dirt bike rider...

Jake has his motorbike in the garage and Rhen sees it everyday and says "butt butt, on." (he can't quite say bike). Yesterday I was out on the lawn and he was admiring the bike in the garage, saying on on. So I yelled back to him he has to wait until dad comes home to ride it. A second later I saw him run out of the garage down the drive way, face determined, hair blowin in the wind. He didn't stop at the end of the driveway he kept on going down the street saying, "daddy, daddy". He kept going, "daddy daddy". I had to go get him. He wanted dad to take him on a ride and he didn't want to wait!

Tomato Sandwiches

mmm

a crutch no more

I think the Lord was feeling sorry for me at the dinner table the night Jake got his crutches. I was tearing up thinking how in the world am I going to do this, I so WANT and NEED the vacation coming up in a few weeks and I NEED help around the house and I said a silent prayer as I was trying to dig up some courage to not feel sorry for myself.
The next day Jake called from his appointment and that doc didn't seem as concerned as the insta-care one. He said he just needed a boot and didn't really need crutches. He didn't accually tear the achilles he just stretched it and it should be fine in two weeks or so if he keeps the boot on. A big SIGH of relief for me and a thankful heart of tender mercies.

we are a pair with my cast and his boot, we just tell people I punched him in the face and he kicked my stubborn butt!! (haha)

two of a kind

Jake must've felt bad for me, being an invalid with my broken arm and all, so he decided to take the attention off my arm and get into a motorcycle wreck (which by the way is a better story than falling while watering flowers) land on his head (thank goodness for his helmet) and have the bike land on his foot to tear his achilles heel. So he is sporting and big ankle brace and has to have crutches.
He waited a week an a half (no surprise) to go get it checked out. After he did a barn raising with his bro's and dad, standing on his feet for 12 hours for 3 days, he decided it kindof hurts so he better check it out and that is what he finds out.
So if I can't do something around the house with my crippled arm and go to ask Jake...oh but wait...he can't walk on his foot!
Hopefully I get my cast off in a week and we will know today what the protocol is with his foot and his tear in his achilles heel. Keep you posted.


it may come to be that Jake's motorbike is his achilles heel. (haha)

Yes, you can.

Today was the first time in two years that our entire family was able to go to church together. It's one of those things you take for granted until you can't anymore. There is something about seeing your whole family there on the pew with you that is just better than only seeing half.

Last night I asked Chloe if she was looking forward to going to primary again. She said she was really excited but a little scared. Scared, she says, because everyone might stare at her like they do at School. They look at her 'because she had cancer and maybe they think she still has it.' Maybe she is just self consious about it. Maybe she's been away from lots of kids for so long that she just isn't comfortable with it yet.

The first couple of days of school for her were bitter sweet. She was really happy to be there, but cried to us at night because she didn't have any friends there. She said she tried to play with them, but they already had friends to play with. We told her to pray that night that she could make a friend and just give it time.

She came home so happy the other day because she had finally made a friend in her class. She is so anxious to be a normal kid, and who can blame her. But, how can she be a normal kid when she has been given greater perspective and outlook on life and she is just eight.

Her day at church went better than she thought. She was excited about the people she saw and wanted to say hi to those she did know. We are saying a prayer of thanks for slowly returning into a yes you can, instead of a no you can't life style.

Stacie just informed me that her lifelong dream is to own a label maker.

Tony's Grove Adventure

We planned to have a delightful picnic when we got there but it started to pour down rain.

Chloe and Elsie weren't about to let the rain spoil things and did some exploring while the rest of us stayed dry.

luckily we had shelter in our car and had a picnic indoor. The back door of our car seltered our preparation.

We waited out the cold and ate a scrumptious lunch, we waited some more, didn't think it would let up.

but it did and we had fun running in puddles posing for pictures, climbing rocks, running throught he flowers, we were glad we waited.

Pregnant belly and broken arm won't keep Stacie from puddle jumping.

Stacie thinks we were both pondering "That sure is pretty!" She's probably right.

Peek-a-boo

Stac and chloe were tired at the end, but of course Elsie was no where near tired.

Evidence of Chloe's short legs.

Back to School

Addie is in the big leagues now! Sixth grade here goes into intermediate schools with lockers 5 different teachers and hopefully better lunch choices. Up and attom at 6:20 to get to school at 7:25 will most likely get old, but today wasn't to hard because of the excitement of it all. How grown up she looks!


Down below the two early risers up at 7 and elsie yells they will be late!! (they dont go until 8:40). So saying they are excited is an understatement. Chloe most of all, she has every right to be too! I went in to her class this morning to educate her classmates about the super heros they have in their body know as their immune system to fight off the bad guys known as germs, why chloe doesn't have as many or any at all, and why we need to wash, wash, wash! I had to stop myself from getting teary eyed seeing her sitting in a desk being a normal 3rd grader!




It was hard for me to let chloe get on the bus, to not be there with her at school and tell her what not to touch or watch what the other kids do and then touch and make sure she doesn't touch the same thing, but I pray she will be watched over and taken care of in her first year back to school!

ps we used our old crappy camera (sorry for the blurr)

well....

Jake and I had a bet, Jake was for a girl and I was for a boy, there was 500.00 on the line, and I guess Jake gets to go shopping. It is a girl!!
It isn't the first or the last time he will be right. I was in shock, made the lady check twice, and asked how often she was wrong (she is never wrong she informed me). She is healthy and that is all that matters. She is on the small side, but that isn't new for my babies. It will still take a few days to let this sink into my brain that is for sure, but we are excited. We put the older girls on speaker phone and told them the news and they all shouted, WHAT? I guess they were as surprised as me.

At least wolf, for a name, is out of the question (Jake)

Huckleberry Heaven

One of the fond memories of growing up in the England house was huckleberry syrup over pancakes, waffles or french toast. We used to take camping trips up to Idaho and pick buckets full. Picking huckleberries is pretty time consuming, but with 6 other siblings and my parents all working together we were able to gleen a pretty good harvest.

This last weekend we had a family reunion up in Idaho. We all picked a bunch of huckleberries just like old times, except with a bunch of grandkids helping too. There was a lot of great food, a spectacular jumping contest with Spence's "not quite mint" Honda Trail 70 and well, Josh was there. You can pretty much count on Josh to liven things up whether it's with a potato gun, a Three Little Pigs pyrotecnics performance, or seeing him walk out of the forest wearing daisy dukes and aviator glasses - I'd explain more, but there just aren't words to describe it.

Unfortunately, Stacie wasn't able to come because she had just broken her arm and being pregnant didn't feel like camping. As a result at our first meal time I realized all I brought was 4 bags of chips, some powdered doughnuts, licorice and lots of Shasta (cause what's camping without Shasta). I left all of the actual meal food at home. But, Grandma pulled through like she always does and we ate well. We missed Stacie and the Texas Englands a whole lot.

Hike

Rhen and I went for a hike the other day. It's fun to see the difference bewteen boys and girls, even at just a year and a half. He makes driving noises for cars, noodles, corn and anything else he can push across a surface. He loves motorcycle rides, riding in the bike trailer, driving in the mountains and hikes. Here are a couple pictures from a little hike we took the other morning. I couldn't see him behind me so it was difficult getting a good pic, but i finally snapped a couple of cute ones that weren't blurry.