When things start to heat up, the only cure is a trip to Alaska!
I love you cool Alaska. I love your clouds. I love your rain. I love your wind. I love your residents, Mike and Linda and Tiffanie and Matt. I love EVERYTHING about you right now.
And I love your restaurants, Lucky Wishbone and Simon & Seafords.
And I love your green. And your mountains. And your wildflowers.
And I love your fishing. Your moose.
And I love Dimond BLVD and Fred Meyer.
And I love Bayshore.
I just love ya Alaska.
Can't wait to see you on Tuesday!!!!!!!
Sorry Virginia. I don't love your heat and humidity right now (even though I love a lot about you too).
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
30 Staples
Garth is tough. About two weeks ago he had surgery on his ankle. He hobbled around the house, working through the pain, going to girl's camp, and preparing everything for a week at scout camp.
And after one day, his intestines began to hurt again (over the past few years, he has been dealing with this problem). Our good friend Steve had gone to help with scout camp...but he too had been in pain...his tooth! So Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum headed for the hospital, leaving the boys at camp to fend for themselves (no, I kid, they joined another pack). Tweedle Dee was dropped off at a hospital near the camp (and far from us...3 hours away). Tweedle Dum went home to find out he needed a root canal...oh yeah...and as I write this, he is in Vermont, running a 100 miler (hence my decision to name him the "Dum" Tweedle)...Go Steve.
Tweedle Dee, whom we will call Garth, was admitted to the hospital. He was very disappointed to miss out on all of the scouting fun...,except for maybe the 100 plus temperatures combined with pure thick wet air...we east coasters like to call...a summer nightmare.
Blessed day. The small town doctor thought he might know why Garth had been suffering for so long. A past appendicitis, which healed, left scar tissue, might had been the culprit for causing blockage problems on his small intestines (or something like that).
He was scheduled for surgery the next day. Grandma Gair and Pops Gair immediately headed south to be with Garth. I remained home with a house full of kid's with many needs, appts, places to go, piano lessons to teach...blah blah busy life blah. Oh how we wanted to go and see our Tweedle...but so grateful Garth's parents came to the rescue.
The surgery went great and sure enough, the appendix had been as good as gone and had left plenty of scar tissue. Unfortunately, they had to slice his abdomen right down the middle...ewww and ouch.
Just as things were getting better, they took a turn for the worse. His incision site became infected (abscess anyone?!) and a systemic infection followed. This required heavy antibiotics and an extended hospital stay.
They finally allowed him to go home...yay! under the understanding he would clean his open wound and return two days later for a follow up appt (a 2 hour drive each way). He did that and they were able to remove the remaining staples and told him he didn't need to come back (unless he wanted to :)
He came home and has been continuing his healing process. He usually feels well in the morning and then by afternoon he is, "weak as a kitten."
Unfortunately his tribulation continued on Sunday when after a few days of itchy hives, he awoke to a totally swollen lip. That required a trip to the ER to find out he is now allergic not only to penicillin but the anti-biotic, Cipro as well. Poor boy...he can't wait until he is roaring like a Tiger and leaves the "kitten" as a distant memory.
We love you Garth..our little kitten.
And after one day, his intestines began to hurt again (over the past few years, he has been dealing with this problem). Our good friend Steve had gone to help with scout camp...but he too had been in pain...his tooth! So Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum headed for the hospital, leaving the boys at camp to fend for themselves (no, I kid, they joined another pack). Tweedle Dee was dropped off at a hospital near the camp (and far from us...3 hours away). Tweedle Dum went home to find out he needed a root canal...oh yeah...and as I write this, he is in Vermont, running a 100 miler (hence my decision to name him the "Dum" Tweedle)...Go Steve.
Tweedle Dee, whom we will call Garth, was admitted to the hospital. He was very disappointed to miss out on all of the scouting fun...,except for maybe the 100 plus temperatures combined with pure thick wet air...we east coasters like to call...a summer nightmare.
Blessed day. The small town doctor thought he might know why Garth had been suffering for so long. A past appendicitis, which healed, left scar tissue, might had been the culprit for causing blockage problems on his small intestines (or something like that).
He was scheduled for surgery the next day. Grandma Gair and Pops Gair immediately headed south to be with Garth. I remained home with a house full of kid's with many needs, appts, places to go, piano lessons to teach...blah blah busy life blah. Oh how we wanted to go and see our Tweedle...but so grateful Garth's parents came to the rescue.
The surgery went great and sure enough, the appendix had been as good as gone and had left plenty of scar tissue. Unfortunately, they had to slice his abdomen right down the middle...ewww and ouch.
Just as things were getting better, they took a turn for the worse. His incision site became infected (abscess anyone?!) and a systemic infection followed. This required heavy antibiotics and an extended hospital stay.
They finally allowed him to go home...yay! under the understanding he would clean his open wound and return two days later for a follow up appt (a 2 hour drive each way). He did that and they were able to remove the remaining staples and told him he didn't need to come back (unless he wanted to :)
He came home and has been continuing his healing process. He usually feels well in the morning and then by afternoon he is, "weak as a kitten."
Unfortunately his tribulation continued on Sunday when after a few days of itchy hives, he awoke to a totally swollen lip. That required a trip to the ER to find out he is now allergic not only to penicillin but the anti-biotic, Cipro as well. Poor boy...he can't wait until he is roaring like a Tiger and leaves the "kitten" as a distant memory.
We love you Garth..our little kitten.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Ethan Breaks the Record!
Here is the number one 9-10 Boys Medley Relay Team in Prince William County!
The got a gold medal in the Firecracker Relay!
And here are the second place, silver medalists for Freestyle!
But what thrilled us all today was Ethan getting a record in the Breast stroke and coming in first place on his favorite stroke!This week he is ranked number 2 in the whole county!
That boy is fast!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Hip to Clip Coupons
I have been feeling very hip about my coupon clipping for years now. My good friend, Brooke is also pretty hip too! We not only love saving money on our food, cleaning supplies and beauty selections...we love everything CHEAPER!
So with our passion for saving, we have started teaching a coupon clipping class a few times a month. We often get asked, "How do you save so much on your grocery bill?" It is time to share our secrets.
Our first class sold out. We hope to have many more to come!
We have a new blog set up: hiptoclipcoupons.blogspot.com. If you want to join us for a class, or have us host a private coupon party...let us know.
Let's get clipping!
So with our passion for saving, we have started teaching a coupon clipping class a few times a month. We often get asked, "How do you save so much on your grocery bill?" It is time to share our secrets.
Our first class sold out. We hope to have many more to come!
We have a new blog set up: hiptoclipcoupons.blogspot.com. If you want to join us for a class, or have us host a private coupon party...let us know.
Let's get clipping!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Swim, Swam, Swum
Ethan went away on his first overnight camp at UVA!It was swim, swim and swim all week long.
He met a great group of friends right off the bat!
Here he is giving us a farewell as he begins his week.
But first the whole family drove to the UVA campus to get him settled in. Our first stop was lunch and a few wishes at the wishing well. Ashton "wished" he would find a quarter. His wish was immediately granted when he looked down and found one on the ground.
Here we all are glad to have just gotten Calvin back from BYU golf camp and sad to be sending off Ethan to his camp!
Here is the door to Ethan's dorm room for the week. Notice, Porter Garth. Garth accidentally signed himself up for the camp. We had to change a few things to get Ethan's name changed but his friends still liked to call him "Porter."
Here he is with a big excited smile ready to go!
But is seemed a bit scarier when we actually were there saying good-bye! Look at the fear in those eyes...or maybe he just thinks I am weird.
The camp was a success and he had a blast. Do you know that this boy is ranked in the top 25 for all 9-10 boys for Breaststroke in the whole county (I think he is #5)?! And he is on two relays that are ranked #1.
He met a great group of friends right off the bat!
Here he is giving us a farewell as he begins his week.
But first the whole family drove to the UVA campus to get him settled in. Our first stop was lunch and a few wishes at the wishing well. Ashton "wished" he would find a quarter. His wish was immediately granted when he looked down and found one on the ground.
Here we all are glad to have just gotten Calvin back from BYU golf camp and sad to be sending off Ethan to his camp!
Here is the door to Ethan's dorm room for the week. Notice, Porter Garth. Garth accidentally signed himself up for the camp. We had to change a few things to get Ethan's name changed but his friends still liked to call him "Porter."
Here he is with a big excited smile ready to go!
But is seemed a bit scarier when we actually were there saying good-bye! Look at the fear in those eyes...or maybe he just thinks I am weird.
The camp was a success and he had a blast. Do you know that this boy is ranked in the top 25 for all 9-10 boys for Breaststroke in the whole county (I think he is #5)?! And he is on two relays that are ranked #1.
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