My Poor Baby

Poor Ammon!
We were swimming with Mark's family at the Lindon pool Saturday...having a great time...when Josh picked up Ammon to relocate to a different part of the pool. They were in the shallow part, and another little toddler stepped right in front of Josh (he didn't see her) and he tripped, falling and landing right on Ammon, who was pinned to a platform. At first I thought Ammon just bumped his head hard. But when the crying didn't stop, and I started to notice he wasn't using his arm, I got worried. It wasn't until we took off his swim shirt that we noticed a definite bulge on his shoulder and knew he needed care. The men gave him a blessing and Ammon and I headed off to instacare. Long story short (after a heart-breaking x-ray session) we found out he broke his collar bone! I feel so bad! With the collar bone you don't set it, or even cast it, but we are doing our best to immobilize it. Since Ammon is quite young still he has the advantage of healing quickly - in about 3 weeks he should be feeling pretty good. I think this is a lot harder on me than on him. He seems to be in good spirits and not in too much pain (a result of the blessing & lots of prayers I'm certain). I, on the other hand, and a nervous wreck - hovering over him making sure he doesn't get bumped, or stumble, or fall the wrong way, roll over in bed the wrong way, or even play the wrong way. If I had it my way he would sit on my lap all day or at least in his high chair out of harm's way, but alas he is 18 months old and the advice to "keep still" was never so ironic. You can see in the pictures he's carrying on as normal, bless his heart! Good thing it's summer and he can run around in diapers!

It's his left side, and since he's left-handed he seems a little frustrated, but is adapting well. At least he's happy for a little while to munch on snacks & watch baby einstein. He's been drinking a ton of milk - his body must know he needs some extra calcium - isn't the human body amazing? Since the bones are overlapping about 1/2 cm, they will fuse together, new bone will grow, there will be a bulge for a while, and eventually the body will correct the bulge. In about 3 months if we took another x-ray, both shoulders would look the same. What a miracle!

don't mind the apron...he won't keep a bib on and I do what I can to keep his bandage clean!

Keeping Busy!

Last week Mark was with the scouts hiking Kings Peak for 5 days...so the kids and I planned lots of activities to stay entertained:

We went to the library for the summer reading program...Had a picnic and playtime at Discovery Park...Went to the movies (Monsters vs. Aliens)...Visited the Walter Wick (I SPY...Do You See What I See?) exhibit at BYU (highly recommend!)ate snacks at Hogi Yogi...enjoyed a cousin play day & sleepover...

hit the PG Promenade...

I stayed up until midnight working on this puzzle with my dad...we played in the kiddie pool,

and a grand finale at the I Heart UT festival No, we didn't get to waterski (I WISH!!!)

What a fun week! I had so much fun spending quality time with my kids, and staying busy really helped the time pass. We sure missed Daddy and we were so glad when he returned to us safe and sound. Now back to the good old routine...for a few days at least :)

Lots & lots

We started off last Thursday with a trip to the cabin with our friends the Johnsons, my dad, and Grandma Stum. Even though it was a quick trip we had a great time and were blessed with beautiful weather & great compay.

Holly and Alora at the lake

Visiting on the porch

Ammon loved exploring

Ella at the lake

Ammon's shirt says "muscle man" but maybe it should say "pot belly"!

Ella, Hailey, Alora, Holly, & Chase

On the Fourth of July...we really had a great day but I neglected to bring my camera. We went to the parade in Provo with my family (nearly 40 of us!), then went to Seven Peaks with my family too. So fun! It was the first time there for my kids so it was really great and weather was awesome and crowds weren't even too bad. We came home and Holly and Mark washed the car (Holly was an amazing helper) and then we headed to a neighborhood BBQ & fireworks. A fun & exhausting day.

The next day we left for a Horton family reunion up in Midway. This is with my Dad, all my siblings, & everyone's families (around 45+ of us). We had a wonderful time & my brother Paul & family even came down from Oregon so we had a great group there.
We enjoyed lots of visiting time & lots of keeping up with the kiddos!

Coloring on transparencies

Little cousins enjoying snow cones together. My niece Malia has a snow cone maker she brought and all the kids thought that was really fun.

Malia, Matthew, Joshua, and Erin making rockets for the launcher

Addie (my niece's daughter...who my girls love to play with) immediately shoved this sandwich in her mouth as soon as I requested a smile Ammon and Eliza had fun eating together - although Ammon usually got a little miffed when Eliza would steal his food!

My brother Andy with his rocket launcher...this has become a fun tradition at our summer gatherings.This is the backyard & view at the property where we stayed - gorgeous huh? Mark is standing out in the garden to retrieve the rockets all the kids were launching.

Holly enjoying some play-doh time

As part of our "Horton Hoedown" we had a corn-husking contest. This is my brother Paul, my dad, brother Andy, and hubby Mark. Andy won but he cheated!

Concentrating hard...

Maybe you can tell in this picture that the guys started throwing the husks on the crowd, so we started throwing them right back!

Ella whacking the pinata at the family reunion

Holly

Josh

Today...Ammon's first real haircut...he's had a trim before, but this was the first time I pulled out the clippers and did everything. It was tricky because his hair is so fine, but he was such a good boy!