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Summer Fun Part 2

While we were visiting the Leonard family we decided to take a little side trip up to Whidbey Island. Matthew and I were both stationed there while we were in the Navy and I wanted the kids to see it! After spending the day with Sarah and the kids in Seattle at the aquarium we headed towards Deception Pass. Deception Pass is incredible, although only Kyle, Logan, and I got out because the little ones were sleeping. We went into Oak Harbor and spent the night. We remebered there was a drive-in there so we took the kids to Harry Potter. No one except Matthew and Kyle made it all the way through. Even I feel asleep! The next morning we took them to the base, although we could not get on unless we were escorted by someone we knew that was active duty...bummer :(! It was still neat to see. Then we drove down the island and stopped off at Fort Casey for a little hiking and exploring. We had a blast! We then took the ferry accross which is what I was really excited for. I thought the kids would love it!

The kiddos at the drive-in

The back seat flips over.....perfect for a drive-in ;)!!

Our hike at Fort Casey

A fort we found on the beach

Of course there were a variety of weapons of wood found on the beach

Logan

Ryan with her pockets full of rocks, and her magic wand!

Princess Ryan

Summer Fun

Hello! Hope this update finds everyone well?! We have had an awesome summer! Last year we had planned on driving Kyle up to WA for his summer visit, and we were not able to because that is when Ryan had started showing symptoms. Well, this year we decide to take that trip!!!! Sarah and Jaime had offered us a place to stay if we came, so we loaded the kiddos up in the van and started driving. We had a great time! It was so nice to visit their home, and finally be able to put a picture to the place. Not to mention seeing Kyle after several weeks. We also were able to get all of the kids together. Including Ella who is also there for the summers. We had not seen her in 3 or more years. We went to the park, the beach, hiking..kinda, and most importantly just hung out together and let the kids play!

ALL the kids!

Top-Ryan, Kyle, Adam, Logan

Bottom-Christian, Cait, Shamus, Ella

Silly Faces

Sarah and Christian

No words

The little men having a serious talk...they sat there

for at least 5-10 minutes talking...I love this one ;)

Kyle and Logan

Kyle...King of the Castle

The Castle that has a "Warning Hazordous" Sign

My Beautiful Girls!

Logan- the future outdoors woman

Ryan Paige

The boys takin a rest

Kyle up in a tree

Adam hiding during their game of hide-and-seek at the park

The Awesomest Dad/Husband!

Christian climbing a tree

Shamus...the cutest little man ever ;)

Ryan and Cait at the park

All the kiddos again

Thank you so much to the whole Leonard Family for opening your home to all of us. We had a great time and look forward to the next visit! We miss you all already!

Heeelllloooo!

Hellllllooooo!!!  I can not believe how long it has been since I have posted.  It has been crazy busy for us and I am happy to report that currently all is well.  Lets see....where to begin????!!!...

Ryan at Relay for Life

The kiddos at the Fire station on Easter

Ryan with her friend Payton at preschool

Ryan at the station on the back of the fire truck

Ryan at school for her Easter party

Ryan Riding a two wheeler!

The kiddos acting goofy 

We were seeing the I-max feature while down in LA

Ryan had a birthday at the end of March.  March 30th was her birthday and Adams was on the 10th of March so we had a huge birthday bash for both of them on the 29th of March.  It was a Hawiian theme, and we had a huge bounce house, arts and crafts table and a whole lot of fun! We had a great time and there were probably 20-25 kids running around...it was great.

Beautiful girls!!!

Unfortunately, we had to post-pone our trip to Disney World through Make-A-Wish.  Ryan had her longest hospital stay since she was first diagnosed.  She got her counts drawn on a Monday and they were only 400, by Tuesday she had a temperature, and off to Memorial Hospital we went.  Her labs kept giving us crazy results and her counts continued to drop...so, there we sat. Finally, after 3 days, she was released from the hospital....that night she spiked another fever. Back to the hospital we went for another 3 days. She got discharged the day before we were due to leave for our trip.  With the swine flu going on and her counts just not high enough to take her on an airplane (I would have been a nervous nellie the whole time), we decided to wait on the trip.  Matthew called Make-A-Wish....they were incredible.  Very understanding!  The kids were bummed, but also very understanding.  What great kids we have!

So, since then she has been home and doing well.  We just had her counts drawn this past Monday and they are now up to 1600...AWESOME.  We also had her appointment down at UCLA on Tuesday and all went well.  They started her back on her oral chemo.  (When her counts drop so low they stop all chemo). Now she is back on them and we will see how well she does.  I may have explained this before so I will just recap.  The goal is to have her on as much as her body can tolerate, without having her counts "in the toilet".  The goal range is between 750 and 1500. So, they take it week by week and increase it by 25% each week.

I am so excited to report...the little boy that I had asked everyone to pray for a while back, Ryan Wilson, had his bone marrow transplant from his sister and is doing very well.  After many weeks in the hospital at UCLA, he is now home and doing great!  Thank you to all those who prayed for him.  He is such a cutie!  

We are all excited for summer, right around the corner.  Sarah, Kyle's mom and their family will be coming down here for Kyle's graduation.  We can not wait to see them.  At the end of the summer we have a trip planned to Michigan, and can not wait to get back there.  It has been 2 years since we have been back there to see everyone.  We miss them all so much!  

I promise I will not let this much time pass before my next entry.  Thank you to everyone who continues to pray for Ryan.  June 16th will be 1 year since she was diagnosed and I plan to make a tribute video.  We are about a year and a half from the "cure date."  All is going according to plan so far and we just pray for all to stay on track.  Hope this entry finds everyone well!

Love to all!

More pictures!

The kids playing outside

My beautiful Mom

My sister and her "man" Mike

Julie, Me, Mom, and Matt

Ryan at our UCLA appt on the 10th of Feb

We are fans for obvious reasons!

Adam reading to Ryan from Mommy's book

I love these moments!

Catching up!!! The actual date of this entry is 3-7-09

The kids jumping on the trampoline in the pouring rain!

Hello! Long time no blog...eh? I know I am sorry!! Well we had the set back of her counts going into the toilet so to speak, then after a couple of weeks they returned to above 1000 so she could return to preschool. Just in time for picture day, and to see the police dog come ;)! We had her appointment on February 10th and her counts were up to 900 so they went ahead and had me start her back on her oral chemo at 50%. She did really well and her counts jumped up high...I can't remember the exact number at this moment, but they decided to not increase the dosage due to the fact she was taking the steroids. Every time we go down to UCLA she gets the infusion of the Vincristine and she then needs to take steroids for 5 days after. Taking the steroids can cause a false increase in her counts. After the next weeks lab draws they went ahead and increased her dosage a little. This past week her counts were only at 900, therefore they did not increase her dose and there was no school for Ryan. She was pretty bummed out.

The kids at the LA Zoo

Our adventurous trip to the Pirate Dinner show!

We have had a lot going on though around here. We managed to go down to the LA Zoo with the kiddos. It was a slightly rainy day, but we really had a blast! While we were down there, I said we should go some where cool for dinner. Medieval Times came up and I said how about that Pirate Dinner show? We made a phone call and it was going to start at the exact time it would take us to get there. It was a great show....I don't think the kids ate one bite of their food they were so entertained. It was pretty cool! It all worked out perfectly! I love when that happens!

We had visitors....My Mom, my brother- Matt, my sister-Julie, and her new fiance Mike. It was for a long weekend visit and we all had a great time. This was our first time meeting Mike and we also had not seen Matt in along time so it was a much needed visit. We took the kids out to C.A.L.M. one day, played games and just hung out and enjoyed some good family time. I will post pictures later!

Ryan with the manager and the sales manager at In-Shape.

The kids enjoying the Italian Ices from the snack barRy- Note the hair...it is getting longer ;)

Mona and I (she works in the kids club and became very fond of
Ryan and Adam when we were coming daily before Ryan got sick)
A truly beautiful person!

Our local gym here where we are members did an amazing thing for our family. They decided to have a racket ball tournament and give the proceeds to our family....WOW! Very generous! They had many people sign up for the tournament and had lots of different sponsors. They did a raffle for an awesome mountain bike. They had hot dogs, icees, cookies. We decided to head down and have Ryan take a look at this event first hand. The kids and I all put on our Team Ryan shirts and headed down. We had a great time. The older kids climbed the rock wall, and more imortant than that Ryan got to go meet and thank all the wonderful people who participated in this and the ones who put it all together. We are all truly greatful to all of you... Thank You!!

Kyle before his 8th grade dance

Today March 7th is our Anniversary. We are celebrating 11 years of marriage....WOW!!!! I am a very lucky woman and am so thankful to have Matthew! I am sure we will enjoy the next 11 years together as much as we have enjoyed the past 11 years!

Tuesday the 10th is Adam's birthday. My baby is turning 3...another WOW!

Then at the end of the month we have Ryan's birthday. She will be 5 on the 30th of March. I picked up her Kindergarten registration packet last week. She is so excited!

Logan is doing great in school and in gymnastics! Such a beautiful bright girl!!

Kyle has 8th grade graduation in May, high school next year...ahhhh! He is growing so fast right now and is turning into a fine young guy (I just can't bring myself to type the word man...lol) right before our very eyes. I can not believe how fast time is going by.

As each day passes I feel more and more blessed!!!!

Tuesday the 10th is our next trip down to UCLA. It will be a longer day because it is a procedure day. She will be sedated and get her lumbar chemo, along with her Vincristine. That is Adam's birthday so Matthew is going to be here with him and do a boys birthday outing. I know Adam is excited =)! We will not have to go back for 1 month, and that visit will not be a "procedure day"! So that is good!

Thank you all for your continued prayers! We feel thankful everyday for all of the love and support everyone has given us. Love to all!