Josie starts Preschool

Josie in front of preschool on the 1st day! So excited.

Josie and Taj

Josie with her favorite cupcake toy

Josie, Taj and Bree

Josie started Preschool at Wandermere Christian preschool on September 12th. She was lucky enough to be able to go with her best buddy Taj and cute friend Bree. Thanks to Amina for taking such awesome pictures for me and for getting Josie there. I was not able to take Josie on her 1st day and believe me I was a lot more disappointed then she was. Thankfully Amina has been able to take her. Thank you! Josie thinks preschool is fabulous and wishes she could go every day instead of just MWF.

My summer fun is officially over

This is an x-ray of my right knee cap as you can see in the upper left corner a chunk is completely broken off and displaced.

This is how my knee looked a few hours before surgery

This is how my knee looked after surgery (the weird lines around my knee are from the wrap)

My carefree, easy, walking, running, biking and generally moving at anything more then a snail pace life ended on Sept. 5th around 10:30 am. Kevin and I decided to get in a fun labor day mountain bike ride, so we got a babysitter and went down to riverside to take in a quick trail. We had only gone about 3 miles when I started down this trail that I panicked for some stupid reason and hit my brakes just hard enough that my back wheel bumped up and threw me off balance and I came crashing down on my right knee. We are assuming I hit a rock just right and I had a good gash/puncture wound that made me queesy and was sending me into shock. I was yelling down the trail to Kevin that I thought I was hurt pretty bad, but I honestly thought I could maybe shake it off. I laid in the dirt for a few minutes hoping I could regain composure, but I just wasn't feeling it so Kevin rode a ways out and found a place that he could bring the car fairly close (we were fortunate in that regard.) I barely drug myself out to the car and we headed to Kevin's clinic where Dr. Barrow was so kind to meet us to clean out the wound and stitch it up. I was not feeling good at all at this point. They numbed it up and cleaned it out for a good 1/2 hour then stitched up the inside then the outside and decided I was going to survive. So home I went with a healthy dose of antibiotics to take and orders to get better.

Well...Tuesday morning I was still hurting but determined to get better, I also had 2 boxes of peaches to can. I loaded up and went and stood on my leg the majority of the day. Got my canning done and came home wanting to die. Kevin took one look at it and said we needed to go get x-rays. We waited for Conor to get home from his first day of school then we all went down to his office for x-rays. Joy of joys. Kevin just glanced at the x-rays and said: It is broken. I was sure he was lying, but then he held it up for me and the whole office to see. This was about the time that I started to cry. I was mourning my knee I guess, and I just never really thought it was really going to be broken. Everyone walked in to look at the x-rays and they all gave me this oh sorry Julie look as they left. Grrr...Surgery was scheduled for early the next morning. Kevin called his Mom and said...you know how you were going to babysit for us next week for our mountain biking trip? Well we don't need you next week, but we need you now." She was so awesome and was here within a few hours.

Surgery went fine, They put in a pin and some kwire which will need to be removed in a few months. See the picture below. I am now in a full straight leg brace for 6 weeks. I have been on pain pills for the last week, but I am finally starting to wean off today. Still hurts something awful and I can't drive, but hopefully that will come. Dr. Barrow told me I should be able to drive, but I should practice in a parking lot first. (super comforting.) Not that I even want to go anywhere because my movement is so slow. Josie says I walk like a pirate and everything I undertake is at a snails pace. Thanks to some awesome friends who have totally stepped up and taken the kids where they need to be and brought in meals. I couldn't survive with out them.

This is 4 different views. The wire looks pretty crazy.

Here is my newest accessory-for 6 forever weeks. So monster big.

This is what my life looked like for a week. Where ever
I went this stash came with me.

Back to School

School has officially started at our house. Conor entered the 3rd grade September 6, 2011.

Dad, Josie and Conor walking to school

Daddy and Josie walked Conor to school the 1st day. He was going to go all by himself, but then Dad was home so he decided it would be OK to have his Dad accompany him. His teacher this year is Mrs. Cong. He didn't get placed in the same class as Keagan and Kincade, which he wasn't all that happy about, but has since found it to be just fine. His buddy Riley is in his class and many other fun kids. He came home all smiles and is eager to return every day.

Priest Lake Triathlon

I didn't waste much time getting back into the race scene. I did refrain from doing the olympic distance though-slacked off on the training. So, I found this great race that was a sprint distance and had a mountain bike course instead of a road bike. The scenery was unbeatable and it was overall a really great race. The distance was: 1/4 mile swim, 11 mile bike ride and 3 mile run. My final time was: 1:28:47. Break down-Swim, 7.41, Bike 50.22, and Run 25:11. My placement: Overall Placing 29 (out of 160 entries male and female) Gender Placing 7th and Division placing age 35-39, 2nd. There were 2 guys I knew that were competing with me and I beat one of them by 45 seconds and I came in behind the other guy by only 20 seconds. Not too shabby considering I took a month off to go play in Utah. Great race overall and I was really happy with the course and how I felt after all was said and done. Here are a few pictures, not the greatest but the best I can get when I make my husband be my transition crew, babysitter to 3 crazy kids and my photographer. What a man.

Getting ready for the short little swim

Coming out of the swim

Crossing the finish lineWith my awesome fan club

Back to Spokane

Once again we have filled the minivan to the gills, slammed the doors and buckled up for the long drive back home. I can't believe summer is headed for fall and we have to go home to reality. What a great trip-we think we had the best summer ever. This picture of Josie on the drive home sums it up! We are exhausted, drooling over the fun and totally content.

The sludge around her lips is caked on chap stick. This kept her busy and happy a lot of the ride home. Except unless of course she dropped it.

Remember all that money we dumped in to the transmission pre-trip? Well the transmission light came on while we were in Utah and believe it or not. We drove the car all the way home and found out that the transmission had failed (or was failing) and upon our arrival we immediately put the van in the shop and she was once again given a brand new transmission. Hopefully this one will work out better. We just barely got it back yesterday. If you add up the repair time on the van this summer I have been without it an entire month. Grrr.. Makes you appreciate your wheels for sure.

Lake Powell - take 2

We were fortunate this year to be able to go to Lake Powell twice. What a wonderful opportunity. We just can't get enough of this place and we are so fortunate to have a wonderful family who makes it possible for us to make wonderful memories here. This trip we got to spend with the Witt family!!!

8/16

Austin, Conor and Josie gathering all the cool driftwood for a future fire

Conor and Jessica building a tepee

Conor, Mackenzie and Josie getting ready for a tube ride

Austin decided to avoid the high spa costs and dunk himself in genuine Lake Powell mud for free. He was completely covered...ew. The others followed suit, but not to his extreme.

Pulling tubers on the Sea Doo

Mom and Josie-tubing, and tubing and tubing. Josie never wanted to stop

Galen and Lincoln

Lincoln and Mom - cooling off

Lincoln and Josie in the just right kiddie pool

8/17

The bon fire of all bon fires! If you ask Conor what his favorite activity was at Lake Powell...this is probably what he will say...We need to keep an eye on his love of fire.

Flying Josie

Katie, Josie and Lauren. Lauren just received her mission call to Nicaragua!!!

Grandma, Lincoln and Grandpa

Craig and Julie hiking to the 2nd arch of the year. Really fun, and can't believe I have never been up there before. Remember the run back?

Arch number 2 for the season! Amazing.

View from the arch back to the lake

This cliff rivaled the arch in sheer awesomeness and magnitude. I laid on my belly to look over the edge. This is the force of nature and sheer beauty that demands reverence and awe.

8/18

This is is us! What a good looking crew we had on board this week

The cooks for the week! What a job to feed 20 people without being able to run to the store for something you forgot. No one went hungry-so I can say success was achieved.

Lincoln's inaugural Sea Doo ride

Just being lazy

A little washeroo fun

We just can't stay out of the water!

Kevin wake boarding

This picture was a repeat of one a few years back. Jearlene ruined her tatoo (on purpose I think,) so she bailed on the picture.

Arch number 3. Kevin got up early to scout out this final arch. The rest of us missed out. I love the self portrait. Kevin can be a lizard when it comes to creeping around on these rocks. He would end up places that I never even wanted to know how he got there.

8/19

Last ride for the year

Miss Josie soaking in some last rays in the bow of the boat-she really liked riding in the boat. She wouldn't go near the Sea Doo though.

Farewell my 2nd home...miss you always

Melissa and David Wilson....Forever!!!

August 13, 2011-Melissa Nielsen and David Wilson were sealed forever in the Oquirrh mountain temple. We are so so excited for them. The cool thing about Melissa and David is that Janet set them up. David is actually Janet's nephew on the Witt side. We are all so grateful for her bringing them together. They are so cute and happy together.

some of us waiting for the happy couple to emerge from the temple

Ahhh....wedded bliss

The Nielsen siblings and Mom and Dad

Janet, Jerilyn, Julie, Craig and Blake-it was really fun to have all 5 siblings together for a minuteJerilyn, Janet and JulieJulie and Melissa at the templeThe cute bridal party

Sharissa, Amber, Jennifer and Julie-I was a pseudo bridesmaid for a minute

The beautiful bride

Janet and Julie enjoying the receptionJulie and the happy couple

The reception was so so beautiful. It was super weird to not be chasing my kids around, but on the other hand it was so nice to only worry about me, myself and I. I got to talk to a lot of family and friends and I was sad when the night was over. We sent the happy couple off in a shower of sparklers. Weddings are so much cooler now then when I planned mine.