First Day of First Grade

Kedrick started school today. Public school. He was SO excited. I loaded him up with a new backup (which he picked out), school supplies and a yummy lunch.

Here he is waiting in line for the school bus. And yes, that's my van in the background. I raced after the bus and followed it. I needed to make sure Kedrick got to his class okay. Good thing I did, too, because there was no one to help him when he got off the bus, and finding his class was not easy. Gotta love public school!

This is Kedrick's excited look. He's been wanting to ride a school bus since he was two.

"Good-bye Mom!"

When Kedrick came home, he told me all about his day. I asked him what his favorite part was. 

He said, "I just liked everything!"

I swear he came home years older than when he left.

Cinderella

The boys dressed Eva up as a princess, complete with skirt, purse, necklace and tiara. The tiara came off before I could get the camera. Not sure about the single, black shoe. Maybe it's a Cinderella thing.

Western Idaho Fair

I was able to go to the fair this year. Woohoo!! We went early, before it got too hot. My plan was to look at the animals first, then Eva and I would go home while the boys stayed. But it was a beautiful, overcast day and I was able to stay much longer than I thought. I was thrilled to be able to watch the kids go on the rides.

The kids wanted to ride Daddy's motorcycle to the fair.
Of course, we didn't let them.

DJ

Eva spent most of the day in the stroller.
She isn't too excited about animals and likes to keep her distance.

Victor experienced his first bee sting the night before. It was on his forehead and the next morning he woke up with a swollen face. He looks a little funny in all the fair pictures, and it wasn't because the rides were scary.

Damie is one of those guys who likes to swing and rock the ferris wheel chairs.
The boys looked a little worried.

This is Eva's "no" face.
She says, "no, no, no" and waves her finger back and forth.

The Tongue

The kids were in bed. At least, they were supposed to be. Victor came running out of his room crying, "Kedrick hit me in the head with his head!"
Kedrick is notorious for head-butting.
I asked Victor what he did to provoke the attack.
Victor said, "I stuck my tongue out, like this." He then proceeded to make a very silly face.
I called Kedrick. He came running out.
"Did you hit Victor?" I asked.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Victor stuck his tongue out at me."
"So you hit him???"
"Yes! Remember the rule..."
He then quoted a memory verse he learned years ago, very sincerely,
"Keep your tongue from evil."
I started laughing so hard I couldn't hide it. He ran and grabbed his book of memory verses, looked up the verse and showed it to me.
I explained to him the proper interpretation of that verse and that it is never okay to hit someone.
But I have to admit, I was impressed with his rather creative application of that verse.

The boys debated over whether Victor's tongue face was mean or silly. Victor went and grabbed a book on expressions, opened it up to the silly page, and pointed to a picture of the exact silly face he had when he stuck his tongue out at Kedrick. I think he proved his point. I have to admit, his face was pretty silly.

Twin Falls

Damie's been doing some work in Twin Falls. Earlier this summer, we accompanied him on one of his many trips.

We visited Shoshone Falls.  The kids would run up this hill...

Then slide down...

Or run down...

The boys thought it was pretty funny to stand in front of this bush and pretend they had antlers.

Helmets

Here are some pictures of the boys trying on Damie's motorcycle helmets and gloves. I love their HUGE heads and tiny little bodies. It makes them look like aliens, or cartoon characters. Eva wanted in on the action too, but Damie only had two motorcycle helmets. So she got his bike helmet & gloves.

The Obvious Question

I suppose in my last post I should have addressed the question in everyone's mind...
"How is Damie?"
He is doing well. Obviously this is very emotional for him. But he is full of faith and trusting God.
The trip was exhausting for all of us. Miraculously I was able to do far more than I am currently capable of. God supplied all of our needs, including my need for extra strength.
God has written His word on our hearts, especially regarding His purpose in trials. We are confident that He is in control. Although it is difficult, we rejoice knowing that God will work this out for good. We are excited to see what He is going to do through this.

Montana

It was Friday night, a little over a week ago. I was up in Garden Valley with a bunch of girl friends. Damie was home with the kids. The phone rang. Damie's mom had a stroke. It was very unexpected. She's only 55. They didn't tell us how bad it was, or how quickly we needed to get there. I returned home Saturday afternoon. I spent that night packing and we left immediately after church on Sunday.
It is hard packing for a family of five, especially when you have no idea what you will be doing or how long you'll be gone. Normally I would spend a week preparing and planning for a long road trip. But this time, I only had a few hours.
It took us over eleven hours to get to Billings, Montana. We went straight to the hospital. Damie went in alone. It was the middle of the night and the kids were asleep. He came out 45 minutes later, visibly shaken. Judy was disoriented and agitated, and had a very difficult time communicating.
The doctors and nurses and case workers were unhelpful. They gave us very little information, and the info we did get seemed to differ from day to day. We did find out that the stroke was huge. But mostly we just waited and waited. There were times when Judy could barely speak and didn't recognize us. Other times, she was alert and able to communicate relatively well, although her words were jumbled. She came alive when the kids were there. It was the first time she met Eva.

We tried to make the trip as fun as possible for the kids. They did incredible considering the hours we spent in the car and in the hospital. We were able to stay with Damie's aunt and uncle (on his Dad's side), who lived 15 minutes from the hospital. Their house was very comfortable and fun for the kids. And the kids fell in love with their Aunt and Uncle. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures at their house!
Damie's brother, Dason, drove up from Boise too, with his wife, Tess, and daughter, Ashley. It was a blessing to have them there with us!

One very cool thing about Montana is the wildlife. Even in the middle of the city, it is not uncommon to see deer and antelope. We saw this antelope next to a fairly busy road not far from where we stayed.

Damie has another Aunt and Uncle that live about an hour outside of Billings. They invited us over one morning for breakfast. Ashley accompanied us while Dason & Tess stayed at the hospital. The kids got to ride their horses and play with their chickens.

By Thursday, we were getting nowhere with the doctors and were frustrated. Judy has no family in the area. She lives with her mom in Two Dot, Mt, about 100 miles from Billings. On Thursday we drove to Two Dot to pick up Damie's grandma and move her out. We drove her another 170 miles away to live with one of her other daughters.
Here are some pictures of the kids and I going for a walk while Damie packed up his grandma.

Damie's mom and aunt are both eccentric artists. You can see from his Aunt's house where Damie gets his love for bright, vivid colors. This is where we moved his grandma.

We didn't stay long here as it was already getting late and we wanted to make it to West Yellowstone that night. Other than our short walk in Two Dot, we were in the car that day for over ten hours.
We are still waiting to see if Judy will improve. Dason stayed an extra day and said she was doing better. We are working hard to get Judy moved to a hospital in Boise.

Yellowstone

We tried to make the last day really fun for the kids. We got up early and went swimming in the hotel. Then we drove through parts of Yellowstone, before driving back to Boise.

Waiting for Old Faithful

Old Faithful

Eating Ice Cream Cones

Eva's first ice cream cone. She would just plant her face in it.
She drew quite a crowd, as everyone was amused by her technique.

The bright orange is caused by bacteria.
Damie told the boys this is what their teeth would look like if they didn't brush.

Fountain Paint Pots