First Day of School...

This year was a little bit hard for me as we approached the first day of school.  I tried not to think about it too much but it was blaring in the headlights at me.  This would be Josh's last "first day of school" and Meili's first.  Hard to think about Josh's last and hard to see my sweet little girl start Kindergarten.  But it's still always fun.  There's something about starting fresh....new crayons, crisp paper, brand new pencils, fresh pressed clean clothes, the excitement in the air.  So here's the pics.....Josh 12th grade, Abi 9th grade, Nick 6th grade (starting middle school), J.D. 4th grade, and Meili Kindergarten.  JD was super excited as he was chosen to be on Youth 2000 this year.  It's such a great experience and so fun.  Their theme this year is "Is It In You?"  His gatorade shirt is their shirt and they helped greet all the kids  on the first day and helped the kindergarteners find their classes.   He was SO cute with Meili.  I had a friend spying for me.  I put Meili on the bus and it surprised me but she was a little reluctant....especially since JD had to be their early.  So she was a little nervous but my friend said JD was at the bus doors before they even opened to get her.  And he put his little arm around her and helped her so she wouldn't trip on the curb and took her all the way to her class.  Thank goodness for good big brothers!

Work hard and stay on task kiddies!!!

Summer Fun Coming To A Close....

We had a great summer this year and I'm always super sad to see it end.  It always seems like I just get warm when it's time to turn cold again.  We started early with the flip flops at Bear Lake....obviously a little too early.  But soon we were enjoying warm summer days at Bear Lake, pool parties at the neighbors, various camps, lots of fun activities over July holidays, even right down to the simplest things such as eating a popsicle on a hot afternoon or having your big sister set up a tea party photo shoot.  All too soon it seems like August is here and its time to get back into school mode.  It's a good thing I love Fall so much and it definitely gives me some time to adjust to the fact that winter is right around the corner.  

Meili's 6th Birthday...

Meili's only request this year was to spend her birthday in Bear Lake.  That was not a problem.  Since it was also Raspberry Days that weekend, my family planned to come spend a fun-filled weekend with us.  Russel and I decided to come the night before and bring the three little kids with us.  We thought it would be super fun to go down to the KOA and rent a 6-person bike and ride around town.  It was a little harder than we thought since Russel and I were pretty much the man power.  We kept telling the kids to start pulling their weight and get pedaling!  JD kept complaining a little that his heart was hurting.  Well he's definitely a little athlete so I'm just thinking he's being lazy.  I kept telling him to get his groove on and get moving.

Well after about an hour we returned the bike and went for snow cones.  The best snow cones in all of Bear Lake.  Yum!  Anyway, JD kept saying his heart was going so fast and I kept brushing him off.  Finally I put my hand to his chest and realized his heart was thumping out of his little body.  Russel timed it and it was going at about 220 beats per minute ( I hate to think how fast it must have been going while we were yelling at him to pedal harder....poor kid....mother of the year).  We took them home and decided to just watch him and see if it calmed down after a bit.  My family arrived that evening and he was still just a thumping as fast as it could possibly go.  Russel decided if it was still going fast in the morning, we would have to take him down and do an EKG.  And of course the day was Meili's big day.

We woke up to him still complaining and not looking great in his coloring.  So we took off for Logan.  His EKG was a total mess, bundle branch blocks, dysrhythmias, etc.  Needless to say it was a bit concerning.   Russel decided to do a strep test to see if he was having a strange reaction to strep.  It was positive for strep and we gave him a big old booster shot in the patootie.  Russel didn't dare have me take him back to Logan so we spent the day in Logan away from Meili and no one was happy about that....including JD.

We felt so bad to miss almost the entire day of celebration but when we finally got back to the cabin, I realized Grandma and Gina had treated Meili like a princess all day long and planned lots of fun activities.  She had a wonderful day and there was lots of fun to be had with the cousins.    It's crazy to think we have had this sweet angel home for 3 short years.....but feel like she has been with us forever.  We are so grateful for her special spirit in our home and her enthusiasm for life!  There is a never a dull moment with her and she brings light and life wherever she goes!  Love you sweet girl!  Happy 6th Birthday.

As far as JD goes, all turned out okay and his EKG eventually normalized.  He's had a couple more episodes similar....all related to strep.  It's still a little nerve wracking and we will probably need to follow up on that and make sure all is well.  Pretty strange reaction to strep.  He should be in the medical books!!