Motel Stay

Two weeks ago was the EMT Trauma Conference in Salt Lake. So we had a weekend at the motel. The kids love motels for some odd reason, I guess they still have good backs. Here is Abby headed for the pool with enough floats to keep a ship from sinking.

Owen even made a pool side appearance.

Bentley, the newly found swimmer, helping or hindering Abby.

The University of Utah Football team stayed with us the night before the "Utah Holy War." So I spread some of my lucky pixy dust on them and check out the results of the game!

A Whole New Cowboy

November 9, and 10, Owen was having rough days and even worse nights. Gayle and I even had the ole respite care or hospital talk. The weekend before we had had a fast for Owen as to what to do. The day we fasted Gayle took the kids to church and I stayed home, I was looking over the ventilator and a thought went through my mind as to the tidal volume. I turned him up 5 and then got scared and turned him back down. Finally on the eleventh, Gayle called me on my way home from work and wondered if we needed to go to a doctors office. We loaded Owen and headed to Dr. Depalmas' office. All along Gayle was emailing Dr. Murphy, before we left Dr. Murphy called and said that she couldn't type fast enough and to get Owen to Depalma. Owen had a sinus infection and two ear infections, and was so badly under ventilated that he was starting pneumonia. We were looking over the normal baby stuff. Gayle and I were both sick! Poor Owen had been trying to get air from a machine that wasn't given it to him. I am still sick typing about it today! We went over to the hospital to get some blood tests run and what a JOKE! After thirty minutes of milking four viles of blood from a heel prick, I took the honor of getting the blood gas test. So add one more qualification to my growing list, but one can only sit around for so long with a room full of stupidity before something has to change. On our way home Depalma called and demanded that we return to the hospital because his blood gas was horrible, we explained the circumstances and she lightened up. Owen is still recuperating and I think he might be getting another cold along with the family. His tidal volume is 35 mL more than it was two weeks ago and I am still training on the ole vent. It is amazing the change in him with more pressure, his oxygen has dropped from around 2 liters to .25 liters and sometimes on room air. He is a whole new cowboy!

Bentley and the backhoe

Here is Bentley running a backhoe. How many other eight year olds could do this their second time at the controls? Proud papa, you bet! I let him dig an old manure pile so he didn't ruin anything. Grandpa showed him how to run it the day before and he wanted to show me. Hopefully the video works, I have been fighting it for the past week!

Doughnuts!

Gayle made some homemade doughnuts for Halloween! They RULED! Beings we don't have a Krispy Creme right around the block, we have to improvise. Gayle could be hired at the donut shop any day, and it really didn't help me maintain my girlish figure.

Trick or Treat

Here are the kids in their costumes. Abby was a pirate, Bentley was Batman, and Owen was a lion. We went trick or treating in town, and even took Owen. Can you see the enthusiasm in the lion? Maybe he is getting ready to pounce the photographer.

I thought I would put a picture of Gayle on because most of the time she is the photographer. She went trick or treating as a mom, doctor, nurse, respitory therapist and a physical therapist all in one. Some times she even gets to be a psychologist when she is dealing with me.

Pumpkins

Here is Bentley and his skeleton pumpkin.

My pumpkin is the face and Gayles' is the singing ghosts. We tried the skinning thing on hers to avoid more pumpkin guts after a few days outside it turned out really good.

Here is Abby and her pumpkin.

Cleaning the ole jack o lanterns!