This year’s farm party was a little more subdued on account of the weather, but the kids managed to have a good time nonetheless!

So I believe when we left off Hayden had just banged his head on the fireplace and gotten stitches. This was just before Easter. Ahem.

Someone had asked how the scar healed up:

So he is enjoying the new, post-stitches life.

I’m off to shake some of the dust off of this WordPress installation. I’ll return soon!

I have so many things to talk about… I won’t try to fit them all in here. Do stay tuned over the coming weeks as I dump my brain on what I’ve been up to since then: Velvet Elvis, Prince Caspian, The Total Money Makeover Live, and a whole bunch more that I can’t remember anymore.

Kicking things off, we got to experience the first real damage done to one of kids. The boy was trying to step off of something onto the fireplace and didn’t quite make it. Since his arms are shorter than the fireplace he had to stop him self with his head. These are the results – eight stitches!

(click to enlarge)

It was pretty deep – definitely no question that stitches were forthcoming. He really didn’t fuss too much after a few minutes of crying. By the time we got to the ER waiting room, he was running all over their play area and we had to keep reminding him to come back to us and get his would cleaned.

We got back to the room, and they came by on three different occasions to put this numbing gel on his head. Apparently it does its job very well. He had been coloring, and when they started stitching him up, all he did was frown and ask for his colors back. That would have been nice to have picture of, actually.

Anyway, there wasn’t much he could have done. They had him in this immobilizing device with about five thousand straps and buckles – also something that would have made a nice picture. Maybe next time

The ranch used to be a 7 hour drive if we kept moving and only stopped for fuel. When you add in kids, it turns into an 8 hour trip. When you potty train one of those kids it turns into a 9 hour trip. And when you stop in Grand Island to do some grocery shopping it comes in at a nice round 10 hours. We left on Monday afternoon and settled into our beds at about 1:30 AM on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning was Aunt Elaine’s funeral. It was about 1.5 hours back the way we came so we got to get up nice and early to make it to the church by 10:00 AM. The service was good – lots of family and it featured some excellent music. We got back home later in the afternoon and the relaxing was able to begin.

Wednesday was an “open day” where the kids got to live the ranch life without interruption. They are both big fans of cows now. Thursday was the Thanksgiving celebration which was met with much feasting and watching of the Style Network. Style Network? Not football? Yes, the Style Network. Friday saw more ranching and some pizza with friends. Saturday we hit the road again and made it home just in time for the KU vs. MU football game.

It was a good week with the obvious exception of the loss of a family member. We were blissfully disconnected from the cell phone and the internet which I found to be extremely therapeutic. We talked a lot with the brother in law about the pitfalls facing the church in this culture and got to sort our our long search for a church to call home a little bit. We got to sleep in, take naps, feed cows – I don’t think anyone could really ask for more.

Now, as soon as the computer at home is back up running there will be pictures. We even have one of Hayden hiding in my lunch box, so keep an eye out!