So Long For Now

Cousin time always comes to an end much too fast.  On their way out of town the Carruths stopped at our house to squeeze in one last hour of play.  Somehow we also managed to get the only picture of all 7 of the kids together.

Christmas Toys

One of the best parts of Christmas is trying out all the new toys in the days following the big unwrapping fest.  Madisen got a pottery wheel that she was nice enough to let everyone try out.  Grandma was nice enough to sit at the table for hours supervising 5 little kids each taking a turn with the machine.  I think it was one of the favorite toys (at least that day).  Caden made a small cup and Eric made a snowman.

Sledding!

If the Carruths are in town from Texas and there is snow on the ground, you better believe there will be snow play time.  Uncle Bill helped the kids build a snowman the rivaled Ryan's from a few weeks ago (what is it with men and huge snowmen?).  Then he made sure everyone got sledding.  I stayed home with the youngest kids while Grandma, Grandpa, and the Aunts and Uncle took Caden and the cousins sledding.  Caden has a need for speed and sledding was right up his alley.

Ouch!

Today was Caden's preschool Christmas program.  He has been practicing rhymes and songs all month getting ready.  Today he wore his Sunday best and Ryan took the morning off work so our whole family could watch the performance.  Caden did an amazing job and was a joy to watch.

On the way back to car afterward I somehow managed to roll my ankle.  On the flat side walk that was completely clear of ice.  It hurt.  A lot.  I hobbled to the car and it hurt even more.  I took stock of the situation and decided it was better to go to insta care while Ryan was still home from work rather than to try to drag 3 kids along with me while I hopped around.  The x-rays showed a cracked bone on my ankle.  They sent me home with a brace, crutches, a pain killer, and instructions to stay off my foot.

The Biggest Snowman Ever!

When mommy helps build snowmen, they top out at about 4 ft.  Daddy, on the other hand, lives by the adage "Go big or go home."  Caden is so proud that he has the biggest snowman on the block.  Eric thought it looked too cold to go outside and help, so he watched the progress from the window.

Kyle's 18 Month Stats

We somehow missed Kyle's 15 month well check.  I guess that is what happens when you have three kids and life gets busy.  We did his 18 month well check today and got his shots all caught up.  He's such a tough kid and doesn't even seemed phased by the pokes.  He is growing well and still at the high end of the charts.

Weight - 24.4 lbs (30%)
Length - 33.5 inches (76%)
Head - 48 cm (56%)

Family Date Night

Every now and then we like to go on family date nights.  Since we have Trafalga passes, its a common stop for us.  Caden's favorite thing to do is rock climb, and he especially likes it if he can convince one of his parents to go with him.  Usually Ryan obliges while I watch the younger two, but this time I got to go.  I enjoyed it and it was lots harder than I thought it would be.

Eric's Snowman

This is Eric's idea of building a snowman - inside in the warmth.  This marshmallow creation came home from preschool today.

A Visit to St. Nick

For Family Night we took a trip to the Riverwoods in Provo.  They were offering free carriage rides to see the lights around the mall.  The line wasn't too long and the boys loved looking at the horses.  While daddy waited in line, the older boys played tag with some of the other kids.  Its so fun to see kids make instant friends with anyone who is around.  After the carriage ride we saw the Santa only had a 2-3 kids in line, so we took advantage of the opportunity to pass on the boys' wish lists.

Caden asked for a race car like the one he broke (a 1:24 replica car).  He even had the wheel from the old car that he's been carrying around for reference: "I want a race car with a wheel like this."  He also asked for a 3 wheel monster truck pulling a picnic basket.  You should have seen Santa's face when he heard that request!

Eric originally asked for a 'toy,' but upon further prodding when with 'a boat.'  Eric would only sit on Santa's lap with Caden, and Kyle was too busy looking at the lights and fires to care to sit on a stranger's lap.

O, Christmas Tree!

We put our tree up the day after Thanksgiving.  Eric and Caden decorated while Kyle napped.  Eric put all his ornaments on the same two branches, so he could see them better.  Caden did a decent job spreading his out.  Then Kyle woke up and frantically undecorated anything within reach.  So this is how our tree looks now.

The presents were put under the tree on December 1.  They are all of our Christmas books (20 this year!)  Each night I let the kids select a book and unwrap it as their bedtime story.  They love it. I love that it helps cut down on the constant requests for presents.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Caden made this awesome hat at preschool.  Its funny how being in school really makes the holidays come alive so much more for the kids.

We hosted Ryan's parents at our house for dinner, and Karlee and Chris joined us for dessert.  I'd made a fair amount of the meal allergy friendly, but all three boys were sick so they didn't eat (or socialize) much.  We also had to cancel the service project I had planned for Thanksgiving morning.   Oh well, better luck next year.

In trying to drum up a good service project for us, we did end up delivering some canned food to the food bank the day before Thanksgiving.  The food bank was sort of a heartbreaking place to be.  Every parking space was full and there were people milling about waiting to see if there would be any extra food set out that day.  There were people from all walks of life there - young couples, families, single adults, the elderly.  It was overpowering to see the intense need in our community.  They were filling up shopping carts and loading bags of food into their vehicles.  Many of the people there looked broken emotionally.  They were at the end of the line and they knew it.  

It was a great reminder that there are so many among us who truly need our help.  Its often easy to dismiss those on welfare as being lazy, unmotivated, or just poor money managers.  I needed to be humbled and reminded that sometimes those seeking aid honestly need it.  It was the perfect setting to have a conversation with my boys about compassion and Christlike love.

Gone Fishing

Eric set this all up by himself.  He was a tad frustrated the lego boat wouldn't float, but still played in his pond for 30 minutes.

Happy Halloween!

Caden decided to be a superhero this year (Grandma Dodds looked at the calendar and realized I wasn't going to pull together costumes in time, so she bought him one then we convinced him he wanted to be what we had).

I had 3 costumes in the box for Eric, but he decided he wanted to be a super hero like his brother.  So I raced around and concocted a pretty cool costume for him.  Then he decided he maybe wanted to be the pumpkin, after all.  But wait, he didn't want to take off the super hero stuff.  Why not just be Super Pumpkin?  We compromised and he was a pumpkin when we went to daddy's work and a super hero to go around the neighborhood.

Kyle was the Nemo fish.  The other boys were still crawling when they wore it, and I do think it lost a little of its magic to have him walking instead of wiggling back and forth on the floor, but it fit and he was warm.

And here are my boys post trick or treating.  Daddy drug them halfway around the ward.  Some of our wonderful neighbors had purchased special non food items for the boys, so the trick or treating path was sort of determined by which houses we *needed* to hit.  The boys didn't care at all that they were up way past their bed time.  In fact, once they got home and Ryan swapped out their candy for Wii games they stayed up another hour testing the new games out.

Pumpkin Carving

For family night we carved our pumpkins.  Since our boys are so young, that means I cut the tops and scooped out the seeds, the boys dictated to Ryan what they wanted, and daddy worked his magic to make their creations come alive.  This year Caden actually drew his out on the pumpkin.  Ryan wanted to speed up the process, so he pulled out some sort of power tool to do the cutting for him.  Here are the boys with their masterpieces.  

Going Cheap

Today I have a three year old (and his friend) going cheap.  Apparently, I'll eventually have a van going cheap as well.  (After over 20 hours of scrubbing and trying every trick the internet had to offer, the Sharpie marker is now faded, but still clearly visible on the ceiling.  Luckily, it came out of the seat.)

Festive Fall

Proof that Kyle is just plain cute sometimes, too.

Dump and Load

The process of dumping and loading is age appropriate for Kyle right now.  I just wish he'd focus a little more on the loading and a little less on my kitchen drawers.

Denver: The Final Report

We went to Denver with three big questions:
1. Why are Caden's bowel's not responding to the maximum treatment for EGID? (ie, why is he still having such major symptoms)
2. Why does he gorge on a food the first day, eat half as much the second day, then refuse to eat the food thereafter? Is he reacting and I just can't see it?
3. How can we reduce the amount of time he spends on his backpack? (He currently gets 2-3 hours off in every 24)

We got three answers, with varying levels of satisfaction.
1. He has something more going on than just an EGID. We ruled out two really scary things and got sent home with a list of three other things to check out with the GI here. Since the GI here was out of ideas, it at least feels good to have a list of ideas to work through, even if there aren't any answers yet.  I made an appointment today and the soonest we can get in to our local GI is December 26.
2. People eat for two reasons. Either they are hungry or they really like the taste. Due to being on continuous feeds Caden is never hungry, and the formula can mess with your taste buds making everything just a little sour. In other words, he can likely eat the stuff, he just has no motivation. We can help correct that through a specified feeding regimen (see below).
3. By completely changing the way we mix his formula, when we give it to him, and how we give it to him we should be able to decrease the amount of fluid he needs in order to get his calories. As a bonus, this will help encourage oral eating. This will be a long process (they estimated at least a year to be eating 3 foods), and it won't be easy (he's been throwing up quite a bit since we started it Wednesday), but hopefully the long term reward will be worth it.

Welcome to Denver!

Bright and early Thursday morning I got a phone call, and the bubbly voice on the other end exclaimed, "Welcome to Denver!"  Stacy, the out of town patient coordinator for the Denver Children's Hospital, is my new best friend for the week.  She is taking amazing care of us while we are here for the one week out of state program at the Eosinophilic Disorder Clinic.

 

We met with the doctors yesterday and they amended our itinerary, cancelling some tests and adding in others.  I feel the new schedule will be much more productive.  Today was procedure day and Caden did well.  He was nervous and cried quite a bit, but happied up once we got back to the hotel.  The doctor learned useful information from this morning's procedure, and we'll know even more after the biopsies get back on Wednesday.  Caden bled more than usual, so the surgery lasted longer than expected, but they think they got the bleeding under control.  We have down time for the next few days, then Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are packed full.

Elijah and the Widow

Its the end of the month, which at our house means a visit from the UPS guy.  He brings us 4 large boxes full of Caden's supplies every 28 days.  The boxes are a little treasure trove of set bags, tube extensions, gauze pad, Mefix tape, and the all important Elecare. Caden's doctor has ordered 25.2 cans of Elecare for him each month, which means the nice people at home health round that up to 26 cans delivered each time.  For a while we used that tiny bit extra each month to build up a little bit of a food storage for Caden.

Then Eric started needing the formula as a supplement, so we'd give him a little of Caden's shipment and buy it as needed.  Eric uses 1-2 cans per week so we used up the stockpile we had pretty quickly.  At $35-60 per can, even supplementing is a little pricey.  Then I weaned Kyle and the pediatrician recommended we give him a small amount of formula each day.  We had no clue how we were going to afford having yet another child on an elemental formula.  But we prayed about it, knew it needed to happen, and forged ahead.

There are a variety of ways to get formula.  The first, and most reliable, is the little bit extra Caden gets every month.  Then there is the not so desirable surplus if Caden gets sick or isn't able to tolerate his feeds as fast as he is supposed to.  Visits to the GI or allergist usually yield a can or two that the pharmacy reps leave as samples.  My favorite is the kindness of strangers - people in my support group who stockpile that little bit extra every month and then give away a can here or there if its about to expire.  When we get desperate we  buy it online, from the manufacturer, or from a pharmacy.

In 2012, we haven't had to purchase a single can of Elecare.  We've picked up a few cans every now and then, but for the most part we have somehow subsisted off of Caden's monthly shipment.  The math doesn't work out.  I try hard not to think about it.  But toward the end of each month when I get a new can out of the cupboard and see the dwindling supply its hard not to look at the calendar and make the quick calculation that we are going to run out 2-3 days before the shipment arrives.  So I start looking for milk online.  While I'm still checking the online classifieds daily, the UPS guy shows up and I realize I'm pulling my last can out of the cupboard.  Somehow, the milk never runs out, even though it should.

And I think of Elijah and the Widow of Zarapeth.  She does as the Lord directs, even when she doesn't see how it will work out.  Then the Lord provides.

1 Kings 17:16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord.

Carol Henrie Dodds

Carol Henrie Dodds is my grandma on my dad's side.  Her birthday is this week.  She would have been 80. My aunt had planned a nice party for her, to be held on Saturday, September 22.  Turns out we held her funeral on the 22nd instead.  Grandma had been failing for a few years now, so it wasn't a huge shock, but I don't think it made it much easier to see her go.

The funeral services were lovely.  Grandma will be remembered for her painting, love of music, and dedication to the gospel.  I recall as a young child attending church with Grandma on a fast Sunday.  There was a lull in the testimonies and Grandma got up.  She noted in her testimony that in her mind if there was ever a pause long enough to count to 10 that was too long and it was time for someone to get up and fill the silence.  Every time I sit in a testimony meeting I think of Grandma.  Every time I sit through a long pause I really think of Grandma.  

Grandma will be missed, but I am thankful for the knowledge we have that families are eternal, that I will see her again.  I'm thankful for the strength of my Dodds relatives and the fond memories they shared of Grandma.  I'm thankful for the Loveridge relatives who drove 3.5 hours each way to support us, bringing back the memories of when we lost Grandma Loveridge 10 years ago.  I'm thankful for my husband and children who are my eternal family.  

Here is an excerpt from the obituary:

"Carol Henrie Dodds, 79, the loving wife of D. Maloy Dodds, left this earthly life to return home to her Heavenly Father and her earthly parents on September 17, 2012. Carol passed away in Panguitch, surrounded by the people who loved her most. She was born September 27, 1932 in Panguitch to Nathaniel Orald and Ruth Heywood Henrie. She married Maloy August 25, 1951 in the St. George Temple.

Carol was a lifelong resident of Panguitch, a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a woman of true child-like faith. She was a person who never had a harsh word to say about anyone. Her life exemplified Christ-like love and service. During her life time she served in many callings in the church and community. 

Her greatest joy in life was her family, her devoted husband, her seven children, 25 grandchildren, and 27 great-grandchildren. Her home was always full of children, laughter, and love. She will be missed by all who knew her. "

A Wacky Wednesday

So glad today is over.

*On his way to work, Ryan very nearly got in not one, but two, accidents.  The first one happened all around him and totaled the cars involved.  The second was a fender bender right next to him while he was waiting for the officer to arrive to deal with the first accident.

*Eric found some trash he shouldn't have touched and had a pretty intense anaphylactic reaction.  He got way too much Benadryl and his first Epi-pen, but still looked like the Disney version of Quasimodo for 6 hours (his poor eye was the last place the full face swelling went down).  

*While in the middle of dealing with Eric's reaction, Caden's preschool teacher called to inform me he was having a mild/moderate reaction at school and I needed to pick him up.  A single dose of Benadryl fixed him, but it was still unnerving to all involved to have him so red and itchy he'd scratched himself to the point of bleeding.

*Kyle is teething.  Enough said.

Utah State Fair

We can't miss the annual extended family gathering at the Utah State Fair!  I love how there are new things every year, but also that they keep bringing back the staples.  My older boys are so familiar with how the Little Hands on the Farm display works that they run on ahead and don't wait for me to help take pictures of them.  For his part, Kyle was trying to keep up and was running through the display as well.  Its hard to see in the picture, but he was thrilled with having his own bucket to gather farm items in.

Of course we saw the animals, and the fine arts display, and briefly visited with the cousins as they prepared to show their animals in the 4H competition.  New this year we caught the tail end of a pirate show and explored a science tent.  I felt bad we missed the Ready Utah earthquake trailer, but Grandpa made up for it by springing for tickets for the big yellow slide.  I can't wait for next year!  We spent 5 hours there this year and it wasn't enough time.

Daddy Outing

Caden earned an outing with daddy, and he chose to go rock climbing at Trafalga.  He's getting better every time!  It sure is nice to have a daddy who will take the time to play with his boys.  Bonus points for taking a great picture.

Rocky Mountain Raceway, Take 2

You may recall our failed family date night to watch the motorcycle races back in June.  It took all summer, but I finally mustered the courage to try again.  We went, better prepared this time, and it was a success!  We stayed about two hours.  Kyle lasted sitting on the bench next to Ryan for about 30 minutes.  He appeared fascinated.  Eric lasted about an hour, then entertained himself (and those nearby) by dancing to the music playing over the loudspeaker.  Caden could have stayed longer and cried on his way out.  In addition to watching the races, Ryan took the boys walking through the pit area and talked with a father and his 7 year old biker son.  Caden's new dream is to save up enough money to buy himself a little motorcycle.

All Better

Eric woke up in the middle of the night about a week ago completely traumatized.  Turns out he finally realized that while Caden sleeps on a complete bed, Eric had been sleeping for about a month on a mattress on the floor.  "I want a bed thats up here, like Caden's This bed is too far down, and thats NOT RIGHT!"  He wanted daddy to build him one right then and there so he could sleep on it that night.  We eventually got him calmed down with the promise of a real bed soon, and today we finally made good on that promise.  I found a nice bed on ksl, and as a bonus the guy selling it only lived about a mile away.  He is so thrilled to have a bed that is "tall up, like Caden's.  Its all better now."

Eric's First Day of Preschool

Eric was so excited to get to go to school like Caden!  He is in a the Superheros Adventure preschool run by a lady who lives up the street from me.  She is amazing and has so many great things planned for the year.  He'll go to school from 9:15-11:45 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  There are 8 little kids in his class, including the teacher's two sons.  He was a little apprehensive at first, and asked to take his bear with him.  Sadly, I had to take Caden to a doctor's appointment in Salt Lake, so my mom came down and took Eric to his first day of preschool (I took the picture before I left).  She said he went in just fine and came out happy as a clam when she picked him up.  He is a little sad he doesn't get to ride a bus to school, especially since the little girl next door gets to ride a bus.

A funny story from the first day of school:  Eric came home with Elmer's glue all over the side of his head, in the hair above his ear.  Eric said, "I tripped and fell into my glue paper craft."  I'd love to know A - how much glue was on that paper, B - How exactly a kid trips and falls onto the *side* of side face, and C - how the teacher kept from laughing when she saw him with craft glued to his head.

Brigham City, Utah Temple Open House

(Rendering from the lds.org website)

Since Ryan, my dad, and my sister all had the day off work, for Memorial Day we went to Brigham City to tour the new LDS temple there.  We had reserved tickets online the first day they became available and were excited to get such a desirable date and time.  Turns out a few thousand other people also thought it was a desirable date and time, and when they couldn't get tickets they just decided to show up.  We were there on the busiest day of the open house, during the busiest time.  It took us 4 hours to get through the line and tour, and we even skipped the wait from the parking lot to the temple by having my dad drop us off.

I'll admit, by the time we finally got to the temple I wasn't really feeling the spirit.  Amazingly, my boys were.  Our typically crazy Kyle was calm and quiet, taking it all in from his perch on daddy's shoulders.  The only time he made noise was when we were going through the Celestial Room, where he yelped loudly the entire time, then he went silent again as soon as he left.  Eric enjoyed taking in all the pictures.  There was one picture of Christ in particular that he didn't want to move on from.  Caden reverently walked through and asked lots of great questions.

I'm grateful my boys had the opportunity to walk through a house of the Lord.  I look forward to taking them again in a few years when the Payson and Provo temples have their open houses.  I pray that these little experiences will put the desire in their hearts to live worthy so they may return to the temple when they are old enough.

Caden's First Day of School

He did great!  He was a little worried his book bag was too big.  He was going to leave it in the car, but then he saw all the other kids had bags the same size so he grabbed it at the last minute.  He was so confident and just walked right in and started working on his paper.  I tried to take a picture of him, but he was trying to shoo me away and the other boys were starting to run amok, so fuzzy is the best you get.  He'll be attending Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:30-12.  There are 20 little kids in his class, managed by two wonderful teachers.  Throughout the 2.5 hours he is there they rotate between being in groups of 10 or groups of 4.

I am so relieved.  In December and January I drafted a list of nearly 100 preschools.  I called and interviewed 53 of them.  I toured 6.  I narrowed it down to 1.  I calculated my time and estimated it took approximately 300 hours to find a preschool that would be a good fit for my medically needy child.  Some wouldn't even consider taking him; others simply used food in the classroom too much.  I eliminated all schools that had only one teacher on site because I felt in an emergency one adult to care for Caden and one adult to care for the others would be best.  Even after all that I was still apprehensive about the school year.

Then in August I got a phone call from Caden's teacher to discuss Caden's medical needs more in depth.  When I told her he has an EGID she paused, then said, "I know you'll think I'm crazy, but I know what that is.  My niece has that."  Turns out I know who her niece is.  The niece lives in Texas and used to be in Emilee's ward.  Another mini miracle.  She wasn't overwhelmed when I showed her the emergency pack and trained her on how to use everything.  And she has a good handle on the emotional impacts of using food in the classroom and how to best make accommodations.  For example, at the open house each child got a treat for visiting.  Caden's 'treat' (a small plastic dinosaur) was packaged to look exactly like all the other treats, and it was given to him from the same location all the other treats were given from.  No one but the teachers and I knew he was different, and that means the world to him.

Mini Miracles

Eric and Kyle are both sick today with colds.  That has translated to two very whiney boys who just want to be held.  One or both have cried all day long since 11 am and both have wanted nothing more than to sit on my lap or be carried.  I had cub scouts from 4-5 at our house and I was worried.  At 3:55 both kids stopped crying.  They played happily by themselves until 5:05 when the water works started again and persisted until bedtime.  At our house, we call that a mini miracle. 

Trafalga!

We've spent the summer at Trafalga enjoying our season passes.  Eric is getting braver on the rides and both boys enjoy just running from ride to ride (or repeating the rides again and again until I make them move to the next one).

Luau!

Tonight was the annual summer party sponsored by Ryan's office.  It wasn't one of the better ones they've put together, but it at least ended well.  They had hired Polynisian dancers who performed for over an hour.  Part of the show included audience participation and cute Eric went up on the stage to learn the hula.  He couldn't see the lady doing the teaching, so he simply decided to turn around and watch the people behind him so he'd know what to do (he is in the white shirt and khaki pants in the center of the picture).  Kyle wandered around the grassy area bopping up and down to the beat of the music, and the only time we had all three boys sitting still was during the fire knife dance at the end.  The performers were very skilled and I'm thankful to NBS for organizing a summer party that had a little cultural exposure.  Look how pleased with himself Eric is as he comes running back to us!

Happy Birthday, Eric!

Our little guy had a birthday, and he's so much fun right now.  Grandma and Grandpa Scherbel, Grandma and Grandpa Dodds, and Aunt Kellie came down to celebrate his special day with us.  There were great presents that the boys couldn't get enough of, and go-kart rides using the neighbor's go-kart that Ryan had fixed up.  The cake I made didn't work out, and I couldn't find our candles, but Eric didn't seem to notice.  He grinned from ear to ear and jumped from foot to foot while we sang happy birthday.  Grandma Scherbel taught him how to hold up three fingers and tell people that his is "free!"  This picture is of him the next morning, slowly waking up on the couch surrounded by his favorite gifts (interestingly, he requested they be brought to him in the same order he had received them the day before).

Eric is fiercely independent and wants to do everything himself.  He wants to help with anything that is being done.  He talks a blue streak, and if no one is around to talk with him he will sing to himself.  He has cute little Eric-isms, like saying "got-for" instead of 'forgot'.  His favorite color is blue and his favorite toys are trucks or trains that can carry things.

His well check stats:
Weight: 28 lbs (10%)
Height: 36.5 inches (26%)

Tour of Utah

We enjoyed watching the Summer Olympics here and there the last few weeks.  Suprisingly, one of Caden's favorite events to watch was the cycling races (this may be because he was in bed for the majority of the prime time/prime sports coverage).  So when I heard on the radio that the Tour of Utah cycling race would be coming through the next town over I told Caden we could go see a live cycling race.  The Tour of Utah is a world class cycling race, with 11 riders this year that are former Olympians or participants in the Tour de France.  Ryan got home from scout camp just in time to join us over at the 'viewing station' where the race organizers had set up games and craft booths to keep everyone busy while we waited for the racers.  A bike race is an interesting thing to watch since the racers cruise by at 40 miles per hour and all the excitement is over in just a few seconds.  It was still impressive to watch - first came the 5 leaders in a small bunch, then a minute later 5 more, then a few minutes later the bulk of the race came riding by in a large bunch.  Caden yelled and screamed "Go bike racers, go!"  Eric cheered for the police motorcycle escort that was with the riders.  Kyle thought the adventure was all about the bounce houses.

Clinic Fail

Were still trying to help Caden manage some of the symptoms of his eosinophilic disorder.  Primary Children's opened a new coordinated care clinic and we were lucky enough to get Caden in to the August clinic.  I was so excited.  I had such high hopes.  The doctors made such attractive promises.  It didn't go at all like it was supposed to.  The clinic format is set up such that you meet with the doctors on Friday, then spend a week adjusting medication and following up twice a day on a daily basis.  In short, Caden didn't respond to the regimen the way 95% of children do, and was not a good candidate for the treatment they use for the other children.  So we stopped the process a day early.  The result was one super sick Caden, a return to our previous regimen, and one super frustrated mom.  The day we finally decided to throw in the towel on the Clinic the nurse said to me, "I'm sorry, but your son is quite medically complicated."  Yeah, tell me something I didn't know.  We meet with his regular GI the first week of September, then its off to the specialty clinic in Denver in October. 

UFAN Daycamp

Caden was lucky enough to be able to attend the first annual Utah Food Allergy Network Children's Daycamp.  It was two mornings filled with games, crafts, and a little bit of medical stuff like an Ask the Allergist rotation.  Caden enjoyed his group and loved the activities, but he was a little shy and kept wandering off from his group to find me.  Overall it was a fantastic experience and I'm glad he got to go.

Blackfoot Res, Take 2

We had so much fun up at Blackfoot Resevoir that we decided to go back up when Ryan's family went up over Pioneer Day.  I neglected my camera duties, so the only picture up at the lake was one memorializing Ryan's ability to reel in a good sized fish every morning.  Caden loved waking up and joining his dad down on the dock.  Eric just loved being back at 'his' boat house.  When we got home everyone was tired after nearly a full month of playing and vacationing, so I was relieved when the boys decided to play in the sandbox while Ryan and I unloaded the van.  Kyle was being particularly quiet and when I went to check on him I found him reeling and unreeling the hose.  It kept him busy for a full hour, so I just had to capture the moment.

A Fish Story

Ryan's cousins get together every year at a lake in Idaho over the 4th of July.  This year we missed the reunion and most of the cousins because we were at Stadium and Ryan's immediate family wasn't going up, so we figured we'd stay home as well.  In the end, it didn't take much (just a phone call from one of Ryan's cousins asking if we were coming) for us to change plans last minute and head to the lake.  We had a blast, as always, playing on the beach, swinging on the giant swingset, laughing with cousins, and riding in the boat.  But this year was even better because Ryan reeled in a whopper of a fish and Caden helped.  Look at my proud boys showing off there fish that was "this big!"  Eric loved the Lake House and really adopted the 'boat house' where we sleep as our own home away from home.  In related news, by the time we got home on Saturday Kyle was walking like a pro.

Stadium of Fire!

For the first time since Ryan and I got married we were able to make it back to the Stadium of Fire.  Every year my Grandpa buys tickets and we go with all the cousins.  There are over 50 of us now and its quite the party.  We took glow sticks and let the kids go crazy with as many as they wanted.  This year was particularly fun since the headlining act was the Beach Boys.  They know how to work a crowd and you could feel the energy in the arena.  Our boys got so into it and were dancing and laughing right along with everyone else.  I'm so glad we were able to go and share that tradition with my boys. 

Colonial Days

As part of the Freedom Festival in Provo there is a three day celebration of colonial times.  There are so many cool things there - a blacksmith, a candle maker, a barrel maker, a weaver, a pottery maker, kids chores, music, and so much more!  Unfortunately, since I was trying to keep three kids happy and contained I didn't pull the camera out much.  But I did managed to get a shot of the older boys trying out the stockade and playing one of the games.  I couldn't resist taking a picture of how we usually get all three boys on the stroller.  The boys enjoy Colonial Days and I enjoy that they like going and experiencing new things.

Kyle Walks!

Kyle finally started walking today!  He is so cute doing it and has the biggest grin on his face every time he takes steps.  After many failed attempts to get Kyle's first steps on camera I finally got this low quality clip.  At least its something.

Swimming Lessons

Caden and Eric had their first round of swimming lessons at the rec center this summer.  Caden had an amazing teacher and had a fantastic experience.  Eric was much more timid and it took the majority of the 8 lessons before he was comfortable enough to venture into the water with his class without mom right there.  At the end of the two weeks the teachers fill out a 'report card' detailing the students' progress.  I wanted to share the comments from the boys' teachers.

"Caden is very brave in the water.  He is so anxious to swim that he often wanders off doing ice cream scoops.  Caden can jump in from the wall and swim back efficiently.  He can improve by practicing controlled arm and leg motion on front crawl - this will come with age and practice.  - Tate"
Translation: Caden loved being in the water, but didn't love stopping to listen to instruction from the teacher.  He can swim about 1.5 feet by flailing about, but still doesn't float on his back or front.

"Eric was such a good student.  I liked how big he made his ice cream scoops and how big he made his kicks.  He should work on being more comfortable with his face in the water.  - Amanda"
Translation: Eric was cute and clung to the teacher while she taught.  When he got brave enough to do something, he went all the way and made the actions as big as possible.  He cried every time his face got splashed.

Caden begs to go swimming every day.  Eric would be content sitting on the side and never getting in the water.  Kyle was pretty mad I hadn't enrolled him in a class and kept trying to get into the pool.

Making Memories

We were cleaning out the garage and found this fun trampoline tent we had inherited a while back.  We set it up to check the condition and the kids were in heaven.