WE'VE HIT THE BIG 5!

Yes, that's right. Brian and I have officially been married 5 years as of Wednesday the 21st of March. Does that sound crazy or what?!?! Let's take a look at our "Anniversary Week."

This picture is probably not what you expected, huh? I'll explain in a minute, but first I have to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dear sweet mother. Momma celebrated her birthday on Monday, March 19th. If you want to know how old she is, ask her yourself! Since I couldn't be there, I called her and wished her the best. I am hoping to see her very soon though.

I decided Monday would be a great day to do some more gardening. So my wonderful neighbor took me in her truck to get a load of compost. They took this tractor and got a huge scoop of compost and dumped it into the back of the truck. It's cheap, about $18.00 for an entire truck-load. And it's so worth it! It turns the terrible sandy Utah soil into rich fertile "almost-as-good-as-Iowa-dirt" soil.



So I shoveled all this compost out into the newly-added areas of the garden, to try to get it up to par with the rest of the garden. While I was doing this, little Vaughn was a very good little boy. He sat on the other side of the truck, where I could see him, and dumped buckets of dirt on top of his head and down his shirt.








After getting all the compost spread over the new areas, I used me neighbor's tiller to till it all in and really get in mixed in well.

Here's Vaughn helping me to get the tiller running.










After several hours of shoveling compost and tilling, both Vaughn and I were ready for some fun. So after Vaughn's bath, and after Brian got home, we all took turns riding on Brian's little Honda, which he affectionately calls Weezer. Don't ask.

Vaughn was so funny riding this little motorcycle with Brian. He just sat there, expressionless, enjoying the ride. If Brian stopped for a moment, Vaughn would sit up and point, which meant, "Let's do it again!" In this picture, Brian put Vaughn's hands on the bars. Otherwise, Vaughn would have been sitting up against Brian's chest, staring like he had been for the last fifteen minutes!








Yes, even I took a spin on Weezer. Vaughn got so excited when I rode by him that he started running beside me. He had such a good time!











We have all had Spring Fever lately. This last week many of the trees and bushes and flowers started to show signs of blossoms. One of the bushes in our front yard began to show these pretty yellow blossoms. Even the wasps were out to enjoy the beautiful weather and bright colors.





On Tuesday, Amy and her son Samuel (we call him Sammy) came over. She wanted to see my garden spot and my 1-year supply of food. Amy is such a good friend, and is so supportive of all my projects. She helped me to decide what to plant in my garden and where to plant it.

Sammy is really scared of our cat for some reason, but Amy works with him to overcome his fear. On this visit, Sammy did so well! He got close to Ivan and even tried to touch him, and he didn't scream. We were so proud of him.


Tuesday evening was our Relief Society Birthday Dinner. The Relief Society is an organization within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for women. It was founded on March 17 in 1842. There is no other women's organization like it on the planet. I am proud to be a member of it. Our motto is "Charity Never Faileth." The Relief Society is based on good works, charity and love.

Our Relief Society Presidency put on a wonderful dinner with a very beautiful garden theme to celebrate the birthday. They decorated the church with gorgeous garden settings like the one to the right.








For dinner we had a very tasty chicken and pasta salad topped with Craisins and cashews. It was served with a slice of cantaloupe and a homemade crescent roll. It was to die for! Then of course there was a beautiful vegetable platter. And for dessert we had a homemade blackberry shortcake with a rich sauce made from handpicked Oregon blackberries. It was amazing!







Here is a closer view of the vegetable platter.









During the meal they had a cute lady read the Peter Rabbit story. She also played the piano as she read along, adding sound effects to the story line. Also as she read, another lady showed slides of each of the illustrations in the book to go along with the story. Before beginning the story though, the first lady gave us a short biography of Beatrix Potter, the author of the Peter Rabbit book. It was one of the more entertaining events I've been to in a long time. It was all a wonderful experience.

This is a picture of me and my wonderful neighbor Dawn Houston. She is the neighbor I'm always talking about. She is amazing. This woman can do anything. She is a self-taught seamstress who makes everything from children's clothing to cargo nets. She sells her stuff on E-bay and does quite well. She is also the most giving and kind person you will meet. She constantly goes out of her way to help me with things around the house and yard. She is very encouraging and does all she can to be a positive influence in my life. I greatly respect and love Dawn, and I hope to someday be like her. She is also a pretty tough woman. She is a nurse that goes out with firefighters during bad fire seasons. She has been training to do a test where you have to wear a 50-pound pack and do a hike in a certain amount of time. I think the hike is like 3 to 5 miles or so, and it has to be pretty fast. She is just amazing.

After the dinner and program a bunch of us volunteered to help get things cleaned up. This is a picture of me and my very good friend Deon Pate scraping dishes. This is another woman whom I greatly admire. Not only is she extremely intelligent (she is always learning something new) but she is also so wacky and fun. We are constantly giggling about something. One time Brian and I were up on the stand in church, waiting to give talks during a meeting, and Deon was out in the audience. She kept looking at us and trying to get us to laugh by making funny faces and pointing at us. She is the best!


And now for our Anniversary. Wednesday was overall one of the best days ever for me. I spent the morning cleaning the house spotless. Brian got off work around noon, and then we raced to get ready to leave for Manti, Utah. It's about an-hour-and-a-half south of us. While we were eating lunch, Vaughn got so tired that he fell asleep in his high chair. I held him while we finished eating. He was just so dang cute! One of my favorite things to do is put my ear very close to his mouth and listen to him breathe when he's sleeping.


We dropped Vaughn off at Brian's parents' house to be watched by his brother Jared, and then later on Julie came by to help as well. Then is was time to head down to Manti. Why Manti you ask? Well, it was there 5 years ago, in the Manti, Utah Temple that Brian and I were married.





Here's me and Brian in front of the Temple.









And here is another shot of the Manti Temple on the same day, with a better view.


The reason why this place is so special to us is that of course we were married here. But the type of marriage we had is of particular importance. We chose to be married in a temple because the man who married us had the authority to marry us not only for this lifetime, but for eternity. After Brian and I pass on, we will be able to be together again in heaven, and continue the same relationship that we took a lifetime to build. We must live righteously and in accordance with the laws that Heavenly Father has set. And if we do so, we will be able to be together forever, as well as be with our children and other family members and friends who chose to live right as well. In no other place on earth can a couple be married for eternity than in a temple of God. It is something that we both view as very sacred and very special. I am truly grateful that Brian respected me enough and that I respected him enough to be married in this way, and in this place.

We got back around 8:30 that night. Vaughn was so tired that he fell asleep on the ride home. We hadn't eaten dinner yet, so we picked up a pizza. It was the perfect end to a perfect day. We ate pizza and watched old Disney cartoons while Vaughn was sound asleep. It was his anniversary present to us, and it was a very nice one.

Thursday evening Brian's parents returned home from their seminars. They go on seminars each Spring and Fall to sell his father's Chord System for the piano. They had to come home early because Brian's mother was experiencing some health problems. So we were very grateful that they made it home okay.

Friday evening we went to a local thrift store to try to find some wrist-guards for me. We wanted to go roller-blading and jogging again, but I didn't dare do it without some wrist-guards because I fell last time and it hurt!

Well, not only did we find some wrist-guards for only 50 cents, but I found a water-bath-canner! This is the type of canner you use for bottling things like tomatoes and fruit juice. I was going to get a new one (at about $25) because I didn't think thrift stores carried things like that. But I was very happy to find this one, and it was only $5.oo! And it was in great shape too! Now my collection is complete as far as the types of canners I need to do bottling. Now I can do everything from fruits and vegetables to meats. I am so excited about this I could just explode!




Saturday morning we got up bright and early and headed over to the Provo River Trails. I roller-bladed (is that a word?) while Brian jogged and Vaughn rode in the stroller. It was so nice outside! And it smelled so fresh and clean, especially in the early morning.





While we were exercising, we noticed this fox coming towards us. Then we realized it was a dog. But then we thought, no wait, it's a fox. The owners were parked in nearby van, and the fox-dog ran right over and jumped in. So we went over and asked them about their pet. They said it was part fox and part dog. I was disappointed this picture didn't turn out better, but this animal really looked like a tame fox. It was so cool! The owners were very nice, and let us pet him and take a picture. They also thought Vaughn was very cute!




Along the path we also noticed several trees that had been gnawed on by beavers. It just amazes me that they have teeth sharp enough to chew through wood. Here's something interesting though. Beavers have to chew on wood to keep their teeth from growing too long. Otherwise their teeth will grow out of control and grow right up into their skull! Isn't that crazy? Brian and I saw a picture of a beaver skull where the teeth had grow right up into the brain area and through the skull. That's nuts!



This is probably my favorite picture of all time. I am going to print this up and give it to Brian to have at work. Vaughn really wanted to see some ducks by the water, so Brian went with him to make sure he didn't go too close to the edge. Brian is such a great father. He loves to spend time with Vaughn, and he makes it quality time too. He takes every opportunity to teach Vaughn new things. Brian likes to say "I'm showing him the ropes." I'm so grateful for Brian's tenderness towards our son.



After getting home from the trail, we had lunch and Brian hung out with Vaughn for a little bit while I started on the garden. About an hour or two later we put Vaughn down for a nap. Brian left to do some research at a local bookstore for his job, and I continued gardening. I turned up soil, mixed in fertilizer, sectioned off areas and began to plant. I planted beets, Swiss Chard, peas, potatoes and onions. Then I made some rows for the future beans I would plant. It must have taken me about five or six hours all together to finish everything because our garden plot is way bigger than last year! I think I have at least doubled the size of the plot. (Not all of it is shown in this picture!)

In about a month or so, I will plant the beans, tomatoes, zucchini, squash varieties, cantaloupe, watermelon and peppers, and anything else I can think of! I am hoping to have a very beautiful garden this year! And I also hope those darn Cut Worms won't get into everything. If they even think about it I'll spray them before they can take a second bite!

After exercising all morning and then gardening and researching until the evening, Brian and I were both exhausted. We both had thought about using a gift card for a restaurant Brian had received from his work after pulling a 16-hour day. So when I finally mentioned it, it was nice that we both wanted to do it!

We got cleaned up and then went to the Outback Steakhouse. It was so nice not to have to cook dinner or clean up! Our waitress was so nice, and Vaughn really enjoyed himself as you can see! He was really showing out for some reason. I think he liked the upbeat atmosphere, and all the people.

Brian got the Alice Springs Chicken which was SO GOOD! And I got an 8 oz sirloin. We both were very happy with our meals. We came home and relaxed with some old Disney Cartoons from the World War II era.

I think I will end this by saying how grateful I am for a wonderful husband and a beautiful son. I feel very blessed to have them both in my life.

And here's one for the road....

DOES LIFE EVER SLOW DOWN?!?!?

This last week has been a busy one! Since our camera is being repaired, we have a hodge-podge of photos from cameras we borrowed. Enjoy!

On Sunday the 11th, our car died. We came out of church to find that it wouldn’t start. We walked home and then while I was fixing dinner, Brian went back to see if he could work with it a little bit. Luckily Melvin Kuhni saw Brian and came out to help him. Melvin lives right across
the street from the church. So they towed our car to his place and then plugged it in. (Our car has a plug going from the engine block to help it heat since it is a diesel). We went back later that night after it had heated for three hours or so. We spent a good hour talking with Melvin and Vaughn played with Melvin’s grandson Kaden. We had a great time! And we were able to get the car started so we could drive it home.


On Tuesday evening Laura came over. I was busily organizing the basement to fit our food storage in the way I wanted. So Laura hung out with Vaughn. They played in the rocks outside, kicked our soccer ball around and watched part of a show called Jimmy Neutron. Then after Brian came home we had dinner together and watched American Idol. It is always so nice to be around Laura.

Wednesday morning Brian’s brother Jared met me at our house at about 6:30am and we headed up to Salt Lake with Vaughn to get our car fixed. I was so grateful that Jared came because it would have been just me and Vaughn stuck at the car. But Jared was wonderful! He helped me to run after Vaughn all morning. So 2 and 1/2 hours and almost $160.00 later, we were on our way home. I guess our glow plugs were shot and also a fuse or breaker or something. I’m just so grateful that we know of a good fix-it-shop. The other place we knew of that worked on Mercedes and it was also in Provo, wanted to charge at least $240.00 for the same work. They really try to soak you just because you own a Mercedes. I guess they don’t consider a young family on a limited income buying a very old Mercedes!

On the way home we stopped at McDonald’s and had lunch together as a thank you for Jared helping out. I couldn’t have done it without you Jared. Thanks for your help! And just to put this in, Jared is one of the most helpful guys you will ever meet. He is always volunteering to help us watch Vaughn and keep him entertained. He is a wonderful uncle to Vaughn and we are grateful for his kindness.

Wednesday evening our ward had a fund-raiser for the Scouts and the Young Women groups. They provided a dinner and then held a dessert auction afterwards. It was a lot of fun to watch people bid for their dessert. Most people brought a cake to auction. But some people got really
creative and made gorgeous wedding-style dessert presentations. Anyway, Melvin sent Kaden over to us and asked us what kind of cake we wanted. We were very flattered by his offer. We picked a Snickers cake. The bidding started, and when it ended we were holding a $65.00 cake in our hands! We were very grateful for Melvin’s generosity towards us and the youth in our ward.

On Thursday Brian had to work late, so Vaughn and I spent the day doing many things, including finishing organizing the basement. Vaughn is very helpful to me by playing well by himself. He just goes into a corner and digs dirt out from under the steps and gets it all over himself. But it’s great because that way I get a lot done! So here’s my announcement! As of Thursday the 15th of March, our family officially has a 1-year supply of food, and a 2-week (which is the recommended amount) supply of water!!!! And it is all organized in our basement!!!! I cannot tell you the sense of accomplishment I feel! And I also feel a great deal of safety for me and my family. Now that I have this accomplished, I will move on to finishing our 1st aid kit, and 72-hour kits for me and Brian. Vaughn’s 72-hr kit just needs to be updated since he is growing out of everything!


Friday evening we headed over to Amy’s house for dinner and volleyball. There were some kids over from Amy and Brenden's ward, so Brenden gave them a ride on his 4-wheeler. It was funny to see him and so many kids piled on that thing riding it around their yard.

We had a great time playing volleyball while Vaughn ran all over and distracted everyone. We called him our “Secret Weapon” because he managed to keep to our opponents side of the court even when we switched sides after the first game! What a cutie!






After volleyball we took some time to play with Vaughn on their swing-set. Vaughn really loved the attention, but especially going down the slide. I think he made Brian do it about one hundred times! Here Vaughn is being "A Proud Baby" as everyone called him that night.








Saturday morning we got geared up and headed up to Provo Canyon. I brought the roller blades Brian got me for my birthday, and while I roller-bladed up the bike path, Brian walked/jogged with Vaughn in the stroller. We had a wonderful time enjoying the scenery and getting some
much-needed exercise. We feel so blessed to live in such a beautiful area! We were also happy to run into my Uncle Wane and my Aunt Cari and their kids. They were on a bike ride enjoying the nice weather too! They mentioned when they were done with their ride that they were going to start on their garden. That of course got me excited to plant our garden, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it!

So after we got home, I called my next-door-neighbor and asked if I could borrow her tiller. She got it rigged up right away and I tilled up the garden spot! I got so excited that I wound up expanding the garden area to about twice the size I had last year. I expanded about 2 to 3 feet back towards the fence, and then another 6 to 7 feet towards our house. I am excited to try some new vegetables this year like Swiss Chard, beets (which are excellent when steamed) cucumbers and possibly peas. I am even considering building an irrigation system out of PVC pipe because my neighbors have done that and it works really well. I wouldn’t have to stand out there for an hour and monitor the watering as it’s done. I’ll have to see how they do it!

So that’s our week! And what a week it was!

Here's one for the road....

Love, Lisa

A WEEK OF RECOVERY AND CANNING (AGAIN!)

On Sunday, March 4th, we went over to Amy's house to drop off my turkey so she could set it out to thaw for Thursday when I would come over to bottle it with her! While we were there I noticed Amy's three girls playing with dolls and snapped this shot. Her girls are from left to right, Kimball, Riley and Alex. They are dolls themselves! Aren't they all just gorgeous?!?! All of them are very friendly to Vaughn and love to play with him. He adores Amy's kids. We are grateful to have them close by.







Vaughn decided to take it easy while we were there and just snooze for a while.








On Monday we headed over to Brian's parents for the evening. Laura agreed to come with us, and that made me very happy! Laura is always a blast to be around, and Vaughn took full advantage of that fact!

Laura and Brian sat on opposite sides of the dining room while Vaughn took turns throwing a ball to each of them. He loved it!








As shown here, Vaughn would do this huge wind up and then chuck the golf ball as hard as he could towards Laura or Brian. This may not look very scarey, but when a golf ball is flying towards your head at 100 miles per hour, you try to avoid it!











Once the ball got to the opposite person, Vaughn would run over and grab the ball from them. Then he'd throw it back to the other person. This was really nice because Brian and Laura got to just sit there while Vaughn did all the running and exercise. (They just had to make sure to dodge the ball!)










Vaughn tried really hard to follow Laura's instructions on how to throw correctly.












When Vaughn got it right he'd give himself a hand......


















.........And then he'd get a hug from Laura.













All Brian and I could do was watch with smiles on our faces as Vaughn had such a good time with Aunt Laura. It made us very happy. We're excited to see this kid get involved in sports too. His aim is great!








We went back to Mom and Dad's Wednesday evening so Vaughn could have more fun with Robert and Jared. We have been trying to keep him occupied so as to distract his attention from his hand while it heals. While we were over there, I bottled a turkey by myself! I don't have any pictures of it though because we had to send our digital camera in for repairs. The LCD screen and viewfinder have turned this weird yellow-green color. But anyway, I was able to bottle 11 wide-mouth pints of turkey, and it went perfectly!

On Thursday we went over to Amy's, and I bottled more turkey with her! We wound up getting 14 pints with the larger turkey. It is always so fun to bottle with Amy because she is just full of interesting facts and stories. I love talking to her! It's nice too because we watch American Idol with everyone after bottling to relax. While I was there I made some french bread pizza that Grandma Oviatt had made while we visited with her. It turned out really well, and everyone seemed to like it.

So all together on Wednesday and Thursday I bottled 25 pints of turkey! It would have been more than that, but I used mostly wide-mouth pint jars, and you can fit more turkey in those than in the regular pint jars. But I was very pleased! Now I have the beginnings of a very good supply of bottled meat to use in emergencies. It gives me a great peace of mind knowing that if something were to happen and there was a run on the local stores, I have a wide variety of the things I would need to sustain my family!

Vaughn's hand is doing great! The shot on the left (which was included in our last blog entry) was taken about six days before the one on the lower right, (which was taken last Wednesday the 7th of March). Vaughn's hand looks even better today. He has just healed miraculously. Even the doctors were astonished at how good his hand looked when he went in. He is doing so well that I cancelled his return appointment with the burn center up in Salt Lake. I wasn't going to drive a total of about 100 miles and pay a few hundred dollars to have a doctor tell me Vaughn's hand looks great!
.
I tried to get a shot of Vaughn's full hand, but he wasn't willing to comply. But you can barely tell now that he was burned, and it's been two weeks to the day today since it happened! It really is a miracle. I have heard that babies have a way of bouncing back from injuries that grown-ups can't. I am just so grateful that Vaughn has healed so quickly! He has been using his left hand normally for several days now. He also doesn't show any limitations with his hand movement.

Just to throw this little story in. On Friday I was playing with Vaughn, trying to be a good mother and spend some one-on-one time with him. I thought I was doing a good thing, but then something happened! Vaughn twisted his body very quickly while we were lying on the bed tickling each other. His arm was under his body slightly, and as he twisted his body he gave a yelp. I picked him up and then I saw his arm. Yes, it was his left arm. I could tell immediately it had been pulled out of it's socket. Just to be sure I tried to lift his arm and he cried really hard. So I left it alone and called his pediatrician's office. The nurse tried to give me instructions on how to put it back myself, but I just couldn't do it. I called several people I knew, but nobody was available to help, including my next-door neighbor who is a nurse. So I called Brian at work and he immediately came home to help.

While we were waiting for Brian to get home I brought Vaughn into the bathroom while I got ready so we could take him to the doctor. Vaughn just sat on the counter, his limp arm hanging at his side, and didn't make a peep. Then he maneuvered his body around with his feet so he was facing the mirror. With his right hand he grabbed the mirror and started making funny smiling faces at himself. I thought, "What a kid!" The poor thing has a limp arm out-of-socket and he still manages to have fun.

When Brian got home I was ready to rush out the door to the doctor's office, but Brian suggested we call his sister Amy, (yes, my bottling buddy) and ask her what to do. Amy's daughter Riley used to get her arm pulled out of it's socket all the time. So I called Amy and while Brian held Vaughn, Amy talked me through the process of popping his arm back in place. She told me the exact same things the nurse had told me, but for some reason it clicked this time. Amy just knows how to make things connect with people. Just as I was about to quit (because Vaughn was crying so hard) Amy said, "No keep going. You should feel a Pop." And just as she said that I felt Vaughn's little arm pop back into place. We were so grateful! Thanks Amy for being SO AWESOME!

So I called the nurse back and told her to cancel our appointment because I was pretty sure Vaughn's arm was back in place. She told me I would know for sure if I had done it right because Vaughn would start to use it within the half-hour. Well, Vaughn began using his arm again within one minute of it being popped back into place. I swear the kid is an iron man. He can handle a lot of pain! And since then he has shown no signs of nerve problems or anything. He is so cute!

I will say though that Vaughn tried to let me know he was kind of upset at me. After his arm was back in place, Brian sat with him on the couch for a few minutes. During that time Vaughn just looked at me, squinted his eyes and formed his lips in an "O" shape and said, "Oooooo" at me, looking very cross. He did it a few times and I could swear he looked as if he were saying, "Mom. Why did you hurt me? Why did you do it?" What a cutie!

So there you go! That has been our week! Thanks to everyone for your continued support and prayers with Vaughn's hand. We know that has been the reason for him healing as quickly as he has.

I am hoping our camera will be back soon! Until then we'll leave you with one more for the road......


Love to all!
Love, Lisa

VAUGHN'S VERY ROUGH WEEK

Last Sunday, February 25th, we decided to get out of the house and visit Brian's brothers over in Springville. (They currently live with Brian's parents in Springville and are watching the house while Brian's parents are away on seminars). Anyway, we had just gotten there and I was starting dinner while Brian watched Vaughn. I asked Brian a question, and he turned and took two or three steps towards me, and then we heard Vaughn scream. We instantly knew what had happened. Vaughn in a split-second's time had made his way over to their fireplace and put his hand on the glass front of it. Brian picked him up and looked at me and said, "Oh Lisa it's bad." In my mind those are the worst words any parent can hear when it comes to an injury their child has received.

Brian brought Vaughn over to the kitchen sink, and when I looked at his hand I went into a little bit of shock. His skin on his palm was melted and had sunk to the bottom of his palm, although it was still attached. I thought for sure it was a third-degree burn, so I immediately called the after-hours doctor to ask what we should do. Brian had already stuck his hand under very cold running water. The nurse told me to hold it there for at least fifteen minutes, and then get to the office as quickly as possible.

Brian's brother Robert followed us out to the car with ice packs and a bag full of snow. He also gave us his cell phone just in case. Vaughn couldn't stand to have the ice packs on his hand, but he would play with the snow. Thank goodness for Robert's quick thinking!

Once we got to the doctor's office, we gave Vaughn some Tylenol, and then they put us in a room and told us to ice his hand. By this time his palm was covered in a huge blister. The pads of his fingers were also covered in blisters. The doctor told us to ice his hand until he could go two or three minutes without crying once the ice was removed. After almost three hours, he still cried after only five seconds without the ice pack. The doctor finally decided to draw out some of the pus from the blister to remove pressure. She removed about 9 ccs, and there was still more, but it was enough to relieve the pressure, and then we wrapped up Vaughn's hand.

We thought for sure that because of the pain Vaughn would be up all night, but he went right to sleep and only woke up a few times in the night.


This picture doesn't do Vaughn's hand any justice. This was the next day after most of the pus had been drawn out from the blister. And for some reason the other blisters weren't showing up in this shot. But imagine the blister covering his whole palm and there being about three times as much pus in it!



The next day I went over to Brian's parents' house again so Jared could help me to hold Vaughn down while I changed his dressings. Before I could change them though, I had to soak Vaughn's hand in water and antibacterial soap for five minutes. Jared tried to distract him by turning on the TV and playing with him.







This is how Vaughn's hand looked with all the bandaging in place. We eventually had to put a sock over the top of it because he kept pulling at the bandaging.

I had wondered how Vaughn would take being over at the same place where he had burned his hand, but he was very observant and very smart. Vaughn went into the living room where the fireplace is, but he wouldn't get close to the fireplace. Jared said he just looked over and pointed at it. Vaughn knew what had hurt him, and he wasn't going to let it get him again. We are going to be on total guard whenever we are over there again. We won't let Vaughn anywhere near the living room if the fireplace is going. And we will make sure the glass in completely cooled once the fire is turned off before we let him back in.


Jared did so much for us while we were there on Monday. He entertained Vaughn and really did a great job of keeping his mind off of his hand. So I cooked dinner that night for everyone, and we had chicken, ranch potatoes and string beans. It doesn't look like much, but that chicken was so tender it practically melted in my mouth. I was so happy with how it turned out.









On Tuesday the 27th, I went over to the Kuhni's down the street to watch Barbara while her husband Melvin went out for a while. This is Barbara while she's taking a nap. It was so nice to be back there again, and to be with Barbara.






Later that day I had to take Vaughn into the doctor so they could remove the blister. In this picture you can see more of where the blister had spread on his hand. They only cut away some of it though, because parts of the blister had somewhat attached to his upper palm. There are also the little blisters on his fingers in this shot.

During the procedure, Vaughn just screamed. They had me sit and hold him, but it wasn't enough. They had to bring in two other nurses to help hold him. All together we had four people holding Vaughn down at the same time. During all of this Vaughn just kept looking at me, crying. He looked as if he were asking, "Mom, why are you letting them do this to me?" I tried so hard not to cry. After it was all done, one of the nurses said, "Are you okay?" "Do you need a drink or a hug?" At that point I just started bawling. I didn't realize I had been so upset by all of it.



I know his picture is at the beginning of the blog, but I wanted to explain this. After getting his blister removed, Vaughn was extra sensitive with his hand. He didn't like it touching anything! So he would just hold it up in the air most of the time. I tried to put a pillow under his arm to help him keep it up, but he just naturally lifted it higher. Poor thing!






On Thursday it was back to the doctor. But this time it was the Burn Clinic up in Salt Lake. Vaughn was obviously not a happy camper in this shot. He was so sick of having his hand messed with. But luckily Laura came along and saved the day! She was so helpful. She helped me to navigate since I get lost all the time. She also carried Vaughn all over creation while I carried bags. And when we finally got to the right destination, she kept Vaughn entertained while we waited for the doctor. She also cheered him up once everything was done.






Laura hadn't seen Vaughn's burn yet, so when they took off the bandaging and she saw it for the first time, it really surprised her. She was really sad, and she felt so bad for Vaughn. I kept telling her, "Laura, this looks so much better than it did." Laura said she would never be able to be a nurse, especially if little kids were involved. I don't blame her.

Poor Vaughn was just ready to go home in this shot. He'd had it with doctors!


If you remember how raw and sore his hand looked after they cut off the blister, then just imagine how it felt for Vaughn to have the doctors stretch that poor hand out!

When the doctor saw his hand he said it was already beginning to heal, but it was drawing the skin together. He said we would have to stretch out his hand so those little skin bridges would come apart and his hand would be able to move normally. Otherwise, his hand would heal in a cupped-shaped, and he wouldn't be able to use it very well.

After the doctor showed me how to stretch his hand, he actually did it to Vaughn. It was a tough thing to watch, but as he did it, you could see those little skin bridges come apart, and it made me feel better to know his hand would have normal movement. The doctor said it would definitely be uncomfortable for him, but it would be way worse not to do it.






Here's Laura playing with Vaughn to cheer him up. Thanks Laura for being so helpful!







I was so pleased with how kind and tender the doctors were with Vaughn. I don't think I've ever met nicer doctors. There were two doctors that looked at Vaughn. This guy is Lee Moss, and he was so great. He answered every question I had. Doesn't he just look like a nice guy?

I had been nervous to take Vaughn to doctors I didn't know, but these guys made every fear leave. They were awesome. And they did their best to make Vaughn happy and comfortable.







Laura came over again on Friday. It was so nice to have here there. She is always so great to play with Vaughn. And Vaughn adores her. (Even though he looks very cross in this shot). Laura played with Vaughn for a while. Then we watched the Curious George Movie and ate pizza (which Laura provided). We really had a great time!

Thanks for all your help this week Laura. You're the best!










On Saturday we went up to see Grandma Oviatt. She told us she would provide lunch, and that it wouldn't be anything special. She told us not to bring anything. I brought some of our bottled grape juice just in case though. Well let me tell you, when we got there, Grandma had put on quite the spread. She had made a lasagna, deviled eggs, a beautiful salad, garlic bread, and french bread pizza. I was amazed! And let me tell you, it was all so good! Brian ate enough for an army. I was close behind. I was so touched that Grandma would go to all that effort for us! She had also invited Hannah and Mackenzie down so they could play with Vaughn. That was great too because we wound up playing games with them as well and really enjoying ourselves!




Vaughn wasn't too interested in eating because he was too excited to be at Grandma's. So Hannah offered to sit and watch a show with him. Isn't she so cute?!?! Hannah always offers to play with Vaughn and watch him. She is such a good friend to him. I think this picture is kind of funny because Vaughn looks bigger than Hannah!









Mackenzie decided to take a little cat nap in the sun before we started the festivities (aka playing Spoons).











Grandma has cats that come around begging for food and chasing the birds that come to eat from her bird feeders. Vaughn saw one on the back porch, and Grandma took the opportunity to help him get a better look.









Grandma offered to play with Vaughn while Hannah, Brian, Mackenzie and I played Spoons. It was so cute to watch Vaughn with Grandma. He wasn't interested in actually coloring. But he did like taking handfuls of crayons and giving them to everyone in the room.




Here is a picture of what I call the "Evil Duo." I only say that because I swear they teamed up against me to make sure I lost at Spoons. And by the way, if you want to get your heart racing, play that game! I kept getting heart-attacks every time I tried to reach for a spoon. I don't think I want to play that game again. The other reason I don't want to play is I can't win! Mackenzie is just too quick for all of us. She is the reigning champion at Spoons, and she whooped us all!







Just before we left Grandma decided to give Vaughn a ride in one of the living room chairs. Vaughn really enjoyed it, and so did Grandma!







I have to mention this too. While we were at Grandma's, she took me downstairs and showed me some of the quilt-tops she has been working on. I have to tell everyone that they were AMAZING!!!! I was totally astounded at how gorgeous they were. Grandma has a real talent for quilting. I can only hope to someday become as accomplished as she is with quilting. I couldn't believe some of the color schemes she had chosen. They were just perfect! And sorry to disappoint all my cousins and brothers and sisters, but I still have the best quilt out of you all...the one Grandma gave to me for my wedding!!!! Thanks so much Grandma for a great day and for a beautiful quilt!

And thank you to everyone for your prayers for Vaughn and his hand. He is healing very quickly, and we know it is because of your prayers. We can't wait for him to be his jolly old self again!

Here's one for the road....


Love to you all!
Love, Lisa