Holy Cow! It has been a year!!

I feel terrible that it has been so long.  I was having issues with my son's school and had to deal with that for a while.

​Well to catch everyone up really fast we are going to be going three months at a time.

Before we left for Shakespeare daddy made this for Nikole.

Last October Rhett almost died down at Shakespeare.  Rhett ran out of oxygen and couldn't find his key.  Thankfully I have stashes of keys everywhere including the car.  I turned his oxygen on and after he calmed down since he informed me that he was really scared to die down at Shakespeare, he told me that he couldn't feel his skin. (He was completely gray and not coherent.)​  After he got the oxygen he needed he told me that he didn't want to let the team down by dying at Shakespeare.  It broke my heart to hear how scared he was.  I asked him if he wanted a blessing from my uncle since that is who we always stay with while we are down there, he said that he did.  When we got to my aunt and uncle's house, I asked Rhett to plug himself into his machine.  While he was out of the room I quickly explained to my uncle and aunt what had happened and told my uncle that Rhett said he would like a blessing.  My uncle was grateful and honored to be able to do that for Rhett. He was told that his mission is almost over and the Lord knows when that time will come.  The Lord comforted him and told him how much he was loved and cared for by those people in his life.  Of course I was a mess hearing the words that the Lord had for Rhett, thankfully I was not alone, my aunt and uncle had tears too.  He went on to compete the next day with his group.  The weekend he ended up getting third along with the rest of the group for their performance.

China Buffet Cedar City!! Love it!!

His first performance.

The whole group right after they competed!  Love you Sarah!!

Rhett and Katie, they were the King and Queen.  So cute!!

Right after competing!

We always play with the hats! Itzel photo bombed him. HA!

Of course both of his trio and group performed in the showcase.  I couldn't be prouder since it was his final year in high school and he went out with a bang. Placed 3rd! So Proud of the team and so happy for them all!!  Thank you Sarah for a wonderful year!!!  What a way to end High School!!

Rhett had one last opportunity to perform the trio at the city library and it was great to be able to see larger groups and he really enjoys acting.

His cousins were able to see this scene and so were his siblings.  That never happens and given the chance after we took pictures!

Finally the perfect picture of my kids!!  All smiles and loving each other.

Nikole decided that she wanted to go on a trip with he teachers over the summer to the Dominican Republic to do service and have fun with some classmates, let the fundraising begin. Halloween was a lot of fun for my kids. Rhett stayed home and handed out candy and the rest of the kids went out with daddy to get more candy. (Why do they do this?  There is no point! Oh well at least they are having fun.)  Here are pictures to summarize the rest of the month.

Before

After

I caught him first!

Lighting ball and tail, daddy made the costumes this year.

Yup, yup, yup....

Except mine. I made my own.

​The next month Rhett and Dylan both had a pulmonary appointment and I found out that both of them dropped in lung function.  Neither of them dropped a lot but it was still a drop. 

Rhett's oxygen saturation dropped in less than 30 seconds.  After just one try he needed his oxygen and they could not do the lung volume test because they could not close the door to the machine and pressurize the chamber, it would take too long and he cannot have his oxygen in the machine.

 He is such a HAM! He is trying to tell the doctor about how you can feel his heart if he holds his breath.

Yes Rhett was so worn out from the PFT he fell asleep waiting for the doctor. He is down to 9% lung function.

Rhett's PFT. :(

Dylan's PFT. :/

After getting such sad news going from 11% to 9% lung function I decided that the boys and I could use a treat.

Yes a frosty and fries.

The same day the PFTs, I got a surprise. My SISTER!!!

My sister came and played the beginning of the month of November and we had a blast!! 

Turkey Day!!

A stop at In & Out on the way home.  I will miss her when she is gone.

I got to drop her off at the airport.  I was in tears after.

He is a ham.

My final farewell.  Love you both!!

She also along with my younger sister made my father go to the doctor for his leg since he had hurt it right before my sister came to town.  We found out that my father had broken his leg.  During the month I toke him to his appointments since he couldn't drive, he had several appointments, between his broken leg and his MS.  I also had a lot of non-profit meetings that I was able to attend.

I was able to attend a festival of trees training for the auction process even though I know it after auctioning off items for years.  It was great to know that the holiday season is beginning.

Nikole and I shopping for leggings and black shoes for her concert in two days.

Yes I replaced this by myself with the poser on since it was night time and I couldn't find the flashlight.

Nikole's concert and her winter sweater and black pants and shoes that we found! She did wonderful!

Thanksgiving was almost here and I was stressing out.  

Can you believe that this is Thanksgiving? Who shows stuff like this? Me. #Life

The holidays are really hard on me since I have to mind my manners and feel like I cannot speak my mind.  After Thanksgiving Rhett started coughing up blood. 

NO THIS IS NOT NORMAL!

He asked me one morning, "Mom is it bad if I am coughing up blood?"  As panic sets in, I calmly tell him that his question is a doctor question, and frantically called the doctor.  We got him in and found out that he is coughing so hard he is breaking blood vessels in his lungs.  They put him on antibiotics and he was home sick for a long while. 

Crystal got me this amazing dress, I love it! Went to church alone. Sick kids go no where.

Dylan had a chance to see the orthopedic doctor to see if he needs  to have the VEPTRs placed and they are just watching him right now. I was able to attend the auction night for the festival of trees and really enjoyed dressing up and helping people spend money.

Dylan's first grade teacher that passed away had this tree dedicated to her.

Crystal and I getting ready to host the auction!  Fancy night.

December came in with a visit to Santa at the school.

I was trying to recreate this picture I love.

This is the best that I got.  It is even the same Santa!

Here are pictures from a trip to see the Festival of Trees with the family and Mckay Starr (Rhett's BFF). Also shopping trips.

Train ride to the Expo center.

In front of Ellen's tree.

Train ride home.

 

At least she was happy.

Crystal and I made this for her twelve days of Christmas mugs.

Shopping.

Excited to be at the store.  They loved being able to go shopping for other people.

 Saw these online and helped my mom make them for her school staff for Christmas. It was easy and fun.














It was also a month of lots of appointments.  Rhett since he was still coughing up blood the doctor was following him really close. 

A common place for us during the winter months.

We also started family counseling since Gavin needs more  emotional connections than the one he has with me.  Both Rhett and Dylan had a sleep study the same day. 

Didn't like this.

More wires. Sad moment.

Told him I had something he would love.

Handed him his Pikachu.

Such a happy boy.

 Been there done that and still do not like it. They were both asleep withing minutes.

Found out that Rhett's sleep apnea has gotten worse and he needs a new machine.   

Dylan's last Christmas Program performance at JMS/USDB.

 Christmas was really hard on me since there are stresses in the family that makes being close too difficult.

Before he knew I had spotted him I snagged this picture, but then I had to use the flash to really see him. After that he knew I was there. He was the first to go through his stocking, and I have no idea how early he was awake.

Besides the pictures of Dylan I got Christmas morning I really didn't take any pictures. I sent this selfie to my sister in New Jersey, along with the picture of the snow that we had gotten over night, but other than that no pictures for Christmas.






My mom asked me to give my dad his shot that he receives for his MS the Friday after Christmas since she had an opportunity to go visit my sister with my other sister and all her kids.  I said that I could do that since I cannot travel with all the appointments my children have.  After Christmas we had a chance to see the geneticist.  He let us know that they are trying to figure out a way to get genetic testing complete and not have us pay a huge amount of money.  They know exactly where to look, at the NEK1 gene, they just need to explore a little there to see if they can diagnose the boys.  I gave my dad his shot that week and I let my kids know that I was going to shoot my dad, they were really confused.  I was happy to help where I could.

This is what I get to deal with right before New Years. Naked boys playing in my bed. (Ok so they are wearing underwear, still...)

All my kids wanted to stay up and watch the new year come in, I spent the night in my room having a really hard time. 

Have an amazing New Year!!!

The new year came and all the kids were not pleasant the next day. (Now I know they need to go to bed and not spend the night up waiting for the New Year.)