Aunt Tammy

A week and a couple days goes by real fast when you're having fun! We had Mike's older sister Tammy visiting from Phoenix. She left this morning and both Bryce and Ian were upset. Bryce cried all the way back to Layton and to church. Both boys have been asking to go back to the airport in the hopes that they will find their aunt Tammy! We are going to miss her. The good thing is that she will be back for another visit next year! YAY!

We managed to accomplish quite a bit while Tammy was here. We made a trip down to Provo and ate at a chilean restaurant, went to BYU, went to the Quilted Bear, played at Chuck E Cheese's, ate lots of food that tasted great but was not entirely healthy, we played beauty salon in our guest bathroom, Mike and I had lots of date nights, Tammy learned some basic crocheting, facebook in and outs, and got hooked on the Twilight series. Over all I would say it was a very pleasant visit! We sure do miss Tammy!

Saturday Afternoon Road Trip...

My Bryce! Getting so big and growing up so fast! He starts kindergarten in the fall!

Bryce and Ian showing off their new hats. They are so cute, they try to sing the Cougar fight song, or least as much as they know of it! Too cute! Love it!

Mike and his new hat! He's representing!

We are so lucky! We have Mike's sister Tammy here visiting from Phoenix. If you haven't already figured it out, we enjoy visitors!. Tammy got here Friday afternoon and we decided that on Saturday we would go for a drive. We made our way down to Provo and finally found the Chilean restaurant Pantrucas that I had been wanting to try. I also got to talk briefly to Brother and Sister Minound, whom I knew in Chile when I was a missionary. So fun! Well the food was great! I would go back again if I'm ever down that way, but I don't think I will take my boys! They are such picky eaters and they were more interested in trying to pull the table cloths off the table, play with the light switches, pull napkins out of the dispenser and chair hop! It was pretty annoying! Can't take these kids anywhere! LOL! We finally made our way over to BYU. Tammy wanted to pick up some BYU T-shirts for Wilson and as luck would have it for us, there was a HUGE sale on childrens books and we made out like bandits! I love to find good deals on childrens books! We also picked up some BYU hats for the boys! These days a hat is a must have for Ian because his skin is extra sensitive to the sun as a result of the chemo. In addition to the hat, he also gets lathered up with what Mike likes to refer to as "sweater in a bottle" 70 spf sunblock! NOW, my standard rule is that all the kids get hats and sunblock before going out to play! I will not tolerate another cancer diagnosis in my house if I can help it! LOL! Anyhow, things are going pretty well around here. The kids are healthy, we are getting out more and more and we don't have any scans for a couple of months. Life's good! Tomorrow, Ian does have an electrical test on his optic nerves. The ophthalmologist determined that Ian has permanent optic nerve damage as a result of the hydrocephalus. Glasses will not fix the problem. Ian is not blind, however it is possible that he has difficulty seeing when it's dark and then some. We will learn more as time goes on! I pray and hope that the damage is minimal and that it won't impact the quality of life Ian will have!

Also, some more good news, we learned that we will be going to Disney World in August. Ian was approved by the Make a Wish foundation for the trip. We will leave Aug 3 and come home on Aug 9. We get to stay in the Give Kids the World village and access to all the parks. The boys are so excited! How grateful I am for the opportunity! I can't wait for the boys to have this experience! This summer is going to be so much better than last summer! I can feel it!

Loose Change.....

So, Mike has been on TDY in Vegas for a little over a week now. We decided that it would be fun if I could drive down with the boys for the weekend and spend some time together. The drive went well and the boys were great! We stayed with my friends Matt and Kim in their beautiful new home. It was so nice of them to let us crash there. The boys had a great time and it was just nice to be out of our house doing something "normal". Since Ian is 6 months out from transplant this week, his immune system is pretty much back to where it should be minus immunizations! That being said, I am still very cautious about taking him anywhere. I still don't want to knowingly subject him to sickness. At any rate, Matt and Kim's kids were so good about sharing toys and putting up with our loud little monsters.

Most of you who know us fairly well, know that my boys have an aversion to sleeping in. Well it doesn't help that we were an hour ahead of Vegas. So my boys were waking up around 5am Vegas time, 6am Utah time. That is norm for the boys. Anyhow, I was stuck trying to figure out how to keep them entertained in a little area and also keep them quiet. On Saturday morning, our second morning there, Mike had stayed over night and was with me, and so we decided to get them dressed and leave as soon as possible to avoid the struggle to keep things quiet. We went to breakfast at Denny's.

So now the funny story...... as we were waiting for our breakfast, Bryce was playing with some loose change that Mike had given him that morning. Mike was teaching Bryce how much quarters and nickels are worth. So Mike asks Bryce "HOW MANY NICKELS DO YOU HAVE?" and Bryce says pointing to his chest " OOONNEE AND TWWWOOO!" So by now Mike and I are laughing hysterically..... Mike says through his laughing " Bryce NOT NIPPLES......... I SAID NICKELS." and Bryce says laughing " OH!" We have enjoyed the best laugh about this. Bryce is not going to live this one down! Funny Kid!

We are back home and longing for Mike to get home soon! We sure miss him. As the kids get older it gets more and more difficult for them to be separated from their daddy! Bryce cried all last night wanting his daddy. We just keep telling ourselves....8 more years 8 more years! I don't think it will go fast enough for us!