PaPa G's Birthday Festivites

This year we celebrated my Dad's birthday at the Bowling Alley with some friendly family bowling and then we enjoyed cake and ice cream later that night at my Mom and Dad's. We always have a great time when we lace up the bowling shoes. Some of us are really good and some of us are really bad. We are never consistant. But, it is always a competition to see who is the best.

Alexa's approach...she is pretty good. Usually better than me. Does it matter that she uses the lane with bumpers?

Grandma Joy enjoying one of the twins.

Jeff trying to make friends with Kim after he made a really rude comment. It doesn't really look like it is working.

Ryan and Jeff picking on Kim. I think she has half a smile.

Oh, there's the whole smile.

Our professional score keepers.

Nate and Courtney with one of the twins.

Rylie Kay

Avery bowling. She may have done better than me, too.

The big girls posing with their bowling balls.

Avery helping Aunt Courtney with the twins.

After bowling and cake and ice cream, Jeff brought the Wii over for some more bowling and boxing. Here Grandma Joy is taking her first turn at bowling on the Wii.

Courtney is bowling with her eyes closed.

The birthday boy taking a turn at bowling.

Courtney and Nate boxing.

It was a really fun night. We laughed alot, like we usually do while playing the Wii. My Mom ended up beating Nate in a game of bowling. And, my Dad knocked Jeff out in a serious boxing match even though he was laughing the entire time. Definitely, Good Times!!!

New Years 2010

January kind of got away from me this year and I didn't get a chance to post some of the fun things that we did. For New Years, we always have our good friends John and Becca over for dinner and games. This year we decided to change it up a bit and we invited them over for games and breakfast. Jeff bought me a Beligum waffle maker so we decided to have waffles for our breakfast. We also got some new Wii games for Christmas so Jeff made us play the Wii for like five hours. It was exhausting. We ate breakfast around 12:30 and just enjoyed the good company. I made until 2:00 am without a drop of caffeine. I think that is pretty good for a pregnant lady!

One of our Wii games can played in 3D. Jeff and Avery sporting their 3D glasses.

John and Becca really getting into the Wii competition.

We laughed a lot that night. So much. that my sides ached the next day!

Jeff still laughing...

Avery only made it until about 11:00 pm. She missed out on the waffles and was pretty upset about it the next morning. Oh well, there is always next year.

Simple Things

Avery's surgery went well. It was scheduled for 7:00 am on Monday, February 1st. We were told to be at the hospital in Pocatello at 5:30 am. Which means leaving Soda Springs around 4:15 am or when the weather is horrible 4:00 am. I got up at 2:00 am, not leaving much time for sleep. We woke Avery up at 3:40 and she was in great spirits. She kept tellling us that she was "ready for her surgery." I am glad one of us can be so chipper at 4:00 in the morning. She chatted with us the entire way to Pocatello, which was good otherwise Jeff and I would have probably fallen asleep.

This was just after she had been admitted to the hospital. She is still in good spirits and has the comfort of Dad and her stuffed animals.

Here she is playing with a mask that is similar to the mask that will eventually put her to sleep. Her only request through all this was to "please let me be asleep when they poke me so I don't feel it."

The day after surgery Papa Bill and Grandma Niecie came to visit Avery. She was still in a lot of pain which we struggled with for a few days. Papa Bill gave her a $10 bill to go shopping with after she was feeling better. After her drugs kicked in, she fell asleep with her money in close check.

After Avery's surgery, she wasn't allowed to eat anything except soft foods. Mostly broth, jello, yogurt, and most importantly ice cream. She took full advantage of the "all you can eat ice cream" idea. Avery asked for ice cream and the nurses said "what kind?" I am sure she consumed at least 10 cups of ice cream during our four day hospital stay. I normally don't feed my 4 year old like I would an infant. But, she had a hard time sitting up due to the pain from her incision and she is my baby of which was in the hospital. So, Jeff got a picture of me feeding Avery ice cream. Avery's surgery last about 2 hours and Dr. Norman told us that everything went really well. Her recovery was a little more trying than I ever would have imagined. She was a tough little girl who went through a lot. She had trouble with muscle spasms around her incision sight which caused a tremendous amount of pain. She had trouble with her IV clotting off a couple of times causing some additional pain. And finally, her catheter began clotting off on the third day which eventually lead the nurse to finally taking it out. Our two day hospital stay turned into a four day hospital stay. We managed on a limited amount of sleep and she is home now and doing extremely well. She is playing like a kid again and doing all the things that little girls like to do. She still has her stitches and will be getting them taken out on the 17th. She will have to take an antibiotic for a couple months so we can be sure that the surgery worked and that she won't be getting anymore infections. Avery and I were able to spend the entire four days together. We talked about a lot of things and we both realized how grateful we are for "Simple Things."

Avery's List of Simple Things
1. Cartoons

2. ice cream

3. Mom's (my) cooking

4. Her own bed

5. Playing with her big sister

My List of Simple Things

1. My own bed

2. A Homecooked meal

3. Showering whenever I feel like it!!!

4. Our health

5. Helping Alexa with her homework.

6. Undisturbed Sleep (being woke up every hour is overrated)

7. Good Friends

8. Family

During the last week we have had and continue to have such an amazing support system. Our families helped us out by taking care of our dogs and my parents by taking care of Alexa. And, this week my Grandma Wilson has offered to watch Avery so that I could come back to work. We've had numerous visits from family and friends which helped to boost little Avery's spirits. Meals, cards, phone calls, prayers, etc. etc. the list goes on and on. So, 4 days in the hospital, 10 cups of ice cream, 22 balloons, and 8 stuffed animals later Avery is home and is doing well. We are so grateful for all that we have and most importantly we are grateful that Avery is home with us and getting better everyday.

The problem has to be fixed...

It all started about a year ago, with Avery getting a horrible kidney infection. She had a temperature that was unreal and wouldn't break and she was extremely sick. We took her in to the doctor and he recommended scheduling Avery for a VCUG (Voiding Cystourethrogram) and Ultrasound just to see what was going on with her kidneys and bladder. What a horrible experience for a 3 year old. The procedure consisted of injecting her bladder with dye through a catheter and taking multiple X-rays to see where the dye went. Next, they took X-rays while she was emptying her bladder. We were told then that Avery has a Grade 3 Reflux in her left kidney. The valve where her left ureter connects to the bladder wasn't working correctly. This is something that happened during her development. With Reflux of the Kidney, there are 5 grades, 1 being the mildest and 5 being the worst. Grades 1 and 2 children grow out of, Grades 3, 4, and 5 children most generally do not grow out of. Our next step was to put Avery on an antibiotic for a year with the hope that she may grow out of it and/or let her body grow a little bit before they performed surgery to repair the valve.

This year a week before Christmas, Avery got really sick again. As soon as the fever hit and wouldn't break, Jeff and I knew what was going on, another kidney infection. We took her back into the doctor and a kidney infection it was. It was bad enough for 3 days of I.V. antibiotics. We then took her to Pocatello for another VCUG and Ultrasound with the same results as the tests a year ago. But, this time they told us the the reflux was a Grade 3 possibly as bad as a Grade 4.

Today,we met with her Urologist, Dr. Norman, to discuss her condition in more detail. He showed us the X-rays and explained her situation and treatment. The reflux is causing her left ureter to dialate 2 times the size of a normal ureter for a child of her age. It is also causing her kidney to dialate which will eventually erode her kidney. In this situation, her kidney would no longer function.

Here is a picture of what we saw when he was explaining all of this to us.

Jeff and I figured that Avery would have to have the surgery and were planning on doing while I was on my maternity leave from work. But today the doctor gave us some news while we were there. He will be retiring from surgery after 30 plus years on February 24. My maternity leave probably won't be until April. We really like this doctor. About 5 years ago, he did surgery on Jeff and helped us with some fertility issues so we could have our precious little Avery. The doctor did tell us that he could refer us to Salt Lake if we would rather wait. I know that they would do a great job in Salt Lake but I would rather be close to home if we can.

Long story short, Avery is scheduled for surgery on Monday, February 1st. She has to be in the hospital for 2 days, best case scenario, and Dr. Norman told us the success rate of the surgery is extremely high. We have been really lucky to have some great doctors, our families who help us out over and over again, and good friends who support us. Wish us luck!!!

Happy Birthday Papa G!!!

Yesterday, my Dad turned ??? (well, I won't mention his age) but it was his birthday. We are celebrating as a family on Saturday and we can hardly wait for the Family Bowling Night to begin. My Dad is the greatest Dad and Grandpa. Our girls adore their Papa G. Avery continually has a competition going on between my Mom and Dad as to who is her "best buddy." It normally just depends on who she is with at the time. Papa G recently saved the day and helped Alexa with a little T.V. issue that she was having. It seems that someone had turned the color completely down on our T.V. and Alexa was stuck watching black and white cartoons until Papa G came over and fixed the problem. Also, my Dad took our girls to Logan to pick up my sisters girls and bring them back to Soda. That would be my Dad in a vehicle with two 7 year olds, two 4 year olds, and two 6 month old babies all by himself. (And, did I mention they were all girls?) That takes a pretty special Grandpa!

Alexa and Avery love Papa G to pieces. He is a great to help our family with whatever we need and supports my us in all of our many activities. Here are a few pictures of my Dad and his goofy picture taking skills.


The 4th of July parade with Sydnie and Alexa.

The 4th of July fireworks. Yep, your head lamp works, Dad!

A night at the Bar J Wranglers. Yes, that would be a piece of popcorn in his nose.

My Dad is the best! We love being able to spend time with him. Happy Birthday, Papa G (Dad)!

We love you!

Christmas Dresses

Every year for Christmas, we give our girls new Christmas dresses. We let them open their dresses a few weeks before Christmas so they can wear them to their Christmas Programs and Church. They were so happy with their new dresses!

Sue's Dance Recital

The girls had their Christmas Dance Recital on December 14th. All of the pictures I took of them dancing didn't turn out at all, which is devastating. They both did really well. We love to watch our girls dance and personally, I think they are so dang cute! This is a one of the only pictures that turned out.