First Broken Bone!!!

Well, we had our family's first broken bone today. Russell was going down a slide at a birthday party and somehow managed to break his arm. It's a lateral condylar fracture of the left humerus, and we'll go to the orthopedist tomorrow to see if it needs pinning or just a cast. He's a seriously tough kid and other than not wanting his sling on he doesn't seem too fazed. The ER staff was surprised that a kid with a broken arm was laughing and charming the nurses. He wasn't too thrilled at first, but after a little tickling he warmed up to the situation. There'll be no swimming for a month but worse things could happen and he'll get better eventually. Remember to keep him in your prayers.

Mel's Ohio Trip

Melanie and the kids spent two weeks in Ohio with the grandparents and cousins. (explaining my previous posts about hiking adventures) They did everything from jumping on the trampoline, swimming, zoo, train rides, to the Hill Cumorah Pageant and Niagara Falls. The boys couldn't get enough of wrestling with Papa Russ and the uncles and unfortunately they came back with some new karate chop moves! They did great on the plane (despite the DVD player not working) and were excited to come back to Colorado. Two weeks was a bit long for me to be a bachelor, and I couldn't have been happier to have them back.

Two more 14ers!

Work didn't seem very appealing today so I went on a hike with Jon VanNoy. We summited two 14ers - Grays Peak (14,270 feet) and Torreys Peak (14,267 feet). It was a phenomenal hike. At about 13,000 feet the light-headedness started, but I trodded along. That's where everyone starts going a lot slower. It's almost as if you're watching people hike in slow motion. We made it to the top of Grays and it was an incredible rush. Being at that altitude is quite a high. (pun intended) Maybe it has something to do with lack of oxygen to the brain, but also with a sense of accomplishment. We decided to go for Torreys peak as well, and climbed across the saddle and then up a steep ascent. Again, the top of Torreys was another huge rush. We booked it down and headed back to Denver. It was a great hike and a great day. Three down, 51 to go!!!