August 2012

 August was FUN, FUN, FUN... and then it wasn't fun.

 

We started the month off with ice blocking with some great friends.

 The house we did it at was an old church converted into a house and has this great old bell which the kids enjoyed ringing... over and over and over again.  ;)

 Mid-August we brought our friends the Messingers and met up with Todd and Natalie's family in Montana for some camping and biking.

 This was our third time riding the beautiful 17 mile Hiawatha Trail.  As always the 2 mile tunnel brought excitement and fear but we got through it and for some of us it is our favorite part.

 The kids did great!  The last time we did this trail Hallie and Megan were  just little and rode in the bike trailer.  Of course we had no idea this time that Megan was going into DKA on this trip.  :(  She kept asking me for more water on the trail and I kept telling her that I only had a certain amount for each person and she shouldn't have used hers so fast. 

Ugh, I am a terrible mother.

 Davis wasn't adjusting very well to the high altitude and has struggled with some asthma ever since he had RSV as a 6 week old so when Trev finished the tunnel and realized Davis was having an asthma attack he turned around and went back through the tunnel and drove 30 miles to the closest Pharmacy to get him some meds. 

Trev planned the whole trip and ended up only doing the first tunnel.  Luckily Davis was doing much better once he got some albuterol.

 Campbell found a VERY friendly chipmunk.

 We stayed at an AWESOME ranch that we pretty much had to ourselves and we enjoyed campfires and hanging out in the lodge.

 The kids got to help feed the horses and the boys had a great time chasing the chickens.  :)

The Messingers headed back home and we went for a day trip to Kellog, ID where we jumped in a gondola and headed up the mountain. 

 Trevor and Todd saw and opportunity for an adventure and jumped on their bikes for a crazy ride down the mountain.  I think I can safely say that was Trevor's favorite part of the whole trip.

It was one of our best-ever camping trips!

I wanted to get some pictures of the kids before school started so a few days after we got home we headed to the park and got some fun shots.   

 Literally minutes after I was done taking pictures of Megan she said she didn't feel good and went to lay down in the car.  I still feel sick when I think about the following few days... She laid on the couch getting sicker and sicker.  We thought she had a virus... or maybe strep.  I'm so grateful we were prompted to check her for ketones when we were.  SO very grateful that Megan is okay.

(More about that here) 

 Megan was in the hospital on the first day of school and I was with her so I don't have any pictures of Hallie on her first day but here are a few pics of the day Meg started 4th grade and Campbell started Kindergarten and Hallie a week into Middle school.

At first I was at the school daily helping Megan check her blood sugar and giving her insulin. 

It was all so overwhelming! 

I spoke with the part-time nurse, the secretary, her new teacher (who had never had a student with diabetes), the PE teacher, the recess duty, and the Bus driver to let them know of Meg's situation and what to watch for.  Everyone was anxious to help.  We came up with a sign Megan could give the teacher to let her know she needed to go to the nurses and we picked another student to walk her there just in case she passed out. 

If starting a new year with a new teacher in a different school wasn't enough change Megan now had so much more on her plate.  I could tell she was stressed... I know I was!  I remember crying several times on my drives home from the school... it felt as though our lives had been turned upside down.  Everything that was once easy was now difficult and overwhelming on so many levels.

But... she was alive, she was adjusting, she was showing such strength and courage, and I had to believe that things would eventually get better and easier...