Just one of those mornings...

in doctor language, "invasive" = "painful"

Damian's back injury saga continues...

On Thursday he had a Myelogram, which the doctor told him was "an invasive procedure." We rightly concluded that what he was nicely saying, in his own doctorly way, was that it was going to hurt. But Damian survived, he's recovering well, and we'll find out the results this Thursday.

The nurse thought my sense of humor must be a bit off, since I was taking pictures. She's right. Ha. This one is Dame right before going in. It's a nervous smile.

He had dye injected into his spinal fluid and then had x-rays taken. They did it to get a good idea of what's going on in order to decide whether or not to do surgery. I guess the worse case scenario would be that they say there's nothing further they can do for him and that's it. He'll just have to live with the pain. But we'll see. Who would have though that we'd be hoping that they find something wrong?! On the other hand, back surgery is scary too. Poor Dame. I just want him to be fixed one way or the other. It's hard to see him in pain all the time.

Anyway, with all that said... our "quote of the morning" is when the nurse decided to entertain us while waiting for the doctor. She said, "While we're waiting for the doctor, I'll show you my tattoo since that's entertaining!" We were relieved to see that it was on her leg! Ha.

It's as if she wants something...

Emma has been going through a stage lately... well, since she's been born, actually... of being rather clingy.

So what do I do about it? Take pictures, of course!

Then, yes, I pick her up. So it's my fault. ;)

Houdini's opposite

The other morning, Noel somehow managed to get stuck inside his Nerf basketball hoop. Usually Maddie is behind something like that, but this time he did it on his own (see Maddie back there, zoned out on TV?). Ha.

Ah, Damian... it's so fun to see your "Y" chromosome in action!

this fish will need therapy

Maddie got a pet fish. She named him Rosie.

Welcome to the family, Mr. Rosie!

Sunshine does not always bring warmth

If you haven't figured it out already, one of our favorite places to "get away" for the day without having to travel more than an hour is the Columbia River Gorge.

We had a sunny day and decided to get out and get some fresh air. I'm so glad I brought their hats and gloves in addition to their jackets --it was freezing! Literally, I'm sure. And the wind... wow. It was cold. We inhaled as much fresh air as we could in the 10 minutes we spent out of the car. Ha.

The kids are such good sports. Emma wasn't so sure, though.

We got glared at from an older couple sitting in their truck in the parking lot. I guess they didn't think we should have been out with kids so young on such a cold day. Oh well. The kids had fun! They ran around and explored the field a bit with Samson.

It would have been MUCH colder to hike up Beacon Rock, so I just took a picture of it. Maybe in the summer. There's a great view of the Gorge from the top.

I think this field is beautiful year round. Even when it's brown. :)

Anyway, we all survived... No one got sick... No one froze to death... We got some fresh air and vitamin D... It was a good day.