Hide and Seek...

It was a rainy day today. We decided to play Hide and Seek inside.

Luke won.

He is just that good.

Sick Day

Daddy was sick today. So he got to stay home and see some of the fun we have. (But between you and the four of us, we think Mommy was just showing off.)

Back in the day, Mommy used to have time for crafting and especially card making. She has this amazing and expensive set of Watercolor Crayons. They aren't used for crafting anymore, but they are excellent for making your own, water only color pages.

Check out this budding artist.

Practicing my scissoring, serious concentration is needed.

Then Daddy got in on the action, making some bird feeders for our bird friends. Michelle and I strategically placed them so we can watch them from our bedroom window.

And then Mommy got too loud and scared away the birds. So glad Daddy decided to be sick. He says he is ready to go back to work and get some rest.

We are Finally Back

Phew, It has been a while. Too many guest posts by Mommy and we were surprised you kept reading with all her blubbering. Good thing we like her in spite of her quirkiness. Well after a few mishaps, namely destroying of multiple computers in the last six months, and moving, and having no internet for an extended period of time, a Mommy who fell behind on her duties of picture taking, then finally ordering a new computer, but giving into peer pressure and ordering a Mac, which neither of our parents had any idea of how to use, (take deep breath after spouting off that run on sentence) we are back!
Since we have months of serious catch up, we will just start with today. That and our pictures are in multiple places having never been completely gathered together in one spot during the computer massacre and having to deal with the difficulties of transitioning to a new operating system. Today is just fine.

We went to the beach today. It is always so fun to get so close to the ocean. Since we are born and bred Idahoans (since we have moved we feel safe letting you all know that tidbit now), being around so much water is foreign to us. We are currently trying to break the record for most sand castles built during the winter months in our family. Pretty sure we will break that record. But unfortunately a cold front is coming in, and so our outing was short lived. But still very fun.

Yesterday, was a beautiful! Daddy had to work though and Mommy has not decided if she is brave enough to take the four of us there by herself. Something about Tsunami warning signs everywhere and the idea of having to carry all four of us and run up a hill somehow has her freaked out, what a cry-baby.

We spent quite a while out on our deck though. I got out my tools and fixed things. And yes, I dressed myself. Thomas the Train slippers and all.

Here, I am! Little Max, and yes, I really do love it here. That is, when Mommy actually lets us out of the house.

And here I am, the Lukester. Check me out in mid-stride. Oh ya! (the one sock thing though, that is Max's fault, he pulled it off during our nap)

Ryker-Boy in all my glory! I am just slightly happy about being here.

And the Marvelous Michelle. Carpe Diem, I say.

We are learning to be each other's best friend and to have little kid-style fun.

But more importantly, we are driving our parents completely crazy, just like we are supposed to.

We are back and hope to start being able to keep you more up to date on our adventures. We are sorry for the year long absence, but we hope that life goes starts going at a more manageable pace and not only have but chronicle our adventures again.

Only Mostly Dead

Well, a bit has happened in the two months since I posted last and yes it has been probably seven months since we have really posted. But there was a reason for all of that, and really I am probably just talking to myself since I am pretty sure that there might be a total of four people who really read this blog/grandparents who get on and look at the pictures of their darling grandchildren and skim over the mindless drawl of this gal and a certain aunt who is no longer able to read and comment here due to her committing to serve full time as an ecclesiastical missionary for our church. But in due time I will catch up since this is where I journal our family adventures, and journaling has been very important to me for a long time (over 16 years… gasp…I am that old).

Yes, I put in the picture of the darlings that everyone really wants to see. But like I said this blog is for the journaling of our family adventures, and so now I will journal.

The last two months have been WONDERFUL!!! And I mean that with all my heart.

Yes, I was scared spitless (not sure what that statement truly means, but I am pretty sure that is a good description) to move. I had wonderful friends who had time and time again lifted me up during dark times and helped me keep afloat. I had finally started coming out of my shy little shell and was becoming a more active part of our church. And most importantly I had formed a very close and dear friendship with my most amazing sister-in-law. I just didn’t want to let go of such things.

But we knew this was right, so we moved forward. After a few minor hiccups, we got here and it has been excellent. I have not been blogging or picture taking or anything because I have been living and enjoying life NOW. I have never seen my children more happy (except Ryker is begging to see his buddy Dallas every single day). They are playing together, and working together, and becoming great friends. I am certain Michelle has never been this happy and lively. She runs, plays, imagines, and is just plain silly all the time now. Ryker is becoming everything a wild, independent, mischievous three year old should be. And my babies (can I still call them that since they are officially over a year old) are growing so big and healthy. Someone held Luke at church the other day and called him a tank. Can you believe that? One of my children?

There is the saying that when God closes a door, He opens a window. I feel like I was a silly fly that was trying to fly out the window that was actually shut when He was standing at the wide open door work His hardest to wave me out. Yep, I am that dense, but eventually I learn. I have struggled and prayed that I might feel peace in my soul for a very long time. And since moving here, I feel a calmness that I have rarely experienced. And even though I greatly miss all those wonderful things, I am enjoying this moment in time.

p.s. the blog title comes from one of my all time favorite movies, who doesn’t love Billy Crystal as an old medieval doctor.

Merry Christmas to All

A Ship in Port is Safe…

Guest writer: Mommy

I recently stumbled upon this picture on the new up and coming networking site, Pinterest. I thought it is very appropriate for our life right now.

Lets go back about a year and half ago. Tory came home from work and told me that the group he worked for was going to be splitting and it didn’t look like it was going to be a very amicable separation. This was not the best timing since we had just found out we were expecting number three. Right after that evening was the historic day when we found out number three was being joined by number four. This was a source of great joy and excitement, but also a lot of stress considering my history with pregnancies.

Now the pregnancy was hard, but the split was even harder. Both of us were stressed out . . . a lot. I guess it didn’t help that we were experiencing surgery after hospitalization after surgery after hospitalization in our family. Yep, it was some hard times. But we stuck together and stuck it out.

Well this last year has been . . . challenging. (Now I say this smile, mind you.) But as other things have been getting easier, Tory’s job has still been a place of constant stress. The group he works for are great providers, the people he works with are great people, but trying to put things back together and bring organization back in this company has been hard on everyone involved. Tory found himself constantly struggling with giving his job everything it needed and his family (yep, we are that demanding of a group) everything we needed.

About eight months ago he came home and told me he was struggling. Now being the daughter of an engineer minded father, I told him if it was that big of problem he should try and find a solution that he felt good about (I know, I am so compassionate and sympathetic).

We decided to send out his resume to multiple different companies. We thought this would at least give him some freedom in knowing that there were other options. We also thought it would be good to practice some interviewing skills.  Most of the of the options were right here where we already live, but we did send one out to a company several hundred miles away just for kicks. Guess which one responded. That is right folks, the only one not here, the one hundreds of miles away.

We decided just to interview and when we prayed about it, all we got was this feeling to try. There was no blaring green light of “THIS IS THE JOB!” or flashing red light of “STOP RIGHT NOW!” there was just “try.” So forward we went.

We just kept trying and moving forward with the process waiting all along to get a red light at some point saying, “STOP RIGHT NOW!” but it never came. And at the end of October Tory was offered the job.

This has been probably the most difficult decision we have ever made. It is life altering beyond description. We have prayed about this decision intensely. Discussed pros and cons until we were crazy from discussing. And then we prayed some more. And the answer we get, “try.”

Now this is very difficult for me, and yes, I am “trying” but I also have moments of pure panic. During one of those pure panic moments, I got on Pinterest to get my mind off the million things I am supposed doing, and I saw the picture above. The quote really touched me. I like safety. I like dependability. I like consistency. But that is not what this life is for. As I read the message and looked at the picture, I felt like I was getting a special little message from Him. Especially since the place we are going to call home looks like this

So here is to an all new adventure in our life.

p.s. now you know why the blog has been neglected. it was better than neglecting the children.

The Final Test

Guest writer: Mommy

Michelle has won the hearts of these Cincinnati folks. They gave her a clipboard and a some paper and she was off and charting away. She answers their questions independently, and they should just be glad that she can’t ask them all her questions.

Today was the final test. Not the most pleasant one though. First they squirted some stuff up her nose, yuck, then they showed her this little flimsy scope with the camera at the end. That was okay until they shoved it up her nose and into the back of her throat. They did this so they could visualize what is happening when she swallows, if everything is moving the way it should in the direction it should. Well, the unofficial result is that everything is great. It is just teaching and strengthening the muscles in her mouth and throat do it all. Kind of exciting since they have been worried about that for a long time. So hopefully she can now move forward and get to eat a whole bowl of ice cream in the near future.

We are all excited to come back home and can’t wait to see our little man cubs once again.

It’s complicated…

Guest writer: Mommy

This is Michelle after she got to put on the new hospital gown her Grandma sewed just for her. No more stinking gowns that constantly fall off, have broken snaps, and wad up in the back. Now we will use these fancy gowns, and obviously they do more than just look better. They boost Michelle’s spirits.

And then Child Life showed up with this baby and we were off.

Yep, these gowns rock!

Then they realized she might never come back, and the team came and got her.  They took her back to the OR where she got to have watermelon smelly stuff in the big green balloon and then a nice long nap.

We sat and did our wait, that no matter how many times we do it, it never gets easy. Then the doctors came and talked with us. Well…it’s complicated. So complicated that they have no firm answers or plans right now. They want time to sit and mull it over and think about all the angles. And that is just fine.

One more test tomorrow, a day to recuperate and then we are going home.

This ain’t my first rodeo

Guest writer: Mommy

The shirt our Little Miss is wearing in this picture I found at Target. I picked it up because it was pink, sparkly, and had a cowboy sitting on a bucking bronco. Those who don’t truly know me will never understand why those things together caused me to look at it. But then I say what was written on it. “This Ain’t My First Rodeo” and I knew she had to have it.

She wore this shirt today because today and tomorrow she has to undergo some fairly simple, relatively low on the pain scale, but high on the information scale tests. She had a Chest CT with Angiogram done, and she was very brave. In the picture she is showing you where they had to put her IV/Owwie. The doctors she saw today, showed us some of the images. But they don’t mean a whole lot until we do the tests tomorrow.

A long day

Guest writer: Mommy

Today was long. It started at 5:00am and went on forever. We met with the Cardiology team here, had electrocardiogram, and an echocardiogram. We then met with the Anesthesiologist who discussed what they are going to do to prevent any problems during some more studies they will do this week that will require sedation. Next was a trip to Radiology where we met another Fabulous Rad Tech. Michelle was incredibly tough and did an esophagram and then an upper GI study. Now Michelle is totally fed through her Gastric Tube, we have been going to a feeding therapist for two years to help her learn how to swallow. We told her if she would practice her swallow then we wouldn’t have to put a tube down her nose into her throat. You know what . . . she DID IT!!! She swallowed practically an ounce of barium during the procedure.  In fact the Tech made Michelle a Certificate of Bravery.

So in essence. Lots of stuff done, but no answers, yet.

We are all having a hard time as a family being separated. But we are so thankful for all the love and support everyone is giving us.

A new adventure

Guest writer: Mommy

And now we start a new adventure. After a few bumps in the road the last few days trying to get here, we are in Cincinnati, Ohio. The week before we left for Florida, Michelle was diagnosed with a respiratory infection so we started antibiotics, no biggie. But this last Friday morning when the pre-consultation phone calls began, the mention of pneumonia almost cancelled everything. Luckily the whole reason we are coming is her predisposition to get pneumonia. So they advocated that we come anyways. Then immediately after I tearfully sent my three little man-cubs off with Papa and Grandma, we got a phone call from the airlines saying they weren’t going to be able to provide power to Michelle’s portable suction machine and so we would not be able to fly. Ahem, we just flew last week. We tell them that all of our equipment has plenty of battery back up and things were cleared up. Lastly two eventful plane rides later, one with turbulence that made the rides at Disneyworld seem like nothing (we just flew through the South during active Hurricanes and Tropical Storms-those flights were a breeze comparatively) the other being delayed for over an hour for a random security check, we made it. Daddy and I keep saying that we have definitely been facing opposition to come here, guess it is pretty important she be here.

So it begins, something I have been hoping/dreading for the past few months. We are going to meet some pretty smart people that some other pretty smart people we know sent us to. We are praying that they will give us the answers to puzzles that have surrounded us the last few years. We will try and update each night with some brief info on who we meet and what we find out. And we will now move forward.

Sneaky Peaky

So we went on vacation to a Magical Place! It was definitely more than I could have ever dreamed. But we are tired and we have to unpack to pack back up for our next adventure. I decided that I would give you a quick sneak peak.

I plan on going back in 18 months.

p.s. Mommy promises to give me some time on the computer before my next Birthday to update you all on our adventures dating back into May.

p.p.s Yes, she pinky promised, it is set.

Fabulous Five

Yes, today was the day that we all (okay, mainly me) have been looking forward to for quite a while . . . my BIRTHDAY!!! Daddy, Mommy, and I have discussed at length the importance of turning 5. I become older and wiser, I move up a size in clothing, I use all my fingers on my right hand to count how old I am, but the thing I have been looking forward to the most . . . KINDERGARTEN. This turning 5 thing has been a hard thing to wait for, but now I see it is worth it.

 

Going out for our Traditional Birthday Breakfast

I am FIVE!!!

Ryker excited for the yummy breakfast

Luke happy to be out of the house

Max happy for Me (but slightly disgruntled since this interrupted his morning nap)

Chocolate Chip Pancakes, Bacon, Eggs, and Sausage . . . YES!!!

Then, I had super big surprise. I had special delivery to my house

I was invited by THE Princesses to . . . DISNEYWORLD!!!!!!!

Then my Toby, Tammy, Dallas, Wes, and Baby Blue came over for the party

They gave me the coolest magnetic dress-up ballerina

My family gave me a Leapfrog Tag and some accessories. But that was not the one thing I was hoping

 

A Telescope!!!

Yep, it is pretty cool

Then the all important Birthday Cake

My Birthday wish . . . well its a secret

Now I am 5, and the world is mine!

Dan the Great

Mommy and Daddy have these friends. We stopped by their new house on our way back from our vacation. We miss having them close to us. But at least they are the type of friends that no matter how far apart we live, we will always be close friends.

More Cousins

Vacation TIME!!!

We recently spent some time with cousins. And spending time at their house is totally a vacation

Who knew a pack-n-play in the backyard would be so amazing.

Or a playhouse with a mini kitchen

Or a nice big back yard with its own swingset and slide

Mommy loved this little girl helping out all the time.

The dance marathons were much more exciting.

They took us to an outdoor pool.

And we found our own frog, but the Mommys wouldn’t let us kiss it and found out if he were really a prince.

This is Mommy’s sister and her little gals. We love them.

Now while everyone swam, I set up the picnic.

And while set up the picnic, I tested out the slide

It was awesome

They finally convinced me to put my toes in. But I am still questioning their sanity for thinking this is fun.

And we stayed in the shade and enjoyed the peace.

The end came all too fast. Good thing they seem to like us just a bit so that we can come back again.