Silver Lake

This is from many weeks ago but I forgot to post about our evening at Silver Lake. We had never been but had heard how lovely it is up there so we went to check it out as soon as Brad was given the OK to walk again. We fed the ducks which the boys loved until one brave duck jumped up on the little deck and then both boys flipped out! To me and Brad it was hilarious to see how scared they were of a little duck who just wanted some bread! We also stood just a few feet below a squirrel nibbling on a pinecone. How cute is that?! It got cold too fast & we had to leave but it was so nice that we decided we'll have to go next Spring.

No more broken bones!!

Cute, energetic 5-year-old boy:

Every Kindergartener's rite of passage:

The result:

I really did not need this!

Tyler fell while playing on the monkey bars at recess last week. At first his injury seemed to be pretty mild but when it continued to bother him I took him to the doctor and an x-ray revealed a lateral condyle fracture as well as fluid in the elbow joint. We've been referred to Primary Children's fracture clinic for orthopedic services.

Oh, and not to be outdone, Trevor has an "owie" too. This was taken before "The Incredible Hulk" cast was put on. For the three days Tyler was in a splint and sling Trevor made us wrap his arm in an ace bandage too.

Halloween Fun

Enchanted Woods at the Treehouse Museum in Ogden

We rode Frontrunner to Ogden and then walked three blocks to the museum for this awesome Halloween event. The museum closed early for the night and they had people dressed as Heroes (characters) from storybooks that would tell a little bit about their story and then give the kids a candy or toy. We dressed the boys in their costumes and it was a lot of fun. It took about an hour and then we walked next door to Fat Cats where they have a Pizza Factory and had dinner. They have these yummy breadsticks that are on skewers and it was funny to watch the boys eat theirs. We then walked back to the train and rode back to Salt Lake. The boys loved being on the train and it was a nice break from driving. The ride took about an hour each way and was really smooth and the train car was really clean. It was a great night.

Storybook Night at Red Butte Gardens

The whole* Newman clan went up to Red Butte for a Storybook After Dark event and it was so much fun. We were lucky to go before the colder nights hit so we weren't too uncomfortable that way. We were given a map of the gardens and all throughout they had crafts and activities for the kids to do and also bon fires set up and if we visited all 6 bon fires we would get a prize at the end. The boys got their faces painted like tigers, they made little monster heads (from grass seed), spider hats, monkey puppets, ran through Alice in Wonderland's tunnel, heard stories and played other games. It was a lot of fun, especially being their with our cousins and Grandma & Grandpa.

*We missed Chris, Chad, Rachel, Mike, Ashley, Lincoln and Ruby!

Bodyworlds update

So I went to the BodyWorlds Exhibit (see my earlier post about it) a few weeks ago and LOVED IT! I spent 3 hours in there and probably would've spent another 2 hours had I not been kicked out because it was closing for the day. I was a little miffed that I had spent so much money for tickets and they kicked me out! Brad and I went with my sister Jeanette and BIL Nate who is a PhD student at the U. They were having a group showing for his cardiac radiology program so I bought tickets for the same time so we could go together. It was so much fun to be with them! Now I am planning to go back with my Mom so I can see the part of the exhibit that I was rushed through.

If you've never seen BodyWorlds I highly recommend it!

Trevor Update

We had Trevor evaluated for speech and language to see if he qualified for early intervention speech therapy but he didn't. It was a little bittersweet to be honest. I was happy that he is doing enough that they consider him "on target" but I was disappointed too because I know that he is quite behind his peers in language and I was hoping that working with a speech therapist would help him. He was evaluated and in every aspect except expressive language he was testing on the level of a 36 month old (he is 30 months). For expressive, meaning he can hear and understand what we are saying but he has a hard time telling us what he wants and needs, he is only on level with a 20-24 month old. Of course, in July he was on the level of a 14 month old so he has made great improvements but he still refuses to say some things. It is so frustrating when we try so hard to get him to say new words and he won't even try. But then on the flip side he will sometimes let a new word slip out and it will catch us off guard. When he does we make such a big deal about it he will continue to say it. I figure one of these days he will decide that all the attention he gets from saying new words will be so much fun that he will be willing to try new words ~or~ the flood gates will open and he will just start using all the words that I know are in his brain but cannot get out. The other day we were playing that little kid game called Lucky Ducks and he brought us a duck and said "yellow duck"- it was the first time he had said duck and I couldn't get enough of it! He is so cute and I really want him to have a great future.

Sometimes the truth hurts....BAD

My self-esteem has really taken a blow lately. We got a Wii Fit several months ago and although I have wanted to play the games on it I have been much too busy. Well, Brad and Tyler convinced me last Saturday to create a Mii and a profile and start playing so I did. The stupid electronic piece of plastic labeled me as obese. Now, I know I am overweight but obese? Really? Then when I was doing a balance test I didn't really understand what it wanted me to do so I didn't do very well on it and my score wasn't all that great so it says to me "Do you find yourself tripping a lot when you walk?" What is up with that? Why did Nintendo make a system that was so critical! Oh, and it made my Mii fat and Tyler pointed that out. Of course Brad is in the "normal" weight range (I know, I thought he would be in the underweight category too!). It even said he lost weight since he was last on. It was at that point that I almost threw the controller at the TV.

But this isn't the first time this has happened. About a month ago all four of us were sitting on our bed playing when out of nowhere Tyler said "Daddy, you're skinny and Mommy is fat". Yep, out of the mouths of babes.

And as I have always said about me and Brad, we represent the nursery rhyme about Jack Spratt and his fat wife.

So sometimes the truth hurts.

Grandma & Grandpa & the boys

In September we had a combined birthday party for my mom's parents 75th birthdays. At this we had a potluck, games for the kids, family pictures and a walk down memory lane for the adults. We took this picture of G & G with the boys.

Grandpa is doing pretty good right now. We have given up on getting him a bone marrow transplant because there simply is not a donor. His platelets and red blood cells have been holding steady until just recently but the hospital is treating him as best they can. We hope to have him with us for a lot longer and pray each day that the Lord will keep him healthy.

Round Two

Tyler is playing T-ball again, this time his team is the Phillies. His friend Parker is on his team and they are having a lot of fun. I like getting to talk to my wonderful friend Stacy twice a week. Of course, I have a tendency to talk and laugh so much that I miss all of Tyler's good plays but I am trying to pay attention!

Ugh! These are terrible pics! I will work on getting better ones.

Seeing Double

"Luke - I am your father"

Back to School

Tyler'sfirst day of Kindergarten was September 2nd. I went in to work a little late so that I could wait at the bus stop with Tyler and then I followed the bus to school and watched as he played on the playground with his friends until the start bell rang. He wasn't nervous at all- he lined up with his class, said "bye" to me and went in. I was on pins and needles all day wondering how it went. When I went to pick him up from the babysitters at the end of the day he was happy and said he liked school. He has way more homework than I think a kindergartner should have but we are managing. He's teacher, Mrs. Sharp is really great and Tyler is at the top of his class.

Join the Bone Marrow Registry for FREE

Generally it costs $52 to join the NMDP but right now NASCAR and Jimmie Johnson are doing a drive where they will pay the fee for you! This is an incredibly generous event and one very near and dear to my heart. My grandpa is in need of a bone marrow transplant but there is not a match for him anywhere in the U.S.A. The test is simple and done at home, by yourself. They will mail you the test kit, a simple cheek swab, and then you mail it back. If ever you are a match for someone they will call you and if you want to donate you can. If your health has changed or you have changed your mind at that time you are under no obligation to donate. Here's the link but hurry this ends September 22nd!

http://www.marrow.org/HELP/Join_the_Donor_Registry/Join_Now_Sponsored/join_now_sponsored.html

Thanks to everyone who is on or will join the registry. Bone marrow saves lives!!!

Worried that your not healthy enough? There is a link on the link above the will list the medical ruleouts for bone marrow donation.

School Fundraiser!

Tyler's school is having their fundraiser and this year it is for the Happenings Book. If you're planning to buy one please buy one from him. They are $20 for the Utah edition but you can buy them for practically any state (prices vary). Checks can be made to XXXXXX XXXX Elementary and need to be to me by Thursday September 4th.

Thanks!!

Campin' in the Rain

For the past 50 or so years the huge Thacker family has met the first weekend in August out at the family-owned, lovingly called Party Pasture for the family reunion. This past weekend when we went camping it was an end of an era and a very bittersweet time for me. I have some memories of being there with my Dad and lots of great memories from recent years spent there with my husband & sons, and my sisters and their families & my Mom & brothers. The property owner, who does in fact use the land as a cow pasture, has had a recurrence of cancer and has decided to sell the property because he can no longer care for it. None of his children can afford to buy the land so it will be sold and this wonderful tradition is coming to an end. When I told my dear friend Stacy that I was going camping she said "Like tent camping?" and when I told her that yes, we use tents she said "because you just don't seem like the camping type". Well you're right Stac, I'm not, but once a year I am. For the sake of family reunion and making my boys happy. Tyler got a kick out of hunting for frogs and snakes at the nearby lake and stream on the property. He also wanted to go out on the canoe again this year but it rained and rained and rained and with all the lightning I was not comfortable having him out on the lake in a metal canoe! The constant raining was a drag because it affected our dutch-oven cooking plans and my brother-in-law Brett's plans to build a fire without using newspaper (he wanted to do it the Boy Scout way- with all-natural gathered items). This year was more complicated because of Brad's broken foot and him being unable to help with the loading, set-up or pretty much anything else but he still had a nice time. I had to drive there and back and anyone who knows me knows I hate to drive roads that I am not familiar with. Talk about anxiety! But we made it in one piece and had fun and hope that somehow we will be able to continue on this tradition of camping- even if it is just our immediate family.

Sorry no pictures- I was just too overwhelmed with Brad's injury and the awful weather to even think about getting my camera out. If I can I will get some from my sisters and post them here. If it weren't for my sisters, brothers-in-law, Mom and brother Steven I wouldn't have been able to do this camping trip. They were such an incredible help and I thank each of them from the bottom of my heart!

Eccles Dinosaur Park

Before the excitement and action of Brad's broken foot, we had planned some time off work to use as vacation together as a family. We planned a trip to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden, Cherry Hill in Kaysville and camping in Duchesne County at the family property. We only got the Dino park in before Brad's fall. It was a lot of fun except that it was a blazin' hot day with lots of humidity and I do not handle heat well. We had an awesome picnic in the shade and then walked around to see the dinosaurs. Trevor was a little nervous about them at first. We also played on the playground a little and they had a neat slide inside a tree but it was so hot and all the playground toys were really hot! At the end of the day we let the boys pick out a souvenier: Tyler chose a wooden Brachiosaurus figurine that he and Brad put together that night and Trevor chose a ball that looks like a dinosaur egg and it lights up and changes color. It was a fun day and I am so glad we spent it together.

Snap! Crackle! Pop!

Actually just snap & pop. Last Wednesday around 11 p.m. (when I was fast asleep in bed) Brad fell and broke his foot. The culprit:

The dreaded and always-dangerous: Sit-n-Spin toy

The end result:

He has what is called a Psuedo-Jones Fracture (a.k.a. Avulsion Fracture) which is a break on the proximal end of the 5th metatarsal. For those of you who get queasy easily stop reading here! Basically he rolled is foot forward into a ball so that his toes were nearly touching the arch of his foot and it pulled the tendon on top of his foot so tight that the tendon pulled the bone up and broke the bone. He heard and felt it "pop" and had a great deal of pain that night. When I saw it the next morning and it was huge and purple I knew we needed it looked at by a doctor even though he was convinced it was just a sprain. One look at the x-ray and there was no doubt that it was broken. He has to be completely non-weight bearing until we see the orthopedic surgeon again next week. Because he is a diabetic and diabetes affects blood circulation, there is a chance he will need to have surgery to place a pin to hold the bone together to help it heal. Regardless, we have a long road ahead of us. Oh, did I mention this is his right foot so he can't drive?