First Day of School 2012

San Diego 2012

We had great weather in San Diego and a relaxed schedule.  Several days we followed a beach, then pool, then lunch at the pool, then naps routine which was perfect.  A good bit of time was also spent playing with our new toys- a birthday iPad which we are SO excited about and a new grown-up "Big Brother"  Boogie Board.  Super fun!  We also snuck in a little shopping, scooter riding, golf putting, and just hanging out.  Zuri spent most of the trip walking back and forth and all around the house (or beach/ pool)  hand in hand with a grandparent.  It was a good relaxing time away for us which was just what we needed.   

 

 

 

Getting There

The day after the big friend birthday party the kids and I hit the road once again but this time for San Diego.  In the last month we have spent about 10 non consecutive days in Vegas which is notable.  This trip had been a long time coming and we were anxious to get down there.  I wasn't crazy about leaving Lance in Vegas by himself or about another long car trip by myself, but we worked it out so Lance could fly down on Friday and then drive back with us first thing Monday. 

There is a back story to this San Diego trip.  On July 23 (just 2 days after Colleen passed away) my sister Whitney had been scheduled to have a corneal transplant.  We had been gearing up for it for a very long time and were quite anxious about it all.  It took months to decide to do the surgery, have doctors agree to perform it, and just get it scheduled.  My parents were working on tons of details regarding it right up until that weekend.  There was debate about much of it, but most of the concern was regarding the recovery as Whit wouldn't be able to rub the eye after without risk of blindness.  Telling Whitney to not rub her eye would be like telling Zuri to not rub her eye- they have no interest in your request.  The big difference is Whitney has the strength and determination of an adult.  So basically this means that someone would have to be with her 24/ 7 holding her strong and super stealth quick arms down for some time to ensure any hope of a successful outcome.  So the stress level was high about many things regarding the surgery.  My plan was to stay in Vegas until a week or so after the surgery and then I would go down to be a fresh extra helper when Mom and Dad were starting to get worn out. 

When Colleen passed Mom and Dad were heart broken as well.  It was a hard phone call for me to make to tell them.  They loved Colleen tons and wanted to do anything they could for us and Brice in any way possible.  They did much for keeping me on track that Saturday with lots of phone check-ins as I made my way to Utah with the kids.  On Sunday we spoke about if they should postpone the surgery and I immediately knew that Colleen would not have wanted that and told them so.  She also loved them and Whitney very much and was very aware of all that was going on with the surgery.  She and Brice were even planning to come to Vegas to help with our kids so I could make that trip to San Diego.  Even in the midst of it all in the hospital Saturday night Brice asked me about the surgery. 

So, that Monday Whitney did have the transplant surgery.  They were extra relieved that they had decided to have it as once the doctors got in to her eye they discovered that she was in fact blind in that eye.   Thus any vision the surgery brings her is a plus.  She spent that Monday-Wednesday in the hospital in the ICU where they could closely monitor her, sedate her, and restrain her.  Wednesday night they came home and Thursday morning my Mom got on the first flight of the day to come to Colleen's funeral.  Obviously it was no easy task for her to leave Dad and Whit, for Dad to be without her (they did have a few helpers come in throughout the day though which was necessary so Dad could get a few minute breaks), or for Dad to not be at the funeral.  Mom ended up taking care of Zuri at the funeral which was a HUGE help and comfort.  She flew back to San Diego that night so Dad and Whit didn't have to do the night alone. 

I should also share about something special in the midst of this long tale. Colleen was an organ donor which is awesome. Due to the nature of her injuries the one thing that she was able to donate was her cornea's. This is of course a very tender thing to all of us.  As I mentioned before her heart was very in tune with Whitney and my parents so I know that this was a special gift. 

Whitney's recovery has been long.  After the first few weeks they noticed that she was looking at things again like she used to, eating way better, and sleeping a lot less.  We believe that her eyes had been causing her much pain and probably were making her feel sick to her stomach quite a bit.  So we are thrilled about that.  The challenge still remains with some eye disomfort, a brutal eye drop medicine schedule, and mostly having her not rub her eye due to those things which is no easy task.  The doctors have basically said that she should always be a bit gentle with that eye, but it is of course not humanly possible to have someone monitor her like that every hour of the day for the rest of time.  We hope with every passing day it will get stronger, but it is exhausting to constantly have in the back of your mind "maybe if we just make it one more day of not rubbing it will be better".  Imagine 3am when you've been monitoring her for over a month.  My parents continue to be amazing in so many ways in the lives they live.

So, finally getting to San Diego last week was a relief.  Hopefully, we were a fun (if not exhausting) distraction for all of them.  I'm not sure we were really much help, but Whit and I were able to enjoy some good cuddle time.  It was good for us as well.  We very much wish we could divide ourselves in pieces and be in several different locations at once these days.      

*Next post will be a better documentation of the actual trip but bed is calling tonight.  :)

Scattered Happenings

In the midst of all that has been going on for us over the last month we've had some scattered happenings as well.  So here goes some catch up:

On July 31, 2012 Miss Zuri finally decided that it was time to get in motion and get walking on her own. For about a month and a half she had been standing unassisted for super long periods at a time (like minutes) but she wouldn't take a step for anything. It was very cute to see how proud she was of herself once she did finally get going. Now she is zooming around all over the place like it is no big thing. 

 

Kai and Rori both did more swimming lessons in Vegas. Rori did great in her preschool class and is pretty decent at survival swimming in water she can't stand in for a short distance at this point which is fun. Kai's program was a pre-swim team aquatics school. He had to have jammer swim trunks, a cap, goggles, a kick board, and fins for the 3 week session. He loved it and really developed a ton. At the end they suggested he do another session and then think about the swim team. We didn't end up doing that with the other events of the summer happening, but I think we will come back to it again. 

 

Another reason we are putting swimming on hold for a bit is because Kai has started practices for his Fall Flag Football team.  He's been super excited about this starting up and has been talking about wanting to play since last Fall.  It probably wouldn't have been my pick for him, but it was what he wanted to try so we are supporting him in that.  It helps that his school best buddy Evan is also on the team.  They've only had one practice so far, but I do think he is going to learn a lot as everyone involved seems really good and organized.

Mostly there has been a lot of car riding though.  Not the most fun to do a lot of long trips with a 14/ 15 month old, but all in all they have really been troopers about everything:

Rori Turns 4

Today is Rori's 4th birthday.  She has grown up so much in the last year.  She is so cute and lovable.  Sometimes I catch a glimps of her and am taken by her sweet little ways and beautiful face.  We love the little freckles sprinkled on her nose and that she loves to snuggle in to her Mom and Dad.  She has made huge strides in her talking this year and we are so grateful that she is willing to work so hard in such a cheerful way.  She loves to laugh and be silly.  She loves her brother and sister so much and is is very caring and protective of them both.  She makes friends everywhere we go and her teachers at school and at church have told us how well she listens and obeys.  She loves running (and is super fast) and anything else athletic related.  She loves her dolls, and purses, and dress up stuff, but she also loves batman and scooby doo and will try just about any crazy stunt that her brother does.  We just can't love on this little beauty enough.

Rori has been anxiously waiting for her birthday to come for about the last 4 months so she was thrilled to finally have it be here this morning.  She put on a party hat first thing and got to opening a few presents.  She opened up her present from Grandma and Grandpa Utah which was some jewelery (that she immediately put on) and a kit for making clothespin dolls.  She also opened up a pretend puppy that barks and wags its tale.  That puppy has since traveled with us the rest of the day. 

After presents and some birthday mini muffins we said goodbye to Dad who was going to work and Grandpa Utah who was heading back to SLC. It was hard to see grandpa go. We enjoyed having him here with us so much and hate to be away from him. We are so glad that he decided to make the long drive down to spend some time with all of us.

After getting some things done around the house we did some last errands in preparation for the kids big joint afternoon birthday party. Picking up cake and ice cream when it is August heat in Vegas is no simple task. About a month ago we had decided to let the kids have a party at this big Bounce place here in Henderson called BounceU. The kids hadn't had a friend party in a couple of years and we figured this might be one of the last years they let us do a joint party. Our choices seemed to come down to hosting a miserable hot party at a local park, stuffing a bunch of kids in to our house where we would have to entertain them and clean up after them, or going to this indoor bounce place where all we had to do was bring a cake. Needless to say we made the right choice- especially in light of the last few weeks we weren't in a place to be doing much planning and it was great for the kids to have something really fun. 

We ended up inviting 18 kids and had 17 kids come.  Several were siblings who were each Kai and Rori's age which was great.  They each had friends from School and Church come.  This place has tons of cool stuff to climb, bounce, and slide on.  They were all bright red faced and sweaty by the end which was perfect.  Everyone had a blast, it was super simple for us, and afterwards we just packed up and left without having to deal with any mess clean up.  Brilliant.  Rori's comment in the car on the way home was: "That was awesome."  It is extra awesome to hear Rori say awesome.  :)