Semester Break Happenings in UTAH

On January 24th, we arrived in Utah.  Our son Joe picked us up at the airport after a fairly comfortable, non-eventful flight from Hong Kong to LAX and then on to SLC.  Our first priority for this "vacation" from work was to get Dave's kidney stone checked out.  He had an appointment with Dr. Ronald L. Oldroyd in Provo on the 25th.  On January 27th, Dave had his two centimeter long kidney stone blasted.  The procedure is called Lithotripsy. 

Here’s how it works. The person receiving the treatment either lies down in a water bath or on a cushion. The doctor employs an x-ray or ultrasound machine to locate the stone. The ultrasound machine sends out numerous high-energy shock waves which pinpoint and shatter the kidney stones into a fine powder that can be passed out of the body through the urine with no pain or discomfort.

  That's how it worked with Dave.  The procedure took about an hour and a half, and he left the hospital with a stint in place that was removed a little more than a week after the event.  That, was probably the most painful part of the whole experience.  We were glad to get it done and finished with!  He didn't have to take any pain medication after the Lithotripsy, although he was somewhat uncomfortable until the stint was removed.

The next priority for our stay at home during semester break was to see all the family.  We were glad for the good weather during our trip up to Boise, Idaho to see our oldest daughter, Andrea and her family.

 We brought several presents from China for all the grandchildren.  Zoe, Taytem and Rylee always profess to like stuffed animals better than dolls, so we got them these really odd stuffed toys.  They seemed to like them, but I'm sure I stitched up popped seams on these dolls at least four times.

 We found these cute Chinese dresses at the Pearl Market in Beijing, and I couldn't resist them.  My guess was pretty good on the sizing. 

We also left them with the kites that we purchased near the "birds nest" in Beijing.  We enjoyed our visit in Boise with the Tanners!  We taught them all about the Chinese New Year traditions.  We enjoyed dumplings at a Great Chinese Restaurant in Boise with them on February 3rd.  We told how the Chinese clean their houses real thoroughly before the holiday to get rid of the bad luck, and bring in the new good luck.  We shared with our family how the Chinese decorate for the Spring Festival and Chinese New Year.  They really liked the tradition of receiving little red envelopes containing Money.  We had a really fun time sharing our Chinese experience with our family.