Oh MY Gosh!!!

How cute is she!!! We just got back from a long Sanford trip and everything is looking good. They have stopped IVIG (which is a immune system booster) so we don't have to go down every 4 weeks. Now its every 8 weeks or so which is huge considering we have been making that trip every 4 weeks not to mention that it sucks!!! Makynna is still making huge strides everyday which is exactly what they want. We did everything from vision, audiology, cardio, hand doctors to making splints for her hands at night to more and more blood work. She has gone through more than any kid should have to go through. We started our appointments at 9 a.m. and finished our last about 4 p.m. what a day not to mention we had a couple the following day. The one thing I do have to say is that I love the care she gets down at Stanford. They treat her like a person instead of a patient. Its amazing. She started speech therapy twice a week in our home and she is doing amazing.

Canning, Canning and more Canning!!!

We have been canning everything from Tuna as you can see to Raspberry Jams and Applesauce. WOW what a job especially with kids. We canned 175 pints of tuna (that's a lot of freaking tuna!)between my family we have done about 360 quarts of applesauce and about 100 pints of Jams. I am so sick of canning and still want to learn how to do peaches, apple pie filling, and pears. Maybe I will try to do it in a couple of weeks. My kids have lots of fun helping except the clothes that we wore canning tuna we had to throw them away because they smelled so bad!

Pumpkin Patch!!!

We finally got to go to the Pumpkin Patch on Tuesday with Craig. The kids have been bugging me since the pumpkin patch first open. Lately I have been feeling like the days rush by without me being able to take a breath. I get the feeling of being stress because I'm not able to get the things accomplished for that day. So Tuesday was so much fun because we got to hang out as a family. The kids had a blast.

Family Photo!!!

This is our new family photo! I have some of the kids but I don't have them back yet.

Sweet Little Nicole

***Vanessa on the left and Nicole on the right***
My sister Jenna wrote this about sweet little Nicole and I thought it fits her perfectly!!!
once upon a time.
there was a sweet, little girl.
she loved princesses and dancing.
this little girl was born a twin.
her twin, the total opposite.
she loved sports.
soccer, basketball, football.
anything she wanted to lay, she'd play.
so, naturally, being twins, they were competitive.
the little princess wanted to play soccer.
so, she signed up.
and she was great!
the best little forward any team could have.
it's the day for practice.
the princess and the athlete's mom gets in the car and takes the regular route to practice.
the princess had a best friend, she played too.
they took her to practice that day.
or, they started to.
on the way to practice, two teenagers decided to race.
it got out of control.
at a hundred miles an hour they caused a four car-car crash.
This crash, caused the princess her life.
and at nine years old, the princess took her last breath.
i wish this was only a story.
but it's not.
this little princess, was my incredibly sweet, happy, upbeat, adorable nine year old cousin.
she, was actually more of little sister.
granted, we had our little fights.
but at the end of the day, i loved her dearly.
and now because two idiots had to race for the satisfaction of "winning", a life was taken.
a life that meant a great deal to everyone.
spread the word.
racing on the freeway, highway, or anywhere.
is dangerous.
and life threatening.
the fact that one of those boys is on the loose right now, is driving me crazy and making me sick.
help put dangerous drivers away.
save a life

Why?

On Monday around 4:30 p.m. My cousins little girl Vanessa and her two friends Ashley and Nicole(twins) were heading off to Soccer. They were taking their normal route when two young kids came up behind them going 100 mile per hour drag racing on the highway. One of the racing cars hit the vehicle that these three 9 year old girls were in causing them to flip about 10 times until they came to a stop. Vanessa and Ashley and the mother (which was the driver) got out but the sweet little Nicole died on impact. It makes me so angry because of these two stupid boys thinking it would be fun to race 100 mph to get the thrill of who beat who, but instead it ending up in a tragedy killing a 9 year old girl. She was a twin sister to Ashley and Best friend of Vanessa. My kids played with the girls almost everyday because they live right down the street from my parents. It is a horrible tragedy and is every parent worse nightmare. The worse part about this story is one of the vehicles got away and is no were to be found. We are thankful for who was able to walk away from it because looking at the vehicle nobody should have walked away from it. Give your loved ones a hug and tell them that you love them everyday because you never know when its going to be the last.

This is a picture of Vanessa(left) and Nicole(right)



This is a 2002 Tahoe