Walking!

First it was just along the sofas. Then it was a few steps from one person to another. Now, David is officially on the move! He can walk all over the place. :)

Brace-Free!

Allison got her braces off in August!! It was originally estimated that she would have to wear her braces for 18 months, and she was thrilled to be able to have them removed after just 10 months of remarkable progress!


To celebrate, we took her to a favorite Mexican restaurant for lunch - yummy chips and salsa!

Family Vacation

In August, we visited family in Central Oregon and had fun enjoying the water and warm weather!

In September, we headed back out to Central Oregon for family camp! We had a fun time with family and friends, playing in the pool and playing putt putt golf.

At 4am, the morning after getting home from family camp, we loaded the kids into the car and headed to North Dakota to visit more family.

We had a great time playing with cousins and going flying!

Abby's (belated) Birthday Pics

I just realized I never posted pictures from Abby's 4th birthday - back in May! Ack! Here are some of the pics :)

Hospital Visit

Well, I always figured that Abby would be the reason for my first visit to the ER. She's so active! I never suspected it would be David!

Last Friday, I got David up from his nap and was shocked to see that the left side of his neck was completely swollen and hard. I immediately heard God say "Take him to the hospital." I piled the kids in the car and off we went to our little local emergency room.

(You can kind of see the swelling under his ear.)

The ER doc was pretty sure it was just a severe case of strep, but that test came back negative. The blood test, that was taken as an after thought, showed David's white blood cell count to be six times higher than normal. After a quick phone call to Emmanuel Children's hospital in Portland, they took a chest xray (to rule out Pneumonia and make sure his throat wasn't obstructed) and sent us out to Emmanuel. Yikes!

(Finally got an IV in - time to sleep!)

Once at Emmanuel, David was seen by numerous Infectious Disease specialists, pediatricians, Ear Nose & Throat docs and lots of wonderful nurses. They determined that, along with being dehydrated and having a very high fever, David had somehow managed to get a bacteria (Staph) infection in the left lymph node of his neck.

(David wasn't feeling very good, but he still enjoyed the clown visit and bubbles!)

They plied him with fluids and antibiotics and gave him round the clock care. We finally began to see some results around Sunday morning and were released from the hospital Sunday night, with instructions to stay nearby for a couple of days to ensure that he continued to get better before going all the way home.

(Finally feeling a bit better!)

David is currently doing well - Praise the Lord!! The swelling is going down a tiny bit each day and he is pretty much back to his normal happy-go-lucky self. Thanks to everyone who prayed for our family - we so much appreciate it! David's initial condition was very dangerous and could easily have taken his life if it had not been treated immediately. We are so thankful for God's provision and all the support of family and friends. The hospital staff were amazing as well! It's nice to finally be home and on the mend. :)

David's picture face

David has such a sweet little smile and a handsome grin. When he sees the red light on the camera (the anti-red eye light that comes on right before the camera takes a picture), he makes this face...

Summer...I think!

It seems hard to believe that we're half way through summer, considering have only had a smattering of warm sunny days in the past few months! I apologize for the lack of pictures the past couple of months! We somehow lost the battery charger for my camera toward the end of May. I kept hoping we'd find it, but finally ordered a new one a couple weeks ago and just received it a few days ago.

Abby riding "Tony the Pony"

Allison riding "Dillon"

Accomplishments

This week hailed the last night of AWANA club until September.



Allison completed and earned her 3rd Book Award. This was her last year in Sparks and this fall she will move into T&T (Truth and Training).



Abby completed and earned her 1st Book Award in Cubbies!



Allison also presented a book project during her Literature Class at our homeschool co-op. She read the book "Justin Morgan Had a Horse." Her written report and project were both really well done.

We had a fun co-op term and it is now over, also until September. "School" photos were taken and I'm in the process of ordering prints now! Next week, our swim lessons begin, which we're all looking forward to.


A couple of the girls' friends came over and they decided to finger paint!


We enjoyed a nice visit with my dad on Monday.


Abby loves goggles of all shapes and....sizes! :)