living the GOOD life

Lake Michigan

We took the kids up to Michigan City, IN for a stay at a "real" beach.

It was everything we hoped it would be. Perfect sand, blue water, and perfect kid sized waves.

 

Emily was quite disappointed that she didn't find any real shells. She did enjoy searching for fish, and loved playing in the sand. 

Daniel LOVED the waves. The first day had the best waves, and he spent almost the whole day in the water. He was fearless.

 

Jake followed Daniel into the water as much as possible. He LOVED it. He and I had fun making race tracks in the sand for his cars.

 

Ben finally learned the wisdom in letting us hold him in the water. He loved every minute at the beach, and laughed uncontrollably when we took him in the waves. He even took a nap on the beach every day.

On the way home, I looked into the backseat, and saw this:

 

It was a really, really good trip.

This is what it looks like to live in the moment

Health Update

    I kind of forgot that a lot of people were waiting for an update on Mayo! Sorry about that, but I had two mid-terms and a paper due this week, so you could say I've been a little busy.

    Our trip to Florida was wonderful. We stayed with an amazing lady, Claudette, in her beautiful condo right on Jacksonville Beach. We made a trip to St. Augustine, went to a couple of movies, and spent a LOT of time on the beach. Kevin loved looking for shells, and so I played in the waves by myself :)

 

 

 

    In between all that fun, Kev had appointments. He had an EMG, blood work, a swallow test, an MRI and a muscle biopsy done. The blood work, EMG and swallow test were all within normal ranges. The muscle biopsy results haven't come back yet. The MRI showed signs of dislocation and tearing.

    The doctor that we met with feels that we should be looking at Mitochondrial disorders rather than muscular dystrophy. The muscle biopsy will be able to test for some of those.

    In the end, we still don't have any answers. Still waiting. However, we were informed for the millionth time what a great doctor Dr. Pascuzzi is. He will be scheduling additional MRI's and will be coordinating with Kev's doctor at Mayo.

    Overall, I was very impressed with Mayo. I wish we could have stayed longer, because they wanted Kev to see a shoulder specialist at the very least. Maybe we will just have to make another trip to Florida. Oh darn.

    Kevin is doing okay. His work schedule is great, and he is able to rest when he needs to. His pain continues to increase, but he hasn't really lost any more function. So he can still do what he could a few months ago, it just hurts more to do it.

  

Sunrise on the beach

Chicago

Kevin is HOME. His verdict on Chicago: gross pizza, horrible traffic, and he wasn't too fond of the rest. HOWEVER, the Bulls game was awesome (even if it was a blowout) and the Chicago Temple was beautiful. And he did find some good food, and learned a ton that he now has to implement in his store. 

All I know is, I am SO SO SO SO glad to have him home!!!