anyone out there?

I haven't blogged since November. I never thought I would go that long. I almost feel like I am starting my journal over from scratch....So I guess I will just jump right in. I am currently computerless, but get Dan's laptop every night when he gets home from work. Hopefully mine will be up and running again soon so I can post a bazillion pictures. MORP was last night. T went with a good friend of hers and they had a blast. I love having older kids. I love the stage they are in right now. H is doing okay. We had a little visit to the ER on Thursday night. hopefully we will get this all straightened out sooner than later.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours! We have so much to be grateful for this year. Especially how healthy everyone is, or is getting!!! We are settling back into a routine of sorts, and so happy about that!

Never too busy for an IV

I told the dr I was too busy last week to be admitted into the hospital, so they sent me home with an IV in my arm instead. I had to go in every day for my medicine. Over the weekend they sent me to home health, which taught me how to do my own IV injection and sent me home with a cooler filled with goodies. It is still red, so I go in today to find out what the next plan of attack is.
The girls got to dance at the University of Utah halftime Spectacular on Sat. Some of their teachers are on the Crimson Line, and invited them to come perform.. They spent Friday night learning the dance, eating pizza and oogling the men cheerleaders, then got to do the game Sat. It POURED rain thru the whole first half. So much for cute hair!! The sun came out right before halftime and they had a blast dancing. We left right after that and met Roxanne for Mexican food. I was feeling bleh, so we left early from dinner and headed home. I actually got to go to all three hours of church yesterday for the first time in almost 2 months. It was sooooo nice!!! Erin stayed home with Hayley for me, who was (and still is) having severe stomach pains. Tapering off of the medicine is a beastly process...One step forward and two back. A sad decision was made last night to pull her from dance for the year, since this is so much more long term than we thought it would be.

what we're up to

well, last week H was readmitted to the hospital. We figure the 4th time is a charm, right? IT was a rather short visit for her, she went in on Monday and was out by Weds afternoon. SHE had a small surgery on Tues. It was only about 45 minutes long. They put a scope up her nose, then took some biospy samples in three different spots. They then cauterized the left side to try and stop the 5-6 nosebleeds she is getting a day. Her oxygen levels are much better now than they were before she went in, and I am very very happy about that!
We drove to Logan for the weekend to forget all about her medical stuff. We stayed at Hampton Inn, which had an indoor pool and YUMMY breakfast. We got to see Uncle Steve and Aunt Mary, go pumpkin hunting and swim. It would have been a perfect weekend, except I had this small pimple that turned into a full on boil by the end of the trip. I was in so much pain, that Dan took me to urgent care, which should now and forevermore be known as the back alley chop shop. The man impersonating a dr ended up doing the most painful little surgery I have ever experienced (I screamed). I am now filled with packing stuff, and waiting to find out from my own dr if I am being sent to the hospital for IV antibiotics. Good times are afoot here in our household! I told Amanda that my chest is on fire, and she said I was just feeling that "burning in my bosom" hehe

Hayley Update

I am home early from church with H. She is not doing so well today, only made it through most of Sacrament meeting. Last night she threw up a little bit and there was some blood. Not much, but still... They have upped her prednisone again (drat!) and doubled the two stomach medicines she is on. She is now on the highest dose for adults. We will see if that helps. Friday at the dr her oxygen was at 88. At 87 her dr admits to the hospital for supplemental o2. What a roller coaster ride! Her good moments are starting to happen, and getting longer, so there is light at the end of the tunnel. Her iron levels are low, so the dr told her to eat more red meat. That is normally not a problem for our little carnivore, but lately she hasn't had much of an appetite for anything! The jaundice looks a little better, and we are glad the mono is gone. Now if we can just get her nosebleeds down from 4 or 5 a day to just 1 or 2, we can concentrate on her HSP, which is the dratted disease that started this whole mess! I wish I could take away the stomach pain, I think that is the worst of this all for her. That's why they doubled the meds, but so far it's not helping. Where is House when I need him?

This and That catch up

I love Fall. I love the colors, the decorations, the fun activities. FOOTBALL games! Love it all! This fall is different, in that I have someone home to share it! H and I have been hanging out, since she is still on Home and Hospital care. She tries to go to school every now and then and usually lasts about 2 classes. She is home until oct 30. It is strange having someone home with me, and I could really get used to it! We can't really go out and do much, so we have decorated the house, and gotten hooked on reruns of Gilmore girls.
E decided to have her hair colored. It is a BEAUTIFUL shade of red. I will take some pictures today and try and post them. Dan has a favorite stylist, and she was recertifying for all over color. She needed a model, so she asked Dan if she could do one of the girls. E was THRILLED!
V turns 16 next month... I need ideas for a party, seeing as her birthday is on a Sunday...yuck! Thinking of just inviting some friends over for food that night.

Hayley update

on hold with the dr's office. again. good thing I quit my job last week, trying to coordinate care for Hayley is turning into a full time job!!! They discovered last week that she has blood in her lungs, so we are keeping an eye on that. She gets to start swimming today, to help her muscles from going into atrophy, then her tutor comes this afternoon to coordinate her homework, so it's a full day!!! She might need a few naps to deal with the excitement :) Heck, I might need a few naps!

summer catch- up

WOW! Has it really been this long since I have posted anything? I am home today with Hayley, waiting for the Dr to call with lab results, so I will do a quick catch-up, to fill you in on why I haven't been blogging so much lately (although all of it is more blog-worthy than most anything I have ever posted!!)
-our washer flooded. No big deal, except it is UPSTAIRS. It flooded the top floor, the main floor and the basement.
-2 weeks later, Dan was teaching V how to pull MY car into the garage, spooked her a bit and she hit the gas instead of the brake, burying my car into the mudroom wall. Yes, we now have homeowners insurance on speed dial.
-Because of beforementioned events, I now have all new beautiful laminate wood flooring and new carpet in my house... :)
-LOTS of pooltime this summer...as in EVERY DAY. With my house torn up all summer we spent as much time as possible not in it.
-SNOWBIRD for my 40th birthday. Dan surprised me with a weekend getaway. We had a blast hiking all over the mountain and relaxing.
-My children started 10th, 8th, 6th and 3rd grades...crazy!
-after 4 days of school, H got some weird disease, and has so far had two stays in the hospital, and we are still fighting it. Most normal people who get HSP have a mild case and it goes away on its own, but we like to do things all the way in our family!
I will try and post pictures soon, because I DO have them of all of these fun events, but I need to download the program onto my new-to-me computer, and that might take awhile!!

end of the year recital

This year the studio did something a little bit different. Some of the older girls did a specialty number to a REALLY fun Alice in Wonderland song. The choreography was amazing and they had a blast performing it. Yes, we have paid thousands of dollars so that my daughter can dance on top of a table.

Bug's team did a great job this year. She has really grown up a lot this year!

H loves her tap showteam. They took high point in competition

Bug doing Hip Hop

T doing her Hip hop

T lyrical

h doing Hip hop

All of the girls going into High school got special recognition

Bug and her solo choreographer Tara

E is such a good sport, coming to all of their performances!

At the end of the year picnic and awards following the recital with best bud Lexi

H goofing off

Calico Ghost Town

On our way home from Disneyland, we stopped at Calico Ghost town, in the Mojave Desert. Let me preface this by telling you that when I was a freshman in high school, I went with my dad and brother Dave to Death Valley on a jeep trip for spring break with a bunch of my dad's friends. We had a blast, and one of the nights slept in a real ghost town. We had to 4-wheel into, no road coming in or out. Sagebrush literally rolled through the small town of a just a few buildings that were left and we pitched our tents in the middle of town. SCARY ghost stories were the order of the night, and I still can't think about it without the hairs on the back of my neck standing up and goosebumps on my arms...it was a BLAST! I thought it was high time my girls had a good ghost town experience......... WRONG! This was Hollywoods version of a ghost town. There were gift shops and PAVED roads for criminy. The girls loved it, but I left a bitter and disappointed woman. see....paved road. For shame.

Chinese bath tub...hilarious just thinking about it!

The only ghost we saw. Not very spinetingling or hair-raising, but whatev.

Panning for gold...that was pretty fun!