Movie, anyone?

Yep, I've now seen it three times. How embarrassing! But, when you are confined to a wheelchair in your house, you are willing to go to great lengths to get out! If anyone wants to go see a movie, I come with handicap parking and great seating in the theater. I will even see New Moon again, if it means a couple of hours of fresh air! Give me a call!

We're back!

I know we haven't posted anything new for a couple of months. I (Diana) had a bit of an accident (see two posts down), and frankly, I just haven't felt up to doing much at all, blogging included. Now, that the crisis is passing and I am recovering, hopefully, we can get right back into our usual blogging routine. I'm sure that ya'll can't wait. :)

Random pictures from the last two months...

Claire pulls out another tooth all by herself!

Derek, at the splash pad... this is where I broke my ankle!

Allsie playing doctor and "helping" me with my recovery.

Jack is a total camera hog! Always smiling!

Sweet Allsie girl! Just being cute!

The night before surgery, Allie's birthday party. I was attempting to stay conscious long enough to get through the party. Sitting next to me is my dad and newly appointed taxi driver (since I can't drive now.)

Two Dana boys... Grandpa and Jack. No resemblance at all there! :)

The Dana kids at the splash pad on October break.

Megan and Claire shooting bottle rockets.

Claire's trying to sneak Jack to school, I guess. Good luck!

Allie's 5th Birthday

Neighbor, Jen, made Allie a tutu... so of course, Derek has to model it!

... and Jack has to fight over the gifts!

New jammies! Cool!

Sweet girl! Can't believe she's five years old!

The Reason for my Recent Bloggong Laziness

In the ER... ankle broken in two places. Oh, wait... the x-ray shoes that both of my ankles have been broken all summer! What we thought were sprains, were actually fractures! The right ankle didn't heal properly causing it to break all the way!

My other ankle is still healing from a fracture in June... so, I can't be hoping around on crutches too much! Luckily, my niece's husband, Matt, borrowed an electric wheelchair from his grandmother. What a life saver!

Bonus! I got to have surgery! One plate, half a dozen or so screws, and some wire! (We called this bandage "The Q-Tip"!

Yummy post op picture! The other side of my ankle looked about the same.

My "cast". I get to live in this boot and my wheelcahir for six weeks. Thanks to my ward, my friends and family and most of all my hubby, Kyle... for all the help and prayers and just general happy thoughts!

Halloween

Megan (Pocohontas), Jack (Frankenstein), Sammy (Ballerina), Claire (Gothic Princess), Derek ("Dark" Vader), and Allie (Spanish Dancer)

Are they related?

Pictures of the Kids!

Aren't they lovely, kids?

August 19, 1994

Here we are... Dumb and Dumber. I won't tell you who is who. It changes hourly anyway. I meant to post something on our anniversary, but things just got crazy that day! We ended up sitting on the floor at 9:00pm, eating take out from Joe's BBQ, and watching an episode of the Office. Not too shabby!

More "Danas"

The toaster broke down, again. Every time this happens we wonder if this is the end. That van has been pushed beyond the limits of what any vehicle can tolerate... and that was before we inherited it. Poor Toaster! Like many things in my life, I have a love-hate relationship with that car and truly I would be sad to see it go because I'd probably end up with something like this:

When really, I would want something like this:

What actually would be the most practical would be something like this:

But, luckily my dad doesn't mind us borrowing his van. AND, we have little bright spot today! Our brand new trampoline that broke on Claire's birthday (almost killing two of her friends in the process) will be replaced. Happy thought, indeed!

The "Danas" of Our Lives

Today I am grateful for Physical Therapists. Mine says that if I am lucky, I might be able to run again someday. My first goal is to start walking without a limp.

For Jenifer...

Just thought Jack needed a little more representation

First Day of School

It's like we never had a break! The summer just went by so fast! Here's Alsie going to pre-schoool... again!

Claire Bear, Third Grader

D-man, First Grader

Happy Birthday, Claire!

Miss Claire turned 9 on August 4th. Here's the pre-party sleepover with the Woodard girls. The next day, we took some friends to pizza and roller skating. After that... cake and ice cream, of course!

There's our girl!

Ah... California!

Here are some pictures of our adventures in California this summer. Unfortunately, we lost our camera case at the Huntington Library and it had our other card with all of our pictures on it. But, we did have these! This is one of my favorite places to go in the LA area. It's called the Huntington Library. They have lovely gardens and galleries and a great area for kids.

That's our group, plus my sister Debbie and her daughter, Katie.

Classic Kyle!

Claire in the kids' area.

The children. It was a hot day and they were melting!

Newport Beach... perfect day! And we ate at the Crab Cooker on Balboa Island. We always get clam chowder, crusty bread, shrimp cocktail, and crab cakes for the kids. It's the best!

Derek thought this was so cool. He had to have a picture.

Alli, Katie and Jack

Role Play

Alli's pre-school teacher just called me and said that they played an interesting game yesterday. Alli told her teacher to play Jesus and she would play Samuel the Lamanite. Anyone who is acquainted with Alli at all knows about her penchant for drama. I'm just glad that some of our family home evening lessons are getting through! And... luckily her teacher is LDS, so she played along!

We're home!

Back from a long trip to California! Too bad I sprained both of my ankles just before we left. Oh well. I got to sit by the pool and read quite a bit. We have some great pictures to share, but I am swamped getting the kids started in school and starting my pre-school and art classes here at home. We'll post something new soon!! Glad to be home!

July in Arizona... Time to Run Away!

We're outta here! At least the kids and I... temporarily! We're spending July over at my sister's house. She is shuffling her kids all over the globe and I'm going over to "help". Kyle gets to stay here and work. Lucky guy. We're excited to get out of the heat and looking forward hanging out with the cousins. See you all in August!

Heaven Help Us!

Paul (brother-in-law) fills Kyle in on all the inner secrets of the motorcyle owners' circle of trust.

If anything happens to anyone, I'm blaming you, Paul! :) By the way, thanks for delivering all the way from L.A. It been fun and we are now the most/least (depending on how you look at it) favorite family in the neighborhood.