hospital. Asher likes superheros, and race cars and wants to watch Ninja Turtles. I love watching my boys play together and become each others best friend and I am so grateful that Asher loves his big brother so much. It is just all happening a little too fast for their overly sentimental mother.

I also can't get him to wear his bib. Those of you that remember, Jackson wore his bib until just last summer. I love this bib!

I'm on a roll

Wow, I think I have discovered the best cookbook ever. I made these pinapple coconut cupcakes on Saturday and they were amazing. Mitch is loving this baking streak I have been on. I promise to get the recipe to these and the cheesecake up on the blog. It's just a lot of typing, but I have recieved too many request to ignore. Or if you really want the best cookbook in the world it is William-Sonoma Cakes, cupcakes & cheesecakes.

A reminder

Last night we were helping Jackson say his prayers. He usually likes to do it all by himself, but last night he wanted a little guidance. I told him to say, "please help me be a good boy." He stopped and looked at me and said, "but I'm already good." Cute little guy!