Pulmonology Update

Tuesday, July 31, Caden had a follow-up appointment with his pulmonologist. He's doing excellent and it looks like we get to wean him completely off his maintenance nebulizer medication! Woohoo!!! That means he is only on two medications now (Singulair and his growth hormone). He's been on maintenance nebulizer meds since he was 10 months old and his former pulmonologist didn't think we would be able to wean him off. But here we are!

I know when he gets sick we will have to do some rescue meds with the nebulizer for him but it is so freeing to not be tied to the neb twice/day every day like we have been. I really hope he continues to do well and we can keep things this way! Keep him in your prayers as we move forward. Now that he's in preschool he's exposed to anything and everything... :/ I'm just hoping as he's getting healthier and stronger lungs that he will be able to weather illnesses better than in the past.

Happy Anniversary!

It's been 12 years since Greg and I said “I do” in front of our friends and family. Boy what a journey those years have been. We've had incredible highs and discouraging lows. We have faced many challenges together and celebrated many triumphs together! I am so lucky to be able to call you mine. I love you Greg! Here's to many many more years together!

 This is an old picture of us but I liked it so wanted to use it here.  :)

Peaches!

I was so excited to pick peaches with my family today, July 29. The four of us drove to a local orchard in Milton-Freewater and picked over 80 pounds of peaches. I absolutely LOVE peaches! I love them fresh, canned, frozen, in desserts, with cereal. You name it! I was so excited to pick these so we could eat them and preserve them for use throughout the winter.

It was also a really fun activity to do together as a family. The peaches are easy to pick so the whole experience didn't take so long that the kids were bored and whining to go home. And we were able to get so many delicious peaches. The kids helped pick and they also had fun running up and down the rows between the trees. 

 

We had a fun time and will definitely do it again next year!

Eastgate VBS

Even though both of our kids participated in VBS when we were in California in June, we thought it would be fun for Kyler to do it again at our church in Walla Walla. Unfortunately they do not accept three-year-olds in their program so Caden didn't get to attend. But for the week of July 23-27, Kyler got to go to Eastgate church for their VBS.

 

He had a great time playing games, doing crafts, singing and learning more about God. I'm so happy he had the opportunity to go. And, while Kyler was at VBS, Caden and I enjoyed some one-on-one time together which was nice also. He was sad he didn't get to go to VBS with Kyler. But I told him he'll get to go next year. :)

Walla Walla Sweets

Most people who have heard of Walla Walla recognize it because of the Walla Walla Sweet Onion. The onion has so much notoriety that the local minor league baseball team named themselves the Walla Walla Sweets. We have some friends from Sacramento who were in the Walla Walla area visiting their family who live there and they wanted to go to a baseball game. We thought it would be fun to join them since we hadn't been before and it might be fun for the kids.

 

The evening started off well and the kids enjoyed the experience for awhile. Partly because their friends were with them. But after awhile they bored of the game and wanted to go home. We managed to stay until the end but not without some tears of exhaustion on the kids part. 

Me with my friend, Lori.  So glad she visited!

One of the highlights, however, was Caden getting one of the game balls.  It came over the wall in front of where we were sitting and a man picked it up and walked over to Caden and handed it to him.  Caden thought that was the most fabulous thing in the world!  He loves sports and balls and he was so excited to get his own baseball!  :)  

Here he is showing off his baseball!

 

 I'm glad we went but not sure I will be taking the kids again soon. I think they need to get a little older before they enjoy it. Maybe next year...

More Blueberries!

Greg loves to have frozen blueberries with his oatmeal or hot cereal every morning. So we go through a lot of them! Since we have an amazing place to do U-Pick blueberries, I decided I would pick all the berries he would need for the next year and then some...

Caden came and picked with me one of the times I went. I'm not sure how much help he was, but it was entertaining as he tried to pick up the huge buckets full of berries when we moved down the row of bushes. I'm just thankful he didn't manage to dump any of them out after all the work of me filling them! 

I went out on three separate occasions to pick berries and I came home with a total of about 80 pounds. Mmm, mmm, mmm... We ate as many fresh as we could for several days as I washed and froze all the rest of them. I honestly don't know how many gallons of blueberries I froze, but it was a lot! Your welcome, Greg, I hope you enjoy them! :)

Brody's 1st Birthday!

July 23 is my nephew, Brody's 1^st birthday. He is the son of Greg's sister, Natalie, and her husband, Bret. Greg's Mom flew with Kyler from Medford, OR to Oakland to go to the party. Greg also flew down to Oakland from Walla Walla so he could go as well. Caden and I had to miss out. :(

The party was held on the 22^nd in order to include more people. They had it at a local park so the kids had a big area to play. Kyler had so much fun and really wanted to help open all the presents. Maybe a little too much... 

L-R: Amelia, Natalie, Brody, Brandon, and Bret

Grandma Mary with all her grandkids except Caden

Clockwise: Amelia, Brody, Mary, Kyler, Brandon

Brody's favorite Sesame Street character is Grover so Natalie used an Elmo cake pan and modified it to look more like Grover since she couldn't find one specifically for him. He loved it! 

 

I wish I could have been there to celebrate with you, sweet boy! But I'm glad you had a wonderful birthday! Love you!

Kyler Goes to Campmeeting

As soon as we got home from Glacier National Park on Monday, July 16, we had to unpack and repack Kyler's things quickly. He had to leave within an hour of us arriving home to drive to Oregon Campmeeting with Greg's parents. We have some family who live near us and they were going to campmeeting and were willing to take Kyler along with them when they drove to Portland from Walla Walla, which is a four-hour drive. Once they got there, they passed him off to Greg's parents who were there also.

Kyler had a grand time with Grandma Mary and Grandpa Dan. They stayed in a nearby hotel and he got to have his grandparents all to himself, since Caden was at home with us. He enjoyed going to the kid's meetings and playing and doing all the activities. He made a lot of arts and crafts also. He absolutely loved the whole thing!

On Saturday, July 21, Grandma Mary drove Kyler to their house in Medford, OR and they spent the night there. The following morning, they flew down to California to celebrate Cousin Brody's 1^st birthday! But I'll tell more about that in the next post. :)

Cherry Picking

I had the privilege of going cherry picking for the first time in my life. I got to go with my dear friend, Holly. Caden tagged along with us on this picking adventure.

 

There was a 5-acre orchard which was supposed to be picked commercially but didn't for some reason. I knew the people who owned the orchard and was able to pick as many cherries as I wanted. In total, I think I picked about 70 or more pounds of huge, sweet, Ranier cherries! 

 Who doesn't love a boy with a bucket on his head?!  ;)

I froze several gallons of them, canned 12 quarts of them, made a couple cherry desserts and ate a LOT of them fresh. Yummy!  I can't wait to enjoy these throughout the winter.  :)

Blueberries!

Monday, July 16 was a busy day! After we picked up our kids from my parent's house, we drove home and got ready for some company. One of my closest friends from college, Sharla, and her family came and spent the night with us.

Sharla, Randy, Jubilee & Piper

 

While they were there, we also decided to go blueberry picking. It was my first time picking blueberries and it was so fun to go with friends.

I only wish Sharla and her family could have stayed longer. But we enjoyed the short visit we had with them and the opportunity for us to all pick blueberries to enjoy as well!

I look forward to seeing you again soon, my friend!

Glacier National Park... and a Wedding!

July 14-16, Greg and I left the boys with my parents in Hayden and we headed to Montana for a wedding. Our friend getting married is from California and went to our church there. He also works at Adventist Health and he and Greg frequently went on bike rides together. His fiancee lives in Montana and they really wanted to get married in Glacier National Park. How beautiful!

We were so happy we live close enough now for us to drive to the wedding. And, since it was a quick trip for us, we were also happy we could leave our kids with my parents since all the driving wouldn't have been a lot of fun for them.

We left Hayden, ID on Saturday morning and decided to drive the scenic route over to Glacier. This took us right by Kootenai Falls which my parents recommended we stop and see. We were glad we made the stop. It helped break up the time in the car, and it was absolutely stunning! The falls were at flood stage and it was incredible how much water was coming over them. You certainly wouldn't want to fall in! 

There is also a swinging bridge you can walk across at one point to get to the other side of the river. I have to say it definitely made me nervous walking across. There is even a sign that says no more than 5 people on the bridge at any given time. So you have to watch to make sure no one is coming from the other side before starting across. Nerve-wracking for sure. But definitely worthwhile!

Here is a short video Greg took so you can get an idea of how full the river was and see how long the swinging bridge was.

After leaving Kootenai Falls, we drove the rest of the way to Glacier National Park and drove into the park. Neither of us had ever been there before and it was truly amazing! I only wish we could have spent more time there. But we had part of the afternoon on Saturday to drive around and do some sightseeing.

Glacier is an amazingly stunning place and I wish we had longer to spend in the park. We definitely have to go back sometime! But in the short time we had, we drove through the park and went up “Going to the Sun Road.” The views from the road were so beautiful! But the road itself is a little hair-raising as it is VERY narrow and in some places there is no wall/guard rail on the side of the road where the mountain drops off. I was definitely nervous on more than one occasion! 

When we got to the top, it was raining and was pretty cold so we didn't spend much time there. And it was getting late and we needed to get back down to meet some other friends who had come for the wedding. But it was quite beautiful.

On Sunday, the wedding ceremony was scheduled to take place inside the park, however, due to the torrential downpour, the decision was made to move the ceremony to the site of the reception. It was also outdoors, however, there were tents to cover everyone. It ended up being beautiful just the way it was. We headed back to my parent's house as soon as the reception was over. It was a fun trip but definitely too short! 

Congratulations to Mark & Linda! Thank you for giving us a reason to visit Glacier! :)

Kyler's Week in Hayden

For the week following Tommy's wedding, Kyler stayed with my parents in Hayden, ID. Greg and I were going to be driving back through Hayden on our way to another wedding in Glacier National Park the following weekend and my parents offered to keep Kyler with them for the week to save him the drive back and forth to Walla Walla two weekends in a row. Plus it was a great opportunity for them to have some bonding time with just him. Kyler readily agreed to the plan since he was TIRED of being in the car! Another plus was it allowed me to have some one-on-one time at home with Caden that week. It was a win-win for everyone! :)

Before we went home to Walla Walla for the week, we took a couple pictures of both the kids in my parent's front yard.  They are too cute not to post!  Greg and I left with Caden a few minutes after these pictures were taken.

Kyler truly had a blast with Grandma Janie and Grandpa Charles! They took him to Lake Coeur d'Alene to play on the beach and in the water. He went on bike rides with my dad. They took him to Silverwood Theme Park and overall just had a very fun time together! Way more fun than he would have had at home that week!

Enjoying the sun and sand at Lake Coeur d'Alene

Riding bikes with Grandpa

Getting ready to go out on the bumper boats at Silverwood

Kyler is in the middle riding the "Hopper"

What a cool grandpa riding the bumper cars with Kyler!

Kyler was so brave going down the big
waterslides in his own tube!

These are a few pictures my mom sent me from their week together. Looks like they had a ball! Thanks again for your help mom and dad!