Here's The Scoop

So let me tell you all why I have been too busy to blog. We are getting ready to sale our house, it takes a lot of work to get 12 years of stuff collecting looking good. We painted our bedroom and put in new carpet, the last room in the house to get an update. Matt and I have been so crazy cleaning and such, not to mention all the stuff I do with the girls.
We are hoping to find a good house, a rambler is preferred, Arianna is getting too big for me to haul all around and up and down the stairs. Plus we have just outgrown our house, we only planned on being there for 10 years and it has almost been 12. We will stay in the same general area, close to family and doctors.
Matt has also been busy with the 6 point bull Elk he nabbed on the hunt, my freezer is full.

So that is the gist of it, I will keep you all updated on the house hunt.

New Pictures!!!!

Pic #1 Arianna enjoying the bus ride in Denver.

#2 In her stander

#3 Playing with Papa Rod

#4 Loving her seahorse

#5 Kenna and The Biggest Sundae

Enjoy!!!!

Bad Blogger

I know I have terrible at keep up this past month, it really has gone by so fast. I finally got the hose put back together after the flood, yesterday. Kenna started pre-school last Wednesday and she loves it, she has a new best friend with hair just as long as hers. Arianna was fitted for legs braces about three weeks ago and we got them on Thursday. she is not to sure how well she likes them, we have to work our way up from 10-20 mins a day to all day long. She has really grown so much, now 28 lns and on the move a ton. She has really mastered the roll anywhere and has just figured out how to military crawl on her tummy. Her new joy is a panda mobile on her bed rail, she gets over to it and gets her head up and turns on the music with her mouth, smart thing.
We have her wheelchair and stander on order, I hope they get here soon. I am still hoping that our insurance will approve her special tomato chair, they say it is just a convenience item, whatever.
Kenna will celebrate her 5th birthday on the 19th, I can't believe how fast time fly's when you are having this much fun. I must plan her party, I think she wants to go to the a bounce place.

I will update pics soon. Matt has had the laptop at work. So I write this at my in-laws. I will be better and update more soon I promise.

We did it. We made to Denver and home again, what a drive. The kids did great, I was the one that needed the potty breaks. We had a great time and made tons of new friends, and caught up with the old ones. I have tons of pics and I will post them when Matt lets me have the computer back.
Kenna is a swimming fool, we spent time each day in the pool, had a hard time getting her out for meals or bed. We went to the aquarium as a family, the kids loved it, Arianna loved to watch the sharks, they were big and moved overhead.
There is an annual balloon release to remember those children that have passed, I get so emotional when the name of the kiddo that I am releasing a balloon for is read. I feel a great connection to the family that has loved and lost their child. I don't think there was a dry eye that afternoon.
We spent time at the new Children's Hospital, very nice, and met with doctors that could give us new insight in to helping Arianna to grow and thrive. It is nice to know that our children a being treated as any other child instead of a statistic. The medical community has come a long way, even in the past two years.
We met a family from Nebraska with a daughter with full Trisomy 13, she is the oldest at 22 years. She is beautiful, about the size of a 10 yr old, but she is the light and joy of her parents. She spends time ridding horses, and tubing behind the boat, all with some assistance. I have found great inspiration from them.
We also made friends with a couple from Cali, they have a 17month old, she is a partial 13, and is doing great. Arianna was teaching her how to roll over. We hope to visit them soon.
I was sad to see the conference end, I will miss our friends. Next year conference will be in Virginia, we'll see if we can make it.

Arianna is now fighting another round of pneumonia, she aspirated while in Denver and the climate and elevation change didn't help. We are fighting it and praying it will pass quickly.
We also lost a friend this past week. Our little buddy Isaac lost his heart battle, and returned to our Heavenly Father, please pray for his family at this time of need.

Where have we been?

So, yeah I know it has been far too long. I have been very busy with well life. Kenna and Arianna keep me so busy I have a hard time finding time to even have a shower longer than five minuets. SO what have we been up to, well we took a trip to Midway with the whole Snell family, it's an annual thing, we spent the 4th of July weekend just relaxing and playing. Arianna thought she would get a fever while there, but it was nothing. Kenna had a blast playing in the pool, Arianna liked it too, but didn't stay in too long. We all took a ride on the carousel, even Matt's 88 yr old grandma. Arianna smiled the whole time, she was riding a wild Boar.

I am getting everything ready to take a 5 day trip to Denver to get together with our Trisomy friends, it's the annual SOFT conference. We are planning on driving from Salt Lake, I hope it all goes well.

I will try to keep up a little better in the future. More to come from Denver!

Happy Birthday To Us

No I didn't forget to post yesterday, we were just having to much fun for me to stop and do it. This is the first birthday in 2 years that we have not spent in the hospital, so we made to most of it. We went to my parents house and had lunch and cake. I then went and got myself a pedicure. My sweet husband got me just what I asked for, a new patio set for the deck, it is nice. So I invited my parents over for a great dinner, salmon and asparagus with a baby spinach salad. And we put together my table and chairs and had birthday cake out on the deck.

Arianna is such a happy little two year old, I am still in shock that she has beaten the odds and stayed here with us. She is growing and changing each day, she is getting better and supporting herself, still not sitting up yet but close. She is really good at getting up on her knees and forehead, her arms will soon follow. I am excited to celebrate many more birthdays together with her, she truly was the best gift I could have recieved, and nothing will ever macth it.

I will post new pics soon, we are having family photos done.

Sad Monday

Yesterday morning we woke to feed Arianna at 5:30, just like everyday, Matt found our sweet dog Ginger had passed away in the night. She had gone into the bathroom, her favorite spot in the house cause it gets so cool, and had laid down and went in her sleep. This was really out of the blue for us, yes she was 11 years old but she had spent the evening out with Matt, Kenna and some neighbor kids walking and running through the neighborhood. She was so happy and really seemed fine when we went to bed. I heard her go into the bathroom at about 3:30 and get settled in, she was a little slow and acted like her hips might be hurting, I was thinking I should call the vet in the morning to get more pains meds for her. She was really panting like she was hot, I now realize that she probably was in heart failure at that time and she passed quickly after laying down. Matt took her to our vet where they made an imprint of her paw so that we would have her with us always.

I will really miss her, Matt and I got her as a puppy when we were newlyweds, our first kid we always joked. It has only been 8 months since we had to put our other dog Jax down because she was so sick with cancer. It is strange not to have them curled up by you feet when sitting on the couch, and I keep hearing noises at the back door like Ginger is scratching to come in. I have gone to the back door to let her in several times now.

Kenna and her friends drew pictures and wrote things like 'we miss you Ginger' out on the driveway with chalk, kids can be so sweet. Kenna also asked if we could get a new dog for Arianna's birthday present from her, I don't think I am up to house training a new dog just yet.

I told her that we would soon enough, and she seemed okay with that.