Walla Walla Gleaners

Back in July, I joined a local organization called the Walla Walla Gleaners. This is a volunteer-run organization which coordinates gleaning of fruit and vegetables from local individuals and farmers. The idea is to create less food waste and to help those in need as well. Much of what is gleaned is donated to local food banks to help the less fortunate.

To be a member, you pay $40/year and this entitles you to go on gleans with other members of the organization. What you pick is entirely dependent on what is offered. It varies year by year depending on availability. Also as a member you are asked to donate at least four hours of time/month. And, the benefit is getting to take home the majority of what you pick. If you don't want everything you pick you can donate it. And there are some gleans where they establish up front if there is a certain percentage of what is picked that is supposed to be donated. But other gleans you get to take everything you pick.

I took full advantage of being a member and went on as many gleans as I possibly could. I came home with cherries, plums, apples, corn, pears, and more. I went into full food preservation mode, canning and freezing everything I could. In addition to what I picked on the gleans, I also did u-pick blueberries and peaches, and we have an apricot tree and an apple tree in our own yard. I don't honestly know how much food I preserved this year for use during the cold months to come, but it was a lot! I am so excited to be able to enjoy these things! I will definitely be joining the Gleaners again next year as I came out way ahead of my $40 investment and few hours of time. :)

This picture is the start of some of my canning this summer. Pictured here are cherries (Bing and Ranier), Apricots, Apricot Sauce, Peaches, Strawberry Jam, and Plum Jam. The pantry filled up even more as the months went by. Yummy!

1st Grade!

Monday, August 27 was Kyler's first day of 1^st Grade! How did that happen??? He was barely born a few months ago, right? I can't believe how fast he is growing up! He was very excited and he was also a little nervous because he didn't know what to expect. At the school he goes to, they have three classrooms which are combination of 1st/2^nd grades. We requested one of the teachers mostly based on how many outside of class activities she sponsored. In her classroom, kids put on programs at a nursing home once/month, they perform plays in local churches a couple times/year, and they can participate in a Lego club if they would like. I figured all these things would be very good for Kyler. So I was pretty happy when we found out we got the teacher I requested.

On the first day of school Kyler woke up readily and ate a yummy breakfast. Once he was ready, we took a few pictures before we headed off to school. 

He was so excited to find out he had his very own desk where he could keep his supplies. He tried to get acquainted with everything for a few minutes and when the teacher started worship, Caden and I left Kyler to start his first day of school in the 1^st grade. 

Sitting at his very own desk!

 The whole first week of school is half days to help the kids adjust back into the routine again. So when I picked Kyler up at noon, I told him I would take him out to eat at the location of his choice. Guess what he chose? Taco Bell! We rarely eat there so this was a special treat for him. Then, as an additional treat, I told him he could have ice cream and he said he wanted to go to Dairy Queen. He ordered a chocolate cone with sprinkles on top. Isn't he the cutest thing? :)

Enjoying his ice cream and sprinkles!

We love you Kyler and pray you are able to have a wonderful year of learning ahead. We know you are capable of so many things and we can't wait to see how you grow and thrive in the year to come.

Southfork Hike

Saturday afternoon, August 25, we took a little drive out to a place called Southfork to do a hike. “Hike” is used very loosely here because Caden isn't the best hiker. But we all enjoyed a lovely walk along the river. Kyler absolutely loved being out there and was so sad when we had to leave. It was a wonderful Sabbath afternoon spent with my three favorite people in the world! We need to do things like this more often.

Women of Faith

While Greg and Kyler were camping with family, I spent the weekend with my sisters at the Women of Faith conference in Spokane. My parents were kind enough to watch Caden for me while my sisters and I enjoyed a “Sister's Weekend!”

Every year my sisters and I try to get together for at least one weekend with just the three of us. It is a great time for sisterly love and bonding! :) This year we decided to attend Women of Faith together. Of the three of us, I am the only one who has attended the conference before and I went with my church in Sacramento.

We decided since we were making this a sister's weekend, that all of our children, except Kyler who was camping, should spend the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa. Lucky for us, they agreed to take a 15-year-old, 14-year-old, 13-year-old, and 3-year-old for the weekend. That left Cheryl, Shelly and I to our own devices for the weekend. Cheryl's husband, Kent, was around, but he stayed out of the way and let us have our own time together. Of course much of the time, we were at the Spokane Arena for the conference.

I love WOF! It is so inspiring and I always leave there feeling like my cup is filled to overflowing. It was even more special to share that experience with my sisters. We went with Cheryl's church and our seats were amazing! We were 6 rows from the stage right in the middle. I have never been so close and it definitely made for an enjoyable experience. If you have never been, I highly recommend it. Here is a link to their website where you can learn more about it: http://www.womenoffaith.com/

After our conference was done on Saturday afternoon, we thought it would be fun to have some pictures taken of the three of us and have some prints made for our parents. Cheryl's husband is an excellent photographer and he agreed to help us do this. We went out to a field close to their house and took a bunch of pictures. I know my parents will enjoy getting them! 

 Cheryl, Shelly, Carey (in birth order!)  :)

 It was a fun weekend and I look forward to whatever we plan for next year. :)

Here's one more picture from the weekend, as we were getting ready to go our separate ways. Here are Grandma and Grandpa with all their grandkids except Kyler. 

L-R: Melissa (15), Grandma, Caden (3), Grandpa, Rylan (13), Charli Jo (14)

Camping with the Family

For the long weekend of August 17-20, Greg and Kyler flew to Medford, OR to go camping with Greg's family. Greg's parents, and Greg's sister, Natalie, and her family were all going. They stayed in the mountains at Willow Lake. Natalie's family stayed in a yurt and Greg's parents were in their trailer. Greg and Kyler slept in the trailer with them as well.

From what I hear, they had a great time. Kyler had a wonderful time playing with his cousins. They enjoyed playing in the lake, eating s'mores, learning how to fish with Grandpa, and just enjoying being out in the fresh air. Here are some pictures to document their trip. 

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

 Getting ready to go fishing with Grandpa!

Greg and Kyler inside the yurt :)

Here's the yurt from a distance
(in case you didn't know what one was)

The trailer

Beautiful view!  Looks like a fun time!

Echo Follow-Up

For whatever reason, when the boy's echos were scheduled, they didn't get scheduled to see the cardiologist immediately afterward. I guess that is typically the way they do things in this office. So they were going to try to schedule them to be seen at their satellite clinic in Walla Walla where they are supposed to come once/month. However, for some reason, they were not going to be coming to Walla Walla in August or September. So, we ended up having to schedule to see the cardiologist in the Tri-Cities for Wednesday, August 8. This is about an hour away from where we live vs. the three hours it takes to get to Spokane.

I figured this would be a standard office visit with the cardiologist and they would tell me that both the kids were doing well and they would see us back in a year for another echo. But that's not quite how the visit went...

The doctor began with Kyler and said everything looked really good in his echo. He said congenital heart defects are never cured, but he said Kyler's is as close to being cured as is possible. That was great news! I was so happy to hear that! He said he could see the small amount of pressure in his pulmonary valve which was left intentionally when it was ballooned open. But he really liked what he saw and said he would see him again in another year. Good news!

Then we got to Caden. The story there was not quite the same. He told me the aorta looked good where it had been repaired so that was good news. But he said there was a small ASD (atrial septal defect) he wanted to watch. This was news to me! I had never been told Caden had an ASD. He said it looked like it was small and that it probably wouldn't be a big deal. If it was an older person, they probably wouldn't do anything about it except keep an eye on it. But since Caden was so young and had other complications, he said we should monitor it and it might eventually require surgery.

I know that many things can be done trans-catheter so I quizzed him on the possibility of doing a repair that way. He said it appeared that based on its location that it probably wouldn't be an option because it was too high on the atrial septum. He said he really didn't feel like anything was critical at this point and that he didn't need to see us again for another year and we would do another echo at that time. The conversation was a lot longer than this, and I really drilled into him to find out more about this new information. But he really didn't seem to be concerned so I finally let it go and accepted that we would look at it again next year and go from there.

It is so discouraging to receive news like this when you are so unprepared! I had no idea there was anything else wrong with Caden's heart so this came as quite a shock. At this point, we know there is the potential for another surgery but hopefully that won't be necessary. Time will tell. Please keep us in your prayers!

More Fun Times

After almost a week in Spokane, it was finally time for me to head home with the boys. But before we hit the road home to Walla Walla, we spent a couple hours with some friends. They live on the south end of town which is on my way home, so after I packed the car, we drove to their house.

Brooke made delicious smoothies and sandwiches for the kids and us to enjoy. Then when we were done eating, the kids had a ball playing together. Their house is very fun because they have a great playroom with lots of toys, and a nice sized yard with a sandbox, and swing set. They were having so much fun, they didn't want to leave to go home. But since they had the opportunity to get their wiggles out, it made the car ride much less stressful. 

L-R: Caden, Elise, Kyler, Zion, Wyatt

Thanks for having us over, Brooke! Let's do it again soon. :)

Silverwood Theme Park

Kyler and I went to Silverwood Theme Park with my sister and her family on Sunday, August 5. We had a great time going on the rides and then doing the waterslides. My parents stayed home and kept Caden with them since he's a lot more challenging to handle in the water since he doesn't swim yet, and he wouldn't have been able to do most of the rides due to his height.

It was pretty easy just having Kyler with me. In fact, most of the time, Kyler was with my brother-in-law so I spent the majority of the day with my sister. We all had a really fun time and were completely exhausted and starving when we left in the evening. I had never been to the park before and really enjoyed it. I would love to go there again and take Greg and Caden. Maybe next year when Caden is taller and able to do more rides.

Shaina

When I was in college, I went on a mission trip to Jamaica. While on this trip, I met a 13-year-old girl, Shaina, who was there with her family and we became friends. She was like a little sister to me and I just loved her. Over the years we kept in touch even though we didn't get to see each other very often. But we had a special connection that I really valued.

She ended up moving to Spokane where she went to college and now she is working there. She is married now and doing very well. I've gotten to see her a few times over the years when I was in Spokane visiting my sister. But I hadn't seen her yet since I had moved back to Washington state. Since I was going to be in town for more than a week on this trip I figured it was the perfect opportunity for us to get together.

After we finished our appointment with the endocrinologist, we drove out to Shaina's house. She has a dog and Kyler had so much fun playing with the dog and giving him orders. He is a very well trained dog and Kyler LOVED being able to tell him what to do and have him obey! Caden, on the other hand, was terrified of the dog. This is pretty typical for him. He is scared of most animals even when we try to explain to him there is nothing to worry about. 

L-R: Kyler, Shawn, Shaina, Caden

The kids also had a really fun time playing with Shaina's husband and playing games she had. It was a fun visit and I am so glad we were able to spend some time together and catch up. Love you girl! Let's get together again soon.

Endocrinology Update

Friday, August 3 we had our regular follow-up appointment with the endocrinologist. I knew before we went that Caden had gained some weight (finally!) so I wondered if she would increase his growth hormone.

The medical assistant weighed and measured Caden and confirmed he truly is gaining weight (yay!) and getting taller. So when we talked to the doctor, she increased his dosage slightly to account for his weight gain. Hopefully this will help him continue to grow well and start catching up to his peers. I'm glad for the good report.

Riverfront Park

After the echo appointments, we went to meet some friends at Riverfront Park in Spokane. My friend, Heidi, used to live in Sacramento while we were there, but she grew up in Spokane and moved back there a couple years ago. Heidi's mom takes care of her niece and nephew during the day so we decided it would be fun to get together and have the kids play together while we were there.

L-R: Caleb, Caden, Kyler, Payton

At the park, there is a little amusement park and Heidi's family has season passes. It was so much fun for the kids! I think Kyler could go on all the rides, but Caden is still so little he was only able to go on a few of them. Most of them had a 36” minimum height and he is only about 34 1/2”. :( He was so sad to have to sit and watch while Kyler and the other kids rode the rides. However, he was able to ride the bumper boats and as soon as he saw them, he begged to ride them. I was very relieved to find out there was no height restriction on that ride. He would have been devastated if he couldn't ride them!

The beloved bumper boats!

Silly boys on the train

Caden riding the giraffe on the carousel

Kyler on the horse on the carousel

It was such a fun day and I'm so glad we got to go. Thank you to Heidi and her family for spending the day with us! :)

Echo Time

Since we established ourselves with a new cardiology group in Spokane after we moved to Washington, we needed to have echocardiograms done on both of the boys. Someone from the cardiology group typically comes to Walla Walla once/month to see patients there. We saw one of the doctors there back in April and she said they could do the echos with their mobile unit in Walla Walla. But since we would be in Spokane for other appointments for Caden anyway, she preferred to do them in their office there.

 

So, August 2 is the day. The boys had appointments right after each other and they did great. The awesome thing about these cardiology offices is that they have DVD's for the kids to watch while they are having the echo. The kids were both super excited to select their own movie to watch while it was their turn. Kyler was first up and he chose to watch “Cars.” No real shock there! He did a pretty good job staying still for his echo but he kept getting distracted by the movie and would start fidgeting. I was constantly having to remind him he needed to not move. Overall he did a good job though! 

Kyler having his echo

Then it was Caden's turn and he chose to watch “Monsters, Inc.” He's never seen it before and I was a little unsure if I should let him watch it or not, but it ended up being fine. Caden did absolutely amazing for his echo. He held so perfectly still and only moved when the tech asked him to. I couldn't believe how well he did. I remember quite vividly how stressful it was for both kids to have their echos when they were younger and would not remain still. It was a nightmare. So now that we are at this stage, it feels so good! I was slightly concerned because Caden's echo was about 20 minutes longer than Kyler's and since he was behaving slightly better I didn't know why. I hope it doesn't mean there is something more wrong. I'm sure it's nothing but it's one of those things that makes me worry.

After the echo, we went to the far side of the building so the kids could look out the window. It's quite a view from there. So pretty! 

 

We are supposed to follow-up with the cardiologist next week to find out how everything looks in the echos.

Catching Up

Wednesday, August 1, the kids and I got to visit an old friend of mine from college, Olivia. She lives in Spokane and we have been wanting to get our kids together to play. We were roommates one summer during college and we have remained friends since. I have two boys and she has two boys. And the craziest thing about this is that both of our younger sons have the same heart defect: Coarctation of the Aorta.

When I found out her son was in the hospital having his surgery, I was in Spokane for Christmas and was able to come visit them in the hospital. It was so great to see Olivia, but sad under the circumstances. I wanted to help them process through some of their feelings about the situation and be a support for them on their journey. It was so worth it to be there for them. I only wished I lived closer than three hours away so I could get together more often.

Being able to go to her house and have our boys all play together was such a a fun time! Her little guy was doing so amazing, you would have never known he recently had heart surgery except for the scar on his chest (in addition to his coarctation, he also had a VSD which required surgery so he had to have two surgeries). These heart kiddos are truly incredible! They are so resilient and come back stronger than before. 

L-R: Carston, Kyler, Caden, Henrik

 My dear friend, Olivia!

We all had such a fun time and the boys became instant friends! We need to get them together more often so they can play. It was so much fun! :)