Craft Night

Last night Brittany and I got together at my house and painted our "FALL" letters that we bought from our friend last year. We wanted to make them last fall but we didn't get the letters until November so we decided to wait.

Well, last night was the night that we got them done. It must have been too late for me (9:00 pm) because this is how I first painted them.

I normally don't have dyslexia but this was funny. I said to Brittany, "It doesn't look very cute."

This was her reaction...

I got it figured out and this was the final product...

So Long Old Friend

Our nephew, Zack is almost 17 and in the 11th grade. He is such a great kid and the car that he has been driving (that he inherited from his older sister), died. The transmission went out on it and it was going to cost more than the car was worth - to fix it.

Imagine life as a junior in high school, without a car - having to stay at the school for lunch, having your mom pick you up from school, and having to bum rides from your friends.

We heard about Zack's problem and Dave was inspired to get his old truck cleaned up and registered so Zack would have something to drive. We only use it once or twice a year to haul things or pick up dirt and with Zack using it, it won't be such a big deal to get it started. Also, it is technically Bronson's truck but he doesn't need it for at least 6-7 years! It was a win-win situation. Dave was excited because now it won't get ruined just sitting at the side of the house, I'm excited to have the side of my house back and not having junk collect between the house and the truck, and Zack is the most excited about having his own car for a while.

The only ones who lost were Bronson and Brock - they have to find a new clubhouse!

Curly Q

This is what Emmie looked like at church today. She was so darling. Dave and I went out on a "real" date last night and Maddie tended for 4 hours. After Emmie got out of the tub, Maddie did her hair in curlers. Emmie loves a good makeover and Maddie loves to give one!

Sunset

When Dave and I were driving home from Lindon last night, we saw this amazing sunset. It reminded me of when we visited Far West, Missouri or Nauvoo. There are no mountains blocking their sunsets and they are spectacular.

MUSIC!

Yea! We've added music to our blog - thanks to my friend, Heather who told me how to do it! We hope you enjoy the random variety of the songs but that will show you our different tastes. We will continue to update and add songs.

PS - "Poncho and Lefty" is one of Dave's choices!!

Emmie at Primary Children's Hospital

Dave, Emmie, and I took a venture up to Primary Children's today so Emmie could meet with an Immunologist. For those of you that don't know her history - she had a 2 week stay in the NICU when she was born and was on IV antibiotics. Her breathing was rapid, she was congested, and they didn't know what was wrong. Well, we brought her home and 5 years later she is still the same. We have been to our Pediatrician, an Allergist, and a regular Ear, Nose, and Throat Dr. She has 3 different surgeries that included her having 3 sets of tubes put in her ears, her adenoids taken out, and her sinuses flushed.

The Allergist did a CT scan and found that her sinus bones were infected so we had tests done. They also discovered that her IGA levels are low, which means she has "IGA Deficiency" which is an auto immune disease.

We took her today to this Immunologist so we could get more info on this and see if there was anything we could do to boost her immune system and help her not be sick all the time. She is a real trooper. Any of you that know her, know that she is my most active child. She loves to play outside and nothing stops her - even though she can't breathe most of the time. She is usually on an anti-biotic once every two months when things get bad, but nothing clears her up.

We saw Dr. Zeft today at PCMC and he was great. Emmie and I are going back up there in a week or two to have more lab work done. They are going to do a "sweat test" and rule out Cystic Fibrosis and then they want her to have a couple more vaccinations that cover more things that will help her immune system.

Well see what happens with all this. Bottom line is that we just have to keep on top of things and when it turns into a bad infection, get her on an antibiotic so it doesn't get out of control.

Thankfully Emmie has learned to blow her nose. That was a long time coming but helps a lot. She and Dave do the "Neti Pot" ever night (see previous post) and that is really a miracle worker.

She's really cute because she tries to stay on top of her "burger nose" and fills her pockets with tissue every morning before leaving for school.

Here are some pictures of her today -posing on the exam table!

Our Family as Simpsons Characters!

Bronson's Club House

About 4 years ago, Dave bought a 1972 Chevy pickup that had been restored by a teenager and his dad. He got it for a steal and drove it for 3 years. For the past year, it has sat at the side of our house because Dave bought another car from my dad that he drives because the truck is a gas hog.

We haven't wanted to sell the truck because it's so neat. We tell Bronson that it's his car to drive when he's 16 and he's so excited about it. He already decided that he is going to paint it red and he and Dave are going to keep it running.

Until that day when he turns 16, he has turned the back of it into his "clubhouse." Brock and Bronson have spent all summer building benches, a coat hanger, and everything two 8 year old boys need to qualify the back of a truck to be the "perfect" clubhouse!


Bronson and Brock 8 years ago. Bronson was 4 months old and Brock was 1 month old. They've been best friends ever since (and best enemies - depending on the day!)

Saturday from H.E.Double Toothpicks!

Saturday was not a "special day" for our family but the saying goes - that bad things always happen in "3's" so I think we're good now.

Things started out relatively normal. We got the papers delivered and then Dave mowed the lawn. Brittany and Jared were doing some major yard work at their house and were pulling up weeds and bushes. Dave went over to help them and ended up breaking both of our shovels.

He decided to take a break and go pick up lunch for everyone so Brittany and I sent him to Taco Time in Provo. He was all dirty and didn't have his wallet so I just got my American Express card out for him to take with him. Well, bad timing because he had to plow through all the BYU traffic - only to get there, place this huge order, and get to the drive up window and they told him they didn't take American Express. He was ticked!

Maddie was with him and she said Dave was fuming all the way back home. He still hadn't cooled off as they were coming down that small, narrow road in front of Brittany's house - only to have one of the big buses from the "Timpanogos Storytelling Festival" run into him head on.

For those of you that don't know - the Storytelling Festival is held up Provo Canyon but they use the church parking lots as places for people to park and ride the shuttle buses up. They have plenty of major or full size roads to use but they always insist on using this narrow road that has only room for 1 car. It's very dangerous on a normal day when 2 cars are trying to come through it. One will have to stop and back up to let the other car through. School buses aren't even allowed to use the road because they have taken out one of the fences along that road - twice!

Anyway - our van needs a new front bumper and the radiator was punctured so we can't drive it - AND with it being a 3 day weekend we probably won't be able to get it fixed until after tomorrow. Fun times!