Challenges....

  There has been a lot going on here that I have not written about. Sometimes, some things are just too painful to share with the big wide world until after I can process them accordingly. Ashley has a thyroid disease that was diagnosed at the age of 8 years old. It is hereditary and requires that she get supplemental thyroid hormone every day. Unfortunately, as she moved around and switched doctors, they failed to increase the amount of hormone as she grew. The result was that her thyroid gland became enlarged and nodular and she had symptoms of low thyroid hormone like hair loss, lethargy, dry skin, apathy, and depression. We finally found a doctor at Texas Children's in Dallas (Hey Dr. Lopez!) that understood and began to treat her in the right way. That meant slowly increasing the amount of supplemental hormone until she felt great but did not have too much in her system.
  In the meantime, they decided to biopsy her thyroid to get a closer look at the thyroid tissue. On the first biopsy it came back as 'multi-nuclear neoplasia' but inconclusive. This is BAD. Very scary. We had to wait several months before we could biopsy again. All the time we worried about CANCER, thinking about her aunt (my sister) who had thyroid cancer.
  Just a week ago she went in for the re-test. The doctor took a very close look at her thyroid with ultrasound. Good news! The nodules are gone and the only odd area is a heterogenous area due to long term inflammation from her condition. This is the best news ever. They will keep a close eye on her. Ultrasounds several times a year and a lot of follow up.

We are so relieved. So happy. So thankful!!!!!!

Life here...

While we were getting ready for church one Sunday, as I went to help Seth on with his shoes and socks, this is what I found.....

Filthy feet! 

He had snuck out of the house and run around in the yard bare-footed. 

Oh man.....

The boys made a special shirt for Daddy for Father's Day

Chris helping me make decorations for Levi's Birthday party

I love this man soooo much!

 Passive-Aggressive RAD behavior.

Look Mommy, I can dress myself! I am so big. Aren't you proud of me?

But he had pulled all of the clothes off the racks and walked on them, making a huge mess. 

Proud? Not so much.....

The answer

Levi's knees!  He was holding the camera in his lap and accidentally shot a picture. I had no idea he was so hairy!!

Guessing Game

Today I took a few minutes to download the most recent photos off of my camera. When looking at them I discovered this picture. 

And had to scratch my head. 

And try not to get mad.

And figure it out.

Do you know what it is? 

I was able to figure out WHO took the picture and then find out WHAT this is a picture of. I will tell you all later, after you scratch your heads and try not to get mad......and it is NOT what I (or you) thought it was at first glance.