Scars

I thought I'd take a picture at how well Alexa's scars are healing. I'm so happy with how great it looks. Hopefully in a few more months the button will come out. Right now we still need it to vent the air out of her stomach since she can't burp.

Collin's 12!

I can't believe that Collin is 12 yrs old already. It blows my mind that I only have 6 more years until he is 18 yrs old. He is so excited to be able to pass the sacrament in church now. Collin is an amazing big brother to his sisters. He really is such a good kid. He is so caring towards everyone. He is especially caring and gentle towards children with special needs. He just has the knack on how to help them. In school the 5th graders are partnered up Kindergartner's to help them read. The boy that Collin is partnered with had gone through 3 other partners. Finally they decided to try Collin and it was a perfect match. The little boy has really done well with learning to read and has also really opened up socially. When Collin enters the room he gets a big smile on his face. Collin has been blessed with a very creative imagination. He is very smart and can really carry on an adult conversation. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing son. I love him so much!

Lagoon 2005 with Maren & Bruce

Lake Tahoe family reunion 2006

Collin & Jordon

Collin & Sienna Halloween 2007

Dad & Collin's Birthday Party 2008

Collin & Sienna

Nothin like corn dogs at the fair

First day of 4th grade

Gangsta Collin!

First day of 5th grade

Alexa's Blessing

We blessed Alexa on Sunday the 6th. She wore the same blessing dress as Jordon & Sienna. Bruce gave her a beautiful blessing. I was so impressed at how well he did. This was the first time he'd ever given a blessing. After church we all headed over to our place and had Hawaiian haystacks. It was super delicious. I also made a peach raspberry cobbler and old fashion apple crisp.

Bruce had to fly to AZ first thing Monday morning for the week. I was so worried that it was going to be another week from hell without him. Thankfully it wasn't that bad. Alexa did great! She is enjoying more playing time on the floor so I don't have to hold her all the time. Now that she is off all of her meds she is a much more happy baby. She loves to smile and talk to you. We had lots of playdates for Jordon and Sienna to keep them entertained.

Mommy is SO funny

You talkin to me?

These are typical Alexa looks. She has great facial expressions.

Family Sealing

On Friday Bruce and I took out our Endowments at the Boise Temple. For those of you that aren't familiar with what Endowments are it's simply covenants that we make between our Heavenly Father and us. It is really quite special. It was so nice to have all but one of my siblings there. My Dad was so happy he was in tears. I was privileged to feel my Mother's presence. I know she was smiling down on us. It truly was a neat experience.
On Saturday Bruce and I were sealed together as husband and wife for time and all eternity. Good thing I love him so much. After we were sealed they brought the kids in to be sealed to us. I will never forget this experience. The kids were smiling from ear to ear. They had been looking forward to going to the Temple all week. The sealing room has mirrors on both sides of the walls so when you look into the mirror your reflection goes on forever. Very symbolic! I can't believe how well Alexa did during the sealing. Maybe it's because I chose Cade to hold her, maybe because my Mother was holding her too. Either way, it was beautiful. Afterwards, we went to Cafe Rio to get some lunch with my family and Bruce's family. Thank you everyone who came to share our wonderful experience!

JoJo

Kamila came to visit us for 12 days from Czech Republic. It had been 3 years since we had seen her. We had SO much fun having her here with us. We made cookies, got smoothies, hamburgers ... all the bad stuff the US has that Europe doesn't. She and I went to the movies, shopping and just had a blast spending time with each other. The girls LOVED having 'JoJo' back again. They were so sad when they woke up this morning and Kamila was gone. We feel so lucky to have picked such an awesome exchange student. She is an amazing woman! We love her so much and will miss her. Thank you Kamca for making the effort to come and see us again. We love you like a daughter and a sister.

Off all Meds

Alexa is now after 7 weeks of being home from the hospital off all of her medications. She still takes 1/4 of an aspirin a day but that's it. We are hoping that in a week or two we can take her button out. She has been off the extra feeding through the G-tube for 2 weeks now and has gained a pound on her own. As of Monday she weighed 12lbs 6oz and is 24 inches long.