First day of school

Alyssa has started pre-school again. She is in the new Canyons School District. So far everything has run just the same as when they were a part of Jordan school district. Alyssa did get a new teacher who is very excited to have a new class but she has the same bus driver as before and he is just like a big loveable grandpa. He is always so excited to see her everyday. This picture is of her after her first day of school. She was upset that she had bonked her head on the bus right before she got off so I couldn't get a good picture of her. So the next week we tried for a better picture.

This is Alyssa before she went to school on her second day.

Getting off the bus. (the bus is her most favorite thing about school)

Ok, I have to tell you this funny story about the first week of school. Alyssa started school on a Thursday so the weekend before we were on I-15 headed to put an offer in on a house and we got a flat tire. Luckily we had just past the construction zone and we were on the side of the freeway just before the 7200 So. exit. I was so glad that this just so happened when Mike was with me because the lug nuts were so tight. I like to think that I know my way around the car, at least to change the tire. But those lug nuts were on so tight that I don't think that I would have been able to get them off myself. So we changed the tire and continued on our way. The next week we still had the spare tire on the car and I had not gone anywhere all week but I really needed to go do some school clothes shopping because Alyssa was starting the next day and I had not bought her anything. So we went to a couple of places. We went to Target last. We were in there for probably about an hour and when we came out I noticed that my car was leaning just a little bit. At first I thought that I had parked by the storm drain or something. Then I walked over to the passenger side to put Makaley in the car and this is what I saw.

Luckily there are still some nice kind people and companies that still let losers like me who don't have a cell phone use the phone at the customer service desk. So I called home to see if Mike was home from work yet. He wasn't but I left him a message. Then I called his work and they said that he had just left. So we waited in the car for about an hour for Mike to come pick us up. The girls had a great time playing in the car while we waited so I took out the camera and decided that it could be another one of our memorable stories of having a flat tire because with this car there are a lot of them. And until we get some new rims there will be many more.

(Just a side note-on Sunday we were in the chapel during the opening exercises for primary and I looked over to check on Alyssa and all I saw was two legs and some purple panties. She was in this same position on the church pew.)

Finally!!!!!!

That is probably what you are all thinking. I know, I know, it really has been a long time since I have updated my blog. I have replaced my blogging with running and house hunting. Right now I am taking a break from both of them. I am sick of house hunting. There comes a time when enough is enough. I don't know if I can look at one more house. We are beginning to think that now just is not the right time. Every house that we are interested in has just gone under contract or won't go with an FHA loan or some other dumb reason. So I've decided that this week while Mike is at work I am going to get caught up on a lot of decluttering that has been put off for the last year. (Honestly, the office never really got unpacked from our move last year.) But we really need to find somewhere else to live. Football season is quickly approaching and that means the landlord will be having a lot of parties. The other night after date night at the temple we had to pick the kids up at my sisters house and we got home at 12:30 am and our landlord was in the backyard with a friend drinking with the radio blaring and he was stumbling around the yard because he was so wasted. Then the next day we were getting ready for church and Alyssa and Makaley went outside and were playing with the beer cans that were laying all over the lawn. Mike caught Makaley just before she was about to drink from one of the cans. So maybe next week we can figure out what is going to be best for us.

I am also taking a break from running right now. I have been running off and on for a couple of years now. But this year I have actually stuck with it and have experienced the runners high. I ran in the Ogden Marathon Relay in May and then I was so ambishious that I signed up for a half marathon. So I ran my very first half marathon last month. I did the Provo River Trail Half Marathon. It was a lot of fun. I had several people tell me that they wanted to run it with me but in the end I was the only one who ended up doing it. Maybe next year I will be able to get someone to run with me. It was a great experience. I have actually lost a total of 18 pounds this year with running alone. So that has been a plus.

This was the line for the bus to the start line of the half marathon at 5:30am.

Alyssa was able to get into the Jordan School Districts Special Ed pre-school program in the spring. She was so excited because she got to ride the bus. Everyday when we would ask her how school was she would say "yay the school bus is fun". For those of you who may not know, Alyssa has a seizure disorder. (Epilepsy) It has been a long road for her. She also has a developmental delay in her speech and language and with her comprehension. Back in May we were at the neurologists office and the PA was doing the routine check-up and she was asking Alyssa to do some different things for her and Alyssa wasn't really responding back to her (which is somewhat normal for Alyssa because with her delay she may not know what you are asking her to do) she was in a daze. And the PA said, she is having a seizure. Mike and I both looked at her and said well if that is a seizure then that is happening a lot. So we decided that we needed to get her on another drug and see if that would get us some results. Because this drug she is on she has been on it since she was two and we have upped her dose so many times and she is still having break through seizures. We started the new drug about the same time she started preschool. We immediately saw some results in Alyssa ability to communicate. But just this last week she had some more break through seizures so I guess we are going to have to up the dose of the new drug. We were just in the neurologist office two weeks ago and we were upping her dose then so we could get her off the old drug. So keep her in your prayers. She starts preschool up again on Thursday and she can't wait!

Makaley is getting so big. She turned one in April. We are trying to get her to go into nursery at church. I was just called to be a primary worker and with Mike working every other week. It is a little hard to teach primary with Makaley sitting in my lap or running around the room. Makaley loves to play with Alyssa and I know she is going to have a hard time when Alyssa goes to school. But hopefully she will take advantage of Alyssa being gone and be able to play with the toys without Alyssa telling her what to do. I never realized how behind Alyssa was in her language until Makaley came along. It still amazes me the things she understands. I wish Alyssa would've been able to understand like Makaley does. The neurologist says of course she is behind her brain has been busy having seizures at a critical point when most kids are busy learning new words. But at the same time I am thankful that Makaley doesn't have the same problems that Alyssa does. I think God knew that I probably couldn't handle another one with seizures.

And my wonderful sweet Husband, Michael. He hates his job and is looking for a new one and a better career. So if you have any suggestions, we are open to them. The work load has increased, people are quitting and they are not hiring new people to replace them. So everyone is over worked and stressed out to the max and everyone hates it there. That is Mike in a nutshell right now. I will post some more pics later. I better get some sleep before the kids wake up.