LOS ANGELES!!!

Ryan's grandma, Virginia Reasbeck, passed away and so we all headed down to L.A. for her funeral. She was a great lady. It's fun to hear stories of her from the past or what Ryan remembers. She will be missed. The service was very nice as well as at the grave site. We all then went to a family favorite restaurant for a lunch. Very yummy. After that we went back to our hotel and let the boys swim. Well they did for a little while. It was so cold. (Why I didn't get pictures I'm not sure.)

The next day we were able to take the boys to Disneyland. There's just something about that place. I don't care how old I get I love that place and to share it with your kids its even better. Ryan even said that it is his favorite place to go with his family. We had a great time. Chase loved it all and did exceptionally well not having a nap. The park was open till midnight that night so we got in extra time. It was great!

MAJOR CATCH UP!!!

So, obviously I have really slacked in the blog area the last few months. So I am going to sit and catch up. We got to get through 2 1/2 months. Hold on tight!

First, Evan had his Pinewood Derby for scouts. He made his into a whale. It was very creative and he did well.

Second, baseball season started for us. Like last year opening day was at Big League Dreams. We were there from 8:30 am and we weren't done until 6 or 7 pm. It is a lot of fun to see all the boys getting pumped up for the season and play their first games. There are so many different uniforms/teams in each division its fun to see them all so proud to be wearing their team get ups. This year Ethan is playing t-ball and on the A's, Chandler is doing machine pitch and on the Diamondbacks, (Chan is the one with the black sleeves and I just noticed that Ethan is in the background. He is in the green uniforms sitting down in upper right corner second one over to the left)

and Evan is doing Minors and on the Brewers. With Evan it is kind of ironic. With Evan being diagnosed with Celiac disease he can't have anything to do with wheat. Well on Evan's baseball hat there is a capital M for Milwaukee and under it is a wheat stalk. We teased him that he should be allergic to his hat. So far just the opposite- he wears it everywhere! Ryan is able to be the assistant coach for Chandlers team again this year which he really enjoys. Because it was going to be such a long day we were able to leave Chase with Bill and Cindy (Ryan's parents).

Next, during one of Evan's games he ended up getting hit it the leg by a pitch. It hurt him but he was a champ and did great through the rest of the game. We got home that night and there was a little tiny bruise between his calf and knee. We thought, "see it got ya but not too bad", and left it at that. Well, the next day Evan gets home from school and says, "Mom, look at this." Ya that isnt't what we saw the night before! Holy Cow!! (The picture does not do it justice AT ALL!!!)

Then, there was Easter. Ryan and I were having all of my family over for Easter dinner this year. So our Sunday was a little full. So, the previous day Saturday we went over to the Reasbeck's for a breakfast and egg hunt. Like always they had way yummy food and the kids had a ball finding plastic eggs. Ethan was the lucky duck that found the egg with the 5 dollar bill in it! I was really glad that he found it cause his big brothers get everything and don't always include him. So, for him to get something that they wanted was kind of nice for a change. (Reading that back it doesn't sound very good but it sure boosted his confidence and for a change he was the envied one.) Dave and Laura, Taylor and Brooklyn were there too.

After the Reasbecks we decorated our eggs. This was Chase's first year to decorate or find eggs Easter morning. He thought it was the best thing ever! He only broke a few by dropping them and he could've put the eggs in the color and took them out all day if he could.It was a great Easter. Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of Easter dinner. :(

CONGRATS MATT AND ANGIE!!!

Angie, my baby sister (sorry Gee you'll always be that) and the love of her life Matt got engaged. He sent her on a scavenger hunt and the last place was the Sundial Bridge here in town. He was waiting for her all dressed up and with a rose and one heck of a ring! We are so excited for you two!
Matt had let me in on his plans so I was able to hide and then actually get pretty close to them, without them noticing, to take pictures.

CHAN'S BASKETBALL!!!

Since the beginning of January Chan has been playing YMCA basketball. He has really enjoyed it and he was awesome! He is a natural athlete and it is so fun to watch his enthusiasm and passion. He loves all sports. This was the first time he played basketball. At this age there is a lot of double dribbling, traveling, fouling but they just let them play and it's fun. Today was his last game. Now on to baseball! Great job Chandler!

THE SCOPE!!!

So, Evan still isn't feeling like himself and even now he's done with the antibiotics for the Giardia there is no change. So, Evan, Gee, and myself went down to Sacramento today and he got a colonoscopy/endoscopy. He was put out with general anesthesia and for anyone that is a little scary but he did really great. They were 2 hours behind schedule so the waiting was rough and made his anxiety a little high. He was very concerned about the IV. But all the nurses were really great there. Good ol' emla (?) cream and distractions from a child life specialist and as Evan put it with a smile on his face, "That was easy!" Then the wait. But they had a Game Cube and movies for him to watch. He soon asked his roomie (who was waiting for a procedure too) Max if he wanted to play Game Cube with him. They did that for a while. There was a great lab/retriever mix dog that came in and laid on the beds after the kids got their iv's. While waiting Evan says, "This hospital is fun for kids!" Then Max went in for his procedure so Evan knew that he was next, and then the anxiety started in again. Asking questions left and right and getting very nervous and scared. Anyone that came in the room he would ask them if he was going to be alright. As we were rolling him to the procedure room the anesthesiologist whispers to me, " I'm just gonna put him out real fast if that is okay". She knew he was working himself up and thought knocking him out quick was for his own benefit. He did great. Dr couldn't find anything with her naked eye. We are waiting for biopsies to come back that she took while in there. Still a waiting game.

Gee came with me because Ryan had a seminar that he had put together back in November and since he was the host he couldn't cancel. Thanks Gee for being there with me. You were a huge moral support (more than you know) and I really appreciate it. Love ya!

MISSION SAN JUAN BAUTISTA!!!

So, even though Evan has been on home study for the last two weeks and out two weeks prior to that he has still had to keep up with all his school work. One of the assignments due while he's been out has been a report and model of one of the California missions. He was assigned San Juan Bautista located between San Fransisco and Monterey. As all of you parents know these big assignments like these also end up parent assignments so it was fun to do this along side Evan. It was interesting learning about the mission. Ryan, Evan and I worked together building the model to get it how Evan envisioned it. Evan got to do power tools by himself and he loved the hot glue gun. Wanted to see how and what could be stuck with it. So anyway it all turned out well and Evan was pleased. While we working on it a lot of memories came back to when I was in the 4th grade and did a California mission. Wow time flies! The teacher has them all on display in the school library- they are pretty amazing! Great job Evan!

ABSENT!!!

Wow, I haven't made a post in almost a month. But I have had good reason. The main one is that we have been trying to figure out what has been causing Evan stomach discomfort since Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving break he came down with a little bug but never seemed to get rid of it fully. It was becoming more and more difficult for him to go to school and just do anything. So, we went to our pediatrician in Dec. He ran some tests but everything came back negative. Evan's always been a beyond nervous kid so we chalked it up to a nervous stomach- something he would have to deal with. Well, in mid-January it got to be too much. Missing weeks of school and becoming more sick. So in early Feb. we were able to go down to Sacramento and see a pediatric GI specialist. She ran some more tests and what came back was that a marker for celiac disease was high and that he was positive for Giardia. So the celiac thing could still be an issue but right now he is being treated for the Giardia. He's on strong antibiotics and hopefully this will be what the issue is. He has been on independent study now for two weeks. We've all caught some nasty respiratory flu and so all the boys feel terrible with high fevers. So, do we see a change yet? No not completely. Of course I was hoping for 100% after a few days on the antibiotics and I definitely haven't seen that. In fact the Dr. just called to check in and she said lets see how he does in the next couple of weeks and get back with her. Because the way she sounds it could still be the celiac as well. OH MY GOSH!!!!!!! We just want him to feel better and get back to school. So anyways that is why the absence of me writing on here and Evan at school.