Whoa

Yesterday Kearney, Dustin and I were on our way to Bicknell to have my dad fix Kearney's tooth issues. For the most part (besides Kearny's tooth hurting like the dickens and both of us feeling completely exhausted), the first 2 hours of the drive were just fine. Dustin had finally fallen asleep and after checking on him and noticing a very kinked neck, I unbuckled my seat belt, turned around, placed his blanket on each side of his head and began to turn back around...and WHAM! In the time it took me to unbuckle my seat belt, turn around and fix Dustin's head/neck, Kearney had fallen asleep. We smashed head-on into a guardrail. I remember hearing the loud smashing noise, closing my eyes, shielding my head with my arms, and being tossed around like a ping-pong ball. It probably didn't take long, but while I was being thrown around I remember thinking "when is this going to end." We came to a stop, I looked around and realized what had just happened, looked at my breath (from the airbag gasses), jumped in the backseat, got Dustin out, started yelling at Kearney to get out of the car, and jumped out of and moved away from the car. Within seconds, a car and a truck pulled up and lucky for us, one of the individuals must have been an EMT...he used his walkytalky to request police support, etc. The Malibu was totalled, we took out 7 guardrail posts, and we're all okay. Dustin fared the best (thank goodness for nice rear-facing car seats), Kearney probably got a minor concussion and hurt his hand because the driver side door was smashed inwards into the car, and I got some serious whiplash and lots of purple and red bruises/abrasions. I'd say we were lucky...or blessed.

(Sorry. No pictures. The only ones with cameras were the police officers.)

When Kearney and Jo drove back to Bicknell to return my dad's truck, they stopped at the guardrail and the wrecking yard to take some pictures of the guardrail/car. (My camera and/or SD card malfunctioned and I had to have all of these pictures, including the ones from Dustin's 1st B-day, recovered. Talk about bad karma or something.)

First Night in the E.R.

No, I didn't go to the ER as a patient...I went as a volunteer! Nothing incredibly crazy happened, but it was still really awesome. Love it!

Rock Climbing for Credit

Just one of the many perks of living in Southern Utah - you can take a rock climbing class and get credit and a good grade for it...and of course have lots of stress-free fun.

I actually learned a lot - probably because I've never really been much more than a gym rat.

(Don't belay with your hands like that...it's wrong...and weird.)

Beautiful Mornings

Many mornings, before Dustin goes down for a nap and while he's still playing, we open the front door and let the fresh, cool air in. I think it's good for both of us : )

Toilet Paper!

I never allow Dustin in the bathroom for three reasons: (1) the trash can, (2) the toilet brush/plunger, and (3) the toilet paper...

This one time, I let toilet paper act as a very expensive (at least to us) distraction so I could finish getting ready.

And it was just fun...so why not?

This is just a little taste of what Dustin is actually capable of at this point.

He's Walking!

Dustin REALLY started walking today!

'80s Rock Band Party

Jamie invited us to her '80s Rock Band party...we didn't know we were supposed to dress-up, but that's okay, we probably wouldn't have had anything to wear anyway...and I don't think skinny's are '80s appropriate.

Kearny sang wonderfully - would never think he might be tone-deaf.

Dustin got to rock-out on his very own set of drums. He's a natural. Oh, and Kearny made his 1st dutch-oven cobbler of the season. It was fabulous!