The derailment of my productive summer

Posted by Mark:

For those who haven't heard, I broke my hand on Friday. Needless to say, it sucks. I was at my ward softball game in an intense double overtime grudge match. After hitting the ball, I rounded first base. Then half way to second, I was called back to first by the first base coach. I turned around and in fear of getting tagged out I dove towards the bag in the most ungraceful way imaginable (chalk that up to bad sports genes). My right hand was outstretched towards the base, my left hand down towards the ground to break my fall. It defiantly broke my fall, but it also broke my hand when my fatness landed on top of it. The good news was I was safe and thanks to the adrenalin rush, I was able to run the final three bases to score a run without too much discomfort. The good news was that we won the game. The bad news was I knew my hand was munted when I couldn't put my glove on when it was our turn to field.

We went to the IHC Instacare where they confirmed my suspicions...something was broken.


The doctor didn't let me down gently. He walked in the room and immediately said I will need surgery and pins. This made me extremely cross. I in no way desired surgery nor the bills that accompany such events. They put me in a splint and sent me on my way to suffer the long weekend waiting until I could go see a hand specialist/surgeon.

Well today was the day and expecting the worst I went to the appointment. My spirits weren't at all lifted when they took my splint off. With all the swelling and bruising my hand looked disgusting.


After a few more x-rays, the hand doctor came in and gave me some unexpected good news. No pins, no surgery, and all I needed was a little hand cast that will get taken off in four weeks! I couldn't believe it!! This new cast is 100% better then the original splint. And a lot less restrictive.


It was dumb to dive for a base in ward softball, but I'm glad my painful lesson won't cost me the entire summer of productivity.

Pool Party

Posted by Mark:

Spencer has never been a fan of baths. Thus when Spencer was invited to go to a kiddie pool party for a 3 year old girl in our ward we just assumed Spencer would have nothing to do with the water. We dressed him in a white polo and shorts and headed on down to the party. Since it was one of Utah's first hot days I decided to dangle Spencer's feet in one of the pools that was set up. Spencer seemed to love it! after a bit more experimentation with his feet and legs in the water we finally just sat him down in the pool and let him have at it. As you'll see from the video below HE LOVED IT!

Pure Delight

Posted by Kimmi:

This past weekend, the rain finally cleared for one glorious day of sunshine! Mark and I took advantage of it and introduced Spencer to the playground swings. Sure Spencer has the infant swing that sits in a corner at our house, but these swings were outside! In the sun! Spencer really liked the swings and giggled the entire time. I can not wait to have a swingset of our own (not just for the kids, but for me as well). We will be investing in a small outdoor baby swing that Spencer can enjoy all summer!

Please enjoy these pictures and the pure delight on Spencers face!

What is this contraption you are chaining me into?


Hey this thing isn't half bad!


Love it!

Oh how I loathe thee…..

Posted by Mark:

I HATE dandelions. My blood literally curdles when I think of their retched little yellow flowers and the fact that if I don’t quickly kill them they will inevitably turn into a little puff balls of a few thousand seeds destined to spawn into other carbon copies of their parents.

Kimmi insists that I’m obsessed. I don’t know why she says that??? Maybe it’s because I physically cringe and shutter when I see people’s lawns covered in these evil plants…. Or maybe it’s because she observed me walking around my Sister’s lawn in Connecticut pulling out dandelions while we were supposed to be on vacation…... Or just maybe it was because I woke up the other night from a nightmare because my lawn in my dream looked like this:


Last year, I was fairly confident that I could take care of the fertilization and weed control of my own lawn. I said to myself that “it can’t be that hard, plus I'll save a bunch of money!” but after creating a few fertilizer burn spots last summer and this spring having already spent a few hours combing my lawn pulling out multiple buckets full of dandelions I’ve decided that it’s time to call in professionals. Fear for your lives devil weed!

Carl Bloch

Posted by Mark:

I can't say I'm the most cultured person in the world. I daydream about cars and power tools, I like getting my hands dirty with dirt/sawdust/oil and I enjoy video games where the soul purpose is shoot as many of the enemy as possible.

However, from time to time I try to put aside my Neanderthal ways and partake in the finer things of the life. Last week was just such an occasion. BYU's museum of fine art managed to secure a number of paintings by the artist Carl Bloch. The highlight of the exhibit being five of the eight gigantic alter pieces that Carl Bloch created that have been, until now, housed in a number of churches in Denmark.

Since the exhibit opened in November I've told myself and Kimmi on numerous occasions that wanted to go see this once in a lifetime collection. Due to my normal procrastinating nature I chose to wait till the final week before going on line to reserve tickets. To my utter dismay I discovered I wasn't the only one in the area that had the same thought. For every day until the exhibit's close on the 7th of May the tickets were entirely reserved! Not wanting to take "no" for an answer, nor did I feel like waiting in the stand-by line for fear of driving all the way to P-town and getting turned away, I decided to use the last arrow I had in my quiver... Name Drop.... I called up my grandpa's secretary, told her my predicament, told her my desired day of attendance, and voilà! Kimmi and I had tickets. Though I'm slightly embarrassed that I had to stoop to such procurement methods I am no less glad I did because the exhibit was quite spectacular.

Not only was I amazed about how someone goes about painting such beautiful pieces of art but I couldn't fathom how these paintings got shipped here! They are just huge and the liability to ship them must have been immense! Anyway, it was a nice addition of culture to the lives of Mark, Kimmi, and Spencer (Spencer had a blast. His favorite part was the TV that showed all the different churches that these paintings were borrowed from in Denmark. He was transfixed!)

P.S.
Upon exiting the Carl Bloch exhibit you pass a room that had this in it!

Hard to believe that this 12ft tall sculpture is made entirely out of books! It was fun to walk around it and see the different kinds of books used. You could see scriptures, magazines, dictionaries, ect. It was a fun end to a great evening.

The Finished Product...

Before Spencer was born, I knew I wanted to make him a stitchery to hang in his room. And even before that, my dearest friend Ashley was having her first little girl. Emery's gift was the perfect excuse to practice my stitching skills for Spencer's project. So I came up with the idea for a alphabet stitchery. With help from Mark I came up with an accompanying picture for each letter, drew each one out, and made a pattern. Then after six long months I finally finished my first attempt for Ashley's sweet little girl. It is now proudly hanging in her room! Take a look.




Then on to the next one! I made a few different patterns for some letters, and again, six months later, it is finished and ready to hang in Spencer's nursery. Pictures of it actually hanging in his room to follow! Enjoy this for now!

Happy Half Birthday!

Today Spencer is six months old, and I am still in disbelief that so much time has just flown by! Where did my tiny little boy go? Spencer is growing everyday (he is a new little boy every time I look at him), and as many people have said, he is solid!



Spencer's current stats are as follows:
Weight: 16 lbs 11 oz
Height: 27 3/4 in
Head Circ: 17 cm

Spencer is also learning so much. Some of his biggest accomplishments are as follows:
1. He can sleep through the night, which is a big blessing for mom and dad. 2. He is getting better at sitting all by himself. 3. He can grab large and small objects, and of course it all goes to his mouth. 4. He is great when eating his rice cereal, and we are getting better at not getting it all over the place. We have added carrots to his menu and he really likes them, but I think he will eat pretty much anything. 5. He is starting to move around a lot. He can roll over multiple times, do some great push ups, and even scoot backwards when on his tummy. I am pretty sure he will be crawling by next week!






Spencer's favorites:
Food! The Jolly Jumper! Tummy Time! Mr. Giraffe, Douglas, and many other toys! Watching TV! Talking! Mommy and Daddy! Your undivided attention!

We really love watching Spencer grow and discover new things. He is such a blessing in our home, and truly is a wonderful little boy!