Sandy Beach

Sandy Beach, Utah Lake

We ventured out to a new place and we were SO glad we did. We met up with Jenn and her kiddos for a day out and it was the perfect day with the perfect weather.  This spot we found on Utah Lake was just ridiculous. It was absolutely gorgeous and it was so shallow, the kids could play in the water with no worries.

(Hailey, Addy, Parker, Xander and Grayson)

Happy Summer Days

After finding this great swing along the trail, we had to go back. This time, we went during the day so the girls could go play in the river.  It was a great day for some good ol' family fun. 

Hailey's MRI

Hailey was complaining about her knee hurting.

Finally for a few days, she was REALLY complaining and limping.

So, I made an appointment with a specialist.

The problem was, we'd have to see his PA because he was booked out two months.

That was fine with us, since she just needed to be seen.

We met the PA and he did some movement exercises with her to determine where the pain was. He couldn't find any areas of pain. He had her do jumping jacks and things like that, no pain.

So, to be on the safe side, he took some x-rays.

What happened next was definitely not expected.

The specialist walked in. I was surprised to see him since they said he had a 2 month waiting list and this was 2 days after making the appointment.

His words were: "I need to talk to you about your daughter's condition"

Inside, I was freaking out. I did not like where this was going. He explained to me that he suspected she had what's called Osteochondritis Dissecans.

It's a condition where the cartilage becomes unattached from the bone, leaving fluid build up between the two. He showed me the x-ray that concerned him and I couldn't see a darn thing. He said he was puzzled because this condition is extremely rare and never seen in children, girls especially.  He said he needed to do an MRI to be sure but it needed to be done soon. I was freaking out a bit, especially because Nate was at scout camp and I couldn't reach him.

They scheduled her MRI for that afternoon.

Even though she was really nervous and scared about this, she did amazing. I couldn't believe how still she was. They allowed me to put on scrubs and stand next to the machine with her and talk to her during the scan. Well, the next day, the specialist himself called me to tell me the news that she indeed had what he had suspected. He also said it was good that I paid attention to her complaints because it is a very painful condition.  His instructions were that she was to stop all activity besides swimming and riding a bike. No running, jumping, playing, etc. My thoughts at this point were, how in the heck can we do that? This is HAILEY!

They gave us a knee brace for her to wear while she was doing things with friends to remind her to stay off her knee. I wish I could say it worked great, but again, this is Hailey. 

(The out-of-pocket for her MRI cost us almost $500.00)

Scout Camp

Nate left us for 3 days to attend scout camp.  While he was gone, the girls and I came up with a great idea.  Now that we had the space in the basement to use, we decided to turn it into a

'man cave' for Nate.  I pulled an arcade basketball game we've had in the garage forever out and 

began the set-up process. Next was the dart board.

Once I got these things hung up on the wall, I hung up his signed plaques, bats and basketballs.

We cleaned his candy machine, filled it with chocolate covered raisins and peanut M&M's, his favorite.

I also pulled his wood chest out of storage and set it out.

After cleaning everything up, it turned out quite nice.

The girls slept in my room with me the entire time he was gone and they thought it was pretty awesome.  I let them stay up late watching movies in my bed. It was a really fun girls week, but we really did miss daddy a lot.

Nate sent this picture to us as soon as he had reception. It was really good to see him because we missed him so much.

Summer River Adventures

We live a block away from this gorgeous river. This summer, it was extremely low. 

One afternoon, my sister in law Summer and I took the kids down to play in it. We were at the river for almost 3 hours and the kids just explored and played and got wet till their little hearts content.

It was a fun and relaxing summer day with cousins.