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Summer has been a whirlwind of activity around here--I don't get to laze around much, but when I do it turns out that I don't blog.  I can't believe that summer is almost over for us.  We have a few precious weeks left and we will use one of them for a camping trip.   We have almost accomplished all the things on the summer bucket list but the one thing we haven't done enough of is nothing at all.   We just haven't had time to be bored.  I did something I never thought I would--I sent the boys to a week long summer camp.  It's called Camp Hobe and it is for cancer kids and their siblings.   I just felt really good about sending them and it turned out well--they had an absolute blast.  Steven even wrote me a letter from camp....something along the lines of "you were right about the pranking, Mom.   We are in prank war with cabin 10.  The food is awesome."   Steven was the only amputee there but his ...

Steven's scans yesterday came back all clear.  Hooray!   It has been a rather stressful week for me.  I had worked myself into some serious worry and while I could also find peace at times, I was so crazy that every little thing would send me over the edge again.  For instance, Steven hurt his good ankle one day--I got scared it was cancer.  He was limping around all week and if you've followed our story, you know that we found the cancer because he was limping.   He started limping with his hurt ankle, but then once that was better, he was limping because he had developed a blister with his prosthetic.  And then a few times in the week, I heard him give a minor little cough.   And so it went that by the time Friday came around,  I was a mess. I tried all sorts of things to get over my craziness.  I tried to be extremely busy (but not at my own house).  That helped a little.  I quoted myself statistics and tried to stay positiv...

On Saturday, I made my 5K debut along with my sister, Anne, sister-in-law, Amy, my mom and Steven.  This race is called "Running with Angels" and honors lost babies and supports families who will someday face this trial.   It was such a great event--I really was just touched by all the love for the little ones who have made such a big impression on our lives.   We took one picture (the bottom one) before the race, when everything was dry, but almost as soon as we started the run, the rain came pouring down.  We were thoroughly drenched by the end.   My mom walked with Steven and I kept thinking how sorry I felt for him--that he was cold and wet and couldn't run fast.   But he came cheerfully to the finish line (top left) and said as we were driving away,  "It is a good thing I have a prosthetic leg because I only have one leg that is cold!"   Ever the optimist! It was fun to remember my angel baby, Daniel, but I couldn't help but feel that my dear...

On Friday, it was six months since we lost our baby, Daniel.  I long for words to express how I feel and what I've learned and how far I have to go, but I don't have them.  I haven't shared pictures of Daniel on this blog; I've kept them on my private blogs.  None of the pictures we have capture him how I remember him or how I want to remember him,  but today I just felt like sharing an image or two of my angel baby.  Grief is an interesting thing....I don't know that I really understand it.  It was so all-consuming at first and really, it sort of still is.  In a different way, though.  At first the tears would not stop.  As the months have passed, I've had to leave the comfort of my home and go out into real life and take care of my other kids.  I have had to explain to people who saw me pregnant but didn't know the circumstances where my baby is.   I see babies all the time--mostly they make me s...

? ? Steven had his moment in the spotlight today--maybe more than he wanted!  He won an essay contest that he entered along with his class and was one of four first place winners in the United States.  He won a laptop and a visit from Sharon Robinson, the daughter of Jackie Robinson.  His teacher also won a laptop and autographed copies of one of her books.   If you get a chance to watch the news, he will likely be featured tonight.  We were a little stunned by the cameras in our faces and attention, so if we sound a little dense, don't judge!   Sharon was just an amazing woman and it was such an honor to meet her and have her share a little bit of history with us.  Her father was an amazing man and she has carried on his legacy so well.  The essay contest was to share how you had overcome a barrier using some of the values that Jackie Robinson lived by.  Steven wrote about cancer (big surprise!) and told about how he needed courage...

Here are some pictures of the new leg.  This first one ought to be side by side with his old leg to show you how cool it is without the loads of velcro straps.  This one has a fitted plastic thigh piece and then his prosthetic sock is folded over it.   He also got a piece of elastic over his heel--that seems to work well too. The leg is made of carbon fiber.  Eric, the man who made his prosthetic, took us around his shop and showed us how it was done.  It is so cool--maybe I ought to do a whole post on it.  Steven had requested a thermometer in his leg and so Eric made a mold of this little keychain.   He had of course, made a mold of Steven's leg as well.   He put the carbon fiber over the foot mold and then he took the thermometer mold and adhered it to the leg in the place where he wanted it.  Then he puts resin over the carbon fiber.  He cut out the thermometer mold (had he used the actual thing, it would have melted).  Then he ...

Life has been flying by these last few weeks.  Laura is up and going--the cast is itchy, but she can still get around just fine with it.   She only needs the cast for three weeks--and that is quickly approaching.  Today in church we figured out that we could color on it with crayons (twistables to be exact) and she was quite distracted all through sacrament meeting.  She didn't get to perform in her gymnastics showcase yesterday, but they gave her a medal anyway.  She was so proud:     We said goodbye to my youngest sister who left this week to serve an LDS mission in Spain.   We are going to really miss her!  Once Addie told me that Kirsten is her favorite person in the whole wide world.  Kirsten was six when I left on my mission!  Where has all the time gone?  ? ? And then we have my cute doggie who loves the dirt and mud as much as my kids do (is it possible?)  We have a giant garden area in the middle of our ...