Youth Conference, 4th grade Music and a Car Accident

Snow melting and narcissus emerging

Solo/Ensemble performance: it was postponed because of snow, and was rescheduled for the same day as Youth Conference

Luckily it was in the same college town as Youth Conference, so David still got to attend after his performance was over.

Amy had her 4th grade music program

Daddy reading to the girls

I gave Michelle a hair cut, she looked so much older

Two Elsas

St Patrick's Day pie

One plus of living on a private road - repairs get done quickly.

The snow is almost gone! It's warm enough for the kids to play in the sand box.

just a few patches left

Free cone day at DQ

Michelle decided to play IN the toy box

narcissus blooming

Allison will still fall asleep in my arms sometimes

Aaron took the girls to the park while I went to Women's Conference. We had Allison nearby in case she needed to nurse.

The kids continued to play outside when we got home.

Amy was being silly and put these bows in her hair

Thursday March 28 Aaron and I got new phones. Aaron gave his old phone to David and I gave my old phone to Timothy. It was Timothy's first time having a phone. We dumbed it down a bit first.
Friday was a busy day. First Aaron went to Costco and picked up a outdoor playset. We'd be wanted to get one for the kids for years, and we finally found a good deal and did it. He brought it home and we put it in the shed, knowing we wouldn't have time to put it together with a vacation coming up.

That afternoon Aaron and David were going to play some golf before the youth temple trip that evening. On the way to the golf course David and Aaron were in an accident. They were driving on the highway. A minivan was sitting at an intersection waiting to turn left. The driver of the SUV behind him didn't notice the minivan was stopped, and by the time he saw it, it was too late. He plowed into the back of the minivan, which had already the wheels turned, so the minvan crashed into the side of Aaron's car. His car spun around and stopped in the plowed field. Luckily Aaron and David were OK. The couple in the minivan were taken to the hospital. I drove over about 30 minutes later to pick up David and Aaron.MY first pictures taken on my new phone were of the accident!

You can see the airbags deployed. The car also had collision detection technology, and sensed the other car before Aaron had time to react. The car beeped and slowed down, before the impact. Aaron's head hit the airbags, and not the side of the car, and David bumped his knee on the middle console, but other than that they were perfectly fine.

As the minivan was put on the tow truck, a police officer pulled something off the front of the minivan. It was the rest of the rear driver's side door from Aaron's car:

That's the door in the trunk

Aaron's car was totaled

There's the tire marks in the field

Eventually we got all of Aaron's stuff in the Yukon, and finished talking with the police, and I drove home.

So no golfing that afternoon, but they did make it to the temple.

Cute pics of Allison

We brought out the old school filmstrips from the old church building

Mid April

Monday kids were back in school. I finally decided to do grocery shopping on my own. I only went to two stores, and just took it slow. The hard part was the Michelle didn't want to stay in the cart, and I couldn't hold her and push the cart at the same time. It all worked out though. I really enjoyed seeing all of the orchards blossoming. That drive is really pretty in the spring.

We tried to finish off the rest of the birthday cake. Michelle ate the rest that Melanie didn't finish.

I made a lot of progress in my physical therapy. I was able to move a lot more. I made taco salad, and was able to slice the tomatoes and olives. Still no chopping though. Aaron took David and Timothy to the city council meeting. Timothy went to fulfill a requirement for his citizenship in the community merit badge and David presented his research and request for his Eagle Scout project. It seemed they weren't too excited about his project. We knew it was a huge project but we were glad that David put in the effort to do the research, and make the presentation. On the way home Aaron and David discussed other possibilities. They came up with the idea of putting in picnic tables at one of the parks.

Tuesday was a fairly normal day. We discovered that Michelle no longer crawls up the stairs. She started walking up the stairs holding the wall with one hand. I was able to do the laundry with Melanie's help. After school I took the kids to the library.

That night was the Relief Society Dinner. Aaron had a Hospital Board Meeting. It went rather long, so he wasn't able to join me. However I was able to enjoy visiting with friends including Sandi who joined us. There was mingling before hand and then the dinner at 6:30. Lots of people were willing to help me get my food and carry things to the table. They had beautiful table decorations pint size mason jars with burlap and fabric tied around it, and a flower planted inside. One lucky person got to take one home at each table. I was sitting in the right chair, so I took it home. I still have it and haven't killed it off yet!!!

Wednesday Timothy began Statewide testing. I helped in Amy's class. Afterward I returned a book to the library that I we had forgotten to return the day before. I moved a few things around in the garage. I had the kids help me. The kids loaded the recycle in the Yukon, but I didn't get a chance to unload it. After the kids got back from mutual Aaron started cleaning out one of the cupboards. We had weevils, and were trying to get rid of them. We repackaged a few items and tossed some that had been nesting grounds. It was nice to get that done. We stayed up way too late doing that!

Thursday I dumped the recycle after dropping kids off at school. At home I did some sorting and filing and cleaned out my closet. I got rid of things that sadly I don't fit into any more. Anything I hadn't worn in the last year or so I put in a giveaway pile. While I was clearing off shelves I found the summer sausage that was supposed to go in Aaron's stocking. I could have sworn I'd looked there!

I discovered Michelle had cut two new teeth! I wasn't able to do as much as I had hoped, but one step towards mobility was that I was able to shave both legs with my right hand! Here's a video of Michelle singing along to Moana's "How Far I'll Go!" So cute!

That night Aaron had a meeting for the jamboree so he didn't get home until late.

Friday I hit another milestone - I was able to put my make up on with only my right arm. I did have to tilt my head a bit so my arm could reach, but my right hand does such a better job! After taking the kids to school, I dropped off the ill fitting clothes at the donation bins in town. I watered the plats with the girls. While I was outside I saw the apple blossoms

It was so nice outside the girls played.

They picked dandelions and brought them to me like they were a beautiful gift - ha!

lots of blossoms on the decorative cherry tree

the grape leaves are starting to come out

These are the tomatoes and rosemary we got from Tish

The girls had so much fun Michelle kept wanting to jump off of the bench outside. Melanie caught her a few times.

That afternoon Aaron Aaron asked the missionaries to come over and help him remove a shrub. It's a haven for wasps, and it's growing closer to our heat pump, so we wanted it out. We decided to put the wine barrels there instead. I tried to keep Michelle inside. But she really wanted to go outside. The younger kids helped move branches to the refuse pile. The whole reason for asking the missionaries to help was so Aaron would be able to give his shoulders a rest so they could heal. I should have known he would be working just as hard as the missionaries. In the meantime I was waited for a couple to arrive to interview for a cleaning service. However they ended up getting a flat tire, and had to reschedule. Aaron and the missionaries finally go the shrub out and we sliced up the summer sausage and cheese to share with the missionaries. I finished up making dinner for the kids, and then Aaron and I went on a date. We used one of the gift cars we won at the hospital Christmas party. We enjoyed the dinner, and did a little shopping and then went home.