Max is a Teenager

July 20, 2013

Max wanted a trifle instead of a cake and he even helped me make it.

 We went to Boondocks and got a package deal where they could do 2 events. They did laser tag and race cars. The cars were really fun, we've never done those before. Happy Birthday, Max!

 Talon Harkness, Connor Symonds, Randon Bailey, Bryce Kerr, David Westwood, Max and Seth Ostenson

This picture is taken later in the week as they prepare for an air soft war. It stings so Randon is prepared.

The Summer of 5Ks

 July 20, 2013
It all started with Maddie and Marissa running a 5K for Steel Days in American Fork. Jon and I ate in a little diner on Main Street and then came out to watch them cross the finish line. Pretty fun. The girls are also staying in shape for Cross Country this year.

July 24

Then we saw that Provo was having a 5K on Pioneer Day from the Provo Temple to the new Provo Tabernacle Temple. It was all down hill and free so we decided to do it as a family (except Tanner had to work). It was pretty fun. I made Seth stay with Max and me which made him sad because he thought he could keep up with Maddie and Jon but I was worried because there were tons of people.

 Since this race took place on Max's actual birthday, we went to Krispy Kreme afterwards for doughnuts. Max got his very own dozen.

August 3

Then, Jon, Maddie, and Seth did the Highland 5K at the end of summer. Seth was determined and he did stay up with them. Crazy boy!

Dewey Family Reunion Bear Lake

July 8-12, 2013

Bear Lake is about a two hour drive up a beautiful canyon. On our way there, we heard Maddox was a great drive in place to eat. Sadly, they're closed on Mondays. So we stopped at this place and ate outside. This tree was so big and beautiful!

 It's always so exciting to get to our destination and see all the cousins. YAY! Everyone went right out to the lake. It was about a 10 minute walk from our condos.

  

Every time you bought a large snow cone, you got to climb a coconut tree. The kids were amazing at climbing! Max, Katie, Maddie, Elliott, Peter, and Seth.

 

Bear Lake is famous for it's Raspberry shakes in the summer so we had to try one. Pretty good! Some people opted to eat in the covered wagon.

 One day we went to Minnetonka cave. There was a board walk leading to the cave with a beautiful view!

 Super cold standing in front of the cave. And sadly, I entered without realizing I was still wearing my sunglasses so I kept tripping. Finally I figured it out and it wasn't quite so dangerous. :)

 Joshua, James, and Maren feeding the chipmunks. They're pretty tame like they've been fed before.

 Getting lots of sun. One day we had a lot of sick and sunburned children so we stayed inside most of the day.

 One day we rented a boat with a banana behind it. It was so fun. Then another day we rented two jet skis.

 Eating at a restaurant before going to the small town theatre. We watched Bandito Rides Again, which everyone really enjoyed. Fun time with the whole family!!

Pioneer Trek

July 1-4, 2013

Tanner and Maddie got up at 5:30 for their Pioneer Trek adventure/almost tragedy.

They have to wear pioneer clothes but can wear good shoes, whew! They did have fun but that time of year was really hot!! Plus they walked 18 miles the first day so lots of people got dehydrated. Tanner was one of the many who had to get an IV which helped a lot! He had to pull a hand cart the whole day which was too much in that heat. Poor pioneers!

 Yay, they made it back alive. Tanner has a lot of dirt covering his whole body. I didn't get a chance to get a picture of Maddie before she changed. It was really hard, but they did it! And that's a great lesson to learn.
Meanwhile, the rest of the family enjoyed watching The Orem Owlz baseball team on the 3rd of July. They always have a really great firework show after the game and the parking lot doesn't take forever to get out of.

 Collin watching the fireworks. He was more entertaining than the fireworks with all of his expressions!

Seth Doesn't Need His Appendix Anymore

If you ever need to go to a Children's Hospital, Denver is a great place!! Seth was moaning and groaning and throwing up all night then about 5 he stopped and slept. Then he started throwing up again about 10. At 2 we decided to take him into Instacare. They didn't have any equipment so they told us to go to the hospital. After being at the hospital for 3 or 4 hours they transferred us by ambulance the Children's Hospital about 20 minutes away from Lyssa's house.

You can tell by this picture, Seth does not look well! Even after the surgery for a few days he made me nervous because he just didn't look like himself. They did a blood test that said he had a high white blood cell count which means infection, but he was also positive for strep so that could account for that. They then did an ultra sound which was super painful to push down hard all over his abdomen and that test was inconclusive. They then did a CT scan which also was not clear if it was his appendix. They decided since all signs pointed to that they would do the surgery and see with their eyes if it was the appendix.

His surgery was scheduled for midnight but because of surgeries ahead of him it ended up being 2 am. Not a fun night. Seth mostly slept with strong medication but I was stressed out so I couldn't. Jon decided to go to Lyssa's and sleep with the kids and I would nap the next day. The nurse called me when the surgery was done and said the appendix was out and everything went well. Then she mentioned that it had perforated which meant we needed to stay 5 more days to give Seth strong antibiotics. That's when I couldn't hold it together any longer. I felt bad for Seth plus we were far from home plus it was 3 in the morning. I burst into tears!

 Right after surgery. Looks better but not a lot better. He didn't want to eat for a couple more days. The Drs just wanted to make sure he drank a lot.

Everyone came to see Seth before getting on the train to go home. It was sad to see them all leave without us. At least Peter, Lyssa, and Thomas made it fun for us. I'm so glad we had family close by.

 This Hospital was amazing! They had a replica of the hospital made out of legos, a clown and other guests that would come visit, a marble run machine to watch for entertainment and great nurses.
 We were on the very top floor, the 15th I think because they had 5 appendectomies the night Seth got his which was very rare.

They used lapriscopy which was so nice and pulled his appendix out his bellybutton. Pretty cool.

 I decided to wash Seth's hair while we were there, it was long overdue.  They had a cap that had shampoo in it that you put on and rubbed his hair and then it was clean and smelled good. It's called rinse less shampoo cap. I wish you could buy these in the store for camping.

The last day in the hospital I could tell he felt better. Here he's playing with a straw.

The cousins made him a get well poster with lots of famous people signing it that Seth loved. It was funny.

 I was so happy when they took this out. It had a tube that went almost to his heart. It was a very fast way to give him the antibiotics everyday. I'm grateful for it but it looked painful.

Lyssa's family came everyday and brought us good food and walked around the grounds with us. This was a huge model train set up in the lobby for one day.

 Back home at Lyssa's house holding a corn dog. Yay!

 This picture was taken when we first arrived in Denver. The cousins turned on the hose and had a great time jumping and getting wet. (Katie was in Peru doing Humanitarian work. We missed her!) Thanks to Lyssa and Peter for everything they did for us for this trip. It ended up being an extended vacation with a lot of extra work for them.