Chris' Post Op Appointment

We had Chris' post op appointment today. Everything looks good. As you can see, they casted it. We picked blue for his cast; while the doctor was casting it, we were talking about sport teams. He said he could do blue and red for Patriots and started putting red on it. So we have a multi colored cast.
Emma had her 2 month check-up today as well. You can't really tell were the breaks were on the x-ray. The doctor said everything looks great.

Note: If you don't know about Emma's broken leg, go to May posting Broken Leg.

Chris Preached Today

Just wanted to let you know that Chris preached today. If you would like to listen to it go to: sonrisebc.org, it is on the front page. If you would like to follow along with his power point, click open a new window, go to the website again and click on his power point slide show. His sermon will still play while you have another window open. I just got done listening to it myself; I worked in the nursery while he was preaching this morning.

Zoo with the Earle Family

One of three baby tigers. At one point he was hissing at us. It was adorable.

I finally got a decent picture of the baby snow leopard. Fun to watch him with his mom.

Emma, Katie, Robbie, and Madi looking at the monkeys.

The Bird Trainer

We of course went to the bird show when we were at the zoo with the Earles. Madi was picked to be the bird trainer of buttercup. She thought it was so cool. She did a wonderful job and got a gallon of Meadow Gold Chocolate Milk for being a good trainer.

Chris' Thumb After Surgery

As I was writing the blog about Chris' thumb, I thought I should take a picture of the x-ray to show you where they put the pins.

Chris is doing well

This picture was taken after Chris visited the doctor yesterday. He put a better splint on, then I did, although the nurse told Chris that I splinted it well. I cut an emery board, taped it, taped the board to his thumb, then wrapped it with a bandage to cover it up. So if you ever break a finger use a big emery board to brace it.

This picture (taken last night) doesn't show how bad his thumb really is, but you get the picture. The swelling is way down. Chris broke it between the two joints.

Chris a few hours after we got home from the hospital. Just to note, the mattress behind him is our fancy dancy sliding door curtain, for now.

The surgery went well. We were at the hospital about 4 hours total. Chris is doing well, no pain yet; his thumb is still numb. They reset it and put three pins in, not having to cut him open. He has a post op on Monday. Thank you for all your continued prayers.

Another Broken Bone!?!?

Yes, you read the title right; another family member broke a bone on Tuesday (found out today that it was broke). The question is who? Any guesses? I'll narrow it down for you: it is an adult. I bet your first thought was me, since I am the more accident prone one, but you would be wrong... it is Chris.

He joined the church's men's softball team and in their second game, Tuesday night, he was playing catcher, caught the ball, tagged the guy coming in, but the dropped, after the tag. He broke his thumb inside his glove as the runner slammed into his hand. You would think it was good he broke his left thumb, because he is right handed, but when you are a guitarist for a major part of your job, it's not so good. Can't play many chords with a broken left hand. He broke it right below the knuckle. Tomorrow he is going in for surgery (check in is at 7:30AM) to set it and to put pins in it. The doctor said he could set it without surgery, but it would be a good idea to go in for surgery and set it, putting pins in it, so he can have the best gripping ability after it heals so he can play the guitar. The doctor said it will be at least 6 weeks of healing.

Something funny, okay, not really funny.... We paid Emma's last bill for her broken leg, just a few hours before Chris broke his thumb. Please pray for Chris' peace of mind for his surgery, his hand, spending money on his hand (not the house) and for the busy weekend he has (funereal, preaching, youth group) as Pastor Troy is out of town.

Note: I posted 7 more posts today (they are not all showing on this page) . I posted 6 on our trip to Arches National trip and one on Madi's top teeth.

Our Trip to Arches National Park near Moab, Utah

Balanced Rock was our first hike. It was only .3 miles around... but the girls favorite hike. Throughout the trip the girls were looking for other balancing rocks, but none they found compared to the Balanced Rock.

The most popular arch is Delicate Arch (on the Utah licence plate). It is a 3 mile strenuous hike up to it, so we opted for the half mile Upper Viewpoint of Delicate Arch. We had the bigger lens on the camera for this one. The arch is about a mile away from this view point.

Another picture of Delicate Arch from the viewpoint.

La Sal Mountains Viewpoint

Arches National Park

Sand Dune Arch was neat, because we hiked through sandstone fins (see picture below) and through red sand to this secluded arch. There was no one else around and it was so peaceful. It was too quiet for Emma.... This was definitely not her favorite hike.

We saw many lizards throughout our trip. I was just glad they weren't snakes, although one did stick out his tongue at us.

This was our first stop inside Arches National Park. This is The Organ. As you can see Madi is very small standing in front of it.

Arches National Park

Landscape Arch spans more than a football field in length. In 1991 part of the arch (thin part to the right) fell. This was our families favorite arch.

Saturday we hiked more then 3 miles looking at the different arches.

Tunnel Arch

Pine Tree Arch

My Little Junior Rangers

The girls participated in the Junior Ranger program at Arches National Park, learning about the park. The second day we were at the park they finished their work and became Junior Rangers. They were so excited.

Arches National Park

The North and South Windows

Turret Arch

Pictograph at Wolfe Ranch

Madi feeling the neat rocks. Look at that dirty hand.

Cabining in Moab, Utah

We stayed at Moab Valley RV Resort on our visit to Arches National Park. We had fun back at camp, with a playground, swimming, golfing and roasting marshmallows. We also met a cabin neighbor and invited her for dinner. We had a wonderful fellowship time with her. We woke up the next morning with four hats on our porch. We will hopefully keep in contact with her via facebook.

Look at that hole

So for those that saw the blog with Madi's top missing tooth, I said that her other one was really close to coming out. It came out two or three days later. How cute is that!

Hair In Emma's Tongue

Today, I was driving to the store when Emma started crying. I look in my mirror and she had a very concerned face. I asked what was wrong. She informed me that there was a hair stuck in her tongue and it was hurting her. I thought she was meaning she had a hair wrapped around her tongue, so I asked if she could feel her tongue still. She informed me that she could and that it wasn't wrapped, it was stuck in her tongue. As I was calming her down and letting her know that I would check it as soon as we got to Smith's, I was wondering how in the world could a hair get stuck in her tongue? I have had hair in my mouth, but never in my tongue?

So we finally get there and I go around the car to check. I look and sure enough there is a hair stuck in her tongue (kind of like a hair splinter...Debra knows about those). As far as I could see, the hair was still attached to her head. I pull it and it breaks off, still with a short piece stuck. Now Emma is pulling away because it hurts trying to talk to me with her tongue out of her mouth as Madi is watching intensely. I finally get a hold of it again and pull it out as Emma is trying to tell me to stop. Then she takes a big sigh of relief as I got it all out this time and the pain ceases.

Zoo Trip With The Edwards

Yesterday the girls and I went to the zoo with Michelle, Olivia and Brooklyn. We had so much fun. We ate lunch by the zebras.

Every time we go to the zoo we attend the bird show and every time they ask questions at the beginning of the bird show, the girls always raise their hands wanting to be picked. Well, this time, Emma was chosen and she answered the question correctly (she has memorized them, since she has heard the questions five times since June). She got a free ticket for the train ride; she was so excited.

My favorite part of the zoo this time was watching the Mom market nursing six babies (born July 4th). The first picture was when we first starting watching her, then after a few minutes the babies moved around so much that the mom slowly started to fall forward. Finally she got up and moved to the rock in front of her; two babies followed her and started nursing again.

Madi's Front Tooth

Last night Madi's tooth finally was pulled out by Daddy. It was hanging loosely in her mouth for several days. Her other top front tooth is loose, but not quit ready to come out. Just a few weeks ago one of her bottom teeth fell out as she was eating an apple.

Zoo Trip With The Basshams

The girls and I went to the zoo today with Lori, Garret and Matthew. We had so much fun. This is our forth trip to the zoo this summer; we haven't gotten tired of it yet. We got to see the adorable baby giraffe and baby snow leopard.

Tea Party with Papa

Glenn came over for two days to help me prime and paint the front door. It looks great! After school the girls were so excited to see Papa; they decided to have a tea party for him. While drinking their tea they were wishing Nana was their too.

Note: This is Madi's room; look at those beautiful shutters we just got.