Bathtime Surprise

Sometimes, as a parent, I just have to laugh when I feel like crying. Tonight was one of those times. We found out at the last minute that Richard was closing at work which meant I'd be flying solo through dinner and bedtime. So, I decided to take the easy way out and go to dinner at my sister's house. We fed the boys and my sister bathed Aiden. I had a pair of his pajamas in the car and I was thinking I'd just get him dressed, take the boys home and put them to bed. Apparently, my sweet son had other plans:

As much as I felt like crying, I couldn't help but laugh at my silly boy.

Old Friends & New Friends & Birthday Wishes

Yesterday was my birthday.  First thing in the morning Richard and I had the opportunity to go to breakfast with James Mertz and his wife, Jenessa.  James is the missionary who baptized Rich back in 2006.  We hadn't seen James since he was on his mission and we were both so excited when he called and said they were going to be in town.  We met up at a restaurant in Ontario and spent an hour eating and chatting.  It was great to see James again and even better to meet and get to know his sweet wife.  We had such a great morning and we want to send a little thanks to James and Jenessa for taking time in their busy weekend to spend with us.

I also want to thank James for the impact that his service in the mission field has had on my life and my little family.  James: your patience and encouragement and friendship made all the difference to Richard while he was investigating the church.  Our lives have been infinitely blessed because of your faithful service which helped Rich to find the light of the Gospel.  Thank you.

My birthday was great—I got to see an old friend, meet a new friend, get my nails done (thanks dad!), cuddle and play with the most adorable toddler ever, and have dinner with my family at one of my favorite local restaurants.  I finished the day cuddling on the couch with my very handsome husband.  I couldn't have asked for a better birthday!

Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones

So it has happened: our first broken bone—more accurately, Devon's first broken bone.  On the 12th he fell off the steps to the slide at school.  It was a really windy day and Devon said "the wind pushed me".  The wind, combined with Devon's natural clumsiness, was an accident just waiting to happen.

He was super brave about the whole experience.  He kept telling his Kindergarten teacher that it didn't hurt and then, when he finally told me that it had happened (almost 4 1/2 hours later) he didn't even cry.  In fact, he only cried when the ER doctor pushed and poked and moved his hand around.  The ER tech took some x-rays and it turns out his right arm is broken just above the wrist.  Apparently the ER doesn't do casts anymore, so they splinted him and sent us on our way—they didn't even give the little guy anything for pain.

Yesterday, Dev got his cast put on at the orthopedic doctor's office and his cousins had a blast signing it!