Other Happenings in Calgary

Most of the rest of our trip to Calgary was a little quieter.  We went to the park, the kids played together, we talked and visited, the kids made crafts. Suzy and I took the kids to the mall while Rebecca and her kids had dentist appointments.  We ate poutine, a traditional Canadian food.  It is french fries with gravy and cheese curds.  Gabby didn't want to try it, but Michelle, Ella and I all loved it.  We also got ice cream from the Marble Slab (which was a lot like Cold Stone).  We were surprised to see that Safeway (a grocery store) and Target were inside the mall.

Michelle had an accident though.  She was riding a bike through the alley and she fell.  She tore up her knee pretty badly and had gravel imbedded in it.  I am not good in situations like these, but thankfully, my sister's next door neighbor, Aubrey, studied sports medicine. She came over and told us what needed to be done and volunteered to do it if we wanted.  So first, she rinsed it repeatedly with saline and wiped off as much dirt and blood as she could.  But there was still gravel in the wound. So she used a toothbrush to scrub the wound and remove the gravel.  Then she used a q-tip and nail clippers to cut off some of the skin that was just barely hanging on so that she could scrub it some more with the toothbrush.  It hurt!  But Michelle was a trooper.  Uncle Nathan let her watch Hop on his I-pad.  He also went to the store and bought her ice cream (and the neighbor brought her over a Dilly Bar.  I sat behind her and held her tightly as Aubrey cleaned the wound and wrapped it.  Nathan applied counter pressure to her ankle to help with the pain.  Michelle breathed deeply and Nathan teased her that she knew just what to do when she has a baby someday.  Then she growled at Nathan...which we all thought was funny, so she did it several more times.  She was a trooper.

Here are pictures of her the next day after we unwrapped it to clean it again. It looks significantly better than it did when it happened, but it still doesn't look pleasant.  But she has been so brave.  Each time it was time to change the bandage, she wanted to change it herself.  And on Monday of this week, it was looking so much better.  It had scabbed over and was really well on the way to healing. But then she tripped and fell and ripped the scab right off and it bled and opened up somewhat again.  Not as badly as the first time, but I still feel bad for her.  But she is brave:

On Sunday, after church, we went to see the Calgary Temple.  When we visited two years ago, it wasn't fisnished yet.  The grounds were closed since it was Sunday, but we were able to walk around and see it and take some photos.  It is up on a hill so we could also see much of Calgary as well.

My sister, Becky, made the girls all matching skirts.  They turned out so cute. 

View of downtown Calgary from the temple.

My sister Suzy.

We had such a good time in Calgary.  I wish we could have stayed longer.  I love spending time with my sisters and brother in law and my nieces and nephew.  It was wonderful.