He's Home

Todd and Dr. Shelton this morning.

At 9:30 this morning when Dr. Shelton told Todd he could go home today there was no waiting. By 10:30 we were on our way. After picking up his medicine we were home by 12:00. Todd is just excited to have a decent night sleep without beds beeping at him or nurses waking him up. Hailee was so happy to have him home she said, "We are ONE family again."

Pictures of Today

Todd had a rough morning from getting moved from room to room but finally settled on the 5th floor about 11:00. After lunch and a good nap (he didn't get any sleep in the ICU thanks to a really noisy patient) he was up to walking around. He did so great. This evening Hailee got to come see him and she was excited. When we were talking about on the way home I was saying that he was doing so good to which she responded "He doesn't look like he's supposed to yet." No I guess he doesn't look totally healthy yet, but he is doing so well. His doctor is so pleased with how recovery is going. Here are a few pictures from today...

Getting Closer

Todd made me promise to take a few pictures post-operation...I almost forgot, but I did get a few after a little while. Dr. Shelton was really pleased with how the surgery went and with how well Todd was doing afterwards. Todd was a little grumpy coming out of surgery, but once they let him eat and drink he was much happier and has been an ideal patient since. Today they should move him out of the ICU. Well I'm on my way back to the hospital, just wanted to post a little update to let you know things went well.

Done...Almost

Along with Family Camp, Todd finished his last final for summer term on Monday. Hooray, one step closer. We are so proud of him. Here are some pictures of the last week or so of the semester. Todd was busy getting ready for final and Hailee and I got to take him dinner in the MBA lounge. Hailee had a great time visiting her dad. Now we have surgery coming up tomorrow. I'm not really sure what to expect. He will probably spend 5 days in the hospital a 6-week recovery at home learning how to balance again. After that he shouldn't have the vertigo anymore. I'm a little nervous, but at the same time know it's the right thing to do for Todd.

Hailee heating up Todd's food.
Good cuddles before having to go home. It was nice to spend a little time at dinner together.

"Mom She is Just My Age"

Well we got back from Aspen Grove with Todd's family reunion and we had such a great time. There are 8 little four year olds (just Hailee's age) and she was in heaven to have so many new cousins to play with. There were 6 little girls and 2 little boys all born in a few months of each other. Aspen Grove splits the kids into age groups and has fun activities for them to do. At first they had divided the kids up, but in the end we got them in the same class. It was so much fun for Hailee. She loved the swimming, hiking, playing, rock climbing, and just in general had a great time with everyone. When we told her it was time to go home she got so upset. "But mom it's not fair, I want to play with my cousins." "I haven't told my cousins good-bye yet." "But we only got to go to Church at Aspen Grove once, that's not fair." I'm afraid it's going to be a long two years until we all get together again. Hailee's one consolation was that Sophie and Joel will live closer to us once we move to Oregon.

Hailee's little kitten class. It was so fun to see them all together.

Playing on the bear statues with her cousins.

Grandma Layer gave all the kids glasses. They were a big hit. Hailee decided to wear hers this day because it was "Pirate Day" and they were Pirate glasses.
Swimming at the pool.

Waiting for their turn to do rock climbing. They didn't have to do it, but all of the cousins wanted to try.

Hailee all suited up and ready to go. She was so excited.
Hailee climbing up the wall.
Aspen Grove has a fish pond and Hailee was so excited to go fishing. They only stock the pond twice and since it was the end of the summer there weren't many fish left. Hailee was a little disaponted that they didn't catch anything. She really wanted to eat a fish for breakfast.

I was worried that she would be a little traumatized to kill a fish, but when Todd was explaining it she wasn't bothered at all. She kept talking about how she was going to eat it for breakfast. What a funny girl. She had no problem watching the worm go on the hook (I had to turn away).

How did Freckles get so small

Friday we drove to St. George to spend a little time with my family there. Hailee was so excited to see Freckles (my parents dog) and Sam and Sera (Patt and Deneille's dogs), she was a little annoyed at them for not bring them camping. Since we got to go down and see them she quickly forgave them. It was so funny the first time she saw Freckles, she said "How did Freckles get so small." I had to agree with her, since getting Roslynn Freckles looked like he had shrunk. It was so funny. No amount of convincing would convince her that Freckles, Sam and Sera were exactly the same size as before.

On the way home. I loved this picture, Hailee and Roslynn are crashed in the back. Hailee and Roslynn slept most of the way home.

Roasting and Sleeping

You would think after two weekends in a row of camping Hailee might be tired of camping. But this definitely was not the case. On the way home we were just pulling off our exit and Hailee asked if we were going home or going camping again. I asked her what she wanted to be doing and she quickly responded "CAMPING!" Too bad, Todd and I were ready to be home.

We did have such a good time camping, My grandparents came up to surprise my mom for her birthday and we surprised them by taking them camping. It was so fun to see them for a little while and get a chance to visit. My grandma asked Hailee what her favorite part of camping was and she quickly replied "the roasting and the sleeping" We did do some good roasting (cooking over the fire) and sleeping with the view of the stars is always so nice.

Thursday morning before my grandparents went home (We got in kind of late on Wednesday so I didn't have a chance to get my camera out after we set up our tent and got dinner going.)
Hailee with her great grandparents. Since they got home from their mission Hailee has had some time to get to know them better and it's been so fun.
Breakfast Thursday morning. Hailee found the perfect spot for her rabbit while she was eating, tucked inside her coat.

Playing "horsey" with grandpa. Hailee's favorite game.

Just waking up and relaxing in grandpa's chair.

Hailee going on a hike. She loved riding the shuttle (or bus as she called it).

Hiking with Emily. Hailee loved the view of Bryce Canyon. She thought it was beautiful princess castles.

View from the top. Hailee was telling everyone at the top that it had all her favorite colors, red, pink, orange. When my dad mentioned green she said "oh no grandpa, green is not my favorite color, green is borning." I still haven't found out where she decided she didn't like green.

She was pretty good little hiker and had such a good time. When she got back she told me that she was a reader, helper, and hiker.

Hailee's favorite place to "hike." (Who can really blame her.)

After the hike some people wanted to go to the visitor center. Hailee of course wanted to go, she likes to be where things are going on. I wish I would have gotten a picture of her when they got back. Grandpa had spoiled her and she had a new shirt and her very own soda. She came strutting around the car like "look how cool I am," it was too cute.

Hailee helping get my mom and I get dinner ready.

We did tin-foil breakfast in the morning and this time they actually worked. Last time I forgot the sausage and the bacon replacement just didn't work as well.

Hailee was such a good helper packing up. This is her digging out the tent stake.

Helping sweep out the tent before taking it down. She had such a good time camping.