Let's play ball!

Here we are at a Diamondbacks vs. Mets baseball game. One of Dave's patients is a relief pitcher for the Mets. Their family came by the office and he asked if we would like tickets to the game?? Ummmm....yaaa...of course!!!!! We had a hard time cheering for the right team because we were surrounded by Diamondback fans and we still wanted to cheer for Nelson. Choices can be so hard sometimes:) We had a great time and loved feeling the energy of that stadium! That has got to be one of the coolest stadiums I've ever been in. The roof of it retracts and then they close it up when it's too hot and they crank the AC. I'm telling you what...watching a baseball game in the air conditioning when it's 112 outside....only way to go! It was a great distraction for Ashlynn with her burns too. Even though she was asking..."mom when is this gonna be over??"...in the 3rd inning!!!

Howdy partner...

I'm a bit late on this post but I had to post it anyway:) One warm Thursday afternoon...Dave had a day off...we were busy doing things around the house with Kir and Brian and decided to get out and go somewhere! On our drive home from being up in the mountains over 4Th of July, we drove past this little place called "Goldfield Mine". It was a real gold mine back in the day and now it's a tourist spot. We had so much fun walking around checking everything out and enjoying the scenery. We had a yummy lunch in a saloon and picked up a couple cowboy hats for the kids. We finished up with some cold ice cream and called it a day! There are so many fun things around here to see and explore...so glad that we were able to get out for a bit as a family and have some fun:)

Campout's and Campfire's

A couple weekends ago we had a family reunion on my moms side and went camping together. We were all so excited to get out of the desert and smell that mountain air! It was a weekend of first experiences...first time camping without Dave...first time camping with the kids...first time setting up a tent on my own (thank goodness for my brother the boy scout)...................

..........and first time having one of my kids fall into a fire pit with hot ashes and end up like this. I can't even explain how horrible that moment was. Watching your child go through so much agony and pain and being able to do nothing. It completely tares you apart in every which way. Ashlynn was playing with all the kids and she tripped and fell backwards right into the fire pit. Luckily there was no fire burning but there were still extremely hot coals/ashes from the night before. She put her hand in to break her fall and sat right in it. As soon as I heard her screaming I knew something was wrong. Running over to her and seeing the back of her body with ashes all over it and her hand, my heart sank. My family was amazing and all rallied around me trying to help and figure out what to do. I could barely do anything but sit there and hold her and cry with her. I just felt helpless. My uncles got together and gave her a blessing and I was so grateful for that. Not having Dave there was really hard and to have them step in and bless her was amazing. We quickly decided after that to get her and I home. I wasn't able to drive so one of my uncles decided to drive me home while Ashlynn sat sideways on my lap. She couldn't sit flat back because of the burns on her back. There was no way that I could have driven her home on my own. Thanks to my Uncle Stanley he got us home safe and sound and quick and I'm so appreciative of him for doing that. Luckily Ashlynn fell right asleep as soon as we started driving. We got home and my dad and Dave came home soon after. We decided to take her to urgent care to make sure she would be okay. They said she had 2ND degree burns...wrapped her up really good...gave me medicine and told me how to take care of her for the next week. We brought her home and she went right to sleep.

These next pics are from today...10 days later at the burn center in phoenix. When I took her back to urgent care for her follow up appt. they looked at her hand and said that some of her 2ND degree burns had turned to 3rd degree and that I needed to go see a specialist right away. I learned that it takes up to 72 hours for a burn to fully manifest. I had no idea, I just kept taking care of her thinking that they were supposed to look like that. Basically what we learned is to not mess around with burns and go straight to the burn center. So here she is being so amazing and such a trooper! Everyone there was so sweet to her and just fell in love with her. They had to soak her burns and remove all of the dead skin...she was so brave through the whole thing. It was kind of hard to watch. They wrapped her up again and sent us home with a suitcase full of supplies and medicine and instructions...you name it they gave it to us. I have to take her back next week to have them wash her again, remove anymore dead skin and see how her skin is growing back. They said she should heal just fine and should have no scarring.

She wasn't so happy to get this new outfit! That was the only time I thought she was going to cry. We tried to tell her that she had Cinderella gloves now and a back to the 80's top but that didn't fly very well. Once they were done the nurse took us to this "special room" that they had just for kids. They opened the door and it was FULL of any kind of present you could imagine! She went right for the lady bug tea set and couldn't wait to get home! She really has been amazing and we are so grateful that she is going to be alright! We love you princess!

Thank Heaven for Aunt Kirsten

Ever since the week before school got out in May things have been a bit wacky at our house. We had some unexpected staff changes at Dave's office and before I knew it I was the replacement! I pretty much have been working at the office up until two weeks ago. It has been a extremely stressful summer for Dave and I to say the least. I honestly could not have made it through if it wasn't for Dave's sister Kirsten. She has been amazing and has been a tremendous help with the kiddos and working at the office. So this whole post is a "shout out" to her and how freaking cool she is! Our poor kids had a strange summer with both parents leaving for work every day. But Aunt Kirsten was always thinking of something to entertain and keep them busy.

They went to the mall one day and played in the water...and stopped at Pottery Barn kids. They were in heaven dreaming up the bedrooms they would love to have. I'm not sure who Ashlynn was talking on the phone too but she apparently was having quite a conversation!

Kirsten found this indoor amusement park for kids and her and Brian took the kids there ALL DAY...they just couldn't get enough! We stopped over there after work and they were going a million miles an hour!

These kids sure love to play at the park even when it's 110 degrees outside! They seemed to always be doing something fun. I can't even tell you how grateful we are to Kirsten and all her help these past few months. You rock Kir...we love you! Now the summer is gone and school is starting in the morning. Holy crap, where did the summer go????

Snowflake Temple

Before we headed home from being up in Show Low for the 4Th...we drove up to Snowflake to see the new Temple. I think it's a few years old now but it's new to us since we haven't seen it. It was so beautiful and up at the top of a hill. We loved all the red rock waterfalls...sooo pretty.

I take so many dang pictures that the kids know just what to do...it's great!

Ashlynn with her cousin Kylee

Ty with his cousin Brandon