In August we went up into the mountains for a family reunion with my extended Frankman family. Many of my cousins and their families slept in cabins, but I prefer my own bed and since it was only 1 hour away, we opted to go up early on Saturday. Most of the time was spent eating and talking family history. We did do some paddle-boating on the lake. There were canoes too, which looked much faster and more fun. But Brian and I have tried a canoe and had a difficult time steering. Since we would have our kids with us, we went the safe route. Truthfully, it was tiring and a little boring. :) We will have to be more brave next time and try out the canoes.
Brian, Tanner and Eric played some Horseshoes.
And here is a fun picture of my cousin's son in traditional Mongolian clothing. He recently returned from serving an LDS mission there in Mongolia. He sang for us in their native language. My cousins brought a map and marked where all the children/grandchildren/great grandchildren had served missions. We had pretty much covered the globe. It was really neat to see that. Grandma and Grandpa Frankman would be proud!
Another exciting, but less fun, experience in August was Tanner's stay in the hospital. Isn't this photo sad. ): I kind of feel like a mean mom for having taken the picture at all.
Tanner has asthma, which is usually not too bad. He has had a few bad attacks brought on by the common cold. Well, he got a cold, his breathing was not good, but I kept thinking he was getting better. By the time I took him in to the doctor, his attack was too far gone and his little body was just too tired. After doing breathing treatments in the doctors office, rather than his oxygen level going up, it went down. By the time we left his oxygen was in the low 80's and they insisted we take an ambulance to the hospital so he could be on oxygen. Tanner was so scared he didn't appreciate the experience at all. (I didn't really, either, but I had hoped that he might think it was kind of cool.) When he heard we had to go to the hospital he tearfully said "But I don't want to die." It was so sad. Just typing it makes me teary-eyed.
We got a little smile out of him once his brothers came to visit. (And just a side note, when I took Tanner to the doctor I had left the older boys home. I ended up calling a friend who took the boys to the park, fed them lunch, and kept them safe until Brian could get home. I am so grateful for kind people!) And Tanner had an even bigger smile one his cousins, Max and Zoe, came to visit. Their visit was what really helped him perk up that day!
Below you see Tanner a day or two later -- no more oxygen. Yay! In order to leave the hospital he had to maintain a good oxygen level while sleeping. On the third night he finally made it through with his oxygen mostly in the 90's. Hooray.
Primary Children's hospital did a great job making the hospital experience as fun as possible. They had an Xbox in the room, movies, toys, and very nice nurses and doctors. They also had a playroom -- Tanner wasn't able to go until the last day when they were confident he didn't need oxygen so much. He had a great time shooting hoops and moving around. He certainly looks like a healthy boy here in this picture, huh?
One of the difficult things about this hospital stay was that school started that same week. We went into the hospital on Monday and the older boys started school on Wednesday. I was stressed about them being anxious because I wasn't home, but they did great. Tanner had actually started school the week before -- so he went 2 days, then missed 5.
