V and Camila photoshoot

V and Camila took advantage of the beautiful afternoon to take some cute pics together!

Danny's 40th Birthday Party

I wanted to do a 40th birthday surprise party or some kind of big party for Danny, but our life is crazy and our friends are all scattered across the state and Katherine had been really sick, so Danny said that just  wanted to invite his family over and grill or make chili. He is a good guy and easy to please. We warned the family members that Katherine was still recovering and that it would be up to them, so Ashley and Debbie and their kids opted out. We completely understood. His parents and his brothers and Kattia and her girls came. Susan brought the carrot cake! It was a really nice laid back afternoon with good food, visiting, and playing yard games. Happy birthday, Danny, we all love you and appreciate all you do for our family!

May all of your 40th birthday dreams come true!

Cheer competition in RIC

V had a cheer competition in Richmond and Grandma and Grandpa came to watch with me. (Dad had duty with sick Kate.)

They competed in gameday/sideline competition and a regular competition.

They did an exceptional job with their sideline routine and got a bid to Nationals!

 

They did a good job with the other competition too! They had a good degree of difficulty and looked really clean, but the competition was fierce and they did not place in the top 3.

It was really fun to watch though! Great job, Blue Devils!

A couple things about Grant

Grant looked pretty awesome for decades day! 

Grant loves to be active- he throws and catches balls all the time.

 I was sad to miss a few of his games while Kate was sick, but I heard all about them and know that he played well!

Nasty Illness

Poor Katherine was pretty sick for a couple weeks at the end of September, early October. It involved fevers, vomiting, about 4 doctor visits, lots of coughing, wheezing, breathing treatments, and a couple really scary nights(I slept in her room and "nebulized" every 2 hours for a couple nights), antibiotics, oral steroids, Pulmicort, and Xopenex.  Katherine was sick(with a flu-like virus- thought she tested negative for flu and strep), then developed pneumonia, which coupled with asthma, was really bad. She rarely has any asthma symptoms. She and Christian are diagnosed with asthma, but don't typically have the kinds of problems that G and V have. However, this was an exhausting time, but I played nurse and we were able to keep her home and out of the hospital. Her O levels were pretty bad a few nights, so it was a hard decision.  K really handles being sick very matter of factly and without much drama. I love that her thoughts are very positive and that because of her thought processes, she feels happy more than she feels other emotions, including pain. I hope that one day I will be able to control my thoughts that well and I hope that she continues to process the world in the way she does.

She felt sick for a few days before the baseball game, but felt better. After we left, she felt sick again. 

She missed 2 weeks of school, but we read and worked on a bit of math at home, so she wasn't negatively affected. It was sad that she was sick, but I was glad to be able to take care of her.

Nat's game for G-man's birthday

Grant loved going to a Nat's game instead of a birthday party last year, so we did it again! It was such a fun and needed family day! 

Danny kissed a cow

Danny Soderholm kissing Hettie for FFA

Sometimes Danny does things that I would never know about if not for social media. Thanks, Laura DeLano for posting this.

Girls and their Ice Cream!

Do you scream for ice cream?

Taking care of myself

I am trying to take better care of myself. It is way easier for me to stay in shape when I hang out with friends with in common goals! I am still struggling on the friend front here. I love people, but just don't see people on a daily basis. So, I won't let that be an excuse. I find that walks in the park by myself can still be enjoyable. 

I love the sound of running water.

I am glad that this park is nearby and a convenient stop. I like that the main path is 1.25 miles. It is easy to know how far I go.

Eating better too. When I eat better food, I feel better.