Our Personal Water Park

It's an understatement to say that it rained yesterday.

Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink...

because dad shut off the water temporarily.

The basement was flooded.

Two feet of water set lots of things floating in the basement.

                           

We had our own water park.

(See Davis behind the "falls"?)

If it hadn't been so muddy and hadn't come from the hillside where we pasture some cows....

we probably could have figured they had their bath for the day.

They ran, did cartwheels, slid and slipped like seals, used the rafts to slide down the hill, rode the John Deere tractor down the hill, and had "the best day of my life" according to one enthusiastic kid.

I was less enthused.

My flower beds took a beating.

Even if they are a work-in-progress I hate seeing them drowned.

Life's always interesting.

Valleyfair

The Adamson family went to Valleyfair while we were in Minnesota.  

It was lots of fun.

We learned a number of things about our children.

Megan LOVES every stomach-turning, puke-inducing, death-defying, thrill of danger.

Sicko!

The rest of us?

Not so much.

We are so thankful that the whole family (minus Steve) was able to go.  

Megan would have hated being there alone with just us *ahem* cautious ones.

I suspect that when Kaitlyn is a couple inches taller, Megan will have a buddy in her quest to elude death while going right to edge of the possibility. 

'

Fortunately Kaitlyn was a good sport and rode with Emily.

The boys had fun in the ball pit, some roller coasters, quiet rides, and water rides.

The weather was perfect and the kids had a wonderful time.

Good thing it's so far away that it's not an option more often. :-D

Minnesota

 One of my favorite things about being "home" is watching my kids be loved up by my family.

Emily and Uncle Jeff

Kaitlyn loves my niece Jaycie.  It's special to see Emily feeling the same way.

Three generations of Adamsons.

It was cool for swimming but we spent time on the water anyway.

                                   

Eagle's nest.

Minnesota State Bird - the common loon

Logan and Kaitlyn had a good time together.

                         

The kids loved paddling around on the tubes.

Lots of kids in their private boats.

The littlest cousin.

We did some reading.

Enjoyed sidewalk chalk

had a nail polish party

with all kinds of fancy doo-dads

and crazy people

I got to spend time with my childhood friend Kelly and her three little girls.

Morgan, Andie Jo, and Kayla

Two of my college roommates and I and our spouses had brunch together. 

We haven't all been together for eleven years.  

We had burgers with Bill and Tammi and their kids.

Spent time with the three uncles and my aunts at Crooked Lake.

Planned to stop in Illinois and see Jason and Katie...but that didn't happen.

We went four-wheeling, picked green beans, peas, and raspberries, watched TV, read, shopped, spent time with friends and family, had fireworks compliments of dad and Joey, had s'mores with Jeff and Mandy, had bonfires, rode in the pontoon boat, and generally had a vacation.  

It was nice...except for finding a snake in the basement.  

 Eventually it was time to head for home.

Time to get back to routine

But not without an Emily hospital stop first.  

The Race

Kenton, Jamison, and Megan ran a 5K on Saturday at Cherry Glade.

The BIG QUESTION was WHO would win.

Dad or Jamison?

Wanna take a bet?

I was smart enough not to vote against my son OR my husband.  

But....

I had it pegged.

Jamison placed 5th at not quite 24 minutes.

Kenton came in 13th at not quite 26 minutes.

Megan ran, too.

Davis and Kaitlyn ran the fun run.

That's Davis in the white shirt.

Thank you to Christine and Janessa for the pictures!

Em is Home

Emily finally started drinking last night.  I don't think she was very popular with her dad.  She was up - and drinking - from 12:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. when he SHUT OFF THE WIGGLES and told her to go to sleep.

.

When I got there at 8:30 she had just gotten up and was eating some breakfast.  PRAISE GOD!!! It stayed where it belonged.  She spent the morning playing in the play room and cruising the halls with a dolly stroller.  It was obviously time to come home.  

Some Facts:

• Emily was well for 108 days.
• Barring a miracle, she will continue to have episodes of vomiting like this.  The medicine she is on cannot prevent an episode but it helps lengthen the time in-between. 
• Emily was having episodes every 16-21 days so 108 is WONDERFUL!
• This episode lasted eleven days.  We really hoped that on the medicine her episodes would be shorter.  Or at least STAY THE SAME.  It was very hard having a longer episode.  She also experienced quite a bit of belly pain.  
• She learned two new words: tummy and hurt.

We are so thankful for good friends and family.  I don't think we could do this without you!  A special thank you to those of you that blessed us with prayer.  It means immeasurably more than you will ever know.  We are also thankful to have good medical care, decent insurance, a diagnosis and treatment plan, kids that continue to learn to be flexible, and a God who loves Emily so much more than we do.  While we don't know His plan for our lives, we know that if we allow it, He will use this to make us more like Him.

Thank you!

Emily

I had a great time in Minnesota.

But now I am miserably sick in the hospital.

I do have moments where I don't feel so bad and can ride around in the

big, red car with my pals "Mimi" and "Mimi".  

I've never been sick more than nine days before.  I'm into day eleven now.  

Unless things turn around tonight, my medical team will be consulting my specialist in Wisconsin tomorrow and looking for something else that is making me sick.  My mom is worried because her favorite doctors who usually work with me will be off tomorrow.  The new team will not be as familiar with me or my medical history.  

BUT...

My parents are so blessed by their family and church.  

Wendy and Sam cleaned our kitchen...

and THE FRIDGE!

It had an entire clothes basket of rotting cucumbers in it.

(It had moved past "creative space" right into rotten!)

Marla canned yellow transparent apple sauce for us...

and sent us cinnamon rolls.

Rebecca baked zucchini bread and...

and gave grandma a break by kid-sitting.

Grandma B. watched my siblings, fed my sibs and dad, froze corn, and helped keep the others happy. 

Grandpa B. did extra running around and rearranging because mom is a space cadet!

Barry and Carol came to see us, visit, and pray.  Carol and Rebecca both offered to do laundry!  (Does mom have friends or what!?!)  Some sent words of encouragement.  Lovely people prayed for me.  Some without ever having met me in person,   

Thank you for your prayers.  God is faithful.  He loves me and has a plan to give me hope and a future.  Please continue to remember me and pray for God's will in my life and my family's.