This last August we took our yearly trip to Salt Lake for Randy's doctor appointment and had a great time. We started off by going to the sand dunes and spending the day there...it rained and it was cold but we still had a lot of  fun, it made getting up the dunes a bit harder actually I think. Then we headed to SLC and then headed to Pocatello to see Randy's grandma and had a good visit with her.

Dance

 Kaeltynn had a dance recital this last spring as well...what a gorgeous girl I must say! She is did really well and it has been so fun to see her come out of her shell a little bit. This year will be her second year.

This last June was a big year for Dylan...he was Baptized and was so excited! We were a little unsure at first weather he was actually going to go through with it because he is deathly afraid of water. He has been deathly afraid of water since he was about 2 because of some health issues that he had...We showed up and he totally wasn't afraid of the water. He went under with no problem, I think this was a huge step for him and has gradually enjoyed the water more and more. He has been taking some swimming lessons through the YMCA and loves it. It is actually part of a grant that all 3rd grade students in Idaho get to participate in because of all the canals in Idaho they want to teach children to swim. When he is done with that we will more than likely sign him up to continue his progress. Way to go Dylan we are so proud of you.

WOW! Has it been a very long time since I blogged. So much has happened and our lives have changed so much. The kids are growing up so fast and getting to new mile stones each day. Lets see if the next couple of days if I can possibly get somewhat caught up.
This summer we had fun with some bee's up in one of our trees. I was horrified just thinking oh my goodness these bee's are going to attack my daycare kids. But after putting on FB what I should do a long time friend of my Amy that I had gone to school with since 2nd grade called and said her husband is a beekeeper and bees actually won't bother you unless you bother them. I then called a local bee keeper who came out and gave my daycare kids a little tutorial of how bees make their hives and the kids got to taste some of the honeycomb! How cool is that?! The keeper said that there were about 25,000 bees up in our tree. he actually vacuumed most of them and cha-ching for him:) It was so fun. 

Life Style change...

This past month we have had quite a scare and have learned so much in the process...it has been 13 years since Randy's kidney transplant and all has been more than good until this past month. Each month he has a blood draw that checks a lot of things..everything from kidney function to potassium levels and his medication levels so if they need to lower a dose they find out that way. Well...February blood draw came and we got the dreaded phone call from SLC. They said that his kidney function is great but his potassium level is on very high level heading into the danger zone..so he needed to watch his intake of potassium until further notice. Before I continue....a normal person is to have anywhere from 4,000mg-7,000mg of potassium and he needed not eat more than 2,000mg per day. okay easy right?..mmm not so much. First off too much potassium can damage the kidney and since he only has one we need to really watch it. Counting potassium(which I have been calling points..makes it easier) is worse than counting calories or fat grams. Every single food that you eat fresh veggies to everything processed has potassium and it adds up really quickly. One of the tricks is to get enough protein in his diet through out the day and something high in calories and big meals to keep him going through out the day. We have had to learn the ins and outs of this pretty quickly...and we are doing a pretty good job. Another thing is to keep the potassium in my diet and the kids diet to keep us all healty. Wow...some of the things most people never have to think of. We are praying that by his next blood draw this month that we have made some progress and that his level will go down. We have learned so much and are so grateful for all the things that Heavenly Father has given us and so grateful for the knowledge that the Dr's have so that we can continue to try and keep our bodies healthy.



Gosh the past couple of months have been so crazy around here, We have Dance,Basketball,Mutual, Activty Days, school programs and band concerts...and more Basketball. And in between all of that the normal daily things like grocery shopping etc. Kaetlynn is really having fun in dance and is bringing our her personality more and more, I can't wait for her recital this Spring! Brian is doing amazing at BB and we have had 2 games every Saturday and practice during the weeks, championships are this Saturday. Dylan has just started Basketball and it will be fun to watch him as well.

 "Peterman" is who  the kids call Kevin...can't recall the story behind that one but they love Kevin and Renee. They are like a Grandma and Grandpa to our kids. We love you Kevin and Renee.

                                                         Reece hanging out with Daddy......

                        Kaetlynn got an award at school! so proud of all her accomplishments!

                   We went to "Papa Danny's" for a visit and well Rosie wanted in on Dylan's blanket.

 When ever we go to "Papa's" he has some sort of treat for the kids...it ranges from cookies and juice at 9:00 am or Rootbeer floats for dessert, the kids love it and it is so fun to make some new memories with him.

                                              "Papa"thinks that Reece needs a big one!

                                                     Leah was trying to just eat the ice cream.

 Meet Lokie.. "Papa's dog" he is a pure bred German Shephard who has grown since he was just 8 weeks old. The cute little puppy has grown into a GINORMOUS dog. He is such a big teddy bear. We wanted to show you how tall he is so we tried to get Brian to hold a stick up and make him stand on his hind legs. We tried to sit with a picture of him and he just wanted to play with Brian and started licking him and playing so that didn't quite work but it was pretty funny to watch.

                                Grandma had left behind coloring books and crayons and I guess you would say that it is sort of a safe haven for the kids when they go out there, there are a few things that Grandpa kept around  for the kids to play with and this was one of them, Leah always gets "Papa" to color with her. He always jokes and tells her she isn't coloring right...its pretty funny, he has quite the sense of humor.

What  a year it has been for us....It has been so long since I blogged, it is so hard to make time to do it. Brian made the Select Basketball team for Caldwell, Kaetlynn is in dance, between that and Activity Days and mutual we are busy. I still am doing Daycare in my home and even though it keeps me crazy busy i do really enjoy it. Randy got a promotion at work and is working toward the next step...all in good time we know that it will happen in the Lord's time, and we are willing to be patient. The kids are growing up so fast and going through different phases...kinda strange sometimes. Christmas was really good and enjoyed watching the kids open gifts and still know the True meaning of Christmas. It will be 2 years since Mom passed in January which is hard to believe. It was hard not having her and Dad around for Christmas.

 This was when Dylan was at school and fell on the bike rack at school and the school didn't notify me...needless to say I was not happy and he ended up with a black eye and has a scar from it. This kid needs to be padded up before heading out.

 This little man...no longer little turned 12 in November, where does time go? Oh the many mile stones we hit, kinda crazy!

                                Papa came over for Brian's birthday the kids just love to see him.

 We went to the night light parade, Randy had to work. Even though it was cold we had fun and went home and had hot chocolate and powdered doughnuts the kids loved it!

                                                           Reece keeping me warm.

 Gosh Kaetlynn is really starting to grow up and getting out of the little girl look. She is enjoying dance and will have a recital in the Spring.

 This was pretty funny...Leah dancing to the music at the parade. every time she hears music she gets up and dances....the problem is she does it at church to:)

                                             Reece and Daddy cheezin it for the camera!

One day for lunch we had chicken and fries...when I wasn't looking Reece decided he wanted fry sauce and well...this was the end result.

 This is just a random picture of Reece that I loved. This kid always makes me smile.

 So I have been taking updated pictures of Dylan's arm that has still quite a bit of healing do to.

 I took Reece and Leah to feed the ducks one more time before summer ended. It was fun just the 3 of us.

 Bird Racing!! My stepdad is totally into Pigeon racing....and has become quite the hobby for him. He started doing it about a year before my mom passed away. Now he has hundreds of birds and enormous houses for them. The kids love to go there and hold the birds. This time we were able to go out there and each pick a bird that we wanted to enter in the race. Well Kate's came in first, Randy's second and mine third. However you don't always get the birds back due to many factors such as weather.

 This was the bird that Kate picked out. Each bird has a wrist band with a number on it to identify it.

                                   This was one of the baby birds, I have to say the baby ones are ugly!