Glad That Day Is Over

Surgery went well yesterday, and we are very grateful to everyone who helped, prayed, and sent good blessings. In fact, the patient was in no pain yesterday and is still sleeping this morning as I type this (10:30 am).

Check out this xray. Notice that yes, it was taken at a veterinarian's office. Our next-door-neighbor owns the joint and wanted to see the bent plate. It's a great xray for showing the break and the bent plate. There is now a new, slightly longer plate in his arm. The doctor told us the break went together so nicely when they fixed it that he had a hard time even seeing it once the plate was on. And he did graph a little bone from his wrist into the break to expedite healing.

Our thanks to Grandma, who came over, watched the children, took them to lunch at Burger King, and made sure they made it to their swimming lessons. And a special thanks to the princess for taking such good care of Isaiah! Heaven help us!

Chicken Feed

The kids got invited over to our neighbors' to help feed the chickens. They were SOOOO excited, and yes, they are in their pjs. By the way, that's a lot of chickens, but we've never heard a sound from them. Those are nice chickens.

Exhausted

Ariana was reading during the late afternoon, when I heard snoring coming from her book. She was sleeping!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Oops! He was sleeping too. But I guess he wasn't too comfortable...

He woke up long enough to come join his sister on the couch. They slept through the door bell and a visit w/my neighbor, the phone ringing a couple of times, and Grandma coming over to visit. We had to wake them up for dinner. It's rough having all this fun.!

Lunch with the Prince

It's a good day when you get to have lunch with your cousin at McDonald's. Happy Meals are an added bonus. The prince was a good sport, but when lunch was over he said to us (sitting at the next table), "It's time to GO." There's only so much chatter and giggling a teen can take.

Lake Elmo

With no swimming lessons this afternoon, we headed to the lake for a water fix.

It looks like they had the lake to themselves, but they didn't really.

Isaiah (center on shore tipping a bucket) making friends.

Ariana making friends. (They were playing with crawdads. GROSS!)

Good times!

Princess Camp

Ariana attended dance camp this week. Three hours each morning and studying a different princess each day and learning about the culture of the place that princess came from, not to mention crafts and snacks equals one good week!

Learning some cool dance moves!

Supervising crown placement.

Check out our cool tutus we made!

With the instructor, Carissa.

A Princess Dance

As luck would have it, the princess and Christian helped with Princess Camp, so you can also see them in the video. They are all just soooo regal!

Cool Cousins

I think they worship the princess ALMOST as much as they worship their big sister!

Misc. Fun

Clowning around with Mulan hats from Princess Camp.

They tear a link off each day and write a message on it.
This is how they know when their mama will come to get them.
The messages are for their family members.
Yeah, I know, I'm cool.



At swimming lessons.

Cat House

Isaiah and "Black Cat". After visiting the iris garden he told Ariana, "I got to go to the cat house." OOPS! What he meant was there were 4 cats at this house! Gotta be careful how you word things, and never believe what a 5-yr-old tells you if it sounds suspicious!

Slave Labor

Cousins are fun!

We having been having lots of fun with the cousins while they are here. This is just a small sample of all the fun we've been having. By the way, "exhausted" doesn't even begin to describe how we all felt last night, but we're all well-rested today and ready for more.

Playing on an interactive board at the library.


Isaiah at the iris garden.

Princess Ariana sunning herself--she's also reading.

Scooters--it's either this or Uncle Rich makes us move rock.


A little catnap after swimming lessons.

Some Good News

We saw the orthodontist today. The princess will get her braces off on August 2. Woot, woot...less than 2 years in braces. She is one happy camper!

About The Red Tent

About the "Red Tent" by Anita Diamant: Mary Beth didn't like it nearly as much the second time, but for me, the second time was almost as good as the first. I still rank it as one of the best books I've read. I love the Biblical history and the female point-of-view.

What are the odds?

I should really take the prince to Vegas. I don't know what kind of luck he'd have there, but if today is any indication, he'll win by a long shot! He took his long board out today--with the same friend he rode with when he broke his arm last fall--and guess what? Yep. Broke the same arm again today!!! Bent the plate and broke the bone (one bone instead of two this time). He's in much less pain, but of course this happened when orthopedics was closed so we got to go to the ER. They set it, but we have to get into ortho tomorrow to determine what will need to be done. There will be surgery; just not sure when or how much. He's resting comfortably tonight with only Tylenol. Oh yes, and he's selling his long board. Anyone interested? Oh, and yes, he was wearing his helmet.

Happy Belated Father's Day

I'm a day late, but the sentiment's the same. Happy Father's Day to Grandpa and the king!

On Father's Day you deserve a back rub...where's Rachel when you need her? :)

Road Trip FINAL DAY!!!

Oh sweetness. Nothing better on a long car trip than a sleeping 5-yr-old! We made it home safely, and I'm pretty sure none of us want to be in a car for a long time!!!

Road Trip Day 13

We had the most beautiful ride today, albeit the LONGEST!!!! Mostly because we were bumper to bumper going 5 (yes, FIVE) MPH for a long mountain stretch. But we made it to Denver by 8:30 and got to visit the cousins for a bit before bed.

Road Trip Day 12

We had to leave Arizona today in the late afternoon for the long trip home. Is it a bad omen that it was a full moon? We did opt not to drive through southern AZ and New Mexico, as the wild fire had the interstate had the road closed part of the day before. Instead we headed north to go south...Yep, full moon.

Road Trip Day 11

Grandma made smoothies! Yum!

Night swim...our last night.

Road Trip Day 10

It's supposed to reach 114* here today. The girls are refusing to get in the car and want to watch tv in the air-conditioned house all day. Fine by me! :) I think the pool will be calling us all later!

Road Trip Day 9

We got back in the car today for the 1.5 hour drive to the Outlet Mall in Primm, NV. We all had great success here; we left several hours later, and each of us had at least 2 bags of "goods". We are now officially out of money! :)

Road Trip Day 8

We spent the morning at a Vegas Outlet Mall then got in the car for many more hours of driving, arriving in Arizona in the late afternoon. The payoff for all that time in the car...POOL TIME at Grandma and Grandpa's!

Road Trip Day 7--Vegas Baby!

Today we arrived in sunny Las Vegas. We stayed at NYNY Hotel, and we got the BEST room with 2 walls of windows, great strip views, and a sweet elevator that served only a few floors so we rarely had to wait. Gotta love Vegas in the summer...great room rates and slightly smaller crowds.

Our view from one of our windows. We walked over to M&M World and Coca-Cola World to shop. Temperatures were probably in the 80*s so it was NICE!

M&M World


"Brooklyn Bridge" behind the girls.

Poolside!

They rode the wild roller coaster--TWICE--and loved it.

Road Trip Day 6

Today we hit the outlet mall, which was a bit of a disappointment to the girls. It's not a huge mall...like it used to be. There were only about 5 stores and only 2 we went in. Shelley and I bought pants, but the girls didn't find anything they couldn't live without. We had a healthy salad lunch then rested awhile...lettuce takes it out of you. We then tried to take the girls mini golfing, but you had to buy the pizza buffet to enjoy mini golf. WHAT??? We landed at the Living Aquarium, a small but well-priced aquarium. I didn't take my camera so had to use my phone. The better photo came off Shelley's phone. Panda Express for dinner. It was a good day!

Road Trip Day 5 The Mayan

We had dinner at the Mayan--a dining adventure. It's a cool, Mexican restaurant with cliff divers who dive every 20 minutes of so. It was delicious AND entertaining, and we're grateful to Shelley for taking us there! :)