William at Three Weeks

William is growing fast and eating like a champ. At 2 1/2 weeks he had already gone from his birth weight of 7 lbs to 8 lbs 4 oz. Here's a few pictures of him at three weeks:

Baby Love

Little William is three weeks old. He's had a very eventful first few weeks of life and had lots of visitors and been held by so many relatives who came for the funeral. Here's just a few pictures:

Aunt Karen

Aunt Jeanette

Uncle Bob

Aunt Julie

Grandma Harper

Grandma Hales

He got so much and love and attention during the funeral and the days following. I don't even have pictures of all the people who held him and loved him and took joy from a sweet new baby in the midst of sadness. He's been such a blessing in our lives.

Kopachuck State Park

Since my sister Karen and her family were already in Washington for the funeral, they came over and spent Friday and Saturday with us. It was fun to have them here. On Saturday, we went to nearby Kopachuck State Park. It was overcast and chilly, but the tide was out, so we had fun looking for creatures and exploring the beach front.
The kids found all sorts of treasures.

Sarah and McKenna

All the cousins.
Jarrod and Karen


I spent most of my time trying to keep baby William out of the wind. Luckily David was there to handle the beach combing and Karen was there to play photographer.

First Day of School

The kids' first day of school was September 2. They were all nervous to attend a new school, but all of them had a good first day.

Ben started 2nd grade.

Rachel started 5th grade.

And Sarah started 7th grade. Holy cow! How did my kids get so big!

Kate wanted to pose for a picture too. She got a hair cut and now loves to wear her hair in ponytails again (she wouldn't let me do them for months).

We are all glad school is back in session. After our busy summer of travel, moving, new baby, hospital visits and a funeral, we are all looking forward to a routine again.

Ronald William Hales 1937-2009

(photo courtesy of Mark and Andrea)

My dad passed away last Friday, August 28, 2009. It's been an emotional last few weeks, and I wasn't ready to blog about it right away. Somehow, typing the words, describing what has happened, has been too difficult.

In June, my dad went to the ER with chest pain, thinking he was having a heart attack. He wasn't, but the ER found some problems with his lungs and referred him to a pulmonologist. After some initial tests, the doctors recommended he have a lung biopsy to determine the specific problem. He hadn't been feeling well--shortness of breath, weight loss, and fatigue. Dad went into the hospital on August 17 for a lung biopsy. He was supposed to be there a couple of days. Initially he started to get better, but then there was one complication after another, and by the end of that week he had developed pneumonia and had to be put on life support. Six days later he passed away from complications of pulmonary fibrosis. It turns out the flap that covers the trachea had stopped closing effectively, so when Dad ate, food particles were getting down into his lungs and causing scar tissue. The pneumonia that he developed was a result of bacteria in his mouth getting into his lungs, something that was bound to happen even if he wasn't in the hospital.

I had the chance to go see him on August 23 and 24. It was good to be there with my mom so she didn't have to go through this alone. At that point we didn't know for sure what was going to happen. There was the chance that he would pull through and recover. But things were getting tricky for me. I was having contractions and David didn't want me to be three hours away from home and go into labor. So we headed back home. My sister and brother from Utah were able to drive up and be with my mom Thursday and Friday and were there when my Dad passed away. Our little William was born 12 hours later, early Saturday morning. I like to think they "high-fived" in passing, or as my brother said, Dad loved his grandkids so much that he just wanted to be the first one to hold him.

The funeral was this past Thursday. I gave the eulogy. This was a hard thing, but also a good thing. Although I had tons of help from both my brothers in writing it, I spent quite a bit of time working on it and preparing it. This was a good way for me to grieve--reflecting on my Dad's life, all the good that he did, and the wonderful man that he was. He truly touched many lives and left a legacy behind for all of us to build on. I will miss him, but I know that he's free from pain and happy and I can be with him again.

Here's a couple pictures of my dad with the kids we took over Christmas. Love you, Dad!