SCARY, I know :)

This Halloween we decided to do something really scary. First of all, we decided to throw a party with some of Matt's high school friends. This is not usually my kind of thing; but as long as everyone didn't mind if it was very low key I was good to go :) This is also out of the ordinary for Matt since he really doesn't enjoy dressing up. It's amazing how life changes isn't it? He never ceases to amaze me :)

We had a great time catching up and hearing about all the naughty things Matt used to do!


The guys were great sports and let the kids "mummify" them. They did a pretty good job, wouldn't you say?

Here's the scariest thing; we are actually looking forward to doing it again next year! How can you resist when you get company like this?!

THANKS FOR COMING EVERYONE!

Yep, she's a HEAPS!!

Jacquelines first meet of the season, and she did it! She is going to State with her 200 breast stroke! I have never met someone who LOVES swimming, and bubbles :) as much as she does! Last year was tough. She didn't feel like she saw any improvement in her times. She would leave her meets disappointed but she NEVER GAVE UP; and now, all of her hard work, dedication and DETERMINATION has paid off. YA HOO!!!

This is a picture at last weeks swim meet in American Fork. These 3 are always up to something :)

This is how Jac feels at the END of her race...this is how I feel at the BEGINNING!

CONGRATS JAC!

Arrow of Light

Thanks to 3 years of great leaders who so willingly sacrificed their time and ENERGY to help him earn his badges along with about 10 other crazy and wild boys :)

Thomas received his Arrow of Light; the highest award you can earn in the Cub Scout program.

It's hard to imagine not going to any more pack meetings with SUPER FUNNY JOKES and CHEERS. I have always been so amazed how the leaders know EXACTLY how to catch the boys attention!

We are excited to see Thomas progress as he continues with his desire to do his best in scouting, setting goals and working diligently to earn his Eagle in the next few years.

CONGRATS THOMAS!

HEEEE HAAWW!

Happy Fall Break!

HEE HAWS wasn't exactly like we had imagine but after lettting go of our expectations we had a great time! This little farm had quite a lot to offer:)

The kids got to go inside the animal pen! Jac was determined to pet a pig. They would run away as soon as anyone would come close; but she knew the way to their little piggy hearts...FOOD (what else?)

The turkeys were absolutely hilarious to watch! The male turkeys puffed themselves up trying to impress the 3 females who wouldn't give them the time of day. The funniest thing to watch was the younger male. When the older turkey wasn't looking he would start to puff himself up; he even got noticed by one of the female turkeys; but as soon as the older male noticed he was quick to remind the younger male that HE was in charge! The younger male would pull his feathers in and wait for another chance to try:)

The kids made the best of all the activities and even enjoyed the man walking around in red long johns with toilet paper sticking out of his bum!? He kept everyone entertained with his musings. It definitely livened things up:) Emily LOVED every minute except getting lost in the corn maze. Thanks to our hero Thomas, we made it out safe and sound.

She needs OUR help!

Yesterday in the newspaper, I read an article about this girl from Mongolia. She has leukemia, and if she wants to survive it, she needs a bonemarrow transplant. She is a college student at UVU and does not have health insurance. Therefore, she cannot receive a bonemarrow transplant unless she pays for it up front. As our family has experienced, a bonemarrow transplant is NOT a cheap experience! She needs our help to raise money for this procedure.

If you would like to donate or know more about her, click here.

-Jac

Last Game of the season

Saturday was the last game for the Purple Dragons. Emily was so devastated! ;)

The first game everyone was exhausted after 15 minutes; by the last game the girls were begging to stay in longer. This made it much easier for Emily to gracefully give up her turn to others! isn't she so sweet??

When Emily wanted to play she was AMAZING! She ran after the ball and kicked it every chance she got. One time she even came close to making a goal!

Look at her go!

Other times, Emily tried really hard to look like she was into the game. She would kick the air as she went down the field, so we could see how hard she was working.

Even though soccer isn't Emily's favorite thing to do, she enjoyed playing with her friends. It was a great way for her to gain more endurance after a year of not doing too many active things.

Kellen, her coach was very patient and understanding. He was always smiling and yelling out encouraging words to all the girls. We couldn't have asked for a better coach!

We are hoping she enjoys it more in the spring. MAYBE she might learn to love it like Thomas does! Hmm...this might be pushing it a little :)

Goodbye BMT clinic-with the RIGHT PHOTO:)

I'd say a lot has changed in just one year; don't you think? If you look close, the smile(give or take a few teeth) is still the same!

Emily went to her LAST BMT Clinic visit yesterday.

Are you surprised? SO WAS I!!! Just last month the Doctors were so concerned about Emily's low numbers; then this month, "Your done!"

Dr. Boyer came in to talk about all of her test results and to discuss the "plan". He came in, sat to the side of me, looked over towards Emily never making eye contact, and proceeded to tell me "Well, we really can't do anything more with Emily so we are turning you over to immunology."

I asked him to go over her test results with me and seeing that her numbers are still very low I asked why they were so concerned a month ago but aren't now. He told me in a very slow drawn out and quite depressing way, that "I don't like to sugar coat things" "We just feel like we have done everything we can do and we THINK it was the right thing to do the second transplant. We wish she her numbers were higher and we can't explain why. She has 100% donor cells (which is a VERY good thing) and now it is up to her what she does with it from here."

I looked at him and said "Tell me if I am hearing this correctly; You are telling me that you don't know why her numbers are low but you don't know what else to do so you are sending us to immunology"

"Well, yes, we have to turn you over some time... and we don't even check these numbers on Leukemia patients(hmm....I wonder if they really don't know as much about SCID kids as they tried to make me think!)

After asking more questions; going home and studying her past test results through the years; I realized that she stayed healthy with low numbers before. Maybe Emily will never have "normal"numbers. The real question is; will it be enough to allow her to live a long and HEALTHY life? Emily has done SO amazing through all of this. For any of you who remember the first time around this has been like a joy ride in comparison!

Matt and I feel like we were inspired; actually, I KNOW we were inspired to do the second transplant. I feel so much peace this time where I could never find that during the first 6 years of her life. I always had a nagging feeling that she would need to have another transplant.

Is it too soon for her to be leaving the BMT team? At this point, I don't think there could be a more PERFECT time! Why stay with doctors who aren't willing to keep fighting for your child? They are passing her on to another doctor so they don't have to deal with the unanswered questions. They want to say "She left us looking great!"

The bottom line is that Emily really does look great! She has a cold right now and that's all it is... a cold! Her white blood cells went up from her regular 2000 range to 8000; showing that her body is responding and trying to fight. This is wonderful news.

Even though Dr. Boyer had NO CLUE of how to communicate this news of us leaving BMT in a positive way; I have decided it really is the right thing to do.(After staying up all night thinking it all through!) Dr. Bohnsack, her immunologist is very willing to search for answers and is humble enough to admit that other doctors may know more than he does. I think it is going to be exactly what she needs!

Before leaving, they decided it was time to torture Emily again. They had already tortured her by having to poke her 3 times to get a vein that would give them blood earlier but this was only the beginning!

6 nurses came in the room, each holding a different vaccination! Emily went into PANIC MODE!!! I felt so bad for her. She begged them to do it in her arm but they said they couldn't do all 6 shots in her little arms. Her muscles weren't big enough.She then told them she didn't want them ANYWHERE! She wouldn't listen to reason so I finally had to pin her legs under mine and hold her arms and upper body as still as possible as all six nurses gave her the shots all at the same time! This was a nice gesture but it pretty much traumatized her for life! Does anyone want to take her to her next set of immunizations?

Emily came home in so much pain. She couldn't sleep last night because she was fevering and the pain was too much for her to stand. She can walk on her legs if she has Tylenol to ease the pain but even after 24 hours it still hurts!

Well, it's time for for a new chapter to begin. Hopefully this one will be the start to a very happy ending. Knowing Emily, IT WILL:)

What a Season!

GO ARSENAL!!!

Last night was their last game of the season. They won 3-2 It was VERY EXCITING! Of course Matt and I had to miss it :(

It has been amazing to see how much they have all improved and learned how to work together as a team; thanks to great coaches and of course great kids!

Thomas is awesome at defense! He is proud of the many patches the coaches have awarded him with for passing and assisting.

I wonder who got the ball this time...hmm...