Our first broken BONE!

Another post about Zach! One week ago Thursday, Zach was playing with brother, sister, and cousins. As children will do, they placed him on the couch and then ran to get him a toy. Unfortunately, Zach fell off and he must've landed just right because he broke the top of his radius!

Actually, that night I took him to the doctor where they did x-rays and everything looked normal. The doctor told me that broken bones can take about a week to show up and to bring him back in a week if I didn't see improvement. Sure enough, last Wednesday (a week later!) I took him in again. This time the x-rays were obvious even to me, a fracture almost completely through his radius. The poor guy had been suffering with a broken arm for a week. I felt awful.

So now we have experienced a first for our little family, a broken bone. (I know you are dying to make a wisecrack about our last name right now. Better just get it over with.) There were no blue casts available so I picked out a lovely green. However, Zach must like red because he wouldn't let go of the red package and thus, a red cast. However, I would like to add this disclaimer: We are in no way affiliated with the U of U. After the doctor put the cast on, he said, "Now, you can't get this wet. . . Good luck with that." So I guess doctors do have a sense of humor.

The good news is that the bone wasn't displaced. The doctor said it should heal just fine and that he will get the cast off in 4 weeks. In the meantime, Zach is doing very well. He doesn't seem to mind the cast and has already learned how to get around without crawling. (See video)

Grandpa Guinn's Funeral

In May, we got a surprise call that my Grandpa Guinn had died. Immediately we started making plans to go to the funeral in Cottonwood, Arizona.

I have always had a soft spot for my grandpa. He was a very quiet, kind man. I remember many summer days stretched out on a lawn chair beside my grandpa underneath the large trees in front of his house. He had a way of making me feel special without saying much at all. It was my grandpa that taught me how to parallel park when I was in college. He was amazed that I didn't know how to parallel park and gave me a five minute lesson that stuck with me.

My grandpa was also a WWII veteran, a paratrooper in Europe and Africa. It gave me an admiration for his generation and the thousands of heroes that came from it. He would not speak about the war. It was always evident to me that the war was not some opportunity for Grandpa to brag about his heroism. He was horrified by the event. As a result, I know very little about him in the line of duty. I do know that he was awarded a Purple Heart.

Grandpa was also an adventurer. He owned and flew many small planes. Flying was a passion of his. He also frequented Mexico to fish for big ocean fish. In fact, a trip to Grandpa's always included going out to the garage to gawk at the HUGE sea bass skull mounted to the wall. It was the pride and joy of Grandpa and the grandkids. He was also an avid hunter. When he met Jeremy, the two had an instant bond talking about elk and deer hunting. It was the most I'd ever heard Grandpa say about anything.

Even as he grew older, Grandpa was eager to stay moving. He and Grandma would drive up to see us in their large motorhome or meet us at Fish Lake. And it was always that desire to keep moving that made Grandpa pack up and go home at 4:oo a.m. on departure day, if not before.

I will miss him so much. I really wish my kids had been a little older so that they could've have the opportunity to really know him. He was a wonderful man and I am very honored to be able to call him Grandpa.

Zach's first birthday!

I can't believe that my little Zach is one already! We had a birthday party for him with the Bone side and then another one the next day with the Guinn side.

Although this past year seems to have zipped past, I can't imagine life without my little guy. He is such a sweet, happy baby. Maret and Bridger love their little brother and drag him all over the house, but he doesn't seem to mind. He loves music and will pull himself up to the piano and pound on the keys. If he hears a beat, he will bounce up and down to the rhythm.

In fact, the only thing that Zach gets serious about is food. If I can't get his food to him fast enough, he squeezes his fists in the air and SCREAMS! (Maybe that's why we call him "Zach Attack.") However, the minute he gets his food, he becomes my sweet little boy again.

I don't think it will be long before talks. Everyday he figures out how to make a new sound. For now, it's "Mama", "Dada", "A-ay (Maret)", and "Uh-oh". He also waves goodbye and shakes his head no-no.