Saturday started early. We had arranged with mom and Sara to come to Fresno for the day. I got up at 5 am and started packing while Scott showered. As soon as he was done we switched. He packed the car while I showered. We were on the road by 6:15 am. We got to Fresno about 9 am. After a brief breakfast and a good feeding for Keri, Sara and I went to the Temple. It was a nice morning and the session was even better. We made it back in time for lunch. We spent the afternoon sleeping and talking. Sara took the 4 oldest swimming and they seem to have had lots of fun. Then they all made Halloween sugar cookies while dinner finished. After a yummy dinner of lasagna and salad we enjoyed the cookies. We showered, cleaned up and said our goodbyes. We were gone by 7:30pm. The drive home was very uneventful and we made it home by 10pm. After putting all the kids to bed, Scott stayed up to finish his lesson and I finished up my primary stuff. We are a bit boring these days! We had a good time with mom and Sara and hope to do it again soon.
Sunday was our “normal” stuff. We got to church early so that Scott could set up a video for his class. I needed to put some stuff up in the primary room. We had a great Sacrament meeting. Our other meetings went well too and we made it home in one piece. I left right away and did some visiting teaching and then had a primary meeting. After getting home we made dinner and enjoyed each other’s company. I finally let Keri cry it out. She was doing awesome at nighttime. But after we got back from camping she thought she needed to eat every 3-4 hours again. I finally decided to put a stop to it. She cried off and on for about 30 minutes and then settled down and woke up 6 hours later. That was better!
Monday September 22 started out with an appointment for Scott and I to talk to some people about Alix’s condition. It was similar to an appointment we had for Milo when we first learned of his diagnosis. Even though Milo and Alix have completely different issues, it was a lot of the same information that we received for Milo. We did however learn a few new things and so it was a helpful meeting. We left the house at 10 am. Sister Barnes from church watched the kids for us. The kids were excited to have her come. While we were gone the kids told her about the fitness challenge that we are doing and so she did all the strengthening excercises with the kids. Apparently Jaime was so excited that she did all of them. Milo and Alix are pacing themselves and doing a little everyday. Anyway, after our appointment we went to Gayle’s restaurant for a bite to eat and then came home. When we arrived the kids were a little sad. They were about to play Mother May I with Sister Barnes. It was obvious that Sister Barnes is really good at playing games and the kids enjoyed themselves immensely. We said our goodbyes and then prepared ourselves for a family bike ride. We borrowed a bike from our neighbor, Roberta, that has a child’s seat on it for Afton. Roberta watched Keri for us and off we went. About 2 minutes into the bike ride, Niah declares that she is done. So everyone else rides ahead and Niah and I go a different, shorter route. It took us the same time to do ½ a mile as it did for the others to do 2 miles. But it was fun and I think Niah enjoyed the one on one with me. We met back up as a family and did dinner. Then we had FHE. As part of FHE Scott did fathers’ blessings for all the kids. It was a special moment and the kids really felt the spirit. It’s nice to have the priesthood in the home. After putting all the kids to bed, Scott went out for his run and I cleaned up and got ready for bed. Another successful day done and gone.
Tuesday September 23 started out good. Scott drove into work today so he could have time to do a workout in the gym. The kids and I were set to do school, our first real day back after too much vacation. But we just couldn’t get into it. The girls are just too used to playing and running free. So we spent WAY too much time on school today. We had a little break while we drove to Brentwood to drop off some bottles and cans to my friend. She is doing a fund raiser for her class so they can go on this awesome field trip in March and has invited Jaime to go with her. It sounds like lots of fun but that means we have to be part of the fund raiser. It’s pretty easy actually. With all the bottled water and alcoholic beverages my friends consume, we are finding it easy to collect peoples recycling. Anyway, that took a good 3 hours out of the day, but I was able to rid our side yard of lots of bottles and cans. After that we spent some time with our awesome neighbors and then we had dinner and bed. Here I am typing away thinking of all the other stuff I should be doing. So I will say good bye, till next time. We love you all and miss you even more!
So what was Alix’s prognosis? I loved all the updates. Thanks for keeping all your faithful readers up to date!