This is going to be a rather long post....but I needed to get the memories posted!
Amidst an emergency room visit and sickness, our Spring Break Vacation was actually a time of relaxation and peace. I really enjoyed the time of leisure. I mostly stayed away from the computer. We watched movies, we played the Wii, we did puzzles, I made meals for the family, and we just spent quality time together. It's just nice to get away from normal life from time to time.
It all kind of started on Wednesday, April 4th when the kids and I used different flavors of Kool-Aid to dye our Easter Eggs. It was so fun and I can't wait to try new flavors out next year. Before we dyed the eggs, the kids used crayons to draw designs on the eggs. We found out that the blue Kool-aid turned out the best!
The next day (April 5th) the kids still had to go to school and I cleaned and packed and prepared for our trip. In the evening, Grandpa and Grandma Sorensen and Uncle Clint arrived. We had a good visit before all heading off to bed.
Friday, April 6th, the kids skipped school and helped me with the last of the cleaning and packing. Grandpa and Grandma had some errands to run as well. Finally in the afternoon we we were ready to leave. We traveled the 2 1/2 - 3 hours to Eden, Utah, also stopping to pick up some KFC for dinner.
We arrived at our vacation condo and started unpacking and settling in. I was taking the last stuff up the stairs to Joey and I's room and Beth and JJ followed me up the stairs. We had opened the windows because it was a little stuffy. As I went through the door with Beth close on my heels, there was a gush of wind that slammed the bedroom door shut......with Beth's poor left ring finger with it. She just happened to be turning around to talk to her brother and her finger was right by the hinge when this all happened. I quickly opened the door and was shocked to see the blood pouring from Beth's finger. I was also shocked to see that I could actually see Beth's bone and the skin around her fingernail was just hanging off. Beth took one look at her finger and just started bawling, with the tears streaming down her face. I went into panic mode and Joey ran up the stairs and picked up his little girl and ran her to the kitchen.
After a quick Priesthood blessing and getting some ice for her finger, we rushed off to the hospital that was 1/2 hour away in Ogden. Thank goodness that Grandpa & Grandma were there to take care of JJ. Beth was in a lot of pain on the way down. Joey is amazing when things happen - he stays completely calm, while I panic. He drove, while I held on to Bethie Girl. We tried to keep her distracted, but she was in pain and really scared to go to the hospital. We started talking about how it could have been worse and it was awesome to hear Beth say, "Well, it could have been worse - it was my left hand instead of my right hand, so now I can still use my right hand." We kept talking about how much we were blessed and it really seemed to help her.
Once we got to the hospital (at about 6:30pm), things got a lot worse. Beth was really scared to be at the hospital for some reason, even though we told her that now we had doctors/nurses to take care of her. The worst 15 minutes or so of my life were when they brought in the big needle to numb up her hand. She screamed and we had to hold her down and tears were gushing out of her eyes and she just kept saying, "No, I don't want it, please don't let them do it!" They gave her 2 shots by the knuckles of her finger and it was so hard to watch that happen. I just held her other hand and kept whispering calming words to her, as my own tears flowed from my eyes. I wished so hard that I could take it for her. It even made Joey tear up, not being able to do anything for our little girl. But finally that was over and it numbed her finger so well. It took the pain completely away from her and it was such a relief for all of us. Beth had to get a x-ray of her finger and it was actually kind of a fun adventure for her since it didn't hurt anymore. She liked that they showed her the pictures of her hand. She was fine seeing the x-ray picture, but she wouldn't look at her finger anymore (ever since that one glance at it after it first happened). It was extremely scary for her.
Another relief came when they told us that nothing was broken. Unfortunately, they had to call in a hand surgeon and he was at the other hospital, busy with other patients. We ended up waiting about 4 hours before he was able to meet with us. In the meantime, we watched some tv, played on my phone, and the nurses brought Beth some coloring pages to color. It was such a relief to have her out of pain. Joey and I both went through some waves of emotions about having our daughter go through something like this, but we made it through.
Finally the hand surgeon showed up. Unfortunately by that time the pain meds were wearing off and they had to give her another couple of shots. It wasn't as bad this time because it was mostly numb. Then, they cleaned the wound up and the surgeon sewed her up, using 4 stitches. They let us know that they call it a partial amputation and she would eventually lose her fingernail, but that it would heal just fine. They put a splint on her finger, bandaged it up (in pretty purple and blue bandages), and sent us on our way. It was after 11pm at this point and we were tired and hungry. We stopped to get some ibuprofen and tylenol at Smith's before heading back to the vacation home. On the way home, Beth's finger started throbbing and I was sure that we were going to be in for a long night. Beth kept asking "why did this have to happen" and "this is the worst vacation ever."
When we arrived, we found JJ still awake and really glad to see us. He had been pretty anxious and worried about his sister. He gave a bit of a hard time for Grandpa and Grandma. We were able to visit with him for a bit and get him to go to sleep. Grandpa was already in bed and Grandma and Uncle Clint were ready to go to sleep too. We got Beth in her pajamas and put her in bed with us. By this point she was not hungry, but Joey and I took turns eating. Then, Beth just konked right out and surprisingly didn't wake up all night. Joey and I did not sleep well after the whole ordeal and thinking that Beth was going to be in pain.
There was a few times where Beth needed some medicine, but throughout the whole vacation, she was just happy and calm. The prayers offered by all of our friends/family were heard and answered by our loving Heavenly Father. I know that he was with us and I just feel so blessed. Beth was able to enjoy the vacation and, besides just having to use one hand most of the time, did really well. I'm just so grateful for this true miracle that our family experienced.
On Saturday, April 7th, we had planned on going on a hike, but we decided that that wouldn't be a good idea for Beth. So, Grandpa and Grandma went into Ogden to run some errands and meet Uncle Lane. We had a quiet morning just kind of settling in and relaxing. I began making preparations for the evening's Easter dinner by making some crescents, putting the ham in the crockpot, and preparing the funeral potatoes. Uncle Clint and JJ were quite the buddies and had a good time playing the Wii together.
After Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle Lane returned, we went on a drive around the Pineview
Reservoir and explored the surroundings. It was quite the adventure with "Hospital trips, billboard watching, dead ends, and bears with chainsaws!" Just kind of a joke that came up as we were driving. We were driving around, getting a little lost, finding deadends and billboards, and all kinds of funny things. We were saying how this vacation was just so exciting, being sarcastic,
and it ended up being pretty fun because we were all together and that's
what really mattered anyway. We were able to find President David O. McKay's home in Huntsville on our drive.
After we returned from our drive, I stuck the food into the oven to cook, while Uncle Clint and Uncle Lane took my kids on a Easter Egg Hunt. Grandpa, Grandma, Joey, and I sat down and watched "Sons of Katie Elder." It's always fun to watch a John Wayne with my Dad.
Then we had a wonderful Easter Dinner together. I am so happy that we were able to spend this time with my parents and brothers. It was so great to just have some fun times together.
On Easter Morning (April 8th), we woke up and had did our traditional Resurrection Rolls and talked about the Savior. I also started a new tradition with some special plastic eggs, filled with scriptures and a special symbol that represented the scripture. It was special to read these with Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle Lane and Clint. The Easter Bunny found us too. There was candy and the kids got Squinkees - Beth's was Disney Princess and JJ's was Disney Cars. The kids had a fun time playing with their squinkies throughout the rest of the vacation.
It was sad to say goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle Lane and Uncle Clint. It was so fun to have them stay a couple of days with us.
Most of the rest of the vacation wasn't really eventful, but it was nice to just spend time together.
We played the Wii and watched lots of movies:
We did a lot of coloring and crafting and decorating:
We went on walks and played at the park:
We did lots of puzzles:
We made treats and just spent lots of quality time together as a family. I feel so blessed for my hubby and children.
Our last big adventure was that we celebrated Beth's 7th Birthday during our vacation. On Thursday, April 12th, we started the day with a special treasure hunt for Beth to find her birthday gifts. The clues were written by her Dad and they all rhymed! It even included a clue, put up on the Wii - the kids thought that was awesome!
Once the presents were found - Beth had to open them! She got some Magic Treehouse Books, a jump rope, a princess dvd game, kids headphones, and the highlight......an ipod touch, with lots of fun apps, including books already installed! (actually we just converted my old iphone into an ipod touch for her - the phone part doesn't work now. :) Beth was THRILLED!
We then had to have cake and ice cream!
Then we headed off to Ogden to have a checkup on Beth's finger. Everything looked great. They said she would need to keep the splint on her finger for 3 more weeks, but could have the stitches out in a week.
The sad part of the day was dropping Dad off at the Trax Frontrunner station. Joey had to do his podcast and a Political Convention, so he wasn't able to spend the last couple of days with us.
After returning to our condo we had breakfast for dinner, more cake, and lots of playing with Beth's new toys! She said (like she says every year), "it was the best birthday ever!" She's so excited to be able to text her cousin, Whitnee every day now! She loves all the fun, educational games I put on there and I even got her some Rainbow Magic Fairy e-books that she can read. She was even thrilled that now she can read her scriptures on her ipod too! Definitely a hit!
Well, we started the vacation with chaos, that I guess we needed to end it with some chaos as well. I was in the shower on Sunday morning, when Beth ran in and said that JJ was acting really weird and shaking. He had been experiencing what I thought was just allergies, but it turns out that it turned into a sinus infection, which included a fever. I ran down the stairs in a towl, with shampoo still in my hair. JJ was having a seizure (after a couple of years without one). I had really hoped he had finally outgrew his febrile seizures. :( By the time I got there, the seizure was over, but he was still unconscious. It freaked me out a bit because this time, he still had his eyes open. I held my boy for awhile, just making sure he was breathing okay and whispering prayers up to Heavenly Father. Finally when I calmed myself down, I asked Beth to keep an eye on him while I ran up and finished my shower. JJ was still sleeping, as I hurried to pack the car with all of our stuff. He finally woke up and we spent some time with him, giving him a shower and meds and just making sure he was alright. Beth was a real trooper and stayed calm - even helping me to calm down. We finally got everything loaded and we left Eden about noon. It was such a relief to get home and be with Joey. He was so devastated that he hadn't been there to help. But, JJ was doing much better by the time we got home. (Of course the next day we went to the doctor and got meds and he stayed home for the first couple of days of school the next week - but everything was fine.)
So that was our Spring Break 2012 Adventures! It's never completely sane, but we still had a good time! Now onto our next adventures of this life.....
