Travels, All-Stars, and Medical fun

I'm experiencing a strange sensation today. Brett left yesterday to head to Missouri to spend the weekend with his grandparents. I'm excited for him to get to spend some time with them, and yet it's a strange feeling to not have him around for the 4th of July holiday. The kids and I will have a great weekend, though, and I'm sure Brett will also.

Kindra made the Major Girls Softball All-Star team. Their first game is on July 4. Can't get any more American than playing ball on the 4th of July, unless we eat some apple pie during the game, right? She is excited to play. She is playing Center Field, and is great at catching pop flies, and has a pretty good arm to get the ball back in quickly. They have games on July 4, 5, 6, & 7. The top 4 teams then play in the semi-finals on July 8. The final game is on July 9.

Brenlon made the Babe Ruth 15 yr old All-Star team. He plays pitcher and 2nd Base. He has 2 games on July 9, one game on July 10, and one on July 11. The semi-finals and final game are on July 12. Brenlon is a great ball player, and is having a great time.

We've also had a bit of fun balancing medical appointments with their All-Star practices, as well as beginning soccer practice for the other 4 kids. Talk about a busy summer. Kindra had a mole removed from her temple on June 23. We went to a plastic surgeon in Boise to have it removed. Our doctor here didn't like the looks of it, as it looked like it could be pre-cancerous. She got her stitches out (6 of them) on June 29 (happy birthday to me). At that appointment I talked to our doctor about some chest pains Kindra has been having. He thought it was probably just sports-related asthma, but wanted to have an echocardiogram done just to be safe, as she had a hole in her heart as a baby. We woke up this morning to head to her echo, and 1/2 of Kierra's face was all swelled up. She told me yesterday that her lip hurt, but I didn't see anything wrong with it. This morning, however, it was pretty obvious that she has a tooth that has absessed. She was in quite a bit of pain. After an emergency call to the Dentist's after-hours hot-line, we headed into LaGrande, hoping he would call us back soon. Long story short, Kindra's echo went really well. She has slight leaks in 2 of her valves, but we were told that is quite common. He didn't see any holes or abnormalities, or anything that would be causing her pains. Whew!!! Kierra is now on an antibiotic to get the swelling down, and will have her baby tooth pulled on Monday. Hopefully that will take care of the problem, and the permanent tooth will be okay.

As I sat in the room during Kinni's echo, trying to help her not panic and trying to keep Kikki calm and pain free, I felt such peace and calm. I'm so grateful for the gospel in my life. I have those moments in my life when I think (just as that sweet sister in General Conference did): I can do hard things!!!