Joint En-route Care Course (JECC)

The Army technically doesn't have "flight nurses", that is the Air Force. But over the last few years, some nurses, doctors, and anesthesiologists have been sent on rotary wings to help evacuate patients from the combat hospitals and point of injury. This course was designed to help the nurses/doc work with flight medics and learn the trade of flying with patients. I didn't know I was going until about 1.5 week prior to report date. Of course, hurry up and wait.

This is the awesome car I got for the 2 week course. Loved driving it. I almost want one. Almost.

The course was held at Fort Rucker, Alabama- home of aviation. I stayed at the Hampton Inn with 34 others that were in the course. We had awesome breakfasts and went out to eat every night. There is some pretty good food in the area, mostly fried though. The first week was mostly didactic and familiarization. The second week was the run phase of the course, which included riding in a Chinook and starting IVs and doing patient assessments, testing of the reading material, and a simulation of riding in a helicopter with a "live" manikin.

Some of the group at Mellow Mushroom, a fun little pizza and sub restaurant.

On the weekend, Nicole (a friend from my critical care nurse course) and I went down to Panama City to play in the sand. It was cold, of course. We just wanted to see the ocean.

We went to Hunt's Oyster Bar where I ate my first oyster and met these fun older men. This guy and his best buddy holding the cash spend about $600 a piece at this bar on oysters and beer. He is a millionaire (that doesn't look it) who gets his cash is booklets of one's, five's, ten's dollar bills. They taught us how to really eat oysters. It was fun.

We had a survival training course. I learned to make a hole in the ground fire. I started the fire too. This picture is completely posed. Good times.

In front of our Chinook. I got the biggest hematoma on my arm from the IV stick. I didn't really get air sick either, which is a shock.

The course overall was fun and I learned a lot because it was challenging. Rotary wings is a different environment when you consider your hearing and vision senses are lost.

Merry Christmas

Bryan and I had a wonderful Christmas. We made our traditional sugar cookies for neighbors and friends, attend our church's Christmas party, and endure the 40-50 degree weather all in the great state of Texas. But Christmas just doesn't seem to feel like Christmas if there isn't any snow on the ground or family to share the season's spirit. There is something about the hustle and bustle of being with family and carrying out old family traditions that I love so much. We were so blessed to have been able to travel to Utah for the holidays. It is always nice to be able to come home.

Of course we had to visit Temple Square and see the nativity and lights. Kim and her family, Linsey and McCartney, and Bryan and I all met up on a cold Thursday night. I am definitely not used to cold weather anymore. My feet and hands were frozen. Bryan, as always, was not phased one bit by the cold weather.

Bryan, Bridger, McCartney, Lily, Norah, Felicity, Kim, and Linsey.

McCartney is the smartest little girl (we got to spend a lot of time with Linsey's family). She talks so well and has the cutest lisp. She plays pretend and always wants to be the prince. Her favorite is Eugene, actually.

My parents usually host some type of neighborhood fireside with their life size nativity. My dad collected old barn wood in the local area and made a beautiful manger. I didn't get a picture though. In this picture, we are standing outside where my dad told the story of Jesus birth on Christmas Eve. It was shortened because it was cold and we didn't want grandma to get sick or slip on the ice.

Bryan's brothers Stratton and Michael were able to join my family for Christmas Eve. This is us standing outside in front of my father's nativity.

My awesome sister Kristi. She was only able to make it out for 3.5 days because she is finishing her nursing residency in Colorado and is unable to take leave. It was nice spending time with her, even though she mostly slept and worked out:/

Grandma Frederickson. She may be old, but she'll talk your ear off! We were glad she was able to spend Christmas Eve with us.

On Christmas morning, we all slept in and went to church. Kristi insisted on opening presents immediately after church. Mom got Beatles stuff, ski tickets, perfume, the cross stitch picture of Jesus.
Kristi got snowshoes and hiking poles. Dad got a stand for his pool table, puzzles, tailored Dress Blues for his expanding waist line :), and blueberry granola. Bryan and I got ski passes and rentals to the Canyons, a travel cargo bag, and BYU shirts/sweatshirts/ license plate/stickers.

After opening all those presents, we opened more presents with Linsey and Kim's families. We were able to exchange our sibling gifts, eat, and play games.

The day after Christmas, Dad, Bryan, and I went on a hike (because Utah hasn't had any snow in a while) up Alpine Canyon. I think we hiked up the back side of Dry Creek Canyon. It was a beautiful hike, not too muddy. The weather was perfect.

We didn't see much wildlife, but we did see cougar tracks.

Pretty cool.

Two days after Christmas, Bryan and I enjoyed a day of skiing at the Canyons. Many of the runs were closed due to lack of snow, but we were able to enjoy a beautiful day at the slopes. I thought for sure I'd fall plenty because I haven't snowboarded in almost 4 years, but it was like I never left. It was peaceful until about 2pm when the snow started to turn to ice.

We had a enjoyable visit with all our family. It was nice to be able to see a lot of extended family I haven't seen in over 4 years at the Frederickson Annual Christmas Party. We are grateful especially to my parents for having us and taking such great care of us. We love you very much.

Bryan was put in charge of the Ahlborn family activity for the year. He was very creative and made the Ahlborn Ahlympics. Above are those who competed in the Traverse Mountain 5K. Half of the race was uphill, the other half was downhill. It was a pretty tough race, but that is how the Ahlborn's like it!

Bryan and Adam

The crab walk.

Ahlympic events included arm wrestling (in which Bryan was the champion), the crab walk, the flamingo hop, hula hoop and jump rope contests, distance while walking on your hands (most of Bryan's sisters were gymnasts), swimming and diving, one armed push up (Bryan won this one too 50/50), and wall push ups. Bryan had a local Utahn make family t-shirts with the olympic rings and the saying "no pansies allowed". It turned out to be a really fun and we were able to see almost everyone talents and capabilities. Some of the younger kiddos were surprising in certain events.

Afterwards, we went to a local church to host dinner and made our traditional Bethlahem market and sold goodies. This year, we had the kids decorate cardboard boxes and make a little Bethlahem town. Some of these kids are pretty creative. I just cut a window in my box and made one of the girls put a flower box underneath. I was creative this year and made bath salts to give to all the older adults. I stole the idea from pinterest.