Linki Update

    Linki is doing so awesome without his cast! He has been able to walk around since the 2 or 3 day he had it off. He is going farther & farther each day. On Tuesday he walked all the way to the school to drop Afton off. I kept asking him if he was ok, He just kept saying, that his Horsies were giving him a ride there. He has been pretending that he has 2 horses that give him rides everywhere he goes. It is super cute! He kinda gallops & has been saying he wants to be a cowboy when he grows up. So maybe that is where he got the horses, who knows.We are so happy that he is doing so well. Now if I could get him to go to bed on time.....

Zoo

We bought a zoo pass this year, with Linki in his cast we wanted something to do that he could do. It is totally worth it. The kids love to go. This was back in August or July.

Train pics!! The kids' favorite.

Chris, Zac & Jayden & Angie, Laynee & Kyrie were all able to go with us! We saw Jackie there for a little bit too.

The big brass Rhino. I think it burned their legs a little.

Troy bought us all icecream at the end of the day! I just loved watching these three enjoy theirs. It was everywhere, but totally worth it.

Back to school

This year we had a Back to School fashion show!! Everyone got to pick 3 outfits to model.

The first outfits, I think these were most of their first day outfits.

 These were the second set of outfits they came up with. I love Afton's faces & poses, He is super excited for Kindergarten.

 The last round of clothes for the show. Addy was the biggest ham & Lathan had the hardest time finding the perfect outfit for his first day.

Lath trying to decide which outfit was the best.

First day everyone was so excited!!

Just a funny one, they look like they are waiting for the bus.

Makayla is in 6th grade this year. Her teacher is Mr. Rasband. The night before school she put on her shoes & we realized we bought a size to small for her, she was so upset. So I let her wear my sandals & we went on a shoe search after we dropped them off. We went to 5 or 6 stores & ended up ordering some online.

Lathan is in 5th grade. His teacher is Ms. Mason. He is  so excited to get better at spelling, & math.

\Here is Addy! she is in 2nd grade, her teacher is Mrs. Washburn . She is in a 2nd- 3rd split class . I am excited for her to be able to move ahead in area's that she is doing really good in ( spelling & reading)

At her Back to School night they had spotlight posters about each child. On the other kids posters it said they wanted to be teachers, pet doctors, nurses & other things, on Addy's she put pop star. As you can see she is already practicing.

Afton is in Kindergarten, his teacher is Mrs. Wolfindin. He is so excited to learn to read. He already knows all of the letters & their sounds, he can sound out a few small words & can count to 14. We are working on getting to 20 & writing . His first day is on Wednesday. He is ready to make new friends. I wish he could have started the same day as the other kids, it has been hard for him to see them leaving for school. 

My Linki. He is getting his cast off tomorrow!!! We are all super excited & anxious for it. When he first got this cast they told us that some kids come in walking & we didn't really believe it. But he has been able to pull himself up & walk around furniture & walls for a couple of weeks. He looks so cute & is soo proud of himself. He has gotten really strong & I think I have gained some arm strength too. He loves to draw now & loves to have books read to him. He was actually jumping a little today also, crazy kid!  so yea!! Fingers crossed tomorrow he won't  have to wear this stinky cast anymore! And he can walk to the potty!!

Summer fun!!

It has been a hard summer with a broken leg (twice) & 8 kids ( ages 1,2,3,4,5,7,9,11) . But we have still managed to have a lot of fun doing different non-swimming things.

All the kids piled in the wagon. They all wanted to get in it whenever Linkin would let them. He is a little protective of it.

A pre stica cast pic of the boys going down the slide. I didn't want himn to try to go down but he insisted & when he puts his pouty lip out & says "it's not fair! ",  it is hard to say no.

Bikes!

We got Troy & I bikes & a trailer for the littles to ride in. The idea seems like a lot more fun than it is in reality. Maybe when all Loo & Afty are better riders & we don't have to keep pushing them along.

The first trip we had Afton ride in the trailer. Troy decided he was to big to ride with the littles.

Linki & Ry were much happier this trip without Afty in there with them. 

The Chillies with my bike on the side.

Linki & Ryly with his get well soon balloons from the Hovey's. He loved the frog & fish, & slept with them for the first week after he got home.

Troy has been off work this week & we have been trying to do some fun stuff before school starts again. Thanksgiving Point has $2 tuesday's the whole month of August , so we decided we had to go. After being there though we decided it would be worth it to pay full price & not be so squished into the building.

Troy & Linki with some fossils.

Lathan loved telling us what kind of dinosaurs they were & whatever else he knew about them.

You can't really tell but they are sitting on one of the dinosaur feet.

Here is a better one.

Makayla was so good to help with Kyrie at the museum.

Trex's these were really cool looking.

Troy's favorite the Triceratops!

My favorite was this huge seaturtle!! Linki wasn't very happy about getting his pic taken.

Yesterday the kids' Thigpen granparent's came to visit from Lousiana. Here is a pic of everyone with them, Alexis & Willie, the old Dalmation. All the kids loved Willie & wanted to hold his leash. We had a very good visit with them & the Webb's. We were happy to be able to spend time with them.

  While Troy has been off we were able to go back to school shopping with the kids. The first night we took the boys, while Jenny & David watched the girls. We went to several stores & took them out to eat & at the end of the night they got to pick out a special treat. The girls loved spending time with their Auntie!! The next night we took the girls & left the boys & Rylynn with Grandpa & Grandma Boot.we did kinda the same kind of thing but decided to start earlier next year, because we had a hard time finding shirts we really loved for the girls.Addy loved the special time & had to get swung once in & once out of every store. Makayla even took a turn. It was so great to have some time with less of the kids & to be able to give them more attention. We will have to keep going on these fun date nights. ( but maybe not spend so much everytime) We are so blessed to have such good kids, they are all very well behaved, kind, caring & loving.

Linki is doing a lot better. He is mostly happy now & doesn't growl at the kids everytime they come near him. He has learned to do an army crawl & rolls around to get from side to side. He does thimk that if he see's anything Toystory we will just buy it for him though. He is so strong & brave & always makes me happy. Love you Linkers!!

Broken leg again

          So Tuesday Troy had to work on his day off so the kids & I decided to  make Troy a special dinner when he got home, we made lobster, crab legs, chedder garlic biscuits, pasta & some beets from our garden & cheesecake for dessert. We had just finished eating, the kids were cleaning up the table & Linki was finishing up. He was finished & wanted to get down from the table so Addy thought she would help him to the livingroom, just before the carpet they fell. I jumped up & picked them both up. I knew his leg was broken then, I was so sad & mad & felt so bad for my poor baby. He didn't cry too much but we had Angie come & check it, she took some of the kids to her house. Troy gave Linki a blessing & we were off to the hospital, after we dropped the rest of the kids off with Angie & Clint.( We are so blessed to have them so close. They are always willing to help us no matter what.)
       We got to the Timpanogos hospital around 10. The same nurse that has helped us the last 2 times was there again & got him an xray right away. His femur was broken right above his cast, but their ortho doctor doesn't do the kind of cast that he needed so they called an ambulance & sent us up to Primary Childrens.    

Even though he was in pain he was excited to ride with the firemen. Once we got to Primaries it was a lot of waiting, to see the er doctor, then for the ortho dr. , for them to get a room for us & for them to fit him in for surgery. They got him in to the operating room around 3 the next afternoon.He had to be put under for the procedure. They placed his bones back together& put a stica cast on him. It goes from his lower chest to his knee on the unbroken leg & to his ankle on the broken one. There is a hole for him to go to the bathroom, but we have to be very careful not to let his cast get dirty.

The hospital lent us a special carseat for him to use while he is in this cast.  we were finally able to leave around 9 that evening . A full 24 hours in the hospital.Troy got him this cute sock monkey at the gift shop & the timpanogos hospital gave him the moose. He will be in this cast for 6 weeks but he should be able to regain his muscle control quickly. He has had a little bit of a hard time since we got home , he is frustrated & upset & just doesn't know how to express himself. But it has been so nice to have family around to help with the kids. Angie & Clint have had them, Jackie came & helped with them on Wednesday while Angie worked, she made me & Troy dinner & cleaned up our house , then she took the kids for a sleepover at her house & returned them the next day.  Chris came out early Wednesday morning until Jackie made it & came back last night to pick up the kids for a sleepover at her house, so I could have some alone time with Linki to figure out how to take care of him. Anthony & Tiffany brought us some pizza & cinnamon rolls & have been so thoughtful , Tiffany called the compassionate service leader & she has arranged meals for us for a couple of days, she also came to see us in the hospital & brought Linki some presents. Christina & Lindsey came to the hospital to visit Linki & brought us a toothbrush & a phone charger.

       I feel so blessed to have so much loving family who are willing to help no matter what we need . Everyone has been so great & caring & called to see what they could do. Troy & I didn't worry at all about the other kids while we  were in the hospital because everyone stepped up & did what they could to help. Thank you guys for your love, prayers & support. We love you.

Broken leg

Just about a week when we got back from vacation Linki broke his leg.The emergency room told us he would have a cast on for 6-8 weeks. But once we got in to see our dr., he said only 4 weeks & then maybe another temporary cast if he needs it longer. So we are on his 3rd week of having the cast on & 4 weeks since he broke it. it has been a little challenging since I have to carry him to & from the bathroom. But he has learned to get around the house pretty quickly. I have caught him doing handstands, climbing up the slide in his room, climbing up the ladder & up & down the stairs. Also a few other funny things. It is cute to see how quickly he has adapted & how smart he is at finding new ways to do things.

Another pic of him on the 4 wheeler, with his temporary cast. Ry was pushing him across the driveway & pulling him back.

Here he is with his blue cast & the Slurpee he got for being so brave & letting the dr. get his cast on.

He is so sweet & loving & has been telling me & Troy that he loves us about 50 times a day. We love it of course! I can't wait for him to be running around with the other kids soon!!

We got him this wagon so we don't have to carry him everywhere. It has really come in handy at the lake , zoo , canyon, park & store. we bring it everywhere now. This was one of the first days he let the other kids in with him. He got to squirt them in the pool & even got to get in for a little. (we just kept his leg on a stool.) only a couple of weeks to go!!!

Belmont park & Mesquite

   Here are the kids in front of Belmont Park in SanDiego. They LOVED all the rollercoasters & rides!
 I wish Linki was a litttle taller, he was only allowed on a few of them & he is going to love them when he gets big enough.

The plunge! Afton was a little scared, but he still went on it a couple of times.

Ryry driving the boat. She thought she was sooo big.

Ry & Afty.

Linki boat driver!

bumper boats

Bumper cars

Addy loo on the carousel.

Lath, Afty, Makays & Ry with daddy.

Lath on Tilt a whirl. He was brave enough to go on his own.

Daddy & the little boys

Beach Blaster! I think this was most of the big kids' favorite ride.

On our way home we stopped in Mesquite & stayed the night with the Hovey's & Johnson's, they had gotten a room there. We went swimming the next day.

It was pretty hot there but the pool was really cold so none of the kids wanted to stay in it very long. They had a big waterfall & a couple of slides.

Makayla & Cashy

The tres amigos!

Linki & Cash

Lathan, always posing! And yes those are all of his ribs. I think he is finally up to 54 lbs.

Me & my handsome husband!

Angie & Jackie & some of the kids getting ready to swim.

They built a bridge with the chairs, this is after Daddy made them take it down.

me & my lula belle.