ONE YEAR Seizure Free!

Elissa is doing great! Praise God!

I can't believe it has been 1 year since she had her seizure. Here is a refresher on what happened. Also day two and three in the hospital.

She has been on medicine to lower the risk of having another seizure since it happened and it seems to be working. Her follow up visits with the neurologist have been great. There seem to be little side effects from the medicine. I think it makes her more easily tired and emotional, but thankfully we have not seen any of the slow learning issues that could arise.

She has her 1 year visit on September 1st. I don't think they will do another EEG until her two year mark. There is a high chance that Elissa will grow out of the abnormality and that, of course, is what we are praying for. If not, it seems like the medicine is working well to control her proneness to seizures.

I'm so thankful that I haven't had to go through the terror of that day again. I pray I never have to. But since there is a likelihood that it could, my mind is never quite free of worrying about it. It is not a forefront thought, but one that pops up when she sleeps a little longer or squirms around at night or is quiet for too long.....then the fear rears up and my thoughts are immediately "Is today the day?"

I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but I'm sure thankful for each day I get to spend with her.

She is a vibrant, intelligent, talented, very social and sweet little girl. She is so independent and just can't wait to grow up, but she also loves to snuggle too. :-) She would much rather be at a friend's house then at home. Her favorite color has been pink & purple, but this year she decided to buy a light blue & brown backpack for school because it was "older" looking. She wants to be a rock star as well as own a farm so she can feed all the kids who don't have food. She's a funny mix. I'm so excited (though can wait) to see what she does in her adulthood. I know it will be something great!

We are so thankful for your prayers and we ask for you to continue to pray that she has another seizure free year. Thank you!

Happy Birthday Nana!

Wednesday, 8-11-10
(the day before Nana's b-day)

We love you very much!!

We met Nana with her friends, Teri and John, at Dukes in Kent Station. One thing about Nana, she loves her free deals. :-) So she had her free birthday meal email and since we had 6+ people, then we all got free dessert! It was a great meal! Yum, yum!

Afterward, we came outside to a fun band playing in the plaza area. The kids ran and jumped around as we listened. A nice little surprise and ending to the evening.

********

Since it was the first sunny day in days, I brought the kids down early to Kent Station and we spent some time at the sprinkler park. It was a wonderful afternoon.

200th Post!

I started blogging back in November 2008.

Here is my first post.
Kind of funny that I didn't do any intro post. I just "plunged" in. hee, hee

Thank you Amy for talking me into starting (and reminding me that my 200th post should be coming up). I'm so glad I did. It has been such a great way to capture all the little moments that happen every day.

I'm going to make this into a book soon!

Blue Angels

Friday, 8-6-10

It truly is awesome to see the Blue Angels fly. 

It was the first time for the kids to watch an air show. They thought it was pretty cool when we watched the rescue helicopter and then a jet fly by and so fun when Fat Albert showed his stuff, BUT the Blue Angels had them yelling and giggling. It was amazing!

Elissa made a friend and watched the show with him and his brother.

Fat Albert

The Blue Angels!

They just make you smile!

AMAZING!

Good Bye until next year!

Church Camp 2010

Sunday - Wednesday, 8/1-4/10

Mayfield Lake

It was an even better time this year because we were camping with our friends this year, where last year we were just getting to know all of them. It really is a special way to get to know your church family better.

Lasts year we followed Zach around and around the loop on his bike and this year we let him run pretty free. Though in the first half hr he had already scrapped his elbows running down a big hill. Thankfully we he had no more injuries after that.

Elissa loves church camp. The freedom she has and the sheer number of people to talk to, can't be beat. LOL! We would track her down every now and then and there was no telling which campsite she would be at. Sometimes playing with the other kids. Sometimes - usually at meal time - at her babysitter's camp. Rachel's parents love her. :-) And one night she had brought our little camping neighbor girl, Ella, to the evening sing-a-long. Elissa whispered to people that Ella doesn't go to church. It was a little too much for Ella and she wanted to leave soon after, but came back around for ice cream.

We thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with our friends and getting to know others better.

Here are a few of my favorite photos.

A little fishing....

Rob, Elissa, Emily, Tommy, John, Perry & Payton

A little beach time....

Tyler and Zach rowing around.

The Sutherland's gave several of the kids a ride on their banana. This was definitely a hit! Especially when they all fell off during the ride. Elissa thought it was awesome!

Darin and Zach are waiting for their turn to ride a jet ski. Zach wouldn't let Darin rest until he took him on a ride.

John and Tyler got their ride in first.

Zach doesn't look very excited here, but he is bursting with excitement inside. He LOVED it! He had Darin take him on another ride the next day.

Here is Zach giving Pastor Tim five after that awesome ride!

Here is the banana the kids were being pulled on. It was fun to play on in the swimming area too. Also they had tons of fun on it at the Sutherland's campsite. They used it like a bouncy toy.

Around camp......

When we came back Zach zonked out while waiting to talk to Papa. Tired boy!

Rick showed Perry & Darin how to play this game. They had fun playing and Zach decided he really wanted to play too. Any game where he gets to throw things. :-) We are going to have to get it, whatever it is called.

Another great year!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Friday, 7-30-10

We love you very much!!

U

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of you on your special day.

We had a fun time celebrating your day!

We wish you a blessed year!

Darin's New Ride!

Saturday, 7-31-10

We didn't intend this morning to get up and buy a new truck, but that's what ended up happening.

Darin has been looking to trade in his small truck and our Tahoe for a big truck to pull our trailer. Eventually we want to go to a truck/camper/boat combo for camping. This is step 1.

Darin found a 2008 Ford 1 ton short bed with only 9k miles in Kent for a great price, so he decided to go down and look at it. It was a nice truck, so I brought the Tahoe down with the kids (after trying both our babysitters to see if they could come over at the last minute - no luck).

While I was coming down, Darin was looking around the lot and found a couple of 2010 3/4 ton long beds for just 4k more, soooooo when I got there we compared the used to the new and of course the new won out! :-)

While Darin did all the haggling and paperwork, I took the kids to Kent Station and we had Coldstone ice cream and ran around and then had some impromptu time at the sprinkler park.

 (I bought Elissa some clothes at the thrift store so she would have some dry clothes)

The we came back to turn in the small truck and pick up our new truck.

They are getting Darin's truck all cleaned up and shiny!

Look at all the room the kids have. Love it!

It was a l-o-n-g day, but so worth it for Darin to get his new ride!