endless rain

This is how I'm feeling after all these weeks of ENDLESS rain, rain, rain. I thought we lived in a desert.

Ye'll ken you're a man when you're wearing a kilt

This weekend was the Utah Scottish Festival.
What a blast!
We went Friday night to the Military Tattoo and Concert.
These pictures give a brief idea of how large the massed bands were. There were over 120 Pipe bands. It was amazing!






Shortly thereafter, the rain came down, and the floods came up! (The mud anyway!) We couldn't resist dancing in the rain to the Wicked Tinkers though!


Then on Saturday, Mark competed in the Scottish Heavy Games. He did soooo good!

See his kilt twirling? I love it when the kilt twirls.

This is Mark and his friend Mike. Mike kicks Mark's butt. Mike always gets third. Mark always gets fourth. His goal is to beat Mike in at least one event.





Sprout and Panda participated in the children's Highland Games. Sprout even turned the Caber! Way to go, buddy!


Lulu beat the Giant! She loved it!
The best part of the whole day came after this:





Mark turned the caber on all three tries. He got third place and earned his FIRST (and only) medal! (Not to mention he beat Mike!)

such a sweet boy...

I went to my son's Parent Teacher Conference a few days ago. One of their projects was to make an epitaph on a grave stone for themselves.
Most kids said things like Here lies Joe Jonas, world's greatest musician, or Orel Herschizer, best baseball hero ever, or listed lines and lines of their greatness. How great to have such wonderful lofty goals. It warmed my heart.
And then I saw my son's and I nearly cried.
It said "Here lies Sprout, who made a difference for people with learning disabilities."
I love my Sprout. :)

crick in the neck

I have been suffering with a "crick in the neck." Granted, I did it to myself because I fell asleep on the sofa, using the armrest as a pillow, and well, quite frankly, was asking for trouble.
You know what I thought would be funny, is to type in crick in the neck and google it. Little did I know that it's practically a medical term! Not really, but EVERYONE calls it a crick in the neck! Not only that, but treatment for a "crick" is controversial.
I've discovered that it's considered to be
a) muscle spasm
b) arthritis
c) sprained neck ligament
d) pinched nerve
So one doctor says to stretch and massage, another says to ice, isolate and rest, a third suggests cortizone shots and muscle relaxers.

They ALL claim that the other "treatments" won't help! Geez, Louise! So, I'll just keep icing my neck, because that's what I think will help it. Maybe a muscle relaxer just to help me sleep. :) Oh, but most importantly, I think I'll sleep in bed now so I don't wrench my neck while sleeping again. I just saved myself a trip to the doctor (and therefore $80!)

when Irish eyes are smiling

Lulu's Irish eyes are smiling!! We went to see Dr. Hoffman at Primary Children's Medical Center today, and we got GREAT NEWS! Her bilateral eye muscles are continuing to improve, and she didn't need a new eyeglass prescription! The doctor says she is "straddling the fence" and has good control with her eyes, and they seem to be working together. It has been a long road of eye problems, having originally seen the doctor when she was 3 months old. Even when she has her glasses off now, they don't cross! It brings tears to my eyes.
I am so grateful to live in a time when these things can be repaired. 50 years ago there was no way to save her eyesight, and she would have gone blind in one, if not both, her eyes. Praise the Lord for medical advances. My Irish eyes are smiling too!

Poultry Obsession

He can't stop himself. He came home with 2 more baby chicks today. This time he brought home 2 black sex-links. (Let me tell you how nervous I was searching this online. I just knew Google would be all kinds of inappropriate. Good thing it's a common chicken breed.)

The 2 new ladies have been named:
Root Beer. Panda says this is what they smell like. She needs a nose-ectomy.
Rose. They don't smell like this either, by the way.
If we're naming them from scent their names should be Crap and Poop. :)