Fall Fun

What a fun weekend.

It all began when Emma arrived on Thursday afternoon. She drove all the way from Pisgah Forest, North Carolina. It was so nice to have her here. On Friday, Emma and I had a field trip to Jungle Jim's, which is an international grocery store and it's considered a tourist destination. We even saw many groups on tours. It was a cool store, but honestly, I was very disappointed in their Russian foods....two measly shelves.!

So, Friday at 5pm, Nick decided to make the drive down to Cincinnati. It's a five hour drive, so I totally understood his tough decision. I had been planting seeds all week about K&N coming down. So, little after 6pm, Kaitlyn decided to join him.

Nick picked up Kaitlyn and they kept driving.

I decided to make this a surprise for Mike! At 11pm, Mike and I were sitting in the family room and in they walked. The look on Mike's face was priceless! He was so surprised. And, he is not easy to surprise (or is that I have HARD time keeping a surprise from him??).

On Saturday at noon, we all went to Julia's basketball game. Unfortunately, they lost, but we all had fun watching our little defensive star. Glad she doesn't have to guard me! Whew! She's tough. Kobe absolutely loves Emma!!! Emma is a dog lover, too. Check out Kobe's tongue!
Then, we went to Wilson Elementary. They are celebrating 50 years of education. The chorus sand some fun songs through the decades. Julia loves chorus! (do you see her?)

These are three of her best friends, Camryn, Emma and Lemya.
Kaitlyn and Julia!

Tim joined the Drama Club at the Middle school this year. They had their Dinner Theatre performance last night. It was a Broadway review. He had a couple solos and got to dance! It was a lot of fun. (maybe I'll try to upload the video)

The kids! We all enjoyed Graeter's Ice Cream afterwards to celebrate the two performances!

Today we went to church and out to lunch at Panera. Emma left around 2pm and K&N around 2:20pm. Thank you so much for coming to visit! My heart was overfilling with love for my family! Thank you, Jesus! We had many laughs....many at my expense. I don't care. Laughing does my heart good...

This afternoon, Mike and Julia raked leaves! They had a blast. It was a beautiful day and Julia loved jumping in the leaves, too!

Where's Julia?????

In the leaves....with Kobe!!!

Mike brought the ladder out for her to jump from! Lots of fun!

Carvin' Pumpkins

It's been a tradition for Mike and I to take the kids to pick out pumpkins at a farm type place, rather than just getting them at a grocery store. When we lived in Michigan, we used to go to a fabulous place called Uncle Johns Cider Mill. As the name suggests, they also had a apple orchard and they made their own apple cider. To this day, it's the best apple cider ever! We could all watch as the big machine pressed the apples to make the cider. They also made delicious donuts, pies and other fall treats. The past two years, we've managed to find a local farm that opens a modest fall fest. I didn't get to go this year, but Mike said it was disappointing. They did get pumpkins....and here are the results of the carvings... Mike, Tim, Julia and Kassity!
Tim cleaning out the "insides."

Julia...so beautiful!

The finished product!

(except the pumpkin seeds...yummy)

WHO AM I?

On Tim's first day of school, he wore this shirt.....well, so did other 8th graders. He is a WEB Leader. That stands for "Where Everyone Belongs." He is a mentor to a group of 7th graders and helps them this school year. Julia started school with her left arm in a sling due to her broken collar bone. She is healing and will soon be able to start soccer. She had a great first day!
The kids at the neighborhood bus stop.

Three Years Ago

Three years ago today, Julia had open heart surgery at Motts Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This is her, with her typical BIG smile, being wheeled (or "wagoned") to the OR. She kept saying "I Ready!" About 8-10 hours later, we were finally allowed to see her in the PICU. What a sight. She wasn't awake yet and didn't know we were there. It felt very scary but the nurses assured us that she was doing just great. I spent the night just outside PICU in a large waiting room. I tried to sleep on a vinyl fold out chair with many other people in the room. It felt very uncomfortable. Sometime during the night, I buzzed my way into the PICU to check on her. I think she had been awake but was sleeping when I got in there. Around 7am the next day, she was awake and talking. She was very thirsty, as I remember. Aunt Linda arrived during the early morning hours and they "tried" to play cards.

Julia spent six nights at the hospital. I finally was allowed to sleep in the room with her. She moved very slow, but otherwise did very well. Kaitlyn stayed with me one night; Mike visited when he could. Nick moved into the dorms while I was in Ann Arbor. Tim started football. She started second grade a week later than her friends.

The great news is that she recently had a follow-up visit at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. She sees a Pulmonary Hypertension Specialist every 9 months. They do an echo cardiogram each visit. On this last visit, Julia was put on the treadmill and hooked up to various machines that measured her oxygen outflow, her blood pressure and her heart rate. They took her to the point where she could not go any longer. SHE DID FANTASTIC! They are thrilled with her progress. Her "numbers" (meaning her blood pressure in her pulmonary artery) has been the same or stable for the last three years. Dr. Hirsch feels this is an indicator that we can expect it to remain the same. Hurray for you, Julia!

All the prayers from family and friends were answered.

Kobe

Kobe joined our family two weeks ago. He's a Cockapoo.

So far, so good.

For Nick: Michael takes a fall

This is live footage from the finish line of Michael's most recent mountain bike race. Don't feel bad about laughing, Michael agrees that it is hilarious!




Despite the fall right before the finish line, Michael finished in 2nd place in his age group!

...and it was a great week

Here are my sisters, Karla and Kelly, and my mom, on the bridge from Newport, KY, into Cincinnati, Ohi. They had a bar, band and food you could purchase and sit on the bridge to eat. Wish we would have known this before we ate at Don Pablo's!

Kylee at Kings Island. We had a great day there....10am - 10pm. We were very tired.
Back: Kelsey (12), Emma (18), Tim (13), Haley(13)
Front: Kylee (7), Kaylee (7), Julia (11)

Rod at Don Pablo's on the river....yes, we did some of this while they were here.

Kaylee! I just love this picture of her.

Tim and Haley ~ best buds~ crossing the bridge!

Julia and Kelsey! ~also best buds~ at Kings Island.

Kelly with her girls who are now taller than her!

The Brown Family (minus Kory and Emma)

Thank you so much for coming and spending a week of your vacation in Cincinnati.

We love you guys and are so thankful for family!