Lyssa's broken arm

Well, Alyssa's got to have some kind of record for breaking all the bones in her arm in less than a year. I feel so horrible! I wasn't going to include this little episode in my blog because it was so heartbreaking, but Travis pointed out that it was still a memory even if it was a bad one. So here is goes...about a week and a half ago, Alyssa fell and her arm got pretty messed up. When I saw her arm I started freaking out! I knew that it was a pretty bad break because her arm was all contorted. Trav and I rushed her to the E.R. and they took some x-rays. Here they are. They said she dislocated and broke her arm.

You see that circular piece in there? Yeah, that's a piece of her bone! When I saw these I almost passed out!



Then they put her in a splint and took her by ambulance (no lights) to Children's Hospital.



Then they admitted us, and after hours of waiting, they did surgery to set her arm right. They had to put pins in to hold the bones all together. We ended up being there about 28 hours total, and those hours take the cake for being the worst 28 hours of my life. It was so horrible seeing her in pain. They gave her drugs, but she wasn't really comfortable until they did the surgery. Afterwards, when she was waking up, she was groggy, but you could tell already she felt better. She ended going home with a splint.


These are x-rays of the arm after the pins are put in. (They cut the pins after they know the bone is secure.) We got home Saturday night, and by the next morning she was running around! It's amazing how resilient kids are! The doctor told me one thing that made me feel a little better. He said there is a soft spot (for children) in the femur bone above the elbow, and that it is a common place for a child to break a bone. It was a pretty bad break, but luckily kids heal fast! She is such a trooper! We had a follow up appointment today (a little over a week later) and the doctor said that she is healing really well, and that they will probably be able to pull out the pins, in the office, in 2 weeks, and then she'll only have a splint for 2 more weeks after that.

Charli & Lyssa's Party

We had an action packed day! We started off the morning bright and early by opening presents. The girls loved the strollers from Grandma & Grandpa H! They also got more Barbies and Lyssa got a stick pony. She is really into ponies right now. Next, we went to Madagascar 2, which they all loved. Even Alyssa did pretty well until the end. When she couldn't sit still any longer, I took her to the aisle on the side, and before I could do anything about it, I realized she had swiped somebody's popcorn and was eating it. Then she spent the last few minutes dancing in the aisle. Then we went to Grandma L's for a bit, and opened presents. They both got dress ups, which they put right on! Next, we had the friend party at McDonalds. On our way home Lyssa was singing "Happy Birthday" and clapping her hands. My sister and my niece came for the party and so Charli was thrilled to spend the day with one of her cousins! I remember the day when I was pregnant with Charli and I found out she was a girl. I was so excited! We needed another girl in the family! Now our home has pink, princesses, barbies, dolls, dresses, and clothes everywhere because of her need to change her outfit 10 times a day. Our family wouldn't be complete without you two! We love you Charli and Alyssa!

General Conference

I'm a little out of sequence here, Travis had these pictures in his phone so I forgot to add them to my blog. We decided a few years ago that since we could get tickets to conference from my Dad so easily that we would try to go as much as we could. It is such an awesome experience. We love it! It is also a real bonus to be able to see the Halls. We have so much fun while we are there, that I forget to take pictures! It's just so much fun catching up with everyone and seeing all the cousins play. The kids count down the days until they can see everyone, and then spend every possible minute together while they are there. It's the best! This October was pretty cool because it was Brody's first chance going to the Conference Center. He was a little nervous about having to walk through the protestors, but he lucked out, and there weren't any that day. He said that he really liked being able to see the Prophet. That's my favorite part too! There's such an amazing spirit there being in the same room with all the Apostles and General Authorities... and hearing the choir! This visit we got to see Grandpa in the hospital and then be there when he came home. I loved it when all the little girls would go into Grandpa's room and sing him songs to help him feel better. The boys really liked playing with Grandpa's new gadgets that helped him to reach things. It, of course, became the new "weapon," and everyone wanted to play with it! We love Grandma and Grandpa and want to thank them so much for letting us stay and not minding all the chaos we brought to their home!

Halloween

The boys started out Halloween with a costume parade at school. Then, they went back to their classrooms had juice and donuts, took off their costumes and they were done. They didn't get to celebrate much at school, but we had lots of fun that evening. We went to Grandma & Grandpa LeDuc's house for Pizza and chili, and then off to the church for Trunk-or-treat. The little kids love this because the cars line up and can get candy from each car. It's really fast and easy. After that, we came home, and T J and Brody went trick-or-treating with their friends. Trey went out with Dad and Grandpa. Trey didn't stay out for long. He came back and loved helping me hand out candy. The doorbell would ring and Trey would say, "We have another customer," and he and the girls would run to the door. It was so cute! My niece was here that night too, so that made it even more fun! Now what are we going to do with all the candy they got?

Jack-o'-lanterns

It's a good thing that we didn't carve our pumpkins until the day before Halloween because it has been so warm here the last few days that they didn't last very long. Trey wanted to carve a pirate skeleton in his, TJ carved Homer Simpson, Brody carved wolves howling at the moon and the girls painted theirs. Alyssa got a little paint on the pumpkin!

Halloween Parties

Halloween is so much fun! This year our ward had a Halloween party at the church. We got our pictures taken, there was a cake walk, and plenty of games. The kids loved it! This year Charli, Lyssa,& I were 50's girls. Trav was my jock boyfriend (no dressing up needed!) TJ & Trey were Indiana Tones and Brody was Iron Man. My mom was an absolute lifesaver & made jackets and bags for the boys & Lyssa's skirt! She's the best! Trey & Charli were the only ones that got to have a party in their school class.

Biking in the canyon

Last week when the boys had their fall break, my Dad took us for a bike ride in the canyon. It was such a beautiful ride with the changing fall leaves. We saw this herd of about 6 bighorn sheep. It was awesome! My mom watched the girls and I toted Trey in the trailer. Trey loves riding his bike, but it was just a little too far of a ride for him. I really wanted him to go because I knew he would love it if we saw animals, and we did! We also saw a herd of deer just a little ways up the mountain. TJ and any Dad could have biked all day, but we had to make a few stops for Me and Brody, I didn't think that it would be that much harder with the trailer, but I thought My quads were going to explode! Anyway, it was funny because out of no where Brody said, "Grandpa, you've gut to FEEL the burn, not just TAKE the burn!" I don' t think my Dad was feeling the burn, but I sure was! It was a great memory!