Halle's Hospital Adventure

Here is a recap of what Halle went through this last week.

Monday - July 23

Halle's stomach is finally feeling better after having a nasty tummy bug for several days. But she starts limping and complains about her hip hurting. Hip out of joint? Strained muscle? Overly dramatic kid?

Put her to bed. Hip still hurting and I notice a fever.

Tuesday - July 24

Halle wakes up moaning in pain. Hip hurts even worse and can't walk or move it at all without screaming pain. Fever still present. I know something is wrong - call the doctor and get an appointment right away.

Dr. examines Halle and concludes that she has "Toxic Synovitis," a self limiting viral disease that has occurred in her hip. Recommendation - give her motrin and codeine and keep her off her feet for a week and she should feel better in 7-10 days. Drew blood (which Halle of course did not like and let every one know it!) and ordered blood work "just in case" it is something worse. Should get blood results back by tonight.

No word on the blood work - assume everything is okay. Keep giving pain medication and make her as comfortable as possible. Hates going to the bathroom because I have to pick her up - which bends her joint a little and causes a lot of pain.

Wednesday - July 25

Halle is still in a lot of pain. Fever still present even with both motrin and codeine. Try to get stuff done around the house (been gone for three weeks and then had sick kids).

Around 10am I get a phone call - can't get to it because Sean is finally agreeing to use the potty. Get back to the answering machine and listen to the message. A little disturbing to hear, "Mrs. Caviness, this is Dr. Shipowick. We have the results of Halle's blood test and you need to call me right away." He has also called my cell phone and left and message and left his home phone number and his personal cell phone number (he was not working that day). Not what you want to hear - but still didn't think anything was too serious at this point.

After I call he tells me that Halle's sedimentation number is pretty high. It should be below 30 and hers is 39. He still reassures me that it is nothing to be alarmed at - probably high because she still has some inflammation. But "just in case" he would like me to take Halle down to the hospital to get an ultra sound done of her hip to see if there is an abundance of fluid. If it looks okay - then good, but if it looks a little iffy then he wants to get some fluid aspirated out of her hip. He says he has already called the hospital and that they will get in touch me with and set everything up.

About 30 minutes later the calls start coming in. One from radiology, one from records (got to make sure you have insurance!) and several from pediatric surgery. Finally when everything gets coordinated they ask me to check into pediatric surgery at 2:00pm. They will do an ultra sound and then if needed do the hip aspiration procedure. Halle is not to have any more food or liquids. (She had only a few crackers to eat at 7:30am that morning.)

I inform Halle of the new events for the day and prep her for an ultra sound and possible procedure. We are both mentally prepared to get through what we think is the worse case scenario.

We arrive at the hospital. I am carrying Halle and trying to find my way around. Finally someone orders a wheel chair for us. After waiting about 20 minutes for transport to come we finally check in at the pediatric surgery center. After checking in they whisk us over to radiology for her ultra sound. Halle lies real still and is very cooperative and very fascinated with the monitor. The technician gives me the look of -yes - positive for the next step. Lots of fluid. Then the doctor comes in (Dr. Sanders) and takes a look. He doesn't see the extra fluid that the tech had seen but decides that it is best to do the aspiration, "just in case."

We are wheeled back to surgery where Halle has to get prepped for the procedure. They give her a medicine to calm her down and then have to insert an IV line. They then give her some sedation medicine (just to relax and forget - not totally out). She is then wheeled back to radiology where Dr. Sanders can do a ultrasound guided aspiration.

They allow me to stay with her for the whole procedure. She is kind of funny. One moment she looks like she is asleep, the next she is wide awake and babbling on about something. When they poked her with another sedation needle she yelled out, "Sean - stop poking me." And then when the really big needle finally went into her hip she again yelled, "SEAN!!!!"

As they aspirate the fluid I can tell it is not good. Instead of being clear fluid it is really cloudy looking. I still just assume it is from a virus. The nurse told me that taking some of the fluid out of her hip should help with some of the discomfort she had been feeling. The doctor says he will send the fluid to the lab "just in case."

With the procedure all done they take us to the recovery room. Halle is really out of it and we have a hard time trying to get her to wake up (she isn't even supposed to be really asleep). As the nurse takes her vitals she notices that her temperature has gone up. They give her some tylenol. 45 minutes later her temperature is still going up, not down. They are not allowed to give her anything else without a Dr.'s order but the nurse allows me to give her some motrin that I happen to have in my bag. After a time her temperature is still 102 and she starts getting the shakes. She is still having a hard time waking up and now I am getting a little scared. She should be getting better, not worse.

The nurse is worried too. They are supposed to be discharging us (I already have the papers signed) but she thinks Halle needs to be admitted and I agree. She tries to contact Dr. Shipowick but is referred to the Dr. on call for that medical group. She has to explain everything and he says he will get back to her.

Mean while I decide I had better call Jeraldine and let her know that we will be at the hospital a little longer (she is watching the boys because Chris, his dad and his brothers are having the big annual Walker Cup golf tournament today). I have to turn my cell phone on because I had it turned off during the procedure. When I call Jeraldine she is okay with keeping the boys longer and tells me Dr. Shipowick has been trying to get a hold of me but didn't tell me why. I figured he just wanted to see how things went.

After a few more minutes my cell phone rings. I don't recognize the number but maybe it is Dr. Shipowick again. I answer and am greeted by, "Is this Mrs. Caviness?"

"Yes."

"This is Dr. Perry. I'm a pediatric surgeon. Where are you right now?"

"I'm still at the hospital in the recovery room."

"WHAT EVER YOU DO DON'T LEAVE!!!!! We got more results from Halle's first blood test . Her white blood cell count should be well below 5000 (5000 means an infection is present). Halle's WBC is 7500! That probably means that bacteria is causing the infection and that means we will have to do surgery on her hip right away."

Then he started throwing out more medical terms and I handed my phone over to the nurse.

Come to find out Dr. Shipowick had been trying to find us for about 2 hours. For some reason the pedicatric recovery room told him we were not there. Then since he was working in the ER he called Dr. Perry in to help find us.

So, as soon as they knew where we were we had the surgeons (Dr. Perry and Dr. Lynch) come and explain the procedure to us and why it was necessary. They said they would put a 2-3 inch incision into her leg (in reality it is a 4-5 inch incision with other smaller incisions on her hip too) so that they could open her up to the hip bone, clean out all the fluid and then check the bones to make sure they weren't diseased or infected. Bacteria is never good to have in the body - especially where it can grow undetected for a while. If the bacteria enters her blood stream then she would really be in trouble.

Once all the surgical staff is ready (and they put in another IV, since the last one was removed)and the OR is clear they take her away from me for emergency surgery. I was not at all prepared for this scenario! I start crying and shaking and praying.

I call Chris to let him know what is happening. He is at the 11th whole and not too thrilled about getting interrupted in the middle of his golf game.

I call Jeraldine and she of course is willing to keep the boys until tomorrow.

It is late, I am tired and I am in shock. Why did my precious little girl have to go through this?! I would much rather it had happened to me than to her. I wished more than anything that I could take away all the pain she had had and all the pain I knew was coming.

I wait by myself in the surgery waiting room. Hoping all will go well and than I can see my little girl again quickly. An hour later there is finally some relief. The surgeons tell me everything went well. They also say that it was a good thing my Dr. was on top of things and that they had operated right away. She not only had bacteria in the fluid, but mounds of puss that they had to clean out and scrap away. They say that she should not have any problems with her joint. She is young and will recuperate well, but of course there is always a small percentage of a chance that there could be further problems.

I continue to wait for when they will allow me to see my daughter again. (I have to wait until she has recovered from the anaesthesia). As I wait the golfers return. First Chris and then Mike and Dad. We wait and wait and wait. Mike and dad go home. It is 11:30pm and I call to find out what is happening and one of the nurses that I finally talk to says, "We looked for you in every waiting room but that one. Halle has been crying for you."

AAGGGGG!!!!! Stupid people! First they don't know we are still in the hospital and then they can't find me in the waiting room that they took me to to wait.

Chris and I make our way to her room as quickly as we can. And there she is, a little girl in a big old hospital bed with tubes (IV fluid, antibiotics, and morphine) stuck in her arm. She gives us a big smile and we know it will all be okay.

I spend the night - and watch her face and listen to the beeps of machines all night long.

Thursday - July 26

Halle wakes up and sees that there is a TV in the room and requests cartoons. She is taking everything is stride and doesn't seem worried or confused that she is in a hospital.

Finally she has to go to the bathroom. She is in too much pain to get out of bed. The nurses slide a bed pan under her but it is a disaster and the bed gets flooded. They decide she will have to wear diapers until she can move. Halle is deeply offended until I tell her that her Grandpa Hansen had to wear one when he was in the hospital too. That seemed to give her some comfort - but she still didn't like it.

The big cheer-up of the day is a dog named Mowgley brought in by a cute older couple who volunteer their dog at the pediatric center.

Halle happy to see a dog at the hospital.

Friday - July 27

Halle starts to get the hospital routine down - blood pressure, temperature, medicine, using her diaper. She also has major bed head!!

They determine she has been infected with streptococcus bacteria. But, they don't know how or why it happenend. But they do know they are using the right course of antibiotics for the infection.

Halle really is Supergirl - staying cheerful through it all.

Saturday - July 28

Halle gets a little walker and can finally get to the bathroom and the playroom (but still with lots of pain). I tackle her bed head and put in braids and give her a sponge bath.

Getting Halle out of her bed to use her walker.

Halle using her walker to get to the bathroom.

Next adventure - walking to the play room.

Halle enjoys coloring some picture while watching the other kids run around.

Sunday - July 29

Grandma and Bompa spend the day with Halle after church. Her friend, Madison, from Arizona comes to give her a visit. Halle is thrilled to have a friend to play with. Halle's most memorable words for the day are, "I love the hosptial, mommy. I want to stay here for a long time."

Halle gets visitors! Kristen, Maddison, Halle, and Maddison's Grandma.

Playing together in the bed.

Showing Maddison how to get to the play room.

Halle showing off in her walker.

A big goodbye hug!!! Maddison heads back to Arizona.

Monday - July 30

Told that we can go home today if three things happen. 1) Echocardiogram of Halle's heart (to make sure no damage from autoimmunity), 2) VPlacement of the P.I.C.C. line, 3) Visit from home-help nurse to show how to use P.I.C.C line. By mid-day Halle was no longer wanting to stay in the hospital but was screaming, "I want to go home. I hate it here. Take me home!!!"

The echocardiogram was easy - and every thing looked normal (so far).

The nurse came by but didn't give any instruction as the PICC was not in place yet.

We waited and waited for the PICC. They told us it was scheduled for 11:30am. And again Halle could not eat or drink as she would be sedated. Finally at 2:30pm they took her down to pediatric surgery and inserted the PICC. (If you don't know what a PICC is - it is a small tube inserted into her arm that goes up a vein and ends near the heart. It is attached to some fancy tubing so that medicine can be injected directly into the blood stream).

After the PICC insertion she was x-rayed to make sure it had been inserted correctly - you know, "just in case." The results of the x-ray showed that it was too long. So they had to pull off all the tape again (pure torture - just ask Halle what was the worst thing - yucky tasting medicine and having bandages removed!!!!) and pull out 2cm and rebandage her up.

Finally at 6:00pm we were finally discharged and on our way back home.

Tuesday - July 31

Home-help nurse comes by and shows me how to administer Halle's anitbiotics through her PICC. She will need to take this medicine daily for 4 weeks.

Halle - happy to be home again!!!!

Thank you everyone for your concerns and prayers - I know they really helped us at this time!!!!

Halle's Home

Halle is finally home from the hospital today!!!!! I am so looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. Blog more another time.

Toxic Synovitis

It has been a long time since I last had a post. When you are out of town for three weeks in a row there is a lot to catch up on. Not only is there unpacking and extra laundry to do, this was also the week I scheduled doctors and dentist appointments (I totally take advantage of Chris being home in the summer!!!!) So the week was already scheduled to be busy - but as life would have it I was busier and more sleep deprived than I could have imagined.



There is nothing more that I would like to do than catch up on blogging too. I still have my visit to Utah to write about, my trip to Alaska, and I have missed some very important "10 years ago dates" regarding our (Chris and I) courtship and engagement. But while I have a few minutes before falling asleep from exhaustion I would like to talk about the new medical vocabulary words that I learned today. Today I learned all about "Toxic Synovitis."



While Chris and I were away in Alaska, my mother wonderfully took care of my three munchkins. A few days before we left Halle had had a cold and fever but was almost over her illness when we left her with my mother. Everyone else was healthy as can be. A couple of days into our trip when I was able to call home I found out that Sean had been really sick. Throwing up and lethargic and moaning. The biggest scare for my mom though was the thought of Sean having another seizure. After several days he finally felt better and was back to his troublesome self. The day that Chris and I arrived back home, we came home to Chad and Halle not feeling well. They now had the same stomach bug as Sean. So my mom got relieved of taking care of any more sick children and Chris and I were quickly dragged back into the reality of being parents.



The virus seemed to have hit Chad and Halle harder. They were in total agony for about three days. Just when things looked like they were getting better - they didn't. Halle's tummy finally started feeling better but yesterday she woke up with a sore leg. We couldn't figure out what the matter was. She had been sick and in bed for several days, so it is not like she had fallen and broke a bone or strained a muscle. Still we treated it like sore muscle - not thinking of anything else it could be and kept ice on it and then a warm bath later. I felt so bad for her because she was in so much pain and could barely walk. Every time she moved her leg she would crumble in pain. As I put her to bed I noticed she was really warm with a fever (101.5). I worried about her all night.



Finally this morning when she cried out in pain from her bed and cried every time I tried to move her I decided it was time to take her to the doctor. Luckily they were able to get her in within the hour. After checking her out and hearing all her symptoms the Dr. told me she had Toxic Synovitis. Which means the virus moved into her hip joint and is inflaming it just like she had arthritis. (If you want to know more just click: http://parenting.ivillage.com/tp/tphealth/0,,3q4w,00.html )



She had to withstand traveling in the car, getting to the Dr.'s office, being poked and prodded and then the grand finale of having her blood drawn. All in all she did rather well and was really brave. But the poor girl will be suffering for a little longer. At the moment there is nothing they can do - it is a self limiting disease that should last 7-10 days. All we can do is give her pain medicine and keep her in a sitting position and keep her leg from moving until the inflammation goes down. We should get the blood results tomorrow just to rule out anything more serious. If it is more serious they may have to drain the fluid from her hip joint. So of course I am hoping and praying that it only gets better from here.



And of course with Halle being so ill, Chad's symptoms came back and he moaned and groaned from stomach cramps all afternoon and evening long. Sean is totally fine - so between keeping Sean out of trouble, seeing to Halle's every need, and dealing with a 6 year old in screeching pain it has been a very long day. And to top it all off I got to have my annual OBGYN visit. At least I got to go by myself and have a break from the kids for a couple of hours.



Sorry this post isn't so fun. I don't like to be down or negative - just needed to get it all out.



I don't need pity (some sleep would be nice) as I know this too shall pass and compared to a lot of people out there - it really isn't that dramatic. I love my kids, I'm just glad I can be there for them and some day we will be able to look back with altered memories of this present time. But if I don't post for a while again - you know we are still dealing with kids around here.



If you are interested in my"good news" you can catch up on my happenings with my photoshows. (Sorry you will have to copy and paste - too tired to figure out how to add web links right now.)



http://www.photoshow.com/watch/pd3Pr2uH



http://www.photoshow.com/watch/Aj2Ma2Tr



http://www.photoshow.com/watch/db6gR3ms

A Reunion of Unfortunate Events

Because I was without the Internet for a week down in Utah and because I am busily trying to prepare for our next adventure I will have to be quick and brief in catching up.

To begin with, our reunion this year seemed to be a series of unfortunate events! Just before the Hansen family reunion my Aunt Karen's father passed away. This made her and her family have to travel back and forth from Springville, Utah to Las Vegas several times to be there with her dying father, attend the funeral, and also attend various events at our reunion. During the first day of our reunion my Aunt Leslie found out that her father had had a stroke and a fall. She spent the night at the hospital and wasn't able to attend any other events.

My dad had been suffering from kidney stones for about a week. He seemed to be fine for the first few days of our arrival. But, on the next big day of reunion events (water skiing at Deer Creek) he ended up going to two different hospitals and finally being admitted to the ER. After being sent home and then contacting several different doctors he ended up back in the ER for emergency surgery. His stones were too big to pass and plugging up all the works. He was really sick and suffered from surgery too. It took a full week for him to start feeling better - but is still not recovered from it all yet.

My mom has had pain in her jaw on and off for several months. Of course it flared up again as soon as me and the kids arrived (I keep joking that it is because she is allergic to my kids). She ended up having to go to the dentist and found out she had an infected root - that of course could not be fixed at the moment - she will have to make an appointment with a specialist.

The first day we were at my mom's house Sean was climbing up on a bar stool when it came crashing down on him and smashed up his mouth. The poor kid had a bruised and fat lip for about three days.

Two days after arriving at my mom's house we found out that Halle is allergic to cats. My mom has always had cats - but keeps them out of the way because Chris and my sister-in-law are allergic. Plus the cats are not too fond of the kids so they usually stay away. But, my mom now has two stray cats (very long haired) who love the kids and the kids loved them back. Halle's face looked like a puffa fish and we had to keep her on benadryl and eyes drops for the rest of our stay. She also got a black eye after Chad accidentally swung his fist in her face while swimming at the pool.

While swimming at the pool I also sustained an injury. While I was taking Sean down the water slide he got so excited he was wiggling all around. In his excitement he bucked his head back and hit my nose with his head. I heard a big crack (like someone breaking a carrot in two) and felt great pain in my nose. Sean broke my nose!!!! Luckily it didn't swell up too bad or bleed. But is hurt for ages and still hurts if I touch it or blow my nose.

Lastly (I think) Chad got his fingers slammed in the car door on our way home from Stadium of Fire. So the poor kid had to suffer all the long way home (waiting and waiting to get out of the parking lot and driving through Provo) before we could do anything for him.

Seems like Chris was the only one who remained injury free. Hope it stays that way for our next trip and that all our bad luck is now over!!!!!

We did have lots of fun (which I will catch up on later) but didn't want to forget what a memorable year it was this time around.

No Internet!

Hi! I'm back. My parents internet has been down since my last post. Chris and I both felt deprived! What will we do when we are on our cruise for a week?

Today is a packing day. Soon after we get home from church (4:00pm) we will stop by my grandparents house to say goodbye. Come home to my mom and dad's and have dinner and then it will be time to drive to the airport. We should be arriving back in Spokane about 9:30pm.

Then I will have just a couple of days to do laundry and get everything ready for my mom to take over as we leave for our cruise on Thursday.

Lara Boldy Goes Where She Has Never Gone Before

Instead of the usual easy care freeness of a Saturday morning it was quick paced and full of phone calls and the organizing of young girls. Today was the morning of our big car wash fundraiser for the Young Women in our ward to help earn money for girls camp. We decided to hold it at my house as my parents were willing to let us use all the water we wanted and we had a big culdesac for plenty of cars to come and get washed.

The morning proceeded well. There were a steady stream of cars and we were kept very busy. After a couple of hard working hours a familiar car slowly drove down and got in line for the car wash. It was the car of my now official boyfriend (it's official after you kiss, right?!) As soon as I saw him I got all flustered and embarrassed. Here I was with a bunch of young girls and my new boyfriend arrives. You know they are all wanting in on the scoop!!!!

As soon as I am free I have Chris pull his car in closer. I decide I will wash his car all by myself. As I am washing and as we are talking I can tell that people are looking and wondering why I know this guy. He is not in our ward and I know his first name, so - why do I know him?- they are all wondering.

The night before I was a mix of emotions. I was completely elated from our kiss but also devastatingly depressed because he would be gone for two whole weeks. As I thought things out I planned a bold move. I decided that if Chris really was the one I wanted to be with the rest of my life that I needed to meet his family and this might be the the only chance I got before our relationship moved to yet the next level. So my plan was to invite myself up to Spokane while he was there. I had never before been so blatantly bold. I always tired to be a proper lady. I about seriously died of fright and embarrassment at the few "girl's choice" dances that I had gone to in High School (and only from peer pressure from my girlfriends had I done that).

So, while washing his car I decided that I would talk to him about me coming up to Spokane with him. When his car was finally sparkly clean I invited him in for a few minutes. I took him into the house and lead him into the front room where we sat on the couch. As my heart pounded with fright we made a little small talk. I couldn't get much else out while my mind was formulating a way to say the words just right for what I wanted to suggest. But, while this happened my parents came in and sat down (parents always seem to have perfect timing). They soon had Chris engaged in conversation and slowly my resolve weakened and I chickened out.

Chris left and I waved to him as he drove down the street. As soon as there were no more taillights to be seen I was swarmed upon by the Young Women and all the YW leaders too! They were demanding details - just like I expected - and I gave them what I could.

After the car wash was all done I confided in my dad at what I had proposed to do. And just as I was talking to him my Uncle and Grandpa came over. I was forced to give them all the same details and also forced to show a picture of him (which he had given me - I had also given him a bunch of pictures of me that he could show to his family when he arrived in Spokane). They unanimously told me to go for it. In fact my dad had suggested that I go ahead and buy a ticket to travel with him. That way when I took him to the airport (which Chris had politely asked me to do several days ago), I could walk him to the gate (remember the days before 9-11?) and then keep on walking onto the plane with him (surprise him there) or let him take his seat and then board the plane (surprise him on the plane). I wasn't quite that bold. I thought he had better at least ask his family if it was okay for me to come and visit and what days would be good since there would be two different family reunions going on while he was up there in Spokane.

At the appointed time I arrived to pick Chris up and take him to the airport. He greeted me with not only his luggage but with a beautiful tangerine colored rose and a hello kiss. My hands were sweaty and my heart palpitated nervously while we drove. One reason I was nervous is because I don't like to drive for others - I always feel really self-conscious, and the other was because of what I wanted to propose to him.

We finally arrived at the airport. I walked in with him, watched him check in and then sat with him by the departure gate. We talked and laughed as usual. I kept glancing at my watch - knowing that time was soon running out before they called the passengers to board. Finally I mustered up all my courage and took a deep breath. I looked straight into his eyes and asked, "Chris, what if I told you I would love to come up to Spokane and met your family." I was so nervous for his response that I almost cringed. But with lightening speed Chris' face went from being pleasant to animatedly surprised with happiness. I had never seen such a huge smile on his face before. But just to make sure I followed up with, "does that mean, Yes?"

"Yes!" He yelled out.

I explained how I had almost bought a ticked to go with him right then and there but thought I had better get permission from his family first. He almost laughed to death. He reassured me that his mother would like nothing better in the whole world than for him to bring a girl home with him. We decided that he would call me when he got to his parents' house and let me know when I should come.

I timed it just right. Just as we were working out the details it was time for him to board. We had a farewell kiss (and wouldn't you know it, someone from my ward was there watching!) and Chris boarded his plane.

I drove home in a trance. When I arrived home I walked in the door and then quickly used it to support me. As I stood there catching my breath and clutching my rose, I remember thinking how I couldn't believe I had actually met this young man and how well everything had gone. As I stood there still thinking, my mother walked past and asked me what I was doing. I just replied, "He's the one mom. He's the one!"

The Date of Redemption

Alas, 10 years does seem to add cobwebs to the memory. I am afraid I have forgotten some of the exact calendar dates that some of our significant dates of wooing took place. But I do know that after our third date Chris and I had another date, a car wash, and a trip to the airport before the fourth of July. So I have some stories to catch up on before the 4th of July arrives!!!!

The Date of Redemption

After the painfully awkward ending to our second and third dates I was really wanting another date and another chance to pucker my lips and actually kiss the man making my heart flutter with fire. Luckily, I did not have to wait long. A day or two after our third date (where my dad had us under careful surveillance with his good-old golden retriever) Chris asked me out on another spur of the moment date. He wanted to see me one more time before his trip up to Spokane. He would be leaving for a long couple of weeks. A thought that was coming more and more unbearable. We had come to know each other quickly but at the same time eternally. This was the first person I had ever dated that I really felt both a spiritual and physical connection with. My heart already ached with loneliness just thinking about his absence.

I drove over to Chris' house the night of our date. Our plan was just to watch a movie and hang out. We watched Quiggley Down Under, one of Chris' favorites. It is a good thing that I had seen it before because my head was really not paying much attention to the movie at all. All I could really focus on were the perceptions of my senses. The smell of his man juice (his word for cologne), the feel of his hand holding mine, the warmth of being under the blanket beside him, and the pumping of my heart when I glanced at him.

Time raced quickly by as we watched the movie. And just when it seemed I had arrived, it was time to go. I was in charge of our Young Women fundraiser of washing cars first thing in the morning and so I needed to go home and get some rest.

With his very gentlemanly charm, Chris escorted me out and walked me to my car. We stood outside my car a talked for a while longer. Then, as the cool air surrounded me and the strong gushes of wind from Spanish Fork Canyon started violently blowing, Chris leaned in and surrounded me in the warmth of his arms. I felt like I was in Heaven again. We stood and hugged silently. Then, without vocal communication, we both went for the kiss. I tilted my head up, Chris tilted his down and we came closer and closer to each other until finally our lips met and locked in a passionate embrace.

It wasn't quite the 4th of July yet, but there were fireworks!!! I never realized you could feel so tingly all over from just a kiss. I knew that there was definitely chemistry between us but I didn't realize there was also nuclear fusion. I felt ready to explode with happiness. Happiness from the fact that we were finally able to kiss and happiness from the fact that is was so pleasurable. I knew that things could only get better from that point on in our relationship.