sweater dogs are afraid of guns

Tonight we took Raggles with us to go shooting & have a campfire dinner. She’s small enough that we let her ride in the truck with us & she took turns sitting on everybody’s lap.

This is a typical sight lately: Porter working on the Rubik's cube (Uncle Jonathan has been teaching him how to solve the puzzles) & Marlee sucking her thumb.

Marlee has been loving Snow White…that’s what she calls Raggles.

Raggles loves Laun- not only is Laun the favorite with our kids, but now the dog, too!

We went to Redding ton Pass & stopped at one of the shooting spots.

This is about all we saw of the dog before the shooting started…

Once the guns went off Raggles jumped in our truck. Not only do we have a sweater dog & lap dog, but now we have a dog that is afraid of guns.

We shot at clay pigeons  & targets. Jonathan, Darleen, Lucy & Jeff came with us tonight.

 

Jonathan throwing out a clay pigeon for Jeff to shoot.

Laun’s turn

Even I took a turn…I don’t like the loud guns that kick. I would have preferred to shoot a 22. I’m going to have to work on my aim.

Jeff, Laun & Jonathan

Darleen getting some help from Clayton. It is funny that Clayton & Porter know more about guns than Darleen & I. Marlee hardly ever leaves Darleen’s side.

An appearance by Raggles, actually I took her out of the truck & closed the doors, so she couldn’t get back in. In our family we are all about facing our fears, so Raggles is going to have to get used to guns:)

Lucy

Ignore the trashy looking shooting range…isn’t that sunset gorgeous? 

A campfire, food & family= a great time.

Make yourself at home Marlee.

Mallow with a Recess-yum.

Raggles first trip away from the house, success.  

Frost Grandparents are in town…

They got to meet our new pooch.

 

We had our usual Sunday night dinner with Jonathan & Darleen over.

We basically had a pasta-salad bar.

Jonathan & Darleen always bring a dessert. We are going to miss them when they move for Dental School.

Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam

Marlee is now a Sunbeam! I am so excited to be the Primary President because all of my children are in primary now. My counselor made all the Sunbeams these cute sun necklaces to wear in primary today.

lovely

It has been four days since Clayton got his stitches & it’s looking like he’s going to have one sweet scar. I didn’t realize until now how many other scratches he got!

great neighbors

Our neighbors have shown so much concern for Clayton. Today the Peterson’s brought him some cookies. This is the plus side of getting stitches- there’s always a silver lining.

garden

Our little garden is growing, hopefully the dog doesn’t destroy it.

Raggles

We have been dog less for a bit, so we decided to go to the pound & look for a dog. This time we were wanting a smaller older dog. Puppies are cute, but they are so much work.  We ended up finding a hairball & called her Raggles. Well actually, all of us call her Raggles except for Marlee, Marlee calls her Snow White. She is some kind of poodle mix. She actually had two babies, but they were ready to be weaned so we got to take her home today.

I loved all her long crazy hair, but after giving her a bath I realized that I would not be able to brush out all her tangles.

She had to have a haircut since she was such a tangled mess.

Laun basically sheared her like a sheep.

After the shearing we felt like we had a whole new dog. She looks so much smaller now.

Now that she is missing so much hair she shakes like a leaf. I guess losing so much hair makes her cold, so now I have to buy her a sweater. I never thought Laun & I would have a little dog…with a sweater.

This is how I looked after holding Raggles during her haircut- a hairy mess.

We are excited to have a dog & not a puppy!

mirror mirror

Laun is teaching Anatomy & Physiology at UofA this semester. He likes to use a mirror or white board to write down notes.

Marlee thinks she should do whatever Laun does, so she took a marker & went to town on the hallway mirror.

on the mend

Clayton got his stiches two days ago. The first day-night was rough, he barely slept at all. I was happy that he slept well last night. In fact, I went in this morning to wake him & give him a cracker to eat so he could take his pain medicine & antibiotic. I came back in to find the cracker on the bed & Clayton fast asleep. I am so thankful that he is finally getting some rest & that he is past the worst of it.

in love

Love this man…even though he wouldn’t look at the camera. He is such a tease & Marlee is following in his footsteps. She is such a teaser.

pure happiness

21 stitches

This morning Clayton climbed on this portable heater to light a candle on the entertainment center. To which he then realized that standing on something with wheels is never a good idea.

He must have had enough weight on one side or something, but anyways he ended up braking some of the plastic off, which exposed the metal.

As you can see in the picture, the metal is bent pretty good. I think that as the plastic broke it caused him to fall & the metal sliced right through his skin. 

I turned when I heard him cry out. He had a very deep gash below his right knee & you could see blood & plenty of white stuff (skin, bone, who knows). There was also blood on the entertainment center & rug, it was awful. It kind of freaked Clayton out when he saw it & realized what had happened. It freaked me out, but I couldn’t let Clayton know that, he needed me to be calm & not a nut case.

I grabbed some kitchen cloths & wrapped them around his wound & told him not to move. I told him that everything would be okay & that I would take him to the ER & they would stitch it up. I told him that I realized it looked bad, but that once he was stitched up & healed it would be no big deal, as if it never happened (except for a lovely scar of course).

By the way, I didn’t take any of the heater or bloody entertainment center pictures until home from the ER. I obviously rushed him in, rather than stopping to take pictures.

Anyways, I told the other kids to jump in the Tahoe & I carried Clayton out, which is a miracle since he is almost as tall as me now. I kept calling Laun, but he wasn’t answering his phone. He only works a couple minutes away from our house, so I drove to his work & got a hold of him right as I was pulling up. Once Laun climbed in he gave Clayton a blessing as I drove to UMC’s ER. I tried to prep Laun for what happened, since he hadn’t seen Clayton’s wound yet. As I was telling Laun that I could see white stuff, lots of blood & that it was deep & going to need a lot of stitches, I guess it was too much for Porter. He started complaining that he couldn’t breathe & then threw up all over himself. Well I figured from my description & Porter throwing up, that I prepped Laun pretty good, but he said it was worse than he thought.

Once we got to the ER Laun carried Clayton in & I found a parking spot. As I am walking into the ER (still in my pajamas, with no makeup on & my hair a mess) a man comments that I am wearing flip flops & it is cold outside. Ha ha ha- couldn’t he tell from my appearance, Marlee’s ratty hair & likely mismatched outfit & Porter covered in throw up that maybe we weren’t planning on going anywhere today?! I run in to the ER & Laun takes home the other kids while I stay with Clayton. They take us back & Clayton is in a wheelchair & throwing up & I am sitting behind him with tears streaming. It is so hard seeing your child in pain & worrying if they are going to be alright. I could not let Clayton see me crying, so I sucked it up & stayed calm. Then Laun came back to the ER (with a clean smelling Porter this time) & we switched again until Jonathan & Darleen came over to babysit. Then I headed back to UMC so Clayton could have both of his parents. A lady who works at the hospital let Clayton use her I pad to distract him.

They took an x-ray of Clayton to make sure he didn’t brake any bones. Once they numbed him up they cleaned it out & got ready to stitch him up. The numbing shots were the worse part. It hurt Clayton so badly, but the stitching part went pretty well & lasted around 35 minutes. Laun took some before & after pictures, I still have a hard time looking at it.

21 stitches later we headed home & Clayton will have one nice scar. I am just so overwhelmed with gratitude for: not passing out when I saw Clayton’s leg & keeping him from passing out, Laun holding the priesthood & giving Clayton a blessing, Porter only getting throw up on himself & not all over the Tahoe, the doctor who did a great stitching job (the dr. even asked if we would email him the before & after pictures of Clayton’s wound), family-Jonathan & Darleen watching Porter & Marlee so that Laun & I could be with Clayton, health insurance, and Clayton being okay & not having anything life threatening or requiring surgery. I have a lot to be thankful for. I love Clayton so much & I am glad that everything is okay. I guess Laun’s long time nick name of Crash for Clayton is quite appropriate.

purple cow- stocking stuffer

The kids have had fun with these animals that grow in water- they got these in their stockings for Christmas.