The end to our summer...and an announcement to make...

We are getting a princess! 

 After much determination to keep secret what gender we are having until the birth, but because only a few people knew and we want to avoid hurt feelings, we are giving in and announcing the new addition of a Princess to our family!!! So far we like the name Berkley, but we need some other suggestions please! We are so excited and I have been nesting super early (probably due to the fact I know the impending bed rest will occur). I have been buying everything and anything girlie to get prepared for her. This was one of the first things we bought for her, a crib set. However after setting it up I realize it doesn't really match so now I am on the hunt for a better one. I may just have to get a custom set made and recruit my friend Lindsay Dunn who is a very talented seamstress. Here is her link...http://linzsews.blogspot.com

It was adorable though...anyone want to buy it ha ha...

CAUTION!!! Before reading this post, you need to know that it contains images of real life injuries and this is only for those who can handle looking at disturbing content! ...There, now I can say I warned you...

Sandhollow/Chad's accident

This trip to the lake was just a supposed to be a short day on the lake with our family who just flew in from Texas to visit. All of the boys came and a few of us ladies joined in as well. After cruising around the lake for 30 minutes and eating lunch on the boat, the kids wanted to get off and play in the sand for a bit. We found this great cove with soft sand and no rocks so we stopped and unloaded the troops. I broke out my camera and got a few of the shots below...

My nephews Travis and Drake...

My gorgeous niece Demi...

My sweet Emma (can you believe she will be 8 in December?!!)

My kids digging away on the beach to find lost treasures (lids to alcoholic beverages, sticks, and a few cool rocks ha ha)

Chasers givin' me a good "Cheese!"

My little ladies dancing and so happy to be at the "beach"...until we hear SCREAMING!...All of a sudden Chad and my brother-in-law Tagg walk around this bush next to me and Chad is holding his arm and screaming! I knew he had walked over to the older boys to show them how to skim-board so I didn't think he was hurt that bad, but by the sounds of it I was sure he had sliced open his arm on something like broken glass or fallen on a big rock. When he got closer I realized his elbow was completely dislocated and the bones were jabbing out in odd directions. Tagg told me that he was doing tricks on the skim-board and fell with his right arm locked as all he put all his weight on it and it just popped right out of socket at the elbow and jabbed up towards his bicep. My reaction was so odd because as a Mom, when your kids get hurt you just want to pick them up and cuddle them to safety and make it better. However, with Chad, I quickly saw he was not in any mood to be touched let alone "cuddled". So I resisted my temptation to "Mother" him and we made a plan of action to quickly get everyone on the boat and get back to the dock as gently as possible. We called 911 and had an ambulance meet us at the dock. Chad and I sat on the bow of the boat and I held him around his waist just in case he passed out and decided to fall overboard! My poor kids were crying and everyone was so worried about Chad because he has never in the 8 years we have been married been hurt this badly! As we headed for the dock it seemed like it took at least 30 minutes to get there so we could avoid the waves and rocking. After examining his arm quickly the EMT's that were there said to take him to the hospital. Luckily one of his good friends was there the same time as us and he volunteered to take Chad with me to the hospital. BTW the skim-board is now firewood!

FYI: If you have an "emergency" and go to the ER, you can expect to not get help immediately, rather you can expect hours of waiting!

When we got to the hospital it was around 2pm, and it took until 3pm before he was in a room and being x-rayed! Then after they put him to sleep to relocate the elbow, it still took us until 6:30pm before he was braced and ready to leave! I was upset it took so long because every minute they didn't hurry, meant him sitting there in agonizing pain! Once we left, the verdict was that he had a dislocated elbow and had bone fragments that had broken off and shattered! He also was going to require surgery now! We couldn't believe that one quick mistake could be so painful, expensive, and take so long to recover from! We set his surgery for the following Wednesday. In the meantime I took on him as my 4th child because almost everything was impossible for him to do. No need to elaborate...

This was the day of his surgery and he was feeling somewhat better but was nervous of the outcome after surgery. Although oddly in this picture he looks pretty happy and content (and this is before the administered the pain/sleepy meds)!

He was not happy I was taking pictures so this is the last one I snapped before they hauled him away to the OR. You can see he was feeling nauseous too so they kept a barf-bag close just in case. I gave him a kiss and was escorted to the waiting room where I sat for 4 hours before they brought me back in. The doctor told me he had the most severe elbow injury he had seen in a long time and he ended up having to get a radial head replacement (meaning he has a metal socket now and will forever have a difficult time getting through airport security!) he also had over a dozen stitches internally to repair the torn ligaments, and finally they put 2 screws in his arm to hold a chunk of bone that broke off! 

Chad asked them to save the bones that had shattered and broken off for a souvenir for him (and no, the quarter was not in his arm too! Ha ha it's obviously just for size comparison). I just about died when I saw the size and extent of his injuries! It was so odd to be holding a broken piece of my husband's body! They also did something called a nerve block where he would have his right arm numb for the next 24 hours to help with the pain. After we went home and got settled it wasn't much different from the day before until the the nerve block wore off! You could tell he was in a great deal of pain so I rushed to the pharmacy to get his prescriptions while his Dad and Tagg came over to give him a blessing. Day 2 was the worst but each day he has had a little less pain and discomfort, but boy am I getting exhausted chasing my munchkins around all day and taking care of him as he needs it! I told Chad not to worry though because in a few months he will have plenty of opportunities to pay me back when this baby gets here! 

23rd-24th Pioneer Day Celebrations

I have been trying to give Chad time at home where he can rest in peace without the noise of the kids so Saturday morning we took them to the Ivins Pioneer Day parade. We went with a bunch of cousins and the kids got a lot of candy!

Emma, dressed as a pioneer...

Tay with Maysen

My nephew Case

My nephews Drake and Nick

My cute sister-in-law Ericka

Little blue-man Chase!

I couldn't get him to take his eyes off of the cars long enough to get a picture of him so I changed my angle...

Grandma and Grandpa Pete

The kids waiting for the candy to come flying their way...

waving to the people on the float...

After the parade we heard that Dillard's was doing a fun Enchanted fairy event for the kids so we headed over there to see all the fun.

They had a cute hide-n-seek game where you had to find 8 different images hidden around the kids section. Taylor was great at it!

Chase just wanted to run around and chase her!

Taylor was the first one finished and she got a treat too!

I mentioned that they were face-painting and so of course Chase was all over that idea! He chose the Harry Potter look and it turned out so cute!

He was a little shy at first...

Taylor went to the fortune teller and was so mesmerized by watching her!

She told her that good luck would be coming her way and she was right because we entered in the drawing for a kids wardrobe and Tay won!!!! She was so excited and she picked out tons of cute new clothes and shoes! It was definitely worth coming out and participating in this fun event!

Chase got a blue airhead and it turned his tongue blue! He was so shocked to see his tongue and hair matching that he would show anyone that would look!

Emma only wanted a drawing of a female version of Maximus the horse from Tangled on her arm. I thought the artist did a great job!

Emma insisted on wearing her Rapunzel hair agin all day and she was very proud of her horse arm! ha ha

Tay picked a cute fairy mask, in pink, of course! 

We had to take a picture with this sweet lady who did such cute artwork on my kids! Thank you Dillards! :D

 Then I took my kids back to Grandma Pete's house to swim!

 I probably should have bathed them BEFORE getting in the pool...Oops!

 Our family was here from Texas for 2 1/2 weeks and they played so well together and my kids loved having all the cousins there visiting!

 They got very creative with ways to go down the slide...

 It was nice to just sit and visit and watch the kids be so happy! I loved very minute!

 Chase really wanted to swim but I was in no mood to swim so Lexi volunteered and he was so happy!

 At our house we don't allow sleepovers, but we made an exception when the cousins came to visit and my girls spent 4 nights sleeping over! I thought they would never want to come home!

On the 24th, it was Sunday so we got dressed up in our patriotic attire. I tried to get some cute pics outside but it was obviously too bright!

We left Chad at home to rest while we went over to visit the cousins after church...

Drake decided he wanted to ride in Chase's seat ha ha

My cute niece Lexi and my girls!

Later that night we had everyone come over and visit while we lit off some awesome and finally legal fireworks!!!

Quite the crowd...sorry it's blurry, I blame operator error ha ha

pretty fireworks!!

relaxing on our grass and enjoying the show...

Emma was this excited! Haha

Maysen and Chasers

The crowd spectating

Sparkler time...

Lexi's Birthday

My niece Lexi came over on her birthday and shared her yummy cake from KNEADERS!!! We got her some cute jewelry and clothes...

My girls were being animals that night!

Here is where the caution noted above also comes into play...

Day 16: Removal of cast...

Because Chad was injured at a joint, you can't cast it or else it will lose ability to regain motion in that arm. So after 12 days from the surgery we went in to the doctor to have the staples and cast removed...

Chad had no desire to watch, but I took it upon myself to preserve this great memory ha ha!

surprisingly there was hardly any blood..

all the muscle in his arm looks gone now!

a close-up of the 6 inch incision before the staples were removed...

This is after the staples were removed. No, we did not leave with his arm like this, they put him in a hinge cast that moves to about 40 degrees and stops so he can start to regain some motion. It has already been a long and tough road to recovery for him and it looks like it will be quite a while longer. Chad asked if he could still go on a fly-fishing trip to Alaska at the end of August but the doctor laughed...I take that as a no! He told Chad he has about 3-6 months before he can even start to think about doing normal activities and another 3-6 months before he can try to do extensive activities! It was hard for Chad to hear that and I felt so bad for him but he needs to take time to heal, so let the recovery begin...

Shopping made fun...

a few months ago I bought this adorable, yet durable shopping cart at Harmons. If the kids come with me to the store I let them bring it to "help" me shop. I can't believe how many people comment on my little cart! I have even had people ask to take a picture with it! LOL

Each of them love it and take turns pushing it. (Note to self...buy 3 next time...)

Chase has the hardest time "sharing" it...

Real nice bud!

Now he got it so he is HAPPY!

He gloats a little to rub it in, luckily the girls are good sports about it! Just wait until little princess gets here and he will have a whole new sharing world to adjust to not being the "baby" anymore!

MMMM KNEADERS!

So in SLC they have this delicious bakery type restaurant called Kneaders that has become our favorite because it is also now in St. George!!!

I brought the kids the day it opened for lunch and dinner!!

I love that it is healthy and tastes good!

The kids meals also come with bubbles which my kids love too! If you haven't tried it, then you better! You will probably see us there! And no, I am not a paid advocate for Kneaders, but I should be ha ha! 

Fiesta Fun

Ever since Pirate Island went out of business, we have been forced to go to Fiesta fun to play games and win prizes. At least it is conveniently located across the street from our Auction. Chad being unable to travel also makes it hard to have fun these last few weeks of summer but we are doing our best and headed over to see what cheap wonderful prizes they could win! ha ha!

Taylor was so good at this motorcycle racing game and she really got into it!

She couldn't even look away to take a picture! ha ha

Emma kept winning the jackpots on the ball drop game, she takes after her Dad!

Emma came over to lend her support...

They ended up riding together and it was so funny to watch them lean and try to stay on course! 

They turned in their tickets and because Taylor spent most of her money riding that motorcycle game she had very few tickets. She was sad and when Emma saw her she told her she would split her tickets to make it fair! I love that she chose to share without being told and it makes me want to take them more often when they are so sweet to each other! It was a fun day!

The Latest Adventures of Chase-man...

Thank you Aunt Ericka for The GIANT sucker that occupied hours of a licking sugar-high!

At first glance you may not notice that inside this cool car is a ...

little boy taking a nap! Chase climbed inside and cozied up and took a nap in this sweet ride! ha ha

Cars are ALWAYS on Chase's mind...so yesterday I let him have an all "cars" day, first he picked out his favorite Cars shirt (which is odd that we own these shirts because I refuse to buy the cheaply made character attire) next he got his favorite blue truck, the essential cars snacks, followed by a comfy seat on the couch to watch no other than... CARS the movie (for like the 500th time LITERALLY!). I love my car obsessed sweet little Chase!

Sweet Emma

I have to relish in this moment and tell you how this came to be...

My kids love going to the library to pick out books and so we try to go as often as we can. I put a limit to 3 books each kid so we can keep track of them easily. We ended up going to the library on Monday and I told the kids to go pick out their books. Tay picked out a Tinkerbelle and a few other animal books, Chase picked 3 on monster trucks of course, but Emma shocked me when she walked towards me with 3 thick novels! I didn't try to make her put them back and pick "easier" ones, but I warned her she only had 2 weeks to read them before they would need to be returned. With that said, we left and headed home. She spent the rest of the day reading. Emma went to sleep early (like 7pm) because she said she wanted to wake up early too. I was totally fine with that but little did I know at 5am I can hear her up in her room moving around. I went to check on her and what was she doing? Reading! I said, "seriously kid...go to bed!" The next day first thing in the morning she started up with her book. We went to lunch that day and on the way home the kids wanted the movie turned off so they could read too! By the time I pulled into the garage and opened her door, I saw her dead asleep! Her lack of sleep finally caught up to her! I carried her to bed with a smile on my face to have such a bright and driven daughter! I love you Emma! BTW she just walked in here with her nose in her book to announce that she is already on chapter 6 (out of 15) page 42 (out of 180 pages) of the teen based book The Dragon Princess! (Proud mommy moment! Applause! :D)

More Girl Scout Fun!

Emma and Taylor are both in Daisies and they have a blast at every single activity with their troop! This week we went to the St. George Splash pad and played in the water and games on the lawn there. I am so happy I got them signed up in such a great troop with such a fun leader! Thanks Cari!

Chase even joined in the fun!

Teacher Gifts!

I get so excited and anxious each year for school to start but knowing they are going to be in good hands with amazing teachers really helps. Anyways, all this says is "I am so excited you are my teacher because I know with you we will have a WHOPPER of a good year!" I thought it was a good idea but Chad thinks that I am being a suck-up and that this will get my girls beat up LOL! I can assure you that by 6th grade I will not send such cheesy gifts! I am just so excited and thought this was a cute, simple, and fun way to say "Yeah you are my teacher"!