Henry's hand

Poor Henry had a fight with the treadmill and the treadmill won. I was supposed to be watching the boys while Michael was on the treadmill in the basement, but I let them go downstairs. A few minutes later, I hear an agonizing scream and rush down to find Henry in Michael's arms. We initially thought nothing was injured (we examined his chin because that's what Michael thought had gotten hit), but then he saw Henry's hand. We gasped in horror as I saw the two middle fingers of his right hand raw from having gotten caught on the treadmill belt. Quickly, I asked Michael to give Henry a blessing, and then I rushed him over to the urgent care center with Robbie in tow (Michael had a stake interview he had to attend and Clara was asleep in bed). Mercifully, the center was open a little early, and he was seen quickly. Henry was so brave during the exam and subsequent cleaning and bandaging. I was quite worried when the nurse practitioner said, "I don't THINK he'll need a skin graft." Oh, I felt so terrible!! We took him to the pediatrician, Dr. Hutton, the following Monday, and she gave us instructions for wound care. Michael and I proceeded to change his dressings twice a day for a month, faithfully trimming off skin as needed, washing it, medicating it, airing it, etc. (My brother, Clay, an ER physician, also gave us good advice). We became quite a team as we worked together to dress Henry's wounds.

 At the urgent care center--this isn't a good pic because frankly I couldn't bear to look at it. (But I wanted to document its healing!)

 A few days later, Henry got the bandage stuck on a sticky mouse trap in the pantry. Awesome. Mercifully, the bandage came off without too much pulling.

 A few days after the accident.

 The following week.

 Two weeks.

 At Bear Lake with Daddy's injured toe (from a rope swing gone wrong) and Robbie's injured finger (from accidentally slamming his hand in the door).

Week three and a half or so.

It was amazing to see the fingers heal. Although they are all healed now, he still doesn't use those fingers quite as much, at least from my perspective. We are so enormously thankful for the Lord's blessings and for his healthy body. It could have been so much worse and truly feel grateful for his speedy healing and that there were no complications.

Dunford Family Reunion: Part Four (Salt Lake City)

We packed up and headed back down to Salt Lake City on Thursday morning.

Here was a view of the house--it was such a perfect location for our family.

 On our way down, we stopped at the Logan, Utah temple for some of the cousins to do baptisms for the dead. Clara was pretty nervous and only felt comfortable doing the confirmation, but that was okay and we were glad to be there.

We visited Temple Square that afternoon and enjoyed the Church History Museum. The children's section was really fun. We also watched a neat video of the First Vision.

 Playing in the children's section.

 They had some fun stuffed camels, etc. that kids could climb on. The area was very thoughtfully designed.

 Robbie enjoyed these tangrams.

 Giving a talk at the Conference Center pulpit.

That night we enjoyed dinner at Cafe Rio with Mom and Dad and Adam and Wendi and their family. Clara loved giving LOTS of hugs to her cousins on this trip. Here she is with sweet Ali.

Then we headed to my uncle Bert's and Aunt Chris' house--they were so gracious to host us. Clara especially was excited to see their dog, Mooshoo (sp?).

 We got to bed by around 9:30pm (hallelujah!) and then the following morning headed back to Temple Square to see the sights and especially to see Nana and Papa on their mission.

 Don't they look sharp?

 Their mission changed from being over the interpreters to helping out in the "Quality Translation" department--it is pretty daunting as they try to figure out how to determine the quality of the language interpretations, but they are excited and happy to be serving. I am proud of their example.

 Walking to the cafeteria (yummy food!). There was a man playing the piano there, whom Mom informed me was Elder Klopfer, a Holocaust survivor and author of the hymn "Home Can Be a Heaven on Earth" with his wife. It was beautiful listening to him play as we ate.

 Checking out the interpreter booths on the floor where they used to serve.

Our kids sure love their grandparents.

 We also got to see the Conference Center briefly--it was fun to show the kids where General Conference is held.

There were so many other neat experiences that we had on the trip, which was definitely an adventure and not a vacation :-). I was touched by the kindness rendered by my siblings and nieces and nephews towards my children. I also felt that this particular reunion was a special one because of the ages of all the grandkids--the majority being school-age--which made it really fun and not super stressful since there weren't a ton of babies and little kids. Despite some sickness from Henry (an odd high fever that lasted for a couple of days), injuries for Robbie (he slammed his finger in the door really hard--the nail finally came off today) and Michael (his toe in the lake), sleep deprivation, poor eating, personal angst, etc., overall the trip was wonderful and definitely worth the money and sacrifice. The kids were troopers and now that time has passed it only continues to get sweeter in retrospect. I feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful family and to be sealed to them through our temple covenants and the Lord's beautiful plan of happiness.

Dunford Family Reunion: Part Two (Bear Lake)

After church on Sunday, we headed up to Bear Lake where our reunion was to be held. We stopped at a few temples along the way (temple selfie post coming soon). The drive was quite lovely--different terrain than the rest of Utah as we headed toward Idaho.

 Adam and Wendi did a Swedish night for dinner on Sunday, making Swedish meatballs, potatoes, Lingonberries, and gravy, along with cucumber salad, and strawberry shortcakes for dessert. They even decorated with Swedish colors and had a "tipspromenad" game throughout the week (basically a quiz with questions hidden on the exterior of the house that you could answer).

Look at the cute little flags.

 Food prep.

 After the yummy meal, Adam introduced those who wanted to to fermented herring, a terrible smelling and tasting Swedish tradition that made those who tried it gag and nearly throw up. Awesome.

 Clay was hilarious to watch--he seriously almost threw up several times.

 Adam introduced everyone to Swedish candy.

 Hanging out on the porch with Bapa.

 The house we rented was beautiful and the view absolutely stunning. It was so uncrowded and clear.

 On Monday morning, the boys woke up at 5:30am (still on VA time), so we enjoyed a beautiful walk/drive down in Fish Haven.

 There were these huge dandelions that the boys enjoyed blowing.

 And we made friends with a horse on the side of the road.

 The pool and hot tub were a huge hit with kids and adults alike.

 On Monday afternoon, we drove to Bloomington Lake, a glacier-fed lake about an hour away from Bear Lake. Brrrr!

 The ride was made much more enjoyable by Bapa sitting in the back next Henry. Clara opted to stay back at the house with Emily and Grace.

 On the way there, we stopped by the cemetery and got to see Isaac and Leah Bailey Dunford's graves. So cool.

We also saw the house where they had lived--behind it, there used to be a 14x20 foot cabin where they and two or three other families stayed that first winter. Such sacrifice.

 Robbie was brave enough to put his feet in!

 Michael went off the huge rope swing out into the lake. The first time, he didn't let go in time and nearly fell directly onto a log and could have seriously--permanently--injured himself. He got out and said, "I've got to try that again!" and then did a great flip out into the lake. However, we discovered after some blood on the rocks that he had injured his foot pretty badly. Clay helped irrigate it back at the house and we felt very blessed and slightly shaken by the near miss.

For Family Home Evening that night, Adam had everyone share their favorite mantras that they say frequently. My favorite was Clay and Amie's song, "Never give up, never give up, never never never never never give up! If you give up, you'll feel like a shlup, so never never never never never give up." Haha! Totally want to adopt that one.

Dunford Family Reunion: Part Three (4th of July and the lake)

On the 4th, we were thrilled that Hyrum was able to drive up to hang out.

 Our family photo attempt was awesome, as usual.

 Hyrum and his two boys.

 While Michael went out on the boat for a bit with Hyrum and Adam and Wendi's fam, Emily, my dad, and Robbie and Henry went to the Paris Idaho tabernacle for a patriotic celebration. It was an impressive to-do for such a teeny town! We had to leave about twenty minutes in (Robbie was not happy about being "in church" on a weekday!) to get back to the lake, but it was touching and I was moved as we pledged to the flag and sang the national anthem.

 We then headed out onto Bear Lake. My parents graciously watched Henry, which was great.

 Robbie loved helping Michael drive.

 Here we are before we went out on the tube. Robbie was pretty nervous and was pretty shaken when the raft sunk and we fell off when the boat slowed down too much. He didn't want to go out again, but the next day he went on the banana raft despite his nerves, which was great. Hyrum informed me that his favorite moment of the whole trip was the look of fear on my face when he drove Michael and I out on the tube afterwards--he was driving super fast and crazy. That kid.

 Michael and Hyrum went out and Wendi drove them around, trying to whip them off. Here they are standing up on the raft as we headed in slowly towards the dock. Hyrum headed back to Provo that evening--it was so fun to see him.

 When we got back to the house, we had fun watching Bryan set up some sweet rockets with an air compressor he had brought from home. I am so impressed by his creativity.

 That evening, Matt and Tana and their family arrived (Alex and Charlotte had been there previously--it was super fun to hang out with them). We were finally all together!

 The next morning before the lake, we took family pictures. Here are Mom and Dad with their grandkids, minus Alex, John Morgan, Elizabeth, Anna, and Charlotte.

 My fave.

 The beautiful posterity of my parents. Pretty amazing.

 Another family photo attempt. My sister Heather did Clara's hair--Clara really didn't want to participate in the picture but somehow Heather persuaded her. I am so thankful for all my family members who were so kind and encouraging and patient with Clara. And all of us.

 The brothers.

The sisters.

 Then we went down to the marina to enjoy some fun boating time, courtesy of my generous brother, Clay.

 The water was cold but not unbearably so. Here is Michael with Henry and cousins Eliot and Will.

Clara was nervous but did great on the boats. She didn't want to do any of the rafts but totally loved the jet ski.

 Here Uncle Matt is driving Faith and Clara. "It was fast as heck," she just informed me.

 This pic cracks me up on so many levels. My brother Bryan took this pic. Michael loves to lay out and get tan. He also doesn't have a problem doing it anywhere. And do you see that baby carrot on his shorts? That was placed there by a nephew. Too funny.

 A serious flag holder.

Here is a smattering of other pics.

 Clara and Henry with cousins Pete, Lia, and Rowan.

The pool table in the basement was a popular hang-out.

Cutie in the pool.

 Chatting after dinner. (pictured Eliot, Preston, Grace, Clay, Caroline, Abe, and Duncan)

 Reading with Bapa from Stories of Adventure (the stories we wrote as adults for the family).

 One of the fun things that Adam and Wendi did was put up posters with questions--it was fun seeing everyone's responses.

For Wednesday night, Adam asked for everyone who wanted to participate to prepare a four-minute "lightning talk" comprised of a maximum of ten slides. The subject could be whatever you wanted. Heather did hers on how to blow "spit bubbles," which was hilarious. Ben did his on sous-vide cooking. I did mine on the concept of personal and spiritual sufficiency. Clara did one on ten things that she likes. It was so great and I was very impressed--she did the entire thing by herself and was the first one to turn hers in. They were each unique and awesome.

The Spirit was really strong that evening as we enjoyed each other's company and felt the love we share. As Bapa shared some closing remarks and his testimony, I felt the Spirit and was deeply touched by the wonderful legacy my parents have started.