The Little Mermaid Take 2 with Act it Out

Ella participated in a program this year called Act it Out that trained her to do some theater arts.  She was one of the older kids in the play and they performed for the elementary school one day and their parents that evening.  She was a jellyfish named Cocomo who was one of the friends of the little mermaid.  She was pleased with her character and her performance.   She did a good job and was the cutest and quirkiest jellyfish we ever did see.  We saw a lot of growth in her through putting herself out there and trying something new.  It was a fun experience.

This is her teacher Mrs. Cherie.

Ella and the friends - lobster, fish, flamingo and jellyfish.

Her other friend Solomon was also in the play as the Prince. He may or may not have been her motivation for doing this program this year. :)

 

Goob job Ella!  We are proud of you!

Lagoon trip #1

For Christmas this year we got a season pass for the family to Lagoon.  We took our first trip and had a great time.  The biggest struggle was being so exhausted and trying to drive home that evening.  Most of the day was spent with Dustin, Ella and Alissa hopping on and off roller coasters while I watched Lincoln and Molly go from one small ride to the next and making sure Grace stayed shaded and cool and fed.  I only ended up riding 2 rides all day but it was just fine.

 Truly I don’t know how I got so blessed to have these beautiful 5 kids!  They are pretty amazing little people!

The Most Exciting Conference Weekend

We have made it a tradition to have a picnic during one of the sessions of General Conference.  This Sunday we loaded up and went to Twin Bridges in Ririe to have our picnic.  We pulled up next to the river and it was cold from the wind so we moved locations and found a nice spot not far from the play ground.

We enjoyed our picnic together and quickly the kids ran off to the playground to play.  A few minutes later I can hear Alissa yelling "MOMMY!  MOMMY!"  I can tell immediately something is seriously wrong but I have Grace strapped to my chest inside my coat so I tell Dustin to run because something is wrong!  Molly comes running to tell me you can see Alissa's bone so I threw everything from on the table into the cooler and strapped Grace into her seat so I could help when I see Dustin carrying Alissa and running to the car.

She had slipped through a broken part of the playground and cut her leg badly.  The quickest and most sanitary thing we could think to do is grab a nursing pad and throw it on there and we were holding it with a rubber glove.  Oddly it didn't bleed much and this girl didn't even cry!  She is such a tough little cookie.  She and I almost both passed out as I sat on the floor next to her in the car holding her leg up and a nursing pad on it.  We tried to talk about things that wouldn't make us think of her leg, but it was hard!  Especially when Lincoln was in the back seat yelling, "I'm freaking out back here!  All my memories of Alissa are fading away!"  At least he made us laugh.

This picture is a few weeks later after I had called to report what happened and asked them to go fix their playground.  The newly stained wood is the part that was missing and she scraped her leg on the metal part.  So odd that it did so much damage!

My good mom and dad met us at a gas station to grab the other kids and we headed to the ER with Alissa.  They got her straight in and got that leg numbed and stitched right up.  She spent 2 weeks with the stitches in and did such a good job taking care of her wound.  She is such a trooper!  We are so very thankful for healthy bodies and that her leg healed quickly.

Stitches out picture.