The Ritter Troop

Okay, so I realized I have been posting without ever having posted an update to our vacation and Ohio trip. So, here it is.

I think the pictures from

Cousins' Camp 2006

speak for themselves. The pictures from the tide pools and Anderson Island were on the same day. I think the kids found crabs, shrimp, fish, eel like fish, and other things for their buckets. Of course there were tons of starfish and oysters shooting water and successfully getting away from us. After letting the poor creatures go, we took the ferry over to the island that Ryan and Rebecca used to live on. We hiked to the beach and enjoyed a picnic lunch and waded around in the water. While we were in Washington we were also able to enjoy Tyler's birthday celebration and baptism. Logan and Conner's favorite part might just have been sharing food. Conner would come over to where Logan was eating and Logan would hold out the fork and feed Conner a bite. Logan got angry when Conner tried to grab a bite directly off of his tray! It was too funny to watch! The kids had fun playing Chess, making tee shirts, battling in their Knights Kingdom gear (maybe not Savannah's favorite part!), swimming, and just spending time playing together! After camp ended we spent a day hiking Snoqualmie Falls and another day at the Seattle Aquarium. Jim and I also made a nice daytrip down to Oregon to visit some friends/family including a friend of mine from BYU. We went to an authentic Japanese garden that was really neat. Jim even used the stroller to make our own "Zen" garden at the overlook point! We had a wonderful time visiting with everyone and just enjoying a break!

Ohio went very smoothly. Logan's worst day was the first day in the hospital. The naso-gastric tube was a little too much. That and the hours they spent digging in one of his hands for a vein. AFter that Logan did okay. The motility test was long but smooth and then they kept us through Friday (we checked in Wed morning) for another muscle test. That test was kind of funny because they sedated him with a mild drug so that he was still awake. They also gave him lollipops to suck on, but he was very uncoordinated and pretty loopy! It was funny how happy he was and how floppy his muscles were! The tests showed that anatomically everything functions like it should. The one issue that came up was Logan's voluntary muscle contractions. It seems he doesn't know how to appropriately relax/contract in response to pressure, etc. This might be a main cause of his problems. It should be something that he will outgrow in time; however, there is no definite time frame. We of course will continue to try different things to help him feel better. Overall he is doing slightly better. He is eating many more regular meals and sometimes sleeping relatively good! Other nights are still rough and it obviously correlates with certain stomach conditions. But, hopefully he will continue to steadily improve.

While we were in Ohio we were blessed to leave Seth in wonderful hands. We had many family members and friends volunteer to help, for which we are grateful. Seth spent some time with Jim's dad and stepmom, Mike and Linda, as well as a couple days with his Uncle Matt (Jim's twin brother). Despite the fact that Grandma Linda indulged Seth with a new transformer, Seth was exceptionally excited to have Matt hang out with him! These pictures are of Seth and Matt partying it up at Austin Park N Pizza. We are glad Seth was able to have some great family to be here for his first week of school and to help him have fun while we were away. Thanks!