Dads latest project

For the last two weeks Scott has been sanding and staining our three decks.  It has been a lot of work, but  we found redwood underneath and it looks beautiful.

Here are some of the before pics.  It had gray paint that matched the exterior of the house.  I didn't think to take before pics, but I had a couple that were taken last spring.

Hudson was so excited to help his dad.  He put on his "mountain biking gloves", a mask, and used his toy truck as a sander to help Dad.  Kept him entertained all afternoon.

First Dentist appointment

Hudson went to the dentist for the first time today. Everything checked out ok. The staff and Dentist there were awesome. They couldn't get him to stop talking to clean his teeth. He told them all about his girlfriend, bike, and video that was playing on the TV. At one point the dentist asked if he had any teeth and he said of course I have some up stairs and downstairs haha.

Sunday Stroll

This is how these boys roll around these days. We love our lazy Sundays 

Backyard camping

We really wanted to go camping Wednesday night but mom wasn't quite up to it so we grilled a yummy dinner, made s'mores, and did a little backyard camping. Glad I can pass this tradition on to my kids. Thanks goes to dad for staying out with Hudson all night. 

This is Hudson's trade mark.  He is always pointing two fingers at everyone.  We captured this perfectly in our family photos last week, but that will have to be a post for another day.

Hanging out at the beach

We went to pineview to ride the waver runner for the first time this year. Weather was great and kids were happy. Couldn't ask for anything better. 

Love this kid.

Uncle Kreg took the kids out in a raft. 

We had lunch and built sand castles all day. Hudson even got a chance to ride the wave runner.

Summer sports camp

This boy has had so much fun at his summer sports camp this year. His favorite sport was football and basketball. He had such awesome coaches. We will definitely  be doing this again next year. 

Zoo day with Grandma and Aunt Hailey

We are loving these zoo passes we bought this year. This time we in invited my mom and sister to tag along. Hailey was pleasantly surprised to find out she had the same arm span as a female gorilla. Haha

I have so many pictures of me as a child at this drinking fountain. I was so glad we were able to find it. It was kind of the highlight of Hudson's day too. 

Hudson "sleeping" in the eagle nest with Hailey. 

This otter was just the right size for Bentley. 

St. George 2013

 St. George was a nice get away for our little family. We left Friday afternoon right after Scott taught his last class for the year. It was so fun to spend some time with my grandparents. I wish I would have thought to take a picture with them. My Grandmother always knows what I need to hear, and in the mornings my Grandpa and I would sneak away and share a root beer on the back porch. My grandpa is in the late stages of Parkinson's disease which has affected his ability to speak at an audible level so we didn't talk much, but I managed to see a smile in his eyes several times. They are such great examples to me. At one point I told my grandmother that he was very lucky to have her in his life, and she smiled back and said " And I am very lucky to have him". 

Unfortunately we had a rough night with Hudson.  Which ended up with us going to the ER at Dixie regional the next morning. He has been having severe abdominal pain that has kept him up for over a week.  Before we left for this trip we took him to an instacare where he had an abdominal x ray that showed lots of air in his bowels.  The physician said it would pass in two or three days, but it got worse and we took him into his pediatrician who did another two x rays and basically said the same thing.  He thought it might be diet related so we saw a specialist at Mckay Dee.  He tested positive for allergies to cows milk and casein which is found in cheese and other diary products.  So we have since been following a strict dairy free diet for him, and it seemed like things were getting better.  After the night we had on Friday I was worried about an appendicitis.  So we had more x-rays, blood draws, IV inserted, medicines given, and CT exams which made for a long day.  Scott's grandfather was actually in the hospital at the same time  getting heart stents, so Scott was able to see Ron before he was discharged and Kathleen was kind enough to visit us in our little ER room.  When all the tests came back it did not appear to be appendicitis, but he had a very high white blood cell count 18.6 so we returned the next day to make sure it was coming down, which it fortunately did.  Phew!  We were so grateful that our little man did not need surgery.

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During our waiting period in the ER we had the most awesome nurse.  Hudson said he could hear a helicopter and she it set it up so we could go out and see the lifefight helicopter.  Nurse Jackie was the flight nurse who showed us around.  She was the cutest nurse I have ever met.  She wore red lipstick, read stud earnings, and retro red sun glasses.  She seriously made me rethink my occupation.  Hudson had a blast, but was a little tired from the night before so it didn't last too long.

The Next day we went to church with my grandparents and ate an amazing Lunch with them.  Then we headed over to Ron and Kathleen's home.  We took the kids on a little walk after dinner to see the petroglyphs.  The kids had a blast together.

These two are pretty inseparable these days.  Oliver was so worried about Hudson's tummy.  One night we went out to eat at Cafe Rio and Hudson couldn't have a cheese quesadilla and he cried about it because he felt bad for him.  We were so glad the Wagners were with us on this trip.

Graduation and vacation

Hayden graduated from high school, and I will admit it was a little bitter sweet. I can't believe we are all grown ups. Seems like yesterday all of us little Gerrards were under one roof playing in our backyard and driving our mom crazy. Now I am the crazy mom. I will admit I romanticize my childhood, but it was awesome! Thanks mom and Dad, and thanks Hayden for letting us be part of this day with you.

Our new hangout

Snow basin has become our new favorite summer hangout. Hudson loves the little mountain bike course in the front, and even Dad gets a few rides in. The picture of three Hudson's gives me anxiety. Definitely could not handle three of these boys, but I have sure learned to love one.

Thumbs up!