I'm Thankful for. . . the ER

What a wonderful Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a wonderful day filled with food, family, and most importantly gratitude for the wonderful blessings the Savior brings into each of our lives. We had a great day- we went up to the DC area like usual to spend Thanksgiving with my aunt and uncle. My auntie Kim is an awesome cook, so we had an absolutely fabulous meal. I was especially grateful that I didn't have to cook as I was coming off of working 3 (12 hour) night shifts in a row. I'm just glad I survived and that it's over. ;) My aunt had invited some Danish friends over for Thanksgiving, so it was really fun to explain our traditions and see them experience Thanksgiving for the first time. The meal was great, the company was awesome, and we all had a great time. Here's Connor with the Danish couple's boy

e got to help them decorate their house for Christmas the next day, which was really fun until Ellie woke up from her nap. I found another reason it's good we didn't get a tree this year. Ellie was impossible to keep away from it. She loved it, and loved pulling off the ornaments!

My aunt has roped us into caroling at the Ritz-Carlton tree lighting ceremony every year we've gone there for Thanksgiving. It's really fun, and we actually get paid a little! We finally took a picture this year of Jake and I in our Victorian Caroler garb. Pretty cute.

And now for the exciting story, the one you've all been waiting for since you read my blog post title:

We drove home yesterday morning, rejoiced when the far superior Cougs pulled out a victory over the inferior Utes (he he Cayenne!), ate pizza, and started getting our kiddos ready for bed. Ellie had been pretty congestedand lethargic for the last few days and had had a little fever starting Friday night. I was going to take her in this morning (Sunday) if she wasn't better, but anyway. She'd been sick, and had just gotten out of the tub. Well, she was kind of blue. Her hands, feet, and around her lips were purple, and she looked kind of mottled (marbley skin). Being a nurse for almost 6 years, I've always heard that's really bad. It freaked me out. I told Jake we were taking her into the ER. I called our wonderful friend and neighbor Kristin to watch Connor and we drove to the ER. I was pretty emotional when we got there (by this time she was pink), but her O2 sats (the percentage of her red blood cells with oxygen attached to it - a good indicator of how effective breathing is) were fine. They took us back and we waited for awhile until a resident came and spoke with us. We talked to the father of the girl next to us who had been in a car accident (they eventually determined that she had a concussion, so she was ok). They came and took Ellie's temp - it was 103.1. They came back and gave her some Motrin pretty quick. The attending finally came and examined her. We went and took her down for a chest X-ray. 4 hours after we arrived, they diagnosed her with mild pneumonia and sent her home with Augmentin. Long wait, but I was so grateful that we have such great health care. I'm grateful that we live so close. I'm grateful that we caught this illness before it got worse and she ended up in the hospital. Whew. Ellie seemed much perkier this afternoon. In a few days she'll be back to her normal squirmy self. Thank you modern medicine and insurance! I was grateful on Thanksgiving, but I was even more grateful last night for our health. My babies are so precious to me and I'm glad that they're well!

So, that's our exciting story. We'll have another one on Wednesday when we finally find out where we matched. We can't wait!