water slide

remember the days of the good ole slip'n slide??
we got this waterslide for the kids for the summer- steve found it at costco & could not resist.

it is great as it only takes about 10 minutes to get it from the box to up & ready to play. the only bad thing is that it continually uses electricity & water (which we will find out real soon when our bill comes how bad that really is - HA!) anyways, we have had a blast with it this summer. brock at first just played in the pool at the bottom but it wasn't long until he was up & sliding down over & over & over again. the water guns on it are steve & jake's favorite.

click on this pic to see brocks face - the best expressions ever!

keegan's hair

keegan has been begging me for a year now to let her get her hair cut super short. i LOVE her beautiful hair (including the curling it, putting it in updo's, braiding it). so i FINALLY gave in - i mean it is her hair after all & i did not want to be a controlling mother - HA! so, today was her appointment & she could not of been more excited.

as she was sitting in the chair after getting 12+ inches whacked, she had the biggest smile on her face & i had big tears in my eyes. Not just because her beautiful hair was gone but more because my little girl is growing up. it was time for me to let go & let her become who she is & do what she wants. it was hard but it is good. i have a feeling this is only the beginning ....

here are the before & after:

keegan's kindergarden teacher last year got cancer. her teacher would talk to keegan about her chemo & relate it to keegan's itp treatment - keegan was so proud to have a needlepoking buddy. keegan was the most upset about her teacher losing her hair. keegan wished she could do something for her. i thought it would be a good expereince for keegan to donate her hair to locks of love. She will be sending in her 2 ponytails of hair (which are 12" long ) so they can make a wig for a child with cancer.

orlando vacation

we are home FINALLY! we had such a great time in orlando but we are ALL very happy to return home. steve & i need a vacation now - we did TONS of stuff & had a blast but are very tired. it rained everyday but not the sprinkle for a few minutes shower then the sun back out - it was thunderstorms EVERY day. we still rode roller coaters, saw shows at seaworld & even spent the day at the waterpark in the rain & it was all super fun!

rain or shine - there was fun to be had for all!

aquatica is a new waterpark by seaworld - it was a ton of fun!!!

this was part of the resort - fun area for the older ones

we wished more of this happened ...

we went to universal & islands of adventure

we went to arabian nights (dinner show with lots of horses)

brock just pointed & giggled during the shows at seaworld

jake fell & broke his front tooth & cut his lip hence the fat lip

feeding he dolphins - i just love dolphins!

things learned on this trip

1. don't fly with a child from 9-24 months & never, ever a 5 hr flight

2. make sure your camera battery is fully charged before leaving town

3. if you are given a pt cruiser as a rental - refuse it

4. never go to florida in july

5. don't even try to eat somewhat healthy

6. trip=with kids vs vacation= no kids

7. always get the express passes for the parks - so worth the extra money

8. rain in flordia does not make it cooler (it just increases the humidity from 100% to 200%)

9. always take more money than you think you will ever need

10. the questions WHEN, WHERE, WHY should be banned from vacations!!!

4th of july

we are off to the parade in the morning. then we will have our annual party in the cud-de-sac ... good times to be had & lots of fireworks! hope everyone has a great & SAFE 4th!

good news

keegan in april with her unexplained bruises

we just got a clean bill of health report for keegan! we are all thrilled. i still can hardly beleive it. i asked the nurse several times "are you sure?", "if her counts were going to come down they would for sure already be down", "has been long enough to know for sure it is gone", etc. then i asked the nurse to have the DR call me & i had to hear it from him (a couple times). i asked the DR what her odds were that she would have this reoccur - he said he was 99% confident it is all behind us. That's good enough for me!!!
keegan is so excited to not have to get her blood work done on a regular basis anymore. when we got the good news, she immediately asked if she would be skinny again tommorrow & be able to wear all her cute clothes. i had to be the bearer of bad news & let her know she would lose the weight quick but not that quick. she has already lost over 1/2 the the weight she gained from the steroids so i am sure it won't be too long until she loses the rest.
we appreciate for so many of you that have had keegan in your thoughts & prayers. we are so thankful for our family & friends & grateful this has turned out the way we all hoped!
well, we're off to jump on the trampoline to celebrate!


just got this pic taken - we are so happy!