Cake!!

Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting doesn’t look impressive without some fancy candles and toppings, but it tastes amazing and that’s what’s most important.

Ava got all the candles and hopefully her wish will come true!  We love having Ava in our family and cannot believe she is 16, but when we think of all she has accomplished and how sweet her spirit is maturing, we understand!  Ava, you started the line of Komenda kids for us and we couldn’t be more pleased with you for an oldest child!  I am love you and are excited for you to start this fun new chapter.

Birthday Fun?!

A protein shake from Jamba Juice sealed the deal in Ogden before we headed to Layton for Ava’s biweekly doctor appointment and a delicious lunch at Sill’s cafe. The wound scraping and partial stitch removal were nauseating, so the warm scone was a comfort for our stomachs!

 When we got home everyone was in video game mode, so Ava joined in while Kyle and I tried to wrap up dinner and dessert. Kyle started smoking the pork butt last night and it finished before everything else; it’s so hard to time smoking meat perfectly.

Kyle had made a masterpiece out of the once destroyed chocolate cake and then I frosted it to perfection. After dinner, we had the birthday parade and Ava was thrilled to have a new ski coat, 2 swimsuits, a wallet and keychain for her new lifestyle, ski goggles, some candy from her YW group, $20 from grandpa and grandma as well as a record player and records! 

Sweet 16!

After an amazing breakfast, I took Ava to her DPS appointment for her drivers license picture!  She had already completed all the driving hours, testing and classes a few weeks ago; thankfully since she couldn’t physically do the driving today. They snapped her picture, asked some questions took $39 from me and sent us on our way. We brought a few forms of ID as well as a couple proofs of residency; unopened birthday cards, which came in handy.  I love a seamless interaction with the government. 

Birthday Breakfast

Miraculously Ava did not have to attend in person school today and slept in!!  Happy Birthday!  The little guys were jealous they wouldn’t get to enjoy Ava’s birthday breakfast; can’t say that I blame them!  Kyle made an apfel strüdel with homemade vanilla sauce using Beanila beans!!  It was so yummy and then I wisked Ava off for the day.

Cake Boys!

Jack whipped up the devil’s food cake from a box and then made some cream cheese frosting to fill it before Kyle topped it all off with chocolate ganache!!  We were all impressed and enjoyed it after dinner!

Puppy Forever

Not sure if this guy is ever going to mature!  Berners are blocky and get even more so with age. Not this guy-his thin face and frame are so puppyish!!  He is completely adorable though and so healthy right now. Love that he has finally found himself after nearly 3 years!!

Healing

Ava has been healing for 3 days now with the help of 3x a day wound clean outs and redressing. There is no signs of infection, but swelling from the intense trauma has left her unable to walk.  We wrangled up some crutches from a neighbor’s house that have really helped. 

In fact, on Friday, we spent most of the day at that neighbor’s house keeping their dogs company while they are out of town. Originally, Ava was hired to do it herself, but with her lack of mobility we all thought it best that hanging at their house together eating pizza and watching movies made the most sense!

 

Survivors

These kids went through the ringer today!  They were all so brave and everyone commented on it!  I’m so glad they were all able to walk out of the ER and things weren’t any worse than they were!  We all wish Kyle was here, but are thrilled he will be home late tomorrow night after a long week of MI house cleaning and spice stuff. 

Fixed Up

Once at the ER, Ava was questioned and then x-rayed.  It was a miracle, but there were no broken bones!!  Ava was administered multiple shots of lidocaine in her toes and ankle. At this point Ava became upset and the doctor kept commenting on how brave she had been the whole time.  Up to this point Ava had been chatting and calm.  The shots were so excruciating, but much more comfortable than scrubbing her open wounds with a bristle brush would be. 

The clean out was successful and the next step was stitches!!  The two holes on her ankle that showed her tendon were originally thought to be too big for stitching, but after the clean out, the doctor was able to put 5 total stitches in!  The only drawback, was just before the last two stitches Ava started feeling the needle!  The doctor quickly administered another shot and proceeded. With one stitch to go, Ava had to decide if she wanted to get another shot or just feel the last stitch; she went with the latter. 

With Norah and Ben checked for wounds and a bunch of questions we received our take home bag of wound dressings and left the ER nearly 3 hours after arrival.  We picked up McDonalds and Jack and headed home.  We were supposed to have corned beef and cabbage, but that didn’t pan out, so we asked a neighbor to turn the stove off and take Ulli out for us.

Graphic!!

Once Norah and Ben were secured in the side by side, Ava drove home  she rounded the corner into our neighborhood and hit the first bend in the road, but somehow the side by side fish tailed, rock and then careened to its side dragging and trapping Ava’s left foot and ankle.  When the dust settled, Norah and Ben were dangling from their belts while Ava was trapped.  

Ben unbuckled and climbed out, while Ava pressed Norah’s buckle to release her.  Both kids were out when a neighbor who had heard the crash rushed out and immediately called 911. The 30+ minutes it took for the fire truck and ambulance to arrive were grim.  Ava remained trapped while Ben and Norah were forced to watch helplessly.

A jack was used and after a few unsuccessful tries propped up the side by side so Ava could get out.  The lengthy wait started out pretty uncomfortable, but Ava’s foot went numb and didn’t come back to feeling for quite some time.  Once she was free, she was placed on a stretcher in the ambulance where they tried to get the bleeding under control and comfort Ava.

Ava continued to be brave until I got there when she finally cried for a minute.  The fireman pushed the side by side up and drove it off to the side while I gave my info to the sheriff. He told me that technically, since Ava was not 16 and was driving a street legal vehicle on a road, she was in violation. He did not cite us, and wished us the best. 

Accident!

Today was a scary day for our family. Kyle it out of town and I was in Ogden with Jack, so Ava was tasked with picking Norah and Ben up from the bus stop. The bus stop is a mile and a half and 500 feet below our house making the walk on the narrow windy road a bad idea for two kids.  Ava has picked them up multiple times in our side by side and was happy to help today too.

I was waiting at Jack’s basketball practice when I received a call from a neighbor. Norah ended up being on the phone and explained in an upset voice that an accident had happened and Ava was hurt badly. I tried to stay calm and assured Norah I was on my way home and that I loved her and was glad she was ok. 

When I got to the scene, at the entrance of neighborhood, there was a fire truck, and ambulance and a sheriff truck. I parked at the end of the line and ran down to the scene where Norah and Ben were wrapped in blankets sitting rocks with neighbors comforting them. Ava was in the back of an ambulance receiving a lot of attention and care. 

I hugged everyone and talked to the police and firefighters before getting Ava situated in our car with everyone else.  We raced to the newest ER and in spite of a rough ride, Ava maintained her strong demeanor and was wheeled into a room that was waiting for her. The paramedics said Norah and Ben needed to get checked out at the ER as well, so Jack got picked up by a friend while the rest of us stayed together in a room at the ER. 

Bangers & Mash!

Since Kyle will be in MI for St. Patrick’s Day, he spent the day making these Irish sausages from scratch while Ava made some Irish soda bread and I seasoned the potatoes!!  Nana and Papa are here, so they were spoiled and even inspired to make Irish soda bread for their Irish feast on Wednesday. 

Pi day!!

These two were in the kitchen ALL day, and part of last night!  The crust on this peach cobbler pie was made from scratch and the filling was frozen peaches topped with an amazing crumble!!  We are all enjoying their skills today!!

Computer Guy

Ben is into computers!  Today, his need for a screen was to work on his board game. He needed to see the inspiration image to replicate it best on his board!!

Brace Face!!

This morning was exciting around here!  First thing Jack did was eat a whole apple on the way to the orthodontist office!  He got his braces put on and headed back to school after eating a mint milkshake.  He is going to his friend’s house after school, hopefully they will distract him from all the discomfort!!

 

We The Champs!!

Jack’s club team went on to win the championship game of their league, one that boasts team from neighboring states!  These guys have really grown to trust one another and have put in the work necessary to play at this level, together. I’m so happy for Jack, I hope we can find an equally great team for Ben to play with. 

Undefeated!

This team played 6 games in a row and didn’t lose a single one!  Each game they played, the won in 2 and never had to go to a third match!  Fun to see them succeed against their peers; they’ve been playing against 14 year old teams and it has been tough competition!  Kyle and I watched some of the tournament and then snuck off for dinner at Pies & Fries; Kyle ordered a red curry chicken pizza with some chili verde fries while I had some Alfredo, mozzarella and bacon fries. A fun night for sure!!