Sludge Baby!!!

As you can tell from the picture, the gall bladder is quite the fine organ. At least, it is when it functions properly. My dear sweet wife's decided not to continue to function properly about a year and a half ago, and usually takes her out of commission for 4 or 5 days.
It is with much happiness that I am proud to announce the birth of our new sludge baby on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008, at 6 p.m. We were scheduled for surgery at 11:45 a.m., but due to emergency surgery, her doctor moved the surgery time back to 2:45 p.m., then to "we'll call you when we're ready, unless you want to reschedule?" Upon explanation that we had taken the remainder of our work week off for this, an agreement was reached. We got the call to head to the hospital at about 4 p.m.
Upon arrival, Amy was prepped for surgery, and then the wait began. At about 6 p.m., they came and took Amy away, and I was sent to the waiting room. I had the pleasure of watching Animal Planet or the Boston Red Sox/Tampa Bay Devil Ray baseball game. So after a few innings, several 4 wheeler magazines, and nearly two hours of nail chewing, the doctor came to talk things over with me.
This surgeon was interesting. Shoulder length brown hair, gold cross on a chain, etc., failed to hide the fact that this guy knew his business. He stated that everything had gone fine, and that Amy should be out of recovery in about 25 minutes. He said that due to the lateness of the hour, he wanted to keep her overnight. Thanks to grandpa and grandma Robinson for stepping in to cover the boys that evening.
So I met my wife in the observation rooms, and helped her transfer herself from one bed to another. The nurse on duty was awesome. His name was Chase, and he and his wife were expecting a baby. The hospital was full, at least, our wing was, but Chase took good care of us. I have to say, though, that I had one long night. Amy was pretty drugged up, and the gas they blew her stomach up with settled in her lungs and shoulder. She needed to breath deep and move to get her gas out. I'm not much of a fan of her releasing gas, but this seemed to be more of a necessity than an evil, so I dealt with it okay.
As the night progressed, the machine Amy was hooked up to kept beeping and waking her up every 20 minutes. I looked it over, and it appeared to beep every time her oxygen stats fell below 90%. So I pushed enough buttons to turn the alarm down to 85%. She was sleeping, and slept at about 89% of saturation. I also managed to turn her IV off, then on again without alerting any one, or at least, hushing the annoying alarm bell. Yeah, I'm quite the hazard around hospital machinery, and should never again be allowed within the walls of a hospital for any extended time period.
She managed to live, though, and pulled through with flying colors that night. Her toughness is amazing. The next morning, Amy was released, and I got her back home. I filled her pain prescription, and kept her medicated to a tolerable pain level the rest of that day. That night, Amy didn't sleep well, and panicked when she couldn't breath. Why she thinks she needs to breathe I'll never know, but we had a long night until she came out on the couch, and was propped up by a pillow. Since then, she has done very well. She is even in the process of making some disgusting tomato based recipe today that makes the house stink. She is taking it easy, and trying not to over do it. I wish she would have forgotten about the tomatos.
So all in all, things went very well with the birth of our sludge baby.
We also had a great time last Saturday as we got together, again, to celebrate Kaden's birthday, again. Amy let me use the camp chef to make dutch oven potatos, and we grilled chicken. Combined with rolls and a salad, a little basketball and motorcycle riding, we had a great evening. We all enjoyed ourselves, and the company of family, and think the rest of the family managed to get along as well. We appreciate all those who showed up and participated.

All about Kaden

Kaden's birthday week long celebration started Saturday, August 30th. Amy was mad but supportive that dad decided not to take the family camping with friends that weekend. A movie was decided upon at the Kaysville theatre in lovely Kaysville, Utah. (Yes, at $2.50 per person, we went on the cheap!! What can I say?) After screening Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, complete with candy, popcorn, and soda pop, the boys were ready for a barbecue.

It was just the five of us, which was awesome, and we had a great time. There's just something about Indiana Jones that makes everyone have a good time. The boys managed to stay interested throughout without a potty break!

Sunday was a very restful day. Amy managed to squeeze in about 20 hours of sleep between Saturday night and Monday morning. The rest of us tried not to wake the growly bear, and mostly succeeded.

Monday morning brought about a phone call from the friends we were supposed to be camping with inviting us to the movie. After sharing the news that we had already gone to Indiana Jones, we invited them to the Kamas Rec center for swimming. With grandpa, grandma, Ashley and Josh all in Logan, we were left to our own devices. We managed to bring everyone home that we started with, so that was a good day. Our friends have three boys that are the same age as our boys, and a little girl Connor likes, so we had fun. Kaden is shown above with his buddy, Morgan, and Connor to the left with his buddy, Blake. We had a blast, and dad and his friend managed to soak the lifeguard with some skillful cannonballs and canopeners!
After several hours of swimming, and a game of pool, the rock wall was opened. As you can see, the boys tried climbing and repelling. Kaden wimped out, Spencer made it to the top, of course, and Connor went about half way up before deciding to repell down. It was a great time, and we got to see grandma and grandpa for a minute.

Grandpa and grandma brought a very thoughtful, appreciated bag of gifts from Josh and Ashley, combined with a very much enjoyed sketch pad.

(Spencer raiding the treat bag at the top of the climbing wall.)

After this, and cheesy bread from the Summit Inn, we made it home for the evening. Not bad for a Labor Day. It was wierd not working or worrying about area coverage, but nice.

The boys had to go to school The rest of the week, but made it through. Wednesday, Kaden's birthday, was a typical day. Dad got home from work, and grilled steaks, while mom went to Ogden and picked up a basketball standard for Kaden. Kaden and dad went to young men, and spent the evening with 20 or 30 of his best ward friends playing human foosball. (Yes, it's a real game!) This weekend, we anticipate another barbecue with family and another opportunity to get together and enjoy each others company. Amy has surgery to remove her gall bladder baby next Wednesday, and I wait with baited breath to see how things work out. I'm taking a few days off to be sure her every need and whim are catered to. Mabey I'll bring HER some frozen peas this time :).

School Days!!

The boys started school this week. Kaden, 8th grade, Spencer, 5th grade, and Connor 1st grade. It makes me feel like Amy is getting so old to have all our kids in school full time. I still think she's hot, though. (Not bad for a 35 year old lady;) Love you babe!

I have a hard time thinking that our Kaden, pictured here, several years ago, (2006) is almost in High School. Where are the glasses, pleasure in life, and boyish desire to play baseball?

Replaced by basketball, Ipod ear buds, backpack, and face cleanser of a teenager. Kaden's greatest desire is to finish writing a book he started. He works on his book unencouraged in his spare time. He is also, I hope, about three years from "testing" dad physically. This is why dad works so hard. Yep, it's to try and keep up with Amy and the boys.

Here is our wonderfully responsible teenager on day 1 of 8th grade. Last year we had him take a full year of band, sewing, cooking, etc., so he could have a greater say in what classes he wanted to take this year. I think he's learning the meaning of our family saying, "Do the things you have to do, then you can do the things you want to do." Me and my freakish obsession with philosophy. It's working, though, as he came home from the first day of school saying that all of this years teachers are so much cooler than all of last years teachers. I also think he likes being one of the oldest kids in school. His birthday is quickly approaching, and he'll hit 14. Great. I get him in teacher's quorum. I think he's looking forward to being released from Deacon's quorum president.

Spencer started 5th grade this year.

He's also made a few changes since 2006 when we lived in Price. I think he was just finishing second grade at the time of this picture. He is so full of life and full of fun. He seems to "attract" a certain type of people that most find offensive. I think it's his adventursome spirit that others are attracted to. He did get the one male teacher available to the 5th grade. He's never had a male teacher, so it should be interesting.

Here he is on his first day of 5th grade, knee immobilizer and all. Of course, he had to remove the imobilizer, pull back the bandage, and show off his stitches. This allowed dad to practice his sweet bandaging skills every day. He only has to have this immobilizer on until the 25th. He asked me if it would hurt when they remove the stitches. I hope it hurts less than when they put them in, because that's what I told him. He is quick to point out my occasional unintentional dishonesty, though, if it does hurt. Amy gets to take him in for stitch removal, so I'm sort of off the hook. Yes, Spencer insisted on a school bag with a single strap. He thought it'd be cooler than a backpack with two straps. He starts gymnastics again in September. Connor starts with him this year. After he heard the high school girls go wild over Spencer's quadrupple back flip during the review in June, Connor wanted a little of that action. That's my little thinker. Go where the hotties are.






This was Connor in 2006. Talk about change in a two year period. He's quite the little man now. This is a long way from his "Sandy" days, when our neighbor across the street watched him while we worked. At least until Kaden got home form school and picked him up.


















This is Mr. Attitude on his first day. I think he was a little worried about going all day to school, but seems to be adjusting just fine. His teacher is from Morgan, and is a likeable lady. We'll see the positives and negatives as we go.






One of the cool things about the start of school is the traditional pinewood derby. This year, however, we got a "space derby" kit.



What the He** is a space derby? Dad can build a car, but a rocket ship? Give me a break. We got the kit near the end of July with the very direct instructions to "build this for our derby sometime in August." Great. I love specific details.


So a week or two ago, dad is messing around with some silicone adhesive caulk, repairing some small household necessity, when he gets the idea to "caulk" the space ship thingy together. So I did. Well, last Tuesday evening at 2045 hours, (8:45 p.m.) our phone rang. This is 15 minutes past sleepy time, so I was very happy to groggily fall from the couch, bounce from the floor, shake my head around a few times, and mumble, "hullo" into the receiver. Yes, I was being informed that the space derby was to be held Wednesday, the very next day, at 1830 hours, (6:30 p.m.) This happens to be about the time mom and I get home from work. After a quick debate about supporting our kids and the church, and how wonderful a gift knowledge and timely information is, a basic shape was formed via hand sander. Kaden was left in charge of painting the rocket, which turned out to be a colorful, patriotic, red, white and blue with white dots for stars in the field of blue, and black flames near the back. The picture just does not do the excellent paint job justice. Well, we took first in the races where dad wound the propeller. Spencer actually wound the propeller backwards one time, (the second time) and we flew the rocket backwards into the starting pole. No, we didn't win them all, but we didn't loose them all either, and the boys got to actively participate in a great rocket building experience. The sight of a wooden red, white, and blue hand made rocket ship flying backwards into the starting pole was simply awesome.





Here are the boys pre-rocket ship flying backwards experience. Connor rolled the paper into one of the strongest ninja swords known to man. He has some skills in the martial arts area that should pay off in gymnastics.




To rant a little, it is so helpful for those in charge to actually provide accurate, reliable information to those unfortunate enough to actually have to do the work in a timely manner. This allows the peon insubordinates time to actually help the program succeed, and helps you look good. I've also discovered if you happen to be the unfortunate one in the leadership position, that it helps you look better as a leader. Okay, moving beyond the rant.

Dr. V.'s dental office, newly opened in Coalville, hired a young lady from the one dental office in existence. Of couse, she was getting married this week, which makes my beautiful wife have to assist him, take care of the patients, and do it all. One more week of this, and they should be back to full staff. It is humbling to hear her talk about running from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. or so every day without a break. They are so busy, that this is what has to be done. Job security is a great thing. Amy mentioned that since the first of August, their office has added 68 new patients. Thanks to my talented, hard working, sexyful wife for working so hard.

In my world, I had to re-schedule taking the written promotional exam until October. The reason was because I was asked to teach an ethics and professionalism class to our new cadets. My topics were specifically workplace harassment and cultural diversity. I think it's part of an initiation to new POST employees. Give them the crappiest jobs. Well, I didn't get to work until late, thanks to a Utah driver leaving the North bound I15 lane of travel, tearing up the median cable, and landing in the South bound lanes. Way to go, dorkfish, I appreciate the Utah courtesy, and by the time I got the days fires put out, I just didn't have enough time to prepare a lesson plan. So I re-scheduled, and spent two hours on power point. I think it'll work out, though, because I can prepare better for the written exam in October. I hope to simply make the roster next year, and be an option for promotion. If I actually am hired as a section commander, (Lieutenant), it's as far as I can go without being appointed to Captain, Major, or whatever. Permanent rank will remain Lieutenant. With over 16 Lieutenant spots reachable from where we live, and be a Lieutenant, I think it's worth a shot. Yes, if offered a position in an unreachable position, we move again. 12 moves in 15 years is enough, so it'd be great to stay somewhere. We've been in Morgan for just over two years, now, so the timing is getting right to move on. If only the national economy would cooperate. By the way, the boys had a lively discussion on Obama last night, with Spencer spouting his concerns, and indoctrinating Connor. Thanks, grandma. I will be sure to vote in November, so I feel entitled to complain during the next four years.

August

I decided not be be a jerk, and actually post something to our blog. Amy should help me with this, but I hope we can all contribute a little something.









August has proven to be a fun month so far! Harley went to Indianapolis for an International Conference, and loved it! Indianapolis is a very clean town, with a lot to see and do in the downtown area. I got to walk around and see some of the city. I was impressed with the state tributes to our vetrans, and the overall cleanliness of the city. This picture is from the top of one of the memorials, and looks at a library. Harley is an instructor at the Utah Police Academy, and is the state coordinator for the Drug Recognition Expert program, which is why he was in Indianapolis.


Amy has had some abdominal pain that hits her on occasion and causes her about a weeks worth of intense pain. This has gone on for the last year and a half or so. She finally made an appointment with the local doctor, or nurse practioner, who had no clue what was going on. They were quick to reccomend an ultrasound, which we had the next day, (Thursday the 14th). Nope, she's not pregnant. :) She does have to have her gall bladder removed, which we will schedule to have done soon. This dampens our enthusiasm for completing the Ogden half-triathalon in September. We'll just have to try again, mabey next year. This is a picture of our beautiful mommy participating in our favorite family activity.





The same day we discovered Amy's good news, and how to solve her issue, Spencer was at Scouts working on his First-Aid skill award. They had finished, and he was in the parking lot riding his bike around. He tried to wheelie over the curb and onto the sidewalk, but came down a little short. The final result of this escapade was a nice, beautiful deep, boyish type cut over his right kneecap. Sure enough, this was a little beyond first-aid skills, and he had to have stitches. The doctor put two internal stitches over his right knee cap, then put in about 12 more to close the cut. Spencer winced and grabbed my hand during the numbing shot, but then relaxed, and actually laughed as the doctor closed the cut. He is in a knee imobilizer to keep the knee from bending for the next ten days. Poor kid! He is sure a strong minded little guy, and impressed the heck out of his dad during the ordeal.
Spencer watched the doctor stitch him up! He was asking questions about the subcutaneous tissue, and all sorts of intelligent things. Sorry for the sideways view, but it shows the little man's interest in what he had happen to him.















Kaden was at Scout camp making, like, an infinity of boondoggle key chains, and we were short babysitters during the first week of August. We got help from Grandma Robinson, Ashley, and Grandma Watkins. We sure appreciate them and all their help. It is sure nice to have him back playing rockband with his brothers! Connor has sweet guitar skills.






During this same week, Deputies from Summit county and Harley's old road crew hit a drug jackpot.




This is a picture of a "suicide load" of marijuana. It weighed in at about 400 pounds of green leafy substance. The suspect was a man about 60 years old. There was around 53 pounds in the front, and then the rest under the Toneau cover in the pickup bed. The Deputy in the "trophy shot" has a K9, and has worked the road with his dog for the last 6-9 months. This was his first big pop. What a way to start! Guess what? Cops don't have to have permission to search when you can smell the contraband!



Connor is excited to start first grade next week. He is sure getting big. We were blessed with a visit from Aunt Aletha and Uncle Kevin. The boys and dad got to ride the motorcycles, and had a great time. We appreciate the time we had to be with Aletha and Kevin. Connor sure had fun!

Yes, Connor wore his peddal bike helmet. Safety first!