Summer Fun

Labor Day weekend is almost here and it looks like summer is about finished. This will be a summer that our family will never forget. While we may mostly remember the insane hours worked or the occasional difficult customer, we did have some moments that we want to remember.
At the start of the summer we bought Brock this little four wheeler for him to scoot around on. Well Ady and Brock discovered a "more fun" way to ride the 4 wheeler. Brock and Ady have both managed to wipe out going down the little hill in front of the lodge, but that hasn't stopped them from doing it again and again.
Kasey and Ady took an afternoon to paddle/hike to Rose Falls. Here they are in front of the water fall. Ady is turning into quite little canoeist/hiker girl.
I was able to get away twice in August to do a little "research" on fishing in the area. We get a ton of questions about fishing and now we know a little more about a couple of lakes. This is one of the fish I caught that night, this one is a 19 inch Smallmouth Bass.
One of the kids favorite activities this summer was roasting marshmallows or "smashmellows" as Ady calls them. Ady is even able to do it sometimes without catching the marshmallow on fire. If you look closely at Brock you will see that he has one on his stick and one in his hand.
And what does Brock think about those sticky white messy mallows? Well, he likes them a ton, and everything else that gets stuck to them as he waves his stick around. Usually we find that he eats a couple pine needles, some ash, some dirt, maybe some grass and a whole lot of marshmallow.
Here is Ady and Brock sitting in front of the totem pole at our lodge. Seems that even though we often feel like we are in a little over our heads as we learn our new business, we enjoyed our time together.
And our final picture for today is the picture from the dock looking down the lake. We have spent countless hours working together this summer trying to help others enjoy their summer vacations and time on the lake.

July

Once again we find ourselves realizing another month has passed and we haven't found time to blog about our adventures. So here we go with a quick recap of our month.
Grandma and Grandpa Van Tassell came to visit in late June and have been with us since! The kids love having them around. Ady had fun one day with Grandma when they were making a pie. Ady and Brock also both love to go to the lake and swim.
We got a new item to rent-stand up paddle boards- and they have been a huge hit. Ady and Kasey love them and you will often find them out in the evenings paddling around. Ady is getting to the point where she doesn't want to do it with you, she has to do it herself. She has also started to kayak on her own.
Brock has also decided that he likes the paddle boards, but generally doesn't paddle around on his own. Brock seems to have decided that he doesn't want to talk. He understands us pretty well, but he will not verbally respond. He points, shakes his head and grunts. Ady seems to be able to understand him just fine and we are trying to get her to stop translating for him.
Kasey decided that I was getting stressed and needed a break so she sent me off yesterday for the afternoon. I took a kayak and headed across the lake and then hiked to the top of the palisades. The view was amazing and I had a nice respite from work.

Rise and Shine

Brock and Ady are very different sleepers. Usually Brock gets up early and Ady sleeps in. Normally Ady sleeps through anything and Brock wakes up if Ady breathes loud. Well, this morning Brock decided that Ady was sleeping too long and we think that he wanted her to play with him.
Brock must have decided to take measures into his own hands because this is what we caught him doing. Brock was whacking Ady with one of the water noodles.

When that didn't do anything he next went over by her head and was intently studying her. After what seemed like a moment or two of internal debate he looked back at us pointed and then grunted.
Then he started to slap Ady's face and grab her cheeks. Well this definitely made Ady wake up but only long enough for her to push him away.
Not to be detoured, and having just discovered that physical contact produced results Brock lunged onto Ady's bed and began to climb on her and give her big hugs.
This time Ady woke up smiling and hugging him back.

However, she still didn't get out of bed, so Brock grabbed a stuffed animal from her in an attempt to make her get out of bed and play. Good thing they have each other, who knows how they would entertain themselves otherwise.

Ady's First Log Rolling Lesson

I love when you find hidden treasures. It is even better when they are close by. We were invited by one of our neighbors to come over and try Log Rolling (or Rog Lolling if you ask Ady) Well is just so happens that Jenny, our neighbor, is a 2005, 2006, 2007, World Champion Log Roller. She took 2nd in 2008, and then had a baby in 2009 and Breast Cancer in 2010. She is back training to compete this year though! Amazing! So this is the Awesome Pond that is just a short walk down the road and then up over the hill. All set up for log rolling and boom running!Here is Ady getting her first log rolling lesson. Outside arm up- inside arm behind.

Finding her balance.
Ady's first fall off the log.
Brock watching the action, and showing off his new haircut-buzzed with the beard trimmer!
Cousin Rashel giving it a try. Also notice in the background the other 2 running on the log like its solid ground. Believe me it's much harder than they make it look.

Jenny Boom Running. This was amazing to watch. They run over 10 logs without falling off.
I didn't try the Boom Run---yet, but I did try the log rolling in the shallow end. I was wishing I would have tried this when I was a lot younger, and then maybe it would have felt(and looked) a little more 2nd nature. Even though I didn't dress for the event, it was so much fun!

And here is Brock giving it a try too. We are excited for more fun times up at the pond!

Flower Power

After several days of pouring rain and horrible wind we are now back to summer. And boy are the kids glad that they can go outside again. I always find it amazing at how fast things can change in nature. We had a storm as bad as I have ever seen up here that settled in and beat down on us for 3 and a half days straight. Then two days ago we woke up to the bluest sky and a beautiful warm day. Not only did the sunshine feel nice, but it seemed that flowers everywhere bloomed overnight.
Ady and Brock love being outside. Ady loves to pick flowers, she always tells us that "flowers make me happy". Brock doesn't seem to care too much about flowers except that he likes to pull the petals apart. But he does love to roll around in the grass and play.
The kids weren't the only ones glad to be outside, we were also happy to have them outside.

Ady's first camping trip

I took Ady on her first overnight camping trip last week. I needed to do some research on some camp sites and portages between lakes. So Rashel(Kasey's cousin), Ady and Grandma and Grandpa Haddock came along. The first day we got started really late because I couldn't get away from work. We didn't get to our first campsite till just before dark. Ady told me she loved cooking on the fire and sleeping in the woods in a tent. She was such a good sport. This is us by the fire while dinner is cooking.
We paddled 15 miles and portaged another 3 miles on day two. Ady was very cheerful most of the day and she will definitely be invited on a future trip. We took a side trip and hiked over to Johnson Falls. Many of our customers ask about short day trips so we made sure to visit one of the options.
Ady said that she liked the waterfall, but it wasn't her favorite thing. When asked what her favorite part of the camping trip was she will tell you that it was watching Grandpa fall in the lake. Yep, that is right. We all got a good laugh when Grandpa Haddock flipped the canoe over and took an unexpected bath. Fortunately the canoe was empty and he had some dry clothes. When Ady got back to the lodge, she immediately ran up and told Kasey about Grandpa falling in the lake. It was pretty funny.

Sorry we haven't been posting much lately. We have been very busy working 14-16 hours a day. We are trying to keep our lodge blog updated a couple times a week. You are welcome to check it out at http://clearwatercanoeoutfitting.blogspot.com/.

Ady decided that Summer is basically here. And since we live on a lake she decided that it was time to go swimming. The ice just came off the lake 10 days ago and the water temperature is probably not yet in the 50s. But here she is, ready to get in the water. She basically got herself ready. If you take a close look you can tell that she is prepared for anything. She has her towel, her bathing suit, a jacket in case it gets cold, sunscreen, a scarf(in case the water is as cold as mom and dad said it would be), her mom's flip-flops so that she can walk down to the water, and a beaded necklace thing so that she can look good. Kasey and I assumed that she would stick her toes in the water and realize how cold the water is and be done. She jumped off the dock in the shallows, had a somewhat surprised look on her face and got out of the water. We all laughed pretty good and then we were the ones who were surprised as she got back in the water. She stayed and played in the shallows for about an hour. I kept checking on her because I was worried about hypothermia. She says that we need to go swimming again, but this time everyone else has to get in also.
Brock is really starting to become independent. He loves to just walk around and get into stuff. He has also discovered the swings and loves to swing with Ady. As of yet he hasn't fallen off. Brock has discovered that the lodge has even more places to create messes than our old house. His new favorite activities include getting all the candy off the candy shelves, dumping out the cup of pens that is under the cash wrap, pulling out as many brochures out of the box as he can, messing up the postcards and leaving hand prints on any glass he can find. Brock is really sweet and has decided that he likes to give kisses. Wet open mouthed kisses.
Kasey and I are staying plenty busy trying to learn all the ins and outs of our new business. We generally start working about 6 am and try to be finished by 10 pm but often are still going well after that. Everyday it seems that we discover something else that we didn't know we didn't know. I was able to slip away from the lodge for 6 hours on Friday morning and took a short canoe trip through 4 lakes. One of the lakes had a really neat hiking trail that we hiked and discovered a really neat cliff that gave great overlooks.

Like Father, Like Daughter

Ady has become quite the literalist. I'll let everyone guess where she gets it from. Hint: It is not me, and I am positive it is genetic. For example, I will often tell Ady to go get her shoes on. She doesn't say no, doesn't say ok, doesn't move to do what I tell her. She says "They are not shoes, they are boots, Mom!" "Oh, of course." I say(because this conversation goes on everyday at our house). "GO GET YOUR BOOTS ON!" I just want action, and she just wants to make sure I'm right.
Another example. I say "Ady, go get in the car." She replies "Its a TRUCK!"
And finally the other day as we were flying to Minnesota, this was the conversation:
Mom: Look out the window, Adyson. It's all white; we're in a cloud!!
Ady: No. No we aren't.
Mom: Yes we are. Look.
Ady: No Mom, we're in an airplane.

Our Dream

Well, our dream has finally taken off. On Monday we signed papers to become the new owners of Clearwater Lodge and Outfitters. After many years of dreaming, much planning and a few shortcomings we finally closed on a purchase of a resort. The lodge is in Northern Minnesota and we are now preparing to open for business in 2 and a half weeks.
I snapped this picture of the main lodge today. Yes that is snow on the ground in a few places. Hopefully that is gone soon and the brown grass becomes green. We have so much work to do. Today we took out a wall in the lodge to extend the retail store and to put in a new grocery store. In the next few weeks we will be redoing the kitchens in a couple of the cabins and adding a loft to another cabin. Hopefully things go smooth and we can get the cabins to a point where they can be rented on a regular basis.
Here is what the store used to look like. And this is what we did today.
Kasey and I are so excited with this opportunity. Ady today told me that she is also really happy to live here because she has a swing set at her new home. We know it is a huge project and something that will take some luck and a few blessings to fully realize our dreams here. But we are just so happy that this finally happened. We've come so close a couple of times only to see things fall apart have been hard at times. But to have a chance to do something that we have dreamed about and worked hard for is an amazing thing. We would like to thank all those who have supported us in this endeavor and hope to see some of you up here for a visit someday. If you want to look at the website, it is www.clearwateroutfitters.com. If you would like to help us out and support us please find us on facebook, look up Clearwater Lodge and Outfitters and click "like" button. The more fans we have, the more easily people can find us through a search. Or if you really want to help, post a link to us on your blog, that will help us have a better Google rating. Thanks again for everyone for all of your support the last couple years as we have been actively working towards this dream.

Duct Tape

I was thinking this would work for one of those "you might be a redneck if" jokes. I began the long drive from Utah to Northern Minnesota and after about 12 miles the tarp was flapping and starting to move around. I had attempted to tuck all the sides of the tarp under the load so that the weight would keep it in place. Didn't work. So I pulled off the freeway in Henefer and bought some rope. This worked for about 700 miles. I had to readjust the rope a couple of times, but it held until the 30 to 45 mile an hour cross wind of South Dakota started shredding the tarp. Early on the second day the tarp got a rip in it and that was when things started unraveling fast. I adjusted the rope again, looked a bit like a spider's web when I was done. An hour later the first section of the rope snapped. Then another, and then another. So I pulled over, got a new tarp and re-setup segments of rope. After a half hour signs of the previous problems started showing. So I pulled over again bought a cargo net. 23 miles later the cargo net snapped. Now not only was the cross wind trying to push my 4500 pound box trailer sideways, but it was raining and I needed to keep the boxes in the back of the truck dry under the tarp. I swear that tarp was trying to get loose and was more of a sail than a protection. So I bought some bungee cords. Those broke too. Now, no where near a store and knowing that I had to do something I tried to combine the remains of the cargo net, the segments of rope and the remaining bungee cord. 3 miles later that failed. So in my frustration I grabbed a roll of duct tape and started trying to get the tarp to stay still while I worked on a way to keep it attached. After I got done with my moment of craziness I looked at the tarp and what do you know? The tarp wasn't flapping in the cross wind. So I tried to drive a ways, and when I checked it again in 15 minutes I began to wish I'd have just tried to tape it down 4 hours earlier when the first tarp ripped open. So after two tarps, 50 feet of rope, 4 bungees and several stops to re-adjust, duct tape was the answer. Moral of the story, always carry duct tape.

Brock's Birthday Party

Since we are moving to Minnesota again (I am already here, Kasey and the kids are flying up tomorrow) we decided to have a combined birthday party for Ady and Brock. We did on Brock's birthday and got together at Classic Fun Center in Sandy. The kids really seemed to enjoy themselves. We got them tickets to play on the giant inflatable bouncy things. Brock took a while to warm up to the idea and never did like the slides. But the others loved it. Oakley wouldn't even wait for her parents to go with her, she just kept climbing to the top and going down the slide.

Ady, Landon and Carissa enjoyed some of the kid rides. I like how Ady looks like she is trying to hang on because Landon is a bad driver.

Poor guy, you'd think the birthday boy wouldn't have to ride by himself.
No worries, Brock found a better game. Actually, this used to be one of my favorite games too. Just whack whatever pops up!
Brock found out that he loves cupcakes. And you have to like his technique; grab cupcake quickly before mom changes her mind, hold it with both hands in case mom decides to take away tasty big people food and shove it in your mouth as fast as you can.
Brock really enjoyed his cupcake.
Lately Brock has been obsessed with balls. Doesn't matter what type, basketball, football, foam balls and even Ady's pink princess kickball. So we decided that he needed to have his own ball to play with. Kasey talked to Ady and explained that Brock was going to get a present for his birthday and asked if she wanted to give him something. Ady was very interested in getting him a present so we took her to the store to pick out a ball for him. She was very cute, she made sure that he didn't see the ball and snuck it up to the cash register. He has really seemed to like having a ball of his own that Ady won't take away from him. Well, happy first Birthday Brock!

Brocks 1 yr cardiology check up

So here we are with Brock turning 1 and very grateful for a great check up at Primary Children's Hospital. After an echo-cardiogram and an EKG, Dr Su visited with us about Brock's heart condition. He was very happy with the results, which make us very happy also. Even though it took 2 procedures, it appears Brock's heart is doing very well. It still isn't perfect--the valves are still a bit thicker than normal, and his pressure from the right ventricle to his lungs is at a 15(normally under 10)but it is so close to being normal that we don't have another check-up for a year!
Last year, if we would have known that in one year we would have been having this kind of appointment, I don't think we would have believed it. We didn't know there would be anything wrong until several hours after Brock was born. That was the start of a very challenging week. With how crazy it was, I've wondered about the question "Would it have been better to have known about his heart before giving birth?" I'm still not sure the answer; in some ways it would have been easier, like not having to life flight our baby to Primary Children's and wait 3 days for his procedure, but in some ways it would have been harder, I mean, I am already completely incapacitated during any pregnancy, so any added stress of knowing my child might not be okay may have done me in.

I think Adam was the blogger during most of the "Crisis Year" we had last year, but I just wanted to add a few things I remember about Brock's birth and some of the things we learned. We had actually hoped to have Brock in Hawaii while Adam was attending BYUH, but things worked out, so we moved when I was about 5 months pregnant. I had been to the doctor and had a couple ultrasounds in Honolulu, I vaguely remember the ultrasound technician saying something about something (probly the heart) not looking quite perfect, but that it was perfectly normal that things don't look quite right and its common that things just get back to normal as the baby grows. It was nothing to worry about. So I didn't think much about it, but now when I look back, I think that this was the 1st time we could have seen that something wasn't quite right, but there was no real reason to see it, so we didn't.

Well, nothing more was ever discovered and Brock was born in the afternoon on a Monday; during the delivery, each time I had a contraction, Brock's heart rate would drop. This was really the 1st time I may have felt something might not be quite right, but the doctor assured us that nothing was too abnormal, and that a falling heart rate could be caused by so many things that it once again wasn't anything to worry about. So like the optimist I usually am, I just kept hoping things were normal.

Later, after being moved to postpartum, the nurse came in to check up on Brock. She was listening to his heart. She listened more, and then her lead came in and our nurse asked her to listen to his heart. At this point I was paying attention to them and thinking "Why are they continuing to check him?" This was the 2nd time i felt something might not be quite right. At this point the nurse confirmed to us that Brock had a heart murmur. But, like the other "problems," it was normal. Many people have heart murmurs, they usually grow out of them, and we were assured that it wasn't anything to worry about.

So later after family visited, we noticed Brock's coloring wasn't real great.(notice the feet above) This was the 3rd thing that made me feel like something wasn't quite right. Well, they told us again that it was normal for babies to take a while to change color, and that when they are born it is normal for them not to be "pink." Well, we are glad that that night we had them take him to the nursery, since we later learned that he would have quietly passed away while we slept had he remained in the room with us. We later learned that a babies PDA will slowly close after birth, which causes the color to worsen if a valve or something isn't functioning correctly. And since we would have been sleeping, and in a low light room the grayish color isn't as noticeable, his heart would have slowly failed that night. Babies aren't hooked up to anything and no alarm would have gone off if his heart would have stopped. Sometimes we think back on how close we came to waking up and finding that Brock didn't make it through that first night.

It was in the nursery that the nurse there noticed his worsening color and had him sent to the NICU. The next phone call to our room in the middle of the night confirmed my previous inklings that something wasn't quite right and started a very long next few days. A few days where I pretty much cried the entire time. A few days where I saw a much anticipated and needed relaxing postpartum rest, disappear and be replaced by fear worry and stress. A few days of a very stressed family, waiting for a procedure to see if our son's heart was fixable.

I think sometimes the thoughts we have prepare us for the things to come, even when we aren't sure what exactly is going to happen. Looking back, we learned so much and received so much comfort and care from others. The road with having a child born with a heart defect was a bit rough and trying sometimes, but we've made it and now are very grateful for a pretty healthy baby boy who brings a lot of joy to our family. Our belief in prayer and faith of others has increased as well as our gratitude for those who remembered Brock in their prayers.

Mellow vs. Wild

People say that no two kids are the same. I don't know about the superlative nature of that statement. But I do know that our kids are very different. Ady is full of energy and a touch past high strung sometimes. Sometimes we call her our wild child. She only has two speeds, wide open throttle and out cold. She sleeps in, and is a very deep sleeper. Brock on the other hand is totally mellow. He loves to chill out. And he is so calm compared to Ady. He wakes up at the slightest noise and never ever lets us sleep in. Don't believe me that Brock is super mellow? Check out this picture.
Yep, that is fingernail paint all over Brock's head and face. Ady decided that she wanted to paint Brock. And do you think that Brock objected, nope, he just sat there and let her paint him. Kasey and I were upstairs and thought, "sheesh the kids are quiet, too quiet". Went downstairs and there the kids are practicing their artistic ways of expressing themselves. Hopefully someday Brock will figure out how to say no to Ady, and won't always go along with her half-cooked ideas.
Once Ady realized that she was in trouble she decided that the best way to get out of trouble was to let us know that she also painted herself a little. She had a very small drop, that is covered up by her finger.
Well my winter traveling is over. I completed the last sport show for this year. I was in Minneapolis, MN this last week and in Madison, WI just before that. I enjoy the pressure and difficulty of sales, but am glad that I will not be spending several weeks on the road again till next winter. By the way, something funny that Ady said last night. Ady was acting up at Grandma and Grandpa Haddock's house and Kasey was telling her to knock it off. Ady said something back, and Kasey told her if she was going to be sassy, she wouldn't get to play outside with her cousins. Ady's response was "I'm not sassy, I'm Ady.

Ady has also finally gotten past naming her stuffed animals generic names like horse, dog, and mouse. She informed us the other day that her blue stuffed dog she got for Christmas from Aunt Melanie has the name of Rufus. We asked her why she named him that. After about 5 tries to figure out her answer, I think we figured out that it was because he says "roof, roof!" She also decided to name her pink horse Buddy. No reason that we can figure, except Buddy is what we call Brock a lot...

And even though Ady can be a handful at times, she still is great to have around and I'm glad she keeps me company while Adam is gone. She can and does do and say some very cute things. This week that Adam has been gone, we traded vehicles with his parents. I was driving home and getting used to truck driving and mentioned to Ady that "I miss my car." To which Ady immediately replied "I miss my Dad." She makes sure to always bless him in her prayers too. "Please bless Dad while he is away on the airplane" Someday she might realize he actually gets off the airplane, but I just think it is pretty cute that she remembers him so I don't bother to correct her.