Whole lot a' Link

Since Russ has been home the last couple days, he insisted that I update the blog with pictures of Link instead of him. So here is a whole bunch of pictures of our summer adventures!

Link sporting some shades...
Link loves to be a big boy and feed himself! Mommy loves it too!!

For three years I haven't been able to celebrate my birthday because I've been at school ALL day long for my Master's program. So this year I made sure we CELEBRATED! Russ and I went to Color Me Mine and made bowls for each other.
Russ loved Color Me Mine!!! He made me a cookie bowl! :)Link loves hanging out at grandma's house!
Link's first Popsicle! He loved holding it all by himself!
Link LOVES dogs! At the Fourth of July parade he followed this dog around the entire time!
He has spent a lot of time with mommy this summer! This is Link and I on my Anniversary. He was a good substitute! :)
He will stop and smile for the camera. That's when you know we take too many pictures of him!
He loves CARS and anything with WHEELS! He loves to be a big boy and drive things like this lawnmower at Grandma Ferry's.
I've been working summer school so Link gets to spend some days with daddy and they like to go on walks and get chicken nuggets!
Here's Link sporting his CAR pajamas. He LOVES his pajamas and always says "car car" and points to the cars on his tummy.

On the mend...

Russ is doing good and continuing to heal. On Sunday his entire body was sore/aching. Today his neck and back are feeling better but his knee is feeling worse. He's walking better now but his legs definitely got the brunt of the wreck. We'll have to wait a couple more days to see if he needs to go in for an MRI on his knee. Here's a picture and,as always, the picture does not do justice to how his legs really look.
Neal A Maxwell said: "Trials and tribulation tend to squeeze the artificiality out of us, leaving the essence of what we really are and clarifying what we really yearn for."
Through the trials Russ and I have gone through, I've been so blessed to see more and more the incredible man that Russ is. He continues to worry about and care about others and not himself. He doesn't complain and is always so optimistic. Everyone told me that when the ambulance arrived at the hospital and Russ was wheeled out on a stretcher, he was smiling and waving like a celebrity. He didn't want the parents there to be worried and tried to ease their concern. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to be married to such an incredible man.

We are also very grateful for our bishop and members of our ward. Our bishop stayed at the hospital and waited until everyone was released. The other ward members at the hospital were so concerned for all the individuals involved. We were touched by their selflessness and love.

Russ Russ

This post was going to be an Anniversary post about the last three years and how Russ was at Scout Camp so I spent our Anniversary with Lincoln instead... But it will now be about Russ's drive home from scout camp.

Russ has been at scout camp all week four hours from home. They went rafting and boating and cliff jumping and fishing, etc. etc. I was terrified all week because scout camp is notorious for accidents so I prayed all week long that Russ would come home alive. I know that sounds a little crazy... but my prayers were answered. They were on their way home Saturday afternoon and were ONE exit away from home when they went over a hill. Right over the hill is an on-ramp where a semi was getting on the freeway. Apparently, a truck had cut the semi off so the semi had to slam on its breaks so was almost at a complete stop on the freeway. As the truck Russ was in came over the hill, they saw the semi, slammed on their breaks, and tried to swerve into the other lane but they were too close and smashed into the semi probably going about 60 mph. This was the truck.

Russ was in the passenger side. The dash came down and trapped his legs and he had to pull himself out and one of the young men in the back. All five individuals in the accident walked away from it. For that, we will be FOREVER grateful! They all have scrapes and bruises and had to go to the hospital for x-rays but they are all okay. Lincoln was SO EXCITED to see his daddy! He had no idea what was going on but hung out with daddy in the ER. Russ has a bunch of scrapes and bruises and his neck and back are really sore. The x-ray of his knee looked okay but they don't know if anything was torn. We'll have to wait it out about a week and see.

There were so many tender mercies that happened around this accident. Here are just a few:
-Besides the truck directly behind them after the crash, the next two vehicles were a state trooper and an ER nurse. They just HAPPENED to be the next cars that came by!
-Another truck was supposed to be pulling the trailer but the lights didn't work on his truck so the truck Russ was in was pulling the trailer. The weight of the trailer possibly could have stopped the truck from rolling which would have resulted in more serious injuries.
-All of the individuals in the car were wearing their seat belts (which saved their lives)
-The dash came down and Russ's legs were stuck. Had another car ran into the back of them, Russ would have lost his legs. I am so grateful that the truck behind them was able to pull over to the side of the road before hitting them.
-Russ just happened to have volunteered at an ER for a year during college and all of his training and experience there kicked in and he tried to remain calm, think of other things, and ask others questions so he wouldn't go into shock.
-The state trooper and ambulance workers said in a crash like this they are usually looking at serious injuries and death.
-The state trooper asked Russ if he was in the passengers seat then told him how lucky he was to be alive.

I am so grateful that my prayers were answered and that my husband made it home from scout camp. I am also so grateful for all the prayers that have been given in his behalf. I am so humbled for all the prayers that have been given for our family over the past couple years and am so grateful that I have BOTH of my BOYS at home with me today.