It will be a White Christmas after all. There's talk of a foot of snow tomorrow. Every morning all the kids want to do is go out to get in it.













Hunter has been going out every afternoon to stack wood. It's a Christmas present to his Daddy. I'm pretty sure it will be Matt's favorite.







The pile got a little too high for Hunt to stack nicely, so I had to come in at the very end. We're glad to have it done before we get more snow. Merry Christmas Matt!

The Hurricane Theme Continued

Hurricanes! So last night we had a practice for the Christmas program at church. That's a whole other hurricane. I'm in charge of it and let me just say: pray, pray, pray! Anyhow, we were wrapping up about 8:30. I still had a few things to do. Matt took Tenney home. Matt thought it would be nice to take Tenney on a little date to Baskin Robbins on their way home. He's such a good Daddy. They finished their ice cream, but Tenney had a little cup of M&M's in one hand, and the other hand in her pocket. They were right at the car. Poor Tennney tripped and fell against the hub cap of the wheel of our car. Skip to Hunter and I--We left the church and also wanted to go on a date, but Matt and I had traded cars, so my purse was in the Honda. We went home and didn't find Tenney or Matt there. I said, "I bet they had our idea. Hunter, call Dad and see if he'll bring us home some ice cream." Hunter called, and all Dad said was "Give me Mom now!" He was back in Baskin's trying to see the seriousness of the cut. The bleeding had stopped but the cut was right at the hairline and hard to tell how bad. We decided to bring her home and make a decision. There, we decided that I would take her to the ER. I had never taken her to the ER out of the three times she had gone. (Tenney split her head open when she was 2 on our coffee table in front of a babysitter.) You know, you wonder if the doctor will say, "Oh this isn't much of anything. We'll clean it out and put on a bandaid" or "It was a good thing you came in. This is pretty bad." Honestly, I'm not sure what I wanted him to say. Tenney, once again, was angelic. When the doctor was stitching up her 14 out of 17 stitches, Tenney said, "Mom, you know, doctors are good." The doctor about melted in her arms. She never cried or screamed. I guess reminiscent of the last accident. Matt did give her a father's blessing before she left the house. So what did the doctor say while flushing the gash as he could see her scalp? He said, "It's a good thing you came in." Matt is worried that anytime he tries to do something special with Tenney, that they are jinxed. I just think there's nothing you can do to stop a hurricane. You just hunker down and wait out the storm. Oh, and pray, lots of praying!

Hurricane theme

It seems this fall had a running theme. We would do something
beautiful or fun and a hurricance would come. You know, we had
Tenney's horse riding accident. Matt and she were on a fun ride in the woods and ended in the serious break. Then, on November 1st Matt and I met our friend Melanie and new friends, the Suter's, for a week on Grand Cayman. Melanie's husband couldn't come because he had changed jobs and the economy and all.








Melanie, me, and my new friend Chris.

See those black spots. Those are sting rays. We were in the water with them, feeding them, petting them, kissing them. One took a special liking to Matt.























Matt has the big hickey to prove it. If anything weird is going to happen, Matt will get it--pepper ticks in Africa, growing and birthing a botfly after two months under the skin from Guatemala, and now a big hickey from a stingray in Grand Cayman.

It seems Hurricane Michelle had already come through, so we got
Hurricane Paloma. On the 5th day there, a category 3 hurricane came right to where we were staying on the island. The condo people wanted us to go to a shelter, but we elected to stay. 120mph winds. We were 500 ft from the ocean with a building in front of us and we still got water and sand covering the carpet on our 2nd floor condo. It was way exciting! How many chances would I from Idaho have to be in a hurricane?

Fortunately, we were safe and well. We even snorkeled the day before and after the hurricane.

Frogs & Lizards

The kids favorite part of California was hanging out with their cousins. This was probably the kids favorite day ever. Their Uncle Greg, a 5th grade teacher, took them to Silver Lake.







Uncle Greg, Tenney, Hunter, Micaela & Logan. What's in that plastic box?








What does Tenney have in her hands?










Frogs! That frog on Hunter's hand was the biggest. It was huge compared to the others.










Hunter spent most days at Grandpa & Grandma's catching lizards. It was a reptilian trip.

Catching up. We spent Halloween in California with Grandma and Grandpa Galvez. Tenney had just gotten her caste off, so we pushed her around in a stroller.

The angel and dragon.

Home Schooling in October

Hunter and I hiked the new mountain bike trail around the mountain by our house. Someone hung this skull up on a tree. I said, "I wonder what kind of a skull that is?" Hunter said, "I can tell you. It's a deer skull. Don't you see the holes for the antlers." Duh? Who's home schooling whom?

Don't let anyone fool you. It was freezing only a few days this month. Now it's an Indian Summer. Hunter took off his shirt because he was so hot. These Idaho kids have a hard time in really hot weather, but their blood is born for cold climates. I love these puffy, cottony weeds.






Hunter and his schoolmate, Sam, on their way home.

Don't you love a wedding!

I know everyone knows Kelsie married Jeremy Frint in the Salt Lake Temple on June 12 of this year.  It was such a great and beautiful day.  I posted the following for those who have missed and a remembrance for those who were there.

Can you believe we have a married daughter?!

Nice to all be together!

 

Tenney was supposed to be in this picture, but she was ticked off because she was cold and sick of watching people take pictures.  You get the picture anyhow.

Pins Out, Going Crazy!

So do you see the new caste? Green. Okay, remember how amazing she was in her first operation? Remember the doctors and nurses were coming in to see the angel child? Okay, fast forward to today. A simple surgery. The doctor only gave her a little anesthesia to keep her unaware of taking the pins out and putting on the new caste. When she woke up, it was literally the antithesis of a month ago. She was screaming and yelling at the doctors, nurses and her family. She sent the doctors scattering as soon as they could get out of there and left her family and the poor nurses to fend for ourselves. Eventually, even the nurses left us alone with her. Her surgery was at 8:30. We were home on the couch by 10:15. As we were standing over her in the hospital, after she was throwing things all over and kicking blankets off and growling at us, Matt said, "I guess we should have given her a blessing before this surgery too." She's doing great now.

Missing the girls!

I miss my big girls. Right before Tess left for Argentina, we went to Seattle to look at an art school. We're on a ferry here. Also, she visited Kelsie & Jeremy.

I thought I'd occasionally post interesting parts of emails from Tess. She is very entertaining. This is part of a letter where she tells of her first experience of traveling around the huge city of Buenos Aires. Remember this is the same child that doesn't even like the Peak Bus, the public transportation, in Hailey, Idaho. Now all of these subways (subtes) and buses are no big deal, but this was the first day. "the walk was fun and beautiful and i felt wonderfully independent! so I went to class for like one freakin hour...all that for an hour class, and then i had to return, and one of the boys from the class walked me back which was better casue then the men didnt say stuff. then the real problems started. i got on the subte and i was sitting there and we started going but then it stopped and the cunductor said a bunch of stuff i didnt understand, and i asked a guy next to me and he told me in spanglish that it was broken, and we had to wait 30 min. Then after 30 min (by the way as this is going on i am still BY MYSELF and have never gone back on the bus or the subte with anyone let alone by myself, so i have no idea what im doing) the conductor told us we had to get off cause it was completley broken. so then this guy told me i had to go to the other side but then that one was broken so i had no idea what to do. everyone was like getting taxis and stuff, but i have NO idea how to do that with the money and everything so i got out of the subte onto the street in downtown buenos aires (picture new freakin york) and im standing there like trying not to cry casue i have no idea where i am or what to do. but i really did not want to call home and be like waaa i cant do it. so i took a deep breath and said i can figure this out...7 million other ppl do every day (granted they live there and speak the lauguage...but o well) so i walked around for a while and asked ppl and finally found a different subte that was working and found the right one i had to get on, oh and here was like the ultimate city experience and my biggest nightmare....it was rush hour by this time cause the stupid other subte took soo long so EVERYONE is coming home from work. so when the first subte arrived, i tried to get on but i have never seen soooo many ppl slammed into one cart and there was not one centimeter of spare room so i waited another 15 minutes and the next one was basically the same but there was like one inch right by the door and i crammed into it and some guy had to literally psuh me in as the doors closed." She finally got home to her wonderful host family, but the whole experience was new and crazy and took great courage.

Hunter's Turn

As can be imagined, a broken-legged three year old is hard on an eight year old brother. Hunter said, "If she gets one more present, I think I'll break my leg." Tenney said, "It's not worth it." I said, "If one more person breaks his leg, I'm running away." Anyhow I thought we'd give Hunter a little spot on the blog. Hunter is going to MBSE, AKA Michelle Barrow's School of Excellence. His favorite home school day by far has been our trip with the Alberdi boys to the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery, pre-broken leg. The hatchery workers were artificially spawning fish. Did you know when the Chinook make their way back up the Salmon river after being in the salt water for 2-3 years, their throats swell as soon as they hit fresh water, and they don't eat anymore until they spawn and die. What a mission! Why are they so fun to catch then? They are very aggressive in the water and bite and fight after everything, especially our flies and lures. I think basically they're ticked off. That day we also went to Red Fish Lake where everyone spent hours catching minnows. Hunter loves to catch them.

Everyone where they should be

I haven't been able to return everyone's calls. Thank you so much for your concern. I finally am using this blog spot because I thought it would be a good place to tell those who don't know what happened to Tenney and Matt and those who just want to know they are okay. On Saturday, I was in Logan with Kelsie. We were attending a women's conference called "Time Out for Women." Keep note of that title, because it was a much needed calm before the storm. When I looked at my cell phone later, I noticed I had received a few calls before Matt's, but my phone was turned on to vibrate, and Matt's was the only call I felt. I listened to his message 30 minutes before the conference was over. Very calmly he asked me to call him as soon as I could. When we were walking out of the conference, I called him. He asked me how I was and how the conference was. "Great," I told him. I remember thinking, He's so calm. Nothing's wrong. That's good. Then he said, "Well we had a little accident." This is the story he told me, so calmly, so gently. I actually got more specifics as the night went on but I'll give it to you in the full version.

Tenney, our three year old daughter, loves horses. Matt does too. Tenney asked to go on a ride with Matt. Matt was happy to oblige. Hunter was across the street playing with his friend Miller at the neighbor's. They went down our road, across the alfalfa field, out Democrat, which is the canyon east of us. They came back toward our house around the mountain north of our house. Matt had packed a picnic, and they had eaten in the shade of the aspens. It was a beautiful Saturday, about 80 degrees. When they were finished, Matt set Tenney back up on the saddle. He put his foot in the stirrup and swung his leg around. Before he could get his other foot in the stirrup, the horse started to crow hop, one, two, three and both Tenney and Matt were thrown off. Matt sat straight up, and could see Tenney laying on the ground, head away from him. He pulled her close because the horse was still near. "Tenney! Are you okay?" "Yeah, but my leg, my leg!" she said. Matt pulled her pant leg up almost to the knee and could tell the leg was broken right below the knee. The worst though was that her skin tore in the back of her leg about three inches across. Imagine putting a bracelet on up to the top of your calf, and then take only the back 1/2 of that bracelet, and imagine the skin torn all away across there. Matt pulled the pant leg back down, picked her up in his arms, trying to stabilize the leg as best he could and began to move. Tenney started to scream. Matt stopped, and said, "Okay Tenney, we have to pray." He cradled her close and prayed. Then he ran and walked a mile and half around the mountains to our house. Tenney did not shed a tear and never screamed out again. She said, "Ow, ow" every once in a while. That was it. Matt got in his truck, still cradling her in his arms and called 911 so ER would be ready for her. They asked, "Does she have a blanket?" "No," Matt said. He asked Tenney, "Are you cold?" "Yes," she said. So Matt turned on the heat full blast. Mind you, he just ran a mile and 1/2 in 80 degree weather and made the15 minute drive to the hospital with the heat blasting. By the time he walked in the ER with Tenney, he looked pretty bad. Tenney broke clear off the tibia and fibula about a centimeter down from the knee. The doctor is sure that the horse did not step on her or kick her because there is no imprint, so she either did it from the fall or her dad may have fallen on her, although she was very close to him when he first saw her after the fall. It all happened in a second. That's how accidents are. Our Bishop and Jay, our nephew, and Matt gave Tenney a blessing before the surgery. It was four hours from the time she left him until he saw her again. Jen Merrick, a dear friend of our family, was her recovery nurse. We were so greatful she was there. She said she had never recovered anyone, any age, as tough as Tenney. Her surgeon came in with the same words. "Man, she's strong. She's tough." The nurse anesthesist said, "She is inspiring. Usually someone that young when she leaves her parents, becomes hysterical. Not her. She was calm, almost like she knew everything was fine. I asked her if she wanted to hold the oxygen mask. 'Sure,' she said." We know, though, that Tenney is tough, but not that tough. We know God is strong; God is tough; God is peace; God is calming.

The whole thing reminded me of something I heard Tenney say about a month ago. We were in this rustic cabin at Alturas Lake. You could hear everything upstairs. I was downstairs, and a whole bunch of kids were upstairs. I heard Hunter say, "Hey, you guys you know my middle name is Matthias. You know what that means? It means gift from God." Then I hear Tenney. "Hey you guys, my name is Tenney Jen Barrow. You know what that means?" No one answers her. "Hey you guys, my name is Tenney Jen Barrow. You know what that means?" Not a word from anyone. So again, she said, "Hey you guys, my name is Tenney Jen Barrow. You know what that means?" It means Jesus Loves Me." Hunter then said, "Awkward." I was cracking up.

We are home now. Tenney can't put any weight on that leg for at least 6 weeks. We are rigging the house like crazy. We mostly feel exhausted and grateful. I really feel we were all in the perfect place. I was remembering and being inspired by many great and uplifting things at the conference like forgiving ourselves, things I could tell Matt because he was really giving himself a hard time over the fall. I think I would not have been a calming influence if I had been there in the beginning. Hunter was at the neighbors, our sweet neighbors, and he and Brian, the dad, helped put the horse away which had run directly back to the gate and was waiting when Matt finished running with Tenney. Matt was there with Tenney, her strength, her rock physically and spiritually and emotionally. I even had a girlfriend when I told her the story, said, "Oh my! On Saturday afternoon, I had a loud thought run threw my head which said, 'Pray for Michelle.' I argued with it thinking 'That's silly. She's fine,' but then I said, 'Okay.' I said a quick prayer to ask God to bless Michelle and her family." Tessa as you most know is in Argentina. When she heard, she fasted and prayed for us all day. She arrived at her home at 9pm and her host family had a huge meal waiting for her. She, then, found out that her host parents also fasted and prayed for Tenney and our family. They said to Tessa, "You are part of our family now, so your family is also part of our family." We were so touched by that. Everyone was where they were supposed to be. That's how the Lord always works. I know that. Thank you all who knew for your prays, concern and support. We love you.