Summer Camp(s)

 Alex participated in church camp for the first time this year (Hidden Acres near Boone, IA)!  She has been so excited about camp - her and her friend Emma (middle of 3) have been making pros/cons lists during small group for months prior to going.  Sadly, we (Matt & Becki) didn't get to see her off on the bus since we were still in Sioux Falls.

 Alex spent the night with Emma so that the Rhea family could take her to the church first thing in the morning.  Here they are bright eyed at 6 am!!

 Alex got home from camp and Katie left a week later!  This was her first year at Great Lakes Bible Camp (Camp Manitoumi).  This camp is near Peoria and it is our regional Awana based camp. 

 And again at the end of July, Katie went with the church Jr Hi group to camp (Lake Williamson in southern IL).

Katie & Maddy Rhea - ready for the bus drive!

Annual Color Party

We are so thankful for Bible based church camps!  So glad that we have family members and friends who support this also, so we can afford to send them!  What a blessing that we pray goes with them for years to come.

South Dakota - Days 7, 8, and 9!

 We checked out of the hotel the next morning and went on a hunt to find a few letterboxes in Sioux Falls.  Matt could sense that I wasn't feeling good (still shaking and lots of nausea) so he suggested finding a few boxes instead of heading out of town (where there would be no hospital services for a couple of hours).  He suggested we get some breakfast so I could take my pills and I told him that I wasn't in pain (and that I had been up all night throwing up).  He decided right there that something bigger was happening and that we needed to find a hospital.  Luckily, there was one just a few blocks away.

Once again, Matt got me settled in and told the ER nurse that he would be taking the kids to some parks (thank you God for beautiful weather) and to call him when they knew anything.  After some basic tests, they told me that my infection was out of control.  The urologist came in and performed surgery to place a stent in my ureter.  I ended up in the hospital for the day and was told I would be there overnight (at the least). 

While I was in the hospital, Matt took the kids (once again!) to some parks to find some letterboxes.  Here they are at Arrowhead Park...finding Arrowhead Park letterbox.

They also went back to Falls Park (see additional pictures from day 1).  This time they got to ride the trolley!

They left for dinner and went back to the park in the evening to see the falls all lit up. 

 Around 10:00, they stopped at Hy-Vee (grocery store with cafeteria) to pick up a few things and to eat ice cream. 

My overnight stay turned into 3 days in the Sioux Falls hospital.  The kidney infection was determined to take over!  At one point in time, my body was so dehydrated and my blood pressure so low that they were considering alternative options.  I heard Septis a few times.  I knew that wasn't good.  The worse part about being in the hospital...on vacation...was that I couldn't do ANYTHING to help with my family.  Matt was in charge of me and the kids all day long.  And he did an amazing job!  Here is something I wrote about him on Facebook once we were home.

 I want to give a shout out to my wonderful hubby, Matt.

I can't think of a better partner to walk through life with "in sickness & in health". He woke up and prayed me through a scary night - full of pain and vomiting. He packed a full hotel room in minutes and loaded all of us into the van for a 30 minute (mountain) drive to Rapid City. He delivered me into the caring hands of nurses and doctors and then tended our 4 scared and confused children - keeping them entertained, fed and (mostly) put together! He drove 9 hours round trip to meet my mom 1/2 way so she could take the kids home. After driving those 9 hours, he ended his night at the hospital - sitting with me. He tended to me in ways I never expected and appreciate every effort he put forth. He guided my steps into the bathroom on our long drive from Rapid City to Sioux Falls - because I was to weak to stand on my own. He made me laugh when I didn't think it was possible, kept the a/c on while everyone else was freezing, and made numerous laps around the hospital corridors while I tried to gain strength. Matt, there were many more things that didn't go unnoticed...just too many to list in one post. I love you & I think we make a pretty good team, you & I. Thank you for taking such wonderful care of me this past weekend. I love you!

 The major problem that we faced was getting Alex home by Sunday so she could leave for church camp first thing Monday morning.  When we realized that I would still be in the hospital, Matt called and figured out a plan with my parents.  Mom would drive to meet Matt 1/2 way (near Des Moines) and then mom would take the 4 kids home with her.  It was a long day of driving for all 6, but it was so comforting to know that Alex would be ready to go to camp and that the other 3 were home.

I was released from the hospital Monday morning and we were ready to make the long drive home (okay, not really...but we WERE ready to be out of the hospital and home!).  A few hours into the drive, I was feeling much better and actually felt like I had some energy.  We made it home that evening and had the kids delivered soon after.  My mom, the saint that she is, had done ALL of our vacation laundry for us.  As well as getting Alex packed and ready for camp and taking care of the 4 kids all weekend.  What a huge blessing!

Even though our trip ended in a very bad way, we could see God's hand in all of it.  He was there.  And if you ask me about going back to South Dakota anytime?  In a heartbeat!!  One of our best vacations ever!

South Dakota - Day 6

 Day 6 started at 3:00 am when I (Becki) woke up with horrible pain in my lower back.  I had felt a bit off the day before, but chalked it up to vacation - eating lots of fast food, sitting in the car a lot and not drinking enough water.  When I woke up in pain, I tried to eat something in hopes of taking pain medicine that Matt had with him in case of kidney stones (which he gets often).  After eating a few crackers and waking up Matt (asking him to pray), I took a pain pill.  I soon realized my error as my stomach rebelled against the pain meds!  By 8:00, Matt had made the decision to pack up the hotel room a few hours early (we were leaving to head to Sioux Falls later that morning) and take me to the ER in Rapid City.  40 minutes later (yes, it was a very long car ride), we were at the hospital.  Matt ran me in to make sure I got checked in okay.  Once he knew I was taken care of, he left with the kids to try and find a park or two to entertain them. 

The doctors soon told me that I had a kidney stone (already assumed that to be the case) and a kidney infection.  Unfortunately, with the infection, they couldn't do surgery to remove the stone.  They performed a CT scan though and found the stone to be 7.3mm in width.  The doctor told me that stones 5mm and under have a 50/50 chance of being passed on their own.  He said that there was no way this stone would be moving.  I was released from the ER with pain meds as well as an antibiotic for the infection.  I called Matt and he was able to pick me up soon after.

While I was in the hospital, Matt took the kids to a few parks and then received a phone call from the ER nurse telling him that I would be there a few more hours for the CT scan.  At that time he decided to head north a ways towards Sturgis - to find some letterboxes. 

Here is Black Hills National Cemetery NEAR where Matt was able to find, "Deadwood Stage".  

They also visited Canyon Lake Park in Rapid City to find "Boeufs" which is French for Buffalo!  Here are the kids while searching for that box.

After picking me up from the hospital (all the kids had flowers for me!), we dropped off my pharmacy paperwork and went to get lunch.  I was feeling quite a bit better but still no where near 100%.  We stopped again to pick up my medicine and hit the road to get to Sioux Falls...just a FEW hours later than expected!  This was unfortunate, as we had plans to hit a few stops along the way.  We knew that we would have to sacrifice some of those stops now. 

The kids wanted to stop and feed the prairie dogs one last time.  I think this was their favorite part of the trip!

We also stopped in Murdo to eat some ice cream as well as looking at the big green car!

 By this point in the day, I was pretty miserable.  I didn't get out of the van to see the prairie dogs or in Murdo.  I wasn't in pain at this point, but very nauseous and shaking uncontrollably.  I had the air on me, but a blanket over me.  I couldn't get comfortable! 

Another rest area stop - the kids found a map of South Dakota for our photo scavenger hunt.

 We were disappointed to get to Mitchell after dark.  Matt & I have driven through Mitchell 3 times now...each time at night!  We snapped a picture and the kids looked at the corn murals, but we weren't able to go inside at all (or get a picture with the Ear of Corn mascot!!).

 We arrived in Sioux Falls around 10:00.  We only unloaded what we needed (clothes and essentials for the next day) and went straight to our room.  Unfortunately, my night was just beginning.  It was looking like my infection was winning the best of me.

South Dakota Vacation - Day 5

Day 5 - we left our hotel early as we had to be in Hot Springs by 9 for our Mammoth Site tour.  We knew it would take up to an hour to drive there as well as a few letterboxing, photo stops along the way.  Our first stop was a quick one to find a letterbox.  While Matt searched, we had a wonderful view of Crazyhorse.

We then stopped in Custer to get some pictures. 

Further south of Custer, we drove through Wind Cave National Park and saw a few more herd of buffalo along the way. 

We got to the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs with a few minutes to spare.  The kids found these fun hats for our crazy hat picture.  The Mammoth Site is an active dig site and mammoth research facility.  The tour was very interesting, to say the least.  We don't totally agreed with everything that they stated, but it seemed to be more in line with our thoughts on creation than other sites that we have heard of.

Our tour guide used a phone system to speak to us rather than yelling to be heard. 

The kids got to participate in the Jr Paleontologist Program.  They got to dig for replicated bones and fossils.  

We ate lunch in Hot Springs and then headed back through Wind Cave National Park to our next stop - the Wildlife Loop at Custer State Park.  We were looking forward to seeing all kinds of animals along this loop.  We stopped in Custer to purchase carrots to feed the wild donkeys and horses.  We looked with expectation all over the landscape for these animals with no luck.  To say we were disappointed was an understatement.  We had seen buffalo in another section of Custer State Park on Day 4.  We had seen buffalo in Wind Cave Nat'l Park (see below)...but NOTHING on the Wildlife Loop.  The 2 buffalo that we saw were near the Coolidge Summer White House (other buffalo picture below).

Will - continuing to be bored in the van (not driving!)

We left Custer State Park and headed to Rapid City for dinner.  We stopped along the way to snap a picture of some big presidential heads!  Here is Will with President George W Bush.

Rapid City has a beautiful "mountaintop view".  We drove to the top in search of dinosaurs!

We stopped back at the Storybook Island to take a few more pictures for our photo scavenger hunt.

We ended our night with dinner at the Firehouse Brewing Co. in Rapid City.  This restaurant is an old fire station!  It was wonderful food and a great atmosphere.

Check out Will's Eagle Nest!

 We went to bed not having a clue that our vacation was going to make a drastic change in a few short hours...