The Bountiful Handcart Days Parade was this week...  It was hot, but we had fun anyway.  We met up with the neighborhood gang and ate lots of taffy and whatever else they threw at us.

The moms.

Mike rocked his sun hat.  

Bountiful knows how to party!

Why I have to clean our sliding door everyday...

Sticky fingers and glass doors are not a good combination.  

A Mike Update

This is Mike the day after his accident... (being a wise guy and not appreciating my picture taking, but he'll thank me some day I'm sure of it.)

And this is him 6 days after the accident...  He's healing up nicely.  He got his stitches out on Tuesday and I honestly can't believe how fast he's healing.  We are hoping by this time next year you won't even be able to tell it happened.   Although, I have to admit, I was kind of digging the tough guy scars :)

His arm on accident day, and then only 5 days later...  Every time I change his bandages I can't believe the progress.  He may be part superman.

Maybe his healing can be attributed to all the loving attention from family and friends.  (Or could it be the ridiculous amount of ice cream that kept pouring in by friends and family - our freezer door wouldn't even close.  I've always known ice cream had special powers, but now I'm completely sold on the idea that it's good for you and your body NEEDS it!)  

These balloons from his parents brought a smile to his face.  My favorite is the monkey telling him to hang in there.  (Perhaps the best part of the balloons was that they entertained the kids for a LOOONG time while Mike got some rest.)  

The kids loved painting get well cards for daddy.   I think they felt so helpless right after it happened and they really didn't like seeing dad hurt, so this was a good way for them to do something nice for him (and a good way for me to keep them away from him while he rested). 

Meg taking a sip of the dirty paint water... yummy.

So I got her a clean cup with fresh water...  

Check out Mike's sweet new sun hat from our home teachers.  His instructions are to stay out of the sun for a while and use tons of sunblock.  (Sun-blocking is not one of Mike's strengths, but I'm confident that he will make it part of his daily routine... right babe... :)  

And no doubt that all the prayers said on Mike's behalf have also contributed to his quick healing.  I had to take a picture of Meg during family prayer last night.  She always sits like this for family prayers and it's the cutest thing.  (Although all the kids giggling at how cute she is with her little arms folded and eyes closed can be a little distracting, but it is the sweetest thing ever!)  Definitely thankful at this house for the power of prayer.  

Don't panic - He's going to be okay...

What happens when you put your face through the back windshield of this car?

Let's just say it's not pretty.  Just ask Mike.  He knows firsthand.  Thank goodness he had his helmet on while he was riding his bike into work today.  It took the majority of the hit, at least that's what all the glass sticking out of it tells me.    

When I got to the scene he was walking around and making jokes with the paramedics like they were best friends... (and like there wasn't blood dripping off the gashes of his glass infused face)... Typical. I wanted to cry but only got a little teary because I knew it would bug him if I got upset.  After all, he was the one hurt and if anyone had the right to cry it was him and since he wasn't, I knew I shouldn't (even though I really wanted to!).

Waiting at the ER forever it seemed...  But our nurse was great and we found out she was the mom of one of our favorite friends back in Ohio... Shout out to the Sondrups!!  I knew she looked familiar.   

The windshield had it's way with Mike's arm too... Totally raw.  In fact the police officer said there was skin and hair still hanging off the back of the window.  OUCH.

Drugged up and feeling fine.  Actually Mike didn't like having the pain meds- they made him light headed, but I made him anyway.  I'm sure he was happy about that when they started digging around in his face to see if there was any glass left in there.  I fell in love with this man a little more today.  I've never really seen him hurt before or in the hospital, but the man is tough.  He was kind and thankful to those taking care of him, he was his typical funny self, and he was adorable in that hospital gown.  I mean the man rocks those biking shorts!   

These pictures do not do his lacerations justice - they were deep and not clean cuts, which made stitching them up a lot more tricky.  Luckily for Mike a fabulous plastic surgeon lives in our ward and "just happened" to be home when this happened thanks to his morning surgery canceling last minute.  He came right down and stitched him up.  I think he did a great job.  There are a few layers of stitches beneath the surface on some of these cuts - so we have no idea how many stitches he got, but I sat there and watched and I'd guess at least 75.  

He's home now and feeling fine... I think tomorrow will be a different story, but for now he seems to be  in good spirits and taking it like a champ.  

It's amazing how something like this makes you appreciate all your blessings - esp healthy bodies and healthy kids.  I am so grateful this was the extent of his injuries.  It could have been much, much worse.  There were lots of little tender mercies throughout the day and for that I am thankful. Thankful for a loving Heavenly Father that watches over us and truly has His hand in our lives.   Sometimes His hands are the loving and supportive hands of nearby friends and family that help watch kids, come to the hospital, run out and buy a freezing wife a sweatshirt to wear in the cold hospital room, stop by our home and visit, bring ice cream, cookies and medals, send fruit baskets, call and send text messages to check in to see what you need.  It's overwhelming to me when I think about it.  This man is loved.  

Some of the thoughtful goodies dropped off to lift his spirits.  Love the Honda medal he received.  He definitely earned it :)

Sometimes I wonder why my kids think stuff like this is funny...  

Then I think about their father and it all makes perfect sense.

It's done.  Well, it's far from done, but I'm in.  And it only took me 3 months to make the decision.  (Why am I such an indecisive person...  It drives me crazy.)  64 days from now I will be running the Big Cottonwood Marathon.   Not the half that I originally signed up for.  I need to step my running up a bit and become mentally a bit stronger.  It's all mental for me and I'm ready for it.

Last week my long run was 14 miles and it's just going to go up each week...  I need to keep myself focused during my runs.  Music works best for me, but I also need some mantras to internally yell at myself when I mentally start to check-out. 

There are so many running mantras floating around out there in cyberspace, but I'm finding not many of them speak to me.  They are too cheesy and make me want to puke.  

For example:

"If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you"

"Pain is fear leaving your body"

"Who do you want to be"

"Define yourself"  

"When your legs get tired, run with your heart"

Seriously - can you imagine saying that to yourself over and over for 26 miles.  Gag me.  Don't get me wrong, they are all good thoughts, but not the give me instant motivation type.   

I have 2 categories for my mantras.  The first category is positive motivation mantras.  

Here's a few I like:

"I so totally rock"

"I got this"

"I don't stop when I'm tired, I stop when I'm done"

"Can't stop, won't stop"

and a recent addition (and a new favorite) "I run because I can"

Those are all great, but sometimes I'm more of a trash talker.  Even to myself.  

So my second category is kind of, sort of like, trash-talking mantras: 

"If a marathon was easy, it'd be called your mama" (gotta have one mama mantra) 

"Heck ya my feet hurt, from kicking so much butt" (positive talking, but still felt it should be in the trash category because of the word butt - we don't say that word at our house.) 

"Shut up and run" (another word we don't say at our house, but it's okay in this setting since I'm not saying it out loud and it's to myself.)

"You think you're a hill, you ain't nothing" 

"I kill hills"  

and my very favorite motivating mantra to repeat (while picturing this puppy):

"If you stop, this puppy will be shot in the face."

Yup, that will keep me going.

Good luck to me.

Our 4th of July

We thought we were in for a pretty boring 4th until Monday night when AnnDee called and asked if we wanted to hang out for the 4th.  Of course we had to throw a sleepover in the mix.  On the 3rd the Nadauld family headed our way.  The kids played their hearts out and we had a great time, hence the ridiculous amount of pictures in this post.  

WAY TOOO FAST.  It made me sick watching Jake zoom down the hill on Will's tiny bike.  Thinking back, I shouldn't have let him...  I was the only adult around and it wasn't very responsible of me.  And how did I not notice he wasn't in a helmet... Seriously - sometimes I wonder how I keep all these little people alive.  I'm still counting my blessings that he wasn't hurt.   

Being silly with the water...  

They all got a little soaked - and one wasn't too happy about it...

Then we headed out to see the fireworks at Eaglewood Golf Course.  Mike found us this sweet spot to watch them tucked up away from everyone.  That's one of Mike's little gifts - he can always find unique spots for stuff like that (and parking spots too!!) that I'd never find.     

The fireworks went off right in front of us...  We could see where they set them off too (you can see if you look at the ground below the fireworks).  That was kind of cool to watch.

In the morning, the adults went out for a morning run.  We ran up the canyon trail to Elephant Rock.  It was beautiful and definitely cooler temperature wise than running the blvd.  A fun memory for sure!       

Then we piled kids into cars and headed to Taylor's parents Heber house.  We love going there.  Not only do we get to be with our friends, but the toys are endless....   

4 wheelers and motorbikes...  

 

So bugged this picture turned out blurry... It's my favorite...  Could it be Mike's v-neck?  I think YES.

The dads took the kids tubing down this little canal...  They were gone for a long time.  I think the kids kept wanting to go "again".  

Meg with AnnDee...  You know, Meg's middle name is "Ann" after "Ann"Dee.  That's how much we love our Nadauld's.   

The boys weren't the only ones that enjoyed the toys!  

Rope swings!

Possibly a picture for a future wedding video?  Just kidding.  Or am I?  If she ends up with a Nadauld, it may be Luke.  Either way, we'd be thrilled :)  But no pressure kids.  

Too cute!

The backyard has this huge field where the kids can ride the toys.  The Nadauld boys rode dirt bikes and Dehner kids stuck with the mini 4 wheelers.  We had so much fun with those little 4 wheelers, we may have to buy a couple of those for ourselves.  

Then Taylor's dad got out the train.  Yes a train...  It was like our own little Lagoon ride only without the lines :)  

Meggie loved it!  

What a fun couple of days.  Thanks Nadauld clan for making our 4th fun and exciting.  We love you guys!  

And I feel it's only appropriate to end this post by saying how blessed I feel to be an American.  It's easy for me to take my freedoms for granted, especially when it's all I've ever known.  I know the Lord has blessed me and my family to be able to live where we do, to have all we have, and to be able to worship Him as we wish.  I can't express my gratitude enough for the amazing men and women who have made, and continue to make, that freedom possible.  To sum it up, I'm proud (and blessed) to be an American!