A few pictures from our Utah trip

My cousin Heston, Brandi and their kids, Amanda (my best friend) and her 3 girls, Sam, Dawn, the kids and Tj & Shaylee all came over to roast hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire. Yummy, Smores!!

BBQing in my mom's back yard.

Brandi, Shaylee and myself at the park.

(Baby Addy is there too)

Mom, Dad with the kids

We took a few family pictures at the park. We we able to get everyone except for Damian who had to stay in IL for work.

Family picture summer 2009

Congrats to Matt & Amy!!! Matt surprised us all and proposed to Amy one of the nights after a family BBQ. We are so happy that Amy will officially be part of the family. They still have not set a date but we are guessing it will be late spring or early summer.

Matt proposing to Amy

We had lots of fun activities planned for the whole 2 weeks. We were able to see lots of friends and family. We went to the dinosaur park, mini golfing, the hot air balloon festival, Lagoon, Seven Peaks, a Raptors game, the fair and demolition derby, canoeing, play dates with friends, fishing at the trout farm, and to a splash park. We had movie night at the Hawks cousins and so so much fun! Thank you everyone for spending so much time with us, it was great seeing all of you.

Hot air balloon festival

Papa & the girls fishing

Tj & Shaylee at the derby

Us at a Raptors game

Sam & Tj at their Birthday BBQ

Happy Birthday boys!!!!

Dawn & the kids

Areya's first day of Kindergarten

Areya started her first day of Kindergarten on Aug 25th. (I know, I'm a little late posting) She has morning Kindergarten and goes from 8:30 - 11:00. We are far enough away from school that she has to ride a bus. (which she loves) The only part I don't enjoy is being at the bus stop an hour before school even starts. Wow, that's so early for me!

Areya loves school and really likes her teacher. She comes home with tons of stories of what they learned and all the exciting things she saw on the bus ride. (like a dead deer)

Aniela on the other hand is not sure she likes her big sister gone for so long. She still looks around the house for her and you can hear her talking to Areya's empty bed in the morning. (Areya has a loft bed and so Aniela never knows if sister is up there or not)

It is hard to think that my baby is old enough to start elementary school. I know, I got an extra year because of her late birthday but still it happens way to fast.

Another trip to the hospital for Damian

On Wednesday Damian went to the doctor because he is still not feeling well. He is still having dizziness, some pain in his side, heart palpations, weight loss, and tightness in his chest. He as also been having non stop adrenaline go through his system so the doctor decided to admit him and run a series of tests. So as soon as he got back from his appointment (which is in downtown Chicago) we had to find someone to watch the kids for that night and the next day. Luck for us we have some really great friends in Arlington Heights who were willing to help us out. Thank you to both the Smith and Peterson families!!!!! You were a huge live saver. After dropping them off we drove back downtown to St. Mary's Hospital to be admitted. After about 30 min they were able to find him a room and got things underway. They took blood, did an EKG, CAT scan, urine test (2) 24 hour tests), took more blood, and was hooked to a heart monitor the whole time. By the time every thing was said and done we were there just over 27 hours.

And what did we find out?

1. His heart is healthy
2. He dose not have diabetes
3. His thyroid is fine
4. They found a mass in his stomach and we have to follow up with another doctor to see what it is.

That's just about it. We are still waiting for the results from some of the blood and urine tests which should be back in about 2 weeks.

We are thinking at this point that he may have an over active adrenal gland or that the mass in his stomach may be pressing on the adrenal gland. The doctor did mention that there may be a tumor some where which is causing the problems but was not able to see one on the CT so we are really praying that there isn't one.

This has been going on since April and we both really want some answers. He has missed a lot of work and never feels good anymore so if you could please keep us in your prayers we would appreciate it. Thank you to all of you for the support and help and prayers we have received, it really means a lot.