Rochesterfest

This week was Rochesterfest. We had a great time! It is always such a wonderful start to the summer. We went to Family Fun Night downtown and got treats and made crafts. Jessica and Zach got to go to the parade with their Aunt Brantly. They caught lots of candy and enjoyed waving to all the people in the parade.

Then finally on Saturday we went to the highlight of year...breakfast on the farm. I think their personalities are best described by the conversation we had on the way home...

Mom: Savannah, what was your favorite part of breakfast on the farm?

Savannah: I liked the hayrides...we got to go on every wagon, even the fancy one!

Mom: How about you Jessi?

Jessi: I liked the cyclops cow head in a jar. That was cool!

Mom: How about you Zachy?

Zach: BUS! (We got to ride a school bus there!).

We had a great time. We caught almost all the pancakes that were tossed to us and we enjoyed the breakfast, the cows, and the hayrides! Next year everyone should come out for Rochesterfest...it really is a great time!

First Sticks completed...and no passing out!

Ta-Da! Today I did my first sticks! I did 14 sticks total and was successful at 13. So, I was pretty happy! And I didn't even pass out! There was way too much going on to even have time to think about passing out! First you have to ID the patient, then you have to put your tech code on all the tube labels, then you have to put the tourniqet on and get out your "3 whites" (presssure bandage roll, gauze pad, and alcohol wipes!), find the vein, assemble your needle, and then finally you get to the sticking part! Then you insert your tubes in the proper drawing order and then finally loosen the tourniqet, pick up your gauze, pull out the needle put the safety on, dispose of needle and wrap arm, and label the tubes before the patient even leaves, invert the tubes the proper number of times, enter it into the computer and send it to central processing...so see...way too much to worry about! But I was glad to get through the first ones! None of my patients fainted either...though one of the other students patient's did! Tomorrow I get to practice more...I have to have 120 sticks completed by next Friday...so I'd better get cracking!

Jessi lost her FIRST tooth!

Jessi lost her FIRST tooth...she is really excited to put her tooth under her pillow and have the tooth fairy come and visit. She woke up this morning and her tooth was really wiggly. Every time it moved her mouth would be bleed, so Daddy pulled it out and guess what?? "It didn't even hurt!" she said. Now she has a nice big window in her mouth! Congratulations Jessi!

Help, I'm being Mayo-ized...

Wow! What a long, boring week this has been! I have been in orientation ALL week long at Mayo. There are a lot of speakers! Though they do a REALLY good job of making you feel excited to work for Mayo and lucky to be joining such a wonderful team! They have some amazing benefits! They have a whole "gym" complete with two pools, a running track, aerobics classes, and equipment etc. for employees and their spouses only (actually there are 3 of them...but they are consolidating down to 2). Brennon and I have decided to join! They have sick child care...so if your child gets sick and you are supposed to work, you can take your child to R&R, which is staffed with doctors and RNs to take care of your sick one! They will pay for your cab ride home if you have to work late and miss your bus. They pay for your bus passes to and from work! The list goes on and on! Unfortunately, they have to have a whole speaker to spend at least twenty minutes on each topic!! Today I finally got to make it back to my lab area! I am excited to get started in my lab next week! Then the following week I start my phlebotomy training!

Thanks to everyone who has posted comments! It is sooo much more fun to do this when I know that people are actually looking at it and keeping up with our family! If anyone else starts a blog, let us know...we'd love to keep up with your family too!

The Family Picture....

Well, here's the new family picture...in all its sunshiny glory...we were the "yellow" family! We will be sending one to Grandma and Grandpa soon! Doesn't Jessi remind you of Pippi Longstockings??

Emergency Room visit

Well, we got to make another trip to the emergency room. This time we accompanied Brantly to the emergency room. She was over at our house "playing" and suddenly she got pretty ill. She was throwing up and could hardly stand up. We ran her down to the emergency room. She was diagnosed with a kidney stone. They got her pain under control and sent her home. Well, tonight she was taken to the ER again. She was in constant pain again. They have now admitted her. Looks like they are contemplating putting a stint in her ureter (between her kidney and her bladder) tonight, and then removing the stone on Monday. Get well soon Brantly!

Pictures of the New Car and New basement

This is our semi-finished basement (in all its messy glory)! The walls and ceiling and carpeting are all done...we just have a bit of trim left around the windows and the sliding glass door. I'd also really, really like to get some curtains for the window and the door. So, maybe a few more hours left of work and then it will be all done! Already it feels so much warmer and comfortable just having the walls and carpeting done! It is great! We love it! Also shown is the new car! It is a Dodge Grand Caravan, we are enjoying it...but there are some things that we have to get used to as well, like looking for a blue car in the parking lot instead of a silver...and before our van was more on the "unusual" side so it was always easy to find...now we have the same van as everyone else...so I have gone to the wrong car a few times! I guess I will have to start remembering where I parked better!