Year 2020

This morning I woke up early and could not go back to sleep.  I blame it on my allergies and a headache.  Dan was already awake and I eventually got out of the warm bed to join him.  We found a TV series on Hulu and talking about our summer plans.  We decided on our next National Park camping trip and today is the day that the campsite reservation spots open up.  We have learned to reserve as soon as you can to get a spot since National Park campsites go really fast. This will be our 3rd National Park.  We like spots near  the bathroom (kids and bathroom night trips).  We like space and not being surrounded by other campers.    I told Dan about some hiking spots that I was reading about and we decided to give them a try and without the kids.   I'm excited for 2020, the memories that we will make as a family, as a couple and sharing the memories and experiences with others.  

Happy 2020!

Back to school

I'm trying to update the blog.  It will take some time but I have the determination to get it done. 

The kids started school in July.  Michael is in 5th grade, Mattie is in 3rd grade, and David is in 1st grade. 

Random Pictures

Since I'm so behind on the blog I decided to post a few random pictures.



This was Dad's idea.

Normally Dan and I don't celebrate Valentines Day or do gifts for each other.  This year I mixed it up a little bit and surprised him with tickets to the ASU v UofA Basketball game that was on Valentine's day.  Both teams were ranked very well for the season.  ASU ended up winning in double overtime.  The game was amazing and we had a great time.   I am a ASU fan and Dan is a U of A fan.

Mattie at PCH going to a doctors appointment to see the neurologist.  She was so serious pushing the stroller and was all about her babies.  She would not get out of anyone's way.

 Mattie tripped and fell at school and bumped her head on the sidewalk.  The nurse called to tell me what happened and said that she was alright and did not cry.  I was not expecting this when she got off the bus.  






This is what the cut and bump looked like.

David wearing his new glasses.

 Mattie and Michael at Scouts.

 Mattie at cheer with her two coaches, Bella and Liz.  Cheer has been amazing the girls are amazing and so sweet and inspirational.

 Oh my... We bought the teddy bear at Costco for Mattie.  This is how he came home with us.  The teddy bear is huge.

2014 First Day of School

I was excited for the kids to start school this year but also a little sad.  As they get older it becomes easier for me to be at home with the kids and do things.  On the other hand the days are long and I'm constantly on the move.  Michael started school  at a new school this year and David also started Kindergarten at the school.  Mattie stayed at her current school.

June 2014

In my previous post I mentioned how June was a rough month and how we were glad we went to the cabin.  Mattie was scheduled to have her tonsils and adenoids out on June 2nd.  Due to her health risk her ENT wanted to keep her overnight in PICU to be monitored.  Dan and I were happy and comfortable with the  decision.  The surgery was great and everything went well.  That night Mattie did really good and did not like the hospital room door closed.  Everybody that walked by she would say hi to them and wanted them to come in.  Needless to she made many new friends that night.  She was eating popsicles and drinking fluids and I thought this is great.  Ha....  until she ran and fever and started throwing up later that night.  Luckily it only lasted  a few hours.  She slept through the night and had a decent morning but was tired and did not want to do anything.  She was not showing any other health concerns and she was released that afternoon to go home.  Her ENT is wonderful and dear to my heart.  He is honestly one of the best doctors that Mattie has.

At home she did not want to eat or take any medication.  Dan would have to hold her and I would some how manage to get the medicine in her mouth.  It was a fight and medicine ended up all over the place.  Mattie normally loves medicine and I never have a problem giving any thing to her.  She also did not like her food cold but luke warm.  It was a long 2 weeks and I swear that I will never have this surgery done again. Thanks goodness it is a one time procedure.

That night that Mattie got home I woke up in the middle of the night and my stomach was upset.  I laid in bed and kept thinking I don't feel well.  I thought I was tired and the stress was wearing off.  I laid in bed and tried to not think about it but my stomach was telling me no.... I was sick..  I had the stomach flu that lasted a good 12 hours of constant throwing up.  My body hurt and I can say it was one of the worst flu bugs I have had.  Finally I was able to keep some liquids down.   Having a child recovering from surgery made things difficult and luckily Dan had taken the week off work.  Thursday night David starting throwing up and about an hour later Mattie started.  Dan took Mattie and I took David.  We ended up going back and forth helping each other out with each kid.  Neither one of us slept that night and I was still recovering.  Mattie was still sick Friday morning and I remember her ENT saying if she starts to throw up call me and he was the on call doctor that week. So Friday morning I made a panicked phone call to him.  I was tired and frustrated and I just remember crying to him.  Later I felt like a fool because I normally can handle this type of situation.  He called in some anti nausea medicine.  Sunday morning Dan and Michael woke up with the flu.  I had David and Mattie with me and we were watching TV.  Mattie was sitting on my lap and she shows me her hand and it is covered with blood and there is blood around her mouth.  I was told if she is bleeding from the mouth to call the non emergency number and let the on call doctor know what is going on and that they would meet us at the ER.   I remember sitting Mattie on the kitchen counter  to clean her up and I was on hold.  I put my head down and I remember thinking this just can't be happening and that is when I saw it.  A tooth was on her shirt.  Mattie lost her first tooth.   I hung up the phone and looked inside her mouth and sure enough that is wear the blood was coming from.  What a relief.   Slowly Mattie started to recover and it took about a good two weeks for her to recover and get back to a schedule.

In addition to all of this I ended having gall bladder surgery two weeks after Mattie had her surgery.  

Thankful we all have recovered from surgery and the flu and have had a healthy rest of the year.

Cabin Trip 2014

It has been a while since I posted.  I have post saved but never completed them.  Why?  I have no idea.

Mattie was scheduled to have her adenoids and tonsils out June 2nd.  We decided to go to the cabin before the surgery to get away from the heat and to relax.  I'm glad we made that decision because June was a rough month.

The cabin trip is the usual eat, explore, play and get dirty.  The weather during the  day was warm around 85 to 90 degrees but around 4 it would start to cool off and the nights were chilly and perfect.  During the day we would hear popping noises and it was the pine trees and the cones opening up.  It was a neat sound and the kids loved to listen to it.  At night we tried to do a little star gazing but the bugs were out and so were the bats.  Grandma and Grandpa Hurd came up to the cabin for a night and they went exploring with us.  We took them to Lynx Lake.  We also made a trip to Costco.  As always we had a great trip.  I have been going to the cabin since I was a baby.  My grandparents purchased land in the 1950's and my dad has been going to this area since he was a young boy.  Many memories.  This is not the original cabin but the second one.

Mattie and Dad at Lynx Lake.

 David and Michael at Lynx Lake.

 Grandma and Grandpa Hurd with the grandkids.

 David helping with dinner.

 Mattie carrying really big cooking utensils.

 I tried to take a cute picture and this is what I get.

Dad with the kids.

Picture of the backside of the cabin.  To the left and not in the picture is a road that you drive up to get to the cabin.  The cabin sits on a hill.

July Cabin Trip

Over the 4th of July we went up to the cabin for a few days.  We planned to go fishing, into town and dinner with friends.  We started out on time but had to turn back around because Dan forgot his keys for work and needed something from his office but luckily we were only a few miles from home.  We planned on a short stop at Costco but turned into a hour long stop complete with lunch, can't beat the cheap lunch at Costco.  We grabbed a few snack items and each one of us got a new book.  We made a quick stop at Dan's work and finally we were on our way.  I happened to be texting a friend who was also in Prescott and we were going to meet and she reminded me to bring some extra chairs.  I mentioned it to Dan and that is when we realized that we forgot chairs and fishing stuff.  Normally this would not have been a big deal but the kids really wanted to go fishing and this was the big event for the trip.  So we turned around at Stapley and the US 60 and headed back to home, which is about 30 mins.  We finally made it to the cabin around 3PM and about 3 hours that what we originally planned.   We played outside for a while and then came inside to make dinner.  After dinner we went on a short hike and to see what we call the haunted cabin.  At the bedtime Dan and I had great plans to get the kids asleep and snuggle down in bed with the windows open and enjoy the night time air and read our new books.  Ha... the plans were foiled by 2 kids not wanting to sleep.  The cabin being so warm during the day that it was hot and uncomfortable and took a while for the room to cool down and of course the occasional Daddy Long Leg crawling across me.  The end result was David on the murphy bed, Mattie and Dan in the big bed and I was asleep with Michael on the other bed.  The next day was the 4th of July.  We played in the morning and started to build a big fort for the kids with the fallen trees.  After lunch we got ready and headed into town.  We hung out for a while and then meet my friend Katherine and her family for dinner.  It was wonderful to see her and catch up.  We planned on going to the fireworks show but it was so crowded that we decided not to go and went to Sonics and headed back to the cabin.  We cheated and got a movie for the kids to watch back at the cabin. 

 Picture taken at the haunted cabin

Not the best picture of Dan and I but I had to post David Photo Bombing us.  I have no idea what he was doing.

                                                                                   
                                                      
                                                                                         I love this face. 

 Mattie does not like to walk on uneven ground so the walks where either one of us carrying her or similar to this with Mattie lifting her feet off the ground.

                                                    Watermelon is from the garden and the first one we picked.

Michael wanted to play but Mattie wanted to swing.  Michael took some time and pushed Mattie in the swing.

                                                                         The bull that would not let us pass. 

Hard to see but this was taken at the top of the mountain.  Can see the haze from the smoke from the Yarnell Fire.

 

                                                                                       Travelling in style.



Funny story.... The mountains where the cabin is located still has a working ranch.  When we were driving into town there was a black cow in the road and he would not move out of the way.  We sat for a few minutes watching him and the kids were laughing.  Dan honked the horn and the cow just stared at us.  He honked again and drove forward and the cow turned around and faced the other way but still looked at us.  By this time there were a few cars behind us.  Dan drove forward slowly and the cow put his head down like he was going to charge.  At the last minute the cow went off the side of the road and barely hit the vehicle. 


The day after July 4th we went to Lynx Lake to fish and rent a boat.  I've been to the lake when I was young but don't remember.  The lake has a neat restaurant and the food smelled so good and it was busy.  The plan was to rent a boat, fish for awhile and then go have lunch in town.  We went inside the tack shop, rented the boat and came back outside to get the fishing stuff.  On the sidewalk was this huge butterfly.  I lined the kids up for a picture and then that is when Dan delivered the bad news.  We had the chairs but forgot the fishing poles and tackle box.  Remember we already forgot it at home and had to go back home to get it.  Well it turns out we ended up leaving it at home.  The poles and tackle box were laying on the floor in the garage. 

 We ended up just cruising around the lake and taking the scenery in.  The kids had a blast and when we got off the lake is when it started to rain.  We drove into town and walked around the downtown area for a while.  Because it was 4th of July weekend and that is when the rodeo is, there is tons of stuff going on.  We had lunch at Gurley Street Café and then  walked around some more before heading back to the cabin.  The next day we headed home.  It was a wonderful family trip and nice to get away.  I'm so grateful to have the cabin.  It was something that my grandparents built before I was born.  My dad use to go up there as child.  He got to create memories by taking his family up there and know it is my turn.  Wonderful memories and many more to come.

 This is Mattie's famous Water Buffalo pose.