GoldenGrams

This time we visited the farm at Thanksgiving Point.

Last Monday was one of the craziest days we’ve had in a while.  Allow me to elaborate. 

(Whoa.  I just finished typing this and it’s kind of long.  This means by brother, Abe, likely won’t be reading.  The day involved toilet water, a rainstorm, and lots of blood.  Does that make you want to keep reading?)

As we were getting ready in the morning, I heard dripping.  I soon saw that water was dripping through the ceiling in our hall.  This has happened once before when we first moved in.  Our neighbor’s toilet overflowed in the middle of the night, flooded her bathroom, and dripped down to us.  We suspected the same thing had happened this time.

I called our neighbor who was 30 minutes away.  She hurried home and we inspected her bathroom.  There was some water in it, but not a large amount.  Then we noticed that she had water dripping through her ceiling.  So we trekked upstairs to our third floor neighbor.  We woke him up and he went to check his bathroom.   A few minutes later he came out and exclaimed that his bathroom was totally flooded.  At least we figured out the cause of that problem.  I’m not sure I want to know what kind of water damage we may have between our floors.

I went off to a meeting and when I got back, Dallas was loading the girls in the car for a picnic in the canyon.  He had a hankering to commune with nature.  We drove to Bridal Veil Falls, enjoyed a pleasant picnic, watched the girls play in the water, and started walking up the trail.  However, storm clouds rolled in and cut the walk short.  Dallas wanted to keep walking, but I didn’t want to get stuck further from our car in a rainstorm.

As we were heading back to the car, Brooke fell and scraped both knees.  Crying ensued, as did a mad scramble to find a band-aid.  Luckily, some fellow hikers had a band-aid they donated to our cause.

As we were driving home, Dallas insisted the storm was passing.  He stopped at a park so Brooke could play.  Between her scraped knees, the falling rain, and the blowing wind, not much playing happened.  Finally, Dallas came to terms with the fact that his perfect afternoon in the mountains just wasn’t meant to be.

We went home.  After naps and dinner, Dallas once again suggested a walk.  The bad weather had passed, so I agreed.  We decided to walk along the Provo River Trail until we got to one of the parks. Before we left, Dallas found the first-aid kit that is supposed to be in our car (but wasn’t) and he put it back in the car – just in case.

After a nice, 20-minute walk, Brooke spotted a playground and raced off.  We watched her and Caroline swing and slide and were just about to admit to each other that the day wasn’t a total loss – we were able to have a nice time outside after all – when Brooke fell off a little ladder and hit the back of her head on one of the metal rungs.

Dallas immediately scooped her up and started comforting her.  I packed Caroline up in the stroller and turned around to talk to Brooke.  It was then that I saw blood running down her hair and staining her shirt.  Some guy at the park offered us a piece of gauze to staunch the bleeding.  We took it and held it to her head.  We couldn’t really see the injury because her hair was in the way, and it was all matted with blood.  Of course, we had our first-aid kit waiting for us in the car – the car that was about 20 minutes away.  Curses!

We began walking back to the car.  By this time, the gauze was completely soaked and all of our clothes had blood splatters, but Brooke had calmed down a bit.  It was then that she looked at her hands and saw they had blood all over them.  Another explosion of tears and sobs erupted from her.

We rounded the bend and came upon a fire station.  Dallas said that we should go in and ask them for help.  I didn’t know if this kind of thing was allowed, just traipsing into a fire station asking for medical advice, but why not?  Fire fighters are in the business of helping citizens, and we sure needed help!

We rang the doorbell and they buzzed us in.  A fireman took one look at all of us soaking in blood and asked what had happened.  We explained the situation and asked if we could wash up a little bit.  He took us to a fire truck and called another fire fighter in to help us.  They washed off Brooke’s head (and hands!) and tried to see what was happening.  They said that it looked like the bleeding had stopped, so they didn’t think stitches were needed.  However, they recommended that we take Brooke to the ER to check for head injuries.  One fireman said his son did a similar thing  and they thought he was going to be okay, but it turned out he had fractured his skull.  That wasn’t exactly the kind of story I wanted to hear at the moment.

So, now we needed to get to the hospital and our car was still a mile away.  The firemen offered to drive us, but we didn’t really want the price tag that came along with a lift from them.  The hospital was actually only a block or two away, so we decided to just walk straight there.

As we were walking to the ER, Dallas saw an InstaCare.  He suggested going there, thinking that it would be less expensive to go to an InstaCare than the ER.  We decided to try it.  We entered the office and I’m sure we were a sight to behold.  Caroline was screaming in the stroller (by this time it was WAY past her bedtime), Brooke was sniffling, and there was a smattering of blood all over us, just for good measure.

We related our story, and they said they could help us there.  Luckily, there was only one other man ahead of us, so we were seen quickly.  Dallas took Caroline to go get the car while I took Brooke in to see the doctor.  After cleaning her up a little more, I was able to see what was happening in the back of her head.  She had a huge goose egg and a slit where the blood had been coming out.  He tugged a little on it and said that he didn’t think staples or stitches were necessary.  I was SO GLAD we avoided stitches.  I’m sure Brooke was too.  He checked her balance and her eyes and said that she didn’t seem to have a concussion, so he sent us on our way with instructions to wake her up once in the night.

After baths, putting the girls to bed, and doing a load of laundry, Dallas and I were more than ready to fall into bed ourselves and put an end to our unlucky day.

Yesterday we took advantage of Thanksgiving Point’s Two-Buck Tuesday and went to the Dinosaur Museum.  A good time was had by all.

We started off waiting in line for about thirty minutes.  That was a bit of a drag, but Brooke made this face -

and both girls climbed on these rocks -

so the fun had already begun.

Then we went inside and took pictures next to dinosaur bones, played with the hands-on activities, and ended the morning with ice cream!

We had such a fun day together as a family.  I loved every second of it.  I can hardly wait for next Tuesday to come!

Dallas has a grandmother who lives in Las Vegas.  We’ve been wanting to visit her for some time, and a couple of weekends ago, we finally made the trip.

I feel like this road trip was our first taste of truly traveling with children.  We heard countless refrains of “Caroline, stop!”  and “Caroline, no!  I don’t want your paci!” and, of course, “I need to go potty!”

Dallas and I are obviously very inexperienced with this whole traveling-with-a-newly-potty-trained*-toddler business because on they way we stopped at a gas station that had a Dairy Queen in it.  I let Brooke get an icee.  An icee…which consists of flavored ice…which is water…which meant we had to stop for bathroom breaks every 20 minutes after that for the next two hours.  (*I’m using the phrase “potty trained” fairly loosely here.  We’re mostly there…)

Highlights from the trip included playing with Grandma’s moving, oinking pig-

Walking the Strip-

Seeing some friends who live in Vegas, and visiting with Grandma Golden, of course!

Brooke loves temples.  She talks about how she wants to go to the temple.  Dallas and I have told her that she can go when she gets bigger.  (We have found we have to be careful when we tell her she’s such a big girl because then she says, “I’m bigger!  I go to temple now?”)

Since she is now bigger and one year older, we decided to take her to the temple and have a picnic on the grass.  It was perfect weather, and we had a great time.

After our picnic, we ran home, put the girls down for naps, and prepared for Brooke’s birthday party.  Stay tuned…

I’ll let the video speak for itself. It may taken awhile to load so be patient waiting.

My last post was all about Caroline. If there’s anyone who’s more neglected on our blog than Caroline, it would be Dallas. I think it’s about time I wrote a post all about him. I’ll try not to make you gag as I dote on him for a moment.

One day when we were dating, we went swimming in the pool at my apartment complex. We had finished swimming and were lounging on chairs drying off when Dallas suddenly stopped what he was doing, focused intently on a nearby garden hose, and got an idea.

Before I knew it, Dallas was back in the pool with one end of the hose in hand. Inexplicably, he put his mouth on that end and blew. After a few good puffs, the water that had been trapped in the hose was pushed out the other end. Dallas gave a few extra blows for good measure, turned to me, and said, “Watch this!”

He then proceeded to snorkel using the hose as his breathing apparatus. There was a kid nearby who watched in fascination as Dallas stayed under water for minutes on end. When Dallas was done channeling his inner child, he gave the boy a quick lesson on how to breathe through the hose and let him have a go. The boy was still snorkeling long after we left.

Another time when we were dating, we went to Walmart. As we approached the checkout, Dallas eyed the conveyor belt and the package of batteries in his hand that we were about to purchase. Before the checker or I could react, Dallas launched the batteries. They landed on the conveyor belt, skimmed across the place that scans bar codes, and then landed in the bag. It was an amazing feat of athleticism, brilliance, and skill.

A couple of months ago we were in the mall. I was ordering new contacts and Dallas was trying to keep Brooke from destroying everything in sight. He took her to a display of musical instruments and lifted her so she could play the sample keyboard. A few minutes later I heard Dallas plucking out a tune. He looked up at me with a flirtatious smile. I concentrated on trying to name that tune and realized he was playing Till There Was You. Aww.

Sometimes when we’re driving, Dallas will suddenly shout out the name of a movie. A few seconds later I’ll spot what he’s already seen—a DVD playing in someone else’s car. He is so good at this game; I don’t think he’s ever been stumped. (It probably helps that the DVDs are usually playing for the benefit of the kids in the backseat, and kids’ movies just happen to be one of Dallas’s favorite genres of movies.)

On one of our first dates, Dallas revealed his Kermit the Frog impression. It was very convincing. However, I think my favorite impression of his is Fran Drescher, followed closely by Gerald from Sid, the Science Kid.

I guess what I’m trying to say by recounting all these stories is that I think Dallas is one swell guy and that I’m really lucky that I’m married to him. He undeniably makes my life more spontaneous, lively, and meaningful.

Happy anniversary (one month late) and birthday (three weeks late)!

I feel guilty that we didn’t post anything about Christmas.  We had a fun Christmas.  We just didn’t take many pictures.  And I usually use pictures to inspire my posts.  Thus, I’m feeling very uninspired.

Hmm.

I guess I’ll just upload what we have and you can peruse at your leisure.

Happy New Year!

Visiting Temple Square

Caroline with Grandma Golden

First taste of solid food

Just waking up

Caroline and Grandma Allen

I loved watching Brooke play with the nativity.  There was something profound about the way she would arrange the figures–everyone focused on the baby Jesus.  Everyone including a rubber ducky.

And what’s this?  A lone sheep gone astray.  Find your way back to the fold!

A few days ago we got a ton of snow, so we bundled up the babies and had some fun!

Note the carrot in my hand.

We told Brooke we were going to play in the snow.  She asked if we could make a snowman.  We agreed.  She immediately went to the fridge for a carrot and then ran off in search of a snowman hat.

She makes me smile.

The wait is over!  Here we are in all of our Halloween glory:

Cinderella, the Pumpkin, the Fairy Godmother, and the Prince

Let’s take a closer look at my babies (and by babies, I don’t mean Brooke and Caroline.  I’m referring to the costumes I labored over, of course!).

Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother at our ward Trunk-or-Treat.

I know, I know.  Fairy Godmothers should probably have wings.  And wands.  I was obviously more into making my own costume than caring about Brooke’s.  By the time I got around to shopping for fairy wings, the store had sold out.  Oops.  Sorry Brooke!

Inspecting the loot.

Special thanks to Jacob and Laurie (my brother and sister-in-law) for unknowingly providing Caroline with her Halloween costume!

I just can’t get enough of that cute face, drool and all!

I love taking Brooke to new places.  Everything is so novel to her and I can see her taking in her surroundings and soaking up everything.

Last week we went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.  Brooke loved the kids’ activities scattered through the museum.  Here are way too many pictures of our outing.

Riding a dinosaur

The erosion water table

Believe it or not–a picture of me!

Brooke excavating

This next group of shots shows Brooke’s reaction to the huge dinosaurs.  She was a bit frightened.  We loved her expressions.

Since Caroline’s birth, we’ve been wondering if she would develop big eyes like Brooke did.  We got our answer:

And just when we thought Brooke had finally grown into her eyes…

Dallas recently got a job at my Dad’s company–and not a moment too soon!  We were able to participate in their work Lagoon day!

Brooke and I started off on the carousel.

When Brooke was scared, she’d ride with her hands over her eyes, like so:

Caroline was happy to sleep the whole time.

Since my parents were also at Lagoon, Dallas and I took advantage of their kindness and let them watch Brooke and Caroline while we did big-people rides.  Even though it was a Saturday in the summer, there were hardly any lines.  It was a fun day!

Well, today is the last day of my thirty-one day marathon.  Some of you are happy that I’m done since Rebecca hasn’t felt compelled to post anything and you are only here for Rebecca. For those of you who are going to have to have therapy from separation anxiety, I’m sorry that this has had to come to an end.

In honor of today’s last post I planned an event to give you something to read about.  We celebrated Cinco de Mayo.  The Latin American blood runs deep in our family.  Rebecca and I spent a day in Tiajuana on our honeymoon.

To help us celebrate I built a pinata out of flour and old newspaper.

As it happens, the only spray paint we have is gold so it was our golden egg.

We invited the Fraziers and the Lintons to join us because it is more fun in numbers.  We also invited another neighbor who was walking by.

I didn’t think it would take so much force to open up the pinata.  It’s only newspaper and flour.

Ava, Emma, and Brooke loved the idea of candy!

We all got together on dinner and had a great Mexican feast.

Today I found myself in the doctor’s office.  It wasn’t a pretty sight.  I had surgery which I’m kind of regretting right now.  It hurts, it itches, and it’s bleeding like crazy.  Rebecca and Brooke were watching and I noticed that Brooke wasn’t looking so good while she her dad getting cut open, so Rebecca had to take her away.  That’s how bad it was.  The pictures of my surgery are not for everyone so I have posted them on a separate page.  Click here if you are brave enough to see them.

Yesterday Brooke and I went with our friends for a Daddy Daughter activity.  We took our girls up to the Hill Air Force Base Museum.

Emma, Ava, and Brooke all got to sit together on the same row in the van.  Brooke seemed to enjoy it but she wasn’t entirely sure about it.  When we were leaving, Brooke was crying for her mom.  Watching Wall-e on the DVD player calmed her right down and kept the girls occupied for the trip to the museum.

This was my favorite plane as a kid.  It is still really cool.  We even had the G.I. Joe Blackbird.

Brooke solutes all our airmen who are risking their lives to protect our country.

On the way home Emma and Ava fell right to sleep but Brooke was wide awake for the entire trip home.