The Boys

Here are my boys and I love them.  And the following meme is also accurate--

Truth.

George's most recent Lego robot.

Abe and Cannon went on a recent Young Men's winter camp out.  They had a great time!

They did some night sledding.

Cannon got a good bruise from a tree branch.  After Faith's concussion, I'm just glad it was his arm and not his head.

So glad they have each other.

Most of our young men in our ward.

Adventure in the great outdoors is good for their souls.

This is a little more my speed... but I suppose that's why they have moms AND dads:)

Elinor Goes to State

Elinor spent last Friday and Saturday at the Utah High School 6A Swim Championships down at BYU. 

Elinor is second from the left on the blocks.  She got her personal best time on her leg of the 4 x100 relay in the preliminaries-- under a minute.  She was really happy about that.

Faith came with me to the swim meet on Friday evening.  With her concussion, it probably wasn't the best environment for her, but she really wanted to come and she conserved her brain energy all day so she could come.  This picture was taken just after she yelled up to us what her split time was.

Faith found another use for her walking sticks-- poles to hold up her sign to cheer on Elinor!

Abe and I went together to the finals on Saturday.  How cute in our matchy-matchy parent shirts:)

And she's off!
That's her diving in.

The state team arrived at the Brick Oven just as Abe, Clark, and I were leaving.  They were getting a team picture, so we snapped one too.

The state meet was a great experience for her and now this coming weekend she will go to the Utah USA senior state swim meet with her club team down in St. George. Lots of swimming makes for a very happy Elinor!

Direction and Magnitude

A couple weeks back Faith had an appointment at the Concussion Clinic.  She is slowing improving in several ways-- better concentration, less fatigue, better sleeping, less emotional and such.  However, she has really struggled with dizziness and her balance.  In fact, when the neuropsychologist who will manage her treatments saw her try to balance she said, "Oh... that is the worst I've ever seen with a concussion."  So that's not good.
 She was referred for balance therapy and vision therapy.  Last week she started her balance therapy.  In addition to several exercises she does daily, she is to use these walking sticks to help her be steadier on her neighborhood walks.  They are really helpful for her.  She resisted them at first, but little by little she has warmed to them and now even named them-- Direction and Magnitude.
It called or a photoshoot:)

It's a long, slow road, but everyone we've worked with believes she will make a full recovery.  I am so glad she is more and more back to her normal self, including a healthy dose of humor, sass, sweetness, and stubborn determination.  

Little Moments

Cannon in his happy place practicing his guitar.

Miss Riverton came home for the weekend and this sight on the bathroom counter made me smile. 

She was in heaven at the city's daddy/daughter dinner/dance.

We were feeling pretty lucky to get Bethany home for two weekends in a row.

The tallest and the smallest sisters.

Abe and I enjoyed a nice out out with other top performers at his work. 

Burrito babies!  It was one of those very productive homeschool mornings.

I adore this picture of Elinor and Greta.  Elinor was dutifully trying to study for the ACT, but Greta found her and wanted a picture of a pink dragon.  Elinor happily obliged her.

We can't get enough of our little Greta. Just as we expected would be the case, the older children are warning us we are creating a monster in the youngest child.  Guilty as charged.

The boys were excited to get to go to a Jazz basketball clinic a couple weekends back. 

They really enjoyed it and have been playing a lot of basketball since then-- so a big thanks to Andrea for giving them the spots at the clinic.

Their dance schedules don't leave much time for other organized sports, but it's good to have some basic proficiency in the game.

Abe and I and Cannon and George loved our night at the ballet to see Giselle.  It was so beautiful!

We went to a pre-show orientation/introduction of sorts and the lady teaching it saw the boys and recognized them from their involvement in previous shows (Nutcracker, Swan Lake).  She was so great to offer to take them backstage before the show started to meet the huge dogs that come on stage during the show.  They loved it.

Lots of hugs from lots of littles.  It's pretty much my life right now and it's pretty great.

It's so lovely to have Clark come home for Sunday evenings.  The boys were happy to get a game of Heroscape with him. 

An icicle weapon is quite a find.

We went to see Bright Star at Hale Center Theater last week.  OH! I LOVED IT!  If you get a chance to see it, I highly recommend you do.  And of course, the time with dear friends was so good for my heart.

Faith can be a demanding trainer/coach, but she gets the job done:)

 Sometimes I can't believe she is really here.  What if she wasn't a part of our family?  She was the ninth baby born to us, so it's not a stretch to imagine was could have run out of steam before she got here.  But I'm so glad we have her. 

A Really Good Weekend

Bethany left for school on January 6th and although we talk often on the phone, I hadn't seen my girl for almost a month.  UNACCEPTABLE!  Am I a wimp when it comes to separation from my people?  Why, yes, I am.  Thank you for asking.  Do I need professional help?  Perhaps.  But whatever.  Bethany came home this past weekend and I was so happy to see her!!!!  Like, ridiculously,  hysterically happy.  I wasn't ready for her to leave again on Sunday, but she did and it's okay.  It filled me up to have my Foxy Ladies together again for a few hours.  

And she may be coming home next weekend as well:)  So I suppose I'll be alright.

We made the most of our time together.  We went to lunch and then dress shopping--- well, dress rental shopping--- for the upcoming Miss Riverton and Miss Utah.  We had fantastic luck and found just what we were looking for.  Unfortunately, our findings must be keep on the down-low for a while:)  We musn't spoil any surprises.

We tried out a new noodle restaurant to which there were mixed reviews.  Frankly, we could have eaten at McDonalds and I wouldn't have cared.  I was just so happy with my company.

As it turns out, Bethany didn't come home just to see us.  She wanted to be a part of Riverton City's Hope Walk.  Its a suicide awareness/prevention event that the high school and city put on.  They had a great turn out and Bethany said it was a great experience.

Abe went along with her.

She was interviewed for a local journal/paper.

I think this weekend was good for all of our hearts.