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the boys

I just wanted to quickly post some cute pictures of the boys. I think all three of these pictures capture who they are exactly! Enjoy!

Halloween

I know it's late, but I'm finally posting Halloween pictures. It's been SUPER crazy since the 31st, and I'm just now finding the time. Our good friends Dustin and Tammi brought their three boys over from Bozeman for the weekend, so we got to take them trunk-or-treating with us. We spent the rest of the weekend playing cards and taking it easy. Then the Monday after we all packed up and trekked over to Bozeman for the week to get some work done at Mark's parents' house. We came home on Sunday just in time for Casey and Jeannie's trip home. We spent Sunday-Tuesday night with them, and I had just two days to unwind to hop on a plane and fly down to Salt Lake to go with Jeannie to the New Kids on the Block concert! And of course, just a few days after I get home is my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving!
Anyway, back to Halloween. I decided months ago that I wanted my boys to be Mario and Luigi. As you may know, I LOVE to dress them up in coordinating costumes. They have been Batman and Robin, Buzz and Woody, and now Mario and Luigi.

As the costumes evolved in my mind, I decided to incorporate the whole family (which is something I've been wanting to do for a long time.) So, Luke was Toad, the little mushroom guy, I was the princess, of course, and Mark was Donkey Kong....sorta.


And here is a photo of the whole group, we had so much fun!

And so it begins......

"Good afternoon. We're gonna have a great jump today. Okay, first crank a hard cutback as you hit the wall. There's a screaming bottom curve, so watch out. Remember: rip it, roll it, and punch it." Squirt

Do any of you recognize that quote from the adorable little sea turtle in Finding Nemo? Well, it may as well have been said by my very own adorable little Jack-Jack. Jack is ALL extreme, ALL the time, and we knew it was just a matter of time before we would start having experiences like the one we had this week. Check it out!

That's right, barely even three and he's had his first fracture! Now, here is where I should plug in some awesome story about how it happened. Maybe he was using the railing on our back porch as a balance beam, and fell the 12 feet to the ground. Or maybe he decided to take our battery powered four-wheeler down the flight of stairs. Possibly he scaled the pine tree in our front yard, or maybe he was even chasing the flock of turkeys. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I actually don't have the great story I expected to have for this occasion. He and daddy were wrestling on the bed, and he fell backward onto his hand. That's it, that's the story.

The near 48 hours it took to get from break to cast, now that is where the story is. True, its no fall from a tall tree, but 48 hours is a long time for a little boy to live with a broken wrist. At about five o'clock on Monday afternoon, Jack hurt his wrist, and I felt right away that something was wrong, but it didn't swell up or anything, so I convinced myself that it was just a sprain or bruising. So, we suffered through a long night of him up over and over, because he just could not find a comfortable place to lay his hand. Tuesday morning I wrapped it in an ace bandage, and took off to a few meetings. When I got home at about one, I still couldn't shake the feeling that it was broken, so I called our doctor here in town, and she asked us to come in so she could look at it. So at three, we met with her, she squeezed it once or twice, and decided that an x-ray was needed. So then Jack and I raced into town to get to the Lab before they closed, and he had his arm x-rayed by 4:30 that afternoon. Since it was so late, we didn't expect to get the results from the x-ray until the following morning, so we were facing another possibly long night, ugh. Fortunately, the ace bandage held it in place pretty well, and we all woke the next morning pretty well-rested. After a bit of phone tag, we found out at 12:30 on Wednesday that his wrist was in fact broken, and that our local doctor had made an appointment for him with the Orthopaedic Surgeon in town, at 3:15 that afternoon, 46 hours after the initial break. So now, we have 4 weeks to go with our little monster and his 'green arm', as he calls it. What a long couple of days....

No More Gobble Gobble Gobble!

Those of you who have read my blog from the beginning just might remember my 'love' of our local turkeys. Well, since the county that we live in is a special draw only, Mark applied for a tag, and to my joy, he got one! So sure enough, my mighty hunter stepped out our front door, and filled his tag, right in the front yard. True, this is only 1 turkey of the 27 or so that we've got gobbling around here, it's a start! A start to quiet the gobble, and a nice start on Thanksgiving Dinner!

Luke's first cereal

Well, our chunky monkey has finally been allowed to eat solid food! Well, mostly solid. I've been waiting for this day, hoping maybe cereal would sit in his tummy better than liquid formula. I sat him down in his bumbo,

gave him the first bite, and he was hooked!

He kept grabbing the spoon from me, and then sucking on his fingers vigorously. It was almost as though he thought the yummy new food was coming out of his fingertips.

I had to practially duct tape his hands down so I could get the rest of the bowl in him! Needless to say, our beefy baby just may be getting beefier....

Happy Birthday, Honey!

The big THREE-OH! It's hard to believe you're thirty years old this year! (You don't look a day over 42 ;) I just wanted to say that I love you, and that I am so lucky to have you in my life. You are an amazing father and husband. You are so generous and selfless. I hope you had a great birthday, and I hope that this year brings you everything you could ever wish for.