Oh my….I have been away from this blog for over a month!  July has always been a busy month for us, and this year proves to follow suit.  We are now twelve days away from the start of a new school year which seems impossible as summer cannot already be saying farewell!

Brad:  Our oldest is entering his senior year of high school.  It sounds like a cliché to say I do not know how this is possible, but it is true, and here we are.  I am very excited for him, and all the changes this year will bring.  He just finished three weeks of football camps and has changed positions from center and guard to fullback.  He is still punting and will continue in that role this fall.  I absolutely love high school football and will be so sad to see this season end, but considering we have not even had our first game, I cannot allow my mind to go there.  Instead I will just enjoy the season, one game at a time.  Brad just bought a car and his sister is getting his old car; he picks it up on Monday and is very excited.  Otherwise finishing his senior pictures and his application for National Honor Society are on his radar before school starts.

Sidney:  She has been a social butterfly this summer and has made some amazing, strong friendships.  God has blessed her with a couple very close friends who she is with all the time.  She is actively counting down the days until she turns sixteen (two months to go) and has enjoyed three volleyball camps this summer.  Sidney has a new boyfriend who we love and has developed a close, mentoring relationship with Taylor, Ryan’s respite worker.  She is enjoying the blessing of relationships and making memories which is so important at her age; it is fun to watch.  Sidney is looking forward to finding a job in the next couple of months and is simply growing up so fast.  Fall volleyball will be here before we know it and with practice, games, homework and friends, she will be a very busy girl.

Trevor: He is looking forward to Zoo School this fall as he enters high school (the district’s science focus program) which is located at the Lincoln Zoo, hence the name.  He will go to the regular high school for his first three periods then switch to Zoo School for the rest of the day.  I am excited to see how he likes it, and everyone who has attended that I know of has absolutely loved the program.  He had a very busy month with our vacation to Utah then FCA camp followed by a trip to grandpa’s lake house then a church trip to Colorado and the next day he left for leadership camp with our high school’s student council.  I could hardly keep track of his schedule, and it seems like he was never home in July, but he has been having a  fun summer with friends and all his activities.  He is now busy with student council meetings (and friends of course) and is about to enter his freshman year.  I know he is really excited to finally have junior high behind him (isn’t everyone?).

Ryan:  Ryan’s summer has been just fine.  He sleeps and plays and goes to therapy twice a week which is enough for him.  His heath has been pretty good with an occasional infection around one of his tubes, but otherwise things could be a lot worse.  His myoclonic jerk seizures are getting a lot more severe, but there really is not much we can do about those anymore since we have tried every drug available.  Right now we are fighting our health insurance as they suddenly dropped one of his seizure mediations saying he does not need it anymore.  Travis has spent more time than either of us cares to admit fighting with insurance and keeping up with the doctor’s office who is trying to help.  I do not understand how an insurance company can just drop a patient’s medication which could have terrible results to Ryan’s health.  It is costing us $42 each day to keep him on the drug which is adding up fast, and we simply cannot spend all this money on drugs insurance should be covering.  It is so frustrating, and we feel helpless.  I finally called the manufacturer this evening and left a message asking for their help which may or may not be effective, plus Travis wrote a letter to the governor’s office.  I hate how insurance runs our lives in a sense, and that is as soapbox I will stay off of!

Travis:  He is doing great.  This summer he has been able to pick up some extra hours at work with Sidney home to babysit (she likes the money).  Travis went to Colorado with both of the boys and had a great time camping and spending time with the kids and their friends.  Our lives revolve around the kids right now so there is not a lot going on with Travis otherwise. He will be very busy once school starts running the kids around, making sure they eat and stay organized and doing everything a stay at home dad does which for him is a whole lot.

Me:  I am still enjoying my job with Medicaid and recently accepted a new position as the administrator over my unit.  I supervise twelve employees, and it is a great unit to work with.  The transition has been good, but I did tell Travis the other day I feel like it is baptism by fire with some of the difficult situations I am facing right out of the gate.  It is a challenge but I really do love it.  I was able to go to Boston this week for four days to attend a conference.  There were five of us from Nebraska, and we had a good time.  Sightseeing in downtown Boston was a lot of fun, but it always nice to come home.  I am just excited for football and volleyball to start and know what a busy fall we will have.

Life just keeps marching on and does not slow down at all.  The Lord has absolutely blessed our family with lots of laughter and fun together, and I am so grateful for the joy each one of my kids adds to my life.  I know these years will slip by so very fast, but for today I will not forget to give thanks for all the good because there is so much of it.  Even when things look bleak and life seems harder than I would prefer, there is always so much to be thankful for.  My focus definitely determines the course of my day as my attitude really guides my perspective.  I think we can all agree that is true for each one of us.  Many blessings to you all; you are loved!

Kim