"Slices" of life

We went to the lake with Jesse, Kristen and their family.

Since we own the boat together, it was high time we did a trip together!

It was a great day!
Until Casey took a turn wake surfing.
I was up at the front, deep in conversation with Kristen when Lindi came up 

white as ghost saying dad had blood all over him and needed to stop.

I looked up to see him actively on the board surfing, no blood.
I assured her he was fine.

She kept persisting, so I followed her to the back to get a better look.
Sure enough you could see blood dripping from his ear.

I waved at him to come in.

He seemed annoyed and that he was fine. Men!

I got him on the boat to get a better look.

The blood was already kind of clumping together.

The only clean water we had to wash it with was ice cold water bottles!

I didn't see it happen, but I guess when he wiped out the board flew

up and knocked him good in the head. 

The bleeding had stopped, he wasn't in pain, so he insisted we kept going.

3 hours later, it was getting dark so we got off the water, grabbed dinner

and took the kids home to get ready for bed while we went to urgent care.

Once they started cleaning it up you could see the real damage.

The squirmy look on the nurses face said it all. 

Almost completely sliced in half!

By a miracle we got the most amazing doctor!
She seemed to like us (maybe because we were "normal" compared to the other

people waiting their turn).
 Usually she sends injuries like that straight to the hospital. 

For some reason she had mercy on us and was confident she could stitch it just fine,
if not better than an ER doctor, so we got to stay!

Bless you!!

We may or may not have disclosed that Casey was a hemophiliac.
Glad we didn't because I bet she would have changed her mind. 

 

All stitched up!
I cant remember how many, but I think upwards of 15?

It was gnarly for a couple of weeks, but
 happy to report his ear looks completely normal, phew!

Jesse and Kristen were sweet and left him a treat in the freezer for when we got home.

This crossing guard likes to dress up about once a week.
Funny how I get excited to see what she comes up with!

I see Casey's old truck here and there around town.

Every time I do I gasp because that truck has so many memories for us!
It was our first major purchase as a married couple.
He drove it for a solid 10 years.
It served us so well as a family and work vehicle. 

Just the sound of the exhaust brings back so many emotions!
I could hear it coming off of Broadway, which meant my stud muffin would soon be home. 

Glad its still riding strong. 

Rusty made the basketball team!
Tons of boys tried out, which isn't normal at his school.

He was pretty worried he wasn't going to make it.
He did great considering he hasn't played in a couple of years. 

2 cuties. 

Saturday chores

Then kept the ball rolling at Grammys. 

We had our first ice cream night for the ward!

We were shocked at the response.

We had a steady line for almost 2 hours!
It was a perfect way to mingle with the ward and neighbors without

throwing a "party". 

Rusty made his first project in wood working. 

Us moms played hooky one morning during the week while kids were at school. 

Bless Casey and his willingness to take some wild women to the lake!

 I went floating down the river with friends!

Enough times I ended up buying my own paddleboard. 

We went to a couple of Mesa High football games.

The girls took a cheer clinic with the Mesa High cheerleaders.

They were supposed to perform before the game. 

Lane and his Mesa gear!

Grandpa still representing!

They canceled their performance because of lightening. 

We all hustled to the gym to watch them there instead. 

Casey was happy to sit next to President Postert on the back row and chat away the time!

A lady in our ward dropped off the coolest gift!

Earlier in the year she secretly got hand tracings of everyone in our family.

She even got clever enough to ask one of my young women to ask me for

my hand tracing for a school project!!

It is called a family history blanket.

On the back you write down everything significant that happens.

Like baptisms, ordinations and such.

The girls instantly grabbed it out of the bag and laid it on the floor finding

our hand prints. 

 People are so thoughtful!!

 

We Hate Goodbyes!

Especially this goodbye.

The day had come for Amber to leave on her mission.

We felt HONORED that they invited us to come to the airport along with their

extended family. I really didn't know how it would go with the girls, or if

Della could comprehend how long it will be until she comes home. 

Amber and Della have a special bond with each other. 

If you ask Della who her best friend is, she will say Amber.

Actually, Amber would say the same!

We had just arrived so smiles were still apparent. 

She had the girls write their name on the back of her missionary tag. 

Gosh, then it got hard!!

Both girls were a mess!
Della cried way more than I thought she would. 

It was heartbreaking. 

Watching her walk through security while wiping away our tears. 

Our friend in the stake was on her flight!

She was on her way to pick UP her daughter from her mission in Mexico.

So nice to be able to see her with her traveling group.

 

Not going to lie, I was surprised at how affected I was by her leaving.
I cried on and off the whole day!
I couldn't even stomach the thought of having to send my own children on their missions.
Ugh, its not going to be fun. 

We all miss her terribly.
In fact, the other Della out of the blue asked when we can go to Mexico so she 
could see Amber.

She is doing amazing.
The mission has been a rollercoaster for her. 
Hard things mixed in with super good things. 
But that is life, on a mission or not.
I'm grateful for her example of serving the Lord even when it is not easy.

We love you , Hermana Whitmer! 

Kids Staycation

The kids had their own party while we were gone!
It was a combined effort by our amazing next door neighbors, the Whitmers.

I cannot even explain how comforting it is to know that we can ask them

at any time to watch our children, and they will respond instantly with and excited YES!

They truly and genuinely love our children like they are their own children or siblings.
Even when we are not gone, they find ways to support and be with our kids.
Countless times Della will walk in the door and announce she is going to the store with Miche.

Alrighty then!
They both think its the best thing ever!

It helped me enjoy our time on vacation knowing I didn't have to worry one bit about them,
and that they weren't being shoved in front of a television the whole week. 

Their smiles and happiness speak for themselves in the pictures. 
Oh, and a little wrench, Amber started home MTC that very week!

Luckily they were in school while she was in her studies, and she could join the fun

later on in the evening. 

Sister Whitmer giving them a lesson, love it!

 

Sitting on the dock of the bay... our last days in SC

We slept in on our last beach day.

Grabbed lunch under the ramada and were pretty much bums!

Our lunch view

It was a warm, glorious day!
We needed the umbrella, thankfully NOT for the rain!

Just living our best lives, one virgin drink at a time.

On the way to dinner I had to get some last pictures of my

docks in the sunset. 

We went back to Sullivan's Island to try Home Team BBQ.

I guess its Lewis' rival.

I think it was an even tie between the two.

Both super good in different ways!

So many other things I wanted to try on the menu.
These nachos were spot on. Glad I got them. 

Deer by the ocean?!

We saw these fellas on our drive back to the resort, crazy!

Church the next morning was a bust.

Wah. I actually really like attending other wards when out of town. 

What do you do instead?

Eat!

There were so many plantations to pick from.
I chose this one because it is the only plantation still in operation. 
Annnnnd, the Notebook was filmed there:) 

The path leading up the mansion is lined with massive oak
trees called The Avenue of Oaks.

Boone Hall Plantation

We couldn't take pictures inside.
However the entry and library looked familiar from scenes from the movie.

The backyard view 

It had the most gorgeous garden

They kept the brick slave cabins.

They had different artifacts in each one.

Inside there was a lady making sweetgrass baskets.

I was thinking they would probably be even more expensive than the ones in the market.
My jaw dropped to the floor when the price tag was actually half the price!

I flipped it over to see the weavers name written on the bottom.
Okay, this one was meant for me!
No brainer, sold. 

We walked down for the "Exploring the Gullah Culture" presentation. 

This lady belted songs and talked about the culture adapted by African slaves. 

My kind of scenery 

We drove to Cypress Gardens, about 30 minutes away.
Gosh darn it, the rain came right as we pulled into the parking lot. 

This is where the famous rowboat scene from the Notebook was filmed.

I really wanted to take a boat out, but right as we walked up they shut it down
because of lightening. Boo. 

Everyone coming back in a hurry. 

I will just have to use my imagination. 

The gardens themselves were still open.

We grabbed our umbrellas and off we went down the paths, deep into the preserve. 

The centerpiece of the garden is this blackwater cypress swamp.

With the amount of warning signs about alligators, I thought we had 

a fairly good chance of an encounter. 

I think I said a couple silent prayers that we wouldn't!

I never knew a swamp could be so beautiful!

The rain was coming down hard, I didn't want to get stuck deep into the

gardens with lightening, so we headed back.
Bummer, so much we didn't get to explore. 

It gave us time to eat at a decent restaurant instead of rushing back to the airport. 

Time to go home!