It's just a flesh wound!

I think that the news of the week will surprise some of you that it has not happened sooner! One of those crazy, rambunctious Smack boys finally broke a limb. It is fitting that it is the craziest one of them all.



We were at the park Monday night for friendly gathering and Joe fell from the monkey bars and broke his right radius bone nearing the wrist. It happened about 8:30 pm Monday and I knew that the only option was the ER (no offense Topher) since everything else was closed already. I didn't want to spend the night there for a minor break. Now before you go thinking I am mean and heartless you have to know there was an EMT there and he looked at it and could tell also that it was minor. So we took him home and Ted made a splint from a hunting magazine and duct tape (don't you love how red neck that sounds!!). We iced it and gave him some motrin and propped his arm up on a pillow. He moaned a little during the night but not too bad. We got up first thing the next morning and took him in. Sure enough after x-rays, they told us he had a distal radius fracture. The doctor called it a buckle fracture. Anyway, the bone hadn't moved at all. So they put a splint on it, iced it and gave him some Motirn. Ummm, sound familiar? And we were in and out of there in 1hour 20 minutes. Much less traumatic then 5 hours in an ER room going into the wee hours of the morning.


But as far as breaks go we got off really easy. It hasn't slowed him down at all. In fact, just Wednesday he threw a fit about not getting to go on the slip and slide at the neighbors. "But, Mom, I will put a plastic bag around my arm so it won't get wet! Please, Mom!" I had to explain to him that it was not about getting it wet it was about hurting it worse.

I take him in on Monday to see how it is doing, etc. If he has hurt it again, they will put a hard cast on him. I really like having the splint and ace bandage because then I can wash the one and wrap it with another. Much less stinky. So he better be careful!!

Lake Powell!

We went to Lake Powell!! It was so awesome. I finally took Aunt Liz up on her offer to come with them. They have made it a fun family memory for many years. As Ted couldn't take the time off work, I took the kids by myself! They are such good travelers that they made it easy to travel by myself. We were also very blessed to not have any car trouble. I left early Monday morning on the 7th and we were swimming and full steam ahead by 6 pm. They have a house boat that really is a floating house. It has everything you want. When we had our camper we would fill it with water but then we really had to ration it to last all week. I was helping do the dishes that night and I was automatically cautious about how much water to use. I asked Aunt Liz how many tablespoons of water can I use to wash the dishes. She was trying to understand my question because a bonus to having a house-BOAT was they pumped in water from the lake so I could use as much as I wanted!!! That was cool!!

On the top part of the houseboat was a deck that ran the length of it. We slept and ate up there every night. So fun. No mosquitos- another bonus. They also had a movie screen so we watched movies up there as well and sang songs. Uncle Lee and Topher play the guitar so we had a song night. So fun.

The first morning we were there, Aunt Liz woke us up to see a "fish boil." For those of you who were like me and had never heard of a fish boil before, I will explain. A fish boil occurs when a school of fish -in this case, bass- surround another school of smaller fish- in this case, shad- and go in for the kill. The bass were jumping out of the water and eating and coming up from the bottom and eating. All this commotion in the water causes the water to literally look as though it is boiling. It is very remarkable. We saw the "boil" for at least 1 1/2 to 2 minutes and then the bass would recircle the shad and the boil would start again. They "boiled" about 6-7 times coming quite close to the houseboat. Then later that evening Uncle Lee and Aunt Liz saw another boil that surfaced 2-3 times. In all the time that they have been at Powell this was only the third time. I felt pretty special, but of course I didn't have my camera! Oh well, hopefully you will be able to imagine it, or better yet, you have seen one yourself.

We spent the week tubing and skiing, wakeboarding and hiking. I even got up on the slalom ski 1st try after at least 4 years! Wahoo!! So fun but I think I pulled a muscle! Emma even tubed with me. She loved it until we hit some unavoidable bumps and her head bounced on the tube a few times. "Mean bumps. No like it!" But she was quite the trooper. We took her on hikes and in and out of the water and she loved it. Some of the canyons we went down were so narrow we had to manually guide the boat along to avoid hitting the sides. Two of the days we packed a picnic and went 50-60 miles downstream one way exploring canyons as we went. We saw Hole-in-the-rock (which I thought was more up by Moab) and Anasazi Indian ruins.

We had a fabulous time and am so grateful that Uncle Lee and Aunt Liz invited me. It has been too long since I had seen them. Being with Aunt Liz is theraputic for me. I enjoy our conversations so much. I can hardly get enough. It is also fun because she looks like and reminds me of mom. Topher is off to Kenya for medical work with AIDS patients, He just finished residency and is studying to take boards. D is just back from China to go to school at UC Davis and Zhouyi is joining him soon (D brought a Wii from China so the boys thought that was pretty cool because he had a bunch of different games they had never seen.) Kathryn is due with their first baby in December. She is just finishing up her doctorate and is starting a job with NASA soon. She is very excited. John will be done with his masters in Finance in December and he is studying for both school and a new job. Rachael is studying for the MCAT as she wants to go to medical school eventually. So between all the playing many of them were studying hard. So I felt right at home feeling just as inadequate school wise with my cousins as I do with my own siblings! It should put a fire under me to finish. All in due time.

(Dayton's, Please correct any of the above that might not be correct!)

Fourth of July!!

For the Fourth of July, we went to Brad and Jeanine's house for a fish BBQ. Brad (Ted's business partner) just arrived home from a fishing trip in Alaska. He didn't have as memorable of a trip as last year but was still able to bring back some very delicious fresh fish. We then let the kids and adults play with and light fireworks. I love it because I always wonder who is more excited about the fireworks- the kids or the adults!!?? We lit fireworks for several hours while watching the one the city does over Lake Loveland. It was so fun!! Emma really made a friend in Connie. (Connie is Brad and Ted's secretary. She is awesome!) She had Connie lighting sparklers with her all night long. Emma thought she was Abby Cadabby, the fairy god-child from Sesame Street. Brad and Jeanine have a very fun house for kids to come to. They have a jump castle and a motorized tractor which occupies them for hours. They usually don't even make it into the house as they are stopped at the tractor in the garage. Brad always has it charged up and ready to go. The Walton's were there also. Thad and Denise are so fun and Ted always says he wants to come back as Thad when he is reincarnated! They are a very fun family. The kids call Thad "Uncle Wacky."

Mom's Birthday

On March 17th we now have a tradition to celebrate Mom's birthday. We buy green balloons and write notes on them or stuff them inside and let them go. The kids actually believe that when they can't see them anymore Grandma has actually taken them home to heaven with her. I believe it, too. I usually have a good cry as I am watching them ascend into heaven and am flooded with memories. I love it because it is short and sweet and very sincere. There is not a lot of fuss which she wouldn't like but we are able to express our feelings and gratitude to her. I love it and hope we do it for a very long time. I really look forward to it. Happy Birthday, Mom!!

Ti's Birthday

Before I write about the fourth of July and going to Lake Powell, I am going to backtrack to February and talk about Ti. This was a big year for Ti. He turned 8 in February with a family party and then in March he had a pool party with his friends at Mountain View. He was pretty spoiled and had a ton of fun. He was so excited to be old enough to be baptized and get scriptures for his birthday. But the extra special part was waiting to be baptized with his 2 cousins on April 6th (Sabrina's actual birthday!). Haley came from Cincinnatti and Sabrina came up from Parker. It was so awesome and so much fun. All the kids played so well. Before the baptism we had a carne asada meal which is always my favorite. We made several batches of salsa along with a new favorite, mushroom salsa! Grandma and Grandpa Smack came and Grandpa Ellsworth. Billy and Lisa also came from Eagle. We were surrounded by family and friends. The program consisted of all family members and turned out very nice. April 6th was Sabrina and Emma's birthday and April 8th was Grandma's birthday, so after the baptism we had cake and ice cream and celebrated all the birthdays. It was a fun filled, special day.

Back up over Trail Ridge

We had packed a picnic and stopped at Beaver Creek to eat lunch. We saw elk, had rock throwing contests and blew bubbles. Emma of course was filthy by the time it was all said and done. They have a horrible problem with beetle kill pine on the Winter Park side. You have to search and search for a green pine tree. It breaks your heart. Especially knowing that it is like looking at a million matches standing on end. But it is still a beautiful place to be- for now.

Grand Lake

On our way home on Sunday, we drove through the actual town of Grand Lake and let the kids play in the water. Water + kids= A Great Time.

Playing in Winter Park!

We decided to go to Winter Park last weekend. Ted is now into mountain biking and Winter Park happens to be mountain biking heaven. It was so fun to be up there and just hanging out and relaxing. We went into Winter Park and caught the tail end of a Blues concert which was pretty cool- it was the great Johnny Winter! You know, right? Don't feel bad I had never heard of him before. But that is NOT saying much. Emma kept playing with different peoples' chairs all around us. They were off dancing somewhere and didn't seem to mind. The boys were wrestling all over the place and rolling down the hill. I tried to pretend I didn't know who they were.
On our way up we took our time and took lots of pictures. We decided to go up and over Trail Ridge road. It was a clear day and we left Loveland about 5 pm. So when we got up and over and started heading down into Grand Lake a lot of animals were out and about. We saw 3 moose, several herds of elk and deer. On the way back home we even saw Rocky Mountain sheep. It was awesome!

Going to the Skate Park with the Niko's

So Loveland just built a new skate park where obviously there are ramps and bowls, etc. for skate boarding and such. On the other side of the skate park they have a water feature that looks like a big windmill and it sprays water every 15-20 minutes. It is also a traditional park with all the playground equipment that comes with it. The kids love it. Surrounding both the skate park and the playground are many fields for different sports. It is a very fun place. It is also close to the school Ti and Tate go to so the school also brings the kids here on field trips at times.

Bike Rides for FHE

One of our favorite things to do for Family Home Evening is go on a bike ride with the Niko's to Sonic. The bike trail is right behind our house. So awesome to be able to be on the trail in 30 seconds! We have seen all sorts of wildlife on it- elk, deer, raccoons, turtles, squirrels, foxes, birds, ducks, geese, cranes, Blue Herons, pelicans, vultures, hawks, falcons. We love it here!

Tate & Seiji- Best Friends Forever

When Tate was in pre-school he met this boy who they became instant friends and then they moved to CA. Tate was devastated. But every time they come back into town they always come for a visit. He came a played for a day and then we went to the skate park but we were rained out so we took them to McDonalds playland. Just as good, right!! They of course had a ball.