Brett broken arm

You may figure out that I love photography. I started shooting more weddings in 2018 and some of them took me away from home. It's actually pretty rare that I'm too far from home though because I hate leaving my boys. I had a formal session booked for the last week of May at the Jordan River temple though so I made arrangements to do it. I took Easton with me and we hung out at my moms. When I was done she met me with East and I was going to drive home. My other boys were going to hang out at home until Bryan got home about a hour later. Sounded perfect right?

Well my photoshoot got rained out (we did finish though!) so after I grabbed Easton I called Bryan. I started gabbing on about my shoot and he says "I have to stop you. I'm headed to the ER with Brett." He likes to joke with me but I could tell he was serious. Here is what happened. 

Brett and Stock were playing on my slide. They thought it was fun to go down sideways so their legs dangled off the side instead of being in front of them. Bryan had just told them to knock it off because they could get hurt. He was out spraying weeds in the yard with them. Well Stock thought Brett was going to slow so he pushed him down but instead Brett flipped off the top to the ground. Bryan said he heard a snap like a twig break then heard Stock yell Brett was hurt. Bryan went over to see what happened and saw this: 

 Bryan had broken enough bones to know what had happened. Brett went to put pressure on his arm to sit up and Bryan was like STOP! Bryan's mom came over with my other boys while Bryan headed to the ER with Brett.

The Dr and nurses were so shocked at how well Brett was doing. He wasn't even really crying. He had broken TWO bones just below his wrist. They said he is in a small group of kids that can handle the pain that well. Which is super crazy because my little Brett is way emotional. You look at him wrong and he balls his eyes out. He breaks his arm and he just sits there. When they took his x-ray he was pushing down on the nurses hand with his broken arm! They were dying!

I made a mad dash home to drop East off. I made it through a crazy rainstorm going as fast as I dare. When I got to the hospital Brett was asleep with a lot of guys working on him to reset his arm. Bryan and my father in law who was there looked as white as a ghost. I guess I had just missed the part where he was awake and they were setting his arm. He was screaming and it just broke them to watch him. The good news is he doesn't have any memory of that. He remembers watching curious George then seeing me there.

 The worst part of the whole experience was a couple of days later. The dang wrap he had before they put a cast on was digging into his fingers. He was up that whole night before he got his cast crying about how much his fingers hurt. We tried to unwrap it a little but didn't dare do too much. We couldn't tell if the pain from his break was going up into his fingers or if it was the plastic part of his wrap.

 He picked a blue cast. A few weeks later they let him have a short arm cast where he could go swimming with. That one was camo. He loved having people sign it. Honestly he loved the whole experience because he got so much attention and presents! So many people brought him stuff. The McEvoys, Grandpa and Grandma Palmer, aunt Rhea, Grandma and Pa Pack and Grandma Jenkins. He had friends and neighbors bring him cookies and treats too. It always amazes how wonderful people are to us.

 Broken arm x-ray.

Kanarra Falls Hike- St. George Vacation

In the summer of 2017 I did a photo session for a friend of mine. We traded a photo shoot for a couple night stay at their condo in St. George. I totally got the better deal! The condo was amazing and it was the perfect little vacation. I thinking about renting it from her sometime again because my kids loved it so much. 

On the way down we decided to do our hike to kanarraville falls that day. Bryan had told me about it from his hike with the young men from our ward and had been itching to take our kids. 

This hike was so beautiful! My boys especially loved hiking though the water. We went in the middle of May and it wasn't too hot which was nice. The water was cold but felt good as we hiked as well. We had shoes on all our kids that could get wet because for sure you are going to be in the water a lot and do not want bare feet. 

Even my little Easton did awesome! Bryan did carry him a good part of the way because walking in the water was harder for his little legs. The water never got more then a few inches deep though. 

 There isn't a ton of slot canyons to the first falls. But as soon as we got there I was dying! I mean how beautiful is that?

 My sandals from high school for the win haha.

 this is actually the second falls.

 Truth be told we didn't go all the way up on the hike. Apparently there is a even cooler spot but a really scary ladder to get to them. Bryan thought this was as far as it was pretty. Maybe next time we will keep going.

Bryan talked the boys into going down this "rock slide" and low and behold my scared little Brett went first.

 I was really scared about getting Easton down this ladder. It's wet and really narrow. I am always so scared to fall that I am so dang slow. We had this really nice family hiking behind us and they helped lower Easton to Bryan as he went down and this lady at the bottom helped as well. I love living in place where people are so willing to help.

 Seriously I would totally recommend doing this again. Be warned that their is a fee of $9 bucks a person. I'm pretty sure my younger three boys were free though.

The next day we dug around St. George.

 This is his my mom is making me go on this and I'm 12 face.

 We loved the condo! It had a nice pool, tennis court and basketball court. What a fun trip!

May 2018

I love the month of May. It's getting warmer, the flowers are blooming and school is almost out! May is always a busy month!

We started the  month out with Blake's orchestra concert. I'm amazed Easton lasted the whole concert. I am so proud of Blake for playing the violin. I love that we have something like music in common! (I've played the violin for almost 30 years!)

 My older boys headed with Bryan to Wyoming to go on a bear hunt with my brother in law Cory and his son Luke. When they got to the camp they noticed Cory must have left hunting so they hiked around a little but stayed close to camp. I got a phone call (they had to drive down the canyon) around 10 pm with Bryan really worried. Cory had never come back and the fact he had his 10 year old with him made us believe something was wrong. While he was on the phone with me he noticed he had a few voice mails.

What had happened was Cory had seen a bear and shot at it. When they went after it they got in a nasty spot where the snow was too deep and soft for them to get out. When they tried to climb up the hill the would just sink in feet of snow that had running water under it. So it was a miracle that Cory could call out and let Bryan know he was ok and to not come get him. They made a campfire and Cory stayed up all night keeping it going to keep Luke and him warm. When the sun started to come out the snow was hard enough they could walk on it and get out. Luckily they were fine and no one was hurt.

As for my boys the tent they were going to use was in Cory's truck but they back with his shell was open so they slept in the back on Cory's truck. They were fine as well. So glad everything worked out ok but it was a scary night.

 When my stupid tire went flat during a engagement session... boo. Lucky for me the groom knew how to change it.

 Easton love Grandma Jenkins

 Brett actually really liked soccer. It was his first time playing .

 I had a wedding in Provo so I pulled the boys out of school and took them with me. Grandma J came with us.

 My new mothers day present. It's a vacuum and my boys thought it was fun to watch their toys go for a ride.

 Every Sunday my father in law does a "grandpa minute" where we go over a section in the strength of youth. Then all my boys give him a huge hug. It's a tradition every week we go there now.

 Stockton is really into soccer. Bryan was his coach this year.

 First snow cones of the season

 Brett's soccer team

 I had a formal wedding photo session at the Jordan river temple so East and I headed to my parents. They watched him while I was taking picture. Back at home Brett broke his arm while Bryan was watching him. More on that in another post.

 Memorial Day weekend

 Outdoor laser tag with Luke and Abby at the fun park.

 This was the beginning of MANY fishing trips of the summer. It's always better to go with the cousins and Grandpa.

 Blake had his Utah Program.

 I love how "excited" Blake is to sing haha!

 Brett loved his kindergarten teacher Mrs. Hall.

 Stocktons soccer team

I helped at Tyson's end of year party the 6th grade had. I wasn't much help with Easton but I was there.