Back to real life!

The men and I got back from AZ about a week ago and life has been nonstop crazy since then. There is a 3 hour time change between AZ and NC so that has been fun trying to get the men to go to bed and get up 3 hrs later. I think we finally got that down. Didn't help that Gryphyn slept with me for the two weeks we were gone so he was very reluctant to sleep in his own bed alone again. Aside from the jet lag, there was the life stuff that piles up while you are away - such as yard work, cat box, dishes and laundry to deal with. Zac does a great job helping out around the house but he is kind enough to leave those for me :) Isn't he sweet!

The main purpose of our trip to AZ was to see my dad - Here is a quick update on him:
His cancer has spread to his Kidneys and they have shut down. He is on dialysis 3 times a week. They are also looking into starting chemo but are waiting on approval from the insurance to do that. He was released from the hospital but went back in twice - the first time, he couldn't breath - that turned out to be something caught in his throat that he ate and the second time for what ended up being diagnosed as severe indigestion. When he went back home the 2nd time, they called him after receiving the results of his labs and wanted him to come back in because his blood was too thin. There is a lot of stuff going on there so I don't know how much longer he has or what new surprise will come tomorrow :(

My little man Vahn - had his final Dr.'s appt for his feet a few days ago on the 15th. They look great! His dr okayed no more medicine or bandages and Vahn is relived to be barefoot (in the house) again! (more pix to come)

This past weekend we did some more work to the house. I nagged Zac long enough to finish my pantry and finally I have shelves to put food on. I ended up painting the inside red because I had a whole can of red left over instead of the white that I thought it was. So it is now red walls with white shelves inside. We still need to hang a door on it but now my cabinets are free to unpack the remaining kitchen boxes that have been stored in my bedroom for months now.

In continuing the craziness, Thursday morning we are driving down to Florida to photograph and celebrate some friends wedding. Well, that depends on what tropical storm Fay decides to do. So far the weather looks good so I'm praying that it will stay that way and we can have a little mini family vacation.

So thats the latest here with us - stay tuned for more to come and pictures to be posted as well!

For MOM - who is going thru withdraws with out new pictures:

Here are some photos of the last few days.

We have been spending most of our time at the Anthem waterpark - here is a picture of the small slides:



Lauren and Jared waiting in line to go down the BIG slides:





Gryphyn and Mimi (Aunt Mandy) swiming at the water park:






The men and I outside of my sister Danielles place:





Playing in the pool:










And just to insure that things don't get boring, LOOK what I found inside Val's house:


Its a little squished since I had a great need to kill it before I photograhphed it :)

Everyone Jump

Yesterday, we spent the day with my sister Danielle. The house she is staying at has a pool. The kids loved it! We were surprised how daring the youngest members of the family were. Annika and Vahn were fearless! They are 21 & 15 months respectivly. Here is a short video of the daredevils and some pictures of the fun. Sorry they are so bright - It was sunny (image that in AZ) and I couldn't see the screen so I didn't relize the camera wasn't adjusted right :(




















The whole gang:



And just cuz its cute - HUGS!


Don't forget The lastest pix of the man feet -
These were taken right after we got out of the pool. You can tell more of the damage when they are wet. When they dry they look more normal:

Left foot-

Right foot -

Fun in the sun!

Yesterday, we spent most of the day waiting to connect with the rest of the family. By the late afternoon, we were STILL waiting so we headed to the outlet malls to do some shopping. After a few phone calls while we were out, it was obvious that nothing was going to work out and we had wasted most of the day waiting. "Sigh" So we let the kids play in the splash pad at the outlet mall to cool off and run off some of the energy they were desperatly trying to control while enduring shopping with mommy! Here are a few pix from then:










After we were done in the water, I took off Vahns bandages so that his feet could dry out before I rebandaged them. He took advantage of this time to check them out -He hasn't been able to touch them for about 2 weeks now



Here are the latest pictures of his feet from last night :
Right:


Left: