Home Again

This week was an eventful one.  We spent some of Tuesday visiting with Lori again - as always, we had a great time with great friends.  My dad has been having fun with his grand kids - playing with them, teaching them and building things with them.  

Wednesday, Dan got back into town just in time for Anna's birthday.  We are always so glad to have him home again.  Anna had her pink cake with pink frosting and wanted Taquitos for dinner.  Sandi and Taz came over to celebrate with us - we had fun eating good food and watching Anna open her presents and hitting a pinata.  Anna got a Lego set from Grandpa and Grandma and a Scooter from Mom and Dad, and Eileen made her a little purse with her knitting machine.  Sandi and Taz got her a cute little stuffed animal!  Aunt Pam sent her a beautiful puzzle and Grandma Penny sent an adorable outfit.  

The pinata was a bit hit (no pun intended) though after letting each of the kids (including Taz and James with some parental help) have multiple hits, it still hadn't broken open - so Dan finished it off.

I've been amazed at how well the kids swim lessons went - Eileen already looks like a swimmer and can stroke and breathe easily.  Anna is starting to stroke also and even Aaron is doing some - but all three can jump into the pool and then swim themselves to the side.  It's so funny to watch Aaron do it - he looks so small, and it worries me every time that he won't make it back to the edge with out help, but he always does.

Evie is getting more comfortable, and likes to put her face in the water and blow bubbles.  Friday we began our drive home and made good time - we got in before 11pm - it helps that we gain an hour with the time zone change, but still - it was a relatively pain-free drive.

Saturday as we were trying to get unpacked - I started carrying a bunch of stuff down the stairs, when i slipped and bumped my way down the stairs on my bum - in the process banging by back pretty hard - hard enough that for a minute or two after, I couldn't move and had a hard time catching my breath - after that (and the fact that some tylenol did no good) we headed to the hospital to make sure there was nothing seriously wrong.  They gave me an anti-inflammatory shot and sent me home with instructions to take it easy, but do some light stretching and walking to help heal.  I hurt, and carrying and picking up James is a bit hard, but I am feeling better today than yesterday and hope to be mostly back to normal before too long - of course I'm comfortably parked in Dan's new recliner - so we will see how I feel when I stand up :P  Newell and Becky came down with their kids to watch ours while Dan took me to the hospital and to celebrate Zoe's birthday - it is always good to see them - and we are so grateful to have good friends nearby to help out on short notice.

Dan left me again this afternoon - but this time not for long - he flew out to Utah to pick up his parent's car - which he will be driving while they are on their mission.  He should be back tomorrow evening.