You see, Tyler and I had set a goal the first of the year to attend the temple monthly. With work circumstances and a new baby we missed April, May, and June. We were not going to miss July. July 31st was last Saturday and we were at the temple.
Just a few blocks from the temple is a gun store. I shouldn't call it a gun store. It is "the gun store". Tyler's idea of what every gun store in the world should be like. What makes it so perfect? The old Winchesters that line the wall. Tyler has spent many a hours looking, drooling, and scheming over these Winchesters. Last Saturday he was finally able to buy one. And not just anyone. He bought "the one", meaning the only one we could almost afford. Do you know how much those stinkin' old Winchesters go for! Anyways, Tyler was finally able to make a deal on a model 71. But he couldn't bring it home until he sold one of his hand guns, so he actually only put money down on a model 71.
And lets not forget Tallon's gun. My mini Tyler has been saving his pennies for the last six months to buy a gun. He has took on extra chores around the house, shoveled lots of poop, and feed many a baby calf to save $125. Our deal was if he could save half, dad and mom would do the other half. The month of July Tallon had his $125, so we ordered his gun and it came in yesterday.
Hence the reasons for our trip today.
To make it so everyone got a special day we decided to add the zoo in for the twins'. We stole cousin Carter early this morning and we were off. But we didn't make it very far in one stretch. We stopped a lot for this.
Who's idea was it to potty train and plan a trip out of town! It was an interesting drive to say the least. After 4 potty stops, 17 rounds of random songs, and counting 16 17 18 19 20 about 50 times, we finally made it to Idaho Falls and our first stop was the zoo. This was Van's first trip to the zoo and here is his picture to capture the memory.
The four older boys: Carter, Tallon, Orrin, and Vivin
The goats are always a big hit. Carter did not like the "daddy goats" so Tyler went in with the boys to offer protection if needed. He ended up carrying Carter most of the time, but it was worth it for some good Carter hugs.
Orrin
Tallon
As close as Carter wanted to get to the goats head. Too funny
Carter, Vivin, Orrin and Tallon 
Orrin and a chicken
Vivin
Tallon
Carter
Tyler's and my view for most of the day. Just perfect.
Carter was so excited to see "Mr. the Camels". What a bummer that they were off in the corner where we couldn't really see them. Orrin and Vivin called them "the Big Ducks". 
The boys loved to watch the Lions
Van was obviously thrilled with his first zoo experience.
My four sons. Orrin, Van, Tallon, and Vivin
We were all starving after the zoo so lunch was next. We actually had four boys completely quiet for 10 mins. Heaven. This is one content baby when he has a full tummy.
And now the moment we all had been waiting for. The GUNS!!This place has put a lot of smiles on the faces of Hansen boys.
Going in ...
and coming out. Look at how proud Tallon is. Love it. 
Happiness is owning your first lever action .22...
and finally having a model 71 to put in your safe.
Of course the first thing we did was go shooting! Here is Tallon shooting his gun for the first time.
Orrin taking a turn.
Vivin loves it when we go shooting.
Carter even decided to give it a try.
Doesn't his smile just melt you.
Tyler pulling his trigger for the first time. This little beauty is a bit expensive to shoot. $3 a shot. Needless to say, he didn't get to pull the trigger to many times.
Later that night, when we were hanging out and spending some of the evening with Tyler's family, Tyler's phone rang. He motioned for me to come over as he was hanging up and told me that it was Brian who had just called and that my dad had just been in a car accident. He was on his way to Afton in the ambulance and we were to meet him at the hospital. I gave some quick instructions about Van to Sherri and we were off. As we were pulling onto the highway the ambulance went by with its lights going. I was sick to my stomach. Why were they using the lights? It must be really bad. There is no way that this is okay. All these thoughts and more were just swimming through my mind. We pulled up to the hospital with the ambulance and when they pulled him out of the back strapped to the back board I just wanted to cry. He was covered in blood and had no smile, which is rare for my dad. My mom was able to ride in the ambulance with him and she told us that he was going to be okay. He had a good gash on his head, which explained the blood, and they were concerned about his neck so they wanted to do some X-rays. After they got him cleaned up and examined they let me go back to see him. He had his smile on by then which made me feel better. His head was cut long and deep and they were just starting to stitch him up. He was joking and giving the doctor a bad time which was a good sign.
The story is such: My dad was coming up Dana street and turning on to Muddy String Rd when a guy blew through the intersection and hit his truck right behind the drivers door. The guy was on drugs and drunk and had no idea that there was even an intersection. He hit my dad so hard that it spun his truck around almost a full 180 degrees. The bailer jack and log chain that were in the back were found 150 feet up the road. The frame of the truck was broke. The back axle was twisted all weird and there was junk all over the road. The guy that hit him had to be cut out of his truck but only had minors injuries, thank goodness. He was quite vocal and threatening to kill everyone if they called the cops and he only got louder as the night went on. It was scary listening to him carry on. I am so glad he hit a big truck and not some little car because he would have killed someone.
A scan of my dads neck showed that his 3rd vertebra was broken. He has to wear a neck brace 24 7 for the next 8 weeks. Thank goodness he doesn't need surgery. At 10:00 that night he walked out of the hospital and at 10:05 he was sitting in my living room eating pizza. How thankful I am that he wasn't seriously hurt.
Here is a great look at his 13 stitches.
The picture makes him look terrible. Morphine will do that to you. 
It totaled the truck. If the impact would have been on the drivers door we would likely be planing a funeral, which is a very terrifying thought. 
Seriously, what a day. Let hope we don't have another one like it anytime soon.
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