End of Summer fun!

I'm pretty sure I could name each blog entry, "Blog Neglect".  It seems this summer it has been difficult for me to stay up to date on here. 

In the time since I last wrote we have done quite a bit.  We had an extended trip to southern CA to visit friends and family.  It was great to see everyone and get away for a while!  Matt's Grandpa Bell had his 80th birthday party while we were down there.  It was a great party and so nice to get to see and visit with everyone.

 

We went back up to the lake and went on a boat ride with "Papa Steve".  The boys love when they get boat rides and I always love catching up with old co-workers!

We had planned to hike with our good friends to the hot springs again for an over night trip.  Clint and Jodi had babysitting issues, which resulted in Matt and I hiking out there on our own and then Jodi joining us later in the evening.  Unfortunately, Clint didn't make it out this trip.

The trip was pretty disastrous.  The 7 mile hike Matt and I did is usually a breeze and really a great hike.  Except I had never done it in the dead of summer.  The canyon it's in just radiates heat, and it really kicked my booty!

We got there and were able to relax for awhile.  In the evening Jodi showed up, which was great, bummed though that Clint couldn't make it.
We set up camp in a wonderful little spot and were off to a good evening!
Until that is....what you pray never happens while you're a seven mile hike away from civilization with no cell phone service...........happens-

It was just about 9pm and had just gotten dark when Matt, while maneuvering from one hot spring pool to another slipped on some wet moss and fell about 10 feet.
He tried to play it off, but I could tell from his face that he was in pain somewhere.
It wasn't until about 10-15 minutes later while sitting on the beach that he came up to me, lifted his arm up and said, "Does this look normal to you?" 
His disgustingly deformed arm held up in some awkward position.

Now-
As most of you know I aspire to be a Nurse.  I've taken and passed my EMT class twice in the past 10 years and have worked on many patients with gnarly looking extremities...
But I can tell you this...when it's your husband, you know something is badly wrong the minute you see it, you have virtually no resources to deal with this, and it's a seven mile hike out.....the panic and nausea sets in fast.
I literally had to sit down on the beach and put my head between my legs to avoid puking or passing out.

Thank God Jodi was there, I looked at her and said, "Jo,  I seriously am going to pass out, I can't deal with this right now".  And she stepped in!
After some deep breathing and getting myself together, I was able to reassess the issue and deal with it a little better.
Even though my husband felt no need to listen to my advice!

From the beginning his elbow looked completely dislocated.  Since the three of us aren't doctors, and none of the acid-dropping, naked "hippies" out there were either, I suggested we pack our stuff and head out tonight, and don't touch the arm until we can get some professional help.
Matt was hell bent against hiking out, which I later understood his protest based on the lack of safety in the dark.

However,  he decided to let anyone who, "has read about this kind of thing before", try to set his bone back in place.  Some naked girl, (pretty sure her nakedness contributed to him allowing her to do this), yanked his arm  back and forth for awhile while Matt writhed in pain.  Nothing seemed to improve and his pain was only increasing, so he made her stop and decided he would spend the rest of the night soaking it in the river.

We spent the next 2 hours or so listening to everyone's opinion of what's wrong with it and when, where and how we should get help.  But we had decided; stay the night, hike out first thing in the morning.
Jodi hung out with Matt most of the night while I tried to sleep.  (I'm not a night person and was dying for some rest!)  None of us got any real sleep though.
Matt's arm progressively swelled through the night, and by morning he felt a bit feverish and was vomiting.  Which really helped ease our worry (not really!)

The hike out was pretty awful.  It was hot, Matt felt terrible and we were all sleep deprived.
Long story short...after 2 ER trips in the following week and multiple X-Rays...it was determined that he did dislocate his elbow, but that it had popped back into place (maybe nakey girl did help!), he also fractured his humerus and ulna bones.  In addition to that, his bursa sac (at the tip of your elbow) inflamed with blood, Bursitis, and then got infected.  Along with his infected bursitis, he acquired cellulitis, a skin infection from the wound he has at the tip of his elbow.  In addition to all of this, he tore his bicep tendon and the bicep partially ripped off the humerus bone. 

 

Basically....His arm is Jacked up!  And it's his right arm, of course he is right handed!
He now wears what I refer to as a "Bionic" arm splint.
He is slowly getting better.  The bruising was horrendous, and that is all gone now.  The swelling is mostly gone now too, with the exception of his bursitis which is still there and at some point may need further intervention. 

In other news-
Both boys started school this past week.  Austin in 2nd and Ryland in pre-k.  They both are loving it and doing well so far!
I start school this next Monday and will be going the same days as Ry goes to school.

 

Oh...and our Landlord decided she is going to sell her house.  So we are moving before we had planned.  Our lease is up at the end of October, but we chose not to "help her show her home" and leave early.  So we have been house hunting...which really sucks.  We aren't ready to buy yet, and the rental market is tricky here.  So that's been a bit crazy!
This weekend we are hitting the beach I think.  A much needed break for all of us right now!

Summer Time!

Well I figure it's about time I get back on the blogwagon! June was a rough one, so I didn't feel like writing much! But we've moved on to July and things are on the up and up.  June had it's challenges, but it also had it's celebrations and joys.

We celebrated Ryland's 4th birthday with a fun party the weekend before his actual birthday!  That weekend was full of fun events.  Jim and Lori were visiting, and it was Austins last T-ball game and his team party!

Austin misses baseball already and is looking forward to moving up to Little League next season. Ryland had a wonderful party and birthday. Father's Day, Ryland's actual birthday and my birthday all fall on the same weekend. We had fun celebrating at the County Fair and with Brynna and Brian at the River!

The boys spent a couple days at my dad and Michelle's house, which they love to do! They got to go swimming at the pool, play with their aunt and uncle and enjoy Michelle's amazing culinary skills for two whole days! Austin always comes back raving about food!

We have visited our favorite spot on the river quite a few times in the past month. It's beautiful there and the kids adore it! The swimming hole it awesome, there is a great rope swing and if you walk up river you can ride little rapids back down! Brynna and Brian have joined us a few times there, and the last time we went my mom and Sienna were able to join us too! It was great.

 

Towards the end of June we had my niece E.B. come and stay with us for ten days. That was crazy and fun all at the same time! During her stay we hiked with Brynna and Brian to some really amazing natural granite slides on the river. We learned it wasn't the best place for kids, but so awesome to see! Matt and Brian rode down all three slides, each about 25-30 feet long and landing in their own bitter cold pool of water!

Matt finally had is annual State Survey at his facility the last week of June. This survey is something that he has been preparing for since he got this job in October. For a health care facility, this is the major survey that either keeps the building running another year or shuts it down. Needless to say, Matt was stretched to his limits during the survey week, and the week after fixing immediate issues in order to remain in compliance.

All of his hard work and stress paid off though, the survey results came in and it was the best survey, with the least tags (problems) that the building had ever had, since it was built in the late 60's! I am so proud of him! He sweats and bleeds that building. He loves and values his job with an immense passion. Sometimes he gets too wrapped up in it and I wish he could step out of it and look at what an amazing job he has done, and the vast improvement that has been made since he took this position. He has done a wonderful job! His boss is very happy with him and now that survey is over Matt is able to settle in a bit more and relax....which is nice!

We spent the 4th of July at home. My mom, Brynna and my cousins Nicole and Savannah all came up to BBQ with us. 

This past weekend was my Mom's 55th birthday! On her 50th we had a really wonderful weekend with the whole family in a cabin up in the mountains that we rented! We wanted to do something nice again this year, so we all took a trip together to Angel Island. Angel Island is an island in the San Francisco Bay that has immense history. Now a State Park, the Island is considered the "Ellis Island of the West" and has done wonderful preservation of it's immigration station. Along with that, there is a well preserved Civil War camp and camps from both World Wars. If you're ever in the Bay, this is a great way to spend a day! I was really amazed by the place, the history and the amazing views!

 We had fun taking the ferry from Oakland to the island and then walking the 5 mile perimeter walk through all of the sites! I was also lucky enough to get to visit with my old supervising Ranger, who is now the Ranger at Angel Island! It was good to see him and weird to see someone who I knew and worked with in Southern Ca now up here too! I am looking forward to going back to the island, bringing out bikes back this time and spending more time in each site.  They have a few camp sites there, so we are going to have to go back and stay the night!  The city views at night have to be amazing!

After the ferry ride back to Oakland, we went to my sister Aimee's house. (She lives in Oakland, about 5 minutes from the ferry building!) We made dinner there, relaxed and celebrated both her and my moms birthday!

We are now gearing up for a visit back down to So Cal in the next couple weeks, along with school starting in mid-August.  Wow....time really flies!

Pictures of our Recent Adventures!

As promised from my previous post...Here they are...some pics of our recent adventures~

       Matt's 30th birthday cake!                                          Lake trip with Brett & Laura!

Matt gearing up to look at the eclipse!

Ry playing in a little pond we went fishing at!

Brynna's boyfriend Brian, his fish and I ~ I'm seriously disappointed in his lack of enthusiasm!

Austin tubing for the first time!  He LOVED it!

Austin, Ryland and Katie hanging out on the raft!

Brian and Austin playing in the lake!

Matt and one of his many catches!

My brother Justin...he surely won't drown like this!

I made my Dad be my "subject" while I played with my Hipstamatic App!

Blog Neglect

I do realize that I haven't posted in over a month, which I feel badly about.  This hiatus was partly out of necessity however...with the end of the school year for both Austin and I, it got a little hectic and crazy and I just didn't have much time.  The other part was just laziness...and for that I have no excuses!

I have to refer to my calendar for what we have done over the past month....

Ok here we go...


Austin has been really enjoying T-ball!  He has had a few games over the past few weeks and has done very well.  We went to his cousin EB's birthday party...the boys had a blast swimming in the pool.  Ryland is a little afraid of the water right now, we need to work on that!

Mothers Day weekend was very nice!  We had T-ball on Saturday.  On Sunday we went to Davis and spent the day with my mom, sister and niece.  We went to the Whole Earth Festival on campus for a few hours and then went out to my moms house for a BBQ.

Matt's 30th birthday was a couple weeks ago....so my mom and sister threw a little "surprise" party for him when we got to her house for the BBQ.  They had the whole place decorated with black balloons and streamers and my mom had made a cake that looked like a tombstone!  It was fun!

The following weekend Matt's dad and step mom came up to visit us for a few days.  We had a great time hanging out at their campsite, visiting the lake for the day and showing them the town.  We went to the dirt track races (which Matt, the boys and I have been going to on Saturday nights for a few weeks now) and they had a really good time!  How could you not with extremely loud cars flying in front of your face kicking mud at you for two hours!

This past weekend was Memorial Day weekend.  This is the first holiday weekend that I got to spend doing fun things with my family and not working in a very long time!  We went to my Grandparents house on a lake.  We had a wonderful time!  The boys loved being out on the boat and Austin had a total blast tubing.  They played in the water all weekend and there were other kids for them to run around with playing games!  Matt was able to relax and not worry about work...he fished all weekend and caught quite a few good sized bass!  It was a really nice, relaxing and fun weekend!

I have a bunch of pics I will put up in their own post later today!

Now that Austin and I are both out of school...we are officially on summer break.  Which is great...but a little stressful.  The kids and I need to start figuring out what in the world we are going to do this whole summer.  They are already going a little stir crazy and so am I!

Did I Actually Sign Up For This?

OK.  So part of me wants to make up a lavish story about how smooth our previous week has been.  I want to talk about trips to the park, healthy meals, happy kids and excellent weekends.  But if I did....I'd be lying.  And sticking true to form, I will be honest about the pretty eventful but not wonderful past week we have had!

Saturday Austin had a T-ball game in the mid-morning.  It was really sunny and quite warm, which he is not used to right now.  He was not into the game at all and it showed!  I felt bad for him as he stood there and watched the other kids scramble after the ball, completely uninterested!  He loves baseball.  I think he was just tired, a bit hungry and hot!

After the game we went to Sienna's birthday party.  The kids had a great time playing and swimming, eating junk and filling up on cake! Instead of going into detail about the latter part of the weekend, a list seems much more fitting.

The List:

-We take extremely tired and wired kids to my moms for a planned family "camp out" for the night
-We set up a bazillion tents in her backyard,  somehow...very few people know how to assemble a tent
-My children stick true to their roots, remove every article of clothing...leaving only their shorts on and ride their bikes like circus clowns
-We start coals to BBQ and a nice bonfire
-We cook and eat
-Children continue to ride their bikes like circus clowns way past the time it got dark and they should have been made to stop
-Ryland falls of bike in the dark. 
-Its hard to find crying kids in the dark.
-Ryland complains that his ankle hurts...I put him to bed (Sleep cures everything!)
-Everyone is too exhausted to enjoy bonfire, it burns out
-Everyone sleeps
-Ryland wakes up at 6am...he can't walk
-whatever happened to "sleep cures everything?"
-I try to repeatedly make him walk...he retreats to crawling around everywhere for the next 4 hours
-ER trip
-Suspected fracture, half cast goes on...repeat X-rays in 4 days

-Return to moms house.  No one seems to know how to dissemble a tent either.
-Dissemble a bazillion tents and go home
-Fun times had.....but not by all
-(Monday and Tuesday happen)
-Wednesday...repeat X-rays are done and he is CLEARED!  No fracture.  Splint comes off and the kid is like a monkey released from his cage! Must have been a sprain!
-Thursday happens....
             And here is where it gets even more fun!

Thursday evening as I'm getting ready for school, Austin burst into the bathroom screaming bloody murder, holding his head with a hand full of blood.  I jump soaking wet out of the shower to assess the damage. 

Courtesy of Ryland, Austin has a nice size, fairly deep cut on his forehead.

I guess a little tiff happened upstairs and Ryland found it appropriate to chuck a large piece of wooden train track directly at his brothers head. 

Off to the ER yet again.  Thank goodness it was a different one than 4 days ago.  I'm sure Kaiser just loves us!

 I have lots of bloody open wound pics...but I figured not everyone wants to see those.  So here he is all stitched up!  He has 12 stitches in all.  1-2 inside and the rest outside.



It's Friday and we are headed into another weekend.  Austin has another game tomorrow.  Then tomorrow night we are headed to "Little League Night" at our local minor league baseball stadium to watch a game and see fireworks!

I guess turning the garage into a fully padded play area and building the boys their bubble wrap suits will have to wait until Sunday.  I think I'll make them wear their helmets all day tomorrow though..for safety sake!

The Boys and Their Bikes!

I had to get a post in today, to write about our last weekend before we set off for another one!  It's funny how much I love the weekends now!  When I was working at the lake, I never had those fun-filled weekends like everyone else.  I watched them all do it, but never got to partake!  So it's my turn I guess!

Last weekend was great!  Saturday morning Austin and Matt headed off to a fishing pond here in town to participate in a kid's fishing derby!  Austin caught a few trout and was very happy.  He was supposed to have a T-ball game Saturday afternoon, but it was rained out.  My mom came up and we went to see The Lorax.  That was a very cute movie!

On Sunday morning we all got up early and headed back out to that little pond to fish together.  (I didn't fish, I watched!)  The kids had a blast.  There were a few friends of Matt's out there with their families, so the kids got to play.  I enjoyed meeting them and their wives!  I think we will all definitely hang out again soon.

After fishing we came home to clean up and hang out.  We decided to take Ryland's training wheels off of his bike and give it a go.  Holy cow that kid is a natural!  Matt removed the training wheels and he took off like a pro!  We were waiting for the falling/crying/hysterics....and they never came!  He never wobbled or fell.  He panicked a little when trying to stop the first few times...but after coaching him through it, he did wonderfully!

5 days later he now stands up and peddles, rides with one hand, jumps off the curbs and rides down the neighbors steep driveway!  He has only crashed into a parked car twice and a fence once!  That's pretty good.  The fence caused a major melt-down...and some bruises and scratches.  But the parked cars didn't seem to bother him too much!

Austin has stepped his game up now that he has a little competition...he now rides while simultaneously putting both hands up and peddling with his eyes closed.  This causes me major panic, but Matt simple states..."just prepare yourself for another ER run and calm down!"

Along with mastering bike tricks, Austin is working on riding his skateboard too...and doing quite well!

Both boys want to spend every waking moment outside on their bikes or boards practicing their tricks!  Ryland also loves telling everyone in ear shot that he now rides a 2-wheeler...no training wheels!  Literally, he has told every person we come across.

When he went to school Tuesday he walked into his classroom full of teachers and kids, stood at the door and loudly announced, " Teacher Carrie,  I am HERE and I ride a TWO WHEELER!"  He was greeted with many laughs and lots of excitement...just what he was going for!

Today he yelled out the window to a couple of cyclist on the road, "Good job boys, you can do it!".
Channeling Mommy much?  Here's the video of his first ride~!

This weekend we are off to more adventures!  We have a T-ball game, a birthday party and a family camp out!  In addition to our recent wonderful weekends...everything else is good too!  Hope you all are out there enjoying your weekends too!

Easter Weekend

We had such a busy Easter Weekend, it got it's own post!

Friday night Sienna came to stay the night with us.  We had a great time coloring eggs, we did a little over 3 dozen.  

Saturday my sweet little brother, who isn't so little anymore turned 16!  My Dad and Michelle had a party for him at their house.  It was great to see my family and hang out!  The weather was great, so we spent most of the time in the backyard talking and visiting.

My step mom is an amazing cook and created the most adorable M&M/Kit Kat cake.  This cake was so colorful and awesome!  I didn't get a picture of it, but her cooking blog is here: www.michellestastycreations.blogspot.com and that cake will be up there shortly, I'm sure!

She also made these ridiculously good little hot dogs wrapped in bacon and drizzled with brown sugar...those things were gone within minutes!  My Grandma described them to Ryland as "little wieners" and quickly had to change her wording to hot dogs after his initial reaction of shock and disgust that we cooked wieners!

Sunday was Easter! We woke up and opened Easter baskets, did an egg hunt in our front yard and then got ready for Church. The service at Church was wonderful, I really love our Church!

We left directly from there and headed to Lodi, where my Grandma was hosting Easter Dinner. The kids got to do another egg hunt when we arrived! They have such a wonderful yard, the kids had an amazing time hunting all over her gardens!

Dinner and visiting followed! We had a wonderful time with yet another day of amazing weather! I couldn't have asked for more!

We hope you all had a great Easter Weekend too!

One of the gifts the boys' received for Easter were these awesome crazy straws!  It comes with 80 pieces that your build from.  They have been building little pipe straw masterpieces all morning!

Spring Break!

Spring Break was great! This is the first Spring Break that we have had where both boys are in school, so therefor...they both got a break! I didn't really know how awesome this was going to be for me. The boys getting a break meant, I got a break too!

I'm used to working and going to school at the same time, I have been doing that since Ryland was 8 months old. Being at home with the kids now has been such an amazing blessing! I'm not working and I am taking one class at school in the evening and I am starting a class online next week. So I have been able to be at home with the kids, which I absolutely love!

However, until this recent break, I didn't realize how much I needed one!

It was great to not have to get up to the alarm everyday. It was so great to not have to fight with grumpy kids in the morning about getting up, eating breakfast or wearing something in addition to underwear.

We didn't do any traveling or out-of-this-world trips, but we did spend a lot of time together outside making lots of memories! This past week we had really great spring weather, so we were outside every day!

The boys and I went to the Zoo! There is this cute little steam engine train there, so of course, we rode it!

This Zoo is a wild life rescue facility. They have four black bears there that are oh so cute! They also have two tigers, lots of birds, wolves, coyotes, monkeys and more! The Zoo is small, but very well done and they have areas to sit and watch the animals in front of each enclosure. We spent a good deal of time sitting and watching them.

Matt spent a day with us hiking and playing at the park. The park we went to had great hiking trails that led to the river. We had a nice little hike and found this waterfall!

We did crafts and lots of them!

Matt brought dry ice home for Austin to play with! He had never done that before, so he had a great time pretending to be a wizard! We added food coloring and dish soap, that was quite the adventure, I'm glad we did that one outside!

In addition to these fun things; we went to two other parks in our town, made something for breakfast other than cereal each day, made friends with the neighbors and decorated our driveway with chalk daily!

I'm looking so forward to summer!

T-Ball, Snow and Family Visits!

We have been really busy recently. I realize I should try to post here more often, especially with so many things going on. Jim and Lori (Matt's mom and step-dad) just left after visiting us for the past 4 days. We had a great visit with them. They stayed at a hotel is time, so we enjoyed their hot tub! We also had fun taking a walk on our favorite trail, going to Austin's first Tee ball practice and pictures and just hanging out.

Here are pics of Austin in his uniform for Tee ball! He is on the Rays. He had his first practice last week and his pictures done on Saturday. He was supposed to have his first game, but it was cancelled due to the rain. The mascot from the Sacramento River Cats was there when he got his pictures done, so both of the boys were very excited!



I can't wait to see his pictures he had done. His coach is great too. Austin did a great job at his first practice. I am so glad we got him on a team and I know he is too! All he wants to do now is go out and play catch!

We also got snow! Well, it came about a week ago, but we got some! Jim was here visiting us over St. Patrick's Day weekend (he has been working up in this area) and we woke up to snow on Sunday! It was absolutely beautiful on all the pine trees. The kids were so excited to be able to use their sleds. And we just happen to have a great hill on the greenbelt at the end of our cul-de-sac. So we walked over there and let the kids play! It lasted about 20 minutes until their were freezing but they had a great time.




For St. Patrick's Day we went to a Brewery here in town that had really amazing BBQ'd corned beef and cabbage. They also had a cool Celtic band and green beer. The kids had fun playing with all of the toys they have and we had a great time hanging out with Jim.



We are looking forward to more baseball practices and his first game in a couple of weeks! Ryland is still loving school and has done some really cute spring projects! I recently became addicted to Pinterest and finally set up part of the playroom as a craft/sewing area. I have really enjoyed doing some of the crafts and ideas I came across on Pinterest!

Matt is doing really well and enjoying work. He can't wait for the weather to turn so we can get back out on our bikes and go riding! (We can't wait either, feeling a bit cooped up recently.)

We are also looking so forward to Easter! I love Easter!

No Big News Here!

Seriously, we don't really have anything new going on! I know the title seemed like I was leading into something, but I'm not! So I will default to talking about the weather.

I must have spoken too soon on my last post when I said we didn't get a winter. It's been raining straight for the past 2 days and is supposed to go on for the next 5. I know I grew up with this, but living in the desert for the past 4 years, I'm definitely not used to it. I looked at the weather forecast today and I still find it crazy!

The main reason I'm a bit bummed about the rain is because I miss our trail! I have been walking on that trail a few times a week and we bike ride every weekend. So I miss the sunshine and fresh air and getting out there.

Austin is doing really well. Still off of playground play, but he will be rechecked by his doctor next week and I think she will release him! He is feeling great now, and is doing his homework without difficulty.

Ryland loves preschool! He brings the cutest little projects home and loves going everyday. He's such a big boy now...it's kind of sad! He talks about his teacher and friends from school all the time, so cute!

Matt and I pulled a parental fail and neglected to get Austin in baseball on time this season. Not like we didn't have a ton of things going on, but still. When I realized how soon baseball was starting and that Austin wasn't on a team, I made some calls. Well, lots of calls and emails. Our area association didn't want to take him because they were "full". Well, after more calls to our little league district supervisor, it turns out their "full" and the leagues "full" were different.

So I nicely called our area association and told them they were wrong and they had to let Austin on a team. (The district supervisor made some calls and emails to back me up!) And so, Austin is on a team! I of course had to listen to why they only want 12 kids on a team and I had to agree to help out the coach, but who cares....He gets to play! And Matt and I really don't mind helping out at all. I will volunteer to be team mom and see if they need me. We are just so excited he gets to play. He really wants to and I was so worried that he was going to miss this year.

We are all doing well and hope you are too!

Preschool and Riding Bikes

The weather is beautiful here! We really didn't get much of a Winter. Which we love, but I know it's not a good thing. The boys and I have been loving being outside! I always look forward to when I don't have to go on daily sock hunts for the boys! Those things always do a disappearing act.

Austin is doing well. He had another check up today. He did well last week in school, but was having some headaches with more cognitive work and found it very difficult to do any homework. (Matt and I thought he was just trying to get out of it, but that wasn't the case. He was really struggling.) His Dr. and I emailed back and forth about this last week, and after seeing him today she wants him to do half days at school for the next 2 weeks and work on homework with me throughout the day. So we will try that! She is consulting a Pediatric Neurologist and will see Austin again in 2 weeks.

Ryland started Preschool on Friday. I know, why start on a Friday...but he did. And he did great! He is now going every Tuesday and Thursday. He loves it so much. The teachers said he did a great job and was very friendly, smart and funny! When I came to pick him up he was playing outside, (they have amazing playgrounds~yes, multiple playgrounds)and was having a blast! He is looking forward to going again tomorrow.


Now that I have Tuesday and Thursday mornings to myself...which is slightly insane to me... I haven't had "time to myself" for well, six and a half years, I decided to start going to the gym. It's the perfect time for me to jump on the treadmill for awhile. This past weekend we found a great 5 mile trail right near the gym though. I'm on a trial membership at the gym, so maybe I won't join and just hit that trail. It's a money saver...and you get fresh air and sun! The trail is really great too, it crosses an old train bridge and is away from any roads! This trail goes throughout the town and we have been checking different pieces of it out over the past few weekends. This one stretch with the bridge is by far the best bike ride-walking area.


Two week ends ago we went on a bike ride and Matt towed the kids in the bike trailer. This past weekend we thought since it had been two weeks since Austins accident that he could ride this time...(come to find out today, we shouldn't have done that...Thank God he didn't fall!) so he rode his own bide and I pulled Ryland in the trailer. Pulling a trailer with a 40 pound kid in it changes the whole aspect of a bike ride. It's more like a bike tug-o-war! Unfortunately, there were times when the trailer was winning. I have to give Matt major credit for towing both of the kids! However, our ride yesterday was 2 miles downhill and then the obvious, two miles back up! I totally kicked butt on the downhill, it's the uphill where the trailer nearly won!


It looks like Austin is going to ride in the trailer for the next two weeks, so the trailer is definately going back on Matt's bike! We are really loving it up in these hills!

We are THAT family!!

I have a 6 page paper, an edit on a 3 page and two classmates papers I need to workshop all due in two days, so needless to say...I chose to write in my blog!

I recently came across a blog that I love. It has amazing stories, advice and neat links and is found here, www.wearethatfamily.com I love the title of their blog, "We are THAT family". She goes on to describe THAT family as the ones with the black cloud following them around! Hey...I'm pretty sure WE are THAT family too!

So I shall now give you yet ANOTHER example of why we are THAT family!

This past Sunday was a beautiful day here. Sunny, a little cool but comfortable and an excellent day for a picnic at the lake! After church we stopped back at home and loaded the car up with chairs, blankets, books, a cooler and the kids bikes and headed off to Pollock Pines and Jenkinson Lake!

We had driven by this awesome lake before but never had been there for the day. I was SOOO excited to sit by the water, read a book and watch the boys fish. We found a great spot, parked and unloaded the car. Our "spot" was down a good sized hill but had trails all the way down. So we loaded up our hands, told the boys to get their bikes but stay on the trails and we headed off! The below picture is from where we were parked! Our destination was the water way down below. Isn't it beautiful!


We were there all of 20 minutes when Austin came back up the hill like this...


Staying on the trails proved too difficult (if not impossible) for Austin. The last words yelled excitedly out of his mouth as he took off on his bike were, "I'm going to BOMB this hill!".

The next words from both Matt's and my mouth were, "BRAKES...BRAKES.....HIT YOUR BRAKES....TURN BUDDY, TUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRNNNN!" And there he went, flying down the hill, crashing through plants and never getting the brakes to slow him down. At the end of this hill is a 5 foot tall break-water with large rocks that separates the beach area from the trail. Austin hit the large rocks at the break-water and he and his bike flew about 20 feet to where he landed on the rocky beach.

After witnessing our son flying through the air at a high rate of speed we both dropped our stuff and ran...leaving Ryland to catch up. (That little boy is a champ, along the way down the hill he grabbed a bag of potato chips and found his way to us, where he sat on a rock eating chips!)

The scariest thing was not hearing Austin, he was silent. Matt beat me there, but when I was just about there he began screaming. He had lost consciousness and had no idea who Matt was, he was slurring his speech and outright screaming. Matt held his head still while I tried to look him over.

He kept screaming that he needed help and that he hurt everywhere. He continued to ask what happened, where he was and how he got so hurt. His face was hit on the right side and he was complaining of wrist pain. Matt and I continued to look him over and knew we were going to need some help. Some very nice people had come to help and we had them contact the Ranger, who then called for Medics.


It was so nice to have the Fire Dept. and Medics arrive, I knew that he was getting appropriate help. They were very concerned by his severe mechanism of injury and the fact that he was still very confused, he didn't know where he was, what the day or year was or how he got in this situation. The Medic decided he was going to skip our local hospital and they were going to take Austin to UC Davis Children's Hospital in Sacramento, due to his trauma. They briefly considered to airlift him, but he was completely stable, so they decided to go by ground.

The very nice people who came to help continued to help us and loaded everything we had (which was strewn all over the hillside) back up to our car. The Fire Dept. loaded Austin in the ambulance and Matt rode with him. Initially they said they were going to go at normal speeds and that I may follow them down, but once they got all set up to go they changed their minds. I could no longer follow them and they went with lights and sirens all the way down to Sacramento. Ryland and I went straight to Sacramento. I called my family, told them what had happened and asked for them to meet me there.

Family is awesome...they all dropped what they were doing and showed up to the E.R. before the ambulance got there and obviously before I got there. It was so nice to pull into the E.R. and have my sister take my car and Ryland and everyone else there to help!


Austin had a CT scan of his head done and X-rays of his arms, shoulders, neck and head; he had urine analysis and 2 separate blood screenings done. Everything came back clear, (Thank God!) They wanted to observe Austin for awhile and encouraged him to eat. (All of these tests and reports took about 6 hours or so) He was able to eat a few crackers and drink some juice, but then he became very nauseous and they had to give him some medication for the nausea. At that point they decided to take a CT scan of his abdomen, which also came back clear! This entire time Austin had a roaring headache that he rated a 10 out of 10 on their pain scale. After all of the tests came back clear they were able to give him Tylenol which helped his pain.


Austin escaped any serious injuries or broken bones and was diagnosed with a concussion. A severe concussion, but it could have been so much worse! The Medics said more than once that his helmet really saved him! And I'm grateful his favorite drink is milk!

Today, 2 days later he is still suffering some serious side-effects of his concussion (which the Dr's. say is normal and could last weeks). He is very nauseous most of the time, has a headache that comes and goes, is sleepy, groggy and confused a bit and is having very restless sleep. He is having a challenging time right now.

He saw his Dr. again today for a check-up and she said as long as things don't get any worse he should be fine, and that he should start to get better over time. The Dr. has him out of school until his headaches are completely gone and he is able to eat without getting nauseous. He can't participate in anything recreational or mentally stimulating until a week after all of his symptoms are gone.

He gets a new helmet though! Although right now he doesn't even want to talk about riding his bike!

We are busy thanking God for allowing Austin to make it through this trial with very little injury! And we are praying that he recovers quickly, starts feeling better and is able to return to normal 6 year old things soon!

I want to thank everyone who has sent well wishes, phone calls and to my family who dropped everything to help us on Sunday!