BYU vs South Florida

Tonight we took the family to the BYU vs South Florida football game. On the way to the stadium we passed a car that across the back had the BYU-Utah score plastered. That was fun to see! It was so fun to be in the stadium and watch the game. BYU ended up wining 35-27. They scored 21 in the first quarter and then things defintiely slowed down on our end which made the game more exciting. But they pulled out the win! 

Since it was Carson's birthday we told him we would get him a "Cougar Tail" at the game. A cougar tail is a 2 foot long maple frosted donut. Well when I went to buy one at half time, there were none left to be had :-( All vender locations had signs up that said "No more cougartails" etc. I couldn't believe it. I guess I didn't realize jsut how populars Cosmo's appendage is. As Kayla and I were walking around the entire stadium we crossed paths with a cart full of boxes. He approached me and asked if my daughter would like an ice cream. We happily said "yes" and he reached into his box and pulled out a BYU Creamery personal size ice cream cup. Kayla was so excited and then I had a thought.

Me: "Excuse me, could I ask a favor?"

Box Man: "you want one for you as well?"

Me: "NO! But I've actually got my son here at the game as well and it's his birthday. Is there any way I could get one for him?"

Box Man: "How many people do you have with you?"
Me: "uh...7"

Box Man: "if i give you an entire box, do you think you could hand them all out?"

Me: "um... yes!" 

 

He then hands me a box filled with ice cream cups. BYU CREAMERY ice cream! We thanked him a ton and then headed off in search of spoons. 

I can't tell you how many looks I got on the way back to our seats, me holding this gigantic box full of ice cream. Well we made it back and delieverd Carson a fun birthday surprise (not a cougar tail but they did have his favorite flavor-cookies and cream) and after getting the family taken care of, handed out ice cream to all the folks around us. It was so fun to share the joy we felt at receiving such a kind gesture. So here's to you box man/catering man. Thank you for making our night! 

After the game the kids went down and lined the stadium to get high fives which they were pretty excited about. And on the way out of the stadium, we ran into some cheerleaders so Kayla was able to get a picture with one of them! 

St George Trip Day 3

The plan for today was to hit Quail Creek Reservoir in the morning and Snow Canyon in the afternoon. Due to Covid-19, all parks are limiting the amount of people they let it. We got to Quail Creek just a bit too late and they had already hit their max capacity. We decided to head to the Hardeys hotel and go swimming instead. Everyone had fun and even Livvy got to play in the water which she LOVED! 

After lunch we headed to Snow Canyon State Park and went hiking and spelunking which was lots of fun! It was really hot but it was still a fun outing. 

When we were done at Snow Canyon it was time to head home. Unfortunately for us on our way home we ran over a huge metal beam (?) that looked like it had fallen off of a truck. We got a flat tire around Cedar City Utah and there was no mechanics open since it was so late.  A nice DNR officer stopped  and helped us put our spare tire on. He was super kind and helpful and his name was Coty Jones, which our kids were freaking out about. One of the Dude Perfect guys is named Cody Jones. We found dinner and a hotel and ended up spending the night in Cedar.

 

Ronald McDonald lunch service

The YW from our ward signed up to provide a lunch at the RM house at the hospital. We were so touched by this. We made sure to bring the kids up that day so we could all go and say thank you to them and of course eat the lunch they had provided. Such a cool thing! 

First Day at Home

Today was the first day at home with Little Miss Livvy and it was good. So good. She was so sleepy which the nurse told us to expect since yesterday was pokes and pricks and tests etc. Around lunch time Scott's teams from work came over to meet Olivia. One of the team members, Melissa, brought a cute outfit for Olivia. We had a really nice visit with them and are so grateful that they came to visit. Today was a good day.

We headed to the baseball field tonight despite the oncoming threat of rain. Well we should have stayed home! :) It ended up down pouring and we were all running to the van and truck and trying to keep people dry. It was quite the scene! Carson had to finish his game in the pouring rain-poor kid!

#wegotserved: Jen Aguirre brought us an awesome baseball dinner (ie one that we could take to the ball field)
Tammy Johnson brought 2 freezer meals today which will be so awesome and helpful

NICU Day 11

Today, after 2 weeks of rain, baseball games were back on! It was fun to be at the fields and get playing again. That said, I was actually really grateful for the rain over the last little bit since it would have been a bit of a nightmare trying to juggle all the games with all we had going on at the hospital.

#WeGotServed:
*Regina Smith brought us a meal tonight. She brought Sandwiches and chips and fruit-the perfect on the go meal which was perfect as we were running to baseball games and the hospital and etc

Initial Meeting, NICU Day 10

Today I headed to the hospital for my early morning time with Olivia. I loved getting to hold her and look at her and love on her. As I sat with her I decided we should get out and do something as a family today. The sun was shining for the first time in what seems like weeks (actually the sun was shining on April 8th when we showed up at the hospital to have Livvy!) After spending time with sweet Livvy, I bundled her up, tucked her into her bed and headed for home.

We decided to head downtown to temple square and have fun with some of the activities. It was good for us to be out and together as a family. We walked around the temple, took lots of pictures at the temple and by the flowers and then headed to the Church History Museum. We had a lot of fun there exploring the exhibits and playing in the children's area.

Kayla asks for her picture to be taken at every turn! :-)

As well as Carson

And Andrew likes to copy...

This is the coolest tree. If you look at right you can see the branches/leaves actually are a replica of the earth/continents

We headed home around 2 so that the boys could get to some afternoon activities (Skyler-temple with the Kidds, Carson and Trey to a birthday party) and I headed back to the hospital to have time with Livvy. She was sleeping peacefully while I was there and I waited patiently till her CARES time came around. Then I got to take her temperature, change her diaper and feed her. She did a great job eating and I just loved having more time to hold her. She was wide awake and staring at me with those big blue eyes and I was having the hardest time leaving her. Early on in our NICU experience the nurses had told us there was potential for a window visit with our other kids. Today I worked up my courage and asked nurse Jamie if it would be possible to roll Olivia down the hallway to the window. She got excited and asked, "Are they here?!" I said no but was wondering if we could arrange a time. She was all on board! She talked with the respiratory people and everyone got in on the plan to have Livvy ready for a window visit tonight at 8! I was SOOO excited! I called Scott and told him but we didn't tell the kids till later.

Around 7:40 pm we headed to the hospital. Scott kept the kids in the waiting area while I went in the NICU to talk to the nurse. Our nurse tonight was Caralee and she was just awesome. She already knew the plan and finished the preparations. We headed down the hallway and watched with joy as the 5 big siblings rushed to the NICU door as soon as they saw us pull into the hallway by Livvys room.  The next 10-15 minutes were magical. Olivia was awake and became more awake as the time wore on. All 5 other kids were just glowing and so excited that they were finally seeing Baby Olivia! Caralee asked if she could take pictures with my phone which was so awesome-she got some really cute ones! It was so fun and a little unreal to have our entire family of 8 together! Tonight was so fun and magical and we are so grateful for those who helped make this initial meeting possible!

 

Progress Report: In order to get Olivia to the window the respiratory people had to take Livvy's flow down to a 1.0. Her big O2 machine was removed and she is down to a small box (?) of stuff.

#WeGotServed:
*the nurses and respiratory people were so helpful in making the window meeting happen
*My ministering sisters, Lindsay Knudsen and Lindsay Rasmussen, brought flowers today