Max, Chewbacca and Socks

This is the rest of the family. When it is really cold the kittens like to come in and warm up for awhile, the three of them get along really well. Socks is under the chair, he is a GIANT cat between his fat belly and fur he is enormous. Chewbacca or Chewy for short is the all black cat and he is a lover. Max our 100+ pound Cheassiedor is the best dog ever, he is half purebreed Cheassie and half purebreed lab, Chuck got a great family hunting dog.

This is so Samuel

It might be hard to see but where Samuel is supposed to be laying is full of cars and monster trucks. This was not going to interfere with his sleep, he just moved to the other end of the bed and used his Sponge Bob pillow. There are very few nights that we find him with out his bed full of toys when we check on him. Rarely do they prevent him from sleeping.

Ashlyne Status

Ashlyne had a 6 week check on Tuesday, Dr Zapata did not run blood labs since Ashlyne was a little dehydrated due to her having to fast for her ultrasound. Initial ultrasound looked like inflammation or thickening of the Terminal Ileum was still present, upon pushing Ash did experience some pain but minimal. She has still had no growth in height, she is up to 91 pounds but Dr Z is sure 8+ pounds is prednisone. She is off prednisone officially as of Tuesday. He is making no changes, we will go back in 6 weeks and monitor her blood labs until then and then run the 6mp and stool sample test again then. IF she remains asymptomatic and labs stay good we may make diet modifications in April. Ashlyne's headaches were better today but when she came to pick up her meds to go to her dad's she asked for Tylenol so they are still there but not as bad. A very exciting praise is the Crohn's and Colitis foundation called tonight and Ashlyne is 1 of 12 kids from Nebraska getting to go to California for Crohn's & Colitis camp in July. The camp is called the Painted Turtle, founded by Paul Newman. Dr Z did say on Tuesday he would sign her off and plan on her attending unless she goes into a severe flare. Pray she remains stable and her checks will go down!!!

Brandon is 17

This years celebration was pretty simple, Homemade Chicken Pot Pie, (Brandon's favorite has changed it was always homemade pizza), cake and a few gifts. He had his girlfriend Tori over for dinner and the festivities. Hard to believe he is 17, he is now old enough to enlist and speak to the military recruiters. UGH!

Samuel

Samuel, where do you start, well the first picture really tells it all, he is ALL Boy, guns, cars, trucks, tractors, balls, and Dad's garage. He is Chuck's personal Mini Me, in every way shape and form. He will win you over with his amazing smile and drive you nuts in the next minute. Samuel does martial arts twice a week To Shin Do and is starting on his third belt. He goes to youf gruup on Wednesday's (Kingdon Quest is what our Church calls it) he has to be just like big brother and sister. Samuel goes to Pre-School 3 mornings a week and just loves it! Samuel is all about fun. You got to love him!

Ashlyne

I can't feature one kids without mentioning the other two. Ashlyne has her own blog and that has the most up to date on her, mostly regarding her Crohn's but she is starting to look at it more as a journal. Ashlyne is suffereing terribly from the side effects of prednisone, our sweet little girl is definately in there under those puffy checks.

Brandon

Brandon's Junior year is going quite well. He ran Cross Country this fall and lettered as a varsity, he also was a sectional leader (music) for Marching Band which he has also lettered in the last 3 years.

Brandon and Chuck went and meet with the Marine and Air Force Recruiters yesterday to really start evaluating his options. He has really been pushing for Marine's but yesterday after really examining the options and the difference of live styles and opportunities after he gets out he is now leaning towards Air Force.

Brandon has a girlfriend who is also in band. He took me shopping with him on Monday to pick out her birthday present. Like I know what a 15 year old girl wants. LOL.

Time is flying and in just a year my baby will be graduating. UGH, boy does that hit you in the gut.