We've got a LONG way to go!

Jared is still not eating anything. And I mean nothing! Not even a hair, a piece of grass, a grain of rice, nothing. How do we know? By the screams of pure panic that come from his mouth when said object is in it! He seriously freaks out when there is even a speck of something in his mouth. Tonight it was a hair. It took me a while to even see the hair that was the cause of such turmoil but even after it was found it was no easy task trying to remove it. Between screaming, gagging, and the inability to stick his tongue out very far, it is very difficult to remedy the problem and there is no fooling him. No sir-ee, he can't be fooled by a wipe of the mouth and an "all better". He knows if even the smallest of hair is still hiding in that mouth of his.

Will this kid ever want to eat? He mimics the kids and tells me that he is hungry several times a day. I offer him food and he answers "NO, I Don't Like It!" (this is still his favorite phrase). He pretends to cook dinner for us. He takes our orders and serves us. He is quite the good little waiter. Can you be a cook if you have never tasted the food that you prepare? :) Maybe he'll be able to just tell by the smell if it is good! It is nice not having to always find things for him to eat. Tyler and Alyssa are so hard to please when it comes to food. At least I don't have to worry about that with Jared. All I do is pull out a can and a tube and he is set!

We've got a LONG, LONG, LONG way to go!

Jared Update

Jared has been doing so awesome!!!! Between his new freedom of walking and his hearing aids, he is just taking off! It is so fun to watch him. He keeps us laughing! His favorite new phrase is, "No, I don't like it!" He likes to practice this one a lot! :( He is so funny!

Last month his labs looked great! His ANC was even up to 3! How did that happen? :) So, we got to go a whole month between labs and clinic! Can you believe it? I didn't drive up to the hospital once last month! It was amazing!

He had clinic on Monday and everything is looking great again, except we weren't so lucky with his ANC this time. It was back down to .8! I'm beginning to think that the 3 was a mistake last month. Anyway, we have to go back in a week for more labs. Our month break is over. Oh well, we enjoyed while we could!

Other than his ANC, everything else is going really well. His kidney is still working wonderfully. We just want to keep it that way!

The Good and The Bad of July

I have been lazy this month! I haven't posted in weeks! July was a busy month and so I thought that I would give the run down with the Good and the Bad of July. Here it goes!

Good- We are swimming in our own pool in our own backyard! Yeah! Because of Jared's lowered immune system, we haven't dared take him to a public pool. There are just too many nasty bugs out there! We had always had the possibility of a pool in the back of our minds with this big yard that we have and so we decided to do it! We love it! This kids love it! My family loves it!

Bad- Mom is now a full time life guard! That's ok. It's worth it

Good- The 4th of July was a beautiful day. The kids and I had breakfast up in the canyon with my family. Then we barbequed at our house that evening. It was a beautiful night for our own firework show!

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Uncle Matt and Jared

Jared and Benny with Grandpa

Bad- Jeff had a rough few weeks the first part of the month. He had horrible head aches for a week and a half that even landed him in the ER. Nothing was found by any tests (of course) and they have slowly been improving, but it has been a rough month. I personally think that he is way too stressed and over worked! His body just can't keep up this insane schedule that he has!

Good- We visited with cousins! My cousin Julia and her family were here from California and we spent an afternoon with them! It was so nice to see them!

Bad- We only got to see them for a few hours! :)

Cousins!

Good- The kids and I went up to Antelope Island for a HopeKids family picnic! None of us had ever been there and it was so much fun! We saw lots and lots of buffalo and really enjoyed our time at the picnic. They had so many wonderful volunteers who did so much for us. We had a great time and the kids were so good that day.

Bad- On the way home the traffic was stop and go on the freeway. I looked down for one brief moment and it was one brief moment too long. Yep. We were involved in an accident.

Good-Luckily we were not going very fast. The kids and I were uninjured as well as those in the other vehicles. The air bag did not even go off. Phew!

Bad- Jeff had left on a plane that morning for a trip to India. He would be gone for 9 days! We were an hour away from home and there was enough damage to the car that it needed to be towed. We were stranded.

Good- My sister-in-law, Dianne, only lived a few minutes away and was home and available to come and rescue us! She fed us dinner and we enjoyed a nice evening visiting with her family.

Bad- Jeff was on his way to India!

Good- Jeff was on his way to India! His car was sitting at the airport unused! We were able to get a hold of him to find out where it was parked and Dianne took us to the airport to collect it. We had a vehicle for the time that Jeff was gone!

Bad- It took almost three weeks for my car to be repaired.

Good- The big scratch that I put on the side of my car a month ago was in the area repaired. No more scratch! We always like two for ones!

That was one long, long, day! I was just proud of myself for not losing it! I didn't even cry once! I was as tough as nails. Thank goodness.

Good- My sister, Erika, and her two darling boys, came to visit from Wisconsin! She was here for two weeks and we had so much fun! She just brings a breath of fresh air with her and we loved having her here. We laughed, we jumped, we swam, we ate, and we laughed some more. It was so nice! She and all of the little cousins even treated us to a dinner theatre! We enjoyed good food and excellent entertainment at Lefty Loosy's Dinner Theatre! Bravo Erika!

Matt jumping REALLY high!

Owen the Basketball Player

Erika and cute Landon

Alyssa Pig

The Cast

Our Waiters and Waitress

Bad- She had to go home to Wisconsin which is too far away!!!!!

Good- I was able to spend an evening with several of my good friends from high school! I haven't seen some of them in years! We had a great time laughing and reminiscing. They have been such awesome friends for so long. I love them all!

Heidi, Tricia, Holly, Me, Andrea

Bad- Not eveyone was able to come. We missed you Mickel! Hopefully we'll see you this fall!