Ellas big day

Well, the big day of tests and x-rays came and went yesterday.
She had to do an ultra-sound and a series of x-rays including a VCUG. This is where they catheterize her and inject a dye into her. They x-ray her as they move her all around the x-ray table and while she urinates. The purpose of the procedure is to see if the dye comes right out, like normal, or if some of it makes its way back up and into her kidney, which is why they thought she may have gotten the kidney infection so young.
We got the results today and sure enough, she has Vesicoureteral Reflux. Just a fancy way of saying her body does not do what it should and she is prone to UTI'S.
What do we do with this info? Not much. She will need to be on a low dosage anti-biotic for as long as she has the reflux. Some girls bodies correct themselves as they get older. We will do these tests each year to determine what's going on and if she still has it by age 5 or 6 they will pull her from the anti-biotic and need to surgically correct the problem.
So, there's the update. Thanks for all your support and thoughts while we were trying to figure all this stuff out. Its such a blessing that we found this all out so early to prevent permanent damage to her little body! She was a trooper through it all and despite waking up with a fever and a possible infection, normal from the procedure if you do have Vesicoureteral Reflux, she's hanging in there!

Summer days in Spokane

Ella and I had such a wonderful time in Spokane visiting one of my best friends, Jana Heller, and her amazing family. The kids all played so well together, I don't think that there was a single incident or run-in. They just got along perfectly and loved each other. They must get the feeling that our families are going to be close forever!!!
We did so many fun things each day and there was plenty of relaxing, talks, and girl-time in there as well. Just a perfect mix and a perfect trip! I realized after I uploaded all my photos that there is not a single shot of her new baby, Asher. Go to our links and see Jana's page... her cute baby is worth it! He is so good and just went with the flow like a champ. They are lucky to have such great kids and I just love them!!!
Thanks again Hellers for such a fun trip and for so many great memories.


The kids at the mall

we have a shot just like this of luke and lily when they were just a little younger than these 2. Very cute!!!

they had these swings in their yard that ella went in everyday that we were there.

this was downtown and so cool. ella was a bit reluctant, well totally reluctant! but she liked watching jack and lily run around and get wet.

ella in the flowers downtown as we cooled off with some tasty shaved ice. I am craving more of it.



with the pilot on the plane. we walked past and he said, "she's so cute. she can come up here if she wants" they were so cool.

new summer hair

These are taken with my imac in poor light but you get the point... new hair!

Sprinkles has me

These are by far the most delicious cupcakes I have ever tasted. They're not cheap but for an occasional treat they're well worth the money

Fashion Island

We had a great afternoon at Fashion Island riding the train and watching the fish.

Chair Twins

Upon going to bed the other night a box came for Luke. He was ecstatic to see that it was his chair, just like ella's. Luke was so helpful in putting it together. It was so funny. He picked up the instructions and said, "OK Daddy, lets see...Ummm put this there and put this there and it will be done... Lets do it!" The kids played with their chairs for about an hour together, it was very cute and fun to watch.

Im craving Pedro's

I just wanted to voice my opinion on the best taco stand in the world. Pedros, in San Clemente, is so yummy and I want it so badly right now. I know it sounds strange because how many ways, really, are there to make a quesadilla? But there is something about their's that makes me crave them day and night.
If you are ever that way be sure to stop and grab some food. In fact, get me some too!

So yesterday we went to the 7-11 on Bushard for their grand re-opening? celebration. It was so great! We got free snadwiches, slurpee's, drinks, hot dogs, and chips. We went back a second time as well with a friend to cash in again. Free slurpee's? They won my heart!
Thanks Kim for the info on the grand event, and I hope you enjoy the watch you won... we never win anything!!

I love the new chair that we bought for ella. It is the Stokke Tripp Trapp and I only wish I would have gotten it sooner. She actually sits for more than 5 minutes at the table now and I swear she thinks she is so cool at the table like the rest of us. I just bought one for luke too as he is envious and the chair has become a battle. The best part is that you can use it from 6 months to, well 300 lbs. I hope we don't need to utilize that aspect.

4th of July

We had a fun, relaxing Holiday this year. We woke up and went to my Parents ward's pancake breakfast where they put on a little show and then came home to have a BBQ with some family at our house. After naps it was on to my Parents to swim. As you can see ella is quite our little fish these days. We ate over there and then headed home. On a sad note we were heading home when Luke started throwing up everywhere and everything in his little tummy. We pulled over and tried hard not to throw up ourselves as we cleaned up to the best of our ability, thanks to Dad for driving over to the parking lot with some towel's and an extra car seat! After another session when we got home he says he feels all better. The saddest part was that he kept saying how he was so sorry for throwing up. Poor Lukie. So

Some Summer fun in the Yard

My mom bought the kids some watergun's the other day and Luke loves playing with them. These are just a few shots of them enjoying themselves in the yard, I think Luke won the war with his Dad. And ella was happy to just sit back and watch... smart girl.