Wednesday, August 25th--Elise had a great first day of 3rd grade. Nate, Brady and I walked her to the back of the school today to find her other classmates and wait for her teacher to greet them. We're so happy Elise has the same teacher she had for 1st grade, Mrs. Mair. We loved Mrs. Mair during 1st grade so I'm confident we'll love her again. Mrs. Mair teaches the 1st half of the day and then after lunch another teacher, Mrs. Spencer, takes over. We met Mrs. Spencer at back-to-school night on Monday. She is very nice too. I didn't get a pic of Mrs. Spencer today because I forgot my camera at home when I went to pick Elise up from school. I'll post one of her when I get one.
Elise said her day went well and she got to know a few people in her class she didn't know before. She knows a few kids from our neighborhood/church and a few from prior grades. She was very sad her best friend, Adeline, was not in her class again but we know they can find each other during recess.
A week from today, Brady starts Kindergarten! He's really excited! We met with his teacher and the school nurse on Monday. It gave me a lot of peace of mind. Ms. Sorensen is his teacher. She was very concerned and wanted to know everything about Brady's diabetes. I know he'll be well taken care of.

Saturday, August 21st--Elise has been practicing twice a week for the last 2 weeks. Her coach, Deb, is tough but I think it's making a difference in how the kids play. Elise and her team played really well today. It wasn't an easy game but they ended up winning. For now, she seems a little afraid of the ball but she'll get more into it as they go. If I remember right, the same thing happened last year. There are some kids on the team that Elise knows so it makes it easier for her. One of them is Paige. Paige and Elise were great friends in Kindergarten and have only seen each other every once in a while since. They both are very happy to be together again and I LOVE chatting with Paige's mom! Keep trying and do your best Elise! I know you'll be great!

Thursday, August 19th--Nate decided to give himself a birthday present by taking a few days off this week. It's been wonderful, especially since it was our last full week before school starts. We fully intended on doing some fun activities today but, instead, the plumber had to come. The other day, I discovered the ceiling next to the downstairs bathroom was looking like something was wrong. I started poking at the ceiling and my hand went straight through. There was black mold all over. UG! It was gross! Our next door neighbor came over to assess the damage and discovered our upstairs master bathroom shower drain was leaking. Apparently, the home builder did a crappy job installing it (go figure!). The plumber came over and spent 4 hours here working on it. By the time he was finished the day was almost over so we stayed home the rest of the day. That crappy job installing the drain cost us over $600.00 (Thanks once again Centex Homes! When will this ever end?!?!).

Wednesday, August 18th--Brady got his insulin pump "installed" today. While we understood a little about the benefits of the pump, we felt we would wait till he was almost in 1st grade to start him. Circumstances changed and so he got it before Kindergarten instead. The circumstances are personal but we feel this is for the best in more ways than one. We were surprised and grateful to find out that the pump and all the necessary supplies were 100% covered by insurance. The invoice came with everything and we discovered it was all $9,000.00--the pump alone was $8,000.00! Even if we had a 10% co-pay we would have had to pay $900.00 out of pocket. That's insane! Brady got to pick the color of his pump--apple green. We went to his endocrinologists office where we met with a nurse and she spent 2 hours educating us on the basics of the pump. There's plenty more to learn but as long as we have the basics down, we can manage it. I feel like I went from a diabetic pro to having to learn all over again. The pump eliminates multiple daily shots of insulin. I'm sure Brady is happy with that. However, every 3 days he has to have a larger needle inserted to put a catheter in for the insulin to be administered. Brady is not a fan of that and I don't blame him. The first time we had to pin him down and even then the nurse ended up putting it in because Brady was so hysterical. Once he calmed down he said it didn't hurt too much. It'll take time to adjust but we'll get the hang of it. Brady still has to have multiple finger pokes a day. He's such a strong boy. I can't imagine what it's like to deal with his disease on a regular basis. We're blessed that he is a happy and energetic 5 year old. If you didn't see the pump clipped to his pants, you'd never know what he goes through on a daily basis.

Saturday, August 14th--OY VEY!!!! This year I am doing it. I am finally participating in the Walk to Cure Diabetes. It's being held on Saturday, September 25th at Scera Park in Orem, Utah. This years theme is: "Rock the Walk". Brady's has had this disease for 3 1/2 years now and I just have no more excuses not to get involved. The walk involves teams raising money for research before-hand and then the walk is a celebration for the money raised and to raise awareness of Juvenile Diabetes. So what do I do? I freakin' volunteer myself as a team captain and my world has been pure chaos since! However, in many ways, it's been awesome! I've met some amazing people in my own community dealing with this disease. I've witnessed support from friends that aren't effected by this disease at all but love me and my family so much that they wanted to get involved too. It is truly touching. I feel very blessed.

Thursday, August 5th--My mom and dad were set to leave on Saturday so my dad wanted all of us to spend a day together. His choice: Lagoon. We hadn't been to Lagoon in a few years. It was pretty fun. We packed a cooler and loaded up our wagon with things we might need throughout the day. Nate and the kids went off with my dad and Jacob while the girls went off and did our own thing. We played games and ate fattening food while they all went on the throw-up rides. It was great! We decided to all meet up around dinner time. Some of us chose to eat at the BBQ stand in Pioneer Village. SOOOO yummy! The rest hit up the Arby's. The day was pretty hot so the kids and Nate gladly hit up a fountain or two plus the log ride.

Thursday-Sunday, July 29th-August 1st--Crazy trip at Lake Powell! No pics since I forgot my camera. We drove down with my parents on Thursday. Sadly, Nate couldn't come because of work conflicts. The drive was filled with massive thunder and rain storms. It got pretty creepy as we got closer to the lake. Luckily, once we made it to Lake Powell (Bullfrog) it was no longer storming so we were able to load up the boat and make our way to Shad & Alishia's time-share houseboat. Our plans were to sleep outside, on the boat, or pitch tents on the sand. The first night was pretty good but I got a little freaked out when we started hearing coyotes and they seemed not too far away. The next day we ventured out on the boat, did some swimming and then came back for dinner and to pitch the tent for sleeping. The plank leading from the houseboat to the sand was kind of steep so, as I was heading back up after taking my air mattress to the tent, I slipped and hurt my leg big time! I also bruised my arm up and cut and bruised my big toe. It was a disaster! And yeah, it hurt big time........for a LONG time! That night we all settled down for bed and then the storms came. With my leg all bruised and hurting the kids and I stayed in the houseboat instead of walking back down the plank to the tent. It was a good thing cuz the storm was really bad. The tent collapsed and busted one of the poles. The boat had to be beached along side the houseboat because the wind and waves kept banging it. My dad and Shad were out there desperately trying to beach it but it was quite difficult. The winds were crazy strong. I don't think any of us got to sleep till about 2 am. We all ended up back inside the houseboat crammed but safe.
The next day most of us were already wanting to go back home due to the insanity. We pushed through it and had fun swimming and visiting. The night, however, was once again rough. First it was just horribly hot and muggy. It was hard to get to sleep. Then the storms came again. Once again, most of us were inside the houseboat. After very little sleep I decided it was time to cut this trip short and go home on Sunday. We were scheduled to leave Wednesday but enough was enough. Most of us were sleep deprived and my mom was not sleeping well due to a recent surgery she had on her shoulder. It seemed no position was comfortable enough for her to sleep well.
So, we had fun during the day. Swimming was great. The kids were either happily playing in the water or making sand castles galore. The weather was hot but not as bad as usual due to the nightly storms. Visiting with family was lots of fun and we planned yummy meals and snacks. I just wish we had had better nights sleep!
In all honesty though, I have decided Lake Powell is not the place for me. I don't think I'll return any time soon. I'm not a fan of heat. I'd prefer an Alaskan cruise over a Caribbean cruise. But I sure appreciate being invited to share Shad & Alishia's houseboat!