Four in Elementary School

Today was the first day of school. It was so fun to see the kids get so excited laying out their school outfits, stuffing their backpacks with supplies and hurrying to get all their work done before school so that they would be early for the bus. I am so excited for J Man. It is his first day of Kindergarten. He did not want Mom to take him or pick him up. I am sure he will have a great day but I just wish I could have been a little bit more a part of it. All my kids were way too independent going off to Kindergarten.

With school starting I am very excited for Baby R. Finally some time for me to focus just on her and she gets to call all the shots.

Dad has his first day with the 8th graders tomorrow. He has a lot of great plans for the kids and hopes to have a great year. Good luck to everyone.

Weight Limit

We had a seat on our couch that my friend claims was hard on her self esteem because every time you sat in it you would fall through. When my grandpa dropped by on his way to Portland he noticed that broken seat and instead of avoiding it, he turned it upside down and spent the next two hours with Dad fixing it and the ottoman. We decided that a weight limit sign should be posted on the seat, anyone exceeding 164.5 lbs. should not sit there. Before dinner Grandpa decided to relax on the newly repaired seat. I think he exceeded the weight limit, but I let it slide this one time.

Red Eyes and Dog Bites

The not-so-fun events of the summer were Mr. M's eye surgery and Little L's dog attack. Starting with Mr. M, he has been told since he was two that he could have surgery on his right eye to make it more straight (it turned in a bit more than it should.) Anyhow, this was the year he chose to do it. On a Wed. night Mr. M was at home getting a blessing from Dad and then we were off to stay in Portland with our friend Jean (she was a fantastic hostess!!) On Thurs. morning we went to see Dr. Reznik, had his eye measured, and went to get prepped for surgery. After changing into his lovely gown Mr. M got to drink some very yucky pink stuff and then was taken away to the surgery room while I waited in the waiting room. Once in surgery they gave him a general anesthesia, did his IV and then opened his eye with a special septum. The muscles on both sides of his right eye were cut, his eye was repositioned, and then the muscles were sutured up. Waking up after surgery was hard but after an hour we were back at Jean's where he took another nap and then by dinner he was his old self again, except for his "zombie" eye. His eye is almost completely healed now and Mr. M says he can see forward now with both eyes. We are so glad that things went well.

Unlike Mr. M's surgery, Little L's experience this summer was not planned at all. We were enjoying a relaxing day at the river and at one point I took the two youngest out into the water to play. Little L saw a neighbor come down to our little park with her two Dobermans and so she went up to play with them. As she was playing catch with one of the dogs, the ball got close to the second dog and he lunged at her and locked his jaws on her thigh. The owner, who had been holding him when he bit her, pried open his jaw to get her free but then he attacked her on her back. By then she was screaming and I was scrambling to get to shore. By the time I got to her the owner had sent the dog home with her son and called 911. Little L was in complete shock from the experience and all the blood an the holes in her leg were making her really weak. We got her to the car, I dropped the kids off at home and then drove her to the hospital. Dad met us there and gave her a blessing before she was treated by the nurses. It was such a blessing that a family friend who is an RN was working that day. He took such good care of her. The bites were irrigated and the holes sutured just enough to allow them to seep but not have them be gaping holes. She had 10 stitches in all. There was a hole on the top of her scapula, one under her arm and numerous ones on her leg. The animal control officer said it was the worst bite he had seen this year. Yikes!! Luckily she is doing well now, healing up just fine and still loves to play with dogs.

Gymnastics Party

Our friends from gymnastics invited us and some of the other coaches' families to their grandparents house to swim. This is their pool. My friend Laura's husband and his brothers built this with cement!! If you double click on the picture you can see the kids on the rocks in the background...Yeah, it is that big!! There are two water slides, a rope swing and plenty of waterfalls to jump off of. Kid paradise in someone's backyard!! The rope swing was so much fun. It is quite a drop. I got the butterflies doing it and just for the record, all of the four oldest went off the rope swing. Baby R opted for the slide. They are gutsy kids!

Baughman Family Reunion

We had a ton of fun this year at Lake of the Woods with our Baughman family. We spent most of the days at the Lake boating and playing in the water. Susie again provided treats for everyone as they played. Aunt Janet brought up some beads and the kids had a blast making bracelets with her. Uncle Jay brought some airplanes and scented bubbles that the kids had fun playing with at the water. There was a fantastic game of Big Booty led by Susie of course, bike riding, a cousins' hike, slumber parties, story telling and a paddle boat ride for anyone lucky enough to call my sister Aunt Netty. Fun was had by all. Thanks Kevin for organizing things and Grandpa for getting the boat ready and being the reason we all get together. (BTW, if you want to see a picture of Grandpa you have to look for the person in the red hat in the last picture.)

Gunnell Family Reunion

Our family went to Bear Lake this year for a Gunnell Family Reunion. We all had a blast. The kids mentioned loving the Karaoke/ Dance night, horseback riding, boating and playing at the lake, and most of all, hanging out with their cousins. It was a great week. Mr. M and I had our first day wake boarding and the oldest three had their first hour long horseback riding excursion. Thank you Grandma and Aunt Sherri for all you did to make this happen. Thanks to Aunt Julie and Danny for brining their boats and thanks to the rest of you for being so much fun. We love you.

Vance Reunion

This year, Grandma Vance organized a reunion for all of her kids and grandkids. Since Uncle Gary's family and ours couldn't be in Utah at the same time she did two reunions almost exactly alike so that it was almost like we were all together. The fun included going to the Dinosaur Museum, two fun water parks, an adult luncheon with great conversation, a morning at Chuck E Cheese with a ton of tokens, a Gardner family dinner for Grandpa's birthday and a hike. It was a fantastic time with our family. Thanks Grandma!!