Life is Crazy

We walked away relatively unharmed. Randy and I were coming back from a temple trip to pick up our boys. We were headed East on 800 South. The other driver was headed North on 700 East. We had the green light and were fully in the middle of the intersection when the other driver hit us - our light was green for a few seconds so the other driver must have been distracted by something and didn't even see that she had a red light (texting maybe?). Randy tried his best to hit the brakes, but everything happened so fast. Thankfully she didn't hit my side - I may have had a different story to tell today.

I was taken by ambulance to University of Utah hospital and was kept there overnight to monitor the baby. He was a champ through it all - kicking and somersaulting like nothing ever happened. The boys stayed that night with our friends who were watching them. We're a little bruised and sore today, and pretty shaken up, but it could have been a lot lot worse. We're heartbroken about our car, it was paid for and we really loved it. But as one of the witnesses of the accident said, "Life is crazy sometimes."

Randy had the week off and we were a able to relax and enjoy each other - we had a low stress agenda of getting some things done around the house, taking the boys up the canyon for tin-foil dinners and roasted marshmallows, going to This Is The Place park; Randy went on a day hike, I slept in every morning and took naps with Joshy every afternoon. We even fit in a long overdue trip to the temple. I'm glad we had that lovely time together because I'm sure we're going to be dealing with some stress trying to replace our car and getting everything situated with our insurance.

I am also grateful for an article I read a few weeks prior that I got in my email inbox. It talked about how to protect the baby in the event of a car accident and how to wear your seatbelt. After reading that article, I made sure I followed its advice (keeping your seat as far as it can from the airbags, wearing the seatbelt under the belly, etc.). There was also an accident Thursday morning on 700 East involving a pregnant woman who was 7 1/2 months along and her baby didn't make it. I've been thinking about her ever since I read about the story and my heart aches for her. To lose a baby when you're so close would be devastating. I thought about how random her accident was - and when we were driving to and from the temple I was very aware of the other drivers and hoping the same thing wouldn't happen to us - it just goes to show you that these things sometimes can't be prevented no matter how cautious you are.

When I was in the temple yesterday, there was a brief moment when I was thinking about the baby and visualizing his delivery and our first meeting, I felt reassurance that that day would soon come - that experience was a comfort to me on the way to the hospital when we weren't sure how the baby was yet. Life is crazy and sometimes out of control, but we are given many tender mercies. Thank goodness for that.

**Update: We were able to replace our van and received a settlement from our insurance company in 5 days! We feel so blessed that we didn't have to focus on this with the baby coming so soon**

Short Horned Lizard

Randy found this on one of his runs up the canyon. We think it's a "Short Horned Lizard." The boys loved it! It was kind of a dumb little thing, though. We kept it in a bowl, and never once did it try to escape. It let the boys carry it around all over the place. We even left it outside overnight and it didn't budge, it was still there in the bowl the next morning. We drove up to the canyon for tin-foil dinners & roasted marshmallows and let it go there. I'm always afraid that when we catch things that we'll kill them, so we try to let them go soon after we catch them. I have a bad track record for keeping pets alive.

Little Miss Meg

Cousin Megan (& Aunt Maranda) at 7 months...

What a Good Lookin' Family!

Andrew's Birthday Weekend

Andrew turned 6 this weekend and we had fun celebrating!

On the morning of his birthday, Andrew opened his present from us (Razor Scooter), then we took Lamby I & Lamby II on a train ride to the downtown library. The Lamby's were dropped off and got to have a "sleepover". The next morning, we picked them up and watched a video of all the fun things they did. They roasted marshmallows, watched a movie, looked at art, made their own art, and wathed the sunset. It was sooooooooo adorable! The boys loved it!




That night, we went to IHOP for dinner (Andrew's choice) and then Chuck E. Cheese to play games:

Then the next day, we went to Grandma & Grandpa's house, and the boys & Rand had a campout in the backyard (Andrew made it the whole night, Joshy didn't):

We finished the weekend with a family party:

Universe DVD from Grandmas Doris & baseball mitt from Grandma & Grandpa

Cute book from Grandma & Grandpa

Water guns from Aunt Maranda & Uncle Tyler

Bean Bag Toss from Grandma & Grandpa

Fun facts about Andrew:

• He loves to learn. Each week when we go to the library, we get books about a topic that Andrew is interested in that week (some of the things we have learned about: tornadoes, space, lightning bugs, human body, lightning, seals, dolphins...). I learn right along with him! We've also been reading the Magic Tree House series each night (well, almost each night) - we're finally at the point where we can read books without pictures on every page.
  
• He is still fascinated with bugs. He went to a week-long "Bug Club" day camp this summer (of course, no pictures). We've been trying all summer to catch some Monarch caterpillars up by Grandma & Grandpa's house with no luck, but he always comes away with some sort of creepy-crawly creature.
  
• He is a swimmer! We spent 4 weeks this summer doing swim lessons and he did great! (again, no pictures)
• He loves doing crafts and begs for them almost on a daily basis.
  
• He is a great helper. I'm always asking him to fetch me something and he does it without complaints.
• He is " tall and weighs - he's all arms & legs!
  

"It's in the refrigerator. The door is closed, the lights are out. The eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard, and the jello is jiggling."

I miss Chick Hearn. Go Lakers (vs. Celtics 4-3) - what a fun showdown to watch!

Backyard Art

Josh's Masterpiece

"Space Planets Sinking in Water" by Andrew

School Field Trip

During the last week at school, Andrew's class went on a field trip to the zoo. Instead of taking a bus and going in one large group, the parents split the class into groups and we carpooled there. We got to take cute little Lizzy & Amelia with us. And of course, Joshy got to tag along.

Take a picture, it will last longer

We said goodbye to Kindergarten today. Well, technically Andrew's last day is on Tuesday, but today we sifted through all of his school work and art projects. I didn't have the heart to throw anything away during the school year - each piece of paper showed his progress and made me so proud. I threw all of his papers and artwork into a drawer - we had quite the collection! Andrew and I worked together to sort each piece into a "recycle," "keep," and "take a picture, then throw it away," pile. I'm planning to make a book out of the pictures we took. Randy was the one that had to throw everything away, though, it broke my heart a little.

When Andrew first started school, he was generally the last kid to finish his work. While his classmates were busy doing their work, he was staring off into La-La land. He wasn't distracting to the other kids, but it took him awhile to get going. The other kids got "free choosing" time after they completed their work, and Andrew rarely did. I was in his class every other week and it was frustrating for me to watch! But after a couple of months, something just clicked in his brain and he just got it. He did his work and had enough time for free choosing. His handwriting, cutting & coloring improved. He rarely needed help from me when he did homework at home - and often, he'd ask for more homework and so I had to make things up for him. His reading skills improved a ton and he read over 100 books with me!

I don't think we could have received a better Kindergarten experience. Mrs. McDonald is amazing - she is one of those that everything she touches turns to gold. She is a perfectionist and very thorough - she was able to accomplish so much in a short time. She also taught them silly songs and poems and was so kind and gentle. I also grew to love her aid, Miss Alisha. At first, I wasn't so sure about her. I think she thought I was a crazy, overprotective parent (I was), but I think our first impressions of each other changed by the end of the year.

Penguin March

I have a video camera. With two batteries. The night before, I thought to myself that I ought to make sure the batteries were charged, but I thought, "I have two, we're good." Both were dead. Note to self: Check batteries before special events like this!

Thankfully, I also brought my camera. Andrew's class performed in the cutest play...

The painted feet killed me

The perfectionist Mrs. McDonald, pinning Andrew's wings on the "right" way. His mommy is retarded.

Andrew had a few of his neighborhood friends in his class: Fiel Woods, Tyler Randall, & Isaiah Halverson

Friends

Kenzie, Andrew, Josh, Tyler, Darin in our ghetto, yet lovely basement

I had a devious plan to take a little snooze while watching five children. I fed them lunch, let them play for an hour, then got out the air bed, turned the lights off and put on a movie. Mercifully, they watched the entire movie while I folded laundry and then napped in the recliner next to them. A win-win. We'll miss the Randalls who are moving to Iowa this week for residency.

Private Blog

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