It's Been a Year for Blake!

As most of you are aware, we had quite a BIG scare with Blake just over a year ago. He was hospitalized for a week with influenza A as well as his asthma, which we have known he has had for quite some time, just never really knew the extent of it. After dealing with the Pediatrician for several years, we were refereed to an Asthma & Allergy specialist, who has since become a good friend of Blake's. We had a series of tests done after Blake was well and out of the hospital. Out of the 114 things he was tested for, 87 of them came back positive. WOW! This includes most everything outdoors, most pets, and a few food items.We immediately started "shot therapy" each week. He has gone twice a week now for the past year for shots, as well as a regiment of medications both morning and night here at home. After all this, I'm proud to say- He's doing fabulous! He even managed to get PERFECT attendance this last year at school and was soooo excited. He used to miss several days of school a year do to allergies & asthma, so for him it was a HUGE accomplishment.

This is one of the breathing tests Blake does periodically when we go in for shots. It helps to know how much oxygen his body is getting.

I can tell you, this was NOT a fun adventure for the first few months. Who likes shots? Not to mention, 2 shots in each arm, twice a week. OUCH!

Blake always says the "right" arm hurts worse. I guess that is the arm they put all the "animal" allergens, so it tends to burn and sting quite a bit more.

Needless to say, he has been such a trooper! He used to not like Laurie, the Nurse as she was the one always poking at him, but as time has gone on, he has seen the difference in the quality of his life and he appreciates her helping him to feel better. He doesn't even seem to mind the shots these days. Just walks right in like he knows what he is doing. Way to go Blake! Our plan is to continue treatment for the next four years and evaluate him at that point. We have recently dropped down to going in once a week, and our hope is to get into a once a month schedule. Time will tell....but in the meantime, Blake still remains to be our little HERO!

"Teen Magazine" - Photo Shoot!

This was so funny....I thought I must share. So, McKenna had one of her Best friends, Briannah Mae over to play. They seemed to be having a great time doing a variety of different things from, scrap booking and playing school, to even making us some yummy cookies. I had disappeared upstairs to put away some laundry for a few minutes, when McKenna came in and asked if she could borrow my camera. Being the responsible girl that she is I said: " that would be fine." " Just put it back when you are done and be very careful." Several minutes had passed and I came down stairs. I walked by the front window and noticed the girls had gotten a couple of McKenna's church dresses on and were out front posing....I couldn't figure out who was taking the pictures until I opened the door and found photographer Blake on the scene. It was hilarious! If only you could have seen what I saw at that moment. The girls proceeded to tell me, they were in the middle of a "photo shoot" for the new "TEEN MAGAZINE."
If you only knew McKenna and her friends, they are always telling us they are; "Pre, Pre, Pre teens!" ( I guess you say "pre" for every year before you turn 13. So with them being 10, they are considered to be in the " pre, pre, pre, teen category.") Enjoy the photo shoot!

Let me blow you a kiss......

Strike a POSE!

How's this?

They're really working the camera now!

Soooo Cute!

Anytime we have Briannah Mae with us, people often comment on how much alike these two girls are in their looks, as well as their mannerisms. They are truly a JOY to be around!

How Dreamy.......

I'm so glad these girl's seem to have such a GREAT time together. I love their imagination's, and the things they come up with. Thank you girls... We'll be looking for you in the next issue of "TEEN MAGAZINE!"

San Diego - "Girls Trip"

It has become a tradition to go to San Diego each summer and do a "girls trip" with some of my favorite "girlfriends".....This was our 4Th year of doing this trip and with one of my friends that has since moved out of State, it made for a great time to relax, have fun, and catch up on life.

One of our first stops seems to be heading to get pedicures, so our feet feel great the remainder of the trip. This is a picture of my friend, Maureen relaxing and getting a bit of pampering...Her toes turned out so cute! Flower and all :)

How fun is that? Can you guess which feet are mine?

Here we are from the left: Kara, Helen, ( Maureen's Sister that joined us this year) Maureen, and myself.

We always head into Target ( my FAVORITE) to pick up water, snacks etc. I was so excited the first time we discovered this Target that was 2 stories! LOVE IT! My favorite is sending the cart up the escalator:)

We discovered the BEST place to eat breakfast. The Waffle Spot. One time we came, we stayed at a hotel and The Waffle Spot cafe was in the lobby. We come back year after year now, and we eat there every day that we are there. YUM! This is a picture of Kara with Sir Wafflelot himself.

Playing at the beach is one of my favorite parts of the trip. I LOVE the water! and the waves are sooo fun. My friend Kara and I usually spend more time in the water than out of the water, laughing, and having the time of our lives. It's the best!

It always seems a bit sad when it's over but we are ready to be back with our families and can look forward to it again next year. Thank you girls, for the memories, laughs and a great time!

Summer Fun in Seattle

We have spent the past 2 weeks vacationing amongst family and friends in Seattle. The first week we spent with Steve's brother in North Bend. We enjoyed spending time with their family as well as Steve's sister and her family who joined us for the 4Th. The 2ND week we spent with my family in Bellevue. Are week included, various outings, lunch/dinners with old friends and just playing at the lake and pool. The weather the 1st week was a bit "iffy" (pretty typical for Seattle) The second week was absolutely gorgeous. (true Paradise as Steve puts it)

This is the 2ND year that Steve and his brother have done 100 mile bike trip up over Snoqualmie Pass.They truly enjoy spending time together have made this a tradition to look forward to it in the coming years. Steve has been gearing up for it the past month or so my riding his bike to/from work when he can. ( it's about 21 miles one way to downtown St. Luke's)

At the top of Snoqualime Pass, they actually travel through a tunnel for 2 miles. They claim it to be "awesome" and they really like the fact that the tunnel stays so cool. They actually travel with headlamps for this portion of the ride. We met them at the top of the pass just outside the tunnel to re-fuel with a bit of lunch before they continued on to Cl Elum. We then met them in Cl Elum where we had set up camp for the night. We stayed at the Ensign Ranch. This was a lot of fun and brought back sooo many memories as it is where I grew up going to camp each summer.

Blake and his cousin Hyram, joined the guys for part of the ride home the next day. We met them at the top of the pass, where the boys joined in just prior to heading through the TUNNEL OF DARKNESS. Blake had an absolute BLAST! He even wrote to tell about it!

( You may have to double click to enlarge)


After we returned and recovered a bit from our camping/bike adventure, we spent time in Seattle doing some of our favorite things. We took a ferry across Puget Sound, wandered the city and even stopped at the kids favorite store. The Old Curiosity Shop.

We can't go home and NOT eat it our FAVORITE spot! If only they had an Ivar's here. :)

We also spent a lot of time visiting friends. Thank you to all of you who made our trip so memorable. We had a GREAT time!