Northwest Adventures

Wo! It has been A LONG time since I have blogged! So..I guess I should make this a good long one! :)

Seattle is known for gloomy days and a lot of rain... to some people. But to me it is all clear skies and happiness. Why is that?! Look at these faces and tell me that you wouldnt feel the same!

What do you get when you take these 3 girls, 3 adults, and 3 days off?!--- a whole lotta fun! (Besides the fact that my Phoenix body was freezing! It was a great change!)

Not only were we able to see such beautiful country...

There were also crabs to hunt! (I love doing this when I go up there- except I get a tad paranoid walking around! I feel like I am killing crab villages with each step! )

I fell in love with my new found friend. He truly was the biggest crab I had seen on the Seattle shores... (Usually they are just itty bitty. But not this guy! He must have been a good eater!)

And apparently he liked me too- because he tried to hide IN my jacket. I mean- wo man! I knew we were close, but not THAT close! Luckily my hand stopped him from going further!

One thing that I loved was getting to know the personalities of each girl!

Things that I learned from JuJu:

You can text when you are 6! (Sorry Guys for teaching her this!) She is getting so smart!

This is how you eat your chicken nuggets in Seattle! I came into the room and saw this! JuJu was was ready to go outside and I guess didnt want to take off all her layers to eat lunch!

Lucille showed me that...

She is great at taking pictures of herself with my camera! (How can you not smile when you see this?)

She Looks AWESOME in the glasses from the eye doctor!

Evy....

Loves to cruise and check out new things! We were on our way to the snow in this picture!

She would -usually- pose with me when everyone else was a little too cranky! (In case you're wondering/or dont know... that is Mt. Saint Helens in the background).

Basically I learned that my nieces are beautiful--inside and out!!

You know...I loved Mt St Helens... the troll under the bridge...hanging out around the house... but I was particularly found of the temple grounds.... why?! I found someone special!

He was just sitting around...almost like he was just waiting for me! Who knew?!

Granted, It was a little spooky because I kept feeling like someone was looking over my shoulder!

He was a little stiff though... so I let her have him back!

A couple funny last minute points...

We went on the train 2 times. The first time Lucille was with me and we were right behind the conductor. He talked to us the whole time telling stories etc... When we got off he let Lucille blow the horn on the train.

We went again and this time I was with JuJu. I went for the back because I was ready to just sit back and enjoy the ride. However, JuJu wanted to sit right in front like Lucille did! I felt a little bit of dread because I thought... I "get" to listen to more train stories all over again! However... it all turned out okay because JuJu got to push the button as well. So anyone need train stories... come to me! :)

When we took this picture John said- You can use this picture to scare off boys. Just say "This is my x-husband and daughter!" It made me laugh!

When we went up to take this picture... I noticed behind the troll all sort of blankets and pillows up under the underpass. Apparently the homeless like to sleep up there. Maybe they feel like the troll will protect them?! Lets just say that we took the picture and got down fast! :)

(This picture doesn't really go anywhere...but because I love ya Laura Lu I had to put it in here! :) ) Thanks for such a great vacation!

Its all about Disney

Isn't it great when you live only 6 hours away from the happiest place on earth? No, I'm not talking about where cold stone was created! I'm talking about Disneyland!

I was so excited when my brother informed me that they were heading there over spring break and low and behold--- they invited me! And it was fabulous!

I'd say we could sum this wonderful weekend up with a few words...

Rides!!!

This last one was with Buzz Lightyear --where you actually take those laser guns and shoot at targets as you go! F-U-N!!! I can not get enough of the rides! Thank goodness for fast passes though... because the wait in lines could possibly kill you! Especially if you're under 12! The boys were good sports though- as long as they had some treats to snack on! :)

Characters!!!

And my all time favorite... whom I fell in love with (oddly enough!)

Stitch!

Who knew a character that didn't talk could be so funny! After being with him- it really made me want to watch the movie again! He was so funny with the boys! He almost made J-Dog choke on his bacon! :) LOVE HIM!

Food!!!

I really wish I had a picture of the churros because mmm- they were yummy! :)

Crazy fun!!!

This is one of my favorite pictures!

TOWER OF TERROR! This ride scared the bijeebers out of me! (I dont know how to spell that word- but it is the only word that could possibly capture how I felt!) I learned what I will sound like if I'm ever falling to my death. I had never heard myself scream like that before. It is very possible that my heart stopped for a few moments! I was surprised that I was still alive when it was over! I could go on it over and over-so fun! I told the boys to make scared faces- I'm not exactly sure what they thought I said- but their faces sure make me laugh!

That was an awesome weekend! Thanks guys for thinking of me! I can't wait for next time! (Oh and a special thanks to Allie's work for paying for so many things that we were able to enjoy!)

Umm..thanks?

I had a Brian Regan day today. Do you remember the skit where he goes to the eye doctor? If you haven't been privileged enough to see it- it is about time to get on the band wagon and just do it!

For those of you who do know it- I'll just remind you of how it goes. (Of course, you'll just have to visualize his funny face and voice!)

Eye doctor: "You know you have one eye set a little bit higher than your other eye?"
Brian: "No... I did not"
Eye doctor: "Cause it doesn't affect your vision or anything. I just thought you might want to be self conscience for the rest of your life"
Brian: I went out to my car mirror... am I some kind of monster? Is that a hump (as he looks at his back)? I am not an animal! I am a Man! Whats the matter with him?

So my experience had nothing to do with an eye doctor per say... it was merely with a man at the gas station.

I was minding my own business- just filling up my gas tank tonight when a man in his 40's pulled up on the other side of the pump. I was just finishing up and said hello as he got out of his car. He nicely said hello back. Then randomly said "You have tiny feet." Umm..."Excuse me?" I replied. He smiled and again said... "Yeah, you have tiny, tiny feet!"

So I ask you... what on earth do you say to that?! No, "How are you today?" or "Nice weather we're having today." Nope. Straight to an odd comment about my feet!

Do you thank him? Squirt him with gas from the pump (which is kind of a funny visual is you ask me!) What do you say?

I think that I was so taken back- that all I could do was laugh out loud! The best part was that right after that, I was all done. The cap was on, the pump back in place and I was ready to go on my merry tiny footed way! I looked over at his car and he was facing inward to grab something out of it. I thought- do I say anything or just go? I debate for about .025 seconds... I thought it would be even more awkward to say- "Okay- well...bye!" or "Have a good day" right after his comment. I opted to just drive away.

I left laughing about what just went down in less that 1 minute-

Man gets out
Girl says hello
Man says hello
Man says you have tiny feet
Girl replies excuse me?
Many says you have tiny tiny feet.
Girl laughs
Girl gets in car and drives away

Sounds like a good short film to me! Oscar worthy really!

Next time I'm at the store I think I'll remind the checker that he has big ears. Not that it matters- just so that he can be self conscience about it for the rest of his life! :)

Sob story

Thats right ladies and gentlemen...it's time to get out your tissues because this is the saddest story that I think you're going to hear all day...

Ready?! Okay.... So you know when you find a piece of clothing that you LOVE just because it fits perfectly? I am far from a shopaholic (Hate going to the store, hate trying clothes on, and hate spending the money!) so when my roommate gave me a gift card to American Eagle for Christmas I decided I'd give it a go. I was quite surprised when I found a cute little (not too expensive) zip up hoodie. And even more surprised when it fit so well! It was perfect for Arizona because it was light weight. Just enough for the chill in the morning, but not too much for the sun in the afternoon.

Well I fell in love with this jacket. It went many places with me. Including this past Friday to work. I was still a little cold when I got to my office so I left it on as I rounded on all the kiddos. I found out that a 4 yr old that I had been working with the day before was going to surgery. So I grabbed my stuff and ran to pre-op. In all my running around, I started getting warm and consequently took off my jacket. But dont worry...I put it in a safe place.

Well, once we talked about surgery, the doctors came and I went with him to the OR, I almost forgot about my hoodie. ALMOST... As I was taking the wheelchair back to Pediatrics, I saw it in my safe place and grabbed it. I stuck in on the wheel chair with my teaching stuff and the blankets the kid was wrapped in.

Skip ahead to me driving home that evening... I realized I was kinda cold in my car and then something popped into my head... "Where's my trusty jacket?" I then retraced my steps in my head then shock and sadness all came at me at once as I realized what must have happened. In my hurry to get back to the floor that morning, I threw my teaching kit in my office and grabbed the sheet and blanket from the wheelchair and shoved them in the dirty laundry shoot--- And I must have wrapped my jacket along with them since they were all white!!!I didn't even notice. :( Isn' that so sad?!

But dont you worry! I am going to keep my eyes open and if I see one of the workers sporting it next week... they are going down!

oh and does anyone hear a small violin playing? Cause I sure do.

Only because I drove!

Last night for Young Woman's we did a service project. But not just any service project it was a "Heart Attack" for the inactive girls. (Why this wasn't done a few weeks ago- ??? Who knows!)
We got out the big long church tables- you all know what ones I'm talking about- all LDS chapels have them. And covered them in pink and red construction paper. We wrote the 6 girls names on the board and they all began decorating and cutting out hearts.

I kinda felt like I was running a sweat shop! "Keep it up!" "More for Marcy" "Lets go!" I was running around collecting each heart as the girls would shout out when they were done. "Here's one more Sister Young" "Sister Young here you go" "Hurry take this one!" It was quite the ordeal. I even felt a little sweaty! (maybe that's why I thought it was a sweat shop! okay- sorry. Bad joke!) I was a little nervous that I was getting the heart piles confused! Hopefully little Samantha didn't get any hearts with Julie's name on it! Oh well- maybe she'll think it's a little pet name we gave her!

Then it was on to decorating the cookies. Yumm!!! They turned out cute and I thought " If I was inactive I would TOTALLY come back if I got some of these cookies." It was also a good bonding moment as a few of my mia maids and I wrote some of the girls poems. I'm not sure if you know this about me, but get me in the right mood and I become a rhyming diva!!! I think that the girls were impressed! One of the most favorite lines "We miss you here, in our hood. Seeing your face would feel so good!" I know. Hallmark is try to recruit me.

Then it was the moment of truth. The delivery. The rules went as follows. Put the cut out hearts all over the porch around the plate of cookies, ring the doorbell and RUN!!! Now that sounds like fun huh! It was weird for me to remember that I am a LEADER not just one of the girls. I needed to be responsible here! So because of Charlie there were lots of girls that wanted to go with me. (He is a handsome car!) I told them that there was really no reason to fight over us because there was a HIGH probability that we would get lost. I had no idea where the 2 girls that we were delivering them to even lived. But even with the warning, 4 girls still decided to risk it!

We said goodbye to everyone else and the 5 of us were on our own! Thats when the real adventure began. Have any of you been around 12 year old girls lately? Did you know that it is really hard to be sly and quiet when you're 12? Well...I had forgotten about that and was very quickly reminded of it on the first house we went to. We found it (luckily) and I parked a few houses away. The girls jumped out and we were all so excited. We turned the corner and that's when I saw a car coming. Very calmly I said "Just act natural". Apparently "natural" means squealing and running into each other. "Oh us?! We're not doing anything. Can't you tell? We're so natural!" It was funny. But THEN as the car gets closer we realized that it was pulling into the house where we were going- and it was the girl and her boyfriend! What are the odds? Wow- then all sorts of "natural" came from the girls. They forgot how to whisper and just did not know what to do . We must have looked like a circus. Even though I kept repeating- "Just keep walking". They were skipping, walking in circles and trying to just get out of the area! Just watching them was making giggle. I could barley hold it in!

We went a few houses down and hid behind some cars- waiting for him to drop her off and leave. Which he wasn't doing very fast. The girls were sure that they were kissing and thought that they should sneak up and make sure. I quickly shot that idea down and we decided to stay where we were and wait just a few more minutes. She did end up getting out of the car, but they just kept talking outside the house. I was hunched over right next to one of the girls. She must have gotten a great idea of something to say to me because she turned her head around real fast and BAM! Our heads collided. You know those times when you have to be really quiet, but something super funny just happened and you're doing everything in your power to hold it in? Then your checks and your stomach begin to hurt and then the tears start coming because your body wants to just let out a big roaring laugh? Yeah that was both of us. It took a lot to gain composure.

Well, the girl and her man stayed outside chating and I decided that we were not waiting around for them any longer. The problem was my car was on the other side of her house from where we were. Since the girl doesn't know me, I just told the girls to wait for me - and just be quiet...No more of this acting natural stuff! I made it to the car, picked up the girls anxiously awaiting me and we were able to go to the other house (without any problems I might add! Except for the noise. We need to practice our whispering skills!) Then we returned to house #1. The boy was gone and we were able to get it done!

Thankfully no cops were called (that we know of), we didn't get huge bumps on our heads where they hit, and we all had a great time!

Enough!

You know there comes a time in every kids life when they get sick. It happens. Its inevitable. Sometimes... they get so sick that hospitalization is needed. I am thankful for hospitals that are there to help make kids gets well and move on with their lives.

When I became a child life specialist I knew that I would be working with kids in the hospital and that I would have to get used to seeing them sick, scared and unsure. However, never did I think that I would have to be seeing my own nieces and nephews in the same situations that I deal with on a daily basis and as often as I have lately.

It all started a few years ago when I was in my internship at Primary Children's. One of my nephews had a bump on his face. We had no idea what it was. My sister took him to the clinic where I was at for the doctor to look at and take care of it. The doctor ended up having to use this little piece of equipment to squeeze out what was inside. Lets just say that as much as I had seen that happen with other kids, I did not cope well seeing my little nephew have to go through it. I almost had to leave the room. One good thing that came out of that experience was that my empathy for patients and their families grew a lot that day! Luckily he hasn't had to go back since!

Then we move onto the next encounter. My sweet little niece had to have not only 1 but 2 operations on her leg because of that stupid rock that attacked her. Not only did we have to all deal with the accident itself, but then there was the ambulance ride, the IV start, the surgery and then the wheelchair/cast afterwards. Talk about Trauma!!! After we got through the cast removal we thought we were in the clear (You like how I talk about this as if I was there! John, Laura, and Lucille you rock for all that you went through and how you handled it! :) )Then to top it all off she had to do it all again! Well, not the accident or ambulance ride- thankfully- but the surgery and cast. My heart broke the night they called me about another surgery. It was weird how when Laura asked "What do we tell her?" and my first thought was "I don't know! Are you SURE she has to do this again?" It's weird how when you're emotionally connected, all your training and things that you do and say DAILY leave you mind so quickly. Luckily, my brain came back to me and we were able to get Lucille prepared properly for her surgery. I hear she was and still is a rock star! But after this cast comes off- NO MORE hospitalizations for you young lady! :) You've had enough for a life time! However, again- a positive that I got from through this experience was that I have noticed that I take my surgery tours much more seriously now. (Not that I wasn't before, but they mean more to me now). And again now that I have been on the other side, I am much more empathetic to the families when they come in.

Now we come to tonight. I got a text this morning from my brother saying that P-dog was in the ER with a flare up of his asthma. When I got home from church I was informed that he was going to be admitted to the hospital since it just wasn't getting better. Since P-dog had to be transferred to another hospital, I was really hoping that they would go to Scottsdale Healthcare where I work because I know everyone there, but according to Jeff "That's halfway to Salt Lake!" so they opted to go to another hospital. - ( It's only an hour from his house! Whats the big deal?! :) ) Anywho- I went to see him while they were still in the ER waiting for the ambulance. We were able to talk about what the IV was and what it would be like in a hospital over night etc. But again, it hurt my heart to see my little guy like that! He was a trooper though and he kept me laughing all night. Some of my favorite quotes were: He told me that he liked the hospital food but, "I didn't eat the soup though. It looked like my barf looked but with beans and lettuce in it!" SICK!!! Then when I mentioned how tired Allison looked he said "At least when you cough your lower intestine doesnt hurt!" Interesting choice of words! And finally I told him it was too bad that it was Sunday and I couldn't buy him anything to help him get well- he said "Well, you can bring me a present tomorrow!" He's so funny. Then they strapped him on the stretcher and started wheeling him to the ambulance. Again I was struck at how weird it was to see P-dog on a stretcher- Something that I see daily, but not with someone that I love so much! I didn't like it! Not one bit! Hopefully it is just an over night stay and he can go home tomorrow!

And not to mention all of the many times daddy-o has been through the hospital in the last couple of years!!!

So here's the deal-eo- Listen up all you members of the Young family. After this Wednesday when Dad has his LAST surgery there will be NO MORE visits to the ER or needing to get admitted or needing more surgeries! Are we clear?! Good. And hey- If I need to use bubble wrap on everyone I will! :)