Weblog
Sunday, 01 November 2009
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Swine Flu Watch
Gary here. I've been holed up in Georgie and Jacob's room for the past few days. One of my coworkers was exposed to swine flu a week ago, came to work not knowing it and then became sick herself (still don't know if she officially has the swine flu). Anyways, I came home a couple days later not feeling well, headache and all and so Liesl promptly and properly quarantined me in the hopes that the baby wouldn't get it. Long story short I haven't hugged or kissed my wife or kids, or eaten a meal with them in 3 or 4 days. Not fun! Liesl and the kids sure have been wonderful caretakers though. Sweet cards, meals in bed, kisses blown across the room. I have a wonderful family!
It looks like little Gary Logan has come down with something in spite of our precautions and Lizzy and Liesl are both experiencing symptoms of we-know-not-what. All this on the tail of a birth, on the tail of the last few months of pregnancy, on the tail of a dang tough year at work are pretty exhausting. Here's to a brighter 2010!
In other sad news, Jacob's primary teacher was walking her dog Friday night on the highway (56 not 5) and we think her dog darted across the highway and she lunged after it and got hit by a Ford Explorer going 60 mph. She's expected to make it, though she hasn't yet regained consciousness, but the surgeries will be many and the recovery long. When we got the phone call late Friday night, Liesl was already asleep and I told the kids so we could have a prayer for Sister Gerber. What I didn't know is that she was Georgianna's primary teacher last year and so she wept wailfully and I couldn't hold her or anything. Thank goodness for big sister Katrina who helped calm her down.
Anyways, here's some photos of little Gary Logan!
First bath
The little man
Cute suit!
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Friday, 09 October 2009
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Gary Logan
Welcome little Gary Logan!
Whew! Little Gary Logan Arnell was born Friday, October 9, 2009 at 6:31am, weighing in at 6lb 6oz, 18.75in, after waking up his mom with a good sized contraction at 1:30am who then woke up his Dad with an alarmed "Get dressed!" For past births Liesl had labored at home, arriving at the hospital less than two hours before delivery. Our last child, Elizabeth, was born 45 minutes after arrival. No-can-do with this baby, though. Liesl had tested positive for strep and so was required to undergo four hours of penicillin IV treatment before giving birth. She started experiencing early labor symptoms on Tuesday and, not wanting to miss the four hour treatment, in we went. We were at the hospital all day and the "symptoms" turned out to be illness, rather than pregnancy-related. So Liesl stayed in bed the next couple of days trying to get better and regain her strength. Friday morning went really well. Liesl still hadn't recovered sufficiently to try a natural birth if it could be avoided and, having done the last four natural, wasn't looking forward to the delivery (transition especially) which is an especially high mountain for her to climb. So, in the epidural went and we were both very grateful for it. Little Gary (or "Gary the Younger" as Georgianna calls him) experienced some respiratory problems so we were glad to have the capable staff on hand.
Liesl and the baby immediately after the birth.
I went home at some point in the day to check on the kids and found the house a beehive of activity. The kids were racing around doing chores, working to get the house in shape for the baby. Whenever one of them noticed something that needed to be done, they would bark out "hut-hut!" and all the kids would gather, stand smartly at attention, salute and delegate assignments to get the chore done.
Pictures taken day two (10/10)
All ready to go home.
When we got home the kids had made this cute poster.
We laid the baby in the sun on the floor because he was somewhat jaundiced. None of the kids were able to visit him in the hospital, nor have they been able to hold him yet because they've all been sick this past week.
Grandma Arnell arrived Saturday night and has been a wonderful help. Thank heavens for family!
Sunday, 26 July 2009
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Oak Grove Family Campout - July 2009
This week we enjoyed our annual family campount. Although the "annual" part is debatable, the fun never is! We spent Wednesday through Saturday morning with our friends the Bairetts at Oak Grove on the east side of the Pine Valley mountains, the place where the family kidnapped me to a few weeks back. This time we got the President's Suite of campsites with running water in the campsite, two twenty-foot picnic tables and fun little nooks and crannies abounding. We ate great food and had admirable plans to go hiking but couldn't break ourselves away from the card game marathon we had going. Here are a few photos:
Liesl braves family camping at 7 months pregnant. She's wearing the cute little maternity blouse she made when she was expecting Joseph. It still fits!
Chef Liesl adjusts the heat on a peach cobbler (vanilla icecream added later).
Dutch oven chicken and potatoes. A personal favorite.
Georgianna is always ready for the camera.
Georgianna and Ashley Bairett atop a rock.
Joseph mans the dishes.
A nest of daddy longlegs found by the kids. Nasty!
One of many card games. Skip-bo, Darts, War and Spoons were the camp favorites.
Lizzy and I went on a little hike together and enjoyed finding bugs and colorful wildflowers.
S'mores were part of the evening activities, of course.
In other news, Joseph left yesterday for Timberline - a scout training camp where he attended as trainee last year and this year will be a trainer. He leaves early on Wednesday to come home and leave for Trek with the stake youth. A very busy month for Joseph. Thanks mom for all the pioneer stories you sent him. I sure enjoyed reading them!
And congratulations to Julie & Jared and Pam & Brian for their new arrivals!
Sunday, 19 July 2009
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20 miler - Rattlesnake Loop
This weekend the scouts completed the last remaining requirement for the hiking merit badge, a 20 mile hike, all in one day. The unfortunate thing is that an extremely strenuous hike was selected, the Rattlesnake Loop trail in the mountains west of Cedar. We camped atop Brian Head Peak at 11,300 feet which gave us a beautiful view for miles and miles around, started hiking just after 8am and finished at 6pm. Elevation at the end was about 7,000ish feet, but we descended and ascended through three different valley systems, virtually no flat hiking at all. Brutal! I've never done such a difficult one-day hike. I was focused on survival more than photography, but here are a few pictures that I did take:
Sunrise the next morning.
At the trailhead, little did we know what lay ahead...
This is foot-traffic-only country and nobody seems to want to hoof it with a chain-saw in tow. This is a picture of a tree that had fallen across the trail. A very common occurence.
Adrian, our scoutmaster, hiked nearly the first half with this watermelon in his pack so we could enjoy it for lunch. It was still ice cold - and delicious!
Joseph soaks his head at lunch time.
Another can't-do-it-justice. This is looking from afar, down into Ashdown Gorge at the infamous arch that we didn't make it to when I took the kids on that hike a summer or so ago. The gorge was spectacular. I can't wait to make a second try with the kids.
Crossing the gorge. The first of the several valleys we descended up and over into. The pastel colors were amazing!
We actually caught this little guy running through the brush, then let him go. Tongue in cheek, I asked the other dad on the hike, a hunter former marine, "is all hunting this easy?" He said no.
Not quite done, another mile or so to go, but dead tired. This is the Crystal Springs trailhead where we came out of the wilderness. Another mile to the rendezvous point.All the deacons looked especially solemn and reverent today passing the sacrament. The high councilman even remarked about it in his talk. Little did he know, the slow deliberate walking of the aisles and solemn visages were due more to stiff bodies and pain than exemplary, mature deaconhood.
garynliesl
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