Utah Summer Games
Tyler competed in the Utah Summer Games in Taekwondo in June. He made the Demo Team this spring at his studio and they went down to compete. He also competed individually in Forms and Sparring. It was an overnight trip so he and I spent two whole days and one night by ourselves. It was so nice to spend time with him where I wasn't distracted by his siblings. We spent a night in a hotel and had fun getting to know the other kids and their parents in the group. We've decided that it is going to be a yearly tradition!
He was so nervous about competing but he did an awesome job! He came home with 3 gold medals! I was so proud of him. It was hard and he was emotionally spent by the time the weekend was over, but he did it! He had so much fun and I am so glad that he has discovered this love of Taekwondo. It has been so good for him to have this in his life.
The Little Mermaid with my little mermaid!
Two days after the Summer Games, Tyler and Jeff were off to scout camp for the week. And Alyssa and I were ready for some fun! My friend Julie, (who is Alyssa's best friend Nikki's Mom) and I decided to surprise the girls and take them on a little trip. We took them to St. George to see The Little Mermaid at the Tuachann theatre. We drove down Wednesday morning, watched the show, spent the night at Julie's parent's condo, and then drove home the next day. It was a long two days but the girls had so much fun! I made matching skirts for the girls to wear and they both had their dolls and were so cute. The play was AMAZING! The special effects, the costumes, the music, everything was so well done. We can't wait to do it again next summer! (Thanks Aunt Rachel for watching Jared for me! Sorry about the lack of sleep that night! :))
I was a little worried about this trip because Alyssa's seizures have still been so bad. She is just so tired and between the sleep deprivation, seizure activity, and the meds that she is on, her little personality has been really affected. She did pretty well, but the early evening was really rough. We had just gotten to the theatre for dinner and she and Nikki got into a little argument. (They are more like sisters so this is not uncommon.) I think that the excitement and the anticipation were just more than Alyssa's little system could handle and she had a complete meltdown. No matter what I tried, I couldn't get her to calm down and she couldn't figure out how to calm herself down either. She was in a rough place and it was difficult because she was in a public place as well. I didn't care what people were thinking because they had know idea what Alyssa has been going through, but I think that it added to her stress and escalated the problem. I didn't know what to do and I didn't want her to miss the play because she had been looking forward to this night for months! Finally I took her off to a quiet place and I just held her and asked her if she would like me to say a prayer for us. She nodded and we prayed. A few minutes later she was calm and enjoyed the rest of the evening.
I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who answers prayers! My heart was breaking to see her struggle so much and I know that she was scared. I had tried everything that I could think of to help her, but she needed more than I could give. Prayer is a miraculous gift! I felt so helpless, but I knew that with Heavenly Father's help, that we could get through this. Heavenly Father knows Alyssa and knows what she is going through and our prayer was answered. That was the highlight of the trip for me.
