Tonsil-less

Thursday was the big day for Karen to get her tonsils out. She was one of the first on the schedule for the day which means we had to be there by 6:45, which means a really early wake up time. Karen had been really nervous the whole week telling me that she was scared to get her tonsils out. We tried to reassure her and explain everything that would happen, but this only comforted her a little. She was most worried about how bad it would hurt afterwards, and the promise of ice cream after the surgery didn't give much more comfort.

When we got there they were really cute with her and she looked darling in her child size hospital gown that didn't even come to her knees. Good thing there were blankets to cover those long little legs. Here is a before picture.She was really brave about everything until they got this syringe out. They needed to put some drops up her nose to cause relaxation and amnesia so she wouldn't remember the ordeal. Little did they know that the syringe would be an ordeal for her. She got so scared and we had to hold her down to let them do it. After they got the drops in, I held her in my arms and tried to calm her down. It was amazing, we could tell exactly when the medicine started to work because she all of a sudden she stopped crying and her eyes were so droopy she could hardly keep them open.

The operation itself was really fast. About a half hour after they wheeled her away they called us back for a consultation with the doctor. He said that everything went perfectly. As he removed her tonsils they just oozed with infection and because of this he believes that her enlarged tonsils were probably caused by chronic tonsillitis. They sent the tonsils to the pathologist to make sure, but that's what he thinks she's been suffering from. Totally surprised us since she has never seemed to have symptoms of tonsillitis, but what do we know.

She's really been a trooper and been really good about eating and drinking the soft foods we are allowed to give her. We've been very surprised and pleased with how hungry she's been and how much she has eaten since her surgery. About every two hours she's been asking for more food. They told us we can't give her any dairy for 2 days so her options are limited, but she loves chicken noodle soup, chicken and stars soup, popsicles, punch, juice, and eggs. She's also loved being waited on hand and foot and being able to get everyone to get things and do things for her. Our beautiful princess. Here is a picture after surgery. Does she look different with her tonsils out? (j/k)
We love our sweet little girl and pray that this will help her in many aspects of her health. We also appreciate all the concern and prayers offered on her behalf by so many of our friends and family. Thanks.

Back to School

My kids are both in elementary school now. Karen started 2nd grade last week and Michael started Kindergarten today. Wow they grow up fast. Michael is very excited to be a big boy in Kindergarten. Today we were able to go with him for the first half hour and then we had to leave him there. When we said goodbye, he said "I won't miss you mom". So much better than screaming and crying and saying "don't go mom" like he did last year at preschool. And even though he won't miss me, I will most definitely miss him. Here are a couple pics from today.
Karen loves 2nd grade. She only has a couple kids that she knows from last year because they switched tracks on us and we now have B track. But she's very friendly so I wasn't worried about her making new friends. She came home the first day with stories about her new best friend in her class and how she got to see all her old friends at lunch and recess. She's very excited about doing here homework this year because some of it is on the computer. She gets to play math games online for her math homework. Here are a couple pics from her first day.

Testimony

Karen is my sweet, sensitive little girl. Since she turned 7 she has been getting more and more excited to be baptized and we have been talking to her more about Jesus and the gospel so that she can understand more what being baptized means. She has such a sweet spirit, she loves church and she loves learning all the scripture stories.

Yesterday was fast Sunday and therefore testimony meeting. Our stake has asked that children should only get up to say there testimony if they can do it themselves because they want it to be their testimony and not mommy or daddy's testimony. We've talked with our children about that and Karen has been too shy to get up by herself until yesterday. She leaned over to me and said, "Mom, I want to bear my testimony." I quietly reminded her that she needed to do it herself and she looked unsure, so I told her we could write it down and then she could just read it when she got up there. I got out a paper and she told me what she wanted to say and I wrote it down on the paper for her. It was short and sweet and to the point. She was so excited and went up to the stand. She did a wonderful job. She came back down and sat next to me and she told me she felt really good and happy and knew it was the Spirit.

It made me feel the Spirit too. I'm so pleased that my little girl is growing in the gospel. What a precious gift children are to us. I'm proud of you Karen.

June

June is always a busy month for us, but it also bring us a lot of fun too. Early this month Michael graduated from preschool! We are so proud of him for all he has learned this year, especially to sit still for more than a couple of seconds. He's also learned all his numbers, letters and is now reading. Thanks to his wonderful teacher Miss Angie, he has also learned his numbers in Spanish and all his colors in Spanish too. She had a darling graduation program and we are grateful to her for all she taught our boy.Michael had an early birthday party so his school friends could come. We had uncle Anthony come and do a magic show for us which everyone loved especially Michael.
Mom did face painting and cousin Jeremy made balloon animals for everyone.
And everyone enjoyed the goodies.Here is a picture of the girl Michael wants to marry when he grows up. She's so sweet. Unfortunately they will be going to different schools in the fall so Michael will have to find a new sweetheart.We celebrated on Michael's real birthday too and I'll post about that later.

Karen turned 7

Karen is so excited to be 7, and can you guess why? It's closer to 8 and getting baptized. Lately that is all she can talk about. She is so excited to get baptized and can hardly wait. Every time she takes a bath, she practices putting her face under the water to practice for getting baptized. It's so cute. It also reminds me that I need to make sure she gets taught the things she needs to so that she can make such a grown up decision.

But right now we just enjoyed celebrating her birthday. The Friday before her birthday we invited several of her friends to come to a party.

We had face painting done by me...then we taught the kids to play red rover...
we also decorated butterflies....

played pin the tail on the monkey....and smashed our homemade butterfly pinata (created by me too).

Presents and rice crispie cupcakes (rice crispie treats in the shape of cupcakes because Karen doesn't like cake) ended the party with great success. We had a lot of fun and Karen was thrilled with the way everything turned out.

On her actual birthday we took her to dinner at the new McDonalds by our house. The play area was the best part of dinner for her and Michael.Afterward we had an actual birthday cake, though Karen only had ice cream and the last of her presents. Her grandma and grandpa came along with a few cousins. It was fun. Happy birthday my darling girl.
A few facts about Karen at age 7: favorite color - pink (currently), favorite animal - cat, favorite food - pizza, very good at math, loves reading, has lots and lots of friends.