It Was Just an Accident

So, I'm at the school and get a call from Leon saying he was in a "massive accident." My first reaction was, "Are you joking?" He did not sound upset or anything and frankly, I just didn't know if he was serious. He had to hold the phone out for the paramedics to confirm that he was telling the truth.

It was in the middle of the work day and he was heading to the other office. Apparently, he did not see the red light, ran right through it and T-boned another car. Leon says he remembers seeing the green light and the next thing he knows he's slammed into the side of a car, airbags have gone off, the interior is filling with "smoke", he can't breathe, slides out of the car onto the road, tries to get up but can't, several people rush over and keep him from getting up, and then the ambulance shows up. He spent a lot of time being checked out in the ambulance so didn't see the aftermath of the accident. But, a coworker who came to pick him up said it was pretty bad - 4 cars in all, but from what he could tell, no one was seriously hurt. All witnesses say Leon ran the red light, which still boggles Leon. The only thing he can think of is that he was looking at the green light a block ahead.

Other than being quite sore, a gnarly bruise on his chest from the seat belt, and a sore wrist from hitting and breaking off the turn signal handle, he's doing alright. But, the car is another story - it's most likely totaled. He was spun around and got hit from behind, as well - so there's damage all around. His poor little car is a goner but we are grateful that everyone is fine.

I've always felt sorry for people who get in accidents right before the holidays, and now we are one of them. I feel horrible for the other 3 people involved, too. Merry Christmas, everyone! I wish I knew who you were and I'd send you a fruit basket, or something.

We're So Proud

Dallin has been working really hard on the saxophone. It has been a goal of his to play in the Junior High Jazz Band. He knew he wanted to play the saxophone, but in order to do that he first needed to play the clarinet for a year. The clarinet was his first musical instrument - ever. He quickly got the hang of it and was able to learn the saxophone the next year. After only playing the saxophone for one year, he auditioned and made it in Jazz Band - a pretty competitive year for alto saxophones, apparently. This also means that he has to get to school a half hour early for Jazz Band practice, which is not easy for any teenager.

Way to go, Dallin! We're so proud of you!

For those who want to hear what their Junior High Jazz Band sounds like, here are some clips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52etMqhcmgc&feature=youtu.be

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7NprHV798A&feature=youtu.be

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Exb3jfKWuxM&feature=youtu.be

Gobble, Gobble

Okay, so November has been a pretty dry month for pictures. But, I did manage to take ONE picture at Thanksgiving and it didn't even have any of my own kids in it. Aunt Laurel introduced Ry-Guy to the world of olives. (Well, I'm not really sure if he's eaten olives before since his parents were in HAWAII and couldn't verify this for us.) Eventually, the bowl had to be moved away from him or he would have eaten all of them. But first, each olive had to sit on his finger for a few seconds. So cute. (So, you see Natalie, Ryan survived on olives for a day.)

This isn't Thanksgiving, but I just had to document that these Texas doughnuts at Macey's actually DO get bought and ......

...eaten.

Leon told the boys that they could choose ANY doughnut and Landon said, "Even the BIG one?" "Yup, even the BIG one." So, all bug-eyed and giddy he dove into this gigantic pastry. It only took him 3 sittings to finish the whole thing - FHE treat, breakfast with his eggs, and after-school snack. I guess we DID get our $1.19 out of that big 'un. Only Landon, the last born, would have ever gotten the BIG doughnut. But, that's the name of the game, right?

Halloween and All Its Spendor

This post really could be three separate posts, but really Halloween seems like one, big, long day to me anyway. The Saturday before Halloween was finally pumpkin carving. Landon kept bugging me about it probably because he was worried that there wouldn't be any pumpkins left by the time we got around to it. Pumpkin carving is NOT one of my favorite activities, and this year I even had to do it on my own since Leon had to work. But, we all survived with all our digits intact and smiles on our faces...

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Landon designed his Jack-o-lantern himself, and begged me to let him carve it. I really did not want to add a trip to the ER to my to-do list that night, so I let him "carve" some lines as stitches. He was happy with the result.

Cameron also designed his Jack-o-lantern and wanted to do his own carving. I had forgotten that he's carved his own pumpkin before and told him he wasn't quite old enough. He was okay with me doing the cutting, but I know that if Leon were there he would have said, "Oh, give him the knife. He'll be fine." When Mom is in charge things go a bit differently, I suppose. Jayden designed and carved his own pumpkin and was quite proud of it. I think he did a great job. "One less pumpkin for me to carve," is what I was thinking. Dallin wanted to do something different this year and found some symbol from some game he's been into (Zelda, I think). He took some time on this and was quite pleased with himself and his "skills." Me, on the other hand, just wanted to get my pumpkin done. My arms were gooey and my hands were sore. Not too fancy, but it does the job. The day of Halloween started off with the school parade. Our school only has the lower grades participate, so this year I only got to see one of my kids. Landon was worried that no one would know what he was, but I think most people got the idea. Now, 10 years from now that might be a whole other story. After the parade the classes all have parties, and this year I helped in Landon's class. Halloween sure does bring a lot of energy to the group. Okay, so on to the costumes. Jayden had decided months ago that he wanted to be a "baby" - one of the easiest costumes I've ever done. But, in true Jayden style, he was the oddball in the family by not going along with the theme. What is the theme? Well......

..."Angry Birds." This was one of those week-before ideas which meant my sewing machine got dragged out for its annual run. I had heard that "Angry Birds" was one of the most popular costumes this year, but apparently not where we live. We only ran into one other "Angry Bird" the whole day. We got a lot of comments as we went around and the kids had fun. I'm sure this will be one of those character costumes that in 10 years we'll wonder what in the world we were.

The "Angry Birds" and green pig thought they needed to reenact something - not sure WHAT exactly, but okay.

This year I got the pleasure of taking the kids around Trick-or-Treating. I really enjoyed it since the weather was perfect and I had on good shoes. Leon made me wear the green pig costume (no pictures of that, thank goodness), which kept me very warm.

Jayden and his 'motley crew' had big plans for the night to get as much candy as possible. I think they succeeded.

Happy Halloween 2011!

Stewart Falls

Being probably the last nice Saturday of the year, we thought we'd join half of Utah County and hike up to Stewart Falls. It seems a lot of other people had the same idea.

Most of the leaves had already fallen, but the Aspens were still yellow and bright.

What a beautiful end to a hike.

Leon wanted to see the pool between the two falls and took Dallin and Landon - the adventurous ones - up to the base of the first waterfall. Leon said it was pretty tricky and a bit scary, but it was neat to see something that the rest of us at the bottom could not. (Leon and Dallin are the two small gray and green people and I think Landon is clinging to the side of a rock somewhere.)

Mt. Nebo Loop

My brother Jeff was bored and called up the sisters to take a drive up the Nebo Loop to see the leaves. It was such a beautiful day and the Aspen leaves were absolutely stunning.

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There was just so much to photograph that Natalie could NOT hold in her excitement.

We were pretty much car-window-photographers.

But, there were times when we just had to get out of the van for that perfect angle.

In an attempt to get all three of us in the picture, I sat my camera on the top of Natalie's van, set the timer, and ......(take 1)

(take 2)

...(take 10). You should have seen "take 9". Well, I guess you can, if you watch one of the videos - oops. Yes, we're dorks.

Along the drive was a sign for "Devil's Kitchen". Now, how can you just drive by THAT and not go see what it's all about. Jeff did a bit of recon and came back to report that it was a "mini Bryce Canyon. just 130 'running steps' off the road." Really. It was quite surprising to see rocks like this among all the normal mountains. Who knew?

Okay, so the first video is just about as dorky as we got on this trip. The second video is for a certain picture Natalie and Jeff were trying to stage. It will be interesting to see what the picture is all about.

I'd have to say that we had a fun 3 hours just enjoying the scenery and being goofy for a bit. Since I was the first one married, I missed out on a lot of trips that my siblings took together. Even though this was a short one, and only half of us were there, it was memorable. Thanks for the suggestion, Jeff.

Apple Picking 2011

Each year, for as many as I can remember, the Eddington family gets together to help Grandma (now Great-grandma) pick her apples. For most of my life it has meant playing with cousins, but now that I'm an adult, it's more work than play. Although, I did my fair share of "playing", too.

Mom held the ladder for McKenna and feared that an apple would fall on her head, or her new glasses. In this picture she is wisely bracing herself 'cause that apple in McKenna's hand is just about to clunk Mom on the head. That would have made a great action shot - too bad I missed it.

Of course, apple picking also means eating as many apples as you want.

Thanks, Grandma (Great-grandma) for having us up to "help" one more year.

As a side note - just about every year at apple picking I step in dog doo-doo. This year I managed to pick some up my first step out of the car. Now THAT's the way to start off a tradition.

Lagoon

Each year Nu Skin throws a summer party somewhere fun. This year was another Lagoon day. Nu Skin reserves the park ONLY for employees and their families, and this year they even catered dinner. We've been to several Nu Skin Lagoon parties, but this one was a bit different for our family. This was the first year that everyone was tall enough to ride just about every ride, which meant NO Kiddieland for me. Boo. I kind of liked sitting back and watching the little kids. Of course, I had to ride a few bigger rides, but I was content where I was. I warned Leon that I couldn't do ride after ride of the roller coasters and thrill rides, and sure enough, the Colossus did me in. Every ride after that was sickening. I actually had to go take a break/nap in the van for it to wear off. What a wimp I've become, huh?

The Wild Kingdom Train is just my speed.

Most of the time when we've been, the big Ferris Wheel isn't working. So, when we saw it running, we just had to take a spin. Well, the first time we did some spinning, but by the end of the evening I had to request "no spinning" - calm ride only, please.

I really enjoyed the Bumper Cars with Landon and Cameron. It made me feel like I was back in Kiddieland again. I miss that place.

While us "chickens" (read smart ones) were on the Bumper Cars, Leon and the older boys hit the Rocket. Definitely NOT my kind of ride. I've done it once in my lifetime and that's all I care to do, thank you very much.

The Skyride is also one of my favorites, even though the loading and unloading still gives me a bit of panic inside. It's all so quick and full of pressure. I remember feeling the same way when I was a little girl, too.

Okay, so THIS ride was against my better judgement, but Leon told the boys to go ahead and ride it. In hindsight nothing bad came of it, but really, this ride looks nauseating. The thing is, kids will do just about any ride once.

I realize that it's hard to identify who is who on this video, but it's Dallin, Jayden, and Leon. Leon thought it was hilarious that he screamed like a girl and kicked his legs like he was terrified. He's such a ham, at times.

First Day of School 2011

Mostly for documentation purposes, here are the boys on the first day of school 2011. I realize that one boy is missing, but since junior high starts SO darn early, I didn't even think about a photo. Besides, once you're in 9th grade, a first-day-of-school photo is no longer cute. Cameron (4th grade), Jayden (6th grade), and Landon (1st grade) - all wearing their new shirts. Yup, that's all that they get - one new shirt to wear the first day.

Since we missed "Back to School Night" due to our family "last hurrah", I walked Landon into his classroom to meet his teacher and find his desk. The other boys just had to fend for themselves. I guess that's why there's a picture of Landon at his desk and no one else. Or, maybe it was because other moms were doing it and I felt compelled to follow since I had a camera in my purse. Or, maybe it's because he's my youngest and I'm sad to see him go. First Grade - sniff.

Last Hurrah 2011 - 9-Mile Canyon

As one "last hurrah" before school started, we decided to take a day trip down to 9-mile Canyon. But, don't let the name fool you - this canyon is NOT 9 miles, it's more like 70.
Balancing Rock was one of the first sites to see. We had some waypoints to guide us through the canyon and we just could NOT find this "balancing rock." We drove back and forth past the spot where it was supposed to be and just could not see it. We finally gave up and moved on thinking that either it wasn't as obvious as the description made it sound, or it had fallen. But, once we moved on, there it was - just around the corner from where we were searching. It became the joke when we couldn't find other sites - "it's right around the corner, like the 'balancing rock'."

We took a short jaunt through a gully where there were a lot of rock art. It was super hot that day and the rock walls just about baked us. That, and the signs warning of snakes, drove us back into the cool van. These Indian petroglyphs were sure neat to get up close to. Don't worry, we did NOT touch - there were enough vandals who had already done that. Boo.

Just above our heads is a nice collection of rock art. There were several major sites listed in the guide, but as we got going and better at spotting them, the kids were able to find smaller petroglyphs all along the road. It became a challenge to see who could find the most before everyone else.

This one is the "Big Hunt" - one of the most famous examples of rock art in the world (0r maybe just the United States - can't remember).

You could tell this was the famous one because of all the money put into the nice railing, graveled walkway, and sign. Dallin's "last hurrah"!
After being in the car for 12 hours - definitely a trip better taken with older kids - we ended up with this nice souvenir - a piece from off the bottom of our van. Let's just say that when you drive a low-clearance minivan like ours, dirt roads are meant to be taken at a slower pace than what we took. Hmm. We saw some beautiful country, learned about history, and hopefully made some good memories.