The Marti Family

Catching-Up

2010-03-14T22:09:00.000-07:00

I am on a blogging Roll. This is three posts in one day! They are not in order, but I hope you enjoy them, anyway.

Hawaii

2010-03-14T21:17:00.000-07:00

The view of our resort outside our room

Dinner with fantastic friends that we met

I thought this tree was cool, with all its roots exposed

(Just a pretty picture)

Nice Sunset

Luke, sitting in a cave (obviously)

Crab exoskeleton

All ready for the Zipline

Luke, Kicking my Butt at Tennis
(check out his nice form:)

Spouting Horn

Luke about to jump off Shipwreck cliff
(see video below)

I just thought this fisherman was cool.

He was the real deal, using a net and all.

They had these hammocks all over the hotel grounds

Take a look at this awesome footage of Luke doing a Gainer off Shipwreck Cliff

It has been three months since our Perfect Pools sponsored Hawaiian Vacation and I am just now blogging about it. Wow, I guess, better late then never. We went to Kauai in December and stayed at the fabulous Grand Hyatt. It was amazing. Everything from the, the pools, the lagoon, the beach front, the tennis courts, the talking parrots in the Lobby, the amazing grounds, the omelets at the breakfast buffet, the cliff jumping. We hardly left the resort because everything we wanted to do was there. We are not big sightseers, more of relaxers. Ah, I want to go back.
We were able to go on this vacation, because surprisingly (with the bad economy and all) Luke sold enough pool equipment to qualify. We had a great time, I don't want to bore you with all of the details but I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

We will miss you, Bailey!!

2010-03-14T20:27:00.000-07:00

Digging the Grave

Measuring the hole

Our sweet Dog, Bailey

We had to put our dog Bailey to sleep the end of January. Luke has had Bailey since he graduated from High School. He was a gift that Luke's parents had promised him if he got a 4.0 his last trimester of his Senior Year. Surprisingly, He did it!:)

It all happened so fast. We didn't know anything was wrong with him, until Luke went to call him to come in for the night, and he didn't come. Luke kept calling him and he never ran up to the him. Luke decided to walk into the backyard to see if he could find him and he was just lying on the grass. Bailey was finally able to stand up and hobble over to Luke. Bailey got down the stairs and into our bedroom and we went to sleep. Then in the middle of the night, we heard a big thud and apparently Bailey had tried to stand up and fell over into the wall. Luke went to work for awhile the next day and I tried to get Bailey to stand and to go outside and he would not even lift his head, much less stand up. Luke got home from work and took him to the vet, and called me and told me that we were going to have to put him to sleep. He said that the vet thought that he had arthritis and dislocated his spine and he had no feeling in his hind legs, that there was nothing that could be done, because he was too old and too big.

I could tell that Luke had been crying and then I started crying. He has been such a great dog. He was so good with the kids and so obedient and loyal.

I wanted Luke to talk to the kids when he got home but Rylan sensed something and so I had to tell him. He was very sad and started to cry. Mason didn't really understand. He still says that Bailey is taking a long nap.

We decided to bury Bailey in the Backyard instead of having him cremated, mainly because it is so expensive to cremate. The saddest part was seeing Bailey just lying there on the grass, tail not wagging, no life left in him. I think that was what got all of the most. We had a little memorial for him and the professional shoveler Luke is, dug him a 3 foot hole in the frozen backyard. He made him a gravestone "B" out of Rocks.
We will miss you, Bailey!

Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman (or five)

2010-03-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

Well It finally snowed, and we decided to take advantage of it and make our first snowman of the winter. (It's only March) It was perfect snow for snowmen. The snow was moist and packed well. We decided to make a family of snowmen. (our family, of course.) We got a carrot for one of them and Mason decided to eat it off. So they are faceless snowmen. As you can see, we even got Chance to join us. He did surprisingly well, but he wanted to crawl all over and I caught him trying to lay his head down and was probably surprised by the cold pillow.

DownEast Basics outfit Giveaway!

2009-11-20T09:03:00.000-08:00

Although you are going to be my competition, everyone needs to go to Supermom Central and enter to win a new outfit from DownEast. I love downeast, I just bought a cute pair of jeans there. They have their own line of Jeans now and they look like designer jeans. While you are there, check out the blog too. My friend is an amazing writer and gives some awesome parenting tips. Good Luck to you all (not really though:)

Chance's Birth

2009-09-03T21:58:00.000-07:00

Wow! It has been a long time since I have updated this blog of mine. And most of you know that much has gone on namely the birth of our little boy

Chancelor Lee Marti

I was scheduled to be induced on Monday, July 27th, one day before my due date. My doctor would have induced me a week earlier but unfortunately for me was out of town that week so we scheduled an induction the first day that he was back in town. So on Sunday, the day before the induction the hospital called me and told me to call at 7 in the morning to see if they had room for me to come in. I was having a lot of sharp pains on Sunday but was experiencing no contractions. So I packed my bags Sunday evening and got ready for the next day. Luke and I went to bed at about midnight. At two in the morning I woke up because I thought I had wet my bed but it wasn't a whole lot so then I thought maybe it was my water breaking, I got out of bed and woke up Luke and he told me to call the hospital to see what they said. I called the hospital and explained what had happened and they said since it wasn't a lot then it might just be urine. They told me if I had anymore gushes or leaking then it was probably my water breaking and that I should come in. After I got off the phone with them I laid back down and not 5 minutes after I had laid down I experienced another gush. I knew it was my water. I hadn't arranged a babysitter for the middle of night but we decided to call Luke's sweet Grandma who lives about 4 blocks away and see if she would come over. She agreed and came over in about 10 minutes.

We got to the Hospital and got admitted, they told me that they weren't going to give me pitocin yet and they wanted to see how I progressed on my own. I think they told me that just to stall me so they would have to call my doctor in the middle of the night. I was having contractions but they weren't that strong, when I got to the hospital I was dilated to a 3 and at 7:00 in the morning I was only to a 4. They finally decided to give me some pitocin at about 8 or 9. I told them I wanted to wait before I got my epidural, but that was a mistake because by the time I said I wanted it, the Anesthesiologist was in a C-section and wasn't able to come until an hour and half later. By that time I was in a lot of pain. But after I got the epidural I was feeling good for the most part except I think they had given me too much because I had to recruit Luke to roll me over and move my legs. They decided to crank up the pitosin after I got my epidural to speed things up a bit. So I got my epidural at about 10:30 and then at about 11:00 I was dilated to a 7 and then at 11:45 I was a full 10 and they called my doctor and he arrived at about 12:10 I gave one good push and out little Chance came at 12:19 pm. I was a little worried because he wasn't crying that much and he was purple but the doctor assured me that he was fine and told me to rub his back to get him to cry. The nurse then came and took him to do his assessment. He scored a perfect 10 on his apgar score.

He was beautiful.

Even though this is my third time giving birth it still blows me away at what a miraculous event it is. To have this little thing grow inside me that has eyes and ears, 10 fingers and 10 toes and knows how to suck from the moment they are born is truly amazing.

I love him.

He is now two months and has started to smile and coo. Thankfully he is sleeping somewhat better, only gets up one-two times per night and usually goes right back to sleep.

The boys have adjusted to him quite well, Rylan is a very good helper and sometimes can be too helpful. Mason is also cute with him, he will talk to him in a baby voice, I have to watch Mason though, he will swing him way too high in his swing or give Chance a blanket and put it on his head.

The boys on Daddy's Monster Truck (that is what they call it)

Rylan

Tough Mason

Gotta have a bum shot

Me and my sweet boy

We had these pictures taken by a local photographer, (Kristen Spencer Photography), it was nice because she comes to your house and takes them. I think they turned out really good. I just need to get some printed to put in his room and the house. I am so slow. It is hard to get out with 3 kids.

(sorry for all this dead space right here)

First Camping Trip of '09

2009-05-31T22:22:00.000-07:00

We were able to get out this weekend and spend time in the

beautiful outdoors with some family. We had a lot of fun. We went up to Currant Creek Reservoir. Our campsite was right across from a cute little playground and the reservoir was just a short walk away. The weather was nice, although it did rain on us a few times but not very hard. Luke was so nice and took Mason and Rylan fishing most of the day on Saturday so I had a relaxing time sitting by the fire chatting and playing games with my sisters and I even got to take a nap. Ahh! I hope that we can go a few more times before I have this baby. Here are some pictures of our trip.

I love my boys! I think they are pretty dang cute!

Rylan Fishing

(I can't believe how good he is getting at fishing, he takes his pole and cast it out into the lake all by himself, and rarely gets any snags)

Mason being goofy with his favorite cousin Spencer

I thought this was a funny picture because I think Mason looks like an old man without his teeth.

My cute niece Brooke and nephews Spencer, Nick and Josh and of course Rylan.

Our up and coming BMX star.

2009-03-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

This last weekend our ward had a Primary Talent Show. We knew about this talent show for weeks and Rylan and I couldn't decide what he should do for his talent. Then last week when Rylan was riding his bike in the nice spring weather, the idea came to me that he should ride his bike. Rylan likes to do tricks on his bike. This video is him doing his tricks at the talent show. He came up with all these tricks on his own. He had no help from me or Luke. I was worried that he was going to get nervous and not perform but he loved it and wanted to keep on going until I told him that maybe he had done enough. I thought he was kind of cute and thought you might enjoy it. Don't mind the video footage, it is not the greatest.

It's another boy!

2009-03-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

Yes, Most of you already know that we are having our third boy. Ah! What am I going to do? I must be honest and say that I was a little disappointed but have come to terms with it. It will be fun for Mason to have a brother who will be close in age with him. I won't have to buy any new clothes and I won't have to change the nursery. Luke is pretty excited that he is rapidly growing his basketball team and his four-wheeling/camping buddies. Wish Me Luck!

Check this Out

2009-02-25T21:02:00.000-08:00

I have an awesome friend who has a really great mommy blog called supermom central. She writes daily on array of mommy topics from art/craft projects to do with your little ones to keeping your kids safe and healthy, or informing the readers on the current baby fashions. I have gone to her blog several times to get creative activities to do with my boys. Right now she is having a giveway for a Bumbleride Stroller. The post tells you all that you need to do to enter the drawing. Pretty Easy. Check It Out.

Living like kings in Sunny, San Diego

2008-12-29T22:43:00.000-08:00

The Family Room with the dining room table in the background

Hanging out before The Sahmu Show!

Luke and Rylan on the Jeep Safari ride at Legoland!

Mason and Rylan playing at the pool. This kiddie pool was only 1 foot deep.

The view outside on our balcony

Rylan enjoying his "Ginormous" bed

The kitchen

My Brother Ed got us a killer deal at the Four Seasons Resort in Carlsbad, California (just outside of San Diego.) This place was incredible. We almost felt uncomfortable staying there, like we didn't belong at all. The kids had there very own suite with a king bed, couch, table, balcony, bathroom. Then there was a family room connected to the kitchen and dining room as you can see from the pictures. Luke and I's room was down the hall and included a master bathroom with a huge tub and separate shower. The place was decorated to the hilt. When we went to the pool someone would come up to us and ask us if we wanted them to set up our chairs. They would place a large fitted towel on the lounger and equip us with several other towels. We didn't want to come home.

We took the kids to Lego Land and Sea World.

Sea World was

fun, the kids loved seeing Shamu and the other animals. They had a whole new Sesame Street Section, that had Sesame Street rides and a huge play land with bridges and climbing ropes.

Lego Land wasn't so much fun. I don't recommend it. The rides were pretty dumb. It was like all of the rides that you get at Lagoon's kiddie land with the exception of a two rollercoasters. I was also pretty upset that they wouldn't let Mason go on any rides. They are really strict on the Height requirement.

We had fun just hanging out. Going to the pool and hot tub. Watching movies at night. Sleeping in, and taking many naps.

I want to go back.

Exciting News!!

2008-12-28T21:44:00.001-08:00

Translation: one line = not pregnant

two lines= pregnant

Yes. That is right! I am 10 weeks pregnant with our third child!!

Due Date: July 28, 2009

We are crossing our fingers for a girl!

(but of course will be delighted with a boy:))

Sleeping Better!

2008-11-17T08:45:00.000-08:00

I am happy to report that for the past four nights, I have been sleeping better. A good nights sleep is something that I took for granted. Those four nights that I couldn't get to sleep were pure misery and I know that it was totally a mental thing. I would start to drift off to sleep and then I would wake myself back up because I was thinking about how I was going to sleep. Sounds weird I know. I had to watch TV or listen to a book on my ipod so that I wouldn't think about going to sleep and so I would think about something different. But now I am back to my normal sleeping self. YEAH!!

Can't Sleep

2008-11-11T00:38:00.000-08:00

So It is 1:30 in the morning and I writing this post because for the past couple of days I have had trouble falling asleep. I have had like 6 hours of sleep in the past two days. I know it is because I get so worked up and anxious that I am not going to fall asleep that I don't. I even took a unisom tonight. I feel tired but I can't sleep.
Does any one have some tips for me to help me get to sleep. I need some help!

Husband TaG

2008-10-29T21:46:00.000-07:00

1. Where did you meet? We got set up on a blind date by our friends.
2. How long did you date before you were married? Honestly, we dated, were engaged and married in 5 months.
3.How long have you been married? 7 years
4.What does he do to surprise you? The question should be, what doesn't he do to surprise me. Luke loves surprising me, even down to getting me a new vacuum which I am waiting to arrive anyday now. But to answer the question, just recently he called me and said that he needed me to do an errand for him and to meet him at Fashion Place's mall parking lot. So I met him there and he proceeded to get Mason out of the car and buckle him up in his car and he handed me a card and told me to read it when he left. So when I opened the card it had a gift card to the Mall in it as well as note that said to go shopping and get a cute outfit for our date that was going to take place that weekend. So I went shopping for 4 hours with no kids. There have been many, many other surprises but there is not enough room or time to write them all.
5. What is your favorite feature of his? His six pack and he really does have one.
6.What is your favorite quality? He likes to have fun!!
7. What is his nickname that he has for you? Babe, Baby or Hun. He doesn't ever call me by my name unless he is mad at me.
8. What is his favorite food? Steak and crab legs.
9.What is his favorite sport? (Do extreme sports count?) Anything dangerous. Four Wheeling, cliff jumping. He plays basketball every Wednesday night. He doesn't watch many sports though.
10. When and Where was our first kiss? I can't remember what number of date it was, probably like our third date. We kissed in his "Red Chev", overlooking the Salt Lake Valley, listening to a romantic country song (which I can't remember the name of)
11.What is our favorite thing to do as a couple? Take tubs and see Dave Matthews in concert.
12.How many kids do we have? Two boys
13. What are his hidden talents? He is good at Trivial Pursuit
14. How old is he? 29
15.Who said I love you first? He did, but I had to pry it out of him.
16. What is his favorite music? Dave Matthews band, Rock
17. What do you admire about him? He is very giving, wether it be of his time or money. He truly is an amazing example to me of this.
18. What is his favorite color? Red "chev"
19. Will he read this? Probably not, (but in reality he helped me with questions #5 and #17.)
20. People I tag. Lauren H,

Pumpkin Carving

2008-10-29T20:57:00.001-07:00

Rylan carving his pumpkin

Luke drawing on his pumpkin

This was supposed to be a mummy pumpkin but I

think it looks more like a pumpkin wearing a burka.

My bat pumpkin

Luke's "Full Moon"

(It took me a while to guess what it was, but I knew it

had to be something gross.:)

Rylan's pumpkin

The boys with their pumpkins

My Quirks

2008-10-06T21:41:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by my good friend Lauren. Heaven Help the Horsley's is her blog. It is a really good one. I am envious of her writing abilities. And for really great mommy tips check her other blog out her mommy blog. Anyway, I am supposed to blog about 6 unspectacular quirks. I must say that I have been stewing about this one for a few days. But I finally figured a couple of mine out.

#1 Talk Radio Junkie

I am nerd I know but I listen to talk radio most of the day. I am turning into my dad. I always used to hate it when he had KSL 1160 blaring in the car, in the kitchen, in the bathroom. You name a place he had a radio and was listening to talk radio. I have a couple of favorites and I am writing this to defend myself. First one Dr. Laura. I know all of you are rolling your eyes. I am right there with you, I agree that she is mean, arrogant and hypocritical sometimes, but for the most part I think that she gives good advice and honestly has helped me become a better wife and mother. Second one Glenn Beck. Sometimes he seems to be doom and gloom but other times he is really funny. My kids will catch me LOL when I am listening to him and they are like "Mommy, what are you laughing at." I love it when he makes fun of his wife. (Sounds Awful) But, most of the time the things he says are so true on how woman act, and he uses this funny, nagging voice to do it with. I also enjoy a little Dave Ramsey, Bob Lonsberry and 1160 for the news and traffic reports.

#2 Dave Matthews Band Groupie

I have attended about 15 Dave Matthews concerts. I have seen him 3 times here in Salt Lake, 10 times in Washington and 1 time in Las Vegas. My husband and I both liked them when we got married but his friends are crazy about him and have dragged us into this obsession with them. My favorite concert was when he played in Las Vegas. Dave wasn't with the band he played an acoustic concert with his good friend Tim Reynolds. They are both amazing on the guitar. It was also just more intimate than the concerts with the entire band.

#3 I hate my belly button to be touched

I hate it when anyone touches my belly button. Namely. my husband or my kids because I know there aren't many other people that would just randomly come up and touch it. I have hated this for along time even before I got married. I hate it because and I don't know if it is just me but when it gets touched a lot it gets sore and it really hurts and it gets kind of scabby. I know it is kind of ironic but I once had my belly button pierced. Maybe that is where this all started?

#4 I love to pop zits and peel skin after a sunburn

There is something wonderful when you squeeze a big juicy zit and pus comes out and hits the mirror. And believe me I have had much zit popping experience. I enjoy attacking my husband as well. Now for the skin peeling thing, I am kind of picky on this. It can't just be little pieces of skin flaking off it has to be big pieces and it has to make that sound it makes when it is being torn off the flesh. Does anyone know what I am talking about?

#5 I hate the word " panty"

I have always hated this word. They are not panties they are underwear. Panty just sounds too feminine and sissy to me. I really can't explain my dislike for this word, I just do

And since I have to do Six my last one is

#6 I am obsessed with checking my caller ID

I check my caller ID several times a day, even when I know no one has called. And it gets worse, lately our caller ID hasn't been working but I still check it. Just in case I miss that very important call I have been waiting for all my life. I don't know.

Now that you all know that I am officially crazy, I get delve into some of your lives. I officially tag Jill Armstrong, Ed Griffin, Paige Fotheringham, Corinne Hannan, and Stephanie Hunt

Happy Birthday Rylan!!

2008-10-02T20:20:00.000-07:00

Presents!

The "Hard Hat" Piniata

Jude Horsley - "Part of the Crew"

"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to"

The Relay Race

The foreman giving instructions to his workers.

Like Father, Like Son

The Cake!

We celebrated Rylan's 5th birthday on Saturday the 20th. We had a construction themed birthday party. We held it at the church so that we could use the gym for the games. Luke brought his loader, excavator and dump truck and gave rides to all the party participants in the parking lot. It was a lot of fun! Happy Birthday Rylan!!

Shoes Need New Owner

2008-09-04T22:44:00.000-07:00

A pair of ROXY slip on flats needs loving owner.

I bought these darling shoes in Washington, while we were on vacation. They were on the super clearance rack. Ten whole dollars. Can you believe it? I was not going to pass up this bargain even if they were a 1/2 size too small. Shoes stretch out, right?

Maybe, if you are patient enough to endure the pain, which I tried.

I walked in these shoes for 2 hours on Sunday, while at a Farmers Market. My toes were a little uncomfortable at first and then they started to rub against my heel. I decided to just walk on my toes and that started to get annoying so I took the dang things off and walked around barefoot.

Later, I took the shoes back to the hotel room and replaced them with a more comfortable pair. No big deal. We got home from our trip and I went about my daily tasks on Tuesday. That night I saw that I had a blister on my right heel and it was painful to walk and to move my ankle around. I still didn't think anything of it. The next morning it was still hurting and I decided to take care of the blister by squeezing the pus out of it. ( sorry for those that have weak stomachs) I sprayed it with some numbing spray and it felt better. A few hours it started to hurt again and It was painful to walk again, I noticed quite a bit of redness around the blister and it looked like it was spreading to my ankle. It was also warm to the touch. It seemed like some of the symptoms of an infection. I called my doctor and his nurse told me to come in. The doctor squeezed the pus out of it and gave me some antibiotics and said that she was glad that I came in and that I was starting to get cellulitis.

Can you believe this, all because I couldn't pass up a good deal. I could of bought a really cute, comfortable pair of shoes for the money that I spent at the doctor and my antibiotics.

My heel, the day after the doctor visit. It actually looks a lot better
then it did yesterday.

I am serious about finding a new owner, If anyone has size 7 feet and wants these shoes let me know. I am never going to put them on again.

Our Annual Dave Matthews Trip

2008-09-04T21:33:00.000-07:00

The Beautiful Scenery

Luke, Melissa, Jamie and Nicole (my cute sis)

We just returned from our 5Th annual Dave Matthews Band trip in George, Washington at the Gorge Amphitheatre. We went with my sister Nicole and her husband Jamie and then some of Luke's friends who attend every year as well. The concerts are held over Labor day weekend and they play Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We attended all three concerts. They play a different concert for each night. Some of his new songs are repeated but overall the songs are switched up. All three concerts were great, but Sunday's was my favorite. He played some of his more common and upbeat songs, like Ants Marching, Lie in our Graves, When the World Ends, What Would you say, Corn Bread, So Damn Lucky. The band saxophonist recently died from complications of an ATV accident, so every night they had a video tribute to him. On Friday night glow sticks were handed out before the concert and during the tribute everyone was throwing the glow sticks, it was literally raining glow sticks. One thing that was different this year then any year is that it was freezing. Friday was OK, I had to put on my Jacket and I was fine. Saturday, I wore jeans and had two jackets on and was still cold. I was so cold toward the end that I couldn't enjoy the music. I had to go buy some Hot Chocolate and I almost walked back to the car before the concert was over. Sunday's concert we came prepared with long socks, and shoes vs. flip-flops, hat, and blankets and it was perfect. Below are some pictures. I got some footage of Dave dancing. The last song on Sunday night was Thank You, a cover song, but supposedly his guitar string broke and he gave it to a member of stage crew and then began to go crazy. It was pretty cool to see him let loose like that. You can't see it very well on this video though. Someday it would be awesome to be on the front row.

The Gorge is a crazy place, you see some pretty weird people. It is fun to just people watch. Many, Many drunk people running around, falling down, doing crazy stuff.

Happy Anniversary!!

2008-08-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

Luke and I celebrated our 7th Anniversary last night. Our actual anniversary is on the 16th but we were at the Griffin family reunion. We take turns planning, and this year was my year. I was reading in the newspaper that they hold free concerts at the Brigham Young historical park downtown, and it just so happened to be Peter Brienholt and Nancy Hansen who would be playing. I was so excited because Luke really likes Peter Breinholt and you can't beat free either.

We got to the concert and found a spot on the lawn. There were no seats left but that was ok by me. I kind of wanted to lay down on the grass and cuddle:) anyway. It was a really good concert. I planned to get dinner beforehand and eat it on the grass but ran out of time, so we decided to go to the Melting Pot. We went there two years ago for our Anniversary, I guess it's starting to be a tradition. We ordered the dinner for two, which for those of you that haven't been there includes the cheese, salad, main dish and the chocolate. So yummy. I was so super stuffed though and could hardly enjoy the chocolate. Someday I will have to skip the dinner and just order the chocolate. It was a really nice night.

Love you Luke!!

Rylan's First ER visit (unfortunately, probably not the last)

2008-07-22T22:58:00.000-07:00

So I thought Rylan was doing pretty well being 4 and not visiting the Emergency Room, but Sunday afternoon ruined that thought.

We had just gotten home from church and had had a little snack, Rylan got up from the table and walked into the garage, I was trying to get Mason ready so that he could take a nap when I heard Rylan screaming. It was the kind of scream when you know something is really wrong and you know your child is really hurt. I ran into the garage and saw that Rylan had a yellowish-whitish powder all over is face, one hand was holding a pin to the fire extinguisher and the other hand was grabbing his eye. I could tell that Rylan had a large amount of this powder in his eye, so I grabbed him and ran him into the bathroom and started to flush his eye out with cool water,after a few minutes of flushing he was still screaming and crying. Not knowing what kind of substance this powder was and not knowing if it was going to seriously harm his eye I decided to call 911. I told the operator what had happened and she told me to keep flushing his eye out with water and that she would send the paramedics over. I kept just drowning Rylan with water and could see all of this powder just pour out of his eye and it didn't seem to be getting any less. (Through this whole thing my heart was just pounding and I was shaking, thinking all the worst thoughts about the future with a blind son and how he wouldn't be able to ride his bike and drive(which might not be such a bad thing) and watch movies and how he was going to have to learn braille, etc, etc.)

After what seemed to be several minutes the paramedics arrived and I explained to them what had happened, they just kept telling me to keep flushing it out but Rylan would not open his eye so that I could get all of that stuff out. The paramedics took over and was trying to get him to open but he would not relent, he just kept screaming saying that it hurt too bad. They tried to flush his eye with some saline from an IV bag and he still would not open his eye. They finally told me to take him to the hospital so that they could give him something to calm down. Oh and in the meantime I had asked them what kind of substance that powder was and if it was going to harm his eye. They told me it was and "inert" substance, basically like dirt or sand getting in your eye, so that made me feel a little better. So Luke had gotten home a few minutes before and was wondering what was going on, I gave him the update and he said that he would take Rylan to Alta View hospital so the doctor could clean out his eye after they gave him something to calm down.

I stayed home with Mason and Luke drove Rylan to the hospital. The paramedics offered to give Rylan a ride to the hospital but I thought it was just as easy to have Luke take him, and Rylan wanted to go with Luke and not ride in the ambulance anyway.

About a half hour later, I decided to call Luke and see how things were going, he told me that he was still waiting to be seen, I told him to call me as soon as he had seen the doctor. I told him I was scared and didn't know how this was going to all turn out. Luke told me that he thought that everything was going to be ok and I shouldn't worry. When I got off the phone with him I got on my knees and prayed. I prayed that everything would be ok and that Rylan would not have any complications. I felt a little better but still felt nervous. I called my mom and my sister and told them what had happened, I just needed to talk to somebody, analyze everything. We came to a conclusion that since they didn't seem to be rushing to see Rylan at the ER that it would probably wouldn't be threatening to his sight. In the meantime, Luke called me and said that his cell phone was going to die and that he would just see me at home later. So I started to bake dessert for dinner, and about 45 minutes later Luke calls from the hospital in a panic and says "you need to find a babysitter for Mason right now, we have to rush Rylan up to Primary Children's," I hung up on him before he could tell me why. I was thinking in my head "Find a babysitter" so that is what I did. I finally found a neighbor who was home after a few different attempts.

Luke pulled up to our house with Rylan in the backseat and I rushed to the car with Mason in my arms, mason's shoes, two diapers, a sippy cup and a container of wipes. Rylan in his groggy state is no longer crying or screaming but is saying "look Mom, I can open my eyes, see." He wasn't really opening his eyes, his right one maybe but not his left, and then he proceeded to fall asleep. We dropped Mason at the neighbors and began our trek to the hospital. I asked Luke what the doctor had said and this is what the doctor told him "this is the worst eye injury that I have seen in 30 years, Rylan needs to see a specialist." Then Luke asked the doctor about Rylan's eye sight and the doctor says "well I am hopeful that his eyesight won't be affected, I am worried about his cornea." "Hopeful?" what the heck does "hopeful" mean. Is "Hopeful" positive or negative?

We got up to Primary's and checked Rylan in and got taken back to a room. Luke gave Rylan a very nice blessing and asked that no permanent damage would be sustained and that he would be brave for the doctors. The doctor came in and said that he had just talked to the opthomologist and the he was just finishing up a consult and that it would be 45 minutes but while we were waiting that he would go ahead and put an IV in so that the sedatives could be administered through it when the doctor looked at his eye. It just seemed strange to me that the doctor at Alta View said that his eye was so bad and rushed us up to Primary's and the doctors at Primary's were just thinking that this was no big deal and were taking there sweet time. So about one and a half hours later the opthomologist finally arrived and started asking us questions about what had happened and he had the nurse administer the sedative and he started to clean his eye out using a q-tip and then checked the acidity level in his eye and tried to find out more information about the fire extinguisher and the powdery substance it contained. They decided to flush his eye with some saline. They put what looked like a contact lense in his eye that was connected to a hose which was connected to a saline bag. They decided to start with 1 liter and then they check his eyes acidity level again which the doctor said was at 7 which is neutral which is good. He wanted to flush his eye with 1 more liter of saline just to make sure.

He checked the eye again and it was at neutral. He proceeded to do a few more test and then said that the cornea looked pretty good but it had an abrasion on it. When I asked him about his eye sight he said that it depended on whether or not there was going to be scarring on the cornea. But he sounded pretty positive. He did say that they were going to do a CT scan to make sure there were no particles behind the eye that they couldn't see. If there were, they were going to have to do surgery to remove them.

While we were waiting for the Radiology Tech, Rylan started to wake up from his sedative and started saying some silly things. He said "I- talk-like a Ro-bot." (in a robot tone) Then he said "Ro-bot Time, Ro-bot Time." It was so funny, he was still out of it but saying these crazy things. We asked him what his favorite Transformer was and he said "Bum-ble-bee" My mom and Dad were in the room and we were all just cracking up.

But he got his CT scan and the doctor came in about 1/2 hour later and told us that there were no particles behind his eye. Yeah!!

The nurse gave us some discharge information and said to see the pediatric opthomologist the following day. They gave us some antibiotic ointment to put in his eyes and sent us on our way.

The next day Rylan saw the eye doctor and he checked his eye sight on both eyes and he said that Rylan was going to make a full recovery.

Rylan's eyes are looking really good, there is very little redness or swelling.

What a miracle, what a blessing. I don't think it was a coincidence, I know that the Lord healed him. I am grateful that Luke was able to give him a blessing and that I have such a supportive family who were all concerned and said prayers on his behalf.

Cache Valley Cruise-In

2008-07-14T21:42:00.000-07:00

All clean and ready to go.

I know about a month has past, but over the 4th of July Luke and I and the kids headed to Logan to be part of the Cache Valley Cruise-In. Luke's truck was finally ready to be entered into a car show. For those of you who don't know, Luke has an '86 GMC High Sierra truck, he has had it since he was 16 years old and has done a lot of work to it. We have been talking about entering the cruise-in for years but after Luke put a 502 ram jet motor in it last summer, it was completely ready. Several days before the show, Luke worked till 2 or 3 in the morning putting on the finishing touches. I thought the truck looked great, but he is slighlty obsessive complusive when it comes to his truck.

Luke, under the hood and basically inside his engine compartment

When the truck was all ready he carefully loaded it on the trailer and pulled it up to Logan with his duramax.

There were several different events that took place throughout the weekend, but the main events were on Saturday which included the show'n'shine and the famous parade down Main Street. He spent all day Saturday at the show'n' shine and had many people come up to him and tell him what a nice truck it was. Luke's favorite event was the parade, when he actually got to drive it and rev up the engine. I got to ride in the passenger seat. It was really kind of cool having admirers. I have complained a lot about this truck throughout the years, whining about how much money he has spent on it and how much time he was working on it, but it all seemed to pay off this weekend. I was proud of Luke for working so hard on it and providing memories for our family to enjoy. I think this is going to be a yearly tradition.

Our First Post

2008-06-11T19:02:00.000-07:00

Friends have been pressuring me for months to write a blog. I kept saying No, no. But I am here to say that I caved and I am writing our very first blog. Luke has already told me that he is not going to participate. Hope you don't get sick of hearing from just me. I have always disliked writing. I dreaded writing those papers in high school and college and made my mom write them for me. Maybe this is going to be a little bit easier , its pretty simple writing about me. Perhaps I will get better with time. Just no laughing, ok. For those of you that don't know us Marti's, we are Luke and Melissa and will be married 7 years in August. We met on a blind date through some friends. We have two crazy boys.

Rylan is 4 and loves to be outside; rain, snow, sleet, hail and of course sun. He loves to ride his bike, play in the sandbox with his construction toys and just get dirty, dirty dirty. He is 100% boy. Just yesterday we were playing outside and he wanted to turn on the sprinklers and he went over to the sprinkler box but got sidetracked by some enormous snails. He proceeded to Chase me around the yard with them. Of course I start screaming and he says "ok, I'll stop" as soon as I calm down he starts chasing me again, pretty soon I run into the house and he follows me inside and I start yelling "get out, get out." The snails are big, fat and ugly. They are seriously the biggest snails I have ever seen. I wish I would've taken a picture so you guys would all understand the trauma I was in. I think the old rhyme is very fitting "snakes, and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made of." What a tease.

Our second boy Mason is not quite old enough in his 16 months of life to rile me up like that yet. However, he is quickly learning from his older brother. He does his fair share of mischief though. The other day I caught him trying to put an entire roll of toilet paper plus the toilet paper holder down the toilet. Luckily he doesn't know how to flush it. What is it with toddlers fascination with toilets. Mason also loves to be outside. He mad dashes for the door as soon as it is opened. Ask me how I am going to get anything done this summer.