Olivia's appendicitis

On Tuesday morning, I got a call from Olivia while I was work. She said he stomach hurt really bad and wasn't sure what to do. I told her to give it a couple of hours and if it still hurt we'd take her to urgent care. Amber was able to get off work a little early and took her to urgent care, where they guessed she had a stomach ulcer and gave her a prescription.

She took the medicine, but by that night it was getting worse to where she was just lying on the floor in pain. Amber took her to the ER where they did a CT scan and found that it wasn't an ulcer (and she wasn't just trying to get out of finding a summer job), she had appendicitis.

They drugged her up and she stayed there that night and all the next day. Hunter was home from college so he stayed with her most of the time. Her surgery finally happened in the late afternoon. Thankfully, it was a success and they removed her appendix before it burst. Unfortunately, she didn't get a chance to ask them to take a picture of it before she was anesthetized.

She was still in quite a bit of pain, but now it was external instead of internal. She stayed Wednesday night too and was released on Thursday. Pepper was glad to have her back.

Carmen's prom

Carmen went to prom with a group of friends and as is customary they had a photo shoot before they headed out for dinner and dancing.

They did a great job unintentionally color coordinating!

Mud Run

In addition to the Zombie Run, the AHS ROTC also sponsored a Mud Run this year. Damon and Miles wanted to do it, so I took them and cheered them on.

It's the same 2-lap 5K course as the Zombie Run, but they made some muddy sections in the woods and also had them do the ROTC obstacles along the way.

Miles was a little too short to go over the taller logs.

Damon was one of the top finishers in his age group, and he made sure to cheer Miles on to the finish.

After the race, we visited some of the vendor booths, then I made them put their muddy stuff in bags and sit on towels for the ride home, where they rinsed off and dried off in the back yard.

Miles's soccer season

Miles signed up to do soccer again this year. This time he got to be back on a team with more of his old teammates, plus some of his school friends that used to be on other teams.

The team was pretty good and won most of their games.

He missed out on several games, either because they got rained out, or because of other activities like Academic UIL and a school trip to Six Flags.

But he still had fun, and he's been getting better and better.

He even tried out for the school team. He didn't make it, but I was proud of him for trying.

Damon's and Miles's track season

Damon transitioned to the track team after cross country, joining the freshman boys team.

He mainly did the 1600m, except for one meet where he did the 3200m. He improved every week and was very happy to hit his goal time by the last meet.

Miles wanted to do track also, but the middle school meets had limits on how many 7th graders could run per school, so he only made it to one meet.

Carmen in Macbeth

Carmen got a role as one of the witches in the Shakespeare group's production of Macbeth.

It's been non-stop rehearsals for the past couple of weeks, but she managed it all, even with her busy school schedule, and made a wonderful witch.

The production was well done, as always. I was asked to take pictures, so I went to one dress rehearsal and two performances, and enjoyed it each time.

Olivia at ERC

After unsuccessful attempts with nutritionists, Olivia's doctors recommended that she go to an inpatient treatment center to deal with her food aversions. We waited for her semester at Lone Star to be finished before taking her this weekend.

The closest option was in Plano, so I drove her up on Sunday night. We checked into a hotel, then stopped by Walmart for some dinner and last-minute supplies.

We got her checked in on Monday morning. She'll stay for a couple of months, then transition to part-time treatment closer to home after that.

Carmen's new cello

Carmen didn't get her real Christmas present until the day after Christmas. We figured now would be a good time for Carmen to have her own cello, so a week before Christmas we went to Lisle to see if we could find a cello to buy using her rental credit.

They had two there, one we did not like and another that was ok. We took the ok one home with us over Christmas so she could test it out while we waited for them to bring in another one they had at a different location. In arrived around Christmas, so we came back the day after Christmas and compared the two.

We all liked the new one better, but we wanted to get a second opinion, so we borrowed it and took it to Carmen's cell teacher's apartment to make sure she approved. She agreed it was a good cello, so we went back, bought the cello, bow, and soft case. Carmen was very happy.

Elf Jr.

Miles auditioned for and got the part of Buddy the Elf in his school's theater production of the musical Elf Jr.

The musical is an adaptation of the movie, where a human is raised as an elf at the North Pole with Santa Claus until he discovers the truth and leaves to find his dad in New York City. Miles did a great job playing the always-happy elf who loves to give hugs.

As the main character he sang and danced in almost every song and even had a love interest.

There were two performances and we went to both and he killed it both nights. On the second night, the Goldrups and DiValls came to support him too.

Miles's soccer season

Miles did Texas Heatwave soccer again this fall. His team was a little different this time.

They didn't win as much as the last team, but they got to the playoffs and Miles had fun.

He also felt a lot more confident, and had some great defensive plays.

Damon's growth

Damon hit his growth spurt and has been growing like a weed this year. With his curly hair, he is now as tall as Amber.

Summer camps

June was fully of camps for our kids. During the second week of June, the girls and boys were at simultaneous Stake Girls Camp and Stake Boys Camp. Amber and I realized that this might be the first time ever that we were at home for several days without any of our kids. It was strange.

During the third week of June, Olivia and Damon went to FSY at Lamar University in Beaumont, and during the fourth week, Carmen went to FSY at the same location. They all seemed to have a good, uplifting time at their respective camps. I don't have any pictures, since I wasn't there, so here is a picture of Pepper in a shoebox.

Olivia's high school graduation

The school year is winding down, but Olivia is already finished. A little bit before graduation there was a celebration of seniors at the church.

Then over the weekend she officially graduated from high school.

She's planning on going to Lone Star, so we'll still have her around for a while.