She's six!!

Happy Birthday Faith!!

Happy Birthday!!

Falyns cake. Which ALMOST did not get finished!! I had to make it
twice bc the first one stuck to the pan. This one was done and
decorated in about 20 minutes!!! Talk about stressed out!!!

Aunt Jenn is the best!

She helped them get all messy using uncle BJs shaving cream on her
counter! They loved it and they especially loved playing "Jenns
Diner"!!

Isn't she beautiful?!?!

Faith & Brylee

We finally got to meet my niece Brylee and had a lot of fun getting to
know her!

Playing catch up!!!

Lots of photos to follow!!

From our trip to Houston. Here are the girls enjoying the pool at
Uncle BJs & Aunts Jenns neighborhood!

And then there's today in "middle of nothing" TX

Even got to see a full double rainbow in NM.

Even tho it's super hot there, I will give them their scenery.

> Road trip home!! Once we were out of CA I remembered why I love San
> Diego much. This was the temp I. Yuma, AZ. Hoooot!!
>

Read it.....

That's all I have to say...it's something that I NEVER thought that I would even bother or care to read or "get into"....but I am SO hooked!! Read it....you will understand! I read the whole 4 book series in 6 days, watched the movie a dozen times, and am now "patiently" waiting for New Moon to come out!!

Read it!

Memorial Day 2009

We had a lot of fun at our BBQ! Lots of friends (old & new) came and we had lots of good food and fun! The kids had a blast on the triple row slip & slide, until it broke somehow....but the sprinkler did the trick!

This was Justin's "last hurrah" before he left. :)

Photo catch up!

A few weekends ago we went to "Military Appreciation Day" at the Barona Race Track. It was HOT, HOT but it was a lot of fun!!

Here we go again.....

...and if you can stand to hear my girls breaking down....here's a little video.

My little euntrapanuers!!

We participated in what has been labeled Lemonade Day www.lemonadeday.org
in Houston and brought it with us to San Diego. They decided that
they would donate their sales to the San Diego Food Bank. :). So proud!!

It's official....

I have hesitated on posting this. It's hard being on this end of it...you look over you life of the past 8 years and you wonder where did you go wrong? Is it my fault? Could I have prevented it? As a parent, and especially as a mother...I can't help but feel somewhat responsible. Like it's all my fault, I should have been able to fix it. Right? The clear answer...no. It's hereditary, and due to other contributing factors, almost inevitable. One uncle on each side has it as well.

Falyn has been diagnosed with AD/HD. How did we determine this? Plain and simple....She's failing the 3rd grade. We knew at the end of the 1st semester that she was struggling, and we took action to do what we could to prevent it, but despite our efforts, she continued to decline.

Here is an excerpt from an information organization her Dr sent us to...and you'll see...almost inevitable.

In instances where heredity does not seem to be a factor, difficulties during pregnancy, prenatal exposure to alcohol and tobacco, premature delivery, significantly low birth weight, excessively high body lead levels, and postnatal injury to the pre-frontal regions of the brain have all been found to contribute to the risk for AD/HD to varying degrees.

Despite all of that....this is the part that makes Justin and me go "huh?" She was tested for the GATE program (was also tested at the beginning of the year) and scored in the top 98%...yet will repeat the 3rd grade! We've always known she was brilliant, and I mean that whole-heartily...she's SO intelligent! She'll knock your socks off....she just can't stay focused long enough to prove it when it counts, like testing. :(

So, just keep her in your prayers (heck, all of us!)...this will be a lifelong journey, full of frustrations and aggravations, as well as I am sure, plenty of elation. It will be a long road.