True Colors Concert

Summer, Alicia, Tonya and I went to the true colors concert. The radio station 101.9 had tickets for $10.19 so we went. It was Debbie Harry, Erasure, Cindy Lauper, the Dresden dolls and the Cliks playing together. We thought it might be fun. It was okay, but nothing too great. It was worth $10.19 but no more. At the end, we were on our way out and started dancing to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" or something like that. We were having fun and Alicia is taping us with her new camera. This huge guy comes up and just starts dancing with us for like a minute. No talking or anything. It was so funny.

Me, Summer, Ton, and Alicia
Summer and Ton
Summer and Alicia
Ton and Alicia

Two sick at a time!!!

It is exhausting having one child sick but, to have two sick at a time is a nightmare. I have never (knock on wood) had all three sick at once! The constant vomiting and clean up and checking temperatures and keeping track of which one had medicine at which time and pushing fluids, etc. It's too much!!! Aaaaaahhhhhh!!! Anyway, this time I had to take a photo. It's a good thing too, because now I can always remember it. I mean you can't just always remember the fun times, you have to remember the hard times that you made it through.

Dalton and Hudson

(poor sick poopsies)

Hudson's Baptism

This year Hudson was baptized on his birthday which also happens to be Cinco de Mayo. It was a great day. He played a quick, but cold soccer game and then rushed home to get ready in his new suit. Fortunately, the suits were on sale during Easter so I got both Hudson and Dalton one. They are so handsome in them. We had a nice program. In our stake, we do baptisms by wards. Since our ward is small, Hudson was the only one to be baptized. So, we were in charge of the whole program. There is something special about having a baptism all to ourselves. We had Hudson's grandma speak on baptism and Derrek spoke on confirmation. Hudson and Mikaela sung the opening song and Mikaela sang a solo. After the baptism, we went to our church and had a nice luncheon to celebrate Hudson's birthday and baptism. Since it was Cinco de Mayo, we had a mexican theme with homemade Cafe Rio. It was delicious! We had beef, pork and chicken. Everyone went above and beyond the call of duty. A big thank you to all who helped me pull it off. I couldn't have done it without you. We had a nice video that my mom's cousin Danny did for us. It was awesome. Maybe I can get it on my blog for you all to enjoy.

Don, Sheila, Don Jr., Larissa, Kathy, Bill

Dalton, Mikaela and Hudson

Hudson and his chocolate cake!

Hola. Me Llamo Pedro.

Me and my baby!

Salt Lake Marathon '07

The Salt Lake Marathon was April 21st. Don ran the half along with our friend Kyle. I ran the 5K (you can all stop laughing now) with my friend Tamra, who happens to be Kyle's wife. Normally, she would run the half but she was injured. Fortunately for me, it didn't keep her from running with me and pumping me up. Those of you who know me, know that I need a lot of encouragement. Those of you who know me also know that I am NOT a runner! For some reason, I think it dates back to 5th grade when my short, extra heavy elementary school homeroom teacher Mrs. Moore yelled at me during laps "Run faster Larissa, you should be able to run faster with those long legs." So, what worked for Forest Gump, worked the reverse for me and I never ran again. Well, until I switched to "the dark side" and started in June of 06. Thanks for nothing, Mrs. Moore (I'm not really sure that's her name.) That IS a true story. I did not make it up. Anyway, the race was awesome. Now, I don't believe I will EVER run anything more because I have this nervousness about running with friends and being the last one to come in. You know how everybody decides they can't wait any longer so they all go home and leave you. I would much rather run a 5K and WATCH AND WAIT for them!!!

We got ripped. Ugly shirt colors AND no medals.
Hey, 5K-ers are important too!!!

(FYI, I am not wearing the ugly shirt)

Don with his medal.

(He isn't wearing his shirt either)

Hudson and those stinkin' tonsils!!!

Check out those huge craters!

(This was after the tonsil bleed but prior to the surgery)

Before the surgery

After the surgery

(My poor poopsie)

I don't have any pictures of the emergency story so you will have to take my word for it. I wanted to tell the story of Hudson's tonsils. Some of you may have heard about it already and if not, my bad. I didn't call anyone till much later.

It was a normal day for all of us. It just happened to be picture day for Mikaela and Hudson and I was planning on taking Dalton in for preschoolers at 1:30 pm. I was on my way to the school from the gym to volunteer in Mikaela's class when the school called me and told me that Hudson's mouth was bleeding and they couldn't figure out the source of the bleeding and it wouldn't stop. It had been 30 minutes. I told them I was on my way. I kept looking at his mouth and wondering too. I called the pediatrician and it just so happened to be noon so she said bring him right in and someone will see him (depending on who was back from lunch). So, we went directly there. When he would swallow the blood, you had no idea it was happening but when he would spit into a cup or tissue, you knew it. So, I kept asking him "are you still bleeding?" And the answer always was "yes". Luckily, our doctor came to see him and discovered his right tonsil was bleeding. He tried to silver nitrate it and it didn't work so he left to call an ENT at the local hospital to cauterize it. He came back saying he couldn't get someone at that hospital but Primary Children's Sr. Resident was curious because he had only seen one case before in an adult that ended up with Mono causing the tonsil bleed. So, he sent us to the ER at PCMC. We raced down there while Hudson spit blood into a emesis basin. It was messy. He started getting nauseous because he had swallowed so much blood. They took us right in and everyone assumed he was post op tonsillectomy and were all surprised when we said he wasn't. They all kept telling him how unusual he was. He was the best patient. He was so cute and cooperative. So grown up. The only struggles were when they needed to put in another IV. He hated the first one. They tested his blood for everything. At one point his clotting factor was off but after watching it, they decided he was okay. After a lot of other medical procedures, the resident finally decided to try and cauterize it while he was awake. Now, not all children will cooperate enough for this but, the doc decided to try it. His nurse stood behind Hudson and Hudson just kept his mouth open and still. He did everything he was asked to do. His mouth was smoking and everything. I was dying and trying to remain calm so as not to freak him out. We joked that he was a fire breathing dragon. Most children have to be put to sleep to do stuff like that. I was so proud of Hudson. He's such a good kid. So, needless to say, they kept him overnight to be observed. He enjoyed it because he wasn't really sick or in pain, and he loved all the videos and game boys etc. He even worried because the nurses were waiting on him. He felt a little guilty but I reassured him that it was their job to help people like this and we were paying them to do it. We decided to have his tonsils out so this doesn't happen again.

We had the tonsils and adenoids removed in April. I have pictures to prove that. It was nice being at PCMC because they let all three kids come and tour and listen to information about being a patient. They are so good with kids. They had fun. These pictures are Hudson's before and after shots. I felt so bad taking him in there feeling great and then having him come out feeling so badly. But, now that it has been a while, it's a great thing for him. He sleeps better and doesn't snore. Also, I just had to take a picture of his tonsils. Now, I know this is gross but, I couldn't pass it up. Look how huge they are!!!

I just have to tell you what Hudson did during his recovery. The nurse was just laughing at him. She thought he was so cute and funny. He was groggy and still trying to wake up. He looks at me and says "Mom, I want to call Mikaela." I said "Okay, why?" He said "to tell her I am through getting my tonsils out." The nurse said, "Who's Mikaela?" I said "His sister." She said "that is so sweet that you like her so much." He said "I don't." He also said to me "Mom, is Dr. White still here?" I asked why and he said "I would like to talk to him." The nurse said if he was still here, she would try and get him to come in. She thought he was like a little grown up man. She told the other nurse, this little guy is mature beyond his age.

Update:

It was more painful then we all thought it would be. But, we are so glad it is over now and it definitely has helped him. He doesn't snore anymore and he sleeps much better.

Hudson gets his tonsils out!!!

Well, Hudson had his tonsils and adenoids out this morning. I will tell you more about it later and I even took pictures at this hospital visit (being that it was planned and not the emergency we had before). I just wanted to let everyone know he is doing well. His throat hurts him, but he is just the best patient. Hardly complains, rarely cries and just tolerates it all very well. He is so cute and so funny. He just has the nurses chuckling with the things he says. Mom is struggling with the fact that we took him in so healthy and then he comes out in pain and miserable. But in the end, I think he will be better off. Will write more later.

Hawaii, again...

Sorry about all the separate posts but, I have no clue how to post a bunch of

smaller pictures in one post. I am still a blog novice.

Kaua'i

Kaua'i

I miss you beautiful Hawaiian sands and ocean!!!

Laura and I with our twin rash guards!

Um, should someone tell her

that's not how you wear the lei?

My first time surfing in Maui. It was awesome!

I wish I could do it more often. I think I could get addicted.

The only bad part was that it was really crowded.

(notice Don in the background)

Kaua'i
Don getting ready to jump off a cliff on Kaua'i.

We hiked down to these pools of water and as I am walking towards the top of this cliff, I hear a loud splat and Don is missing. I freaked out for a second and then saw him come up. I had no clue he was going to jump and I guess the splat was his shoes hitting the water. So, he goes up to do it again. This time I had the camera ready.

We all rented jeeps or convertibles on Kaua'i. It was super fun!
View from the Naapali coast hike
We ended our hike with this beach. We watched the waves crash into each other. But they didn't crash like they normally do, they were perpendicular to each other. I have never seen waves crashing like that but I guess that is normal in the winter. You can't really tell from the picture but, the large wave in this picture is breaking sideways. It was really cool to see. I guess our friends actually played and swam at this beach during the summer. It's amazing how different it is in the winter. The water is so much more intense and scary.
More views from the hike.

Formal night on the ship.

Thanks to my friend Tamra for lending me her dress, you rock!!!

More Hawaii Pictures

Hanalei Bay

Here's Don surfing on Hanalei Bay. He went back alone the next day and the tide was so high, he had to go down further. Only professionals were surfing there at that time. We were lucky to have had the awesome day before to play.

Scenic Kauai. It's so awesome!

More Hawaii Pictures

Queensbath

I guess in the summer people swim in this but this was February. One stupid guy jumped in a little further to the left. I guess he survived. We didn't stick around to find out.

Fantasy Island waterfalls

More falls

Naapali coastline - view from the ship

Don and I.

My hair did not like the Hawaiian humidity. Ugh!

Sunset on Oahu

I am not sure where we stopped to rest but, we watched a great sunset. I tried to take a great sunset picture and these were the best I could get. They don't nearly capture how beautiful it was. It was so relaxing and just peaceful. It's not often that I get a moment to stop and really take in the sunset. This was my moment of heaven on earth. Okay enough of the cheesy stuff!

Last Day in Hawaii

We were definitely in some serious mourning this day. I just didn't want to leave. Hawaii is so beautiful. These were taken in Oahu on the last day. We spent the day waiting for our 11:30 pm flight. Just rested and watched the sunset. Our other friends were on another flight so we were alone at this point. We had to do the usual vacation pictures. You take me and I'll take you. We then raced to Waikiki to get some Lava Flows before racing back to the airport. We got to the restaurant and just went to the bar. Don told the hostess that we just wanted to get some Lava Lava's. She looked at him very strangely and said "do you mean Lava Flows? Lava Lava is a dress!" Don was a little embarrassed but the Lava Flows were worth the rush!

Me

This is Don with a cool break in the background

Hawaii Rocks!!!

Here are a few pictures from our Hawaii cruise. I have so much to say and so little space. It was a blast. It was not, however, relaxing in any way. The third to the last day we actually laid on the beach and caught some rays and much needed rest but, all the rest of the days were go, go, go. (However Don was not with me that day. He spent the day Snorkeling Molokini and surfing in Lahaina while I snorkeled at Black Rock and went on a whale watching tour. We flew to Oahu and stayed for three days doing the Oahu thang. Then caught the ship on Sunday and set sail to Kauai. We spent Monday and Tuesday there. We did the Napaoli coast hike, Queensbath, and Hanalei Bay surfing for Don and boogie boardin for me. I must say that Hanalei Bay was by far the best boogie boarding ever! It is now my favorite beach for boogie boarding. California isn't nearly as good (both Nor Cal and So Cal). Sorry to all the Californians. We had to rush back to the ship every day to set sail for the next port. On Wednesday we spent the day in Hilo then Thursday we spent the day in Kona. On Friday and Saturday we spent time in Maui and then disembarked Sunday back in Oahu. I will post more pictures as I get them downloaded and give you more details on the activities. This is just a taste of the excitement yet to come.

Don and I onboard the ship right before leaving Oahu


Don getting sprayed at Queensbath on Kauai

Don and a coconut. Don is on the right.
(Hanalei Bay)

A great picture with perfect lighting of Don and I at Queensbath