two blogs in 24 hours

In the afternoon yesterday a snowman was made. It actually got even another layer. They had lots of fun making it. Bridger did some good bonding with his Uncle Chase. Chase was nice enough to let Bridger have a sleep over with him in the motel. He even took him to breakfast.

Bridger fell asleep last night at the dinner table. Tells you how tired he was. Chase left around 8pm last night and we assume he got to Colorado safe and sound. We sadly return him to his family. It was very nice to have had him here and share our weekend with him. I know his family will be oh-so happy to have him back to.

The birthday party

The birthday party was a success. We both had a grand time. We got picked to start singing first. Someone thought we should sing Summer Nights (from Grease) to each other. We were good sports, but it certainly wasn't a song we did well with. Then I sang and after I got done, I "encouraged" Chase to get up there. He did well, but I don't think he got himself up there again.


The party started out with some hitches, but nothing anyone really knew even happened. I showed up to decorate and the room wasn't set up. Nice way to start the process. I contemplated many options for a cake and in the end got frustrated and just came up with this. I think it looks pretty nice. People even commneted on how good the cake was. I had never had cherry as a filling, but it was good.

Friends Kevin and Sara. Everyone was nice to Chase and included him. I think many of our newer friends are actually Chase's age. On Sat am we were telling Chase that our Meline friends have a brother-in-law in Austin who is also an engineer. It ended up Chase knows this person.

This is Sammy's parents, Sean and Linnea.

This is Bridger's parents, Darin and Ginni

I made both Darin and Bridger wear blindfolds to the party in the car. Bridger can't keep his mouth shut to save his little soul. I didn't want Bridger blurting anything out. I purposely drove here and there on the way to the motel to throw Darin off. He had a good idea where we were, but didn't know which motel we were at until we got him inside. The Parkway has a double winding staircase and that sharp-minded husband of mine picked it up instantly. I don't know if he was really led into support columns or not, but we seemed to have hit a few on the way through the lobby. I think he did it on purpose, but leading a blindfolded person is a good reminder of how important vision is.

Darin, as always, is a hit at any party, especially his own. The women loved singing with him and dancing with him. If my memory is correct, this one is "Like a Virgin" by Madonna.

I have video footage throughout the night, but the room was so dark, it probably isn't worth it. We got home today around 1pm. Just hanging out. I think Chase is going to try and stay ahead of the weather and leave in a little while. His Denver flight is tomorrow in the 1pm hour.

Happy Birthday Mommy (Ginni)!!!!!

You are only as old as you feel, right? Wow, where have the years gone. Bridger got on the computer and made me several "Land before Time" birthday cards and invitations all by himself. He thought we should have a party. Little did he know at the time there was going to be a party.

Along this week I have remarked to Darin that it seems Bridger is the only one who didn't know there was a SURPRISE party planned for Darin. Last night he found out (it's tonight). I made the mistake of saying he would see Sammy and Lanie tomorrow night. He wanted to know why and I said at the party. He demanded more information. He was pleading and carrrying on while we were trying to drag him out of Meline's. He said something along this---"If you don't tell me I will tell everyone, but if you tell me I won't tell anyone." Think he had that a little backwards? The final push was telling him Uncle Chase would be at our house soon.

Uncle Chase visiting was supposed to have been a surprise also. When I heard Rollie wasn't able to attend because of weather, I blurted well at least Chase is still coming. OOPS! Then I found out that Uncle Ellery spilled the beans before that. Darin was trying so hard to let some things still seem like a surprise.

And now Uncle Chase is here. Since Darin knew, I called Chase and caught him before he got on the plane and said, COME HERE!

Darin has figured out that the party is at a hotel. Linnea and I screwed that up last night discussing our Sunday plans and that there would be no church for any of us, we would be swimming in the pool instead.

I tried getting a picture of Bridger waking up Chase. It was too dark. I am sure I will get plenty of opportunity of pics with Chase this weekend.

Happy Birthday Darin

Yesterday was a snow day for the males in this family. They went to a local sledding hill.

Bridger is now sick. Coughing, coughing and coughing. It seems more like an asthma flare to me.

We are figuring out what to do about this today. It looks like we are going to try school.

So Happy Birthday Darin!!!

Out like a lion (March)

So this weekend was absolutely gorgeous weather wise for March. Yesterday it was in the high 60's. The evening news forecasted up to 10" of snow today. We have 2 feet. Both Darin and I were up around 3am and noticed it was just raining. By the time I left with Bridger for school there was snow, but the streets were clear.

On Saturday night we actually sat out at dusk with a fire in the firepit and drank some wine and got annoyed by the twins. We only had mini-marshmallows, but it worked just fine for Bridger. If you don't know about the twins, well, that is another story for another time.

School let out depending on the grade between 12 and 1:30pm. Darin had the responsibility of getting Bridger since school would be letting out early. It took him 45 min to get across town. It would normally take 15 min tops.

My work decided by 12:30pm to close at 3pm. I was supposed to work evening clinic hours (2 add'l hours) and it was cancelled as well, of course. It is debatable about tomorrow for at least school. I bet by the Thursday it is all gone. It is even melting underneath and very messy for driving.

Darin is talking to Judi right now and says Rollie is in Laramie waiting out the storm. Laramie is only 3 hours away. It is just miserable knowing he is so close but can't get here. I think he was going to go on to Pinedale anyway.

We are hearing across the country how terrible the weather is. Fires in California, drout in Texas, snow for us, flooding in North Dakota, Minnesota, blizzard and tornados in the Midwest. If the sun is shining for you-be happy! Bridger's Mom


Knee deep in snow. Bridger and Shasta.
3 wheeler is buried. Not going anywhere today.

The fireplace and grate didn't get put away. Bridger decided to tunnel under the grate.

Close up of the grate and Bridger.

Saturday in Casper

Here are the mighty Mini-Mite Casper Oilers. Ian's mom was brave enough to go out onto the ice to get some pictures at the end of the tournament. She actually fell in front of everyone when she hurried just a little too fast to take a picture of Ian. She is so nice in that she copies all the pictures and shares them with the families. She also took the picture of Ian and Bridger at the Waterpark. Bridger is in the front row legs out in front of him.

I can not remember what the name of the mascot was.

Darin and I have taken turns being sick the last 48 hours. I went ahead and went to work on Friday. I heard him in the middle of the night last night not doing so well. Today he was looking pretty green. He went ahead and went with Bridger to Basketball. I ran errands while they were there. I gave a good effort to cleaning the garage this afternoon and Darin was nice enough to do the back yard.

So most know we have had Shasta and Bella. Well, we only have Shasta now. It was a decision Darin and I did together. Bridger was sad for the afternoon when he discovered Bella was gone and then recovered pretty well. We know we made the right decision on which dog. So life goes on.

It has been a beautiful day in Casper. It was into the 60's today and very little wind. Yes, I said very little wind. Tomorrow is supposed to be as nice, but then snow is forecasted Monday. Those of us in the West know Spring is only hinted at in March. Bridger's Mom

Happy St. Patrick's Day

So are you tired of skiing pictures? On the last day of skiing I suggested we actually splurge and by the slopeside pictures done by professionals. We had been paying as much for crappy meals and the memory of that was not good. So why not get a picture that is hopefully a good memory. Darin bought my salespitch, especially since he had his Blackhawks jersey on. His first comment after we viewed the pictures was that Rollie (D's Dad) will have preferred seeing the Detroit Redwings jersey. It still is a pretty cool picture.

Here is a our happy 3-some. Just above my right shoulder is the area Darin skiied down by himself with Bridger and I just watching.

So Happy St. Pat's day. Bridger discovered leprechauns at school. He brought home GOLD! Some one had spray painted some pebbles gold. Apparently leprechauns visited his school today and wreaked havoc. He has been quite curious about St. Patrick. I feel like a mini-encyclopedia lately that isn't up to date. We had corned beef, cabbage and carrots tonight. He LOVED the meat and tried the cabbage. He said "hmm, the cabbage tastes like the carrots". I got away with the cabbage telling him it was like spinach. If I would have said lettuce I would have gotten a turned up nose.

The 3rd Tuesdays are his field trip days and he went to the Science Zone. I was off this afternoon and met the bus there. It was fun watching the kids race around trying all the different things. It was even more fun to watch my son interact with all the other boys.

We had 3 on 3 hockey tonight. It consists of 2 teams of 3 racing up and down the full rink whacking the puck around trying to score. It is a little too fast for Bridger just yet, but he never complained afterwards. I think he likes seeing his hockey friends.

Bridger's Mom

home again

This is a self-portrait of Bridger. We left him in the car while we briefly ran into a store. He got ahold of the camera and started taking pictures. He had pics of vehicles next to us, stores across the street, his toys and his open mouth. I think he got about 30 pictures before we got back to the car. He was completely safe by the way. Good thing it was digital. Otherwise, we would have been out of a roll of film.

This picture is actually of Darin and Bridger. You can't see Bridger. They rode up the chairlift in the left of the picture. The top of the chairlift is where you can see the end. The skiied down to the right towards the shack that is in line with the last tree to the right. They then came around the hill above Darin and onto the catwalk they are on. All that is just a blue run. For the non-skiers it isn't the easiest, but it isn't the hardest. The day before Bridger skiied down the same run with the harness and this day he did it on his own.

This is the view from the top Darin got on his first day of skiing. He never went back to the top this high. He did go into the "bowl" below this area. Bridge and I watched him come down that one. It was amazing to me that I could pick out my husband by his skiing from such a distance amidst all the other skiers. Guess that is what 18 years will do for you.

Bridger and I on our favorite "green" run-Mr. K.

The days of the conference made for some busy days. I was up around 6am to begin lectures at 7am. The lectures ended at 9am and then we would ski. We would ski up until it was time to go get ready for the afternoon lectures. Bridger would go to Kids Club and then we would all meet up around 7pm. Last night there was family dinner, buffet style. I have to say it was the worst dinner I have ever had at a conference. We did end up sitting with a family from Miles City, MT. It was interesting to talk to them. Broadus, MT, my high school town is 80 miles away. It is the town we would go to for shopping while I was growing up. There were fireworks around 9pm and we went outside to observe and then walked back to our room. I had two more hours this am. We left Big Sky around 10:30am and got home around 6pm. The house was still standing after 10 days.

The wind was blowing us into Casper from Buffalo. It really tried to help us end up over somewhere near Wright, I think. But, we kept to the I-25 path. It is nice to be home, but I can't say I missed my job. Darin already commented he didn't miss his.

skiing, skiing, skiing

We are into our 2nd day of skiing here. We are planning one more tomorrow. Bridger has decided that jumping is pretty fun. We had to go back up a slow lift that didn't have a foot rest on the chairlift three times before we could get the "speed racer" on video. For those of us in our 40's the foot rest is getting important by the end of the day.

It has been amazing to watch Bridger advance. It makes me chuckle to hear him carry on about "let's get going" and " I can't wait". Then we get to the top and he is telling us he can't do it. So now I know what Darin has gone through all the these years with me. Just like me, Bridger does it anyway, eventually. He skiied with the harness only once today and that was from my insistence. We went to the top and skiied down along a blue run (so I could go). It was pretty steep and I thought it would be good to control Bridger. That's the wild thing-when Bridger takes off he doesnt' stop. I can get ahead of them if I take off first and then the next thing I feel is a slight puff of breeze and a flash of blue. That would be Bridger, then seconds later I see Darin go by catching up with him. They wait for me at the next hill, but as soon as I get there, off goes the speed racer.

After skiing we hit the hot tub and the pool. The near naked boy pictures in snow were poolside. It was very pleasant today and into the 40's. Tomorrow is supposed to be the same. Bridger has enjoyed "Kids Club" from 4-6pm. He made a tie-dye kerchief one day and today he says he participated in a skit. Tomorrow is a search and rescue dog demonstration and s'mores. I have started the conference this afternoon and will miss the dog demonstration tomorrow.

Taking a break.
Icy snow angel.

At the top for those of us less skilled.

all that's Bridger

Isn't the ice on the wheel hub cool looking. Too bad it wasn't white. I thought it was cool.

We made up to Bozeman and off to Bridger Bowl yesterday. We had fun discovering how many things had Bridger in them. We took a few pictures, of course. I didn't ski, but the guys did. Bridger skiied without the harness yesterday and we have videos of that. As we went through Bozeman we tried to see the area that had the explosion. It is still blocked off and the debris is still spilling over into the sidewalk. I guess they still aren't sure what caused the explosion, beyond gas.

We came on up to Big Sky after skiing. There was a steak special at one of the restaurants, for $12. It was a bargain compared to the rest of the prices. Eating will be a challenge. I did notice microwave mac-n-cheese and cup 'o noodles in the vending machine.

So here is how my day started. Bridger coughed all night, Darin snored all night and the bed wasn't the most comfortable. I gave up and got up around 7:30am. I decided to go to the work-out room and got back around 8:30am. The guys still weren't awake. I showered, got dressed and they still weren't awake. I went down to eat breakfast-it's a HUGE buffett. I went on over to buy the lift tickets and noticed the clock-it said 8:30am. I got a chuckle out of that one. What an early bird I was. So now it 9am and they are heading off to breakfast. I have changed to clock to the correct time. When we were in Deadwood we got burned by the alarm clock being an hour behind. No one had changed the time yet.

One year ago

One year ago today these people were together in Arizona. What a year. In comparison, our high temperature today was 9 degrees. We encountered blowing snow, but not really horrible icy roads. Darin and Bridger took off to the pool after we got settled in Bozeman. There is a water slide and Bridger has been up and down innumerable times. It is kind of rinky-dink, but to a 5 year old it is heaven. They just got back and the 5 year old is fired-up and on his second wind. I just heard him challenge his father with, "you want a piece of this!", and show him his tiny bicep.

We stopped in Spearfish for breakfast and then saw some college friends at their place of work. We took off around noon and got to Billings around 5pm. We wanted to stop at a favorite sports store and did. Bridger got a new fleece jacket and as soon as we got into the car he asked for it. He promptly removed the sales tags. He has this thing about getting the tags off, as then I surely can't return his newest purchase. He does this with all his stuffed animals too. A few things have been collector type of items and I tried explaining he needs to leave the tags on. He refuses and usually explains to me that I can't return it if the tags are off. Obviously, I have returned things on him that he has such a thing about this.

Tomorrow is supposed to be Bridger Bowl. We decided to wait and do a 1/2 day ski with as cold as it is. Then we will leave after skiing for Big Sky Resort. We will be there the rest of the week. They have kids activities, night tubing for families and even fireworks. Oh yeah and skiing. My conference is only early mornings and late afternoons. This leaves the bulk of the day for skiing.

Bridger's Mom

ski day

Today we had a nice, but very cold day skiing at Terry Peak in South Dakota. When we started out it was a whopping 9 degrees. By the end of the day it was down to 4 degrees. The wind didn't help chilliness to the air, but it was wind that we wish we had in Casper, mild. Overnight there was a bit of moisture before all the snow started. It really frosted the trees and we tried to capture the effect, but it is lacking compared to the real thing. They really looked like white coral.

Bridger did great today. On the easy green runs Darin let him ski on his own. Otherwise, Darin uses a harness system with Bridger in front and Darin controlling his direction from the back like with reins. We have a thing with saying "pizza" or "french fries". Pizza means ski tips together and french fries means skis side by side. We learned this a couple of years ago. Today I heard more advanced commands from Darin like turn your french fries right or left. I also heard how Bridger can throw a fit just like someone else Darin knows, hmmm could he mean me? After lunch I asked Bridger if he wanted to go with Daddy to the other side of the moutain. At first he said no, I want to ski with you, Mommy. Then he said, "yes, and you better stay here-you don't ski very fast". At the end of the day I told him he was my "Awesome 'Possum".

Darin's goal this week is to get a picture of Bridger by all the ski hill signs. Wednesday is to be the Bridger Bowl sign. Bridger likes to say all the things that we find that have his name in it-are his. I did experience a new patient named Bridger a couple of weeks ago. I was so taken back I forgot to ask what the middle name was. We now know at least 3 Bridgers' in Casper, ours included.

The video is from hockey. It lasts around 3-4 minutes. Bridger is still #8. Yes, I should have zoomed in. On Sunday Bridger only played 6 minutes. He started off getting ready with throwing-up. He dressed-out and it was his choice to sit on the bench with everyone else. He didn't have much spirit, but who would. He has done much better with the tummy thing. I gave him some stomach medicine last night before bed. I heard him whimpering around 3am, but he didn't really wake up crying like he has the last few mornings. I am tempted to go without tonight. We leave tomorrw (3/10) for Bozeman, Montana. I don't think we will get to early of a start with the weather like it is.

2 goals!!!

Bridger is #8. The team is getting their pep talk in this picture. Darin is the head coach and in the red jersey, if you couldn't tell who Darin is. The Casper squad split up into two teams for this tournament. Darin got the younger group and most were 4-5 year olds. The two teams they played today were from Cheyenne. We drove a long way to play Cheyenne. The Cheyenne teams split up into A,B,C squads. We played the C squad first this morning. The team creamed them. I don't know what the score would have been, but almost every boy scored. The only goal Cheyenne got was at the end of the game. Bridger scored 2 goals. It was so great to get to see it happen. He did it so slow and methodical. He had a couple of other attempts, but since he goes at the speed he does someone stole the puck from him.


Darin is "fisting" Bridger after one of his goals.

Bridger is getting ready on the line.

Bridger is working the puck on the boards.

So for the second game it was the exact opposite. The team got to play the A team from Cheyenne. We never even scored. The boys worked so hard on defense. You could tell they were tired and just didn't have the drive compared to the AM game. I was so glad there wasn't another game. The second game was so painful to watch. Bridger did keep trying.

We took Bridger to Chuck E Cheese for an hour between the games and then to a burger place for lunch. We got back to motel after the last game and they went to the Waterpark and I went shopping. They had a great time at the Waterpark. It was very crowded tonight. Darin kept getting "invited" to tube with the boys who didn't have a dad here this weekend. Bridger played with his two buddies Ian and Briston. I finally gave up and came up to get ready for bed.

One game tomorrow and then we are done. We have no set plans for afterwards but have reservations in Deadwood for tomorrow night. Bridger's Mom

24 hour difference

We left for Rapid City yesterday by almost 2pm. Bridger was still having some pain, but seemed to be in better spirits. I think the pain medicine I gave him did the trick. He was fine after about 10 am until we got to Wright, WY and he said his tummy was starting to hurt. More pain medicine and off we went. Nothing at all until 5:30am this morning. Now the pain medicine isn't working. Figures.



This first picture is Bridger and Briston Jennings. Briston is Bridger's other hockey buddy. Briston is a fantastic 6 year old hockey player. I fully expect to see him in the Pros. His dad is the other coach with Darin on Bridger's team. Briston has also been very nice about latching onto Bridger. Other boys last night were vying for Briston's attention and he picked Bridger to hang out with. Briston got Darin doing the tube rides with him while Bridger went to the hot tub. Briston's family has a new baby and they were getting all settled and we were ready to play!





This is Briston and Bridger in the swirley tube ride. They are just about ready to drop into the hole and down the "drain". Sorry it's blurry. I am doing better this trip and finding more buttons on the camera. Just need to keep practicing.

Having a snack. This kind of playing takes energy. The guy in the background is actually a fireman from Casper. They were here for fun and nothing to do with the hockey. It was kind of fun seeing so many people from Casper. We see the hockey people all the time, but not running around in bathing suits.

Hockey today and hopefully more Waterpark after hockey. It is cold and slick out today. We ran into fog and slick roads around Sundance. It made for a nerve-racking final hour of driving. Another fireman/hockey helper called last night not knowing we left earlier than planned to tell us about the roads. I thought that was so nice of him. So have a great weekend. Think positive for Bridger, please! Bridger's Mom

ER visit

After I got home tonight Bridger was in so much pain I decided we should go see what someone else could make of all this. Off to the ER we went.

We were there about 4 1/2 hours and believe it or not-we still don't know what is wrong with our precious boy. All the labs tell us that he should be fine. Getting him to pee got to be a joke and we finally gave up. They gave him all the popsicles he wanted. He had to endure two pokes for his IV. Some EMTs Darin knows came along and were the ones that actually were the most helpful. One of them was able to get Bridger's vein for the IV. They were very observant and actually made suggestions to the ER doc. I was in the patient room the whole time while Darin was in the hallway meeting and greeting everyone. He knew other patients, the EMTs, some of the nurses. It sort of reminded me of how a male Myers never knows a stranger.

Guess we will see what tomorrow brings. Bridger's Mom

Our sick day

This is not a good day. Bridger is home sick today with horrible tummy pain. But, it gave me time to work on getting this blog going.

Late this afternoon I gave up and took Bridger to the clinic. I had his White Blood Cell count done as I was concerned he could have appendicitis. It was fine. If you could hear how miserable he is right now you would also feel so helpless.

Last night Bridger had an award night for the end of the hockey league season. He got a puck with his name on it indicating he had a 1st goal. The sickness started last night. He kept saying his tummy hurt while eating ice cream after the awards were handed out. It got late and we decided to just eat out. Bridger fell asleep in my lap before the food even got there.

This is Ian Bullard with Bridger. He and Bridger have become good buddies. Ian has played one year ahead of Bridger. Ian sort of watches out for Bridger and helps include him in all those great boy things that happen on the ice.

Here is the picture with the puck. If the picture would enlarge you could see a tear on his right eye. I don't remember him having cried right around then. Who knows?

OK-so here are a couple of blogs under my belt. Pictures and a video. I am sure those who know more will be clueing me in. Bridger's Mom