This has been a trying summer, to say the least, for our family.  Jeremy started us off with a bang (almost literally) when he was hit by a boulder on Mt Nebo in the middle of June.  Since then he's spend countless hours on the couch willing his leg to heal in time for him to run a half marathon in September. It should have worked out that way, except that his pain wasn't going away, he was making very slow progress walking and regaining his knee's range of motion has been excruciatingly painful.  For a month the doctor he was working with couldn't do much because the swelling was so bad.  Finally a couple of weeks ago Jeremy was able to have an MRI, the result of which was the finding of a torn ACL in his knee, and even worse--surgery.  Since then Jeremy has had his ups and downs. I have had my ups and downs. The kids have had their ups and downs.  For the most part I think we're just tired of being home all of the time.  Last week we decided to do something about that.

Last Sunday we decided to go up to American Fork Canyon for a short (very short) hike.  Jeremy's soul craves the outdoors like mine craves quiet time in my studio, so even though there is some risk of injury, Jeremy really needed to get out.  We had a great time walking on the Timpooneke trail and throwing rocks into the stream. Alex and Kaitlin are master rock finders and throwers, but this time, to spice things up a bit, Jeremy started finding big rocks for the kids to throw.  They wanted to see if they could splash me as I sat on the little footbridge taking pictures of them.  Alex especially thought it was hilarious when a got splashed.

Here are some photos of the day.

Here he is--the invalid, all wrapped, braced and ready to go.

You have to click on this photo to enlarge it!  It's the only way to get the full effect of the wildflowers.  I used to think that April and May were the best time to see wildflowers in the mountains.  Now I know better.  It's July.

The windup.

Show off!

Kaitlin would have freaked out if she got this dirty.  Alex just wanted to find ways to get dirtier.

See what I mean?

Apparently Kaitlin doesn't mind being dirty now.  She just loves the outdoors.

This weekend we went to Park City for a little getaway.  After six weeks of very painful rehab, Jeremy can walk again.  This Thursday he's having ACL surgery, which means at least two more weeks with very limited movement.  He needed a little change in scene.  More on that later.  I hope your weekends were great!