Happy Birthday Mom!

I had a great birthday this year. I got everything I wanted AND more! I got some great new outfits for Church and work and My beautiful kids and husband got me a GPS, and lets be honest-the GPS was made for directionally challenged people like me. So I was extremely happy and couldn't wait to use it. I downloaded the Black Pearle as my vehicle (I know-shocking!) and the voice is called Dr. Nightmare. He has the voice of an evil genius and makes hilarious comments as we drive around the town. When you go the wrong way he says, "Let me consult my magic book." And when you have arrived he says, "You have arrived at your dreadful destination." LOL!! Some of the other funny things he says are: "You are a brave soul to be driving in these parts.", "Ingore the noise in the trunk.", "hehehehehe" (evil laugh), and "Is it a full moon tonight?", and "Have you checked the trunk lately". It makes me smile everytime he comments and that makes me less stressed to drive! What a brilliant gift!

After a lovely dinner at the Munk's they gave me money (for the new T.V. we are going to get) and dish towels, Grandma Miles gave me money for new boots (that I love). We had a scone (thanks Kristi) and ice cream celebration at the B-ham's and Mom and Dad gave me money (also for the T.V.)--(can't wait to get the thing!!). I went to lunch with Jess, what a great way to celebrate having fun chatting and catching up. Due to illness *see below* I have many other lunch dates on hold and can't wait to spend time with those friends too! So as you can see I had a spectacular birthday! I appreciate all the birthday wishes from my friends and family! You are all the best! And I think turning 35 is a wonderful thing, I loved every minute of it and look forward to the future, getting old ROCKS!

**Illness: Hunter was rushed to the Insta-Care Sunday night, due to the fact that he couldn't breathe. He tested positive for Influenza A and Pnemonia. That put a slight damper on my b-day but I will reschedule lunch dates with BFF's! Thanks for being patient!

Influenza A and Pnemonia

Poor Poor Hunter! Friday night he started to feel a bit yucky. By saturday morning he had a full blown fever of 101.5. He was coughing really hard and his voice was gone. We loaded him up with advil and juice but nothing seemed to help. Saturday  night he woke up about every hour gasping for air. I was pretty sure it was the croup so I set up the humidifier and told him to relax and not panic. 

Sunday doned and he was no better, but really no worse. He spent the day laying on the couch coughing and watching football. Then all of a sudden at about 7pm he began really struggling to breath. He couldn't catch his breath, his fever was 102 with the advil, and said "Take me to the Dr. now I can't breath."  So I took him to the Instacare and they swabbed him up the nose (yes it was fun) and went out the door to run the 10 minute test.  3 minutes later the Dr. came in and said, "that was the fastest positive I have seen. He has Influenza A, so we are giving him and you Tamiflu.  He will also need an inhaler and we will be doing a breathing treatment on him.  Oh one more thing, he needs to blow in this tube and the plastic slider has to stop at about 200." Right.

So he blew in the tube and he blew in the tube but he couldn't get it higher than 75. His Oxygen level was 80% which was really bad and so he did another breathing treatment. By this time he was in tears and just wanted to go home.  So the nice Dr. took pity on him and sent him home with the promise of coming back tomorrow for a re evaluation. Oh and a handful of masks that he is to wear at all times!

Sunday night was as bad as Saturday night. He was gasping all night long. We did the inhaler every 4 hours and it did not seem to help.  Monday morning hit and he was worse than ever.  So, as promised, back to the Instacare. This time he did a breathing treatment and blew in the tube and still 75. So back to the breathing treatment and tube-75, what the- Dr. says "hmmmm lets get a chest xray, there is something else wrong here".  Chest Xray comes back, Pnemonia...ok that makes sense. So antibiotic now and nebulizer with albuterol is prescribed. And a fear that he will not be able to come home...tears, begging, tears. 

Dr. says, ok you can go home if you go to your Primary Care Dr. in the morning and check him out. Parting words are, "If he can' breath or he is struggling to breath-straight to the ER". That comment did not make anyone feel better about the situation.

When we got in the car Hunter, tears running down his face, says, "Just have Dad give me a blessing. I don't want to go to the hospital."  Dave and friend gave him a Priesthood Blessing and we tucked Hunter in bed telling him to let me know if he needs anything.  Then we all went to bed. Every hour I woke up in a panic and ran in to check on Hunter, but he was sleeping peacefully. Tuesday morning he woke up, took a vapor bath, all his meds, a breathing treatment, and by lunch he said, "I feel so much better than yesterday, I can breath!" Thank heavens for his faith and thank heavens for the Priesthood.

Hunter's fever is gone, he is back to laughing and wrestling with Hayden, and we are grateful he has healed so quickly.  He got to enjoy Thanksgiving with our family instead of isolation. We have a lot to be thankful for and this is but one reason.

Hunter we love you!

Bountiful Tourney

The last wrestling tourney of the year for Hayden! He had fun until he was ready to go! This sport has been hard for him and I am proud of him for battling through the hard times and finishing the tourney.  He got a really cool medal at the end and a great t-shirt.

Championship for Hunter 2009

If you can see the pictures then you know what the game was like. A living breathing blizzard of a nightmare-that is for the spectators. According to Hunter he loved every minute of it.  He said it felt like he was in the NFL playing at Green Bay.  But I will tell you this, it was COLD and it did not stop blizzarding the ENTIRE game! 

Now onto the game.  We lost and it was the saddest loss of the year. Becuase of the snow the boys could not run. Everytime Hunter got the ball and hit the corner, he slipped around until someone caught up to him. He couldn't get those cleats to grasp onto anything therefore, taking his speed away.  It was a hard loss, but the season was unforgetable. I am so proud of Hunter and all he has accomplished this season. He is a remarkable player and I loved watching every game.

Hayden v. VHS

This was the match that sent Hayden over the edge, this match tested his stregnth like none before. The kid he was matched with had wrestled for 3 years, this kid was a little bit heavier than Hayden, this kid knew what to expect when Hayden tackled him to the mat and was ready for him. However, this kid could not pin Hayden, as hard as he tried, Hayden was not pinned. Having said that, when the match was over, Hayden felt like a failure and was very disappointed with his performance and never ever wanted to wrestle again.  The coach couldn't figure out why Hayden was upset, he was not pinned, he was a good wrestler. But this absolute 'win by a lot or suck' attitude that Hayden has, consumed him and he was a wreck for the rest of the matches.  It was not at all frustrating to watch a talented athlete doubt himself and tear himself down...or maybe it was!

Hayden v. Layton

How many times can you pin someone in 3 minues? If there was a record, I am sure Hayden smashed it. The poor kid he wrestled didn't know what hit him. 9 pins in 3 minutes. Wow! Way to go Hayden!
BHS Wrestling Coach was very impressed by Hayden's intensity. After the match Hayden was ready to go home. However, he still had 2 matches to go before he was done. This turned out to be quite the battle. He was absolutly done; sweating, breathing heavy, exhausted, and over stimulated. But he stayed and wrestled even though he wasn't happy about it!

Playoffs v. Olympus

Hunter played awesome, once again, for this playoff game.  He scored 1 touchdown on a play they had been practicing all week. It was a diving for the end zone touchdown, very cool and ESPNish!  Braves beat Olympus to move on to the Championship game against Viewmont next week. Stay tuned!

Under the lights

Hunter's football team took 1st place in their conference, so they get to play in the Play-Offs.  His team has been practicing up on the High School football field under the lights all week.  Hunter says it is really fun!

Hunter loves the picture where he is catching the football, when he saw it he said, "Yeah that will be my fathead" (Fathead is a life size wall sticker of football players...kind of like vinyl lettering for the man!)
They have had good weather tfor practicing and we hope they win their game on Sat and get a chance to play for the championship!
Good luck Hunter!

Grandma Duke

Grandma Duke has been living at Avalon for 1 month now and she is doing so so so good.  We miss her a lot, but know she is where she needs to be.  She has friends and she plays BINGO (I know shocking!).  We asked her if she wanted to "break out" on Thanksgiving and eat with us, she said, "Oh they will need me here. My next door neighbor and I go up and down the halls every night. I better stay here!" LOL we just love Grandma!

Trick or Treat w/ Gma Duke

We went trick-or-treating at Avalon with the Jensen, Fox, Lubeck, and Jacks cousins!

Grandma Duke was so surprised to see us!

Hunter had practice right after, so he got to "dress-up" like a football player!

Hayden, contrary to what you think, is NOT a pirate football player! He is Larry Fitzgerald, if you don't know who that is...google! hint-plays football, had lovely dread locks that hang out of his helmet!

Happy Halloween!