Saturday, April 25, 2009

An Easter Adventure

So this Easter was a bit different for us,
none the less,
MEMORABLE. fo sho.


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Cache and Naomi had been fighting off a fever for a full week, but no other symptom. Not so much as a runny nose. The doctors strep tests came back negative, and they waved it off as a virus. Their fever both came down to 99degrees, for a couple days, so we thought they were just about better.

We went to bed, anxiously awaiting the arrival of that famous bunny.
The Easter Bunny arrived around midnight, I think, and had a grand time hiding things all over our house, balancing eggs on funnels and in weird places. Half open drawers, ect.

And then he hopped on his merry way to bed.

wow. I make every story twice as along don't i? sorry
.

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But now to the point. Cache came into our room crying pretty hysterically, around 2am. I sat up and put him on my lap to calm him down, and I noticed he was wheezing really bad, which scared me, but then i put my arms around him and I could feel his heart beating through his chest harder and faster than I knew any heart could ever beat. And I flipped. really. I yelled: "Devin we are going to the emergency room NOW." I considered not even putting clothes on for a second, or shoes....I was going to walk straight to the car with Cache in my arms. But Devin popped out of bed and
caalmly W ..A.. L.. K .. E.. D aroouuuund the bed.
Which totally made me mad, that he didn't get the urgency of the situation.
Long story short, Devin stayed calm, demanded I put clothes on, reminded me that I needed keys to drive the car, and that we had another child that needed to come.. grabbed some spider man books and stickers from Cache's Easter basket, And got us safely to the emergency room.
love that man.
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The Emergency room, was pretty horrible, Cache decided that he wanted nothing to do with the doctors and clenched his jaw shut. But since his breathing was very labored they needed to know what was going on inside that throat, so they brought in a male nurse to help Devin,me and the doctor hold Cache down while they got a look at his throat and possibly a swab of his tonsils.

Cache ,understandably, went BALLISTIC, and as much as this broke my heart I was a bit proud of him, he was throwing punches, (he has an incredible right hook) clocked the male nurse right in cheek. I knew this child had will power,but I have never saw it tested to its limits, and I had to admit
"I was astonished."
I even started to feel a bit proud of how strong his little spirit was. The doctor and nurse were completly flustered and quickly backed off, giving up, and looking bewildered. Devin and I both looked at each other scared but trying not to smile. We were impressed! But the whole wrestling/boxing match made his breathing even worse, his throat getting tighter, so they quickly gave him some steroids to open up his throat and wheeled him off to x-ray his throat instead.
The doc came back and told us that they wanted to admit him for at least 24 hours to watch him. This really stunk because it was Easter Sunday and worst of all, Cache KNEW it was Easter, and that there was an egg hunt waiting for him at home, and once again, he started to get really really worked up.
So the Doc, made a compromise with Cache and said:
"Well if we can just watch you for a few hours and you do really well, then we will reconsider."

Cache's breathing greatly improved because of the steroids. And we all could breath easier, now that Cache could.
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** devin took these pics above. he told cache "give me some attitude."
and Cache obviously had no problem :)

So while Devin and cache lay in the hospital watching cartoons at the wee hours of the night, I took Naomi to the car to sleep and to pick up some bolt house smoothies at the grocery store(they are amazing on soar throats).. Well.. every 24 hour store in the county recognizes Easter Sunday hear in Missouri, even some walmarts had their doors locked. So I spent Easter morning driving from store to store till I found one open. Then Devin called with News that Cache could come home. They were letting him come home, but really didn't have a diagnosis for him, so they sent him home with 4 different diagnosis's. : croup, asthma,tonsillitis, can't remember the last one.

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As I was driving back to the hospital,
the sun started to rise.
It was beautiful and peaceful.
And i was so glad that scary night was over and Cache was going to be just fine.
And then the thought came to me:

"It's Easter Sunday! Today Christ rose from the grave."
I have to say it was the neatest Easter morning ever. I realized there had never been an Easter in my life where the first thought when I opened my eyes wasn't :

" CANDY! candy! Chocolate and candy!"

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i never realized how symbolic the sun rising was of the
the Son of God rising on Easter morning.
It really was a neat experience for me, and I think maybe this should be a tradition. Watching the sun rise on Easter morning. Won't our teenagers love this someday? :)

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And I just have to add this in, because it added so much, but RIGHT as the sun was coming up , my book on CD that I had been listening to for 3 weeks, ended, and so the CD switched over to the next one which was this piano music played by my sister in-law Sara Orton. It is one of my favorite cds and sounds completly professional. I can't remember the hymn she was playing but I remember it being about the savior, I think that is what triggered the thought that it was Easter morning. It was perfect and in que. Its hard for me to believe that it was all a coincidence because it was so perfect. Maybe it was. Or maybe it wasn't and someone was just trying to help me remember how much he loves us.

Anyway back to Cache,
we brought him home and since he was all drugged up
on steroids he was WIRED, running
around and around and around..and around and around and around..
which didn't help his breathing...
We were able to even laugh though about the night before when we walked in the house and saw all the cracked eggs that Devin had broken, as he hurried around the house, opening doors, drawers or whatever. I guess the Easter bunny didn't realize we would be running around in the dark just a few hours after he hid them all.
:)
We then slept most of the rest of the day away.
So that was our Easter Adventure.

THE END
.


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Why the tears?
CACHE can tell you why!
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**we took all these pictures two weeks AFTER Easter, when we finally were able to go out and about.**

Friday, April 17, 2009

To OUR FIFTY year old DAD!



50 things/memories, I learned from /love about
DAD aka Grandpa Dave aka Grandpa Tractor


  1. When you wear shorts with cowboy boots.-Ashley
  2. He passed his good looks onto us ;)
  3. He's a tease and a joker.- Sam
  4. He is strong.-Sam
  5. Works hard.-Sam
  6. When people ask me where I learned to work so hard, I automatically think of dad, and I’m proud to say it.- sarah
  7. He always offers to help me with my homework.-JOE
  8. I love that Dad taught me how to punch really hard-Ashley
  9. He always has a joke to fit the situation-JOE
  10. No matter how busy, he always goes into the church to do his clerk calling.. -JOE
  11. Taking drives in the mountains -Ben
  12. Walking fields -Ben
  13. I love riding in the combine with dad -Ben,Ash, Amie.. all of us
  14. Pinewood derby -Ben
  15. Camping -Ben
  16. Going to the coast -Ben
  17. Stopping at the Chinese restaurant in Hood River -Ben
  18. dad is funny!-sam
  19. Dad does not “spank,” he “boots.” The funny thing is that even though his “boots” never seemed to hurt, they always got the message across. - sarah
  20. Home teaching -Ben
  21. Cleaning the grain elevator -Ben
  22. Dad's hands are always grease stained or have a new scratch on them because he works so hard. -Ash
  23. Coming from a family of all boys dad has managed to raise some pretty amazing girls! - Nick
  24. Cheering for me when I got off the plane when I came home from my mission -Ben
  25. My pink boots are from my Grandpa Dave- Claire
  26. “Stick with a job until it’s finished”-Ben
  27. When He says, "Stay till the job is done." But then he leaves. HAHA- ashley
  28. Take good care of your car, it’s worth it - Cindy
  29. I love to see Dad read the scriptures.-Ash
  30. "righty tighty, Lefty losy - Amie
  31. Dad can I drive the car? "you're already driving." - Amie
  32. The Christmas dad gave me a year supply of mousse- Amie
  33. He's a handsome guy. And has a great laugh.- Amie
  34. When he visits he always fixes everything in our house. - Amie
  35. I love it when Mom and Dad sit in their room and talk for hours.-Ashley
  36. When I ask you something and you give me a much longer answer that teaches me much more than I expected- Amie and Ashley
  37. When Dad says, "It's good to hear your voice."-Ashley
  38. My favorite family trips were trips to the Oregon coast where we got the see the inner child in dad while flying kites.-Sarah
  39. He knows so much about what is going on in the world.- Amie and Ash
  40. Dad's pancakes are the best!!!!!!!!!- Ash
  41. “Work hard so you can play hard”-Ben
  42. I love that Dad and Mom got married in the temple- Ashley
  43. no matter how grumpy i am he's always there to tease me- JOE
  44. Picking us up/Rescuing us in Seattle-Cindy
  45. Dad is one of the hardest workers we know. He’s so exhausted at the end of the day you can hear him through the floor!-nick and Sarah
  46. When you make sure that I have an extra coat and gloves in my car in the winter and say, "It's better to have too much than not enough."- all of us girls
  47. I love that Dadis a returned missionary.
  48. He inly uses a few fingers to type on the computer.
  49. I love when Dad wants to show everyone who comes over those same youtube videos laugh just as hard each time. - Ashley
  50. And SPEAKING of youtube videos.... finally, the 50th reason we love dad, is that he loves the song "wild thing." So this is to you dad. From all your kiddos.






And because 50 wasn't high enough
for all the reasons we love you...
here are some more:
51.I love when Dad sings along with the radio and harmonizes.
52..I love it when Dad tells me he is proud of me
53.He gets so excited to play a new song for me on the internet
54.I can tell you have a testimony by the way you live your life
55.When I think you're going to hug me but you end up skweezing me so hard that I can't breath
56.How you can make anything out of wood like my coat stand and head board.
57.Dad's handwriting.
58.When you apologize for what you did wrong.
59.When you are hyper and want to fight.
60.When you wear your reading glasses.
61.How you play with the dogs.
62.How you always have a better way to do something
63.How you love chocolate licorice and almond joys
64.How you keep the cars spotless.
65.Has a college education.
66.He looks so sharp in his suit and boots at church
67.How you are so good at packing the car for road trips
68."rear control" has two meanings when riding in the back of a suburban - Amie
69.How he always wants to take "the long way home."- Amie
70.Dad has provided our family with such a beautiful home and comfortable life
71.His jokes that I hate but when I think of them not being told, I realize that I actually love them.
72. taught me how to shoot guns. -Sam
73. Dad loves us all so much!
74.He hates money spent on him, especially for gifts.. hence THIS birthday gift which only cost was time and a little bit of pride for us all to act like GOOBERS.... just for you dad. Happy 50th Birthday!
we love you so much.


Tuesday, April 14, 2009

What "Provident Living" looks like:

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You see...
Devin is a problem fixer. He specializes in fixing my problems. Last night the problem being not able to see Shawn Johnson dance the fox trot on"Dancing with the Stars." My solution to the problem by yelling at the TV and waving my hand at it: "NO! She's my favorite! you blasted bunny ears." I think our combined efforts were the real solution.


well anyway we were both laughing at the how Devin's solution added to the aesthetics of our living room. Devin, always the optimist, said: " I don't know Amie, if you step back and take in the whole room, you barely notice them at all." What do you guys think?
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(We took them down after that.)
But no worries, we folded up the tin foil nicely for next time...

On a more serious thought, I was so grateful this general conference for the talk on Provident Living.. I loved every word and my favorite quote was how we need to strive to
"J O Y F U L L Y live with in our means."
Now,instead of looking at my couch and thinking that someday I'll have a prettier one, I can.. honestly say I NOW love my couch (that i traded my neighbor for that she bought at a garage sale years ago. ) I think i like it even more because of its rich History :) We also have completely let go of the notion of buying cable. We use to try to rationalize it every month.. maybe we should get it for the weather, or for general conference, etc, etc. Now we have decided to embrace our bunny ears (as pictured). At least for now on a student budget. I just love General conference.
We are given such simple advice, or commandments, that truly are the key to happiness in the lifetime. And I'm so thankful.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Chicago

I can now check Chicago off of places to see in the United States, but now I have to add it to a new category: "Places to visit again when it's warmer." The excuse for the trip was that Devin had a Chiropractic seminar there, but, for over a year, we've been looking for a good excuse so we could go see our friends Jared and Kasia and cousin Mardee. It was a pretty big bummer that Mardee and her girls were out sick, actually a really big bummer, but we had a great time hanging out at with the Greens and meeting little Wrigley. She was a hoot! We went down to the Michigan lake shore, and I was just a big old pouter because I forgot my camera back at the house. So these were the only two good pictures from the whole trip. Oh well, now we have to go back for sure.
Kasia(kasha) and Wrigley. Beautiful mommy and baby girl.
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This little Wrigley is so funny! From the time her eyes are open, she never stops moving. Really, never. She may be the first to give Cache a run for his money in the energy department. They also share a love for the Wiggles. Thank you Jared and Kasia for a great weekend!
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Thursday, April 2, 2009

update on april fools.

So, Devin didn't fall for it as hard as I hoped. I told him I had something to tell him when he got home, and that he should go look on the bathroom counter,,, he did, and I had to go watch his face, he had on instant of confusion, then he said "Wait,, WAIT!" then looked at me and said "April Fools you little Stinker!" Then he hugged me and laughed for like 5 minutes straight. He likes practical jokes played on him.. but I was so mad it didn't work! I guess the colored on lines didn't look as real as I'd hoped they would. NEXT year I am going to plan way ahead.
Watch out DEVIN.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

I can NOT wait for Devin to come home and see this:





I'm sure his face will be priceless, shocked, stunned, happy, he might even shed a tear and then and only then will I know it will be the perfect moment to give him a hug and say:



APRIL FOOLS!

come ON did you really think I would post something like this BEFORE telling Devin? Did you really think I am ready for something like this when I am still getting 4 hours a sleep a night? Muahhaha.. I'm so excited. .sorry neices or nephews and Sam close your ears. I borrowed the marker from my neighbor, after ruling out the option of having my other pregnant neighbor actually pee on it for me..

Any good stories from you guys?