Like Father, Like Sons

Garrett has now entered the Boy Scout program. He is currently working on four merit badges. I'll bet you can't bet what the first two merit badges earned will be... Yep, you guessed it... fly-fishing and fishing. He is also working on his nature and reading merit badges. Russ is using this whole merit badge/ Scout Master calling to his full advantage. Another excuse to go fishing.

Last weekend, Russ took the boys fishing on the Provo River. He had bought Garrett a new fly-rod and they took that with them. He gave Garrett the rod and told him where to fish. Garrett threw out a couple of casts to a fish they saw rising. On his fourth cast, he hooked a fish... a nice, BIG brown trout. Garrett did it all by himself, with no help from Russ. I think it was one of the happiest days of Russ' life.

It was a very successful day trip. They had left at 4:00 am and got home at 10:30 pm. It was at 10:30 pm upon returning to St. George, when Russ realized that Grant had left our camera (nice lens, polarized filter, flash, etc.) on the bank of the Provo River. Grant had set the camera down to dig a hole and forgot all about the camera. So, Russ and the kids (I had to work the next morning) got up again at 4:00 am and drove back to Provo. They found the camera right where Grant had left it. I am not sure what possessed Russ to put an 8 year old (with some form of A.D.D.- like his dad) in charge of camera equipment that cost more than my car (Well, we got a great deal on my car- but anyway)... I think he learned his lesson.

Kinda-Swifty 50

Yesterday, four of my friends (Tiffany Schmidt, Staci Guard, Dayna Player-Robinson, and Sierra Robinson) and I competed in the Lake-to-Lake relay in St. George. The race began at Gunlock Reservoir and ended at Sandhallow reservoir.

Dayna, our team captain, sent me a text the night before the race to inform me that we were competing in the Shorty Shorts contest. I said there was no way I was running in shorty shorts. First, I own no short shorts. Second, I didn't have enough time for a wax job that would be necessary to run in short shorts. Third, I have huge spider veins up the back of my legs, LOTS of cellulite, saggy and bright white skin, and a huge bruise on my inner thigh (Garrett threw a fast ball that missed my mitt and attacked my thigh- OUCH!). Fourth, it was supposed to be 30 degrees in the morning at Gunlock, with a chance of snow. And finally, my mom was coming to snap pictures that were sure to be posted on her blog.

Well, for anyone who knows Dayna...

she always has the final say :) You don't mess with Dayna!!! Yes, this was her answer to all of my arguments. Also, Dayna bought bright pink headbands for everyone to wear- for team unity. I got to my first hand-off, just before the previous runner got there because we were getting gas in Tiff's truck and air in one of the tires. I barely had time to go to the bathroom, throw on my gear, and off I went. Because I was rushed, I didn't take time to look in a mirror and realize that my bandanna was sticking out straight!

I ran 6 of my miles in this get up. And the worst part was Kami, who is the race director for St. George, must have snapped at least 20 pictures of me in this interesting running gear. There was a slide show after the race last night and (I kid you not) I was popping up on the screen every 4th or 5th picture- IN THIS OUTFIT!!! OK- done with the explanation and whining. I accidentally forgot to put the shorts on for my second leg (Dayna handed off to me- so she wasn't there to remind me and NO time to run and put them on) and I fixed my bandanna. Just a side note- one of the girls on our team did win the shorty shorts contest. It may be considered soft porn- so view at your own discretion.

The race was an absolute blast. Everyone ran two legs of the race that totaled 10 miles each. My first leg was just under 6 and my second leg was just over 4 (5.71 and 4.4 miles). As a team we averaged 9:05 minute miles. Now, my miles were on the slow side, but we had some fast runners on our team to make up the difference. We took 6th place in our division- All Female Team. Should I mention that there were only 7 teams in that category? We placed 26th overall. This was the first year of this race so there was only a total of 38 teams. Not the best, but NOT dead last. Heck we beat twelve other teams in. Yea us!

I had great support from all of my family. Kami was at the start and finish of my first leg. My parents were at the start and finish (and all along the middle) of my second leg. Russ and the kids came and found us just after I finished my second run. It was fun to have everyone come and support my big event. Thanks to all of you!

Picture this...

Russ dropped our camera on Garrett's birthday. It kinda still works if your hands are big enough to hold the battery in while snapping pictures... which my hands are not very big. So, who can blog without pictures?!!! I am so sad! Hopefully, we will be able to get it fixed soon. Anyway- that is why I haven't blogged in almost a month!

Last Weeks Little Blessings

I didn't get around to my Sunday Six this weekend due to pure craziness. But I am so grateful for the events of everyday last week, I need to express my thanks.

1. February 2nd - Groundhog's Day! That always means six more weeks until we can start focusing on Spring. I love Spring and Summer and I am so looking forward to more sunshine, warmer temperatures, and baseball season.

2. February 3rd - My Birthday was wonderful. I worked. I took Garrett to basketball practice and Gracie to swim lessons. Grant had a basketball game and won again. Then we were off to pack meeting. Grant received his Bobcat award. Garrett received his Weblos award and his Arrow of Light award. I also received so many phone calls, e-mails, text messages, blog messages, wonderful gifts, and just felt so loved and cared for all day. Thanks to all who remembered my Birthday and made it such a fabulous day!

3. February 4th - Russ and I were set up on a blind date 14 years ago today. It is amazing he still loves me. I was fun, athletic, skinny, and adventurous back then. Today, not so much. Anyway, he has stuck with me, put up with my mood swings, listened to my ranting, etc. It was fun to think back to our first date today and remember some of the fun things we used to do.

4. February 5th - Today was Gracie's last day of swim lessons. She was hilarious to watch. She had a little crush on Joe, her swim instructor. When she was supposed to have her face down in the water practicing her crawl strokes, she was looking at Joe- TALKING NON-STOP. She would move her arms and kick her legs, but she never stopped looking at Joe. She really is just a spaz. When Joe was working with another kid, she was plunging under water and waving to everyone who walked by or looked at her. I don't know that she got too much out of the lessons, but she had a great little social hour each day for the past two weeks.

5. February 6th- Tonight we went on a triple date with Brent and Kami and our parents. We ate dinner at the Honolulu Grill and then went to a DHS vs. SCHS basketball game. We had a great time. It was fun to have just adult time and not have kids whining and crawling all over us. I absoultely love sporting events. I really don't care who is playing, I just love watching and cheering. (Of course, it is more fun if you have someone to cheer on.)

6. February 7th- Today was Garrett's Birthday. He had two basketball games that afternoon. We left straight from his games and took three of his buddies with us tubing up at Brianhead. Garrett has some really cute friends that are GOOD boys. We feel so blessed to live where we do, and be surrounded by the people we are surrounded by. I think a good time was had by all. Cute Tanner got really cold at the end of the night. I said, "Tanner, are you freezing?" He said, "Yeah, I'm cold. But I don't care how cold I get, this is still best Birthday party I have ever been to". Sweet kid.

Pictured above: Tanner Emerson, Garrett, Chandler Holt and Teagan Mendenhall

Those were my favorite memories of last week. I am so grateful for all of the little blessings in my life, most of those blessings being our friends and family. Thanks for a wonderful week!

11 Years Ago Today...

at 1:24 a.m. my life changed forever! Today is Garrett's 11th Birthday. I cannot believe that he is that old. I can still remember the day he was born like it was yesterday. On February 6th, 1998 my doctor sent me over to the hospital for a non-stress test because Garrett was 3 days OVERDUE! He was supposed to be born on my birthday, but that would have been uncool to have to share your mom's birthday- so he waited. My mom and dad were up visiting from California, awaiting his arrival, and my mom drove me over to the hospital. During the test, I had a contraction and Garrett's heart rate had dropped enough to make them worried. They sent me to my doctor's office. I gave them a urine sample, got naked and under a sheet, and awaited the doctor. The nurse came in and took my blood pressure and it was sky rocketing, which it had NEVER done before. She had me lie on my left side and ran out of the room to get the doctor. As she walked out I began to feel a little trickle between my legs. I tried to stop myself from going to the bathroom all over the exam table, but I couldn't stop it. I sat up to begin looking for a towel or something to clean up my embarrassing mess. Right then the doctor and his nurse walked in. I said, "Dr. Woodmansee, I think I have just gone to the bathroom all over the table. I am so sorry! Oh my goodness, I am so embarrassed!" Dr. Woodmansee and his nurse began laughing as he lifted the sheet. He said, "Honey, your bladder couldn't hold this much fluid this late in the game. I believe your water just broke". I told him there was no GUSH like all of the pregnancy books had indicated. He again laughed and said not to believe anything I read in those books. They tested the mess... sure enough amniotic fluid. He sent me straight to the hospital. That was at 10:00 a.m.
We went to Mt. Timpanogos hospital (which had only been open for 5 days) because that is where my insurance said I had to deliver. We pulled up and half of the hospital was still under construction!!! No joke- plastic still covering where windows would eventually be. Only the ER and labor and delivery were up and running. The good part was, I was the first patient ever to use the room. That was the only good part! I had a nurse that had never worked labor and delivery before. She, nor my doctor (who had never delivered at this hospital before), knew where anything was located. My doctor couldn't even find gloves. Anyway, I got checked into my awesome, new, beautiful, delivery room and waited for Garrett to arrive. My doctor showed up at the hospital about 3:00 p.m. to find me smiling and laughing and enjoying my family's company. He claimed I shouldn't be smiling anymore and started me on "the Pit" (Pitocin). Prior to this I was thinking labor and delivery was a piece of cake and I was going to have this baby naturally because contractions were not so bad. Then the Pit kicked in... and I began to have some major contractions. Around 10:00 p.m. I had a 7 minute contraction, maxed out at 100%, and was HYPERVENTILATING. My dilation had gone from a 3 to an 8 in one contraction. I then got an epidural so I could breathe. I felt good- oh, I felt so good, uh!. They had turned the Pit down so I wouldn't have such intense contractions and it was then that my labor stopped for a while. In the meantime, my legs had gone completely numb from the epidural. In fact, at one time the nurse walked in, picked up my leg and put it back in the bed. It was hanging off the bed and I had no clue. It was an awful sensation not being able to move my own legs.
For over an hour, every time the nurse would check me she would say. "You're only at an 8. Just a little longer". My doctor finally came in and asked what my dilation was at. The nurse told him she had just checked it and I was still only at an 8. Dr. Woodmansee then checked me and said, "She's at a 10 and we need to get this baby out, he is already crowning". Needless to say, two pushes and less than 7 minutes later, Garrett was born. I had torn severely during delivery and the doctor spent the next 45 minutes sewing me up. The umbilical cord had been around Garrett's neck and that was what caused his heart rate to drop during contractions. But, he was here, he was safe, he was healthy, and he was really bruised. His poor head and face looked like he had just finished ten rounds of boxing.
The nurses took Garrett while the doctor fixed me up. When they brought him back he was all cleaned up and content. I never slept that night. I was so excited. The next day we had lots of visitors. I was exhausted and very sore, but doing alright. That night, Garrett began crying and never stopped. I called for nurses, but no one ever came. He wouldn't nurse, wouldn't take a bottle, cried if I held him, cried if I put him down. I felt like a failure already. He finally exhausted himself enough to fall asleep, but by this time I was in so much pain I couldn't sleep. I hadn't had any pain medicine or ice for my 4th degree tear since delivery. Early the next morning my doctor came in to check on us. He asked me a few questions, checked me out, checked Garrett out, looked through our charts, slammed the chart down on the table, and stormed out of my room. The next thing I knew, he was storming back into my room, with a charge nurse on his heels screaming at him. She yelled that she didn't understand why he felt he needed to order a transfer. Dr. Woodmansee got right up in her face and started screaming, "This baby was sick 12 hours ago, and I was never notified. This baby's respiratory rate is up to 98 breaths per minute and no one bothered to call me. AND LOOK AT HIS MOTHER!". The nurse began to respond and he told her to leave the room. As she walked out, the paramedics walked in with a stretcher FULL of machines. On top of the machines was a little box that they put my baby in. They handed me some release forms to sign, and then took my baby away. My doctor then explained that Garrett was sick and he was transferring him to a hospital where he knew Garrett would get the appropriate care. He then released me from the hospital and told me to go home and get 6 hours of sleep before I went over to see Garrett. YEAH RIGHT! He said he would stay with Garrett until I got there. Garrett stayed in the hospital for a few more days and I was running back and forth to the hospital every two hours with breast milk (which literally took me an hour to pump 2 oz.) that he was being tube fed. It was a traumatic time. A few days later he came home, with all kinds of restrictions. We could not have any visitors for 5 weeks. We could not take him out of the house for 8 weeks. Any visitors that came after the 5 week period had to wash their hands, have a clean bill of health, and basically not breathe while holding the baby. Needless to say, we survived all the drama and life became wonderful.
Garrett was a great baby, and still is a great kid. He is one of my very best friends and I love to hang out with him. Garrett is very athletic, intelligent, and humble. He is also very self-motivated and extremely responsible. I never have to worry about him. I am so lucky to be his mom.
I am going to try and get some pictures on here a little later when I can borrow my mom's scanner. But until then... HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY Big Guy!

These last few weeks have been crazy-busy, but very fun. I am so grateful for many things, but here are a few at the top of my list this week.

1. I have been adopted into a new family (well sorta). Last Saturday, I met a new patient at the hospital. He had had a pretty major heart attack and had then gone in for emergency bypass surgery. As I walked into his room he gasped and got very wide eyed and was holding his breath. I introduced myself and told him the doctors had asked me to begin working with him. He then sighed heavily with relief and began breathing again. He went on to explain that I looked just like his sister, Geri, when she was my age, that I could be her identical twin. He then explained that she had passed away 10 years ago, and he thought I was her- coming to escort him home to heaven. He then told this story to everyone at the hospital, including the heart surgeon. Dr. Woodbury (all 6'6", 250 lbs. of him) approached me the next morning in his loud, serious voice and said, "Kori, I understand you are scaring the HELL out of my patients!" Then he started laughing, as I was sweating bullets. Anyway, this patient's entire family now calls me Geri and go out of their way to come and visit with me each day. I have loved getting to know them! I am so thankful to have a job right now, but more thankful that it is one I enjoy (for the most part).

2. I got some screaming bargains this week. I just happened to walk into the right stores at the right time. I had to buy Gracie some new shoes. While I was at the outlets, I went into Gymboree. The employee had her arms full of clothes and said that they had just finished marking down hundreds of items to $1.99. I got Gracie three new shirts and a raincoat for next year and my bill was $8.44. I love a good BARGAIN. I also got all hooked up for Christmas next year with a 90% off sale at Michael's. I got $400 worth of CUTE stuff for $40. I am so excited for Christmas next year.

3. I am loving basketball season. My boys' teams are doing great. They have wonderful coaches and good teammates. I guess it helps that they are winning all of their games too. We've had too many close games (winning by only one or two points). But who's keeping track? It's all about having fun... hahahaha. The best part is listening to Nana yell at the refs. We had to hold her in her seat at Grant and Gavin's game this week. We feared for the ref's life. But seriously, we are so fortunate to live so close to family that support us and our children. My parents were my biggest cheerleaders and now they continue to cheer on my children. We are so very LUCKY! Thanks Mom and Dad, Nana and Papa, Nancy and Jim- you really are the best.

4. Russ' boss is re-establishing Russ' and my love life. What?- you ask. Russ' boss has asked us to double date with he and his wife three times in the last 5 weeks. We have been to a concert and dinner, a movie (yes- I have reached a New Year Resolution already) and dinner, and then to a semi-formal dinner last night. I think Russ and I have been on more dates in these past two months than we have been on in ten years. (OK that is probably a little bit of an exaggeration, but it sounds good).

5. I love Bubble Baths and my jetted tub. Another big bargain sale I hit was Bath and Body Works. They had all of their "old packaging" bubble bath on sale for $1- $3. I stocked up. When I get cold or ornery (I know it's hard to believe, but I do get ornery and I am pretty much an icicle if it is under 80 degrees) I jump in a HOT bubble bath. It is amazing how much better I feel.

6. I am thankful for scriptures and prayer. We have made a huge effort this year to read the scriptures everyday as a family and have family prayer in the morning and at night. It is amazing how much of a difference it has been making. Our mornings are so much calmer. Everyone seems to get along a little better. I thought it would be hard getting the kids up earlier in the morning to have family prayer before Russ left for work. But the kids are amazingly happier in the morning. Plus, if they get ready fast enough they get some play time on the Wii before school. It truly has brought us such blessings.

You Tube?

Yesterday, Scout Master Russ took the 12-13 year old scouts tubing at Brianhead ski resort. I was scheduled to work so Russ took Grant and Gracie with him. The night before we realized we have lived in the desert for the past 7 years. We own NO winter gear. Our children were going to freeze. I called my neighbor who has children the same age as Grant and Gracie, and luckily she was able to hook us up with bibs, boots, jackets, gloves, hats, etc. THANKS JILL! Anyway, Grant and Gracie had a blast. Gracie said, "I didn't like it... I LOVED IT". Grant said, "It was pretty much the best day of my life". I am glad they had the chance to go. Unfortunately, Garrett missed out on the fun because he was finishing up his Arrow of Light requirements for scouts. We are planning on taking him tubing at Brianhead for his birthday in two weeks. Want to come along?!