Visit from the Great-Grandies!

We had a special treat this weekend, a visit from my grandparents! As I type this, Morgan and Grandma are busy giggling their faces off while Grandma tucks in Morgan. Ryan just commented, which is so right on, that it's surreal. Dolly tucked in my mom, tucked me in (countless times) and is now doing the exact same thing with Morgan... Rubbing her back, making her laugh, being really silly and passing on the "fun" gene. Pretty cool.



Ping pong time. I love that grandma and grandpa started an impromptu game of ping pong.... Love those peeps!


Who knew a robe could be this much fun?

Goof balls.

Ping pong madness!

Street ball!

Our new neighbors think we're bonkers (of course, they are somewhat right on with that assumption), but I think it's also because we are constantly hanging out in our driveway. Little do they know what a treat it is for our children to bike, run, play ball and be goofy, all without worrying that some speedball (I stole that term from Dolly) would come out of nowhere and take us all out. Our last house, which we loved for so many reasons, was on such a busy road, with a lot of "new" drivers who were, well let's face it, really bad drivers! My obsession with Morgan's electric razor scooter isn't helping the whole "weird new neighbor" image we've acquired. What's a girl to do? That thing is fun.


Play ball! (With Bob and Dolly to help!)

Mom is crossing her fingers we have a Ken Griffey, Jr. on her hands so we can retire early. Wahoo!

Atta boy!

My three kids could do this for hours!

The news....

The Walk for Food Allergy is almost here! So that means, it's time for me to shower in the mornings and get my rear down to the local media outlets and give it my plug. I really don't like doing this, but I really don't like food allergies even worse. So there you go, I get to plug away!!!

http://www.kboi2.com/news/local/105024274.html?tab=video

So here I am, refusing to look at the camera, because I might barf....

Young Lub (Love)

My favorite perk of our new neighborhood? The neighbor girl! She provides endless entertainment for Morgan and Aidan "lubs" her. Yes, folks my 3 year old is in "lub." He's constantly looking at the window for her and many an hour is spent spying on her and Morgan while they play.


The giddiness that accompanies a sighting of Aidan's crush is pretty funny. Do you know how many times I had to walk over to her driveway and "show" her one of Aidan's toys this past weekend while he stood behind a tree and giggled? It's numerous.

Thank you Christopher Columbus!

Thank you Mr. Columbus for making the courthouse be closed on Monday so I could play with my little dude! I know, I know, I'm a contractor and don't get paid for holidays, I got a lot of work done at Java...



Aidan likes Chris Columbus Day too!

Fun in the 'Hood!

Our neighbor had the fantastic idea for his birthday to pay for a band in the neighborhood park, host a potluck dinner and have a beer garden/fundraiser as an excuse to hang out! Who's with me in thinking what an awesome idea???


The kids sprinting to the party....

Again, with the comprehension issues. I say we're leaving to go to the party and Aidan thinks we're going to be boxing...

Morgan and Mom, ready to hang.


Do you like how I captured the scene? Don't worry, I took about 10 pictures that turned out like this. Yes, I am contemplating a future career in event photography. I'm just that good. (Please no one think I am being serious!)

B*O*W*L*I*N*G!

On Saturday night, Aidan and Ryan joined some friends to watch Boise State beat, okay butcher Toledo. So Morgan and I ventured over to the BSU Student Union Building for some bowling, because really, why not? Score one for mommy, Morgan had a FANTASTIC time and this momma appreciated the fact that it was a pretty classy little alley....



HOWEVER, Morgan is now obsessed with bowling. Now I am having visions of my future self, sitting every weekend at some bowling league event, sipping a flat and warm Bud Light, playing pull tabs, while Morgan wears a gas mask to protect her asthmatic lungs from smoke, while all my other mom girlfriends are basking in the late summer sun at a soccer game. (Sorry any bowling fans if I've misrepresented the sport, but my overactive imagination is having fun with this thought....) Whatever makes the girl happy!

Taking the long way home....

Yes, people it can be done. You can survive a 14 hour straight car ride with a 6 year old and a 3 1/2 year old. You just might have to drive through the night in order to maintain your sanity!


Well, hi there Las Vegas.

This is what crazy looks like.


And this is what complete and utter exhaustion looks like. Perfect state of being for a road trip (from a parent's perspective anyway!)


I like nothing better than to heckle Ryan during long car rides. If you'll look closely at Ryan, he's in the midst of saying something snarky in response to my antics. That's love after 8 years of marriage. I can't wait to see how much I can drive him nuts after 60 years...

California....

As a little treat, we left Denver and headed to beautiful California for a Kearney family wedding and a little 40th birthday celebration (wink, wink) for Mema. Fun, is all I can say! Our house was about 30 steps from a beautiful beach and boardwalk and the kids played their little hearts out! The family wedding was absolutely gorgeous, congratulations to the newlyweds. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the beautiful couple. I was too busy dealing with my new appendage, named Aidan. There was a "kid" room at the wedding, with a movies, a Wii, food, games, you name it. Unfortunately, we had a little issue when we told Aidan he could spend the evening there. He thought he was going to have a sleepover in the room, so he was a little freaked out. Not until he said, "I no sleep here, right?" did we understand his confusion, then he was able to have some fun with his cousins and I was able to enjoy some adult conversation!


The view from our room... 100 degree weather on the beach = A fantastic time!

Getting ready for their future dance....

Uh oh! Kearney grandchildren and Papa in a golf cart....Look at this cute crew!

The Kearney/Fosseen Family.... This motley crew cleans up quite nice.



Morgan always insists on wearing the dress that Ryder got her.... No, she doesn't love him at all!


I love these peeps.

This is my favorite picture of the weekend. Aidan really liked Mema's purse because he thought it looked like a briefcase. He carried it as much as he could and repeatedly told me about his plans to bring the purse home to his office.

The bartenders were very trusting of our children's ability to drink out of wine glasses! But I have to admit, I sure do like sipping champagne during a ceremony!

Fun, fun, fun with Auntie Carol! Luckily she lives relatively close to our rented house and we could steal her for a few evenings!

Of course Mema had fantastic ideas to keep these little monkeys entertained!

Denver Wrap Up!!

We are back, safe and sound from our Denver Adventures. Getting back into the swing of normal life and trying to figure out how in the heck we will keep up with this treatment plan has been a little tricky! To say it's worth the work is a MASSIVE understatement! Morgan recently told me, "Mommy, I'm normal now." It broke my heart to hear that she didn't feel like she was "normal" before, but I also had to remind her that while yes, her skin does look normal, however, she is my daughter and will therefore never be "normal." We're too busy being goofy to have any time for normalcy. She also told me that "those doctors changed my life." Yes, darling they did. This trip was worth it's weight in gold to just hear those words.


Retail therapy, anyone? The most fantastic mall was a couple of blocks away, even I thought it was fantastic and I don't like to shop... If I wasn't hemorrhaging money at the hospital we could have had some real fun there!

This picture is funny for a number of reasons. First of all, Morgan had her first trip to McDonald's while we were in Denver. How un-American are we? The other funny part is that she is in her pajamas. Moms and Dads get kind of tired during hospital stays, so really anything goes. Also of note, I think Aidan has a "hearing comprehension" issue. I think when I say "smile," he hears, "make a bizarre face." We might need to get that checked out.

Homework at Starbucks. Homework in Kindergarten, seriously? Our school means business.

Morgan got to participate in art therapy at National Jewish, her MOST favorite part of the hospital stay. She made some really cool stuff!

Morgan "earned" a walking dog. She really wanted pierced ears but settled for this little guy. She really missed Byron on our trip, so "Popcorn" was a good stand in!

Plan B- Walk for Food Allergy

Hi All!

As friends and family, I would like to invite all of you to participate in Boise's 2nd Annual Walk for Food Allergy: Moving Toward A Cure taking place on Saturday, October 23rd at Veteran's Memorial Park! To be honest, our hope was that we wouldn't have to participate this year or any other year. Our participation and dedication to this event is a "Plan B" of sorts.

What was our plan A you ask? Like every parent a child with severe and potentially life threatening food allergies, our recurring hope is that a doctor is going to look at Morgan's test results and say the magic words that she has outgrown her food allergies or that we have been mistaken all these years, food doesn't make her throat close, it was just some bizarre fluke. I'm delayed in posting information about the walk, because, silly me, I had some really outlandish hopes that our recent trip to National Jewish Hospital in Denver would lead to this moment. I had it all set in my mind, chariots of fire theme song, slow motion running and busting open the hospital doors, throwing peanuts in the air, our faces covered in hummus as we laughed and threw eggs at each other, the whole bit!

Needless to say, that didn't happen. In fact, Morgan's tests results have shown higher scores to all of the foods (peanuts, tree nuts, fish, eggs and sesame seeds) that she has been previously been identified as being allergic to. Long story short, outgrowing the fear that a cookie is going to put Morgan in the hospital for a long time is not going away. A cure is our only hope!

So I invite you to join us, to either walk alongside us or to donate to our cause. Or better yet, to share the walk information with someone else you think might be interested in this event. We are so blessed to have a community of friends and family who help us keep our little girl safe. You have no idea what this means to us. So let's do this Walk for Food Allergy thing one more time and we'll continue to hope that next year, we can support something else!

Love, Morgan's Mom and Dad!

To join our team or to donate... go to www.foodallergywalk.org


A this is why we'll walk on October 23rd.... Join us!