Bones are Fragile

Today Claire and I drove with some friends to a water park in a nearby city and arrived to find the city doing maintenance. Annoying! So we came back close to home to go a park with a small water feature. Claire wasn't too excited about the water and all the slides were really hot. I thought of the great idea of going down on a towel. We went down once, she loved it. We went down again and her foot caught on the slide at the end. I watched it bend back and knew immediately it was injured. Claire is a rough-and-tumble gal but she whimpered for a while and wanted to be held. She tried to walk on it after a little while and crumbled. I took the advice of another mom and put her down for a nap first (I am grateful--Carter was at the beach with my mom so I got some quiet time) and then I took her to Kaiser. She broke her fibula right above her ankle and will be in a cast for 4-6 weeks. No swimming and limiting the heat is dissapointing but the most dissapointing part of all is that at Kaiser Fontana they only have white casts! No cute hot pink cast to dull a mother's pain of watching her child suffer!!

Claire is a trooper and minor injuries like this make you realize how wonderful it is to have healthy bodies and that she will be just fine in the long run! Carter was sweet, too, he said, "I didn't want my sister to get hurt, I didn't." So, send me your great ideas of what to do to keep your toddler entertained indoors. I know Mickey Mouse Clubhouse will do that but she can't watch that ALL day--we'll all go insane;)

Someday we'll catch up...

My getting behind all started in early May after I went to Women's Conference at BYU. It was definitely the best way I could have spent two days and felt recharged when I returned home. I had answers to prayers and confirmation that I am on the right path and although I have so many ways to improve, the Lord loves me. I also felt like being creative and domestic and made Carter a blanket, our niece Ella a tutu for her birthday, organized some closets and put blogging on the back burner.

And then life just got busy! One day in June I was thinking about blogging what I just wrote. I was getting the kids ready to go out to a ward park day when I noticed Claire went quiet. Claire being quiet is NEVER a good thing. I went into Carter's room and found this:

She climbed on the toilet and got nail polish out while I tried to do a three minute beauty routine then painted her toes and nails AND the carpet. She was so proud of herself and said "I paint a toes." Claire definitely makes getting the smallest task done difficult. She is a whirling dervish. She loves to destroy and make messes. I know it is because she is almost two and is quite normal. It can be frustrating at times though. Even trying to post this, I've been interrupted five times. Now she is crying and Danny is trying to comfort so I can push "publish." I really do want to catch up blogging but don't hold your breath:) One last photo of Claire because she is so cute and smart and we are glad she is part of our family even though she exhausts us all. She recently started asking "why?" One day Carter complained about how much she was asking it and we reminded him it was he who taught her to say it:)

She stripped herself and came out like this. What a girl!

Thank you from a husband...

...I haven't been a very prolific poster lately, but I still love ye olde Todd Blogge. This is just a quicky, I want to say thank you to everyone, friends and family alike, who helped make Sarah's birthday so wonderful. In fact, this morning her dad, Jeff, took her out on a daddy-daughter shopping date (his present to her) and right now she's gone with a few girlfriends for ice cream. Hey, where were all my friends on my last birthday (which was my thirtieth?)...oh yeah, guys don't even know their friends' birthdays and if they're like me, they remember and still forget to call.

So, we're gearing up for Yosemite both literally and figuratively. Indeed, Sarah now has a nice bicicletta and she got a bike trailer for Claire (with both kids it's pretty heavy if there are any hills) and I just borrowed a little third wheel hitch with a seat, handle bars, pedal, etc. for Carter like this so he can ride with me (he actually likes to go faster than his mom at the ripe age of 4..ha!!):

We're so excited to be up there for nearly a week and then it's back to work for me on JUly 13th. We hope you all have an fun and/or relaxing holiday and that you stay cool...and once again, I mean that both literally and figuratively. (;

Sarah's bicicletta:

Bike trailer:

Thanks to everyone in the fam who helped pitch in to make this birthday so special for Sarah and for all of us since we can now bike together!

One last gift for Sari...on July 6th she'll see Yosemite Valley and a giant redwood tree for the first time:

Half-dome: