Catching Up

Once again I've let way too much time go in-between posts, so now I have some catching up to do!! But busy is good right?! And in Mason's case, usually no news is good news...  and it also means we've been busy having fun! Even with Mason staying quite immune-suppressed to treat his chronic rejection, he stayed pretty healthy this spring. With the exception of a reoccurring tummy bug that took us to the ER for some Iv fluids for one day, spring has treated Mason well!

May

May is always a crazy month with spring sports, end of the year field trips, school performances,  school projects, Memorial Day and more...

Mason will tell you that his most favorite thing about spring is BASEBALL!! He just loves it!!He played on the Yankee tee-ball team this year and had a lot of fun. During tee-ball season, that was all he could think about! On game day he'd come home from Kindergarten at noon and put his baseball uniform on, cleats and all, even if his game wasn't until 6:30pm! Silly boy!

Usually tee-ball doesn't have a catcher, but somedays Mason's team had one!! He put his gift from Santa this year (the catcher's gear) to good use!

Other days he decided that his team needed another infielder instead of a catcher!

Mason was able to have his heart transplant buddy Matthew on his team again this year. They are both so cute and amazing!!! It is so great to see them do 'normal' little boy things!!

Preston had another fun season of spring lacrosse. Rain or shine (which this year it seemed like most of his games fell on rainy or windy days!) lacrosse is a such an exciting sport to watch! Way to go #15, Preston!

Even after having foot surgery last fall, Preston came back ready to play hard! He played well and had a great Season!

Of course Braiden had lots of baseball games too! His season is just much longer than our other spring sports... He plays from February thru July!

We are certainly glad with his elbow injury that he was diagnosed with in the fall that he was still able to play this spring. It wouldn't have seemed right without his 4+ games a week to add to our crazy schedules!! Braiden went to a lot of physical therapy during the fall and winter for his OCD elbow and it sure paid off!! He still has to be careful how he throws and not to over use it, but he's thrilled to  still be playing! He even was able to pitch every once in awhile, but only for an inning or two. He also didn't play catcher very much in order to let his elbow continue to heal, but he had a fun great season. Go #7 Braiden!!!

Our sweet Ammon was always one of his brothers' biggest fans at all of their games! After a year of soccer (a couple years ago) he decided he enjoyed cheering from the sidelines more than playing. He is Mr. social at all of their games, making new friends, hanging out with old friends, sneaking money from my purse to buy treats for everyone, and just doing what Ammon does best... enjoying life!

I got to go with Ammon to the Hoggle Zoo for his end of the year field trip! We had a fun day together! He really has amazing teachers and very special classmates. I enjoyed getting  to know some of them a little better!

Ammon also performed in the end of the year dance festival at his school. His class danced to the Macrena and they were darling!! I was so proud of Ammon... he knew the whole dance and did awesome!!

Mason's and Braiden's school had a 'Hero' music program at the end of the year. (But, I only got pictures of Mason...Braiden kept hiding from the camera, the stinker!!!)

Mason had such darling and kind kiddos in his class! I enjoyed helping in his class two days a week this year and getting to know all of them. They were all such sweet friends to Mason!

Braiden graduated from 6th grade and is moving on to Jr high (my kids are growing up too fast)! I'm very proud of this boy who works so hard in school and has achieved great things!!

It has been so fun for these cute brothers to go to school together this year. All of Braiden's friends would say hi to Mason when he walked through the halls, which made him feel so cool and important!

I need to give a big shout out to Mason's teacher, Mrs. Eldredge who took such good care of Mason this year! He had a wonderful experience in kindergarten and absolutely loved going to school every day!!

As for Kaitlin, she was just excited to be done with her sophomore year! She studied a lot, got really good grades, made some great new friends, and was very very helpful to me as we would 'divide and conquer' after school getting the boys to sports, scouts, tutors, and more! Thanks KK for all you do!

Memorial Day

We had some fun family time on memorial day... roasting hot dogs and marshmallows in the beautiful American Fork canyon.

Preston and Braiden relaxed for a little while in their hammocks... (Which is the most recent trend these days. The teenagers go"hammocking". What a great way to enjoy our beautiful world!)

We ended the evening by taking flowers to Uncle Hunter's grave. We love and miss you Hunter! (Mark took the picture and Kaitlin had left to meet up with friends for a campfire.)

Thanks for checking up on Mason and our family! We are grateful each and everyday for Mason's heart donor and the gift he was given enabling him to live life to its fullest... and that he truly does!!!

Next to come are posts about our fun summer so far...