We spent ALL day at doctors and blood labs and radiologist etc.  Good news though.  It looks as though the bump on Serra’s chest is no more than 1 rib that is poking out a bit more than the rest.  X-rays will confirm it.  It may get more pronounced as she gets older but is no cause for alarm.  I can’t even explain the relief we have felt since talking to the surgeon about this.  What may have been a turning point in our lives is no more than an average day.  We recognize how blessed we are.  Bad things happen to good families and good kids and we feel so fortunate to not be numbered among them at this time.  Last night as I gazed in at my sleeping children the tears of gratitude began flowing freely. 

And everything is going swimmingly with the baby as well.  The fetal specialist I saw yesterday could tell with about 80% surety the sex of the baby and we told him to keep it to himself. 

Serra started swim lessons at the beginning of the week.  Yesterday was her second lesson and she started swimming on her own.  I just sat there with my jaw hanging open.  What a fish she is turning out to be.  She was even diving for things.  By the end of next week I expect her to have the butterfly stroke down to a science. 

And now the pictures of poor Rosie’s leg.  It is the cutest little pink cast ever. 

This was taken the day she got the splint on.  She was saying OWWIE.

There is quite enough love. 

And here are the rest of the wedding shots I plan on posting. 

That is Dwaine looking pleased with himself for marrying off his last daughter.

And the dancing pics.

All tuckered out after 2 hours of ripping it up.

I have an appointment with a fetal specialist in the morning followed by Serra’s second appointment, this time with a pediatric surgeon.  We will at least know where we are headed with her tomorrow.  I will be glad when everyone is healthy and the bills are all paid.  These specialist don’t bill you.  They contact your insurance before your appointment and when you come in you pay for the service then and there.  I will be using a credit card.  At least that way I get some cash back for all these bills.  Here are some pictures from the wedding.  I will post more when I get through more. 

Pre-Wedding covergirl shots

Sophia was not very cooperative most of the day.

Here is one of Rosie’s sad faces…And the pretty girls all in matching dresses. 

This was the flower girls/ring bearer staging area. 

Vito waits excitedly for his bride.  Here come the little girls. 

I think this one is hilarious.  The expression on Serra’s face through the entire ceremony was priceless.  She loves weddings and kissy stuff. 

During the ceremony….It was a scorcher out that evening and Brian had a tough time keeping Rosie quiet. 

It is finished.  TA DA!

This is not the car they took off in….We took golf carts to the picture spots. 

Adriane’s side of the family.

The smallest of the nieces and nephs for the time being.  Don’t they look thrilled?

And a yummy dinner that I didn’t have to cook.  I think that always makes it taste even better. 

We took this picture a few weeks before the wedding so she had one for display. 

There are more….

Sorry no pics.  Stomach flu got me. 

This morning I dropped Serra off at a friends house, picked up Grandma Anderson and headed to the Pediatric Orthopedic doc to get Rosie’s leg casted.  She was fine until they x-rayed her again.  Grandma went with her and came back sweating.  The screams could be heard on the whole floor of the building I am sure.  She fought her way through the whole casting as well, but didn’t squirm as much as the last time.  The doctor says this type of break is nicknamed the “toddler fracture”  because it is so common in toddlers.  It happens when they come down on thier leg and it gets twisted at the same time.  So at least it is common and no one is turning me in for toddler abuse.  She has a little pink cast from the tip of her toes to just under her knee.  I am so glad it wasn’t all the way up her leg.  We got home and she fell asleep almost  immediately.  She has yet to try walking on it.  When we get some footage of that I will post it. 

I don’t know that I am ready to revisit last week yet but I guess I better before too much else happens and I lose my mind. 

I guess I left off where we came back from Utah the first time.  We had a few days to get everything in order to take off again.  Friday and Saturday Anderson family started arriving for the wedding.  We made an effort to spend some time with whoever was around on Friday.  Saturday we attempted family pictures for Eric’s family and I think we got a few that will work.  We wanted a cousin picture with all the kids dressed in their matching wedding attire but Sophia and Christian had both had it and needed naps so we dropped that idea. 

Adriane and Vito’s Wedding – 07/07/07 – @7pm.  We arrived a little early to take any family pictures we could ahead of time.  It was a little too chaotic at that point so we pretty much scrapped that idea.  The wedding started a little late and it was outside so everyone was sweating buckets in 115 degree temps.  But the ceremony only lasted a few minutes and was really nice.  Adriane and Vito looked fantastic and our kids looked cute as ever tossing flower petals ahead of the couple. 

After the ceremony we got the whole wedding party together for a huge group shot and then had about 30 minutes of light left for photos outside.  We got what was needed and I was very sweaty for a long while after that but it went better than I expected.  I haven’t even looked at the pictures yet though because of all the other stuff that has happened since. 

The reception was a lot of fun.  The food was really good and plenty of it.  Our girls danced for 2 hours straight and we had to fight them to keep them off the floor for certain dances they couldn’t participate in like Adriane and Dwaine’s Daddy Daughter dance.  I was kicking myself for not having a video camera.  I was too preoccupied with the other pictures to even think about it.  Sophia especially had quite the rhythm.  We stayed until I was so pooped I couldn’t think straight and Serra finally got her cake. 

Brian ended up staying up half  the night organizing his backpack for his fishing trip and getting things lined out for Dwaine while he was gone. 

We headed for Utah as soon as Jeff joined us at 10am figuring we would make Logan by 6 or 7 with enough time to visit for a bit and get plenty of rest for the boys who had a long travel day and hike the next day.  It was not to be.  Shortly after Cedar City the I-15 was shut down for wildfires.  We were detoured off the highway heading who knew where.  We didn’t have a map with us and there was nothing by way of gas stations or civilization for nearly 3 hours.  Everyone needed a bathroom and after passing numerous cars stopped along the road for that reason we finally gave in and Serra had her first potty outside experience.  The two stations we did pass eventually were so packed by detoured travelers we were glad to keep moving.  We found one that wasn’t too bad and got a map to help us find the quickest way back to the 15.  The detour ended up adding an additional 4 hours to a 9 hour trip.  We were toast when we finally pulled into Serra and Rich’s house sometime between 11 and 12. 

We were up early to get the boys out the door by 8am.  Brian accidentally took my van keys with him.  I was fortunate to have the valet key still in the glove box from when we bought it so we were not stranded.  The first thing I did was head to a glass repair place to get the CHIP IN MY NEW WINDSHIELD repaired.  I was quite upset about it but it has since become the least of my worries. 

Tuesday I was heading out to Preston to have dinner with Mom and some inebriated bozo busy dialing on his cell phone rearended me while I was completely stopped.  I was very angry and short with him and he insisted we didn’t have to call the police because the damage was minor and he would pay for everything out of pocket.  Serra was crying as car accidents totaly freak her out.  I wasn’t thinking clearly and left the scene after getting his information..  Only after talking to Julie who called police officer cousin Andy Barnes did I realize if I didn’t get a police report I was up a creek without a paddle.  He was still behind be so I waved him over and told him I was calling the police.  He freaked out a bit but didn’t take off.  Mom came and sat with the kids while I was filling out the report.  I have been through this garbage several times and it is such a hassle.  I was so angry that my new car was damaged and it took me a long time to calm down.  Dinner with Mom was nice though and we had a few adventures while in Preston.  Rosie fell off the porch that is a few feet high landing on concrete but luckily only skinned her elbow.  Mom and I battled a spider the size of Texas in the basement.  That was also the night Mom noticed one side of Serra’s chest was sticking out on one side more than the other.  She had a bit of a lump there.  It is a bit disconcerting and we are not quite sure what to make of it.  We headed back to Logan late and I was able to sleep without too much trouble. 

Wednesday we took the girls swimming with Julie and her girls and they thought that was the greatest ever.  Serra and Olivia got along better than ever.   I think that’s the night Serra hosted dinner at her house.  We pretty much stayed at Julie’s house during the day the rest of the week.  The girls did slip and slide in the backyard and played all day and fought a bit now and then.  Sophia and Evelyn had a bit of a struggle getting along.  They both think everything belongs to them and so there were a few tantrums especially when it came to shoes. 

Thursday we were supposed to visit Grandma Arnell in Bear Lake but she ended up having an extra eye appointment and wasn’t feeling well.  Her sister Lolita in Mesa is not doing well either and has stopped eating.  She is not expected to live much longer and so Grandma is dealing with that as well.  I was feeling really sad for Grandma all day.  After spending a busy day outside with the girls at Julie’s house we sent them all to the basement to watch a show and have some quiet time.  Sophia didn’t get the message about quiet time and spent her time jumping off the couch onto a pillow.  She landed wrong and started crying in a way that was unlike I had heard before.  She typically bounces back quickly and so I held her for a while but she kept holding her leg and crying “owwie”.  I took her for a drive to see if she would sleep and she did but kept crying in her sleep.  I pulled over and poked at her leg in a few places.  When I touched about halfway down her lower leg she jumped and started crying again.  I took her to the doctor where they got her right in.  They took x-rays.  That was very traumatic.  I could not stay in the same room because of my pregnancy and two adults couldn’t hold her down.  They finally had to strap her down and she still managed to get her arms free.  The look she gave me as she screamed made me cry right along with her.  The x-rays showed a non-displaced spiral fracture on the tibia of her left leg.  So now they had to splint it.  At this point it was swelling and she was hysterical when anyone walked into the room.  The splint had to be held in place on her led in just the right position while it hardened for 15 minutes.  She was struggling so much that they didn’t get it on properly the first time.  Mom came to the rescue again with her calming presence and a book.  Sophia calmed down enough to get the splint on correctly.  I was sweating profusely from all the exertion and my pants were falling down.  Sophia was so red all over her whole body they asked me if she was sunburned but is was just from all her fighting and crying.  They finally brought in a fan for us and when Mom came I was able to get myself back in order again.  Sophia is not allowed to walk and she can’t anyway.  Any pressure or bumps on her leg and she cries “owwie”.  She is very good at a few new words.  “Up”  when she wants to be picked up.  “Down”  when she wants to get down from somewhere.  “Get out”  when she wants out of her car seat after driving for hours.  That evening Serra came down with the stomach flu and we enjoyed a bit of puking to top off the day. 

In the meantime Brian was getting a major bum kicking as he backpacked with Dallas, Jeff, and Dad in the Windriver range in Wyoming.  He says he didn’t complain but he had some struggles.  They were scheduled back Saturday but I got a call on Friday that they were headed back as they had gotten way rained out.  It was a 5-6 hour drive back to Logan and he was still damp when he got in.  I felt a bit sheepish having to tell him about all the bad things that happened while he was gone, but I was sooooo glad to have him back to share the burden. 

Saturday we did some seriously stinky camping boy laundry.  Then we visited the farmers market where Serra was selling her wares.  We enjoyed some amazing lemonade that I am going to try to recreate at Brian’s request.  He says it was the most refreshing drink he has ever had.  We went to LaBeau’s for lunch which I think was a shock to Jeff and Brian’s systems after eating fish, rice and oats all week.  We headed to Mom and Dad’s new digs in Providence and had fun ripping some seriously fashion challenged wall paper off the walls.  The family gathered in the evening at Julies for dinner.  I couldn’t take the heat anymore and ended up inside most of the afternoon. 

It was nice to spend time with so much family these past few weeks.  We saw everyone at one point or another.  I really hope MandD’s place is ready for Christmas.  It would be great.

We didn’t encounter any difficulties on the way home and made good time.  The girls were fantastic again. 

Monday morning we took Serra into her pediatrician who could tell us nothing about her mysterious lump.  We have another appointment for her next week with and Pediatric Surgeon.  We will keep you posted on the developments there. 

I had a Presidency meeting this morning and have a nice new list of things to get done for my calling.  We need groceries, the laundry needs to be done, the dog needs shots (and they want a poo sample- good times), and I need a nap. 

Tomorrow Sophia gets her leg cast and I have a baby appointment on Thursday.  I am also dealing with the insurance company about the car and it’s not going very smoothly.  Brian has startedhelping me in that matter.  He has made a few phone calls to get the ball rolling. 

I will post some pictures as soon as I get some time to got through all that I have.  It may be a few days, don’t hold your breath.

First off, in case we didn’t see you this past week.  We are officially announcing the impending addition to our family come late January.  At  this point I am 11 weeks along and feeling quite gooey but not bad enough to keep me home.  I have been sicker with this one than with the other 2 combined.  If you want to read further into that be my guest, but I am just glad for the reminder that as long as I feel gross everything is ok.  We have decided to be suprised at delivery so don’t ask us if we know what we’re having because your guess is as good as ours.   We expect this to be our caboose so we are very excited. 

Friday June 29, the girls and I began our travels.  We were off by mid afternoon and arrived in Cedar City with a little time to play before going to bed.  Rosie had a particularly difficult time sleeping and so 6am came rather quickly for my taste.   We all headed (Maren with us) north to Highland, UT to the Brower family reunion where we spent the day visiting with those that bothered to show up.  I am always a little disappointed with those that live in the area and still can’t manage to make an appearance.  Either way we enjoyed those that were there and I must admit I stayed out in the heat too long.  It took me a few days to kick the headache that ensued.  The girls were exhausted and when we settled in Serra and Rich’s home in Logan later that night they crashed hard. 

Sunday was the day Doug and Darci Arnell chose to bless their Ethan.  He was blessed in the same building that I was along with 3 other of my siblings.  Our family was well represented and pretty much took over the testimony meeting.  That was a bit of a treat.  Later we gathered at Julie and Jared Kirby’s for BBQ chicken and other vittles.  There was quite a crowd and still a lot of food was left over and was the means of many meals over the next few days. 

Tuesday was a fun day.  We took the older girls to see a movie (Ratatouille)  while the little ones hung out with a babysitter.  Then later that night we headed to USU campus to watch the fireworks.  It’s so nice to be in a smallish town for the 4th of July celebrations.  People actually hang flags and have a fireworks program. 

Upon returning home on Wednesday I learned that the city of Las Vegas did absolutely nothing for the 4th.  It is a bit irritating on occasion to live in a place where the biggest concern is how to lure more tourists into town.  And not a single flag besides ours was flying in my neighborhood when I got home.  Sad really. 

On a lighter note, the girls traveled sooooo well.  I think Serra asked me once how much longer we had, and Sophia fussed for about 30 seconds before she fell asleep at one point.  I think I should consider myself fortunate after hearing about how some of my family’s children travel. 

Newest cousin

Uncle Dallas obliges with rides. 

The line

It’s a little scary.  Hold on tight. 

Nice do.

Fireworks.

A little nervous at first and then it was all the rage. 

The girls love their Auntie Maren

Olivia is required to carry her own things.  Don’t forget bunny. 

Let’s beat up Uncle Rich.  First a swift kick and then some slapping action. 

Shows over.  Time to go home.