On Vacation! (:

Yikes! It's been a LONG time since I wrote anything. I guess life had just been "boring" - until lately that is! We've had a very exciting and busy last few days!

On Saturday morning we loaded our suitcases and our Ella into our van - amid the flurries of snow gently falling - said goodbye to Pumpkin and Dory, and headed to the minneapolis airport. It was definitely great timing to be leaving the state of MN and going to California. (:

Our day of travel went relatively smoothly. While we were at the gate waiting to board, Dave and Ella studied the plane and all of the activity going on around it through the window. We boarded, the plane backed up from the gate, and then.... we stopped. And waited. And waited. Hmmm. After a bit, I was starting to think that something may be wrong, and then.... the pilot's voice over the speaker...."mechanical problems" Ugh. Oh well, at least we had a more-than-three-hour layover in Chicago, so we weren't too worried. We deboarded and were told that they were getting a new plane for us. Good news, right? Well, Ella definitely did NOT think so. She wanted HER plane! The "gray and blue" one! She absolutely, positively, did NOT want to fly on any other plane but the one that she and Dave had watched and discussed for so long only a little while before. So we white-lied and said that we were going to fly on the same plane. And all was well. (:

Ella did very well on both flights. I was a little worried since she was still working on getting over a bad cold and had been diagnosed as having an ear infection the day before. But she seemed to have no pain or discomfort with the pressure/altitude changes, so that was a relief. She spent most of the time studying the plane safety card. I'm not sure why she is so obsessed with diagrams and manuals, but she is. We landed in Sacramento just before 6pm, and were greeted by a very happy Paake and Beppe. Oh, and by FABULOUS temps also!

We are excited to be here and looking forward to the 3 weeks - yes THREE WEEKS - that Ella and I get to be here!

And I am happy that Dave is getting a week off from the grueling days and nights of chaplain work. He's had some very heavy and emotional times with families - which usually went along with nights of only a couple hours of sleep. And some very draining (yet very valuable and worthwhile) times of self/group analyzation and theological/denominational defense and learning. So it's wonderful that he has this time to step back and breathe a bit. And to enjoy the California sun too. (:

(I'll try to add a few pics in a bit)

Okay - here are is what Ella did on the plane:

Slept - in this position - for a grand total of 15 minutes:









And read and discussed the "airplane card" - for pretty much the entire rest of the flight:

Ella's Ready To Go!

Here's Ella just before we left to go trick-or-treating yesterday.

You'd think she already had eaten tons of candy!

Happy Halloween! ....Oh wait... I mean "Reformation Day!"

Usually we have a little girl in our home, but tonight we had another kitty-cat!

Well, tonight was Ella's 4th official halloween, but the first time to dress up and go trick-or-treating. I took her to the neighborhood just around the corner from us - it was a lot nicer than ours, and much more hopping too! And good candy! A few houses even gave out full-size (and even one king-size!) candy bars! No wonder it was hopping! There were tons of kid out, but Dave only had one knock on our door the whole time we were gone. I think we gave out a total of 8 pieces of candy. And I was worried we would run out. So obviously our neighborhood wasn't the place to be.

I guess watching the cartoons from today was just enough for Ella to get the whole "trick-or-treat" thing down. Because we hadn't really said much about it. When we went to the first house, I wasn't sure what she would do. I figured she'd be shy, but not at all. She walked right up, pounded on the door, and said "trick or treat!" just like she was supposed to. Then took the candy and ran, saying "which house should we go to next!?" Yup. She got it down all right.

It didn't take long and her little bag got somewhat heavy. Pretty soon I was hearing her say "I'm hungry" It didn't take long to realize what she was hungry for. And it wasn't dinner.

Her favorite "score" was a little container of play-doh. She couldn't wait to get home so she could show it to dad. Worms, snakes, and pancakes all around!



Here's a pic of our two kitty-cats:



So, hungry for a Snickers bar? Some smarties maybe? Come on over! We've got tons left!

Monkey See, Monkey Questions

If you ever want to become fully aware of all of the things you do and say on a daily basis, just have Ella - or any 3-year-old, I'm sure - follow you around for a day. You are sure to be enlightened!

Yes, the questions, which have been going on for some time now, seem to have multiplied exponentially over the past couple of weeks. Here is a sample conversation: What are you doing mom? Wiping the counter. Why are you wiping the counter? Because it is wet. Why is it wet? Because water spilled on it. Why did water spill on it? Because it came out of my cup. Why did it come out of your cup? Because I wasn't being careful. Why weren't you being careful? Because you were distracting me with all of your questions.....

Or when I say something that she doesn't think is correct. A couple of examples (both as we are driving):

Ella: Where are we going mom?
Me: We're going to go home, have some lunch, and then it will be time for you to take a rest. That's the plan Stan.
Ella: I NOT STAN!!

This one as we are looking for a parking spot in the parking garage, realizing that there are little to no spaces left
Me: It's a full house in here today!
Ella: This is not a house mom, it's a HOSPITAL!

Yes, anything (and everything!) we do is questioned. But it does not annoy me. It makes me put myself in her shoes, realizing how much of this big and crazy world there is to figure out. Not to mention this crazy English language. And how cool that I am the one that she is looking to to help her do that.

Beauty and the Geek

One of the shows that Dave and I enjoy watching on Tuesday nights is "Beauty and the Geek". Probably because the beauties remind Dave of me and the geeks remind me of him, hee hee. (: Two Tuesdays ago we missed it because we were in the ER, and then the following Tuesday we also missed it because we went out for dinner since I hadn't been out of the house for a week. So we needed to do a little catching up.

One of the nice things about having the internet in your home is that you are able to view previous entire episodes of many of your favorite shows. So tonight I thought I'd watch last week's to get ready for tonight's show. As I was watching, Dave and Ella came into the bedroom, and Dave hopped up onto the dresser to watch the ending over my shoulder. It didn't take long, and Ella realized that the dresser was a pretty cool place to sit, and she was right up there next to him.

So there I was with "Beauty and the Geek" on in front of me, and a beauty and a geek sitting just behind.

The Brochure

As I was laying in the ER examining room and the doctors were discussing my upcoming procedure, they handed me a little booklet, filled with diagrams and explanations of everything involved in my gallbladder removal. Needless to say, I didn't read much of it right then, and I didn't take it to the OR with me. Instead, Ella decided to take it, peruse it, and claim it as her own.

Over a week later, she still hasn't let go of it. And I still haven't read it. I tried. Believe me, I did. But then Ella noticed me with it, and quickly shouted "that's mine!" and snatched it away.

She takes it with her when she naps. She takes it to the dinner table. I remove it. Sorry, can't look at diagrams with intestines as I eat elbow macaroni. She discusses every page and picture in it. I am the main character in the "story". She tells me all about what I went through, and what was happening inside. She makes me smile. I guess I don't need to read it when I have her to explain everythig to me.

Tonight, I asked her "what's in your tummy?" - fully expecting her to say what she had eaten for dinner. Instead, her reply was "my gallbladder! I don't have stones!"

Nope, she sure doesn't. But she sure does have a crazy interest in them.

I'm Home!

Well, as Dave already hinted at, it has been a kind of crazy last few days for us. But, as always, we survived! And I am now home and hopefully will be my (hopefully painless) self soon!

On Sunday afternoon, as I sat in church, I was feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Oh no. My back. AGAIN. As many of you know, I often have lower back pain after certain periods of sitting in places that do not allow me to use the best posture. So I braced myself for an afternoon of spending lots of quality time with my la-z-boy, and my ibuprofen. But it did not get better. Oh, no, it got worse. Monday morning I was in pain. My entire back. I won't go into details, but lets just say my body was going through digestive and monthly issues as well, so I just figured that this was just part of the deal. But it had never been this bad. And never for this long. All day Monday I was in pain. Took a warm bath, which usually helps, but it didn't. Tuesday morning I awoke and actually felt somewhat decent. But it didn't last long. By the time Dave came home, we were discussing how I could get some better, (prescription-strength) pain relief. So off to the ER we went.

Ella was excited to go to the hospital with me. And excited when she saw the bed with wheels I was laying on. Excited to ask the question "what's this for?" at every new gadget she saw. And excited when she heard words like "x-ray" and "ultrasound" Excited to follow my bed down the hall and wait with us to get these tests done. Not at ALL excited when she couldn't go into the room with me. "I want to see your letter!" she said. I finally realized she meant my "bladder"

As the doctor examined me and asked questions, I realized that maybe it was more than just my back that may be the problem. As he prodded and poked, I felt pain high in my stomach - right where my gall bladder was. So further imaging tests had been ordered. And, sure enough, as the US tech moved the probe around my gallbladder, she said "well, I think we've found the problem" Yep, my gallbladder. Gallstones - but not just inside. Apparently one had "escaped" and was blocking the tube where all of the fluid would flow in and out. This was causing the painful convulsions that presented themselves as unbearable back pain to me. So with all of that explained, the doctors asked me "So, do you want your gallbladder taken out tonight? We've got nothing better to do!"

So, after entering the ER around 7pm, I was wheeled off to the OR around 11:30pm. They removed the entire gallbladder using laproscopic surgery - so I have about 5 cuts in my mid-section, but no large incision. I was in my room around 3:30am. I was out of surgery, but still in quite a bit of pain.

The doctor told me afterwards that the gallbladder was very infected and inflamed. So I must have been in lots of pain - and that I would be requiring lots of sympathy from my husband. There were several stones, and they were all too large to remove whole. They needed to dissolve them first, before the removal. So no stone souvenirs in a vial for me.

They were hoping I would be able to go home on Wednesday, but I was in quite a bit of pain and wasn't able to keep much down, so they kept me the next night also. Now I am home, and Dave is picking up Ella from our friend Naomi's house. She was very sweet and agreed to have her stay with them today, and tomorrow also, while Dave is at work.

Although I am not feeling the best, I can tell the pain is lessening, and my mobility is getting better. It sure does feel good to be able to breathe deeper and to reach my arms out a bit. Those 2 things weren't so easy-coming yesterday. Now the goal is to be able to eat a little something and keep it down. If only I had an appetite. Oh, one more goal: to be able to deal with all of the questions and comments sure to come out of an excited Ella's little mind. She is rather excited that my "gallblat" is gone. And that there are bandaids on my stomach. So pray that I have the energy to be able to handle whatever may come out of her!