July 2019
Oh, the fun, sunny days! I just love summertime, wearing shorts and sandals, the kids loving warm weather and playing outside, darkness waiting until 9:00 to appear, perfect!
Mont and Kiaya
I was a work and got this picture text from Mont. When I saw it, I was very confused. I knew that the Parrishes were going to be in Utah/Idaho to celebrate his parents 50th anniversary, but I couldn't figure out how in the world Mont found Kiaya because Shandra was at work. It took a long time but I finally remembered that Kiaya was at Lisa's house, her babysitter. Lisa and her husband Brent are very good friends of the Parrishes family and when Mont stopped by to see them, I guess Kiaya ran right up to him. He said it made him very happy!
Joan's Treatment
Last year Joan was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The treatment usually involves a waiting/maintenance time with little to no treatment unless the patient starts having bad symptoms. Joan reached the point where treatment was recommended and the family got together to help her decide if she wanted to proceed with the treatment or not. The treatment, I think it is Roboxin, is a drug similar to chemotherapy that could cause severe side effects. Joan decided that she did want to try the therapy. It takes 7 hours to infuse the medicine, and for some reason, Joan slept through the entire thing. The next day she was very disoriented and still had a hard time waking up. The doctors said that her reaction was not a side effect of the medicine so Kim and his siblings took her to the hospital. There she was found to be suffering from severe dehydration and her PT was sky-high, 84! PT, or prothrombin time, is a measurement of how quickly blood clots and a normal range is about 11 - 14. Since Joan was on blood thinners, the normal would be a little higher. On admit to the hospital Joan's PT was more than 4 times too high. That means that if a person with a normal PT got cut, it should take about 13 seconds for the blood to clot. If Joan got cut, it would take 84 seconds to clot. She was at serious risk of bleeding to death! She was admitted to the hospital and given large amounts of fluid and vitamin K, which reverses the effects of the blood thinner. She never ceases to amaze me! We were all very scared that she wouldn't survive, but she did and was able to come home just a few days later. That lady is truly a walking miracle.
July 4th
We didn't do much for the 4th of July this year - I guess Kim and I are really getting to be old fogies. I kind of miss going down to the fireworks, but sometimes it just seems like too much effort to deal with the crowds and traffic. Shandra took the kids and celebrated at the Olsens with a bunch of the cousins.
We let Kalel light a few fireworks at our house, it was the first time he was able to light them himself and he was very excited.
Zoo
Shandra, Kim, and I all had a day off at the same time so we took the kids to the zoo. We had a great time. Kalel has always loved animals and he excitedly told us random facts about the animals. Kiaya wasn't as excited about the animals, she just loved being outside!
Kiaya Birthday
We had a fairly low-key celebration for Kiaya's first birthday because we planned to have a combined party when Ish comes next month. She didn't seem to mind a bit that she didn't have a huge party. She was just excited about the fun gifts she received, a soft giraffe named Georgie, a toy tablet and tv remote, and an animal See and Say. She is such a little cutie, starting to copy us to say words, and happy almost all of the time - as long as she can be down running around and exploring everything. Her favorite things are her blanky, her brother, and being outside. Running close behind are her mom and her grandpa Bob. She is getting proficient at doing somersaults and shoving almost everything into her mouth.
GCU
Well, I am officially off and running, attending online classes at Grand Canyon University in pursuit of a DNP (Doctorate of Nursing Practice) degree. So far the assignments have been time-consuming, but not too terrible. I'm very glad to have my co-worker and friend taking the same classes so we can compare notes to make sure that we each understand what the assignments entail. I really can't believe that I am doing this!
Corbin Birthday
For a special, summer birthday, 12-year-old Corbin had a terrific party. All of his cousins and aunts and uncles were invited and his parents rented a 16-foot water slide. The kids all had a terrific time, going up the stairs hundreds of times to slide down into the pool at the bottom. The boys, Corbin, Kalel, and Tristan, all got braver and braver as the day wore on, jumping as they went down so that they got a great bounce and almost flew over the end of the pool. Then they started doing flips at the top of the slide. The adults all thought they were crazy! However, it did not stop the "sisters" from joining in the fun. Each of us took a couple of turns climbing to the top and hurling down the slide - however, unlike the kids, we did not skim over the top of the water at the end of the slide in the pool. Apparently, we weigh a tad bit more than the kids, and at the end we tended to drop off the slide and land on our backsides. It was just a little bit painful, and the risk of a broken coccyx discouraged us from having more rides. We then just spent the afternoon cheering on the kids and visiting with all of the adults.
We set up a small, wading pool for Kiaya, and she played and played in the water. In fact, it was difficult to get her out of the pool even when her lips were turning blue and she was shivering like crazy because the water was cold!
It was a great day, and everyone had a great time. Thanks, Robin and Cory for providing us with such a great adventure!
Playing games
Oh, how we love playing games! We played several times this month. I found our old game of 'PayDay' and played it over and over. I had forgotten how fun it is. Kalel was the lucky one most of the time and ended up with lots of money! We also played some 'RedNeck Life' a game that always makes us laugh.
I hate to see July end as next month everyone starts getting ready for school and it means that summer is coming to an end. I truly would be happy if summer lasted six months instead of three.
Mont and Kiaya
I was a work and got this picture text from Mont. When I saw it, I was very confused. I knew that the Parrishes were going to be in Utah/Idaho to celebrate his parents 50th anniversary, but I couldn't figure out how in the world Mont found Kiaya because Shandra was at work. It took a long time but I finally remembered that Kiaya was at Lisa's house, her babysitter. Lisa and her husband Brent are very good friends of the Parrishes family and when Mont stopped by to see them, I guess Kiaya ran right up to him. He said it made him very happy!
Joan's Treatment
Last year Joan was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The treatment usually involves a waiting/maintenance time with little to no treatment unless the patient starts having bad symptoms. Joan reached the point where treatment was recommended and the family got together to help her decide if she wanted to proceed with the treatment or not. The treatment, I think it is Roboxin, is a drug similar to chemotherapy that could cause severe side effects. Joan decided that she did want to try the therapy. It takes 7 hours to infuse the medicine, and for some reason, Joan slept through the entire thing. The next day she was very disoriented and still had a hard time waking up. The doctors said that her reaction was not a side effect of the medicine so Kim and his siblings took her to the hospital. There she was found to be suffering from severe dehydration and her PT was sky-high, 84! PT, or prothrombin time, is a measurement of how quickly blood clots and a normal range is about 11 - 14. Since Joan was on blood thinners, the normal would be a little higher. On admit to the hospital Joan's PT was more than 4 times too high. That means that if a person with a normal PT got cut, it should take about 13 seconds for the blood to clot. If Joan got cut, it would take 84 seconds to clot. She was at serious risk of bleeding to death! She was admitted to the hospital and given large amounts of fluid and vitamin K, which reverses the effects of the blood thinner. She never ceases to amaze me! We were all very scared that she wouldn't survive, but she did and was able to come home just a few days later. That lady is truly a walking miracle.
July 4th
We didn't do much for the 4th of July this year - I guess Kim and I are really getting to be old fogies. I kind of miss going down to the fireworks, but sometimes it just seems like too much effort to deal with the crowds and traffic. Shandra took the kids and celebrated at the Olsens with a bunch of the cousins.
We let Kalel light a few fireworks at our house, it was the first time he was able to light them himself and he was very excited.
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| Festive Kiaya and Kalel's first lighting experience |
Shandra, Kim, and I all had a day off at the same time so we took the kids to the zoo. We had a great time. Kalel has always loved animals and he excitedly told us random facts about the animals. Kiaya wasn't as excited about the animals, she just loved being outside!
Kiaya Birthday
We had a fairly low-key celebration for Kiaya's first birthday because we planned to have a combined party when Ish comes next month. She didn't seem to mind a bit that she didn't have a huge party. She was just excited about the fun gifts she received, a soft giraffe named Georgie, a toy tablet and tv remote, and an animal See and Say. She is such a little cutie, starting to copy us to say words, and happy almost all of the time - as long as she can be down running around and exploring everything. Her favorite things are her blanky, her brother, and being outside. Running close behind are her mom and her grandpa Bob. She is getting proficient at doing somersaults and shoving almost everything into her mouth.
GCU
Well, I am officially off and running, attending online classes at Grand Canyon University in pursuit of a DNP (Doctorate of Nursing Practice) degree. So far the assignments have been time-consuming, but not too terrible. I'm very glad to have my co-worker and friend taking the same classes so we can compare notes to make sure that we each understand what the assignments entail. I really can't believe that I am doing this!
Corbin Birthday
For a special, summer birthday, 12-year-old Corbin had a terrific party. All of his cousins and aunts and uncles were invited and his parents rented a 16-foot water slide. The kids all had a terrific time, going up the stairs hundreds of times to slide down into the pool at the bottom. The boys, Corbin, Kalel, and Tristan, all got braver and braver as the day wore on, jumping as they went down so that they got a great bounce and almost flew over the end of the pool. Then they started doing flips at the top of the slide. The adults all thought they were crazy! However, it did not stop the "sisters" from joining in the fun. Each of us took a couple of turns climbing to the top and hurling down the slide - however, unlike the kids, we did not skim over the top of the water at the end of the slide in the pool. Apparently, we weigh a tad bit more than the kids, and at the end we tended to drop off the slide and land on our backsides. It was just a little bit painful, and the risk of a broken coccyx discouraged us from having more rides. We then just spent the afternoon cheering on the kids and visiting with all of the adults.
We set up a small, wading pool for Kiaya, and she played and played in the water. In fact, it was difficult to get her out of the pool even when her lips were turning blue and she was shivering like crazy because the water was cold!
It was a great day, and everyone had a great time. Thanks, Robin and Cory for providing us with such a great adventure!
Playing games
Oh, how we love playing games! We played several times this month. I found our old game of 'PayDay' and played it over and over. I had forgotten how fun it is. Kalel was the lucky one most of the time and ended up with lots of money! We also played some 'RedNeck Life' a game that always makes us laugh.
Misc. Pictures
Kiaya riding on the bouncy horse and just loving it. She loves to sit in my office chair, she sits there like she is so proud of herself for being big enough to sit in that chair. Kalel demonstrating the bountiful crop of daisies.
I hate to see July end as next month everyone starts getting ready for school and it means that summer is coming to an end. I truly would be happy if summer lasted six months instead of three.
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