Mac's Primary Talk

Mac did a super job writing his talk with Zach and then reading the whole thing by himself. He has only been in kindergarten for 3 weeks but over the summer became a fairly proficient reader. Here it is:

Mom and dad teach us to be obedient. They want us to be obedient so that we can go back to live with our Father in Heaven. Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." We should obey because we love Jesus. I love Jesus because he created the earth. I love Jesus because he died for us so that we can live again. I love Jesus because he tells us when we are doing something bad or dangerous. I know that if we keep the commandments, we will be happy. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Three First day and a Photobomer

         Mac started Kindergarten last week and absolutely loves it. He was super excited to begin school at Ridgeview. This is due partially to his older brothers and partially because we have been talking it up a lot. The little smarty pants already knows how to read and write, add and subtract and even multiply a little bit but there is so much more that he will enjoy learning this year. During his first week he told me that he learned the seven continents and how not to exclude people. I told him that the seven continents were important but that not excluding people was even more important and that he would need to remember that the rest of his life. All three boys seem to be off to a good start. Gabe's summer math work has paid off and they let him move into 6th grade math. This is great since when he started at Ridgeview he was a grade behind, now he is two grades ahead. I know it will be challenging, but I hope they all have a wonderful year.

54 Years and still going Strong

I think people should be celebrated. Zach's parents just celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary last week and I wanted to make them a gift. I burned all the names of their grandchildren, 45 in all, on the back of a cutting board with the year they were married in the middle. (If I had waited another month I could have filled in the last spot with Fort Collin's baby #6, maybe I'll do that when I go out in  June.) What a blessing their marriage has been to so many people, not least of which is all their posterity. 
Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!

Growing Grandparents

     G is for growing gardens and grandparents. This past week has been filled with both. We had the pleasure of my mom, Barry and cousin Riley visiting last week with a night of cousin Tanner squished in there on his way back to BYU. They left on Wednesday, I changed the bed sheets, and Zach's folks flew in Thursday. Ben and Joy will be coming for a quick overnight on Sunday to see Zach's parents and for Josh to receive his patriarchal blessing. A full house and a full heart here in Fort Collins.

David sticking his head out of the green beans

Little Kenny reading to Big Kenny

Last of Summer

Just a little last minute summer fun before school starts. Under the pretext of washing Betty (our van), this crew got out their squirt guns and some soapy water and had at it.  Some how Gabe ended up in the water bucket. We are enjoying summer till the last minute. 

Ruthie's Broken Arm

Zach already did a thorough job telling this story so I'll just copy and paste it in case you didn't catch it in the family letter:

Let’s be clear up front: Ruth Anne is doing just fine. Yes, her arm is broken, but she’s recovering nicely and in great spirits. In fact, thanks to the sedative she was given during our hospital trip, she remembers almost nothing from the experience other than being given a stuffed animal and lots of princess stickers. I think she regards the whole experience as a long date with Dad. That being said, the sedative that has bequeathed Ruthie happy hospital memories made it something of a horror show for Dad. But I get ahead of myself: let’s back up.

Ruth broke her arm on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 PM while climbing down from the trampoline. She wasn’t jumping crazily; she wasn’t jostled by her bigger brothers. She just slipped and put out her arm to brace herself for the fall. Alana was gone, shopping at Walmart. I was in the front yard at the time, getting ready to do some painting. I heard her cry out, but she wasn’t particularly loud, and she didn’t come running around the house, so I kept moving. When she kept moaning/softly crying (WAY softer than when she’s offended, for instance), I put down the can of paint I’d been preparing to open and walked to the back yard. When I saw her lying on the ground, I knew something was wrong. Once I got close enough to see her arm, I knew what was wrong. Between her left elbow and left wrist, the arm dipped in an U-shape; it was obviously and traumatically broken. I called the older three boys inside, assigned Gabe to read a book, left David in charge of Lincoln until Alana returned, locked all the house doors, and put Ruth in the van. I couldn’t buckle her into a car seat for fear of jarring her arm, so I drove very slowly to the emergency room.

Other than her time in that car seat, she was in my arms more or less continuously from 3:30 to 10 PM. And while she cried a bit and asked for Mom, she really never shrieked or screamed or threw a fit; at times it wasn’t even clear that she was feeling any pain. She fell asleep on several occasions in my arms (she gets quite tired in the afternoons anyways, and I’m sure the shock left her more drained than usual). After we arrived at the ER, she let the nurse stick her hand with an IV without so much as a whimper; as all of the nurses commented at some point, “She’s better than most of my adult patients!”

Once the orthopedist showed up to set Ruth’s arm, the doctor administered a sedative through that IV: ketamine. Unfortunately, Ruth experienced a relatively rare side effect of that drug; her vocal chords began to spasm, she couldn’t swallow the copious amounts of saliva stimulated by the ketamine, and because of those two reactions, she briefly stopped breathing. The doctor “bagged” her (pumping oxygen into her lungs via a facemask) and periodically suctioned the saliva from her mouth; a cardiac resuscitation unit was called, and there was a real possibility that they would intubate her. I could see in the faces of those working to raise her oxygen levels that there was palpable fear that she could die or (through lack of oxygen) experience permanent damage. At one point in this sequence of events a nurse placed her hand on my shoulder and asked, “Is there anyone you want me to call?” That question was the most troubling and fear-inducing moment of the entire experience.

Notwithstanding the urgency of the situation, I was quite calm throughout; once the moment of crisis had passed, it seemed like my lack of angst was about all the nurses could talk about. I asked: “Would you have been comforted or worked more effectively if I was screaming at you?” This is the second time that I’ve been the responsible party present when a member of my nuclear family was in real, life-threatening medical danger (the first was when Alana delivered Gabe; she picked up an infection that had us all worried).

Because Ruth reacted poorly to the ketamine the doctor wanted to admit her for the night, but I insisted that—as Ruth eventually woke up—she be given the benefit of the doubt and discharged. What she really needed was a good night’s sleep in her own bed (which she would NOT have received in the hospital) and to see her mother, who she asked for CONSTANTLY during those six hours (to the point that I began to feel a little unwanted). And when Ruth woke up Sunday morning chipper and cheerful, I felt completely vindicated in my push for discharge (3.5 hours after her reaction). She’s her normal happy self and, as I said, seems in retrospect to regard her hospital visit as a daddy-daughter date. All is well; happy day. Well, until I get the ER bill. Eesh.

This picture was especially pitiful

Splinted

Finally, the bright pink cast. Can't dampen her spirits, she is even back to jumping on the trampoline. Should be off in about a month.

Husband of my heart at the Piano

Zach wanted some shots for academic purposes so we had a mini session in our front room. He's a lot easier to photograph than children, let me tell you. I think my two favorites are him looking at the music on the piano and the serious black and white profile. You can  leave a comment on which you think he should use on his web page and to send to his editor.