Soccer pics - Mallory (U6) - Maddy (U9)

The patio-and Andy

Oops got these backward again. They are supposed to be the before and after shots of our patio. Oh we'll...here are the after and before shots. :)

We are really pleased with how it turned out. Dan and I have been enjoying lighting the torches and hanging out there after the girls have gone to bed. Looking out from our patio are only trees and fields (no houses) so it's very peaceful!

Can't forget about little Andy...or should I say big Andy?

Andy at 8 weeks

Andy now at 4 months

He is actually a really, really great puppy!

DISNEY!!!

We left with my parents for Disney World beginning of June. We had such an amazing time!!! It was the 1st time our girls had been and the were so excited. For us, we took them at the perfect ages. Not too young, but old enough to ride the rides and young enough to be excited to see the the Princesses. We passed by exhausted parents dragging their diaper bags behind them with their toddlers in complete overstimulated meltdowns! YIKES! Yup, glad we waited until they were older! Although I did bring an umbrella stroller for Mallory to ride in when she got tired. I was reading somewhere that you can walk an average of 7 miles in the parks... I'm pretty sure we did.Dad and Mom riding Buzz Lightyear

Maddy and Mallory looking at the castle

Getting ready to watch It's a Bugs Life in 3D. Mallory was ticked that her glass kept falling off.

This was taken at EPCOT. The big ball was in the background, but it was so hot and muggy that day. Our camera kept fogging up. (hate that)

I have some more great pics I'll post later today or tomorrow from our trip.

May- Part 2

Toward the end of May we made a trip to St. Louis for Evan's (our nephew) 1st Birthday. We spent a day at Kasey's parents house for the party and then drove to the arch the next day with Mike and Kasey and Dan's parents.

Cousins

Kasey and I

Oops! These pics are backwards. We had this tiny little deck the builder built on the back our our house. It was only big enough for our grill so we decided a patio would be much more functional. After calling and getting several bids on the project we settled for a guy who seemed a little "rough around the edges" but his price was CRAZY CHEAPER than anyone else's. To save money, Dan tore out our deck himself and we/he pulled up the sod. Thankfully, the patio was put in while we were on vacation so I didn't have to listen to the noise all day!

Pictures of our Disney vacation and the finished patio in the next blog entry...STAY TUNED!!!!!

May- Part 1

How did I get so far behind?! May is always a busy month for us with both girls playing soccer. Dan coaches them both and this year took the VP position for our soccer club. Naturally, he did a fabulous job, but it ended up taking more time than we thought! This is Maddy's U8 team. The last game of the season the field was completely under water and the girls were a muddy mess! I had them turn around so I could get a shot of their filthy uniforms. This picture doesn't show it very well. ( I'm actually pretty sure Madison spent more time jumping and splashing in the puddles than she did playing soccer this game)

Coach Dan and his girls

Dan and his U5 team. (Mallory is the one next to him on her knee)

Mallory "schooling" the boys.

The other biggie in May was Mallory's Pre K graduation. Is it possible that my baby is going to be in Kindergarten this fall? Waaaahhhhhh! She (and Maddy) attended a wonderful Christian preschool and I'll miss taking them there. This pic is of Mallory and her teacher, Miss Lori.

Mallory got a scoop of ice cream every time she completed a particular skill ie. writing first and last name, address, phone number, knowing her numbers, alphabet... and at the end of the year if she/they received all her/their scoops the class had an ice cream party to celebrate. Just to brag a little she had her's completed in the first few months of school! :)

Parts 2 and 3 from the month of May to come...hopefully sooner than later.

Puppy and Mono (those two don't really go together!)

Despite the fact that I was diagnosed with Mono and have been pretty sick the past few weeks this little guy has helped me keep a smile on my face! I won't be offended if you never have a meal at our house again...

Mallory blowing bubbles, Andy popping them...

That sock will never be the same!!!

This pic is out of order. We cleaned him off in the pool AFTER he found the mud hole in the backyard. Only to have him roll in the mulch and get filthy again!

Ahhh yes and he finally discovered the mud hole in the far back corner of the yard. I was just feeling confident that he wouldn't go back that far...

Now the whole Mono thing: I actually feel a little better today. Slept ALL weekend which felt SO good and I think it just helps knowing that I'm not crazy and I really do "have" something. I can typically push myself through any illness, but just couldn't do it this time. So glad Dr. finally had me take the Mono test. Ready to get through this "rough patch" we've been going through!

March=surgery, infection, another surgery, heartbreak, loss...spring break!

Wow! How do I sum up this past month? The thought of blogging about it was just too overwhelming! I was living a nightmare...why would I want to sit down and type it out?!!!? Wish that writing was more my thing. Ok, here we go:

Dan had surgery on his knee to repair, for the second time, a severely torn ACL and miniscus. The surgery took almost 6 hours and was very extensive. The Dr. had to take out his old "hardware" from the previous surgery cut his own patella tendon and reattach it as his new acl. In order to do that they had to do a bone graft...yadda, yadda, yadda. Let's just say it was CrAzY! After surgery he was in A LOT of pain and seemed to get worse by the day. 6 days post op he was having cold chills and had spiked a fever. We decided to go in and see the surgeon fearing he had an infection. The Dr. confirmed our suspicions and Dan was scheduled for surgery the next morning (exactly one week from his last surgery) to reopen the knee and flush out the knee in hopes of getting out all the infection. It's hard to really explain how sick he was. By the time he got surgery center Friday morning the infection was raging in his body and I have never seen him so sick! It was terrifying!!!! See pic and then story continues...nasty, huh? (dan's knee not Mallory, although she's not looking too hot herself)

Ok, so here's the 2nd part of the story. During all this Mallory came down with bronchitis, borderline pneumonia and was on breathing treatments 4 times a day and by the way, I was running a fever this entire week as well. Talk about being pulled in 100 directions. Dan needed almost constant care and Mallory too. It was hard being everything to everyone Thankfully, my parents helped out. A great friend made us a few meals and cleaned our house one day and of course my Grandma made us a delicious stew as well.
Our next and most difficult blow came after Dan's 2nd surgery. Our dog, Jackson, collapsed and wasn't able to walk or move. He seemed to be almost paralyzed. Dan wasn't able to help me carry an 83 lb dog up from the basement so the next morning our vet made a special visit to our home and helped me load Jackson into the car. An x-ray showed a large mass in his stomach and had probably spread to his spinal cord causing the "episode of paralysis." I was instructed to take him home and let him be with us for a bit longer. Now, up to this point I had been the family rock, but I completely lost it right there at the Avon Vet Clinic! We're talking full blown ugly cry mixed with loud sobs and wailing. In fact, after I had gotten myself breathing again they lead me out a back door to my car. I think maybe they were afraid my hysterics would scare away their clients!! :) Well, our beloved Jackson was with us another 2 1/2 weeks before we had to make the difficult decision to put him to sleep. Hardest thing I've ever had to do. Jackson was my best friend. I'm sure that sounds strange to those of you without pets, but he was just so much more than a dog to me. He was a member of our family! He blessed our lives for 10 years and there will never be another dog like him. Maddy has asked over and over if Jackson will be in heaven when we get there. I haven't really been able to give her a straight answer, but I did say that if God has dogs in heaven our Jackson will definitely be there!!!!
Lastly, after Dan's 2nd surgery and our news of Jackson's tumor we got the new that Dan's Grandpa Harmon passed away. At this point Dan still wasn't walking so making a trip to Iowa for the funeral was impossible that was hard for Dan.

However, the month of March ended much better than it began. Dan's parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary and invited their sons and families to go along with them on a trip to Naples, Florida over spring break. We had a wonderful time and the weather was gorgeous.

Love Mallory's face in this one!!!

Our airboat ride through the Everglades was one of my favorite parts of the trip!!!

I don't want to end this post without saying how thankful I am for the prayers of so many of you during our difficult month. Although stressful, I can say I felt a sense of peace through it all and that of course can only come through our Savior!!! ;)
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Phil. 4:13