A Smile Lost & Found

Last winter we had family pictures taken. It was the first time all five of us posed together as a group for photos! We had a lot of fun that day, and afterwards we kept saying how we wished we'd done it sooner. Little did we know just a couple of days after this, those photos would come to mean even more.

Later that week, Ellie came down with a mild virus we thought at the time was just a cold. However, she ended up with painful blisters in her mouth and the doctor said she most likely had coxsackievirus that would go away on its own. So we took her home and kept her comfortable. She seemed like she was getting much better. Then after her nap one afternoon, she started to cry and I noticed right away something was wrong with her face. The right side wasn't moving at all. It looked like she was crying with only half of her face. We were very scared. Immediately we thought something terrible was going on. We worried she may have had a stroke.  

It turned out she had Bell's Palsy, facial paralysis caused by swelling of the facial nerve. It is a fairly rare complication that can arise from having coxsackievirus, especially if one has an upper respiratory infection at the same time. The doctors said it would most likely resolve on its own within a month or two, but there was the possibility of lasting nerve damage. We called it "the time Ellie lost her smile." 

These new family photos were suddenly even more precious to us:

We were now so grateful we'd had them taken. We wondered if they might be the last photos we had of her with her sweet full smile. We hoped and prayed every day for her smile to come back. We were so thankful she was healthy again, but her missing smile was a constant reminder to us just how precious the health of one's family members is. Even after all this time, when I see pictures of her without her smile I still feel the weight of all the emotions we had then. There is still the pang I felt, and the memories of wishing so fervently for that little smile to reappear. 

      

Her little smile gradually did come back, and then one day it was just there again like nothing had ever happened. We continue to be so very grateful that that smile we love so much was found again :)

Pumpkin Time!

Nothing says fall quite like an assortment of pumpkins!


Big pumpkins...


Little pumpkins...

We all enjoyed pumpkin painting this year!


And then we got to cap it off trick-or-treating!

The girls dressed in matching Wyoming cheerleader outfits courtesy of Pa and Grammy. A few of our Pacific Northwest friends and neighbors even recognized them as Wyoming uniforms, and I got to be proud of my alma mater. Go Cowboys! 

The only downside was leaving Jay at home. His knee surgery was just a few days before Halloween and he wasn't in prime walking condition yet. Not to worry though, the girls took good care of him and shared lots of their Halloween candy!

A Celebration Fit for the First Day of School!

At our house, we love school! And the first day of the new school year is cause for celebration! All of us, old and young alike look forward to it with loads of anticipation and excitement. For me, part of the joy is remembering back to my own school years and how much I loved practically everything about it: the new school supplies, new teachers, new lessons, and especially new books to read. Now the girls have the opportunity to experience these same things, and it's so fun to realize they are getting just as much joy from it as I used to.  

Everybody ready to head to the bus stop

Big smiles for the first day!

First Day of Third Grade

Good ol' Bus #59

After the girls got back home we all sat down to a delicious little meal. We even broke out the fancy glasses, bought some flowers, and made up place cards. And we enjoyed hearing the complete rundown of the first day back at school. This year it was a little poignant, knowing that this would be the last few months at their school in Washington before we moved. But the extra time we took to celebrate the day made it feel all the more special.  

Enjoying some of our favorite fancy brunch food

Here's to another great year!

Cheese!!!

Nothing better than big, girl grins, especially when one of them is a cute gappy one!

Broncos Stadium... Entering the Land of Tebow

During our trip to Denver this summer we ventured to Broncos Stadium. We had never been there before so it was all new to us. Truth be told, we're not big followers of the NFL, and this was back before the giant Tebow craze that swept the country this football season, so it was more like a tour for some uninitiated newbies. On the plus side, this meant we were more apt to be impressed by everything. 

Part of the tour included the
Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
The girls had fun dressing up in all
the sports related regala.

The giant skis were cute...


...especially on Ellie!


Maddie as a rough'n tough hockey player


Kate checking out the sweet box seats.
If I could watch a game from here,
I'm sure it would be much more enjoyable!
The view + the comfort = unbelievable!


The girls were fascinated by the logo in the seats, particularly the horse's eye seat. Maddie said that's where she would like to sit. As for me, I'd much prefer those sweet box seats we saw earlier on the tour!
GO BRONCOS!!

A Trip to the Zoo...Don't Mind If We Do

 This past summer I went to the Denver Zoo for the first time. We were invited by some dear friends who were visiting family in Wyoming just like we were, and my mom got to come along too which made it even more fun. It was a hot, sticky day, but we sure enjoyed ourselves, and saw a lot of neat animals. 

Slap on some SPF and a sunhat, and fun can be had even on the hottest day!


Kate and Ellie are my elephant lovers. Ellie loved checking out the pretty pachyderms with Grammy!

It's so much fun when a carousel has a whole menagerie to choose from!


Kate had to ride on the elephant of course


Ellie was excited to be such a big girl, riding just like her sisters

Sum, Sum, Summertime...in Wyoming!

We were lucky enough to spend most of July and August in Wyoming again this year. Wyoming happens to be my girls' favorite place in the world. You may have heard that Disney World is the "happiest place on earth," but for them, good ol' Wyoming is right up there, maybe even tops. I'm sure it has nothing to do with all the grandparents and the amount of spoiling that goes on there either...  



The "little" swingset grandma and grandpa
put in for the grandkids, then of course,
we had to rig it up as a waterslide 

It gets hot in Wyoming

Kate dressed for the fun in her "googles"

Ellie didn't hesitate for a second.
She climbed right up there to try out the slide.

It turned out to be lots of fun!

Kate thought so too!

(one of my favorite things this summer was her new gappy smile)

Barefeet, summertime, relaxing in the swing...
what could be better?

Ellie Turns Two!

Whoever said, "the days are long, but the years are short," really had it right. My baby turned two this summer. Where does the time go? In some ways it feels like she has been a part of our family forever (we wouldn't be complete without her), and at the same time it feels like just yesterday she was a tiny, new baby. Well, whether I like it or not, she's two now. And when you get to be two you can do things like...

    

Eat push-pop suckers with your big sisters

Open your presents all by yourself


And get really cool presents...like M&M's


Still didn't like the flame on the candles though...
It almost ruined the fun birthday theme we had going.
Had to get those things blown out quickly!


There, no more candles! Much better!


Now she's happy again!
Happy Birthday, Ellie!