4H state judging meet

 This last weekend the girls participated in the state judging meet for 4h in Redmond, Oregon.  I still can't believe that all 3 of my girls made the state judging team! 

Great job ladies!

State Equestrian meet

 We made it to Redmond on Wednesday and left late Saturday.  It sure was a long meet!  We were all exhausted by the time we got home!  

Lilly wasn't feeling very well so we brought Finn and Dakota instead. 

 Standing around waiting for a team member to perform!

 Getting ready for working pairs

 Team ribbon building!

 Finn.... all cleaned up!

 Ava thought is was very hot... she wasn't feeling so great. :-(

 Almost ready for drill!

 Ready!

 Mr Dakota was feeling tired

And.... It was mother's day by the time we got back.   The girls made me a delicious cheesecake and some absolutely beautiful cards. :-)

Date night with the twins!

We all enjoyed a little ice cream from Zoey's Cafe! Ava was able to eat some too! :-)

Poor Ava...

 Miss Ava took a really bad fall from a hanging swing rope at our barn.  We estimated that she fell 8-10 and landed on concrete.  This was by far the scariest medical emergency that I have experienced with my own children.  We I first found Ava on the concrete she was talking gibberish and couldn't close her mouth.  She also had one arm held up with her fingers kinda curled inward and it was very rigid (I know it as posturing). This can be a sign of a brain or spinal cord injury.  I told Lucy to "go get Poppa" as it was one of the very few times I was at the barn without my phone.  She ran to the house, which is about 700 feet uphill, but he was at the shop.  She came running down with Maddie who was on the phone with Chris.  By the time Chris got down to the barn Ava was mentally coming around a bit.  She was complaining of jaw pain, wrist pain, chin pain, and numbness and tingling in her extremities.  She also very nauseous.  We held c-spine and called 911.  The ambulance came and took her to the hospital where I work.  She was assessed by a number of doctors and nurses and was sent off for a CT scan and x-rays.  The result of those tests revealed that Ava broke and displaced her jaw on both sides and she broke both of her wrists.  The doctor consulted with a neuro surgeon who said that Ava needed an MRI to clear her head and spine due to the mechanism of injury. We didn't have to wait too long and thankfully her MRI was clear.  The doctor also consulted with a pediatric oral surgeon in Portland who recommended that she been seen right away by an specialized oral surgeon locally.  We went home from the ER around 230am and tucked poor Ava into bed in our bedroom so that we could monitor her.  

At 7am the next day we received a phone call from the oral surgeon.  He wanted us to come in right away that morning.  I took Ava to the doctor and he did further imaging of her jaw.  (At this point Ava still could not close her mouth).  He said that he needed to admit her to the hospital for a surgery to put her jaw back in place and wire it completely shut.  We went to hospital around noon and she went in for her procedure at 130.  I felt so incredibly bad for Ava who was so, so scared,  yet she was being so incredibly strong!  The procedure was successful and we were able to go home around 6pm.  Ava has to have her mouth wired shut for 1 week and then we will re-evaluate.  She will not be able to chew anything for 6 weeks while her jaw heals and then she will likely have braces to correct her bite. 

On Tuesday we saw the orthopedic hand specialist and he confirmed that Ava did indeed break both wrists... she completely fractured both radius bones.  She has two purple casts to support her wrists and will have those on for the next 5-6 weeks.  

We are so incredibly thankful that Ava's injuries were not worse.  We know that she was badly injured but this is a healing step in her life and not a permanent and life altering event.  Thank you God!

 This photo was taken after her mouth was wired shut. 

 Learning to drink her food.

 Trying for healthy options... avocado mango smoothie.

 Learning to drink from a straw!

 Ouch....

 All of the smoothies I made were too thick for Ava to drink.  She needed to drink water like consistency drinks... We shall try a bunch of different flavors!

 Ava's mouth.... She can open her lips a bit!  Progress!

 Getting her casts!

Oh sweet Ava.... I do love you! 

Update

Remember this photo from February when I couldn't spill the beans?  Well, I can now!  Lucy auditioned for America's Got Talent with a beautiful song choice of Hallelujah.  She passed three levels of producer cuts!  Unfortunately she did not make the next level but we are still SO proud of her!

Look who got her permit!

Easter

 We had a very relaxing Easter this year.  We started the day with a beautiful church service in Lithia Park foll wed by a handful of baptisms in the creek.  We stayed home the rest of the day and enjoyed our little family and celebrating Easter.

Spa day in the rain!

 Ashland has some crazy weather sometimes.  It was raining off and on and then suddenly it poured for a really long time!  The girls had so much fun in the spa while drinking milkshakes under the umbrella.  Silly girls!