Monument

We are in Monument, Colorado, just outside of Colorado Springs visiting Jeremy's mother, grandmother, sister, brother and family for the holiday. So far it's been an interesting trip, a very interesting trip. The weather is beautiful and the views spectacular and the events... freaky.

The drive was VERY long, very, very long and I think that by the time I may actually feel rested again it's going to be time to head back. Helena perfected screaming the phrase "I don't want to buckle!" over and over again. We were all ready to be out of the car long before we arrived. It had snowed the day before we got here but warmed up quickly. Still there were spots where the sun had not melted the snow away so on Sunday we went to tabogin (sp?) hill and the girls got to try tabogining (is that a word?) for the first time and loved it. The snow was still there on Monday so we went again for a bit. Helena's not a huge fan, two or three times down the hill was enough for her but Ophelia, Lavinia, Jeremy and I couldn't get enough. But it was on tabogin hill that tragedy struck: Jeremy lost his wedding ring in the snow during a snow ball fight. We searched for a while but couldn't find it any where. Shortly after, I left to take a cold and bored Helena back to the house while Jeremy and the girls stayed to play. About 90 minutes later the three of them come walking through the door with a very upset Ophelia sporting a bloody mouth... She and Lavinia had run straight into a tree. After some examination and Nurse Aunt Anna-Lynne's observation, we decided we needed to see a dentist. Ophelia had hit the tree with her face, catching it in the mouth. It looked as though there was tree bark embedded in her gum above her front teeth. Grandma Weber got us an appointment with her dentist for three that afternoon and it turned out that she did indeed have tree bark in her gum. Dr. Jones cleaned her up and when we asked about the missing tooth that hadn't come in since she lost the baby tooth in June he told us that sometimes a new tooth can seem to push through the gum and they will have to make a small surgical cut in the gum to let the tooth come through. He thought this was the case with Ophelia and upon closer examination said that was indeed the case but that surgery was no longer needed as when she hit the tree the tooth cut trough the gum on it's own and should be "erupting" any day now. We'll have to go back and thank that tree. Her other tooth (a permanent one) is a bit loose after running into the tree and she was told she has to stop sucking her thumb so that it can heal and be secure again, we're praying that it will take just a little bit of time before that is healed completely or it could mean some dental surgery in her future (he scared me when he mentioned root canal...). Over-all we had good news from the dentist, she should be fine, she'll have some pain, sure after all she did catch a tree with her face but fine.

While Ophelia and I were at the dentist, Jeremy and Anna-Lynne went searching for his wedding ring with a metal detector and... found it! It was lying in some grass some 20 feet from where he felt it come off. We're grateful that he was able to find it, his ring, like mine, is an antique and very unusual, there's no way we could replace it.

It's been a very interesting trip so far and lots of fun. We will be back in Houston Saturday evening. Hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!