Memories: Dancing in the kitchen

Every once in a while my mom would pull out a record to play (yes, records) and then try to teach us to dance. The record had songs that were all different beats so we could learn various dances. I remember doing a triangle dance and a square dance (where our feet were to go in a diagram of a square). We each had our chance to dance with mom and then with each other. I think that was one of the few activities we could all do together without getting angry with each other. I don't think the lessons stuck as none of us enjoy dancing too much. Great memories, though.

Cliff Jumping

On the way back from Gillette, we decided to stop at the side of the road on the side of the mountain. (A few of us were sick to our stomachs.) There was a huge rock (big enough to be a small cliff for the kids) right next to the parking area and the kids decided to climb it.

This is Grandma showing them the 'safe' way to the top of the rock.

It wasn't too long that the kids wanted to jump off the rock with Mike catching them.

Here is Whitney on her way down.

Mike and Wilson on the rock.

Wilson taking his turn jumping.

Hayden's Birthday

Last weekend my mom, me, Mike, Whitney, and Wilson went over to Gillette for Hayden's birthday. It was a quick trip, but well worth it. When we got there, it was time for the party. They had it at the church so all the family could fit in one place.

This is Hayden opening some of his presents. He was very excited that they were all for him.

Grandma and Heidi watching the opening of the gifts.

After the party we went back to Bryan's house. They started cleaning up the yard and I watched the kids play.

Here is Wilson getting ready to play ball.

Hayden and Whitney riding bikes.

Wilson driving around the yard.

We left on Sunday morning and headed back to Lovell. Like I said, a short trip. But well worth it.

The Cough....continued

So, I still have the cough. It's been over 4 weeks. I am in Lovell visiting family and decided to see the doctor while I was here. When I went in on Thursday. The doctor decided, without doing anything, that it's probably asthma related. So he sent me straight way to see the respirator therapist. She gave me some breathing tests, a breathing treatment, and then the tests again. She said that if it was asthma related, the scores on the tests should have been significantly better the second time, which they weren't. So I was sent back to the doctor. He listened to my lungs and then quoted some author by saying something like "a mystery shrouded in confusion, blah, blah, blah". Since he couldn't figure out what the cause of the cough was, he decided to treat the cough itself. (FINALLY!!!) He gave me some cough syrup and some cough pellets (little gems that are pretty cool looking). They really haven't gotten rid of the cough. Today it was pretty bad. I wasn't able to stay at church for the whole time. I left early for a nap. After church my brother Erik came over and gave me a blessing for health and strength. I have faith that it will help.

Memories: Hugging it Out

I know my mom hates when I post stories like this, but I think it shows how creative she was as a parent. I have a brother that's less than 2 years younger than me. We were pretty good friends until we decided to become enemies. I'm pretty sure we argued over everything, just like most siblings do. There were a few times we even got physical and fought it out. (That stopped once I he got bigger than me.) I'm sure we drove our parents nuts with everything we fought about. One time my mom got so fed up with us that she set the timer and made us hug for 5 minutes. She said that every time we moved or said something mean she would add time. I'm not sure how long we ended up standing there hugging. I use the term 'hug' loosely because we were barely touching each other. I think it was a good method of punishment. I sure didn't want to have to stand in the kitchen hugging it out any more.

The Cough of 2011

It began on Saturday, April 16 while taking a nap. I woke up with a tickle in my throat. By that evening it became a full-blown cough. It became so bad that I couldn't talk over the next week without coughing. By the time my mom came the following weekend, I got a sore throat. On my birthday I called to make an appointment with the doctor at the student health center for the next day. The good news about going to the health center is that the doctor visits are free because they're paid through student fees. It was a good thing because the doctor ran a BUNCH of tests. Blood work, a chest x-ray, a breathing treatment, and a shot of antibiotic. He also gave me prescriptions for another antibiotic, a steroid, and a cough suppressant. When I went back after a couple of days, he said my lungs sounded TONS better, even though I still had a cough. They weren't able to pinpoint it to an exact virus, but they said it was something like RSV, whooping cough, or such. I am now on day 16 of the cough. My neck is tight and sore from coughing so much. I can't wait until it's over.