A Week in Review...

Slow summer days...things making me smile...

• A trip to the pool...cast and all!
• Sun kissed shoulders.
• Lunch by the pool.
• A trip to Barnes and Noble for some fun summer reading - for Gabe.
• Racing Gabe in the hall on his crutches :) He's getting really good!
• A new DVD player.
  
• Yardwork.
• Finding Emma (several times) working at Jesse's desk while he wasn't home.
• A new structure in my backyard (pictures to come later).
• Emmas new words: "Dang-it" "Oh, man!" "De-licious" "Guess what"
  
• A summer Enrichment Picnic with NO kids. Thanks, Jesse. I needed it.
• Another night at Hale Center Theater - "The Curious Savage". What a great message.
• Babysitting group. Both of them. LOVE them.
• Good friends.
• And last but NOT least - an air conditioner!! Mine broke for a day, and then was miraculously fixed. How did I grow up without AC???
  

Flashback Friday...

Redfish Lake, Summer of 1995


Every summer my family took a trip to Redfish Lake in Idaho. It is so beautiful! Now that I am a mother, I admire my Mom and her meticulous preparation for our family vacation. There were 7 of us total. She would pack all of our clothes and food...enough for 7 days of camping. Now, this was REAL camping that we did. We would park the truck on one side of the lake and then take the boat with all of us and our supplies to the other side of the lake for 7 days. Tent, outhouse, firepit...you get the picture. Did I mention it was usually for SEVEN days? Oh, we had so much fun on these trips...a hike to the Lily Pond, playing in the lake, waterskiing, a long hike one day. We were in heaven. The picture above is of me and my 3 older sisters on one of those long hikes to some gorgeous lake hidden in the mountains. Sorry to say, that I hate camping now. Maybe it is because it is me, and not my mom, who is doing all of the prep work. And, oh ya, I hate getting dirty and smelling like smoke. Sorry, mom. But I do have wonderful memories of those summers spent at Redfish Lake.

A Week in Review...

I have learned this week that I take some simple things in life for granted:

• Kids who can dress themselves.
• Kids who can walk in the grocery store without crutches.
  
• An 8 year old who is a big helper - when he is not on crutches.
• Sleeping in the same bed as my husband. (Somehow Gabe and Jess have switched beds...)
• Water proof casts and Orthopedic Surgeons.
  
• Good friends who show up when least expected but when needed the most.
• Good friends who shower Gabe with attention.
• A husband who is such a "handy man".
  
• Green in my garden.
• A car, even though gas is so expensive.
• Water for my lawn.
• A properly working DVD player - mine broke. VHS what?? Yes, we still own one and still use it...
  

Flashback Friday...

In honor of our little dare devil, Flashback Friday shows cast #1. This was August of 2004. He was climbing UP the slide when someone came down the correct way and knocked him off. Dad and Grandpa Madsen actually cut this cast off. So naughty.

I just have to point out that I LOVE Gabe's big brown eyes, his cute little button nose, his sweet smile...isn't he so darn cute??

Gabe Update...

Gabe has been doing so well, considering what happened to him. He has mastered the crutches already. He figured out to go up and down the stairs outside on his crutches, and scoots on his bum going up and down stairs in the house. We got his cast on today and he picked...



Looks good, huh? Check out the purple bruise on his bicep...

We truly have the greatest friends and neighbors. So many calls to offer to take Emma or come sit with Gabe. He has had a Rootbeer Float (his favorite!), ice cream, shakes, water guns, movies, coloring books....so spoiled! His friends have been super cute. Brady and Nathan from across the street came over Monday with ace bandages wrapped around their arms and legs. Today, Nathan showed up like this...

He said he was awfully sweaty...

Ouch!

Sunday afternoon, our family took a nice walk to a park above our house. Emma rode in the stroller and Gabe strapped on his helmet and rode his bike. It is quite a little hill to climb from our house to the park. We enjoyed talking with neighbors, watching the kids play on the playground, and reading the newspaper. When it was time to head down the hill, Gabe took off on his bike and we followed him with Emma in the stroller. Not too far down the hill a car pulled up asking if we had a little boy riding a bike. Oh, dear...yep, we do. He was at the bottom of the hill and hurt badly. The guy took Jesse to the bottom in his car, and I ran with Emma in the stroller. When we got to the bottom, we found a sobbing Gabe, a wrecked bike, and a rod iron fence that looked like this...

A guy from our ward saw it all happen and called 911....he said Gabe was literally flying down the hill. We don't know if he froze up and couldn't pull the brakes....who knows. But he hit the curb and then the fence. Thank goodness for helmets...his is cracked. Kids - wear your helmets. The ambulance came, and then we took him to the ER to have his leg x-rayed. And...it's broke. This is just a splint. We get the cast on Wednesday for 6-7 weeks. (Any ideas for summer fun with a cast?)

His face is pretty bruised up...

And his arms...
But he gets to do this all day...eat Skittles and watch movies...

Flashback Friday...

Dresden, Germany in front of the Elbe River.

Fourteen years ago, I graduated from High School and then spent a month in Germany with the German Club from school. What a great experience it was for a small town teenager getting ready to venture out on her own. I stayed with a family whose daughter had stayed with my family the year before. What sweet memories...I ate my weight in pastries...good thing we rode bikes everywhere.

Can you find me in the picture? I am in the black shirt on the right. With the pants cinched up above my bellybutton, shirt tucked in, and rolled up shorts. You can't see my feet, but I can guarantee I am wearing black socks (what else - you must match your socks with your shirt) and probably those brown leather lace up boots. You know the ones. You all had a pair.

One regret I have - not being a little older while I was there. I'm sure I would have appreciated the entire experience a little more.

One thing I did right - I gathered lots of postcards, took pictures of people and little details I wanted to remember, then came right home and made a scrapbook while it was all fresh in my mind.

A Week In Review...

A little late, but still...here's what made me smile last week:

• Friends coming to stay with us on their way to Texas. They were our first "married" friends after we were married. It doesn't matter how long it has been since we have seen them, we still pick up right where we left off.
• Bath and Body Works Semi-Annual Sale.
• Jesse taking the kids to see Kung Fu Panda.
• Taking Emma for rides in her birthday wagon.
• Seeing my flowers grow...slowly...
• Another night of Hand and Foot with the Bennett's. We lost...that's okay...winners bought ice cream! Yummy!
  
• Taking a walk at Thanksgiving Point Gardens.
• Eating ice cream from JCW's.
• Signing the family up for the 4th of July Freedom Run. 5K...do you think Gabe can do that?
  

So Tired...

I found Emma like this during lunch the other day...

Emma's Celebrations...

This is at a picnic at a park by our house. My friends are so thoughtful. They brought balloons and cupcakes. Emma looks mesmerized by the flame!

Emma and Cha Cha kissing at her party.

Another cupcake. This one from Dippidee's. Yum, yum! I think Dad and Gabe blew the candles out.

Emma now has a new nickname...Paris. Ty, Sarah, and Andie gave Emma this glamour set. Complete with a purse, sunglasses, fake lipstick, car keys, and high heels. So perfect!

And the princesses take a ride in the new wagon...

Flashback Friday...

Me and my little sis, Nell.

This must be about 1979. Check out our shirts. Classic.

A Week in Review...

What a week....Here is what made me smile this week...

• Gabe's Dance Festival...nothing like seeing your 8 year old boy dance with sunglasses! I loved it! He's got some mad dancing skills.
• Gabe finishing 2nd Grade - way to go, bud!
• Emma turning 2!
  
• A picnic at the park with some great friends. They even brought balloons for Emma's birthday, cupcakes, and candles.
  
• ALL the kids got candles in their cupcakes. So cute!
• Seeing our best friends, The Christensen's, finish their home to be in the Parade of Homes. It is AMAZING! And so are they!
• Annie Get Your Gun at the Hale Center Theater with our great friends, The Longs. We have season tickets with them every year. This was one of our favorite performances.
• Planting flowers in my front yard and pots.
  
• Spending part of the weekend in Park City with Jesse - JUST US!
  
• My Mom and Dad watching our kids.
• A Princess Birthday Party for Emma and 3 of her Princess Friends.
• Dippidee cupcakes at the Princess Party in place of cake. Oh, they are so divine!
• Emma calling Jesse's Truck "Mommy's Truck" since I am driving it now. I usually drive around less, so I get the gas hog.