Amanda Got Married!

 We were so excited to go to Logan, Utah last month to be with Amanda and Kevin as they got married! It was beautiful there and the two of them seemed so happy!

 Mr. Briggs picked up a little bug at Disneyland and threw up every 10 minutes during the drive to Utah, starting in St. George. He slept well that night so we thought he might be over it, but the morning of the wedding came and he was still getting sick. He was such a good little patient, though. He never complained once. He just took care of business.  Brian was going to have to skip the ceremony in the temple in order to stay with him, but at the last minute Briggs perked up, kept some food down him and was fine. Brian was able to slip in right before the ceremony!

 Natalee, Aunt Leith and Cousin Autumn

 All smiles as they come out of the temple.

 Rober boys taking a break during pictures.

 These are all of the nieces and nephews. Well, mostly nephews. Thank heaven for Natalee and Ashlynn. Kevin only has nephews!

Ashlynn made friends with Autumn and Elizabeth, cousins she had never met before. They had such a good time and didn't want to leave. Autumn is my cousin Steve's daughter and Elizabeth is my cousin Gail's daughter. These two ladies watched the kids while we were in the temple.

October Catch-up

 We took a tour of the Conference Center while we were in Utah for Mae's wedding.

 The kids really enjoyed it.

 Except for Ty. At this moment.

 The visitor center

 A cool fountain across the street from Temple Square.

 Briggs started basketball. He did pretty good!

Ty making cookies with his Nana.

What Else We Did While in Utah or My Attempt at Blogging Again

We did a little 4-wheeling with the Hickens's and Brian's sister. I didn't think I was going to enjoy it as much as I did. Above, you can see Ty in his Darth Vader helmet with the bandage on his eye.


Mark rode all the little kids up on this really steep path on his dirt bike. In the picture it is hard to tell exactly how steep it is, but the tiny red dot near the top is Royal, Mark's son.


Here's 4-year old Benson, all suited up in his Space Ball gear. This little guy could drive his own little 4-wheeler. His parents kept having to tell him to slow down, but slowing down to Benson is boring. When we introduced him and Ty to each other he said, "Oh! I think I'm gonna play with you!"


Briggs still manages to look like an intellectual, despite the camo helmet.


I've never really appreciated the appeal of the desert, but where we went riding was really beautiful. This picture reminds me of a scene straight out of Disney's Cars movie - Carburetor Canyon.



Ashlynn with the girls.


Brian with the boys.


"Would you look at the size o' that boy's head! It's like a melon on a toothpick!"
{once again, said with a Scottish brogue, a-la "So I Married An Ax Murderer"}

Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee

So...
The first couple of days of our vacation have been eventful enough that Ty now looks like a prize fighter.

(Why does this blog seem so Ty-centric? Because the kid is so exciting, that's why!)

Here's what happened:

On Sunday we went for a little hike with Brian's sister and some good friends of ours, the Hickens. Mark Hicken was the missionary that helped Brian's dad join the church when Brian was a kid. They are such a nice family with five wonderful kids. I'm glad we were with them when Ty got hurt, because I tend to panic when there is blood, and they have sustained so many injuries collectively that they were practically laughing when I suggested he might need stitches.









On the hike, the kids were climbing all over rocks while we had a nice wiener and marshmallow roast down below. The ratio of older kids to younger was perfect to give the parents (me) a little break. However, this is the order of events from my point of view.
1. Mark announces that he has to head back to the cars early. He realizes that the pack he is carrying has the first aid kit. "Maybe I should leave this with you guys just in case something happens." (direct quote.)
2. Morgan, the 11 year old, comes running around the corner yelling, "Ty is bleeding!" Right. No need to panic, because how many times a day do we hear that?
3. Jay, the 15 year old boy comes running right behind her with Ty in his arms and blood gushing out of his eye and covering his hands. Of course Ty is screaming "It hurts! It hurts!"
4. I grab Ty and with a little panic in my voice carry him over to Mark and say,"I think we need that first aid kit."



Here's what happened from Ty's point of view:



Many of the kids, including Ty, had crawled into a grain silo. They were all playing around, doing whatever it is kids do in an abandon grain silo (pictured above with three square holes in the side). At the time of the injury, Ty had crawled out of the silo when he realized, Hey! There are rocks flying out of that hole! I think I'll go in for a closer look.

Queue rock puncturing the corner of his eye.

When all was said and done, we got him cleaned up (the blood on his hands was scaring him more than anything, so 13 year old Michaela wiped him down.) The tender mercy of the situation, more for my piece of mind, was the presence of Betsy, Mark's sister, who is a nurse. I knew Ty was going to be okay once I realized that the wound was not in his eyeball and Betsy had secured the butterfly bandage on him and Ty declared, "I want to watch a movie in the car."




Okay. We're back to normal. Mom's just got a little more experience under her belt.

Have I mentioned I don't do well with my kids bleeding and getting injured?

We had a blast in Hurricane with John and Lisa and the kids! More to come later (I hope)!