The First Big Break

Shortly after school began, Thys broke his arm.  We went to the park early for soccer practice, and right as everyone was showing up for practice, Thys fell from a ledge to the ground below the monkey bars.  I could see immediately his arm was broken, and that is not a pleasant sight to see your child's arm hanging at weird and wrong angles.  I called Mel, who was out with the bishopric, and he and the bishop came immediately.  We left the girls with the neighbors at soccer practice and went up to the emergency room.  Mel and I were for sure as nervous and as freaked out as Thys.  It's the first time anyone has really broken a major bone in our family.  (Anna did break her finger, let it be said, but it wasn't too big of a deal.  At least we didn't have to go to emergency!) He did so great at the hospital.  He was so brave.  They called in an orthopedic specialist to come reset his arm, and then we were done.  All in all, about a three hour visit.  Thanks to all the friends and family who visited and helped us out.  Thys was not into all the attention and often would not "visit" with the visitors, but we appreciate all the love and friendship just the same!

Waiting for the doctor.  He was so sleepy.

 All reset and ready to go home!

 He had to wear a temporary cast/splint for 10 days.  Then he got his hard cast. 

 This is the greeting most visitors got. 

And he did lots of this--without the plug.  Nice joke, Ann!

Back to School

And then summer was over.  It was so crazy this summer, for some reason.  We never really did have a schedule or a routine.  We just went from one event to another, and although it was fun, going back to school got us put back together with some sort of routine!

 How is it possible this child is so old and so big!?!?!  Stop!!  First day of 2nd grade.

FINALLY! A United States Citizen

I won't say the process or event the actual event was "fun," but it was necessary, and now I have a husband who can cross borders (well, actually, we haven't go him a passport yet), get a driver's license, and vote!  Woohoo!
On August 17, 2011, Mel had his swearing in ceremony.  It was at Rose Wagner Theater along with 175 other candidates and their closest friends and family.  The catch was that there were only about 100 seats available.  After waiting in lines in the heat and wrestling three kids, only to find out we had another hour to wait, and then not getting a seat in the actual theater, lets just suffice it to say there were tears.  I had to get wristbands and wait in the lobby to get in the extra seats behind the candidates--no guarantees.  My family went downstairs to the overflow to save seats in case we didn't get in, and Ray, BJ and I chased three already tired kids until we finally did get seats.  Ray and BJ had different numbers on their wristbands and had to come in the group after us, so I was sitting alone with three kids who had already been waiting almost 2 hours.  Not a good equation.  We did get to see Mel swore in before we got kicked out (yes, really), so I ditched Thys and Sophie in the basement with my family and ran back up to sit with Anna.  AHhhh.  I was so happy when it was all over and Mel had a naturalization certificate with his name spelled right! 

THE Certificate!  And. . .
the PARTY!

We had a huge party to celebrate Mel's citizenship.  It only happens once, right?  I think we had well over 100 people, and a rain storm right as the party began, so the house was full of wet people, and the yard was full of wet people, but what do you do?  It was crazy and a lot of fun!!

Summer Fun

We had another visit from Mel's family.  The Joosten's came in the beginning of August, but I must not have taken out my camera.  For sure Margaret did, and I will be getting photos from her soon for another project!  We did lots of other fun things as the summer came to an end!

INSIDE PARADE FOR 24TH OF JULY: PIONEER DAY

 My sister Les and her family were visiting, so they came with us to check out all the floats.  So much better than going downtown and fighting for a spot on the hot sidewalk!

 SWIM LESSONS
Once ballet, camp, and such ended, we signed up for swimming lessons.  Anna did so great this year.  She can really swim.  I can let her play at the pool without watching her every second.  She goes on the slides, jumps off the low and high diving boards.  She is a great little swimmer.  Thys also made some good progress.  Last year I could hardly get him to get in the pool for lesson, and this year is did all his lesson and can move himself around in the water pretty well.  We love to swim!

 Okay, so there was one day he didn't get in the pool--diving board day.  He for sure was not going to do that, so he and his dog just watched.

PIONEER DAY CUL-DE-SAC OF FIRE

 My parents repeated the cul-de-sac of fire for July 24th because we could all be there.  We loved it as usual, especially Sophie and Mel who had to sit in the house reading books because the fireworks were a little too scary for Soph!

Anna and her friends were really into spa day this summer.  We got the foot spa out one day for the afternoon, and all the neighborhood kids enjoyed a foot bath:  Thys and friends, Anna and friends, and even Sophie.  I did change the water between groups!



Anna earned some money this summer, so she bought herself and her doll matching PJ's.  Cute!

RAIN!
We had lots of rain this summer!  We have a storm drain in the park behind the house, so when the rain comes down really fast for a long time, we get a pool at the park!

BALLOON FESTIVAL
We always enjoy Sandy's balloon festival, but this year was the first time we actually got to see the balloons go up into the air.  Most mornings it is too windy--or too something.  The kids are really fascinated (and a bit scared of the blowing fire).

Lagoon

We introduced the kids to Lagoon last summer, and now we are stuck with a trip every summer for a really long time, I think.  Last year we didn't take Sophie, but this year we did, so we brought cousin Bryn along so we had one big person for each little person.  All the kids are tall enough or small enough that they can't ride all the same rides--or they don't want to.  Thanks to Bryn for being a good sport!  We needed her!

 Soph loved the little rides!

Thys too, but he also loved the big rides.  He just wasn't quite big enough for everything he wanted to ride.

 The whole family on the ferris wheel

 The fountain was a huge hit with Sophie.  Mel took Sophie and was walking to the other end of the park, and the rest of us rode the sky ride.  We looked down over the fountain and saw Sophie right in the middle of it.  She was drenched.  She finally dried off, and then we walked by on the way out again.  Annie joined the fun, but not Thys. 

A Visit From the Schuwers

The Schuwers came to visit right after girls camp and spent the Fourth of July with us.  We all had a great time--adults and kids.  We spent lots of time in the yard; we went to Thanksgiving Point, Sweets Candy Factory, The copper mine, SAndy City Festivities, and Park City.  Mostly we just enjoyed our company, and we hope the come back soon!

THANKSGIVING POINT FARM AND PICNIC

 SWEETS CANDY FACTORY
We actually didn't think we were going to get to go, but at the last minute at 8:00 in the morning they had a cancellation, so off we went in our PJ's--literally.  Check out Mel and Astrid's outfits.  Thys wore his PJ's too, but he was not participating in the photo op--as usual.

  

 
CHILDREN'S MUSEUM

SANDY CITY FOURTH FESTIVITIES

Looking for dandelions to blow.

What do you expect when you try to get five kids in a pic?

The Parade

Fireworks!

PARK CITY

Soph and Astrid hanging out.




Don't ask.  I think it is lucky this photo is a little blurry.  Those Oppermann's are really good sports and really good parents. . .that's all I can say.