Yellow Stone Park

This was our first camping trip of the season and the best word to describe it would probably be, "interesting".  We had a lot of fun trying out all our new gear (camping stove, chairs & camping cook set). It got colder then we expected it would, so Kellen ended up sleeping in my bag. Not very fun for me, but very warm for him. Kellen absolutely loved to be outside, and because of that we were constantly having to run after him, trying to get him to stay in camp.

The only way we could keep Kellen in one place was to strap him to his booster seat. He didn't like it much, but it gave Preston & I the time we needed to take down camp.

Kellen spent most of the time on Preston's back, And sadly enough that white rock formation to the right of the photo used to be beautiful. I don't know what's going on, but most of Yellow Stones most beautiful attractions are all dried up. This area is called Mammoth, and has a board-walk that takes about 2 hours. A long that board-walk all we say was a little bit of steam.

I remember this spot from when I was younger. My parents would take us her on vacation. There is supposed to be a flowing cascade of water, and the rock is normally a beautiful orange/red and brown color. The sky fills with steam, and the smell of rotten eggs over powers you. Not any more.

Despite all the frustration & tantrums we may have had, we still had so much fun, and consider the trip a success. We'll probably go camping again soon.

A little summer fun

Kellen and I have been having as much fun as we possible can. Spring/Summer has finally arrived and we are consistently getting between 60 and 85 degree temp. WOW! dream big. The photos below are Kellen at Spray Park. It is a kind of water park with two water slides and several fountains. There is also a regular park, a soccer field, and a carousel all right here at the same place. So, about 4 or 5 days a week Kellen and I will ride the bike to the park, play in the water, ride the carousel and get a free lunch (provided by the school district) 

Kellen has a blast playing with all the other kids, and I get a chance to meet some other mommies... well at least the moms that go as much as I do, when you see the same person almost every day one of you is bound to say hi.

Kellen's Video

Last time I tried to put a video on the blog, the computer wouldn't let me. So I thought I would give it another go. This video is nothing really, just my cute Kellen playing. but at least it worked this time, so enjoy. This is a tribute to Dax's video.

Happy Birth day Preston

Yep he's talking to you Jess.

We started the day out with a wonderful breakfast picnic. It was delicious and a lot of fun. Kellen was giggling he was so excited. You can catch a glimpse of Kellen running off in the photo on the right.

That's my birthday boy

We got a babysitter, went and eat some amazing Thia Food, and saw a movie with our friends. A lot of fun stuff happened that day, these were only the highlights.

Recovery

I wanted to give everyone a quick update on how we're all doing. Kellen is doing just fine. He has been a little more clingy then he normally is, but I'm loving it. Sunday night Kellen climbed into bed with us twice. He brought a little blanket with him, climbed in, made himself comfortable and went to sleep. After he was asleep I would carry him back to bed.

I wash Kellen's stitches twice a day, and apply a type of neosporen every 4 hours. He has done a good job of leaving his stitches alone for the most part. When we showed Kellen what he looked like in the mirror he tried to get away, and didn't want to look. But now he is back to his normal self, of making faces and dancing...or something that looks like dancing. I wanted to post a picture of how bruised Kellen's eye got, but he wouldn't hold still. But just to give you an idea... it covered his eye lid like eye shadow would, and was so red I thought he broke a stitch and got it bleeding. But every time I took a closer look, all 5 were still in tacked. The red is fading now and is starting to turn yellow. Only 2 more days until the stitches come out.

Preston is doing great also. We really have no idea why he passed out. He said that at the hospital he hadn't been feeling good for about 5 or 6 minutes. So I really don't think Preston has a weak stomach, maybe just an empty one. After He got some food in him and a nap, he was feeling much better.

And as for me...I am doing better, now that Kellen is doing better.

I can't wait to have all of this behind us.

Something cute Kellen was doing at the hospital: The nurse was giving medical tape to Kellen to keep him occupied while we waited, and Kellen was trying to put it over his eye like a band-aid. It was so funny to watch. I didn't even know he new about the magic of a "Band-Aid".

Like Father, Like Son

I will warn you now, the photos at the bottom of the page are not as pretty as the one above. So for those of you that do not have strong stomachs, you might want to for-go looking at them. They say a picture says a thousand words, if that is true then that is a thousands words I don't have to. Today was pretty traumatic for all of us; an experience I hope I never have to go through again-and one I would never wish on anyone. It's very late right now, and I am very tired, but I wanted to get these photos up tonight.  So, I will give you the cliff-notes version of today's events. It was another cold day today, too cold to take Kellen outside to play; so I took him to our Pool. Kellen slipped on some water that had been splashed out of the pool, fell face first into the edge of the pool and then back into the water. After getting Kellen out of the water, I rapped him in his towel and ran home with him. I called Preston as soon as I got into the house, and just prayed that he wasn't already in the Testing Center at school.  If he was I don't know who I would have called, I don't really know that many people here. I told Preston that Kellen had fallen and that he needed to come home and take us to the ER. Shortly after getting there the Doctor examined Kellen and told us that he would need stitches. I remember thinking to myself, "There is no way they are ever going to get my boy to hold still long enough to put stitches in him." While the Doctor was explaining our options to us; telling us we could hold Kellen down or sedate him, Preston mentioned he didn't feel good. Both the Dr. and I turn to look at Preston's very pail face. Then I hear the dreaded words "I'm going to pass out". And Preston never lies. At this point, Preston is now hooked up to a bunch of monitors, whiter than a ghost, and I have a baby that still needs stitches. In conclusion, I guest you could say we all had our own trials. No one but the Lord to help get us through. Preston was all alone in his Hospital bed listening to the screams of his little boy. I was all alone having to hold my sons legs down so that he wouldn't move. And I am sure that Kellen felt more alone than both of us. But yet, the Lord gives us strength so we can make it through our darkest hours. I know that the Lord was with each one of us, giving us the strength we needed. Kellen was such a trooper, and I am so proud of him.

These next photos are close ups of his stitches, he got 5.

Kellen was fast asleep before we even left the Hospital

Kellen & Hobbs

Dear Faithful readers, adoring fans; and for those of you that aren't either, I will start at the beginning. About a month ago, the three of us packed up our things and moved...down the street. During this overly eventful time I broke Kellen's crib, thus resulting in the purchase of a new one; one that I thought to be sturdy and well built. Either I have a ridiculously strong toddler or a poorly built crib, maybe a little of both. As you can see from the photo below that once again we have another broken crib, and this time it wasn't my fault.

During nap time, Kellen was having trouble falling asleep; witch can be the norm for him, if I have not properly worn him out first. After about an hour of him talking, jumping, screaming, crying, and giggling; I decided to go check on him, and try to explain to him what it means to "Go To Sleep." Upon my arrival I found a broken crib. During one of his wrestling session with Hobbs, he must have kicked the crib, and broke the bar. So we scolded him, got him out of bed, took a picture, and then grabbed the wood glue. Our attempt to fix what Kellen had done was met with sore defeat. The next night, sometime after we put Kellen to bed, I heard a funny crack/pop sound from Kellen's room. I went to go check on him, thinking that he must be asleep by now, but instead I was greeted with the most beautiful smile, and a pile of broken wood on my floor. Two pieces of broken wood to be more precise. I don't know how he did it, but he was able to kick out the bar with a clean brake on both ends. It looked as though the crib was made like that. So with it being late into the night, and there not being much we could do about it right then, we just turned the crib around in the attempt that Kellen would stop messing with it, and not see a perfect escape route from his prison we call a crib. The next morning Kellen awoke early as usual, and me being like any other tired mommy, "If he makes another sound I'll get up then." When I entered Kellen's room I found a tired, slightly worried cutie standing outside his crib. Evidently he discovered the whole in his crib and thought it just might be big enough to fight through, and decided to give it a go. And when he was out, he wasn't sure what to do next. So in the end Preston suggested that we glue the bar back into place and turn Kellen's crib into a day bed. I wasn't so sure Kellen was ready, but I new that he wasn't liking his jail any more. I agreed to try it out and see how Kellen did. To my amazement, Kellen did perfect during his nap: didn't get out of bed and didn't fall out either. That night he seemed a little nervous about bedtime, but he now loves getting in and out of bed on his own. He is such a good boy and stays in bed during his naps, and through the night. I have to say, I was not expecting that at all. He is only 20 months, but he understands a lot more then I think he does.

Triathlon at Rigby Lake

I did a Triathlon, or should I say Duel-athlon.

This has been a goal of mine for over a year now. But it doesn't really count, and I will explain why. Triathlons are swim, bike, run, and they are always in that order. Well, I did run, bike, run. The reservoir that we were supposed to swim in didn't get enough water. So to many of the racers dismay, the swimming portion was replaced with a run; and i will be the first to say, I am not a runner! I am a swimmer. So by taking away the swim they took away my advantage.

The race turned out to be 2mile run, 13mile bike, 3.1mile run.

This is my friend Stef, she did the race with me. She did amazing.

And we're off! The bike was by-far my favorite part. I actually passed people on the bike. I am crossing the finish line. Yeah! Notice that I forgot to put my Knee brace back on after the Bike. I thought I was going to die. Preston is my hero. He stood around for 2hr with Kellen on his back so he could take pictures of me. I love you so much. I had so much fun racing and will defiantly do another one. I could have never done it with out the support of my loving husband, Preston.

Photo Booth

Preston found a cool new feature on his computer, I mean just look at it, it just so cool.

It's called photo booth. It give you a 3 second count down and then takes your picture. I mean come on, how cool is that! And if you couldn't tell it was really late at night.

BBQ with Cory & Stef

This is a little swing-set at Cory & Stef's new house.

Kellen loves to play with Stef.

These are our friends Cory & Stef. We met them a year ago, right after we moved up here. They are great friends and we love them. Kellen thinks the world of them both and sequels with excitement when we get to see them. Sorry to all you Aunts, Uncles, and cousins, it looks like Cory & Stef are Kellen's favorite.