Dear Family and Friends,

I have informed our kids for the 5th time that they have to play a game where NO ONE touches each other. See how long the peace lasts while I get to write!

A lot of drizzle and rain this week with the surprise of a few sunny warm hours periodically. I am so used to running in cold that one afternoon when I ran my double in a rare moment of heat and sun I was having a tough time. I put all our vegetables in this week and hope that they all tough out the rain and cold. On a positive note, with all the rain our raspberries are covered in green berries.

This week seemed a bit full of medical stuff. All the kids went to the dentist Tuesday for their check-up. It always seems like a long afternoon on dentist days even if its not. Spencer got his retainer re-tightened and entertained us the rest of the day with his over the top dramatics whenever he had to take a bite of food. He gets to go back to have 2 more teeth pulled. I never knew teeth just didn't fall out on their own! Allison has to go back for 3 cavities and has regained her belief in flossing and rinsing with listerine. Spencer was telling her how luck he was because he hardly ever brushes and he doesn't get cavities - not exactly the attitude I was hoping for! Robyn got to have her teeth painted (sealants) which she loved and the dentist just shook his head and said to start saving for braces now. Allison has been crying about her front teeth coming in. They have a tight space to squeeze into. So the dentist prescribed Popsicles for her as often as she needs them. No wonder our kids like him so much.

Taylor went Thursday to Primary's to see an orthopedist. With one side of his back developing so much more than the other his spine is now curved at a 22 degree angle. In a regular kid they would be pulling out braces and talking about surgery in the future. With Taylor they said any surgeries would cause him to have a lot of trouble walking and braces don't work so well with kids with disabilities. It brings down their quality of life without improving things much. So since he is not done growing, they will just x-ray every year until he stops growing in 4 years or so. If it gets really bad where he is unable to sit up causing breathing and digestive problems than fusing his spine or doing a rod would be a reasonable step. So I am just hoping for the best. This week we meet with the wheelchair staff to change up his wheelchair to help him sit straighter. With all his growth his current wheelchair is a bit tight. Talked with the pediatrician about Taylor's CBC test. His anemia should be solved with a simple vitamin with iron. His hypoglycemia explains all his dizziness and sleepiness and just means he needs snacks. His teacher and aides pretty much knew this already and have been giving him orange kool-aid to make him all alert and active again in the afternoon. This week Taylor really hasn't wanted to walk much and by Friday it was obvious that his left foot was hurting him. By Saturday he refused to put any weight on his foot. So on Monday we get to go get some x-rays!

And lastly on Saturday Allison had an optometrist appointment as she has been complaining about her eyes. We took Spencer along just in case. Turns out Spencer's vision change is more than Allison's to where now they are both at -3 to -3.75. So new glasses all around. Spencer is getting some new frames that fit his face better so he can stop shoving them into his eyes causing sores or looking down his nose like an old granny. I am glad this week for our cafeteria plan!

Robyn had her last week of pre-school this week. She had a little graduation program where they sang their favorite songs, got an award, ate treats and got a goody bag. Robyn was very sad to say good-bye to her teacher, she has loved pre-school. Her teacher Suzanne gave every kids an award. Some for most imaginative, helpful, good at cleaning up etc. Robyn's was most enthusiastic. Suzanne talked about how she ran through the door every day with a smile on her face ready for anything. Said she would love to bottle some of her energy and zest for life. Made me think of Robyn's baby blessing and how she was blessed to have a happy heart. She really does. On Monday with a warm afternoon our neighbor opened up her pool for us, cranking the temperature up to 90 degrees. Robyn put a life vest on and was just happy as a clam shooting Spencer and Allison with water guns with her friend Luke in tow.

Spencer and Allison are out of school Wednesday morning. So they have been having sluff days at school, finishing up tests, cleaning out desks, playing bingo and having special assemblies. On Saturday our ward had a beginning of summer carnival. Spencer and Allison each worked a shift helping with the games. Then all our kids stuffed their faces on popcorn, snow cones, cotton candy, cookies and hot dogs. The kids all judged the activity a roaring success and came home sufficiently sugared up. Speaking of food our kids have discovered smoothies giving our blender a daily work-out. We are cruising through our frozen berries, bananas and straws (after seeing Robyn's face drinking her smoothie we decided straws were the way to go).

Last Sunday, Taylor was the subject for the first half of sacrament meeting. He is now a teacher. The deacons and beehives worked together to complete all his faith in God requirements for Taylor. They each came up and said what they had done and what it meant to them. Taylor was up on the stand the whole time. Then they asked me to bear my testimony about it. You would think by now I wouldn't cry every time but yep the floodworks still get turned on. It was a neat experience though. Taylor also had his school dance festival this week. The clouds moved away for a few hours so they were able to do it outside. He was just happy to be there.

Jeremy continues to try to get projects done and off of his to-do list. He has been busy this week making Lincoln's school video. There is always lots of last minute tweaks with this projects. Friday night we had a date and went to work on his mom's condo and take pictures so we can list it. There are still a few things to be done but we just need to set up the rental company now and we are almost there. It is hard to believe that a whole year has passed since Lauri died. On Tuesday he taught a Relief Society class on how to take pictures. I wasn't able to go but it lasted a few hours and everyone talked about what a great job he did.

This week I received my final legs for the ragnar relay in June that I am doing. The legs ended up being different than what I had planned on and a bit harder. The hardest part for me I think is that now I am running one of the middle of the night legs. I am never at my best at 2 a.m.! On Saturday I ran a 10k with two of my relay team mates. It felt good. I am now at 9 1/2 min miles. Not as good as my 49 year old friend who got 8 1/2 min miles but 30 seconds faster than last year. I went this week and got new running shoes as my knee and legs have been hurting quite a bit. Turns out I turned into a pronator so now I have "special" shoes. That and a knee brace till my tendons recover made a huge difference Saturday. It always feels better to run when it doesn't hurt.

We were able to have Bryn come spend the day with us Thursday for Kelly's birthday. Robyn loved having a friend to play with all day. Costco was the biggest hit with all the samples. We made strawberry jam and chocolate covered strawberries and they spent the afternoon in the hot tub. Life is so hard when you're a kid!

I still cannot believe that my free quiet time is now gone till September. I am excited to have kids home 24/7 and with all the fun that summer entails. At the same time I am psyching myself up for constant company!

Love to you all, Heather



This is Robyn's new favorite skirt. She breaks it out for any occasion. Dance class, dance festival - it all needs to be done with a tutu.




Spencer working his shift at the top of the blow up slide. He took his job very seriously and enjoyed watching out for all the little kids.