What a summer!

I'm not even sure where to begin on my catching up....

I'll start here:

-Soren spent two long weeks away from us, but enjoyed visiting family in Utah. He was able to spend about a week with Grandma and Grandpa, just shy of a week with his Aunt Tiffy, and a few days with his Great Aunt & Uncle. Lots of fun for him! Highlights include going shooting with Great Uncle Dave (or Grandpa Dave) - he got to shoot a machine gun, a .22, and a .38 special and was in heaven (such a boy), going to Thanksgiving Point, swimming at SCERA, and being with family. He has always loved his trips to Utah, so I was not surprised that he had a blast.

- Caroline has recovered from her ear drum explosion. She is now eating solids about twice a day (if I'm not too lazy) and sleeping better, but not great. I've given in and generally will give her a bottle in the middle of the night if she wakes up wailing. Which she still does most nights. But she isn't screaming all night anymore and she does generally sleep in her bed, so that's nice. She can now get herself into a sitting position on her own, scoot herself all over the floor (she was never into rolling to get to what she wanted), and she is a on the verge of pulling herself up. The last two things happened in the past week. She was not this mobile last week. It really is amazing how fast they learn.

- Alan has been working hard and finally hit his one year anniversary at his job. This means he officially has 2 weeks of vacation/sick leave/etc. that is PAID. Hoorah - we can finally take a family vacation. Sometime. We sure love him and all the sacrifices he is making for our family. We're all hoping that the sacrifices won't have to be so extreme soon.

- As for me? I'm working off and on with web design, being a mom, doing church stuff, getting Soren ready for Middle School, and trying no to lose my mind. My health is slowly stabilizing and we are looking into a treatment or two for some pesky side effects of my many health issues. Hopefully as the winter rolls closer I will physically be able to start treatments again for another addition to our family. Unless my body decides on it's own that it can handle it. We'll see what the next few months hold for us.

Some exciting news? Soren passed his state testing (the WASLs) with flying colors. His councilor from his middle school called yesterday and said that, looking at all factors, she wants to put him in the higher math for 6th graders. I'm hoping he will thrive on the challenge. He did exceptional on his testing, exceeding expectations in all areas. He's a smart kid, but the move here has been rough on him. I'm hoping he can connect with a good group of kids this year.

I have loads of pictures to post but I decided to post them on Picasa. You can view them here.

We've had so much company this summer - it has been exhausting and awesome. There are more pictures to share, but I have to get them onto the computer first. Stay tuned!