Recent Pictures

These pictures are out of chronological order, but who cares?!

I left the kitchen for 3 minutes and Jack had climbed up onto the counter to get a treat...He thought he was AWESOME and had just accomplished the most amazing feat. Such a punk.

THE ZOO

Not sure why of all the animals, Ellie wanted to ride a seal. And not sure why Jack had to ride with her...

DISNEYLAND!!

Ellie's favorite ride - the "red rollercoaster" in ToonTown. We went on it at least 7 times...after that I lost track...

The Love of Ellie's life...She was SOOOO shy!

Everytime we go to Disneyland, I take Ellie's picture at this door. She's getting SO big!

Disneyland!

A couple of weeks ago I was feeling sort of melancholy so I booked a last minute vacation to Disneyland for me and Ellie. We had a great time! It was fun to spend some "girl" time together. It was a quick trip, but so worth going. Ellie is such a sweetheart and so fun to be with. She's funny because she's not really into the princesses (thank goodness..I can't believe people wait in that line for hours just to see them!)...she's much more into the rides...and Goofy :). Good times. Oh did I mention I also booked a vacation to Hawaii for me and John in January? I can't wait. Some women need retail therapy to get them through rough times. I'm way more into vacation therapy :).

John got his hearing aid a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, it isn't working the way he had hoped. He has a lot of ringing in his ears, and the hearing aid is amplifying it. And it's blocking what natural hearing he does have, so it's very annoying to him. Last week he ordered a different kind that should be here at the end of this week. It's an over-the-ear one, so we were hoping he could get it in black or silver, but it's such a new aid that he can only get it in flesh color right now in the US. For some reason the colored aid that John needs is sold in Europe already, but it hasn't been launched here yet. Hopefully we will be able to get it within the next 6 months. I hope this aid helps! It's supposed to be the best of the best, so I'm hopeful that John will like it. Even if it is over the ear and flesh colored :).

John and I went on a really fun date on Saturday night. It was really the first date we've been on since he got sick (which began two months ago yesterday). We went to dinner at the Garden Restaurant at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building - which we hadn't been to for years. And then we walked over to Abravanel Hall for the symphony. It was fantastic! It was Cirque de Symphonie, so throughout the symphony there were acrobats and contortionists doing amazing acts. We always love the symphony, but this was really fun. It was a great night.

Today, we took the kids to the zoo to see the baby elephant. John was a great sport to make it his excerise for the day. He didn't really want to go, and wasn't sure he could walk that much, but he did great. Of course we took it VERY slow (not just for John...we didn't use the stroller, so walking with Jack takes forever!), and rested a bunch. The baby elephant is so darling! It was a perfect day to go.

Pictures to come soon. I have a new computer, and I have problems uploading them from my camera. I'm not so tech savvy. I'll have John help.

My Little Preschooler

My sweet little Ellie on her first day of preschool. She loved it!!!Ellie started preschool a couple of weeks ago, but I've been having problems with my computer...so, much more to come very soon. Update on John...and Girls only vacation...

This week...

John has made tremendous progress in the past 10 days! His headaches are not constant anymore, and he has much more energy. He's also started driving regularly. And, the best thing is that he finally has the strength to pick Ellie up again...which she points out all the time :). I'm finally feeling like we can see that John's body is going to recover from this nasty infection. He was fitted for a hearing aid last week and it should arrive any day. Apparently, he'll likely need one for the right ear within a few years also. Apparently the hearing loss is due to nerve damage in his brain caused by the infection. Amazingly, he's not bothered at all about wearing an aid. He's so frustrated by not hearing, that he is very anxious to get it. Plus, what's the big deal about a little hearing loss...at least he's alive!

His next doctor appointment is on Tuesday with the neurologist. I know that eventually she wants to do another lumbar puncture to determine the implications of the abnormalities on John's brain. However, because John had 3 punctures in the hospital and his brain is still healing, he won't have to have another puncture or MRI for a few more months.

So, I feel like this big chunk of time has been just removed from our lives...and our summer. I was feeling bad for our kids because for 5 weeks we didn't have a single outing. So, I took them to the zoo and we've been swimming several times the past couple of weeks. And I'm so looking forward to all of the autumn activities we can go to.

Ellie had her preschool orientation this morning and starts on Thursday. What?! Wasn't she just born last year??? I cannot believe how fast the time has FLOWN. I admit, I've been a bit melancholy. I'm sure part of it has to do with wondering what the future holds for John's health, but Ellie's life is starting a new chapter...and while it's a good change, she'll never ever go back to just being home with me. I'm a sappy mom. I love the stage of life I've been in for the past 3 1/2 years! I guess I'm struggling a tiny bit with all the change (real or imagined) that our lives have dealt with the past six weeks, and what we may deal with in the future. I know Ellie will absolutely thrive in preschool...she's so ready. I'm just not sure I am :).