August Update

Alayna finished up Drivers Ed and passed her tests! Now we will get her the school license so she can drive herself to and from school!  She starts school Thursday and seminary next Monday.

Kayla and Brandon made it safely home and will be back to Provo when school starts.  They are in  the prime location for the eclipse tomorrow!!!

We were super lucky to have Bob home for most of the days Kayla and Brandon were here!  I started back to work on Thursday and we were in meetings 2 days straight.  I am floored but hoping I will get it all done before school starts this Wednesday. I am excited for this year and love my job and excited about so many new things!

Marisa has finished up her internship in Brazil and made it to Argentina this weekend. She is staying with one of her mission companions.  Then she will head to Fortaleza, then back home in time for her final 2 semesters of school!!!

The caves

Brandon I need pictures of you and Bob with the Boomerang!

Happy Birthday Brandon and Alayna!!!

We went to Osaka and had a fun birthday party with a giant Zookie!

Even Bob got a gift!

Twins

As you know, we have been watching these twins throughout the summer.  We took them in for several days while the mom tried to make a decision about adoption, find a ace to live, etc.  Thank goodness we had Brandon and Kayla here to help. They are going to be awesome parents!  It took all of us to take care of them for so many days!  They also got to see what its like to be up at night with a baby.  It was so fun but boy were we tired! (Grace and Glory)

Brandon has the whole morning routine down- holding a baby while studying!

It took all of us to do their night routine too.  We gave them baths and then lotioned them up.  However, I used too much of the cocoa butter Vaseline and poor Grace ended up looking like a basted turkey and was super slippery!  But she sure was super soft the next morning! 

We even took them with us to go to Newbo market for lunch!

Nauvoo

We had an amazing trip to Nauvoo!  Alayna did baptisms and we did endowments for family names our girls brought and Kayla and I were able to go through for sisters.  Jared was awesome and toured Tyler around and introduced him to the directors of the performing missionaries there.

We did a little bit of sight-seeing for Brandon and got to see where Joseph Smith and his brother are buried.  All these times in Nauvoo and I never knew they were there!

This sums up how we felt afterwards!

Kayla and Brandon

I have so much blogging to catch up on which always shows how busy I have been!

We just LOVED having Kayla and Brandon fly out to visit ( and we REALLY missed Marisa!) 

Their friends Madeline and Kekoa were working in Cedar Falls so they came down for an evening and we went bowling and had Chinese food.

Blog update-July 23

Ive been without a phone for about 2 weeks. Long story but I have been super irritated by it! So I dont have many pictures to show.  We have been busy trying to relax and soak up the remaining weeks of summer.

We did go see the new Spiderman and just loved it!  There are so many movies I want to see.

We finally had our appointment with the specialist in Iowa City for Alayna. She has officially been diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Synrome (the hypermobility is part of that.)  It is genetic.

“Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a group of disorders that affect the connective tissues that support the skin, bones, blood vessels, and many other organs and tissues. Defects in connective tissues cause the signs and symptoms of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which vary from mildly loose joints to life-threatening complications.”

Thank goodness she doesn’t have the severe vascular kind.  We did have her eyes checked this week for any connective tissue damage and everything looks fine there.  She will need an echo cardiogram in the next few months to check the connective tissue around her heart to see how that is doing.  The great thing is she can manage most of it with healthy eating, consistent exercise, weight lifting (or physical therapy) and knowing her body well enough to know how to manage the pain.  We can get some accommodations at school where we get an extra set of textbooks at home so she doesn’t have to carry so much around, etc. 

We are happy to have some answers and to know its not super serious but something she can live with and manage now that’s she is aware of it.

Marisa went to the police station and got all her paper work taken careof.  There was a mix up with the visa but I think all is well now.  She looks so happy and is getting to see and do some really cool things!

Kayla finished her spring semester on Friday and is happy to be done with school for a while.  She and Brandon are coming to visit in a few weeks and we cant wait to see them!

Bob was called as the 1st counselor in the new Elders Quorum presidency.

Tyler had an interview last week and 2 set up this week. Fingers crossed a job comes through for him that he can stick with.

This week I taught myself how to sew fleece cage liners with uhaul pads in between.