Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Thanksgiving 2013

We were lucky enough to head out to Utah to spend Thanksgiving with our family. We listened to Ender's Game on the way out and back. It was new to both of us and we both enjoyed it.

Thanksgiving morning we headed out to go shooting. I wasn't going to go because I thought it was just a guys thing, but Jari was going, so I decided to tag along too.



It was so much fun! I haven't been shooting in a long time, so it was good to get out again.



I have only shot a shotgun once in my life. It makes a big boom, kind of hurts, and mostly just scares me. The only time I did it, instead of aiming for the clay pigeon flying through the air, I just closed my eyes, pulled the trigger, and called it good. I had no intention of shooting it again, but if Jari could do it, I decided I could too. I am proud to say that I hit the clay pigeon on my very first try! And even managed to hit a second one too. I hit 2 out of 3. Not too bad!



Shortly after we arrived and started shooting, I got a call from Ryan's mom. Pierscen had taken a dive into the lip of the wood burning stove and gashed his head open. She said it needed stitched. I really wasn't sure what to do. I could hear him screaming on the phone, but I had snagged a ride from my brother and didn't even have my driver's license with me. Of course I wanted to head back and take care of him, but I also didn't want to make my brothers leave - especially since this is their one and only chance to get out and shoot. A few minutes later, Oma called back and said that he had calmed down and she had a band-aide on it. He had a cousin over, so the owie was quickly forgotten on Pierscen's end of things. As for the cut itself, it was over the eyebrow and wasn't super pressing as far as time was concerned. You can judge me if you want, but medically speaking, he was fine. In fact, it was probably better for him to play with his cousin and separate the injury from a frantic mother rushing home. So we stayed for a while and then headed home. It was a lot of fun. 

When we got back to the house, Dr. Fred took a look at it and concurred that it definitely needed stitches. From there, the issue was figuring out where to go. All the Instacares were closed. I tried calling my insurance to find out which hospital chain was in network, but it was Thanksgiving and no one was working. So we went with our loyalties and headed to UVRMC - our home away from home. We put some gauze and coban around his head to help with the swelling. He fought it as it was going on, but as soon as he saw how cool he looked, he was fine with it. :)



I was nervous that we wouldn't know anyone - considering it was a holiday and typically it's the on-call staff that get stuck working. Lucky for me, I knew everyone there! From the registrar at the front desk, to the nurses and techs that checked us in, to the nurses and doctor that took care of us in the back. It definitely made for a better experience.


Although we would have loved to have saved on the bill and just held him down, rather than knock him out, with the gash being where it was, it was way too risky trying to sew it up by brute force. Besides, it took four grown adults to hold him still enough just to give him the shot to knock him out! Now, "knock him out" is a relative phrase. They gave him a shot of Ketamine which doesn't actually put him to sleep. The doctor said basically confuses the brain. So though lots of people who saw these pictures thought he was being brave... not really. He was just out of it. :)


Eight stitches later he was all sewn up. Ryan told me that he had stitches at least once every year until he was 16. Well, if that's the case, P is just trying to stick with tradition.



He was pretty loopy and funny coming out of it - and extremely tired. We went in around 1 (right when my family was eating dinner) and didn't leave until almost 4 (an hour after Ryan's family ate.) Kind of ironic - don't you think? We drive all the way to Utah to be with our family and end up missing both dinners! Haha.


At least Pierscen got a decent nap in while we were waiting to be discharged - which took forever. I worked in that ER for 5 years. I know how busy it is. I get it. However - I also know that discharge, especially for something as simple as a cut, literally takes no more than 30 seconds. You press print on the computer and take the papers to the patient. The end. Ugh. Oh well.


Thankfully everyone was still hanging out at Ryan's aunt's house when we got there and we were able to eat the leftovers. P was pretty chipper when he woke up and had a great time playing with his cousins. 




Despite the booboo, we still had a great day and P is no worse for the wear...

Okay. Okay. I'll admit it. I was not upset about the cut. I was not freaked out by the blood. I did not cry when he was screaming about getting the shot, or when they stitched him up. But that beautiful face! Did it have to be the face?! Lol! 

Alright. I said it. And now I will add... it really is okay. The doctor said that yes, he will have a scar. But by the time he is old enough for it to matter, it will have faded big time. Perhaps it won't even be noticeable. He told us that his own brother had a gash like P's that went through the eyebrow. He said yes, it was noticeable for awhile, but it has long since been gone. So it will be fine. Besides - he's a boy. Chicks dig scars. We've already had lot of comments about how it looks like Harry Potter's scar, just turned on it's side. Let's hope Harry Potter is still cool when P is older. Haha.

I don't remember much the of Friday details other than the boys went shooting and that night was crab and steak night with Ryan's family. Yum yum yum. Oh I lied! I do remember! I think the boys went shooting Saturday. I went to see Frozen with my family. Such a cute show!

We headed home Sunday morning. Although we didn't quite get to spend as much time with everyone as we had hoped, it was still a good weekend. Family is all that matters. 


I couldn't help but snag a few pictures in Rawlins, about 2 hours away from Casper. If there was any doubt that we had made it back to Wyoming - this proved it. Holy cow! That wind is insane!




The next day, while Pierscen was taking his nap, I set up the Christmas tree and decorations. He was in awe when he woke up. He walked up to the tree and said, "Wow. Pretty!"



It's always nice to have your work admired. :) I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

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