Summer Vacation pt.1

Over the summer most of my family travelled from near and far to get to Utah for a Larsen family reunion in Payson, Ut.  We had so much fun visiting with cousins, brothers, sisters, grandparents, etc. Now prepare yourselves for picture overload.

Makayla with grandpa at the reunion.

I love how all the cousins run around together and get along so well.  It's awesome!

Bryce doesn't fight the crowd.  He pushes through and sits in the middle of it.

I don't know what these two are doing but they were having fun with it.

These two crack me up!  Bryce and Spencer are the funniest duo.

We love the splash pad.  

Tonsils

Preston got his tonsils taken out yesterday. Even though it was needed (sleep apnea the biggest reason) I hope no one in this family has to do it again.  He had such a hard time coming out of anesthesia and has gone mute today since it hurts so bad to talk.  Fortunately we have some good pain meds to keep him comfortable and he's pretty happy sitting on the couch eating popsicles and watching all the X-Men he wants.

Here's a couple pics I took on instagram yesterday.

That last one looks pretty bad but it was taken right after we got home and he crashed for 5 hours.  I promise he looks a lot better today.

Bryce's Perfect Saturday

The picture is not so great so I'll write what Bryce wrote then give you the translation:

1. vidio games (video games)

2. watch tv

3. eat gunk food (eat junk food)

4. crim fiting (crime fighting)

5. play with lageos (play with legos)

6. play with dog

7. comp. (computer)

There you have it.  The perfect crime fighting Saturday.  Just another day in the Witbeck house.

Meet Jackie

See Jackie.

See Jackie sniff...

...and sniff.

See Makayla hide.

See Jackie lay down.

See her eat everything she shouldn't.

And see Makayla scurry on to the table to get away from Jackie when she comes inside.

The End.

I really never thought we'd get a dog.  Seriously.  I had dogs growing up and I loved them so much!  But Erik didn't and was very against having a dog.  Well we have kids and all of those kids wanted a dog.  Well, maybe Makayla wanted a cat but that was definitely not going to happen.  For the past year all we've heard is that we are the ONLY family without a dog.  And we've been informed several times that fish DO NOT count as real pets.

Well Erik started talking to friends and co-workers and decided that if the kids wanted a dog they could get one.  We went to PetSmart on dog adoption day (different rescue agencies bring in dogs to be adopted) and we walked around with a dog that Erik was very against.  But then Jackie came in the store. A 4 month old lab/german shepherd.  We walked around with her for awhile then went over to Chik-fi-la to have a family meeting about Jackie.

Almost 2 hours later and a lot of weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth,  we walked out of Chik-fi-la with the intent to get a Jackie.  Another 2 hours later we were home with her and Makayla was crying on top of the kitchen table and I started having several panic attacks.  Fortunately, things have smoothed out and we are getting to love this little girl.  

Now if we could just get Makayla off the kitchen table.....

Stitches

Well I guess if we were going to have our first set of stitches it was to gonna be Makayla who hasn't had a broken bone or anything yet.  The poor little miss went to a friends house to play and as I chatted with my friend Brandy, we heard a blood curdling scream.  We rushed in and Makayla was coming toward me with her hand covering her head.  I didn't see any blood, just thought it was going to be a good sized goose egg.  Brandy noticed the blood first and rushed her over to me and that's when I saw the damage. 

 From what I could gather from two 4 year olds was that Makayla and her friend Izy were crawling on the ground and Makayla got up to run and didn't realize she was right by the edge of the granite countertops.  She got the edge dead on.  Oh boy.  I'm a little bit glad I wasn't in the room to witness the impact.  Blood was dripping down her face, all over the floor, and down her clothes.  Brandy gave me a towel and I picked her up and went to the ER.  

Now I have to mention that Brandy, my dear sweet friend, does not like blood.  She hates it in fact.  But she was so, so sweet and offered to go with me to the ER.  But instead she rallied the troops and got people to pick up the boys from school and take care of them until we got home.  Then brought Makayla a chocolate shake from In 'N Out and me a hug when it was all over.   Love ya Brandy! :)

 So Makayla got 2 stitches inside the deep gash and was sealed with derma bond.  I don't ever want to go through that again and I'm sure that Makayla doesn't want to either.  :)  We then went to McDonald's and got a happy meal, I got a 44 oz Coke at Circle K to calm the nerves, and some Tide Boost to get the blood out of the new clothes I had just got her.  FYI:  the Tide Boost totally worked!

When we first got into the ER.  Poor kid. :(

Gotta love that the hospital has the free movie channel.  "Tangled" saved the day!

Afterwards with the head glue.  I think we'll all be okay!

(All photos taken with my dumb cell phone that I hate.)

Easter

The Easter bunny visited our house but there are no pictures.  Why?  Well maybe it has to do with the fact that our kids view this holiday as Christmas so they woke up at the crack of dawn to see their baskets.  I do not view this as Christmas so my booty stayed in bed and didn't take pictures.  So while I stayed in bed the kids ripped into their baskets and ate 90% of the candy in those baskets.

And finally, our attempt at a family picture.  Bad lighting+impatient/non-willing subjects+ terrible backgrounds= horrible pictures.

 Why did I think the shade from the tree would be cool?  Not so much.

 Yes, we have a shed.  It's part of our family too.

Whatever.  We know we're cute!  :)

Happy Easter!

Easter Egg Hunt

Our ward and neighborhood had an Easter egg hunt with a TON of kids and a bunch of things for all the kids to do.  It started at 9 am so we wouldn't be out in the heat (yes heat.  it was 95 degrees that day) so it was great.  Unfortunately we were out late the night before so Makayla didn't wake up until 9:30.  We got over to the festivities right before they started the egg hunt so we didn't get much time to join in all the other fun stuff.

 Faces were painted.

 Friends were found and the wait wasn't too long.

 Makayla was in the group that got a 30 second head start.

 She was trying really hard to get those eggs.

 Now Bryce gets his chance.

 At this point I totally lost track of Makayla and went out to find her.  A nice lady from the ward was holding her hand trying to find me.  Apparently some kids were a little too enthusiastic and mowed her down.  She was okay....just shaken up.

 Now here's the kicker.  So we get up and hurried our tails out the door to get to the egg hunt.  All the anticipation and excitement and for how hard they tried (Bryce really did run fast and try hard) and for getting run over by kids,  Makayla got about 10 eggs and Bryce got 1.  One measly little egg.  Fortunately he was a good sport about it and Makayla was so sweet and shared her eggs.

It was a fun day!  I should point out that Erik and Preston were in Flagstaff this day hiking with some friends so they weren't around.

Conference Weekend

We decided the best way to spend the 2 hours in between sessions on Conference weekend was to fly kites.  And it was perfect!  Here's the pictures to prove it.

We tried to get a game of catch going on but the kids weren't really into it so I put down the camera and played catch with Erik. 

After the fun we headed home with our mitts, kites, family, and friends for some lunch and inspirational messages.  Maybe some naps were taken but we're keeping that information confidential.  :)