the marathon blog

I know this is a gross thing to start with, but Cecelia's foot got terribly injured at Lake Powell with a rope that wrapped around her ankle after a caribbeaner broke while the boat was pulling Paul and Max on the tube. She is so lucky she didn't loose her foot. This is just a few days after it happened. Later is a picture of what it looked like after about 1 wk. Bubba sent us a magic silver bandage in the mail that healed it right up. Thanks for saving the day Bubba!

So, I have 5 months worth to blog about, so sit down in a comfortable chair. As it is close to midnight, I have decided to post separate slide shows of our trip to Utah and our trips to Lake Powell...hopefully tomorrow. Commentary will be brief as well. Cecelia had her spring ballet concert at the end of May. She looked so beautiful. Her studio put on Copelia. I think the whole concert was 12 minutes long, but almost their entire cast were beginners. We were so proud of her. One of her best cousins, Lydia was in her class. Much to our dismay, the Princes have moved back to Southern Utah. We are still mourning their departure.

Just before the Princes left, we took a family night trip up to Flagstaff to see the Lava Tubes. As a warning, if you ever go, dress warmly and bring flashlights. Average temp. was 42 degrees. BRRRR! It was cool to see, but very slippery and tight quarters at the end. Tennessee and I, plus the other little munchkins didn't go all the way to the end. Brief intermission....this photo is supposed to go at the end, but my eyes are falling out, so here it stays.

This was at the end of May!

Max brought this sign home that he had made on earth day. It made me so proud. I noticed him picking up trash on one of our walks the week after. He was very concerned about the litter people had left around and told me they weren't being very respectful to the earth.

His school is so fabulous.

"I'm singin' in the rain....just singin' in the rain!" We had some awesome monsoon storms this summer. They kids just loved them!

We don't have rain gutters, which makes for a waterfall right at our front door step.My little girl turned into a teenager this summer! I can't believe it. Shipley has been and continues to be such a joy and a huge help to me with the baby and anything I need. I love her dearly and I'm so proud of her for her righteous desires and her tender and sensitive spirit. We were fortunate to be able to go up to Utah for a few weeks and celebrate while we were there. We threw Shipley a surprise breakfast and I got to take her out to lunch. Her Nanna got to take her out as well. Katie took her to see the movie Eclipse. It was her 2nd time seeing it as we were crazy or stupid enough to see the first midnight showing on opening night up in Prescott. We got home at 3 in the am.Since it was her golden birthday, we had a Sunday dinner with grandma Kathie, grandpa Keith and her aunt Emily and kids. Emily decorated the picnic tables beautifully with gold balloons, place mats and gold stars hanging from the trees. She is so creative and cute..

Wickman had to stay behind when we went to Utah because of football practices, so we opened a few presents when we got home. He gave her a Huge Hershey bar with a golden ticket that said she was the best sister. It was super cute. I love moments like that when they show love to each other. They are priceless.

We headed up to the Granite Dells in Prescott one day with our little blow up raft and our swimsuits, hoping to cool off from the hot sun.

Okay, I don't know where the pictures all are that I downloaded of this day, but to make a long story short, the boat had a slow leak and their was a sign posted that said no swimming due to contamination. It was a flop of an activity. These boats looked pretty though, don't ya think?

Max is our little frog hunter. He found this little one in the backyard. Max also celebrated a birthday this summer, number 6! He is getting to be a great little reader and enjoys riding his bike, playing with his baby brother, legos and lizard hunting. He is a wonderful part of our family.

Paul planned another one of his family "themed" nights around the movie Avatar. None of us had seen it except for him. He had us dress up...the girls as the Avatars, and the boys as the army. We did the best we could from seeing a few previews. We had a battle out on the lawn to protect a crystal. It was pouring rain that night, so we didn't get any battle shots, but here a few posed ones.

We had a lot of fun with it. He is so creative.

My little "T" is growing up so big. He is crawling and walking along furniture. He is growing up way too fast.

Wickman opted to play football this year instead of soccer. I can hardly watch him out there on the field. I hold my breath every time he gets tackled. He seems to really enjoy it though. How a bunch of boys could suit up like that in this heat and run around and hit each other is beyond me. You can see Wick here is number 3 going in for a tackle.

Wickman made me breakfast on my birthday. He made a regular egg and also an omelet, sausage and juice. After a grueling morning of deep cleaning the house, I got to spend the afternoon at the park with some of my dear friends where we had lunch and enjoyed a yummy carrot cake that Natalie made. I got to go out with Paul in the evening. I got spoiled as always.

I just had to take a picture of this cute little lantern that Max made up with some junk/garbage he found at the park. He is my little recycler!

Time to keep the toilet seats closed!

This the after picture. Gross!

Okay, this is a long story, but it is half past 12. A brief version, Wickman and Max walked to school, took a bad short cut, ended up in a yard with 2 large dogs, jumped a chain link fence with a sharp top and shredded his uniform shirt, lost his lunch in the yard with the dogs, but lived to tell about it . That is not the whole story, but next time you see him, ask him all about it. There are some gory details.

Can you see a hexagon in there? Shipley's coach accidentally kicked a soccer ball at her as he tried to score a goal. Ouch! She got 2 bruises and the mark stayed on for several days.

Here is why I have a hard time watching Wick play football.

Shipley had a great first game, but they lost by one. She plays excellent defense.

Max played very well also and won his game first game this past Saturday. He thinks it is unfair that the older kids get to practice twice a week and he only gets one practice. He loves soccer.

My cute dad flew all the way here late Friday night so that he could see the kids' games on Saturday, then he left Sunday at 3:30 am. It was so much fun to spend the day with him. He is a wonderful father and grandfather and we love him dearly. He even made us dinner! Thanks for coming dad and thanks for sharing your "snappy pears".