Garden of the Gods

The next day was uneventful in that we just drove and drove.  We made it through Denver and decided to camp out again.  It was a bit cold, but Carter slept like a champ finally.  After a great sleep, we packed up and headed for Durango.  We stopped at Garden of the Gods to climb all over the rocks.  

We are now staying with Andrea for the next few days.  Pretty soon we will have to make plans to head back up the Layton to get all our stuff and start the drive to Michigan again. 

Lake Superior

We decided to venture into the upper peninsula for Michigan to get to our next destination.  We will have to go back for the weekend when we have a bit more time to explore, and when it is not raining!  After admiring the view of Lake Superior, we headed down to make our way to Colorado.  We go up early the next morning to hit up Mall of America in Minnesota.  Lot of shopping to be done there!  Carter was a trooper and walked much of the huge mall.  That night we camped out in Iowa in the middle of a big thunderstorm.  Thankfully a tornado did not come.  It as a wet night, but a great feeling to be in our own sheets!!!

    

Lake Huron

After graduation we headed up to Bay City to look for a place to live.  The town was better than we expected, so that was great.  Being on Lake Huron is going to be awesome, and lots of fun for the kids.  We found  a house to rent, that will have more than enough room for everyone to come visit.  So, you better! :)  And, the hospital there was so nice, so that was also a great surprise   

After leaving Bay City, we drove north to Mackinaw City to stay for the night.  We stayed right on Lake Huron, and had amazing views and photo opportunities. 

  

Dr. Ochoa

Dr. Tim Ochoa is now official!!!  Tim has finally completed medical school!!!  I can not put into words how extremely proud of Tim I am.  He has worked so hard, for so many years to get to this point, and now it is over!!!  Not only did he have the struggles of enduring medical school, but he also had to take care of a family.  And, he did an amazing job at both of them.  We love you Dr. Daddy!

We left Idaho for Kirksville, Missouri for all the festivities.  It was a great time seeing old friends and celebrating such an accomplishment. Congrats Sunshine, you did it!!!!   

Being a Boy

Is there anything better than throwing rocks in the water?  Hard to beat when you are a boy!

Results of the Last Sleep Study:

Without the CPAP on, Carter is down to 32 episodes per minute.  If you remember, the sleep study we did last year showed 110 episodes, so this has improved.  However, 32 is still considered severe sleep apnea. :( 

With the CPAP on and turned up to 7, Carter is showing a good 2.9 episodes per minute, so very good.  He does have more restlessness than they like to see, but all in all he is doing great with the CPAP.  And, the best news is that if he continues to show improvement like this, it is possible we can say goodbye to the CPAP in the future!  Love you baby boy, and I continue to be sooo proud of you!!!  

Seattle

I have done it!  I have officially spent a night away from my baby.  Not only was it one night, but it was 4 days, 3 nights!!!  We decided to celebrate Tim being done with school with an adults only trip to Seattle with Nick and Teresa.  It was a wonderful time, and it made us so thankful for wonderful friends.

DAY 1 

Basically just a lot of eating, laughing, and more eating!!

DAY 2

Sightseeing, eating again, and REI!!!  

Beautiful weather in Seattle!

DAY 3

Girls and boys go separate ways.

Boys: Rock climbing

Girls: Spa Day

Amazing day hanging out with Teresa going to the spa for my first ever massage.  Wonderful experience!!!  And some shopping.

Met up with the boys to eat at the Crab Pot and then headed to my first Baseball game.  How about them Mariners? 

And, one last game of Euker.  Which I would like to document as the girls winning!!!

DAY 4

Sad to start the drive home, but so excited to hold my baby boy.  It was amazing seeing Carter after that long.  I missed him dearly.  Thanks to all the Grandparents for watching all the boys.  And, Thanks to Nick and Teresa for being amazing friends and all the laughs this weekend!!!  Love you guys!!!!

Best part of the whole trip:  All the Carter loves!!

Morning Time

When we woke up in Stanley, the clouds have lifted, and the mountains were out in all their glory.  It was hard to leave, but we were excited to get into Coeur d'Alene and see our new home for the next few weeks.

Thanks to amazing friends, this is our view out our front window for the next few weeks.  I think we shall survive. :)

Carter caught a nasty bug, and has been down the past 2 days with a fever and vomiting.  Oh the joys of being on vacation!  The only thing he would say this morning was "Let's go home".  Sad...  If he only understood this is our home for the moment.