Thoughts...

This past weekend I have been thinking about people that have shown great courage and strength to me.

My brother that sustained a massive brain injury in a car accident about 13 years ago was in the hospital for a brain bleed last weekend. He is such an inspiration to me with all that he has gone through these years from multiple brain surgeries, physical therapy, medications and the list goes on. He has been rather healthy for the last 5 years with no major hospital stays. So, when he woke up this past Thursday and could not move his left hand and then we were told that he had a hemorrhage in his brain. We all suddenly were alarmed and did not know what would be the outcome of this event. I was so thankful that I was able to go to Boise and be with him.

His hemorrhage has now stopped after slightly increasing in the amount of blood for 2 days and now he is going to be doing physical therapy with the left hand to help with the paralysis. He still does not have function of that hand, but we are thinking positively that he will regain it back. During his hospital stay he was his normal self, easy going and funny self. I am so blessed to have him in my life to remind me of courage and to continue to press on no matter how hard things may be.

When Carter found out that Corey was in the hospital he immediately said that we needed to go see him and make sure he is okay. Carter was very inquisitive about everything in the room and most concerned about the IV in his hand.
The kids in their bed at the hotel room.

I think Corey was thankful that the bed was his protective shield from the kids jumping all over him. It drives Corey crazy when Carter wants to jump on him to give him a hug.

The other person I have been thinking about is my dear friend Erika. She passed away last month and I have been having hard time coming to terms that she is no longer here with us. I was not able to make it to her funeral so it just feels like I have not had closure. As time has gone on I have been thinking about her and what she had gone through. I know that she battled with cancer for 3 years, but I feel I cannot say that she lost her battle with it. I just think that Heavenly Father needed her more than we did. During her battle with cancer she showed great courage and strength and I will always lean on that strength. I will always remember her will to move forward and just take on those cards that are pulled out from under us and continue to shine. She will always hold a special place in my heart!

This photo was taken last summer at Lagoon. We had the best time there together! One of my favorite memories of that day was when we put the dads in charge of the kids and we escaped to ride all the big rides and chatted about life and all the good things.

Carter, Macie and Erika on the log ride at Lagoon.

Finally, it can be summer vacation...

Ashlynn ended her dancing with Expressions Dance with their finale concert. All the kids did so well! Ashlynn had a tumbling act in her snazzy striped socks costume. Those kids were doing all sorts of stunts during their routine, it made me tired watching them. Then she performed a ballet routine in her cute white and pink tutu. It was called their Happy Birthday dance. Ashlynn also participated in a singing portion of the concert. She belted out the songs and knew all her words. Lastly, she performed in the finale dance. I have to say that Ashlynn is amazing when it comes to high stress. I was the chaperone parent backstage with their class assisting them with costume changes and I never had to help her out, she was always where she needed to be and dressed in the right costume. I sometimes even forgot that she was back there while getting all the other kids ready. Ashlynn had a great year with some amazing teachers and we are sad that we have to find a new place to take dance.




If finally feels like it is summer vacation! We have been tied to schedules everywhere we go from baseball, teeball and Ashlynn's dance schedules on top of moving. We are finally free and we don't have to commute to Bountiful everyday! It has been an exhausting 2 weeks. We have about 3 weeks before the kids are back in school and we are going to be busy having fun and doing whatever we feel like it with no schedules. Here we come Lagoon...and water activities!

He's our hero...

What can I say about this man..just that he is our kids number one hero and I think he is pretty special too! The kids just adore him and they have such a good time together. When Matt is around you can guarantee there is going to be laughter especially between Ashlynn and him. Those two understand each other's jokes and then Carter and I just follow along and pretend we understand what their talking about. I am so grateful for him and all that he brings to our small family. We love you!

We had his favorite dish BBQ ribs for dinner and then while Matt got to take a nap the kids and I made these fun BBQ cupcakes.

We made it!!

Ashlynn and Carter's beds were taken down so we spent our last night in our old house in sleeping bags on the floor. The kids thought it was fun.

Here are the kids being goofy at the new house. We are loving the area that we are in and getting to know all the neighborhood kids very quickly. It surprises me who is coming and going through our house. The weekend we moved in, if we left the door open we had some kid looking around and later a parent looking for their kid. Very different from where we moved from. The kids are loving all the new kids to play with.

Please, no more doctor visits...

On top of moving last week we had a week of doctors visits. Some expected and one that was not. Carter had a eye doctor screening to see if he needed glasses and after waiting 3.5 hours we were told he does not need glasses. He was slightly disappointed because he wanted to be like daddy. Both kids ended the week at the dentist with No Cavities! Wahoo! Let just say we have had a our share of doctor visit waiting times.

Ashlynn had her 5 year check up visit and was not happy about getting her kindergarten shots. Although, she is so excited for school to start she was willing to get the shots.

Poor Carter, he had a bad respiratory reaction to paint fumes and almost landed him at night in the hospital. We had been painting the new house for last week and half and for some reason he had respiratory reaction the last day we painted. He was breathing very rapidly with his tummy, he could not catch his breath. I had him try to rest and lay down thinking it could be an anxiety attack, but then it just wasn't getting better. When I took him in to the doctor his oxygen saturation was 84-86% and the rest of his vitals were ugly. We stayed at the doctor for 4 hours doing breathing treatments, getting him oral steroids, antibiotics and a chest x-ray. They wanted to admit him because his sats were not improving, but instead we were sent home and told to come back and recheck his vitals in 2 hours. When we returned to the doctor his sats and vitals were much improved. So, we were given the option to go home or stay at the hospital for observation. I chose to go home and I did albuterol treatments every 2 hours through the night. Carter is now completely fine its like it never happened.

Happy 33rd Birthday Matt!!

Matt's birthday was yesterday (6/3). After we were split up between Carter's and Ashlynn baseball and tee-ball games, we celebrated his birthday with his traditional BBQ Kabobs dinner. He picked out his birthday pie (coconut cream). It was a perfect night to have a BBQ because we were eating dinner at 8:00pm. Craig and Gail's family joined us for the good food as well. My cute boys!

This picture is to show Ashlynn's necklace that the coach's wife made all the girls. Ashlynn has to wear it everywhere. It is a 'A" scrabble piece with her picture on it.

Ashlynn was so excited to get her first trophy and team pictures at her award ceremony. She has been showing off her trophy to everyone! Oh, the simple things in life. You have got to love kids because they show true emotion and just explain what life is all about in their emotions.

Home Sweet Home!

This is our new home that we bought on Ashlynn's birthday last week. It is such a cute and cozy home. The house is 9 years old, the sellers built it and added a lot of extras throughout the home and then they moved to Boise. (kind of ironic that we are from Boise). It is a multi-level home with 5 bedrooms and a study located in a culdasac. We feel truly blessed to have found home that we all like and feel really good about. From the very beginning the house felt like our home, it was just meant to be! We are now in the middle of cleaning, painting and packing. We should be all moved in by next weekend.