Grand Canyon

Are you ready for this? Make sure you have some time before you start reading this post! We have about a hundred pictures to go through, so get into something comfy, make a cup of tea and grab a few cookies... 

If pictures say a thousand words, well, we have about a few million words to look at. 

Last week we took off to Sedona, it is in the Upper Sonoran Desert north of Phoenix about 2 hours, and at 4,500 feet altitude, it was about 10 degrees cooler than the Phoenix valley. We stayed in Sedona for two nights; the first day we wandered around town and saw the Chapel of the Holy Cross, the second day was devoted to driving two hours up to the Grand Canyon and back, and the third day we stopped by Out of Africa (a zoo of sorts) on the way back to the valley. 

Side note about the pictures before we start... I don't know if you know this, but Arizona is very sunny and bright most of the time, making for some washed out, too bright pictures much of the time. And I don't know if you know this either, but we are a pale family (mostly Eli and I). We practically shimmer in the sunlight. These pictures only give a very shallow representation of the wonderful things we experienced. The colors, the depth, the details... they really have to be enjoyed in person. But maybe you can taste a little piece of what we did.

Day One - Sedona

Chapel of the Holy Cross

We parked at the bottom of the hill to the Chapel and walked (or hiked, basically; the road was steep and wound and curved around to get up the hill) up to the top. As we wound around the hill (i.e. small mountain) we enjoyed the beautiful panoramic "big rocks," as Eli called them.

Even now, as I look at the pictures, I just think how much is missing from them. The "rocks" were soooo much more red, and even though I corrected some of the brightness in the pictures, they still seem so washed out (editing can only take you so far, it's a fact).

View from the top!

 Later that day, we walked around Tlaquepaque in Sedona. Don't try to say it out loud, it's impossible. It's a crafty, arty shopping area with galleries and shops. And beautiful buildings and a fun fountain!

"It's wet"

Look at those pretty buildings!

Eli's took this picture of us!

...and this one of Josh! Great perspective, don't you think? 

Day Two - Grand Canyon

Before we actually entered Grand Canyon National Park, we made a little stop to see a smaller canyon, in which you could see the Little Colorado river at the bottom. It was super windy! And chilly! We weren't quite prepared for the for the freezing temperatures (okay, 50's) after being in the valley for so many weeks. Please don't ask me to explain my face. I don't know. Just look at Josh and Eli, for all our sakes. 

I promise, he's not as close as it looks! And we were holding his ankles, we just wanted to scare some grandmas. :)

Eli also took this picture of Josh! He's getting pretty good! Okay, maybe I helped bring Josh into the frame, but Eli pushed the button. 

If you look really close, you can see the river at the bottom of this little canyon. This one was much smaller than Grand one (there's a reason for the name, I'm just guessin'), but because it was smaller, you could actually see how big it was. At the Grand Canyon, it was almost too big. It was so overwhelmingly big, my little mind can't even understand it.

There were some strange creatures in the rocks, this one had pants. Weird!

First look at the Grand Canyon!

Eli was more interested in the rocks than the view.

Everywhere we go, "Oh, rocks!"

He really wanted to get down and run... along the wall separating people from falling to their deaths. 

The sun lit up the taller rocks in the canyon as the sun was setting.

Eli took this picture of his very favorite truck.

He also took this one of some random person, and a little bit of Josh.

We went to one of the points to see the sun set over the canyon. It was beautiful! And windy and cold, but worth staying for. Eli just played with his truck, putting rocks in the back and driving it around. 

Almost immediately after the sun dipped out of sight, the opposing rocks lit up in pinks and oranges. The light was so full of color, but dark enough to be unable to get any decent pictures, so I'm sorry but you'll just have to go and see for yourself. :)

Day Three - Out of Africa

He looks thrilled, doesn't he? We arrived first thing in the morning, right as they opened, and they promptly put us on a bus for a 'safari' into a gated area where animals roamed around freely. 

The first animal we saw was this giraffe! They gave everyone a celery stick to feed it, and Eli was not left out. 

The giraffe also came into the bus to get 'cookies' from the driver.

And we saw this little baby zebra. She was so pretty!

Eli just watched everything...

After the 'safari', we walked around and saw lots of other animals, and we visited the giraffe again to give him another celery stick that we had leftover. 

Eli had to stop for rocks. Surprised? 

 He probably would have been fine with just getting rocks, forget seeing animals or canyons, just give the boy rocks.

Eli took this one... of Josh's feet and the road. I'm not sure what he was going for here, maybe it's supposed to be artistic?

We wore the guy out! He was asleep before we even left the zoo, by the time we got to the car his head was down to his knee, and he didn't even move when Josh put him in his car seat. 

Intent, Headstrong, Persistent

I intended to write a post before this, but really, we haven't done anything! Just day to day stuff; work, park, errands, etc. But in two weeks we have a trip planned to go to the Grand Canyon! I'll try to take a few pictures, you know, if I can. :)

Last Sunday, we met Josh's Grandpa and Grandma Norton for lunch with Aunt Joyce. Grandpa and Grandma live in Colorado, but were in the area for a few weeks. 

Eli's new favorite form of transport: "shoulders", Everywhere he can, he goes like this.

Although, if he could get it to move, this might take over for favorite! Grandpa had brought his 'toys' with them from Colorado and had gone on rides out in the desert. Eli liked this one best (Grandpa also had a 4-wheeler). It was strapped onto the trailer, but that didn't stop Eli from trying all the gears and moving the steering wheel. See the big grin on his face in the first picture?

"I'm sorry did you say something? I can't hear you, I'm driving."

Grandma and Joyce watching Eli 'drive'.

 Eli also explored the RV; the first thing he found was an (apparently) amazing flashlight, which he proceeded to carry around the rest of the time and 'inspect' things.

Look how big Eli is... he is half Josh's size!!

 Eli also inspected the outside of the RV. Unfortunately, I think he found something wrong with one of the back wheels, because he looked up at Grandpa and asked for a "screwdriver". 

Determined to hang on and wait for someone to get him tools.

Later in the week we went to IHOP for dinner; one of my favorites, and Eli will always eat pancakes!

Intently coloring his picture.

 And just as intently eating his blueberry pancakes. He's an intent kind of guy.

See the finger here? It's like he's saying, "I'll get with you in a minute, I'm eating right now."

I looked up synonyms for 'intent', this is what I got: bent, bound, decisive, do-or-die, firm, hell-bent, intent, purposeful, resolute, resolved, set, single-minded, certain, confident, positive, sure, earnest, serious, steady, unfaltering, unhesitating, unswerving, unwavering, adamant, dogged, hardheaded, headstrong, immovable, implacable, inflexible, mulish, persistent, pertinacious, pigheaded, rigid, self-willed, stubborn, tenacious, unbending, uncompromising, unrelenting, unyielding, willful.

This describes Eli so well! I especially like the 'mulish' reference. 

Going Hiking

On my day off on Wednesday, we went hiking in the Southern Mountains (that would be the mountains on the south side of the valley ;) ), It was about a 35 minute drive out there and for the first ten minutes Eli kept saying over and over, "going hiking," like he was trying it out to see how it sounded. After a while, he would very quietly say it to himself at sporadic intervals for the rest of the little trip. It was pretty cute. 

He loved climbing the rocks, finding bugs, looking for 'cool' or 'pretty' rocks, playing in the dirt and riding on Daddy's shoulders. When Eli wants to ride on Josh's shoulders, he will say, "shoulders, Daddy, shoulders." It works most of the time.

It was pretty bright (but not too hot, just about 60 degrees), so I had a hard time getting him to look up at the camera.

He kept stopping in the middle of the path to play in the dirt and pick up rocks. What's hiking without rocks to hold and shoes full of dirt to take home?

We could see the city below us; I though it was cool to see, but Eli was just looking for rocks. What a boy. :)

In the end, we wore him out pretty good. He was asleep halfway home, despite me trying to keep him awake (I was afraid he would sleep for 10 minutes in the car and not take his nap when we got home). I shouldn't have worried about it at all. 

Special Recipe

I love experiments. Working it out, making it better, trying again. Research it, look it up, gather supplies, try again. That's exactly what I've done with my lotion recipe! 

I've had dry hands (and dry skin in general) since I was little. I remember them being so dry in the winter that they would crack and bleed. But I take all the blame, my mom tried to get me to put lotion on ALL THE TIME, but I would forget or just choose not to. Fast forward to working in a hospital, washing and sanitizing my hands all day really takes a toll. I would try so many different lotions from the store, even special ones, but I would always be looking for better. None of them were amazing, and I wanted amazing. 

Enter Pinterest. DIY lotion. You know what I'm talking about, the recipes are everywhere! I tried some of them and they were okay. I liked them. But I could do better. ** side note: maybe always wanting better isn't a good thing. What if I already have the best?** Anyway, in this case, wanting better led me here. To some great lotion that keeps my hands soft and also completely clears Eli's eczema (when we put it on. It's not magic lotion, you do have to actually use it for it to work).

Made this batch yesterday!

Sara's Lotion
1 oz beeswax
2 oz shea butter (or other solid oil)
1 oz cocoa butter (or other solid oil)
3 oz liquid oil (olive, almond, jojoba, etc)
1 T honey
2 oz glycerin
2 oz aloe gel (NOT the green stuff!)
10 drops vitamin E
15 drops essential oil(s) of your choice

**All of these measurements are by weight, except the honey, vitamin E and essential oil.

• Melt the solid oils and wax together over a double boiler, just until melted. Note: shea butter will get grainy if it is over heated or heated to long. Trust me, I know. But if this does happen, it won't destroy your lotion, it will just feel gritty instead of smooth and silky.
• Take the melted oils/wax off the heat and let cool slightly (I wait until I can see the edges barely start to solidify, they should easily dissolve if you stir it back together). Place the bowl on your scale and zero it. Start slowly blending with your hand mixer as you drizzle in the liquid oil. Everything you add from this point on should be at room temperature, so it will further cool the melted oils/wax and help solidify everything in the end. Slowly drizzle in each ingredient while blending, pausing to check the weight of each item as needed.
• After everything is mixed together, it should look like my picture above. Good job! Now just scoop/pour into jars or containers and let it cool the rest of the way. For me, it makes about 12-14 ounces, maybe a little more. 

When it cools, it is fairly solid but melts when rubbed in your hands. If you would like it more liquid, you can try adding more 'liquid' oil, but it might also make it feel more greasy (I consider 'solid' and 'liquid' oils to be whatever it is when at room temperature). This is just what works for me! Each ingredient is there for a specific reason, each has a use. Some help draw in moisture, others help seal in the moisture, some help heal, some help prevent damage. The essential oils I choose to use are the same way; they all have a purpose. The standard ones I use are lavender, frankincense and tea tree. They are all gentle on small children, but help heal and keep skin free of infection (especially for itchy eczema). 

I could expound and go into even more detail on ingredients and procedure for making the lotion, but really, you just have to try it for yourself! What works for my skin may not be the best for yours. Find the best for you! And if you have questions or I can help in any way, please ask!

PS - I like the ingredients from Mountain Rose Herbs. They are consistent and good quality. I haven't always bought my supplies from there, but I've started to, just because they are so good and the prices are comparable to others I've ordered from.

Hospital Life

I had my first day off orientation at the hospital on Sunday. I think everything went fairly well, although the floor was pretty busy (but not crazy). We started out with 20 patients on the floor at the beginning of the shift and were down to 9 at the end, and that's with several admissions along with all the discharges. Like I said, it makes for a busy day. 

For my hospital friends, I'd like to give a few details about this unit, so for those of you who don't care so much about that kind of thing, feel free to skip this part! 

Big difference; I was struck on my first visit to the unit just how quite and peaceful everything seemed. I remember thinking, "where is everybody?" as I looked down the hall and saw no one. And the unit was mostly full. Not at all what I have been use to over the last 7 years! After seeing more, I think the main reason may be the fact that they are not a teaching hospital (meaning, no nursing students, no medical students, no residents, no respiratory students or any others). That alone cuts down on SO MANY people! Big difference, let me tell you. Please don't take this the wrong way! I am not at all saying students are bad or I wish they weren't there, it's just a completely different environment. I actually miss the residents just a little bit. :)

Small(er) differences: not as obvious, but still significant; the charge nurse is always, always out of staffing. And they help. A lot. At least for me, still being new I had lots of questions and she was always available to answer or help with procedures. And she answered call lights (actually going to the room to get the things they asked for, not just pushing the 'answer' button), and reset IVs, and relieved people so they could go to lunch and probably lots more I'm not including. The patient acuity doesn't seem to be as high right now either (lots of respiratory/RSV), but that could just be circumstantial since I've only been on the floor for 3 shifts. The nurses each take 3-5 patients typically, but that is about what I have been used to. There are 1-2 nurse aides on the floor (depending on the amount of patients), but they don't do as much as I'm use to. They stock sometimes (other times the volunteers stock), do vital signs (by the way, they only to blood pressures once per shift), daily weights, patient care (baths, bed changes), but they don't do I+O's (intake and output) at all. And I have found myself doing more of the "little things" that I was so used to my aides doing. I think I was spoiled! Thank you to my aides who do so much! I didn't know what I had until it was gone *sigh!*, 

Something they do that I really like; when an admission is coming, the charge nurse gets the call then fills out a small slip of paper saying the patient's name, age, doctor, reason for admit, bed type (bed, crib, bassinet, canopy crib), any isolation needed, and maybe a few other things I can't think of at the moment. But how cool is that?! She came to me and gave me the paper, and one to the aide and one to the desk person so everyone has all the information available. I felt like it really helped with communication and getting everything set up for the patient before they arrived, making for a smoother admission. 

I could go on more, but I'll stop with the boring details for now and instead show you a video of Eli painting! He has unique brush techniques, including using the other end of the paintbrush, as demonstrated below. He's saying, "rub it," and "chop, chop." 

To finish this post, here are some pictures I took while I was getting ready in the morning. Eli likes to 'get ready' too!

He has on one of my headbands and is brushing and combing (at the same time) his stuffed puppy. Later, puppy also got a headband. Eli was pretty pleased with himself! 

Arizona

We made it! We're here! We left Kansas the Sunday after Christmas and arrived in Arizona on Tuesday. We split it up into 3 days so we wouldn't go crazy in the car. And by that I really mean so Josh wouldn't go crazy, 'cause I'll be honest, Eli and I are not the best long-car-ride companions. But we made it!

Eli and Josh on our front porch in Kansas. The car is all packed and we are heading out!

For the most part, Eli did not sleep very much in the car, and when he did it would only be for 20-30 minutes so he would most likely wake up cranky. He asked for his bear and his puppy and his blanket every time and I would have to lay the blanket out over him, even if it was already hot in the car.

The day after we arrived to Arizona it rained and then snowed up on the mountains. Snow! In Arizona! Aunt Carrie said she doesn't remember ever seeing snow on the mountains around Phoenix. You can just barely see it in the picture, but it's there!

A few days later, after warming up a bit, we went to a park with Aunt Carrie and Uncle Alan and Grandma Sue. They had a train you can ride. Eli was so excited! When he is in new situations, he doesn't talk very much and doesn't interact or smile. But I promise, he loved riding the train. 

Sitting, waiting for the train to go. Eli took my phone and took pictures of Daddy and Grandma 'Soup'.

After the train ride he thought he just had to ride this car too. I promise, he loved driving the car. :)

We asked him if he wanted to ride the jet ski (we had one ticket left, so why not?) and he said yes, so Josh helped him on. He was very serious about riding it. We cheered him on every time he passed by! He couldn't hide his smile as he passed us...

But then he would turn away as he came near us! My two year old is embarrassed of his family! What will he think when he is 16? 

We stayed with Grandma Sue for a little over a week after we came to town, until we were able to move into a apartment (and get internet!). I love we were able to find something close to the hospital! I've never been this close to work before (unless you count when I was 14 and worked at the little league baseball field two blocks from our house), and I love it. We also have a great park just a block down the street. Eli loves the slides! 

This is actually a park we met Carrie and Alan at on Sunday afternoon. It was a beautiful sunny 70 degrees, and apparently eveyone had the same idea, but it was still lots of fun! He went down ALL the slides (and they had a lot!) more than once, and they also had a pond with ducks! 

And a fountain. He wanted to 'get in', but I promise we didn't let him!

Watching the ducks. 

His favorite slide was this big one. Josh had to lift him up to get to it, but he would slide down and run back to Josh to have him lift him up again and again!

After the park, we headed over to Bass Pro to see the big fish! This was awesome. He sat in front of the tank and watched the fish for a good 10-15 minutes (super long in Eli time). 

"Fish" 

After watching fish, we walked around the store. So many things to see! He 'drove' a gator, 'slept' in a tent, followed animal foot prints and saw lots and lots of animals!