Ok...so I am trying to go back, because summer was largely a difficult blurr.  We definitely had some highlights, though, and I would like to remember those.
     We had a really fun weekend that had been planned by Rosella Talbot and Mindy Hardy.  They had reserved a resort, and had come up with a lot of fun activities for the kids and the moms to do.  The resort was old, and german-ish.  The room that they gave me had an old jetted tub, and a lovely canopy bed.  It was very nice.  The kids were supposed to sleep in a different building, and the other building had a cool little ice cream parlor attached.   Well, the first night that we were there Mo came running down some stairs that led to the kitchen...really an odd set of stairs in an odd place.  They were extremely steep, and he fell...right off the bat.  That first night he and I ended up pacing the halls as he cried.  His wrist was hurting.  The next day, Marylynn and I went to the temple and the kids had a day full of activities, but when I returned, Rosella had watched Moroni all day with his wrist, and felt like it was broken.  I had suspected the same thing, and so I ran him into an instacare in Ephraim a few miles up the road.  And, sure enough, they wrapped it, stuck it in a sling and sent me on my way.  I was also told that the sling would suffice, and a cast wasn't really necessary. We had a lot of fun, a masseusse showed up and gave massages to the mom's and the kids had fun with their cousins.  On the last night, Oak got the stomach flu, and threw up most of the night.  We headed home for that reason, and also because Jamie had a date in Cedar with a Bunkerville boy the next day.  Jerusha bawled most of the ride home, because she was not ready to leave.  I cannot say that I was really patient with her, and it is totally something I need to work on.  She has a tendency not to roll with the punches that life so often throws at me.  It usually causes conflict.
     Ok, so we get back home, and after a few days, we were all in bed with the lovely stomach bug that Oak had gotten.  It had been a horrible night, with kids throwing up, and me sick too.  I got a frantic phone call from Lisa early that morning.  Ammon had called her, and told her that Ryan had been severly beaten and taken from the jail.  There had been a lot of pressure being placed on Ryan to allow the prosecution to remove the bullet from his arm.  He had not agreed to their terms, and they had been quite nasty about the whole thing.  Ammon had witnessed them beat Ryan up because he had "court" that day.  No one had court, and it was obvious that they were going to probably knock Ryan out, and have the bullet removed as he slept.  These are my theories, but they are really the only ones that make any kind of sense.  The patriot community was throwing a huge fit.  Phone numbers were shared on facebook, and immediately, people began making angry phone calls...all day long we called, and tried to figure out what was going on.  Congressman Hardy got involved and he apparently was calling Congressmen in Oregon.  I was a nervous wreck, my sick kids were crying, and I didn't know for sure what they were doing to Ryan.  I didn't trust them to say the least.  I got on the phone with Captain Peterson and told him that I wanted to hear from Ryan, and Ryan only.  I didn't even want to take Lisa Ludwig's word for it.  I wanted to hear from my husband.  I didn't put it past them to kill him.  Not at all, they had already attempted to kill him once.  Kelli Stewart ( I will forever be grateful to her for her bravery) went to the jail and demanded to see him.  She brought a group of people with her, and claimed that she would not leave the jail until he was able to call home, or until she could see him with her own eyes.  Pressure was put on them from every direction.  Finally, I was at the ranch, doing a live interview with Gavin Seim, when he called.  They had beaten him up, his knee was knocked out, his wrist was broken, his thumb was broken, and he was bruised up, but he was alive.  He had been taken to the courthouse, and had sat in a cell the whole entire day.  What a ridiculous nightmare, and honestly, they had been placing so much pressure on him to have that bullet removed, I have no doubts they were going to force him into it.  All of the public pressure saved him that day.  I am sure of it.  Thank goodness we have supporters and people who care.  That is what will save America.  There are people who still care and want to save it.
     After they beat him up, they decided to discipline him further by throwing him in the hole.  This is way hard on him, and way difficult for us too.  That means he gets one fifteen minute out for the day, and he always used it to call me.  But, at that point he wouldn't have time to shower or shave or anything of that sort.  That means no interaction with Dad for our kids, and that takes it's toll quickly.  If he can at least have scripture study and prayer with us over the phone....it makes a huge difference in our home.  It settles the kids down and reassures them that their dad still cares and will be coming home for them.
     He wasn't in the hole long before jury selection began.  So, at that point, he was at least in the courtroom for most of the day for weeks on end.  I was able to fly up and be there for the first week of trial.  Margaret flew up and back with me, and it was so nice to have her company.  Lisa and Sarah met us, and Jason Patrick and his sister ended up sharing a suite with us too.  Lisa and I were thankful that the jail allowed us to visit our husband's after the hearings during the days we were there.  I would instruct Sarah to go get us a donut, and a plate of M&M's and Sar never did fail to deliver.  Ha ha!  There was another funny incident where Jason went down to breakfast, and attempted to bring his sister up a plate of food...well, we had already left at that point, and the door to our room was locked.  He didn't know what to do with the food, and so he sat it by the elevator door, and came and joined us in the lobby.  We all walked to court after that point.
     Just some of my thoughts from court.  Ryan was making a fabulous, and very hot attorney.  Really, all of the prayers were being answered because he was doing just fine.  Sheriff Ward seemed annoyed that he had to deal with controversy in his little county.  He would have liked it if Ammon had just stayed away, and not noticed the Hammond's and their plight.  The story of the Hammond's had resonated far and wide across the country, and people sent emails, and signed petitions, which he completelyl ignored.  He ignored their redress of grievances with thousands of signatures...he just seemed weak to me.  Unsure of his roll and his abilities as a sheriff.  He claimed that he was the Supreme Law of the land, but then said that he could do nothing about federal orders.  Well, that makes all kinds of sense.
     Butch Eaton was their next witness, and this was where a miracle occured.  When Butch was cross examined, he got choked up, and claimed that Ammon and Ryan had left beautiful families to fight a fight for his neighbor...they were only doing things that he should have done himself.  He talked about what great and honorable men they were, and that the only time he was intimidated or threatened was when the FBI came to his house.  They told him that he should be very concerned about his own well being, and the well being of his family.  They also demoted, or fired his wife, and told her that she was not allowed to have the opinions about the case that she did.  Sounds like sweet freedom to me??  Butch had us all in tears, and we went and hugged and thanked him.  I had also spent some time talking with Todd Mcfarlane, who is an attorney out of Kanab.  He told me that Ryan was doing a wonderful job representing himself, and that made me feel way better about that whole situation.