Summer

This is a been a crazy busy summer, just how we like it. Kennedee has been home a lot more since she decided not to do ODP this year. It has been very nice, she can help get Madison to were she needs to be and she can drive herself to soccer conditioning. We went to the DR a couple weeks ago and they did the concussion testing on her and she scored very low. She should be 15-20 % and her brain is functioning at 1-4%. That is 5 weeks after getting kicked in the head. She was told NO soccer until her brain heals. She was devastated and watching her cry made me cry. If her brain doesn't heal she could have permanent damage and she could possibly have a stroke. It has scared her enough to back off. She can condition but not heavy and if she gets a headache she has to stop. We have an appointment to get a functioning MRI next week and that will tell us more. They sent us home saying to RELAX, don't do anything that stresses her out. The test she took was hard on her brain and she had to go home and take a nap. 
The night we came home from the dr she rested and I went to bed early. At midnight I woke up to lights in my windows and my dog whining. I thought that was weird and a few minutes later Kennedee came in and said the police were at our door. I went to the front door and there were 5 cops on the porch and 5 or more on the front lawn. They had our house surrounded, they were looking for the kid who used to live in our house. They apologized over and over and I said I didn't have any forwarding information to give them. And they left. Kennedee was shaking because she had heard them ring the door bell and she came up stairs to see who it was, our front door has glass on it and they saw her and said, we see you, open the door its the police. She opened it to the cops on the front porch with their hands on their guns. It scared her. We laughed after but I said of all days for this to happen. She was supposed to chill and not get worked up. Never a dull moment. 
Madison's softball team has taken a little break but will start up again in the next week and she has a lot of tournaments the rest of the summer. Her coach called me last week to see if Madison would want to guest play with the hot shots. She said of course and we spent the weekend at the park. Her coach said they wanted someone to play outfield and super fast. He thinks Madison runs like a deer. She had a great time, it was VERY hot and she didn't play a whole lot but she learned a lot just from being there. This team is a great team and they won the whole tournament. She got a t shirt and a pretty nice trophy. That made the weekend worth it. The coach told her to keep the uniform so she could come play again. He emailed me today to see if she could play this weekend but she is at girls camp all week.

Last week was the 4th and I took the whole week off. It was so nice. Mom, Jaime and the kids came down to go to the parade with us and to enjoy the celebrations. On tuesday when they came down Kennedee was asked out on a date so she wasn't home. She called me about 10 and said they had been in a wreck but everyone was ok and she would be past her curfew. After all the head injuries lately I was worried, she called back and said her friends mom was there and they were going to call an ambulance for her and her friend. They both had some neck soreness and as a precaution they would go to the ER. The couple she went with were in the front seat and they rear ended another car. The kid driving felt so horrible. I told Kennedee at least she didn't have to deal with the awkward door step at the end of the date moment. Luckily nothing happened and she was released that night along with her friend. She is sore and stiff. I am ready to buy her a hamster ball and let her live in that. On the 4th we all went to the parade and had a BBQ at our house. Jaime went home and the rest stayed over night again. We all went and sat on the Provo temple lawn to watch the fireworks. Its is so nice having so much extra space and it was fun to have the kids stay with us for a couple of days. They are very entertaining.

On monday I dropped both girls off at the church for girls camp all week. Madison was very excited and a little nervous. This is her first year of camp and since we have only lived in our house a couple months she doesn't really know people yet, but Kennedee is going to be there and she was excited to have her sister there. Madison adores Kennedee and Kennedee is very protective of Madison, they get along so good and have a lot of fun together. Kennedee is a 5th year and has to give a devotional. She wasn't that happy to go but she was excited about Madison being there and showing her the ropes. I am grateful for a few days of not having to juggle my schedule for kids going in different directions and staying up late waiting for kids to come home. But I always miss them and I will be super happy to pick them both up friday. 

Yay Madison

Madison has been playing alot of softball. She really enjoys being on the field and being with her team. Her whole team is really good. They started off really good this year and won the first couple of tournaments and than had a really bad weekend. They took a couple weeks off and this last weekend they played in a friendly tournament on saturday. Madison is a tiny little thing but she has some power. When we play catch she hurts my hand. She mostly plays outfield and she can throw the ball to the infield. At batting practice she does really well but in games she gets nervous and strikes out way to much. I try and give her the confidence but I learned along time ago, I can tell her all day she is wonderful but she needs to believe it herself or it won't matter. Saturdays games started off with a lot of errors and strike outs but as the day went on her team got their groove back. Madison is a great bunter and she is so fast she can usually get the first base. In one of the games she had the hit sign and she had the perfect pitch. She ripped one to center field passed the fielder and it rolled not quite to the fence but not to far from it. I think Madison was a little stunned at first, she was jogging to first base until she realized where the ball went and she picked up her speed and ran all the way back to home. It was her first home run and it won't be her last. She had such a big grin on her face. Her team came out of the dugout to give her high fives and I went and high fived her and hugged her. I said see Madi I told you you could do that. She yup. She was happy the rest of the day. In a later game she had an awesome running catch to end the inning. She is so fast and not to many balls fall out of her mitt. I am so glad she is doing something she loves. Good job Madison.

State Cup 2012

How sad that you can go from perfectly fine to ER visit in an instant.

#2 Perfectly fine

Hospital ER

This years state cup came with the same excitement as every other year. Sparta has been playing great and has won so many recent tournaments and they won their bracket in the season play. After the heartbreaking loss last year they weren't going to let the title go by them this year. They did win it in 2012. Sparta has won 5 out of 6 years. But this years win was bitter sweet. Life can change at the blink of an eye and it did for us during the semi finals game thursday night 05/24/12. Sparta was playing La Roca. The winner was going to the finals. Kennedee was in the game and playing hard, she was tripped up in feet and went the ground. She tried to get up and was knocked down again. The whistle blew and the players turned to see what the ref was going to call. Kennedee was on the ground and had her face covered because the ball was rolling past her head. As Kennedee went to get up a player from the other team full blown kicked Kennedee in the face. It knocked her cold. She fell back to the ground and laid there for 20-30 seconds and rolled over and tried to get up she fell back to the ground and rolled onto her back. I thought it was an ankle injury from the way she was moving but when her coach ran out to her, he was tapping her stomach like he was trying to get her to come to. I knew then it was much worse than the ankles. After a few minutes on the field, Scott Bingham walked out to see if she was ok and he and Dennis brought her to our side of the field to lay on the grass. You could tell she wasn't ok. The game played on and we quickly scored. Kennedee couldn't feel anything from the top of her head to her toes on the right side. The TOSH trainers came over and after looking at her said we needed to go to the ER. We were going to have the golf cart take her to my car but since she couldn't feel anything they thought it was better to have the ambulance come get her. The paramedics came and checked her out and called the ambulance. They put a neck brace on her and put her on the back board. She cried because she didn't want to leave this way. There were so many caring parents there who tried to make us all feel better and EVERYONE was so supportive and concerned. I cried with Kennedee and told her some day she would laugh and it would make a good story. As she lay on the ground her team played on. They stopped the game and the ambulance pulled onto the field. They loaded her up and I got in the ambulance with her. As we drove off you could see the concerned looks on her teammates faces and on the faces of parents. We went to Timpanogas Hospital and they took her in for a cat scan. They had loaded her up on Morphine so she wasn't to coherent. The results of the cat scan showed nothing wrong but they didn't have a trauma doctor on call so they wanted us to go to Primary Childrens in SL. While we waited for the ambulance to transport her, Phillips brought my car to me and Greg and Andy administered a priesthood blessing to Kennedee. Bizzy and Syd told Kennedee as soon as the ambulance left the field her team was on fire, they played for her and they were mad. That game had more yellow cards than I can remember a game having (9, most from La Roca). Sparta wasn't letting this team win after Kennedee had to leave on a stretcher.

  We went to Primary's and they did a MRI and more tests. Around 1 AM we got the results that nothing had been damaged, but she did have another concussion (this is # 5) and with the jerk her head had done she had sprained the right side of her neck and shoulder. The DR said she would eventually get the feeling back and she would be ok. The muscles at the base of her neck were swelled up and that is what was causing the numbness. We spent the night and in the morning Kennedee could feel her legs but not her arm up to her head. I had to feed her to get something in her stomach. They stopped giving her morphine and we waited until it was time to go home. The DR's orders are a neck brace for 2 weeks and lay low for 4 weeks. We left the hospital on friday, and she slept the whole way home, she rested most of the day and Baylee came over later to spend time with her. It was end of the school year and there were so many parties but Kennedee couldn't go to any of them so friends came to her and she chilled. Saturday she went to the finals to support her team and enjoy the win. It was hard to sit on the side line but they said they played for her and she was happy to see them win. The regional soccer games are the middle of June and she really wants to be ready to go for that. But I have always told Kennedee she knows her body the best and we will decide together.  Saturday she started to get some of the feeling back in her fingers but still not her face. Saturday night we chilled. We all slept in sunday and by midday she could feel up her arm and shoulder but still not her face. We went to Baylees graduation party for a couple of hours and Kennedee came home and fell asleep until morning, she has slept more than she has been awake. By monday she was starting to get most of the feeling back, but her jaw is so sore she can hardly eat. Now that she can feel her arm I don't have to feed her. It took her an hour to eat mac & cheese on saturday night.
  As of today she has all the feeling back, she is wearing the neck brace but she hates it (it won't last much longer) She is trying to do things but she is so tired its hard. She isn't one to sit around but right now she doesn't care. We are going slow together and she will be back in the game in a few weeks. This injury scared us all and I am in now hurry to see her get back on the field. I want to make sure she is 100%. This injury was so unnecessary and never should have happened. I try not to get angry about it but when I look at the pictures I have to take a deep breath and think about the positive things. When we got up friday morning in the hospital I had so many text messages and voice mails that I couldn't return every one. We felt the love and the prayers from everyone. I have said it a million times, Kennedee has an angel with her at all times and she is destined for greatness. This reaffirms my feelings. Spending the night at Primary Childrens was a real eye opener and so sad. When we got the room they had a giraffe blanket on the bed for Kennedee and she was so excited. We have always wanted to donate blankets to the hospital and after that visit we are for sure. Especially large ones, it was such a joy for her and seeing her get excited made me realize that we need to make another person happy. Kennedee has always said she wants to go into a profession to work with kids and after hearing the sad cry of the little girl across the hall all night she knows for sure she wants to work at Primary's some day. I guess everything does happen for a reason.













After the coach tried to get wake her up she tried to walk off the field. She can't feel her right side so its dragging.

















After we came home from Primary's Kennedee wanted to get out of the house so Baylee drove her around Macey's while I shopped. She can't feel her face, but I love this picture.




She really is having fun, even though it doesn't look like it.



One TERRIFIC kid

I am so proud of Madison. She was awarded last night from the Kiwanis club as a TERRIFIC kid. She brought home a paper last week saying she was being honored in a ceremony last night. Each elementary in Spanish Fork had a boy and girl from each 6th grade class. The teachers nominated the kids and the principal approved the nominations. A TERRIFIC kid is:
Thoughtful
Enthusiastic
Respectful
Responsible
Inclusive
Friendly
Inquisitive
Capable
 Madison is all of these and more.

 On another note: We moved into our new house this week. The journey has been long and not always fun, but it is done and the house is all ours. The kids have been so excited to put their stuff in their own rooms and know that we are not leaving. We bought lots of new furniture and it has been fun to see it all come together. There is lots to do and lots to work on but we have all the time to get it done. The new ward has been very welcoming and helpful. We are in Kennedee's friends ward so it was nice to have someone show us around. Last night I heard Madison out side in the back yard playing with Gucci and talking to the kids next door and it warmed my heart. People have come to make sure they are invited to young womens and to make sure Madison is included. Spanish Fork has been such a great place to live and it is so full of great people. I am so grateful to everyone who has always helped me and my family. I thank my heavenly father everyday for putting these people in my life.

Spring Break 2012

This year for spring break Kennedee was given the opportunity to go to the Bahamas with her friend from school and her family. She went for 6 days and had the very best time. They were treated so good and had everything the could ever need. Kennedee became a fan of sushi and seafood. I have been asking her for years to eat seafood but I guess when you are right next to the ocean its much better. She went snorkling, boating, dancing at a night club for kids and chilled. She came home happy and rested. I am super grateful for the opportunity she had to go. Those are memories she will have for a lifetime.
We had to get up at 3:00 am to pick up Georgia and get to the airport for their 7 am flight. Even though it was early, they are both pretty excited.

The view from their room on the 19th floor

Kennedee said these little boys are what she will miss the most about her trip. They were so cute and so eager to help with anything they needed.
While hitting the clubs. The locals taught Kennedee how to bust a move.

While Kennedee was enjoying herself in the sun. Madison was playing in a softball tournament. It was supposed to be a 2 day tourn. But on friday we woke up to ALOT of snow and friday afternoons games were postponed until saturday. She played her first game at 10:30 and we laid down in our bed at 12:05 am. It was a LONG day. As soon as the sun went down it was SO cold. One team they played at 10 pm played half the game and decided it was to cold and their kids were tired so they wanted to bat 4 more times and go home. And they did. Funny thing was they were winning and they only lived in Springville so they didnt have far to travel. The team we played for championship was from Ogden and they had a much farther drive. But we played and our girls held tough. I am sure some wanted to be done too but they hung in there and won their second tournament of the year. We have another tournament this weekend and we close on our house on friday. Moving day is getting super close.

WE ARE MOVING (again)

Yes we are moving again. And hopefully this will be last time. After 9 long years of moving around and renting we have finally decided to put our roots down and buy a house. We are all so excited to move once and for all and be in our own place. I am excited to own my very own all by myself home and be able to garden and do what ever I want to it. The buying process has been stressful and not really that fun (thanks to a crappy seller realtor), but it will all be worth it when we are settled. The house has more space than we need but the kids will have lots of space to have friends over and enjoy themselves. With the housing market as a buyers market, I got a great deal and I am proud to call this mine. Welcome Home

I think Kennedee is a little excited. I told her last night that I needed a pic to update our blog and she said.. Oh I have one.. Yep she has pulled right in front and parked and took the picture. It is on a dead end road so she has to turn in the driveway.

Fast & Furious

Madison had her first tournament of the season this past weekend in St George. It was warm and sunny. They played 7 games only loosing 1 of those. They won first place. It was a long hot day. After the games we went to dinner at Golden Corral and Madi went swimming with her friends until they got kicked out. It was a great start to the season and lots of fun.

Jim is trying to wake the girls up. He made them jog around the field doing ballet moves. He was a great leader, it woke them up and they won the next 3 games.

Happy Birthday

It's been another year and I now I have a 16 and 12 year old. These kids just keep growing up. I am very blessed to have them and I wouldn't trade either in for anything.
Life is just as crazy as usual. Kennedee's high school season is over but club started right after. She went to Florida over new years and her team won their age group. We went to San Diego over Thanksgiving and they lost in the finals. Kennedee is practicing for another tournament in Feb in Arizona. She is SUPER social and is hardly ever home. Over Thanksgiving we spent the whole week in CA and did so many fun things. We played tourists in LA and saw a lot. We went to the Grove in LA and Madison got to take her American Girl doll and go to the store. That was a pretty fun place.

We spent Thanksgiving at Sea World and that was the best time to go. No lines and lots of fun.
Our hotel in San Diego was so incredible I didn't want to ever leave. This was the view from our room.

Madison has been playing on a comp softball team and we have gone to Mesquite and Cedar city for tournaments and lots of little tournaments close to home. She LOVES to play and does really well. She just started playing softball a couple of years ago so its still new but she is doing well. She has a lot of friends and really enjoys being on the field. She plays out field and likes it. She is SUPER skinny and needs to gain weight so she can rip the ball over the fence but for a little girl she does well. She passed out at practice last week and it freaked me out a little, she is a pretty healthy kid so it was unusual for her. I gave her some gatorade and she looked better within the hour after. But it still worried me so we went to the doctor and he said she is a little dyhydrated and could gain some weight. How would it be to have the doctor tell us we need to GAIN weight. But she will and she will feel better. Madi will be in young womens starting this week and her and Kennedee will be able to go to girls camp together this year. Kennedee is really looking forward to teaching her sister the ropes. They get along so well and have lots of fun together. Madison started wearing contacts a couple of months ago and its nice to see her pretty eyes and long eye lashes. She did ask me last night since she is 12 now if she can start wearing makeup. UGH..
So both kids are a year older and I would like to think I am the wiser one but not so sure. 2012 is going to be a great year for all of us. We welcome the changes and challenges ahead. We love being together as a family and spend as much time together as time allows. I adore those two kids.
Happy Birthday to both.