Broken bones, a lost tooth, and a growing boy...

Chance has been trying for months now to be able to hang on the basketball rim by jumping on the trampoline. He will run, jump on the mini-tramp, then try to hang on the rim. He wasn't successful until June 20. On this day, Chance ran, jumped on the mini-tramp, and hung on the rim. He ran in the house to tell me, and emphatically declared, "this is the best day of my life!!!" I went outside to watch him run, jump, and hang. After about five times I went back inside. Chance must've done it 20 additional times in a row. But on the 21st time, Chance ran, jumped, tried to hang and fell on the cement, right on top of his right arm. I heard a terrible cry, so I ran back outside. Chance is, let's be honest, DRAMATIC, but I could tell he was really hurt. Chance had a friend over, West was asleep, and Shawn was gone, so I decided to let Chance sleep on it to see if it still hurt the next morning. Shawn ended up taking him to the Instacare the next day and a splint was put on.

I took him to the doctor a week later and he got a blue cast.

No one ever told me that since it is 2011 there are now waterproof casts!! I didn't request one, and I was told that once the cast was placed it wasn't good for the fracture to remove and put a new cast on. Since it is summertime, our backyard neighbors have a swimming pool and Chance is a typical 8-year-old boy, let's just say that the cast is not smelling too good these days. Oh well, August 3 isn't too far away, is it? Oh, and Chance tells the story about how he broke his arm a LOT better than I do. I, for some reason, do not use quite as much enthusiasm and seem to forget to include how he was going up "just like Jordan".

The other day, my dad was with his horse working on the horse shoes, and the horse stepped on my dad's foot! The horse broke my dad's foot in two places, so now my dad has a cast too! I haven't ever broken a bone in my life. That just shows how daring and exciting I am.

Hannah finally lost her front tooth! It was starting to turn gray, and she (like last time) would NOT let me pull it out!! I didn't know what to do. I was considering pulling it out of her mouth while she was asleep or something! But at Courtnie's house, it fell out while she was eating a piece of BREAD of all things. Yay! She looks adorable toothless.

This summer, Hannah is having a lot of fun swimming in our neighbors' pool. She dared to go off of the diving board AND down the slide today for the first time! She wears a bubble on her back, but she is getting very confident in the water. Hannah is so excited to go to first grade next year. She found out her teacher's name is Mrs. Romer, and her friend Eliza Tubbs is going to be in her class! She is starting tennis lessons this week, and will be playing soccer in the fall. In the meantime, she watches a lot of TV (which we are trying to limit) and we're also trying to get her to quit eating so much sugar. She is a sugar junkie, so we tell her she is going to get "the Beeties" (diabetes) if she doesn't knock it off!! ha!

I was a month late taking West-a-boy to the doctor. I guess that's what happens on the third child. West weighs 18 1/2 pounds (50%), is 28 inches tall (75%), and has a head size of 44.5 cm. (45%). I think he's my kid with the smallest noggin. Lucky for me, due to PAST RUDE JOKES ABOUT NOGGINS!!! ha! He is still just happy, happy, happy. At 8 months, he has four front, top teeth and three on the bottom! Does that seem like a lot of teeth for an 8 month old? His little grin is so cute. And don't you love how his hair stands straight up on end.

West loves to copy noises. If Hannah screams, West screams. If Hannah clicks her tongue or makes a "raspberry" sound, West clicks his tongue and makes the same sound. If Hannah says "huh, huh, huh" then West says "huh, huh, huh" just like her! It is pretty cute. West gets so excited and smiley when he sees anyone in our family. He is running around LIKE CRAZY in his walker. He will squeal and chase Rags around the kitchen as fast as he can! Poor Rags can barely escape. West is starting to feed himself, and loves scrambled eggs and vienna sausages. He is sitting up by himself, but he hasn't started to crawl yet. He just sort of rocks back and forth on his tummy. He'll spin all the way around on his tummy, but he hasn't lifted himself up on his knees yet. And that is JUST FINE with me!!

Ty

I'm writing about Ty tonight because my emotions are on the surface. Last Friday (July 1) we were enjoying ourselves at Shawn's family's cabin in Star Valley, WY. Shawn's friend, Blake Keyes, called him and asked what was going on with Ty. Ty's uncle, Blair, had posted something on facebook that made him worry. Shawn called his cousin, Blake, to see what was going on. Blake did not know, so he called someone else who was over at the other cabin in Star Valley. Through this chain, we were informed that Ty Redd, Blaine & Jaylynne's son, had accidentally been shot in the stomach while practicing shooting targets, and had been given a 10% chance to live. We were shocked. Speechless. All we could do was kneel and pray. Shawn's brother, Matt, gave a beautiful prayer, mentioning that we would accept Thy will with whatever happened with Ty, but also asked for comfort. We all did receive much comfort from that prayer. We knew Ty would be okay and felt peace. An hour or so later, we received the news that Ty had passed away. Again, we were shocked, but now we were heartbroken. The reality of it was a lot to grasp in those few moments - from the time we learned of the accident to the time of Ty's death was approximately two hours. Shawn, Matt, Brett, Bryan, April, and Sarah spent much time crying, praying, and giving blessings to those who were at the other cabin. There were a lot of swollen eyes and tears.

As I think of Ty, I think of his sparkly brown eyes, olive skin, and contagious smile. I mostly recall him around the age of 5-6. Full of life, and cute as a button. You just wanted to squeeze his cheeks when you saw him. On a sad note, I vividly recall Tucker and Ty acting as pall bearers for their baby sister Emma's funeral. Even though they couldn't have been older than 8 and 6, they were the cutest little men -- acting so grown up at such a young age. As Ty got older, we did not see him as often, but we always heard classic "Ty" stories. Ty broke his arm. Ty broke his leg riding bulls. Ty's hunting cougars with Lance. He was always busy doing something, and as his obituary stated, Ty "used his time wisely" while here on earth. At the viewing, I read through Ty's business brochure that described his hunting guide business. He was an awesome little hunter, and described how he could guide people to find "a mature tom" without "breaking your pocketbook." Chance was impressed that Ty had named one of his hounds "Jimmer." While at the viewing, Hannah wrote Ty a note that simply said, "I love you." As I attended the viewing tonight, my memories of Ty were confirmed. Ty was a tough little cowboy. I would love for either of my boys to be half as tough and half the man that Ty was on his way to become.

We heard more Ty stories at the funeral. My favorite was how he walked his mom through locating a deer on the hillside over the phone! Ty told his mom where to go and how to find the deer that he had shot earlier that day. Jaylynne located the deer through Ty's instructions, as well as through the stench of the deer! Once the deer was found, Ty instructed Jaylynne to pull the arrow out of the deer. Gross!!! When asked why, Ty exclaimed, "Mom! That arrow cost $15.00!" Jaylynne begrudgingly pulled the arrow out of the deer and took it home for Ty. I bet she is so glad she went through that for him as she looks back on that event. Another Ty story included how he had walked up a mountainside in snow up to his neck. Ty's bishop had a young man ask him if there was hunting in heaven. Ty's bishop replied, "I don't know, but if there isn't, I know Ty's up there right now talking them into it." Ty's toughness, along with his continuous obedience to his mom & dad, were emphasized throughout the funeral.

Ty was 14 years old when he died. He was not your typical 14-year-old. He lived in a world full of hunting, fishing, horses, and hounds. Girls were far from his mind, even though I read in a memory book that the girls thought Ty was the cutest boy in all of South Ogden Junior High. For Christmas this year, he was given a cell phone. Ty looked at the cell phone and asked, "What the heck am I going to do with this?" Ty began taking videos of his adventures during what would be his last six months of life, which are now priceless treasures to his family. I learned today that in May (last month), he took a video on his cell phone with the song "Take Me Home, Country Road" by John Denver playing in the background. With his video phone, he took a picture of himself, then of the temple, then of a picture of Jesus holding a boy. His parents and grandparents found this video on his phone a few days after he died. You can't help but wonder if Ty was inspired to make this video. It has been such a great comfort to them during this very, very difficult time.

Through the attendance of Ty's viewing and funeral, I received a strong impression of how distinctly separate our bodies and spirit are. The boy's body in the casket was not Ty. It was a shell of Ty. Ty's spirit lives on. It did not disinigrate or disappear just because his body gave out on him. I know that Ty's presence will be with his family on and off during their earth life. He is not far away. I hope Ty might pay our family a visit from time to time in order to inspire us to "cowboy up."