Diagnosis day

Today is the day two years ago that our lives changed forever with Katie's diabetes diagnosis. It was one of the hardest days of our lives. We have come so far in these two years. I am continually amazed by the courage and maturity that Katie shows. Since that day, she has checked her blood sugar about 7,000 times, had about 2, 000 shots (just in the first six months), and has changed her pump sites about 150 times. Today is a day of strong emotions for me as I reflect on all of this. I am grateful for all my kids, but today is I am especially grateful that Katie's life was spared when she was so very sick two years ago, and for the joy she brings to our family. In honor of that, I would like to share a few old pictures we came across this week. Tonight we will celebrate by going out for ice cream.


Here is Katie as a 3 year old, playing dress up. She has loved fashion since she was a toddler.

When Katie was in kindergarden, the movie "The Incredibles" came out. Katie made this mask for herself, and put together this super hero costume also all by herself. Then she had one of the boys hold the cape in position while she posed for the picture so it would look like she was flying. She is so creative!

She received many stuffed animals when she was in the hospital two years ago.

Back to school

School started for us on Tuesday. It was a much easier day for all the kids than last year, when they were the new kids. They had alot of fun catching back up with their friends. It's hard to believe this is Jacob and Katie's last year of elementary school. I watched them go sit in the back of the bus with the other 5th graders, and I remembered how when the kids were younger, the 5th graders seemed so old. And Joseph is in 7th grade! He is running cross country at school, and he loves it. Emma is in 2nd grade, and had made a great new friend, Chloe, who is new this year.

The end of the week

We spent most of Friday swimming at the beach or in the pool at the house. The waves were the biggest they had been all week.

We had our last seafood dinner. Yum!

Katie got in style with Aunt Nancy.

We walked down to the beach at dusk.


Yep, the boys are now taller than Mimi.

Emma put on a show for which she had made a flyer and tickets. The older kids were thrilled to play along...just look how happy they are.



This was most of what the show consisted of.

We had one more day at the beach.

The sunset Friday finally was a good one.

This tiny post office was in use until 1992!

Go karts and a rainy day

Tuesday evening, we went to the go kart track. Overall, it was fun. We did have a few injuries, though. First, on the family track, as the cars were stopped by the employees at the end of the run, Joseph's brakes broke. He slammed into the back of Jacob's car. It rattled Jacob and left him with a nice bruise on his back. Then, on the slick track, Katie, who was barely tall enough to reach the pedals, got pushed around quite a bit. She too got a nasty bruise and a knot on her back. We fixed everything with ice cream afterwards.

Wednesday was a rainy day. We needed a break from the beach anyway. We played Ticket to Ride, Laura's new favorite game, and we worked on a puzzle. Josh and Laura left in the afternoon to head home to work.

more beach and jet skiing

We took advantage of the gorgeous weather on Tuesday, our last full day with Josh and Laura. We went to the beach in the morning and all 9 of us rode jet skis in the afternoon. It was a blast!

Sunset

We went to the sound side of the island to try to watch the sunset on Monday evening. Unfortunately, the sun slipped behind some clouds before setting. But we still had fun and got a few good pictures.

To the beach

Joe arrived a couple of days before we left for the beach. On Sunday, August 9, we headed down for our much-anticipated week at the beach. We made a few stops along the way, picking up some produce, some pamphlets at the visitor's center, and having lunch at Hurrican Mo's, where we had eaten a couple of years ago. They were just gearing up for a huge fishing competition there, and it was neat to check out the deep sea fishing boats.


After Josh and Laura arrived Sunday evening, we walked down to the beach at sunset.


Monday morning, we hit the beach bright and early. Josh fulfilled Tracy's obligation from March Madness, wearing the water wings, while Jacob went empty handed because he won the competition.

Monday night was our first seafood dinner. Crabs, shrimp, and scallops. Yum. We taught Aunt Laura how to pick crabs.