Family

Even though we live in a different state now- which actually feels like a different country than Utah sometimes, we are lucky enough to still be close enough for the occasional visit from family. Carol and Mike moved to Phoenix a month before we moved to follow a similar life path. Now we live closer to their family than we have before, and as great as that is now, it's going to get even better as Ada is able to grow up with her cousin Ellie (oh, and we get to see Mike and Carol every once in a while). I think it's been agreed that they have to come up to our high elevation during the summer to avoid the 110+ degree temperatures and we will be down there when we can sunbathe in January. Last weekend, Mike was busy with school, but Carol and Ellie were able to come for a short visit.

We took advantage of the amazing park system of Flagstaff. There are at least 3 quality playgrounds within a short walk from here. We went to the library where I got my first card in about 7 years! Bryan took them to another park in the bike trailer.

And we just let the girls hang out together.

When Carol and Ellie had to leave, we greeted more visitors...

Grandma and Granpa! Ada was really excited to see them. When we go up north for a visit, things are usually pretty chaotic with running around to doctors appointments and other obligations, so it was nice to actually get to just hang out and do things together. We visited Walnut Canyon, which was still as amazing, and hiked around Sunset Crater.

It was a great weekend for all, I'd say.

Back Home

We managed to make it back to Escalante for a weekend to take care of some house-cleaning and yardwork (anyone want to buy a very nice, if tiny house in Escalante?). Ada was able to play in the rain as soon as we got there.


She loved it, even if we had to wrap her up in a dry towel for a while after her lips started turning blue. We got to see everyone at Toni's going away party, and even sang a little karaoke.
The rest of the weekend was yardwork, which Ada was so happy to help with.And we got to leave with boxes full of tomatoes, kale, chard, beets, kohlrabi and onion from our very much missed garden. It was a good weekend.

The Hospital.

We thought Ada was recovering from her week-long cold, then one day she woke up cranky and unwilling to sleep. As the day progressed, her breathing got faster and faster, and she finally started getting a minor fever. So we took her in to the ER. It was the only place still open at 7:30 p.m. This was during our wait, before we realized that it was probably a little more serious than we thought. Looking at the picture now, it's obvious that Ada knew before we did. They ran tests and looked at her x-rays, but couldn't figure out what was wrong. So we spent 5 hours in the emergency room waiting for the busy doctors to look at test results and figure out what to do next. Seeing/hearing everything that was going on around us made us finally realize how big a city Flagstaff really is. A hospital emergency room is maybe a good gauge of that?
One of the nurses was able to get Ada on oxygen, so she was finally able to fall asleep and breathe a little easier. After more waiting, we were finally admitted to the pediatric department for the night. For the next few hours, Ada stayed on oxygen, had bronchial treatments and an IV to rehydrate her and she started perking back up. So we got discharged earlier than we were anticipating. Which was a relief for all of us- especially her. We were able to leave that afternoon, not knowing what had invaded her body, but glad that it was on its way out.
If nothing else, we feel more like "locals" now, having experienced the emergency room. And our daughter is back to her healthy, happy self.

Flashback

We have somehow ended up with six cameras- all of which we use occasionally. Needless to say, it's difficult to keep track of everything. I can't believe we forgot to put these up:

Ada's birthday party!
Dana was kind enough to make her a ladybug cake...which, through no fault of Dana's, Ada hated. This is a picture of her as she was gagging and spitting it out. Allysia thought it was hilarious!
As compensation for forcing her to try frosting, she got to play with rocks.

For her third birthday celebration of the week, Grandma and Grandpa came down bearing gifts. But her favorite part, of course, was the packaging.

These pictures are from our recent trip to Phoenix- swimming time!
Ellie's so lucky to have a swimming pool a hundred feet from her front door. Even if it is too hot to swim sometimes, it being Phoenix, and all. Ada, of course, loved it.
We finally made it to Walnut Canyon National Monument. This is possibly one of my favorite things we've seen since we got to Arizona! The ruins are scattered throughout the cliffs in one layer of alcoves that lines the walls. It was impressive. And the hike was beautiful. I highly recommend it to everyone. If you come visit us, we will take you there.
The rest of the day was spent gorging on fair food at the Coconino County Fair. It was the first fair Bryan and I had been to in a long time and it was pretty exciting.
We decided to drive up to the ski resort outside of town to get an idea of what it was like. It was an amazing view
and Bryan got one of my favorite shots of Ada so far.She was taking her first walk on an alpine trail. I think she loved it.