Post Call

After working a 26 hour shift most residents would opt to
engage in that little activity we call
SLEEP.

However, upon arriving home this morning after said shift
Cody decided to take the girls on a date to the zoo!




I encouraged him to rest when he arrived home and go with the older two later in the day during Aspen's nap time, but he insisted that
his desire was to take all 3 girls.

Yet another reason I love my husband!

PS- My determination for a complete recovery by Monday did not happen.
Good news = Crutches not needed anymore. I can walk with the use of my walking cast/boot.

What I've Decided...

is that Mommy's need legs that work!

Being on full time crutches has afforded me time to recognize
how much I love both of my legs and need them to function.

It has also afforded me the opportunity to cherish my
wonderful friends
who have been caring for me by caring for my children.



I am reminded, once again,
that I married the world's best husband.

My darling has been on double duty becoming Mr. Mom
the second he walks in the door until late at night when he has, at last, completed things I could not accomplish during the day.

(Pictures taken by Charlotte)

Brinley and Avery have also both pitched in to help out.

Brinley has been in charge of putting Aspen in her car seat, buckling her and getting her out, putting her in and taking her out of the highchair, coaxing her up and down the stairs, getting her out in and out of the crib and grabbing this, that and every other thing I need.
For the most part she has pitched in with a great attitude.

Avery is also attempting to be helpful in her special little Avery way.

The good news:
When I go into my next appointment on Monday I will be healed!
That is what I have decided, period.
I just am so excited to be able to begin enjoying
the summer with the kiddos.


More good news, I can still fold laundry and now I'm off to do it.

Family Gathering #2

My S.I.L. Jill did such a fantastic job

at blogging this family gathering that I am going to send
you on over to her blog to view it!

Click HERE to read about and see pictures from day #1.


(Families with my Mom)

Click HERE for day #2




This was just too cute to pass up.
Kenneth found the perfect place to store his
bow and arrow while on the hunt.

(Families with my Dad his sister, Aunt Mel)

Click HERE for day #3
Click HERE for our departure morning.

And finally go HERE for Grandma Ginger's part 2 post.

How we loved being with our dear family!

Signing off with this picture of the Aspen trees
taken at the cabin at dusk.

Family Gathering #1

Grandpa & Grandma Young surprised us by showing up at
the airport when we arrived!
We were headed out to our rental car when suddenly Grandpa startled us from behind. What a fun welcome.

After a transition night in Provo we headed to cabin #1 in Heber.
It was huge and housed all of our families with
plenty of room
to spare.

See here for a complete description of the cabin and more pictures.


( Staci & baby Cooper)
We were thrilled to finally meet 3 new members of the family.

1. Baby Cooper (Staci & LP's first son)
2. Baby Mason (Christie & Suart's first son)
3.Toddler Trayden (Mandi & Darren's first son)

...and have three more babies on the way in the family.
Christie, Mandi & Robyn are pregnant!



Heather was such a trooper. She was able to fly home from the Ukraine early to be with us during the reunion. She had hardly slept one wink when we first saw her and her days and nights were completely thrown off, yet she maintained her sparkly smile and enthusiasm the whole time!


(Grandpa reading bedtime scripture stories)

This was the first official family reunion and what
a great time we had!



Brinley and Avery so enjoyed getting to know their cousin Maddie.
They played on the swing set, swam in the hot tub and helped in the kitchen side by side.


(Baking breakfast with Grandma Young)

Uncle Stuart left a lasting impression by assigning the girls silly names. They are still mentioning those nick names.

Uncle Tim (Maddie's Dad) assisted the girls on their golf swing and
won Brinley's affection by playing chase with her outside on a
number of occasions. I think she may also have a slight crush on her Uncle Quinton who also played chase with her.


(Tim and girls)

One night we went to a nearby park and played kickball.
I was able to be an observer with the babies due to my tibia,
which is a five letter word these days.

Watching from the side lines may have been the best spot to be however, because I was able to witness the entire scene.
It was rather tender to watch this semi intense game being played
patiently while including very young children,
even Aspen became involved.


(the kick ball crew, picture courtesy of Staci)

Aunt Sarah recently returned home from her mission in Brazil.
It was really neat to hear about a few of her experiences there and about her love for the people in Brazil.

A big thanks to aunts and uncles who spent time
playing with our girls and provided hours of entertainment!

And a big thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Young
for making it all happen!

Utah Trip!

We just spent a great week in Utah!
I have so many pictures to share, but no time to share them now.
In the meantime the enjoy this sweet video Duane made!

Lewis-Woolley Gathering 2010 from Duane Johnson on Vimeo.

Welcome Home Gift

We are home from a fun week long trip in Utah.
Below, the welcome home gift presented to me the morning after
our arrival by my Sports Medicine Doctor.

My fracture is not healed.

The Doctor recommended crutches for two weeks.
After my tearful explanation of how mothering three young children and living in a home with two flights of stairs might make that idea close to impossible, we settled on this beauty.

Plus = I can walk without crutches.

Minus = Longer recovery.

Minus = Can't teach high impact classes for 2-3 months now.

Minus = Suppose to be off my feet as much as possible still.

Plus = I can think of about 55465.6 things that could be much more devastating than this.

No time to blog about our trip yet,
but here is a great post on Grandma Ginger's blog!

Still Stampin'

Last week I made these treats for the office crew and Brinley's teacher.

Very simple thank you card and Kit-Kat holder.

I just slid the candy bar into the paper holder.

My projects fall into the "quick" category these days.

Number Scroll

Dear Brinley,

Throughout this, your first grade year of school, you opted out of recess time on a number of occasions to work towards your goal.

To achieve that goal you spent those recess times
writing numbers on your
"number scroll."

You wrote each number from 1 to 3810 in perfect order.

Many days you would come home from school and be so excited to
share with us what number you ended on that day.

All of those numbers took up 35 pages of paper
and each sheet looked like this.

It was really neat for us to see it today for the first time and I could see how successful and happy you felt.

Brinley, I bet that when you started your number scroll it would have seemed almost impossible to get to the number 3810.

Little by little you kept on,
day after day
you were determined,
you worked hard and
you did it!

There will be many hard tasks in your life that may, in the beginning, seem impossible to you sweetie,
but always remember that you can achieve any goal
you set if you
work hard towards that goal just like you did with your number scroll in first grade.

XOXOXO,
Mommy

Laugh Out Loud X2

Laugh #1- The Story:

Last night Cody was in the public swimming pool bathrooms waiting outside a stall for Avery to do her business in "private."

A gentleman in the next stall over was apparently experiencing some irritable bowl issues and a series of "loud explosions" occurred.

Cody, feeling badly for the obviously embarrassed gentleman, was crossing his fingers that Avery would keep her little
mouth silenced.

His wish did not come true.

"Daddy what are those loud noises" Avery said in her typical tone which is 2345.9 decibels louder than any normal talking volume.

Cody responds "oh those are just all of the people swimming," lying
to save any pride the embarrassed fellow was experiencing.

"No Daddy, it's not the sound of people swimming,
I mean the sound like this

(Insert Avery mimicking, to the best of her ability, the explosions in the stall next door. Use your imagination, remembering how dramatic Avery can be.)

"Well honey, everybody needs to go to the bathroom just like you,"
was the quick response Cody thought to muster up as he attempted not to laugh out loud...
but you can!

Laugh #2- The pictures seen HERE.
We miss you Sarah!