A Day At The Beach

I am always amazed by the beauty of Oregon beaches. We love to try and make a day trip to the coast at least once or twice a year, and it always takes my breath away. I have to admit that while I find the coast beautiful, I am not exactly its biggest fan ever. I hate being wet and cold, and I often get sick from the ocean air (too fishy and moist I guess). But we had a great day, and the weather was perfect- sunny and only a few quick drizzles. But best of all the kids had a blast, and that always makes it worth a trip.

The above pictures are of our short lived crabbing venture on the docks of Old Town. We spent the day with our friends Amanda and Jed, and they brought a crab pot along. We tried to bait the crabs with chicken legs, but we had no luck (I know, chicken legs? Jed swears by them, so I guess we will take his word for it).

Travis doesn't get out much as you might imagine at 8 months of age, and he loved spending a whole day outdoors. I guess I should really get him in the great outdoors more often.

Hailey was kind of a stinker at first, but eventually she warmed up to the whole thing. She really got into crabbing, and enjoyed the sand candles we made later that afternoon

She didn't so much enjoy the waves of the ocean, so her father of coarse with his sick sense of humor kept forcing her to go near them, then laughed as she ran away in terror (I really nabbed myself a prince :)

It really was a great day, and hopefully it won't be too long before we make it back again!

A Fun Visit

The after shot: This is the first year since we moved here that we are not the most white trash house on the block! We actually got off our rear ends, weeded the flower beds, and put down bark-o-mulch. You may be looking at this photo and thinking "big deal, it still looks like crud," but although it's not a vast improvement, trust me when I say our yard looks a lot better.

Daddy's little helper (except not so much help at all)

Notice Hailey shoveling the bark back out of the garden, and into the bucket.

Uncle Alex came for a visit, so being the kind considerate hosts we are, we put him to work! He was nice enough to use his truck to pick up the bark, and help us spread it out. We really enjoyed having him (and not just because he did so much work :)

The kids loved having their uncles come visit. Uncle Adam came too, but unfortunately became very ill so we didn't torture him by taking pictures. Hailey was very sad that they had to go so soon, but we look forward to visiting with them this summer when we go to Idaho (or "hi ho" as Hailey calls it)

More Hailey Issues

Enough already, I'm starting to feel guilty about my pregnancy with Hailey...Did I eat the right foods, did I take enough vitamins etc. When they placed little Hailey in my arms she looked as healthy as could be, but little by little her medical records are filling up with one health issue after another.
I will say that I was so thankful for the speakers at the adult session of our stake conference, because they made me put our little health trials with our own children into perspective. Compared to them and many others, the health issues in our home have been so small, and we are so grateful for that. That being said, we still have to ask when is it all gonna end?
So here's the deal for those of you who don't know Hailey's latest issue. Hailey had a fairly bad urinary tract infection a month and half ago, so the pediatrician sent us to the hospital to have an ultrasound done. I do not know for the life of me what the actual test is called, but basically they pumped her bladder full of iodine, then watched her pee. Well, the doctors and I did not expect to see any problems, but apparently Hailey does have a problem with one of her kidneys (I should have seen that one coming). The test showed her urine traveling back up to her right kidney, which as you might imagine is not a good thing.
After about a week of waiting , we finally talked with a specialist about treatment. Sometime in the next month Hailey will have a minor surgery to correct what they call a reflux. They will go inside her with a camera and small needle and inject a small object that will stop the urine from traveling back up to her kidney. Thankfully this should only take about 5-10 minutes to do if all goes well. I am so thankful that this is all it takes to correct the problem, and for now we are OK with the whole idea, though I'm sure if you talk to me on the day of surgery I will have very different feelings.
Well, wish Hailey luck, and keep her in your prayers!