Finn Michael ParksTo Be Blessed Sunday September 6, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Strawberry Thief
I was feeding Finn one afternoon and I had cut some strawberries up for Rafe to have with his lunch and left the rest on the counter. Well, I was tied down feeding Finn and then I noticed this hand reaching up to the counter and snatching strawberries and then the whole container was pulled off onto the floor. I went into the kitchen and saw this.....
Monday, August 10, 2009
My Boys!
Rafe loves to hold his baby brother and give him lots of loves and helps momma take good care of him.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Summer Vacation
Rafe and Dad roasting marshmellos
Finn's little sleeping nook. He probably slept the best out of all of us.
Good Ol' Faithful
Rafe LOVED his smores!
Funniest picture EVER!
Hiding under a tree to get our of the rain at Hidden Falls
We got soaked hiking to Hidden Falls by Jenny Lake but my little Man stayed nice and dry and warm. He was my little heater.
Dragon's Mouth
Rafe took his cousin Sawyer's hand and walked over to play in the water. It was the cutest thing ever! Over the 24th we went on a summer vacation with my family. My parents rented a large motorhome and my family, with the exception of Logan, Amanda, Jed, and Landon, went to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone. We had a good time and saw so much beautiful country. It was the first time we had all of the little cousins together. Evin, Sawyer, Rafe, and Finn all had a chance to play with each other and get to know each other. We went to see the Bar J Ranglers and loved it like we always do. We saw the Mud Volcano, Dragon's Mouth, and Old Faithful. We went and saw Lower Falls and a bunch of other parts of the river. And of course we saw the only thing Rafe cared to see......."BUFF-I-LO." It was a beautiful as it always is. While we were in Utah my Grama Smith had a Great Grandson picnic at the park. It was so much fun being with family. Finn was a great little traveler. We were on the road a lot and he was a little trooper.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Finn Michael Parks
Finn Michael Parks arrived at 7:02 am on June 30th 2009. He weighed 6 lbs 7 oz and measured 19 3/4 inches. He had to be taken by an emergency C Section due to the umbilical cord around his neck, causing his vitals to lower dramatically during each contraction and when Lacey would push. The placenta had separated and ruptured, so it was good that they did the C Section. He is a strong and healthy little boy doing great! Mom is doing great as well. Finn is a quick learner, much quicker than his older brother, Rafe, as he is breastfeeding like a champ.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Aerospace Medicine Training in San Antonio
I just wanted to let everyone know about the Air Force training I just completed in San Antonio. I was stationed at Brook’s Air Force Base in San Antonio for two weeks, where I did Aerospace Medicine training. Actually, it was more of an introduction/sales pitch to get us interested in becoming Flight Surgeons. A Flight Surgeon is a doctor for a specific Flight Squadron. You are that squadron’s only doc, so you would be responsible for everyone in that squadron, plus their families. If they get deployed, then you would go with them. You would fly in any aircraft that they fly in. So, you could be assigned to an F-16 Flight Squadron, C-130, C-17, etc. It will depend on what you can physically handle. If you can’t handle all the G forces that an F-16 pilot has to experience during combat maneuvering, then you would be assigned to a C-130 Flight Squadron or something similar. A Flight Surgeon is considered the top of the medical profession in the Air Force.
At my training, I had a lot of fun. I flew a T-38, which is the training aircraft for pilots, in a flight simulator. So, not the actual thing, but pretty close to it. I took off, flew around a bit, and then landed the plane. The simulator was set up like an actual cockpit of a T-38. I was also able to use the parachute simulator. They drop you at an altitude of 5000 feet, and you have a target on the ground that you should aim for. Through the helmet that I wore, I could see that I was falling but without the sensation of it, and I knew where my target was. You can actually steer the parachute. The coolest, but also most physically challenging part of the training was the centrifuge. The centrifuge is a machine that spins you around while sitting in a pod that is setup as an aircraft cockpit. You can’t see out of it. They first had me do a gradual increase up to 5 G’s while staying relaxed, and then brought it to a stop. Then I went straight to 3 G’s and held it for 15 seconds and stopped. Finally, I went straight to 5 G’s and held it for 30 seconds. The gradual increase was the hardest because I was relaxed the whole time, and wasn’t allowed to use the techniques I learned to help prevent decreased blood flow to the brain. I had tunnel vision, and felt like I was going to lose my vision, or in other words go to sleep, but I didn’t. In the fast ascent to 3 G’s and 5 G’s I was able to use the straining technique and breathing technique which allowed better blood flow to the brain, so my vision was normal and I felt fine except for the weight from the G’s of course. I have video of it, so I will try to make it available for you all to watch. It’s kind of funny to watch.
Another neat experience was our tour at the Brooke’s Army Medical Center (BAMC). This is where a lot of the injured soldiers from Iraq go to recover. I was able to meet some of them and it was a humbling experience. One soldier had burn scars all over his body and if you saw a picture of him before the injury you wouldn’t even know it was him. Everywhere I turned there were soldiers with missing limbs. These people are truly heroes. The majority of the patients are from 18-25 yrs of age. Twenty percent of injured soldiers go back to the field. Others would go if they could but their injuries are too severe. The facilities at this Medical Center are amazing. They have technology that nobody else has. It is used to get these injured soldiers back to or close to a normal life.
My second Monday there, we went by bus to Houston (3-4 hrs away) to tour NASA. We were able to see how the astronauts train, we saw the Mission Control Centers that were in the movies: Apollo 13, Armageddon, etc. (Houston we have a problem!). People were working at those desks and talking w/astronauts at the Space Station. We saw them on their big screen floating around doing their work. Air Force docs can also work for NASA and be assigned to a group of astronauts and go to space with them. Cool stuff! Some of the other things we went over in the training were: how to transfer injured soldiers from the field onto ambulances and aircrafts, we went in an altitude chamber and wore the helmets and oxygen masks that pilots wear and experienced scenarios that pilots might, such as a hole in the plane causing rapid depressurization. Overall, the training was very informative and it gave us a taste of what it would be like to be a Flight Surgeon.
In the evenings and on the weekend I was able to see some of the tourist sites, such as the Alamo and the Riverwalk. I went tubing down the Comal River, and went to SeaWorld for free (Military gets in for free at SeaWorld and at Busch Gardens).
At my training, I had a lot of fun. I flew a T-38, which is the training aircraft for pilots, in a flight simulator. So, not the actual thing, but pretty close to it. I took off, flew around a bit, and then landed the plane. The simulator was set up like an actual cockpit of a T-38. I was also able to use the parachute simulator. They drop you at an altitude of 5000 feet, and you have a target on the ground that you should aim for. Through the helmet that I wore, I could see that I was falling but without the sensation of it, and I knew where my target was. You can actually steer the parachute. The coolest, but also most physically challenging part of the training was the centrifuge. The centrifuge is a machine that spins you around while sitting in a pod that is setup as an aircraft cockpit. You can’t see out of it. They first had me do a gradual increase up to 5 G’s while staying relaxed, and then brought it to a stop. Then I went straight to 3 G’s and held it for 15 seconds and stopped. Finally, I went straight to 5 G’s and held it for 30 seconds. The gradual increase was the hardest because I was relaxed the whole time, and wasn’t allowed to use the techniques I learned to help prevent decreased blood flow to the brain. I had tunnel vision, and felt like I was going to lose my vision, or in other words go to sleep, but I didn’t. In the fast ascent to 3 G’s and 5 G’s I was able to use the straining technique and breathing technique which allowed better blood flow to the brain, so my vision was normal and I felt fine except for the weight from the G’s of course. I have video of it, so I will try to make it available for you all to watch. It’s kind of funny to watch.
Another neat experience was our tour at the Brooke’s Army Medical Center (BAMC). This is where a lot of the injured soldiers from Iraq go to recover. I was able to meet some of them and it was a humbling experience. One soldier had burn scars all over his body and if you saw a picture of him before the injury you wouldn’t even know it was him. Everywhere I turned there were soldiers with missing limbs. These people are truly heroes. The majority of the patients are from 18-25 yrs of age. Twenty percent of injured soldiers go back to the field. Others would go if they could but their injuries are too severe. The facilities at this Medical Center are amazing. They have technology that nobody else has. It is used to get these injured soldiers back to or close to a normal life.
My second Monday there, we went by bus to Houston (3-4 hrs away) to tour NASA. We were able to see how the astronauts train, we saw the Mission Control Centers that were in the movies: Apollo 13, Armageddon, etc. (Houston we have a problem!). People were working at those desks and talking w/astronauts at the Space Station. We saw them on their big screen floating around doing their work. Air Force docs can also work for NASA and be assigned to a group of astronauts and go to space with them. Cool stuff! Some of the other things we went over in the training were: how to transfer injured soldiers from the field onto ambulances and aircrafts, we went in an altitude chamber and wore the helmets and oxygen masks that pilots wear and experienced scenarios that pilots might, such as a hole in the plane causing rapid depressurization. Overall, the training was very informative and it gave us a taste of what it would be like to be a Flight Surgeon.
In the evenings and on the weekend I was able to see some of the tourist sites, such as the Alamo and the Riverwalk. I went tubing down the Comal River, and went to SeaWorld for free (Military gets in for free at SeaWorld and at Busch Gardens).
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