Happy 6th Gage

The day after his first day of kindergarten, Gage celebrated his sixth birthday. Grandma Julie was here and since she had never been to Five Guys Burgers and it's one of Gage's favorites, we went there for dinner. He also chose a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake and since he wanted one with strawberry or bubble gum ice cream, he had to settle on a scoop of bubble gum ice cream after we bought him his cake that had cookies and cream ice cream in it! He was just happy to blow out the candles and open his gifts. Trevor bought him two Tom and Jerry dvds. Boston bought him Crayola 3D Color Explosion book while Zane and I gave him

First Day of School

Three in school. There are many FIRSTS that come with this school year -

• First Day of school for Gage
  


• First Day of middle school for Trevor



• New teacher for Boston - Ms. Allen

I have had a bit of worry as I have tried to prepare Gage, the school and myself for his first day of kindergarten. He was so ready though and I know that he is in good hands. His teacher is Ms. Hollinden and she is such a sweet lady. He has a teacher's aid in his class, Ms. Julie, who helps him every day test his blood sugar and assits with all the other things that go along with is diabetes.

Kindergarten is such a long day. This is what Gage looked like on the Sunday after his first 3 days of school. Wiped out with the dvd still playing!

She is Not a Mermaid

We wanted to celebrate the end of summer. Just a swim with friends at their pool. We had done it the week before and had such a good time. We were looking to have that experience again. It went a little differently than planned. Most of the kids were taking a break from swimming to eat lunch or play inside. Mallory asked to have me take off her life jacket and I did because she was done and wanted to play horses with her friend. I was still eating and talking with my friends at a table right by the pool. I got up to check on Mallory when one of the little girls asked me why Mallory was acting weird. Suddenly I saw Mallory's pink bathing suit at the bottom of the pool. I ran in and pulled her out. She wasn't breathing and was blue. Quickly (although it seemed like hours) my friends performed CPR on little Mallory. I was a mess. I couldn't do anything but pace and worry. Soon, she was breathing, but still not doing well. The paramedics, a fire truck and the police showed up. They whisked me and Mallory away to the local children's clinic. Zane and Trevor met us there while my others stayed behind. By the time we got to Kosair's Clinic she was breathing with the help of oxygen. After an examination by the doctor and some xrays, we were told that she would make a full recovery and that she had a little water on the lungs. So, they ambulanced us over to the downtown Kosair Children's Hospital for overnight observation. By 6 that evening, I had her laughing and she had been taken off of oxygen. One of the first things that she said was, "I don't know how to breathe under water like a mermaid. I still am in awe of the entire situation because of all of the help from amazing friends and the miracle of her making it after seeing her looking so far gone. I am daily trying to understand the blessing and trying to learn from the experience. I know that Heavenly Father wasn't ready to have her back with him, yet. And, we are so glad that we get to keep her, for now. I love my children. I love my Father in Heaven. I am thankful for inspired friends and family. My mom flew in the night we came home from the hospital and had that trip planned two weeks in advance. Heavenly Father knew I needed my mom. I did. It was a great comfort. I am thankful for priesthood blessings from Zane. We are all right.

Meeting the Raptors

Zane has done some work at a local natural preserve, Creasey Mahan, and now we are a little more in the know about all the cool things that go on there. A few Saturdays ago they had an open house in which a group called Raptor Rescue came to show off their birds. There were awesome and we got to get so close to them. The Screech Owls were cute and the Barn Owl so serious looking.

Natural Bridge

Another gift we gave Zane for Father's Day was a planned trip to Natural Bridge at the end of July. We made reservations to stay at the Hemlock Lodge at the State Park right by Natural Bridge. So, the weekend of July 29th - 31st we drove two hours east to the state park and had an awesome vacation.

Our room had a balcony with a view of the pool and lake. The pool was about 400 steps down the hill. It was worth the walk. We hit the pool as soon as we got there. Then, we came in and had dinner at the lodge and followed dinner by a hike up to Natural Bridge. It is only a 1/2 mile hike (on the Original Trail), but it is straight up. The weather was beautiful and when we made it to the top, there was no one else there. It was ideal and perfect. We hiked across the top (holding hands) and saw such beautiful views of the valley below. The sun was setting and since the trails close at dusk, we soon headed down.

On Saturday, we had lunch at Miguel's Pizza which is home to a rock climbing shop and a camp ground to many rock climbers. The pizza was awesome. You just take an order sheet and check off the toppings you want. We tried a tomato, black bean, and avocado pizza that tasted amazing. We followed lunch with a drive through Red River Gorge. I can't believe that we have all these arches, valleys and beauties this close. We scouted out places for our next family camping trip. After a long drive (with a little car sickness) we came back to eat at the lodge and some more swimming.

On Sunday, we hiked to balanced rock - a short and sweet hike. The boys looked for a geo cache there with no luck. Then we got a pizza at Miguels and did a little hike to Chimney Top in the Red River Gorge. More beauty and amazement. Then, we started our two hour drive home. We all decided that the sooner we came back the better.