Spring & Summer Flashback

I'm sorry it has taken me soooo long to get this post done, but I hope you enjoy it. It is full of pictures of Mason and our family from May through August of this year.

Spring always keeps us busy watching sports.....

(with a few camps and tournaments during the summer).

Lacrosse

Preston (11)

In the fall of 2011 Preston (11) switched from baseball to

Lacrosse and he has truly excelled in it! It is a fun

sport to watch and his team to second in the spring Gull

(Greater Utah Lacrosse League) 2012 Championship.

Baseball

Braiden (9)

(Braiden and cousin Peter)

Braiden (9) continues to play baseball. In fact he is very

passionate about it! He is an amazing catcher and 

pitcher. His team has a one a few tournaments!

He also gets to play with 2 of his cousins who are 

on his super league team with him, Ben and Peter.

,

(cousin Peter, cousin Ben, and Braiden)

 Let me just tell you, Mason absolutely loves

going to all of his big brother's games! He is

always their biggest and most loyal fan. 

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In June we spent a Friday night at the Hoggle Zoo

with the whole family and many of our heart friends.

Ammon (7) loved the zoo!

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In June the kids spent a week with all of their Strickland

cousins (41 in all). They played hard, canoed, swam,

rode a zip line, played volleyball, and much much more!

(cousin Nicole, cousin Brooke, cousin Chloe, and Kaitlin)

One night of the cousins camp all of the adults played 

"Amazing Race" with the kids! Mason and I were on the 

red team. We didn't win, but had a lot of fun!

Lots and lots of swimming

(Mason and cousin Joseph) 

Mason enjoyed finally being healthy enough

to play with all his cousins! He was definitely

one very tired boy after cousins camp was over.

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Our Southern California beach trip in July....

We enjoyed the beach for 6 straight days!

Mark and Mason

Mason

Ammon

Preston

Braiden

Best little buddies 

(that fight for Mommy's attention all day)

Ammon and Mason

Preston

Braiden

(cousin Coco, Kaitlin, Mason, me)

Ready for another day at the beach (Salt Creek)

Kaitlin

(Kaitlin & Mark)

I even got to catch up with two of my good friends

 from elementary school through high school,

Kim and Traci. It was so much fun to see them

and their darling families!

(Mark, me, Ammon, Mason, and Kaitlin)

 Mason

loved

the beach!

Good bye Cali! Thanks for the great time!

We will be back again next year.

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July 27 Mason was invited to participate as 1 of 7 children
representing Primary Children's Medical Center at the
annual fundraiser golf tournament put on by Smith's 
Marketplace. Mason and the other 6 kiddos got to play
in a little putting contest. Each child was accompanied by
a corporate employee of Smiths or Kroger Foods. 

What a great event it was to be a part of!

And to top it off, each of the 7 children won 

 their very own ipad3 just for participating!

Thank you Smiths Marketplace!!!

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In between all the summertime fun, Mason continued
to have frequents visits to Primary Children's for
cardiology/transplant clinics, back doctor check ups, 
and hematology visits for his monthly IVIg treatments .

Mason usually sleeps through at least part

of his several hour long IVIg infusions.

 He continues to receive IVIg for treatment to get rid of the Parvo Virus which invaded his little body last December. It was of killing off his red blood cells and the production of new ones. His last labs 10 days ago showed that his body is now making plenty of red blood cells and maintaining them (his hematocrit was 41.... amazingly high for Mason). But, the bad news is that the Parvo virus is STILL detected in Mason's blood. So hematology will up his IVIg dose and he will continue to get monthly treatments until the Parvo is no longer detected.

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At the end of every fun Summer Vacation there

comes "back to school"......which will be my next

family happenings catch up post. And hopefully

I'll get this next one done sooner than later! 

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*** MONDAY OCTOBER 8 MASON'S GOES IN FOR HIS FIRST EXTENSION SURGERY ON THE RODS IN HIS BACK. The doctor says it is a minor surgery and for normal healthy kids it is a same-day surgery, but for Mason it will always be an overnight stay in the hospital. I will plan for a multiple night stay, because we all know our Mason and his 'curve balls' or 'speed bumps', but we will HOPE for just one night stay. I will update sometime on Monday.

HUGS TO ALL AND HAPPY FALL!