Catching Up

Wow, I kind of disappeared there for awhile. We are doing well and Tyler has completely recovered from his meningitis. I believe that we are even caught up with the school work that he had to make up! Before the crisis with Tyler we had actually had a wonderful week. It was a crazy, exhausting week, but it was a great week.

Our peach trees were loaded this year and so I spent most of the week frantically trying to do something with them all. My sister, Rachel, described a bite of a peach as the "essence of summer." Isn't that a great description? The only problem is that they don't last very long, so when they are ripe, there is no waiting for a convenient time, you have to act fast. I froze peaches, canned peaches, made peach butter and peach fruit leather. I think that we have enjoyed or preserved for later enjoyment every "essence of summer"! I have to admit that I was a little tired of them all by the time I was finished, but they sure taste good!

The peaches would have been fine except that we were throwing a BIG Birthday Bash for Jared that Friday! I had peaches EVERYWHERE, and I was hosting around 4o people for Jared's big celebration. Things were a bit crazy! We have not done very much on Jared's previous birthdays because things have been so crazy for him, so he deserved a BIG party to celebrate his 3rd birthday. He has gone through more in his 3 years of life than a child his age should, and it was a way for us to thank everyone who have been instrumental in helping him come this far. We invited all of his therapists, doctors, lab techs. (the two who always draw his blood), everyone from the transplant/kidney clinic, friends and family. It was a wonderful celebration, and Jared was so cute and happy and LOVED opening up his presents. I was hoping that the weather would be nice enough for us to be outside and it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! It was a wonderful, perfect, evening and we were so grateful for the many people that came to celebrate our wonderful, amazing, miraculous Jer Bear!!!

The morning following Jared's birthday was the 1st HopeKids event in Salt Lake. HopeKids is an organization for children with life threatening illnesses and their families. They believe that by providing many fun activities that sick kids can constantly be looking forward to, that this HOPE, can help give them the strength to continue on. They also include the family, because the illness affects them all. It is a wonderful program and we are so excited for it coming to Salt Lake! The first event was held at Classic Fun Center in Sandy. It started bright and early at 8 am. (it was a little early following Jared's party the night before) and we were able to spend the first two hours in the area with the giant inflatables and the fun play area. The kids had a blast and Jared was even able to crawl through the play area and had the best time. HopeKids had the place to themselves so it was great. The second two hours were spent on the roller skating side of the place. We could skate and they also had face painting, craft activities and unlimited soda pop to drink. They then fed us pizza. It was so much fun and so great to be able to meet so many incredible families who are facing similar challenges as we are. Thank You HopeKids!!! By the time we made it home we were all exhausted. We were really hoping for a nice, quiet day on Sunday to recuperate, but then the adventure with Tyler began. No wonder why I was so extremely exhausted!