pinewood derby

jake participated in his first pinewood derby. he and brent had a great time working on the car together. he made sure every detail was just right; down to the whitewall tires.

he won his first heat.he was super excited.
he lost the next two heats, but he was a great sport. i think his car looked fantastic! they are already brainstorming ideas about next years' design.

eli-ism of the day

"How do you make California Rolls?"
"You roll up California."

broken

I sprained my ankle on Monday morning. I was braving the jungles of parenthood and about to walk my son to the end of our terrifying driveway to greet his ride to school. Somehow, as I scaled down the steep climb of our front porch, (THREE WHOLE INCHES) I fell, and sprained my ankle. It hurt, but I was able to get up and walk on it. So I did. I then took Elijah to preschool and Spencer to Tot Lot, where it was my day to work. By the time two hours of being on my feet had passed, I could no longer put any weight on my left foot. So I HOPPED to my car. That's right, I HOPPED; in front of all the other tot lot moms. Apparently, hopping was a bad choice. I got so winded, and my foot hurt so bad that I almost passed out. I went around to the back of my car for some water, and had to lie down in the parking lot in order to clear my head. And yes, all the other tot lot moms are still witnessing this; threatening to call 911. "NOOOOO, not 911, I'll be fine." So, I call Shannon (thanks friend) and she comes to pick up Spencer and she will pick up Eli from preschool. Now I just have to be steady enough to drive home 1 mile. I made it; barely. As I pull in to the garage, I call my other friend Cheryl and she agrees to pick up Jake from school. So I'm good. I can just go inside, ice my foot, take some motrin, and put it up. The problem is, I CAN'T WALK!! It hurts so bad that I am crying like a baby and I have to crawl inside. So I call my sister and she comes over to save me. We call her husband and he tells me that unless a few certain spots cause excruciating pain when touched, it is not broken. Those spots didn't hurt so I was back to ice and motrin.
Jake comes home from school and is so concerned about me. He's crying in empathy, very sweet. then he helps out the rest of the day. so nice.
Fast forward to night time, I am once again CRYING from pain. I finally decide I need to go to the ER. I had borrowed some crutches from a friend, which helped me at least get around. An hour and a half after entering the ER (which is SUPER fast, by the way) I was home, having had an xray, a shot for pain in my bum, and a moon boot and vicodin.
So now its Thursday and I am still hobbling around, but the pain has subsided immensely. I have to wear the boot for at least a week, then go back into orthopedics for a recheck.
Man I wish I had had a more recent pedicure.

jake's baptism

jake was baptized last week. it was a very nice meeting. we sang all of our favorite songs, sister McNary and I gave talks, and jake went "swimming" and yelled "this is fun" while lunging for the stairs. grandma and grandpa zollinger were able to come out for a few days, and we had a great time with them. brent and I are very pleased with jacob's choice to be baptized a member of the Church. and, he looks great in his new suit (thanks grandma briggs).

just before the baptism:
the whole family, don't we look great? even with the poor lighting?
looking angelic it their whites:
while jake and dad got dressed, allison, spencer and elijah helped to lead the music with grandma briggs. we are singing book of mormon stories here.