Rylee's Surgery

August 13th was the big day, Rylee's surgery to hopefully correct her ear. We have waited a few years to do this surgery because it requires moderate bed rest for one week following surgery, but Rye was ready to try the surgery. The surgery is a stapedectomy. The doctor went into her ear and removed her stapes bone, which is causing the hearing loss, and replaced it with a prosthesis that will act in it place. The surgery has a 93% success rate, so we are hoping this surgery works.

We had to be to the hospital at 6:00am to get ready for a 7:30am surgery. Rylee was referred to the Chief ENT of the U of U for this surgery because it is a rare surgery and very few surgeons actually preform the surgery. Dr. Shelton was great with Rylee and she really likes him. She was a bit nervous about the surgery and going back with the doctors, so the anesthesiologist let Rylee watch cartoons on his iPhone to help calm her down. The surgery took about an hour and fifteen minutes start to finish and the doctor said everything went perfectly! We stayed in recovery for about four hours and then headed home for a week of resting! We do not find out if the surgery was successful or not for four months, so until then we wait patiently!!

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Rylee's First Day of Kindergarten

Can you believe this cute little girl is starting kindergarten?  It is crazy to me that she is so old.  We were so excited that she got into the charter school right next to our house, so she can literally walk out the front door and be to school.  She was a little upset about the idea of a school uniform, she is quite our fashionista.  I showed her the school uniform last week and she informed me it was boring and she need to change into her cute clothes as soon as she gets home, but she still looked pretty adorable today in the boring clothes.  She is in morning kindergarten and starts school at 8:20, which is perfect because she is such an early riser.  Her teachers name is Mr. Matt and the aide in her class is Ms. Jennifer.  She was most excited to use her new backpack today and to go to the big school finally.

She woke up first this morning, 6:30am, and came into my room dressed and ready for the day.  I told her we had a little time before we needed to go but she was so excited.  She went and turned on a cartoon and I got in the shower to get ready for the big day.  Once we had eaten breakfast and everyone was ready, we all walked to school as a family.  She went in and put her backpack on her hook and was ready to start the day.  I managed to get a few pictures of her and then it was time for us to head home.

She had a blast at the first day and she even got up in front of the class and explained to them what her hearing aids were and also about the surgery she had on her ear.  She was so proud of herself when she got home, she was just beaming!  We are so proud of her and we are excited to start this journey with her, now through college she is our adorable little student!

 First Day of Kindergarten

 Rylee and Nolan (Rylee is making sure he looks at the camera!)

 Daddy and Rylee on the walk to school

 Hanging her backpack up on her hook

Ready to get class started

Nolan's 1st Day of Preschool

Nolan started preschool today, and he was most excited.  He is a child who thrives on having a routine and being kept busy.  When he does not have these things he gets bored quickly and then starts to come up with his own entertainment!  He was so excited to go to school today and already knew his teachers from Summer Camp.  I cannot believe how big this boy is getting.  He will go to school 3 times a week for 4 hours, and he even gets to take a lunch in his batman lunch box.

 All dressed and ready to go

 Showing me his lunch box

A picture with his teach Miss Callie

California Summer 2012

We spent just one week in California this Summer at Grandma and Grandpa's house and it was just not quite enough!  The driveout was very uneventful, which is nice, and the kids were great.  When we got to Grandma and Grandpa's house Saturday night, Kylie and Alyssa were there to spend the night with Rylee.  The kids got to play a bit and then it was off to bed.  They had a great time going to Church with Grandma and Grandpa on Sunday and then the whole family came over.  The rest of the day was spent swimming and having a great time with cousins.
Nolan had Wyatt spend the night Sunday and the boys had a great time.  Rylee went and had a sleepover with Bryson at their house and she did really well!  The kids just love their cousins so much, it is fun to see.
The next few days were spent living in the swimming pool!  The kids had been taking swimming lessons so they were most excited to show off their skills to Grandma and Grandpa.  They did really great swimming from side to side in the pool and even started diving off the side before we left.
One day we thought it would be fun to go to Jelly Belly factory, but we were quite wrong.  There was over a hour and forty five minute wait to get in, so we just let the kids look around and buy some Jelly Bellys.
The majority of the trip was spent playing with cousins and in the swimming pool, what else could two kids ask for!!!

 Nolan having a popsicle

 Rylee and Kylie enjoying there popsicle 

 Nolan being a monkey

 The kids swimming

 Nolan enjoying a drumstick

 5 Crazy Kids

 These three are sure silly

 Cute Boys

 Another Treat Break

 Best Buddies

 Roasting Hot Dogs For Lunch

 Jelly Belly Factory

 Nolan Getting Tossed By Grandpa

 Picking Tomatoes

 Two Sweet Kids

Her Picks

Rylee and Bryson's Sleepover

Rylee and Bryson have been the best of buddies for as long as we can remember! They have so much fun together, but they tend to drive everyone else crazy!! I love this picture, it is so cute and so perfect to embarrass then with in ten years!

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A Bike With No Training Wheels

Immediately after Rylee's friends left her party she asked Matt to take her outside and teach her to ride her bike without training wheels.  We had talked about it before, but she was adamant about doing it now because she was 6!  So, out they went and within 5 minutes she had it mastered.  She is still doing great and we are so proud of her!

Rylee's Birthday Party

Rylee is our little planner.  She had decided months ago that she wanted to go to the movies for her birthday party, so luckily there were plenty of good movies to choose from.  She picked to go see Brave with a few of her friends.  We got some cute invitations made and sent them around to her friends.  We had a great time at the party.  We had everyone meet at the house and then we took them to the movie, then came back to the house for pizza, cake and presents.  It was a great and successful party.

 Table All Set

 Invitation and Party Favor

 The Whole Group at the Movies

 Opening Presents

 Polly Pockets

 Hugs from RJ

 A Barbie from Riley

 Little Pet Shops

 Her Cake

Sneaking A Bite Of Frosting

Swim Lessons

The kids have been taking swim lessons for the past month and they are both quite the little fish now.  A few weeks ago at swim lessons they took some under water pictures and they turned out adorable.  The kids are both very confident in the water and are able to swim on their stomachs and even do the back stroke.  This week they are learning how to dive and loving it!