Smitties

There seemed to be quite a bit going on this summer. Not much time for long camping trips, or any trips for that matter. So, when we needed a little reprieve, we often found ourselves at Nate's grandpa's place. A little bbq and throwing rocks in the river goes a long way with the kids. And spending the night there....well, you'd think they've gone to heaven.

One night we spent moving cows there, another weekend family reunion, and a couple odd picnics in between. It's always fun to go to Smitties.

Kayson & Ryker playing on the river bank. A truck + a pail + a shovel = hours of fun.
4-wheeler rides...wahoo
double wahoo with Uncle Darren
I love how Emma watches out for her littler cousins and siblings. so tender.
The rope swing means changing into and out of a swimming suit at least 4 times every day.
Aunt Sherrie's fudge is finger-lickin' good:)
Henry has a good arm. Look at how he pitched that rock.
Do you have to drive the tractor on Grandpa's head, Henry? Those two are quite the buddies.
Despite the wrinkles and puffy pregnant self, I like this picture. Cute kid. Handsome husband.
The cow herders on horseback.
Watching for the cows to come home.
I like this kid. And the lighting.

County Fair

This year the kids participated in the open class horse show at the county fair. They looked awesome decked out in their "cowboy clothes." And of course we couldn't leave Henry out.

Emma did lead line with the help of our fabulous friends. After a little incident on a horse that got spooked and ran away with Emma on it, so Nate had to pull her off, and tripped while he was doing that, and they both fell to the ground in the mud so that Emma was scared and crying but had to get back on a different horse anyway to compete in her class; Emma was brave and did very well, holding her reins correctly, and sat poised on her horse as Ashley led her around the arena.

Amelia placed third in her event of walk-trot where the kids go around the arena according to the instructions given by the judge. They walk, stop, reverse, trot, face the judge, etc. We were pretty proud of her.

Sam and Clay both did the trail course, but both broke the pattern, so did not qualify in that event. I suppose that if we consider that we had practiced for only a week, they all did stellar.

And they were all dang cute. The following day Sam ran the speed events, but forgot that he was trying to get a fast time, and kind of meandered through the courses a little. I think he could have been a little more aggressive...but that's Sam...more cautious than aggressive. And that's ok too.

Phew

What an emotional week. So many thoughts and feelings, petitions to the Lord, wondering, hoping, fearing...

We have been stretched this week. What a blessing that this phase of our journey has been so short lived.

Amelia had her MRI today. She did wonderful. Her hands were cold and sweaty as she got ready to go in. She was nervous, but took great comfort in everything she had been told about the ease of the procedure. I was disappointed that they ushered both of us back to the waiting room after indicating that one of us would be able to stay by her side during the procedure. That tore my heart out a little bit.

It was almost 2 hours later when Shari called to tell us the results of the scan, not the following week like we were planning.

Everything looked good. There were no abnormalities to speak of, and everything looked healthy. She does have BRE, and we will still monitor her for seizures, but we are back to the "best case scenario" that we were hoping for after the episode on Sunday afternoon.

YAY!!!!! What sweet relief. What a miracle. What an answer to so many prayers on Amelia's behalf.

I know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us. He is mindful of us, and he wishes to test us, to stretch us, and help us realize our capacity. I would never ask to repeat this week again, but I would never ask for it to be taken away. It has been an amazing testament of the love of family, friends, and neighbors...and of our Heavenly Father.

Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, phone calls, meals, and offers to help.

If I can sleep tonight, morning will come early with another miracle just waiting to happen.

{we'll get pictures up quickly, promise}

Not Quite What We Were Hoping...We Think

Shari called this morning. The EEG showed the typical signs of BRE...but only on one side of the brain. She's ordered an MRI to rule out any "structural abnormalities". She suggested we call back in a week to schedule that after preauthorization had been done. I called today. They worked things out for us...again, very accommodating. We will do the MRI Friday at 1:30 pm...then have a baby on Saturday at 7:00 am. I'm thinking that sounds a little restful at this point.

Beautiful Girl

I don't usually put my heart on a shelf for everyone to see. My posts generally deal with the day-to-day going ons of our family. I'm not sure I wanted to share these musings, but I feel compelled to. Maybe because we need your prayers. Maybe because I'm not as confident as I've just sounded here. Maybe just because...

This is what happened Sunday afternoon on a drive through the Uintas near Christmas Meadows.

I think it was one of the most terrifying experiences I have ever been through. It was short-lived, but profound, and potentially life-changing. We still don't know yet. We may have known last night, but for a few brief moments, I left my phone in the car and wasn't able to discuss results with Shari, the PA who met with us about Amelia's incident. Part of me is ok with that because it has given me one more night to think that maybe we are just dealing with a benign condition that she will outgrow.

It's funny because I had just been thinking how beautiful Amelia is. She radiates life, enthusiasm, joy for playing, and it all shines through her enormous blue eyes, framed in the most amazing eyelashes you could imagine. {and I am not being exaggerative in that statement...all the nurses and doctors have mentioned her eyelashes} And then she smiles her crooked teeth growing in smile, and it just makes me smile.

Then to see her drooling like an infant, swiping at her face with no control, gnawing on her tongue in an attempt to speak...was such a stark contrast to the thoughts I had been having just days earlier. There was no sparkle, only confusion. There was no smile, only a lopsided, goofy grin. It's no wonder that my mind instantly went to the worst case scenario...brain tumor. Why else would she behave that way? It wasn't like a seizure with shaking and loss of consciousness. She was trying to communicate most of the time, with no success.

It's no wonder Sam was totally freaking out..."There's something wrong with Amelia" over and over again.

It chokes me up again to think of it. Nate stopping the car immediately, Me jumping out of the car, pulling Clay from the car to get to Amelia....to get her standing up, to see if she would respond, to get her talking to us.

And what a tender mercy that the ER Doctor in Ogden would refuse to do tests that he knew would be inconclusive or unnecessary at that point in time. What a tender mercy that the ER Doctor in Ogden had a son with similar symptoms, and who was treated at Primary Children's. What a tender mercy that we were able to have an appointment Monday afternoon, and that they were willing to stay late for an EEG.

An EEG that would hopefully confirm to us that what Amelia has is nothing more serious than Benign Rolandic Epilepsy.

A little outside info....

{"Benign"

	is almost always outgrown and may not require treatment;
	is not due to any underlying structural brain problem;
	may frequently recur; but would only very, very rarely cause any harm; and
	is not detrimental to the child’s intelligence.

“Rolandic” refers to the area of the brain where these seizures typically start: the “rolandic” strip, which is also known as the “motor strip.”

“Epilepsy” simply refers to “recurrent seizures.”}

Benign Rolandic Epilepsy. That's what they seemed to think caused Amelia's little episode. The only inconsistency that they saw was the fact that she had not been sleeping for a long period of time, which is customary with episodes. But they were able to confidently look over that little detail and maintain this as the most likely cause. I prefer not to go with the what-if-its nots because there is a lot of hope in this direction. There is no surgery, chemotherapy, or loss of brain or motor function in a permanent sense. It will not last forever, it may not require treatment, and it may not ever happen again in the day-time.

I will maintain that hope...

And I will let you know when day breaks what I hear from Shari.

Summer Fun

No pictures to post today, {jk...this post was begging for something a little more visual...I only have uploaded pictures through June} but I thought I would give a little update on how our summer is going so far.

We've played t-ball...the girls did. I coached. I'm sure I looked pretty funny out there, and it was not my first choice of things to do while I'm 8 months pregnant, but we ultimately had a really good time. It made me laugh that, except for one talented and interested player, the kids would all ask to be out. Some were a little disappointed when we didn't have enough players and they all had to play the whole game. During one game we tried to play 4 innings because we were moving pretty quickly. That did not really work out very well. We saw improvement, and by the last couple games we didn't have to provide quite as many reminders about where to throw the ball, when to stop playing in the dirt, and how to tag a runner out. It really was fun when all was said and done, but I was pretty happy to be done.

Sam's been pretty busy this summer. He started his summer out at a wrestling camp in Vernal with the high school team. It was not easy for this mom to let him go...but he had a great time and learned lots of valuable skills. He also spent a week at scout camp and will spend the last half of next week on the Trek that our stake is doing. They can take 17 lbs of supplies, and will be walking 8-12 miles each of the three days on the hike, pushing a handcart. I hope that it will be a defining experience for him. Babysitting has been a little of a new adventure for Sam this summer as well. He's enjoyed watching Lindsey's kids a couple times, and he's been very helpful when I have need of a sitter. And of course I have kept him busy mowing the lawn and doing other chores like taking care of animals. (pigs, dogs, and horses)

Clay also started his summer out at a wrestling camp. We took him to Idaho to attend a camp with Wyatt. They had a really good time. Clay loves to spend time with his cousin!

It was definitely a highlight. He had a day camp for scouts, which he enjoyed, and went for a little campout with Nate on the way to get Sam from scout camp. He had a blast at the family reunion too. Otherwise, it is difficult for him to stay focused and productive. He claims that he is very bored. probably.

The girls kind of get the short end of the stick from my perspective. They did the trip to Idaho and the family reunion.

Otherwise, they just enjoy playing with cousins, riding bikes, not cleaning their room, and begging to play with neighbor friends.

I'm trying not to freak out about being ready for another baby in the house. Clothes are out...not washed yet. We're working on finding better sleeping arrangements for Henry and the baby. We took a trailer full of things to DI on Friday. It felt good to clear out a little. But I'm thinking it wasn't quite enough.

Nate's kind of been over many aspects of the trek that they are doing this week. It's kept him busy! Yesterday we spent the entire day doing/supporting his callings. We went from Mirror Lake where we had a Stake hike for the new sports committee that he is over. That was a fun little family outing. When we got home we changed to go to Bear Lake for the rededication of Camp Hunt and the council executive board meeting for our local boy scout council. {Nate's on the executive board} We got home just in time to swing by the stake youth dance to see if they needed any help getting set up. Well, after an hour, there were some music issues. So, long story short, we were there the rest of the night, getting home at 11:30. phew.

We're staying busy:)

My Mia is 7

Amelia Mae. Such a beautiful, delightful, responsible, and often madening child.

"I wanted my hair in ponies today...like this, no like that, you're not doing it right"

{get the idea?}

Going to school has really given her a great deal of confidence, and has really let me see how responsible she can be.

Some favorites:

school subject...math

movie...Aladdin

song...Praise to the Man

food...left-over macaroni & cheese, chicken noodle soup, s'mores

clothes...pink and white striped t-shirt with denim (jeans, capri's or shorts)

to do...play with cousins

place to be...at cousin's house...(better than at home?) oooh, home....I love being at home. No, Disneyland.

restaurant...Olive Garden

best thing to do at Washington DC...swim

favorite thing at home...play outside, ride bike

She checks the school menu regularly and has a ham sandwich cut into triangles if the school lunch doesn't work for her.

She's very helpful if she wants to be. If not, don't even bother.

She is quick to bring me notes and notices from school, and takes her school work seriously.

She has not been quick to read, but is finally trying to read things, and is catching on. She's much more mathematically minded.

She loves to have things to do, especially anything active like swimming, bike riding, or helping her dad with projects.

She won't leave for school without a hug and a "love you mommy...see you at 3:40" and everyday after school she jumps up and runs to me with her arms stretched out..."mommy!"

For her birthday she wanted an umbrella and a hamper. hmmmm. It doesn't rain much here...it's for the sunshine, mom.

I got her a fuzzy blanket too. And some clothes.

She wanted to see a movie with her cousins for her birthday this year, so we did. It was super-fun.

Oh, and the cake. She wanted butterflies with bright colors.

That was fun too. Except that I put the big butterfly on the white cake, and she wanted the big butterfly on the chocolate cake. Can you say meltdown? It didn't really matter too much because by the time it got a booster seat thrown on top of it, and jostled around in the car on the way to uncle Darren's, it was a mess. Good thing I took pictures before we left=)