Spring

Wow, it is Spring 2023. Our lives are busy and full of activities, but the kids are thriving. We just returned from a fabulous vacation ~ we finally took our cruise to Mexico after the one at Christmas was cancelled. It was awesome family time, and I will cherish the memories.

Taylor is doing fantastic. It feels like I have my daughter back after a really, really rough year battling an eating disorder. She finally regained her period while we were on our annual ski trip in February. We both cried happy tears. On the flip side, her acne is out of control and is causing her a lot of anxiety. I've started taking her to an esthetician in hopes that we can clear up her skin. The last thing I want for a recovering anorexic is for her self-confidence/self-esteem to be low due to the way she looks. Taylor is thriving at school. She still has straight As and loves being in student leadership. She is gearing up for high school: we have already chosen her classes for 9th grade, she is planning to run for a class officer position, and she is trying out for the drill team in a couple of weeks. She hit a small roadblock this winter when she tried out for the school play and got a small role. She hated the role and immediately wished she'd interviewed to be the stage manager again. She went to several rehearsals but came home upset night after night. When she revealed to me that being at the rehearsals "took her back" to the dark place she was last year during the play, I gave her permission to quit. Thankfully, the director was 100% understanding and Taylor felt good about the decision. Taylor and her jazz group have competed in three dance competitions, placing 1st, 4th, and 8th. She LOVES dancing. She is also setting up a 2nd meeting with the District Director of Teaching and Learning to continue her mission to make positive changes to the health curriculum. I continue to receive compliments from friends and neighbors about what a lovely young lady Taylor has become. I am so proud of her!

Thunderstruck Dance Competition - 4th Place

Energy NDC - 8th Place, High Gold Adjudication, and Judges "Stand Out" Award

Matty has figured out middle school life and loves being with his friends. He asks me every Friday after school if he can go down to his friends' houses in the Ridgewood neighborhood. Weather permitting, he'll ride his bike down there and hang out for hours. I usually end up driving down around 9:00 to make him come home (he ALWAYS asks if he can have a sleepover with someone down there; we say yes about 40% of the time). His girlfriend Jojo broke up with him after mid-winter break. I read her text message to him, telling him that she did not want to be in a relationship anymore. Matty's reply was "OK." He is a man of few words. :) Matty's JV basketball team did not win a single game this season, but he had fun and I believe it re-invigorated his desire to play Select basketball next year. Unlike Taylor, Matty struggles a bit at school and has to work really hard. He absolutely despises Advanced Language Arts. In his last report card, he had three As and three Bs. Baseball season is in full swing now. He is playing Little League for the last year; Coach Tommy is coaching for his last season. The Liberty Select baseball team has played in three tournaments already. The team is struggling (they lost every game at a tournament in Arizona in March to some really BIG boys) but I am hopeful they'll find their stride and have a great season. Their next tournament is in two weeks in Oregon.

Blaine and Matty with Blake, after playing against each other in middle school basketball

Mimi and Baba came to cheer on Matty at the Arizona baseball tournament

Brayden continues to be the best trooper as he battles CKD. He takes meds every morning and every evening. We go in for bloodwork a couple of times a month, and we meet with his nephrologist every quarter now. At his last appointment, we discussed the possibility that Brayden may not need a transplant until he is over 18!!! He is beating the odds, and his recovery continues to amaze his doctors. They had expected his kidney function to level out by now or maybe even start declining, but with each passing month, his creatinine slooooowly increases. As of 3/30 his creatinine was 1.2. We remain cautiously optimistic and feel grateful that Brayden generally feels like a normal 10-year old. He has become more social this year. He has a group of friends that he plays with after school on Wednesdays (since they have early dismissal at 1:30 on Wednesdays), and he will go out and adventure around the neighborhood more and more. He recently finished two back-to-back seasons of indoor soccer. His team won their division both seasons, so B felt pretty accomplished. He is still immature for his age, but his innocence and childlike excitement about things make me smile. He loves playing a flight simulator game on his iPad, and he is still fascinated by weather. We recently watched a high school track meet together while we were waiting on Taylor at a dance competition, and I think it piqued his interest in track. We need to get him back into shape, but maybe we'll make an athlete out of him after all? If not, my prayer is that he finds something to get involved in. Whether that is track or robotics, I don't care!

Indoor soccer party, complete with trophies for two outstanding seasons

Tommy and I continue powering through it all. We are aware of how quickly our kiddos are growing up. Time is slipping through our fingers! We are looking forward to a fun summer. All three kids need it after the summer we had last year.

Daddy and his kiddos on his 45th birthday