Fall leaves

We decided to go on a Sunday drive this afternoon, and the mountains were so pretty! We had fun going on hikes, watching deer right by us, Abby freaking out and almost breaking her other arm because she was terrified of a little dog, Jacob finding every stick possible to be a part of his weapons collection, etc. Here are a few pics.



We saw a ton of granite, and this one in particular was awesome that the kids are sitting on. You can see clearly the lines from being cut, quite possibly by the pioneers that built the Salt Lake Temple. We had a nice teaching moment w/ the kids, and they all wanted to keep a little piece of granite from the mountain.
I love living close to the mountains!

Ouch!!

One thing a mother hates more than anything, is seeing her child suffer. Last Thursday evening we were at Riley's soccer practice. Abby was playing on the Zip line, and she fell and landed on her elbow. I knew there was a reason I don't like those zip lines on playgrounds. I took her to instacare, where she was x-rayed, then sent immediately to Primary Children's. We got there around 9 p.m. According to the x-ray's, she broke her elbow in 3 places. One in particular was worse than the others, because it hit right on a growth plate. They decided to take her in to surgery, and fix her up with pins and wires- OUCH!! That just makes me cringe. Anyway, the surgery went well, and she was a trooper! The ER nurse gave her this little white bear for being so brave. She didn't let it out of her sight the whole time she was in the hospital.

The doctors told us that she will have the pins taken out when everything is set back in place- thank goodness!

Just after surgery. Tyler stayed with her all night in the hospital. I don't do so well there, knowing what is going on w/ my child. Thanks Ty! He deals with that stuff much better than me!

Abby discovered that she could make a seat belt for her new bear snowy on her arm. Finally, a real smile!

The best part of the whole deal... Abby had a loose tooth right in the front, so the doc asked Tyler if he wanted him to pull it. Why not, right? Good choice. The doctor wrote this cute note to Abby. In fact, she doubled her money at the hospital, then brought the tooth home, put it under her pillow, and got another dollar out of it. What a deal!

Abby is having a hard time getting used to her cast. It is the full length of her arm, so she isn't able to bend it: put on her shoes, jacket, carry lunch tray at school, can't run and play at recess, etc... There are things that she has to figure out how to do. This might be a long road, but she has been ok so far!

Riley's Baptism

Saturday was a great day for our family! Riley was baptised and confirmed a member of the church. He has been preparing for so long, and looking forward to this day. I am so proud of him, and the good decisions that has been making. I am so grateful that Tyler was able to be there with Riley on his special day. There is just something special about Father's baptising their children.

Yes, those are Jacob's hand on my skirt. Has anyone noticed that he HATES cameras?

Riley's friend Abbie was baptised with him on Saturday, so that was fun having their family there with us. We made them pose here, but it looks more like an engagement picture! Hmmm... that could work.

We had a ton of family and friends there with us for the big day. Our ward Primary Presidency makes neat books for the kids being baptised, so Riley has a great account of everything that happened. Also included are testimonies of everyone that was there. They have been so neat to read! Thanks everyone for supporting Riley and our family! We love you!

Happy Birthday Riley- 8 years old!!

Riley's birthday was last Saturday, so we gave him the Mario party that he has been dreaming about for months. Ok, so I'm sure it didn't quite meet his expectations, but we ended up having 16 kids over, so we had to improvise a little. They played some fun games, including Mario Kart (using our roller coaster), Bowser Bash (dodgeball on the tramp), a fun obstacle course, and a few other things.

Jake was so excited for the party, so he could dress up like Yoshi. He is the little green dragon in Mario (at least I think he is a dragon- maybe a dinosaur). Just so happens that we have a costume to kind-of fit the Yoshi description. Jake came up with the idea all on his own. The kids were in heaven as Yoshi chased them around the yard. He even did the Obstacle course. It was too funny!!

Now this is what made me cry... Riley getting his first scout uniform. He was SO excited! He looks so cute in it!

My b-day is right after Riley's, so Tyler was sweet and through me a surprise party for my birthday with a few of our friends. I thought that was a great idea, since I TOTALLY forgot to give Riley candles on his b-day cupcake, AND I forgot to SING TO HIM! Bad mom!! SO, we made the little get-together a Riley and me party.

It was fun having our neighbors over! Our birthdays were both fun- crazy, busy, but fun! Happy Birthday Riley! I can't believe you are 8 years old! Where has the time gone? I love you so much, and I am so proud of the great son you are! You will always be my bud!!