still a great one

I was recently reading another blog I regularly check in on, and the title of this particular post, "selective editing" caught my attention. What I read in her blog has stayed with me and I have thought about it over and over. She was talking about all the "perfect life" blogs, and how these blogs are filled with smiles and bliss, and it makes you wonder if you are the only person in the world with problems. To quote her, "It's easier to show the happy and sunshine, and I think that's the stuff most people want to see, but I know sometimes it's comforting to be reminded we are all editing. we bloggers select what you see and read and what you don't." Like I said before, this has stayed with me because I have been thinking about this very thing for a long time.

It easier, and honestly a lot more fun, to write about all the good things going on in life--I mean, look at the title at the top of my blog, GOOD TIMES--isn't that what it's all about?! I love to take pictures. I love my husband, my boys, my family, and my life. But sometimes life throws curve balls at you that you don't expect, and those are the hard things to write about. Today I'm changing that.

I love writing this blog, but I have been selectively editing for a long time now. With everything that has happened lately, I think it's time we share what has been going on behind our "perfect life." Don't get me wrong, though, because we do have a great life, but we also have our challenges.

It was almost exactly a year ago when we met with Will's Nursery 3 preschool teacher, the school psychologist, and the school principal, to discuss what they felt was going on with Will. Without going into all the details, it was a mutual decision that Will needed to find a school that would better fit him because he was such a challenge. He couldn't sit still for longer than a minute, if that, and basically one teacher--of the three he had that year--was assigned to constantly supervise Will. Jake was also somewhat of a challenge in this situation, because they were in the same class. Jake was doing what he could to "help" Will, but bless his heart, it was really only hurting Will when Jake would answer for Will and do everything for him. It was then we decided that they will probably never be able to be in the same class again. Needless to say, the situation was a lot more dire than either of us expected.

We spent the summer trying to figure out what to do with Will. We saw a pediatrician up at the University of Utah last July. Then we were scrambling around trying to figure out what preschool to send him to. Fortune, good luck, or whatever you want to call it, was on our side as we managed to get a place for him at the Newcastle School in Draper (aka: the "apple school"), with the most incredible teacher, Miss Jeri. I can't even beging to describe what an amazing teacher and friend she has been to Will. For the first month and a half Will was at school, either Daren or I was there with him the whole time, to help him (and Miss Jeri). After that we were phased out, but we kept close tabs on what was going on. Jeri told us time and again that someone like Will would be so easy to let slip through the cracks and brush off thinking that another teacher could take care of this problem child another year, but she wasn't going to let that happen. We knew that she genuinely cared and was invested in what happened with Will. She has worked so hard to get him where he is now. He started almost a year behind where the rest of the class was (did I mention there were 11 other boys in his class?! And they are all so cute!), and he has managed to do some catching up, but still he is behind. After months and months of work, he still could barely sit still, and all this was hurting his ability to learn and grow as a student.

In the meantime, throughout this school year we have done all kinds of different testing with him, including the Children's Center at the U of U, all kinds of tests with the Jordan School District, and finally meeting with a neuropsychologist. Jeri, and Kathleen (she and her husband own the Newcastle School), were so helpful in encouraging us to get with the school district, and have been so encouraging all year long, and we are so grateful for them. After several tests with the school district, it was determined that Will qualified for the preschool they offer for kids with learning difficulties, or special needs. He started that class after we got back from spring break in California. So, at this point, I had 2 preschoolers in three different schools!! I was going a little crazy, to say the least. And I have to say that we wouldn't be where we are today without the help of Daren. He has been at almost every appointment we've had and has been incredible throughout all of this. He can really articulate well the struggles Will has (and it's not only at school, but at home too)--and he has a better memory than I do. He has been a real support and help to me and Will, and I love him so much.

Short story long, Will was diagnosed by the neuropsychologist to have ADHD, and after meeting with the school psychologist at Riverton Elementary (who also has ADHD) and our pediatrician, we decided to try medication for Will. Even after I got the prescription, it still took me a week to finally decide to try the medicine on him (once again, Jeri was very helpful in talking me through it all). I was very hesitant about it--are you kidding me, giving pills to my newly-turned 5-year old? He's only 5!! From the beginnning of this whole process, I had a few people basically say that they thought we were crazy for worrying about a 4-year old, and that he would grow out of it. But recently all the teachers and doctors we have met with have said how amazed and glad they are that we were so dedicated to helping Will, because so many kids aren't even diagnosed until the 2nd or 3rd grade when it has become a huge problem. The more I have thought about it too, I feel that if it weren't for Will being a twin, we may not have figured it out for a long time. Jake is so far ahead where Will is, and as that difference grew more and more, I knew something wasn't quite right. We do feel blessed to have found out what it is at an early age.

Dang, I keep getting side-tracked!! So our crazy schedule looked like this for the past month and a half: Ben to school everyday on the bus at 7:30am. Pick up at bus stop at 3:45pm. Jake on the bus with Ben at 7:30am MWF. Pick up at school at 10:45am. No school T/TH. Drive Will to the "apple school" at 9am MWF. Pick up MW at 12:30 because he took his lunch and ate it there before his computer class from 12-12:30. Pick up Fridays at 11:30am. T/TH bus picks up Will at. our. house. (!) at 8:25am to take to the "new school" and bus drops him off at. our. house. at 11:10am. And in the middle of all this craziness, let's start Will on some new medication!

Well, we did and we have kept a close watch on it. The medicine only works for 4 hours, basically the time he is away from us at school, so we haven't really seen much of a change here at home. However, it's a completely different story at school--the change Jeri saw at school from March until now has been staggering. He can sit, listen, and focus on what is going on. He doesn't have to be guided by her in everything that he does and can finish a task he starts. Even though I haven't seen it in action, I am still in shock at the transformation he has gone through. In Jeri's own words, "Will had a great day. His willingness to try and complete activities today was outstanding. Cheerful and fun personality--good Friday. p.s. Each center change was about 15 minutes and he stayed!" And that was written on only the 3rd day he was on medication! All seemed to be going well, but...

About 3 weeks ago we met with the "new school" teacher, who was developing an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for Will. She shared with us that she felt Will wasn't getting the full benefit of the class because he was only there part of the time, and that she really felt he needed to be there every day they had class, Mondays through Thursdays. At this point I didn't think there would be much that could really surprise me anymore, but this one really shook me up. How could we give up Miss Jeri at this point, when she has worked so hard and had such a close relationship with Will?

Shortly after that meeting Will went off-track (year-round school) for two weeks from the "new school," and we arranged a meeting with Jeri and Kathleen (not to be confused with his "new school" teacher, also named Kathleen! Poor kid trying to keep this all straight!!). We went in to the meeting prepared to keep things as-is. After all, there were only a few weeks left of school at Newcastle and Will had been with this class all year, but we wanted Jeri and Kathleen's input because we really valued what they thought. Jeri and "new school" Kathleen had talked before about Will, so Jeri had some clue what was going on. As the four of us were talking that day, it became apparent that as much as they love Will and for selfish reason would love to keep him there, that they felt the resources the district had to offer was too good for Will to pass up. I appreciate that they had his interest as a student in mind, but still it wasn't any easier realizing we were going to have to say goodby to this school and Miss Jeri, who we have grown to love so much. By the end of the meeting we were all in tears.

However, Will still had a few days of class to attend because the other school was off-track. I saw her several times during this time, and she said this was not easy on her at all--it wasn't on me either because every time she said that I had to hold back the tears again!! On his final day last week, he took in a little treat for the rest of the boys in his class, and he wanted to give Miss Jeri a plant. When I came to pick him up I wanted to get a picture of him with Jeri, Kathleen, and Lisa (his computer teacher), but realized I forgot an SD card for my camera! Duh!! Larry took a picture, but I haven't gotten it from him yet, but will post it when I do. We parted well--Jeri said she was trying to be good then but would just cry all the way home--and that's just what I did too. I was a mess, and Will was sad too.

(Obviously I've got the picture now--l to r: Kathleen, Will, Jeri, Lisa, and Jake--who couldn't resist being in the picture!)

We have gotten through it, though, and Will started back to his new preschool this week. He will be with Kathleen and this class until July 2(!), and I'm excited to see what will happen between now and then with Will. Will is signed up for school at Riverton Elementary this coming school year, but even that is still up in the air because he will probably qualify for what is called diagnostic kindergarten, which is a smaller class to get the help he really needs (we find out in a couple weeks I think). I took Will in the other day for an Intake with the district to see if he qualifies for counseling, which he does, and we will start that soon. I think the counseling is more for us as parents, in learning how to deal with a child who has a disability. We will be doing that with Dr. Illes, the school psychologist at Riverton Elementary--he's the one who also has ADHD, and who I think will be a huge help to us.

I have to say, that I never saw this one coming. I feel very good and at peace with what is happening now. Daren and I are grateful for the support we have received up to this point. I really feel that we were guided to Miss Jeri, who I can't thank enough for helping to change all of our lives. This picture was taken at school a couple weeks ago, and Jeri gave it to Will on his last day of school. You rarely find teachers like Jeri, and we are so grateful she was a huge part of Will's life up to this point.

I'm sure this may not seem like it's that big of a deal, but to our family it has been. It's easy to show the happy face, but you never really know what could be going on in someone else's life. Don't get me wrong, I love our three boys and wouldn't trade them for anyone else, but they are still so exhausting and this parenting thing can be so hard. I try to remember they are only young once and to try to enjoy it more, but some days it's all I can do just to get through it. So there you go. Our non-perfect life, but still a great one. :)

lockhart basin trail

The past couple of years we have gone to Moab, Utah during the first week of May for the "Cruise Moab" event. Basically it's a bunch of Land Cruiser junkies getting together to run different trails, and it's a total blast. We decided not to go to Cruise Moab this year, but we still made it to Moab over last weekend to run the Lockhart Basin trail with our friends, Scott and Claire--I'm sure it was because they had so much fun with us last month on the Mojave Road trail that they couldn't wait for another trail run with our three young boys!!

We left on Sunday, April 26, and headed to Moab. It was 39 degrees and snowing while I was texting my friend, Julie, who was basking in the warm sunny rays in Las Vegas! (I still think way cute haircut from Vegas Julie!!) Seriously, it was snowing!! Crazy!

We stopped in Green River at Ray's Tavern, a local favorite for some way good burgers. We always stop there either on our way to or from Moab.

We made it to Moab in good time, and headed out towards our trail. It seemed that the storm clouds were bound and determined to follow us that day.

It may be hard to tell in these smaller pictures, but the rock formations were so incredible down there. The pictures don't even do them justice at all!

In photo 2, I took a picture of Daren putting Ben's leftover cheeseburger (wrapped in foil) into Scott's "oven" set-up in the engine of his 4-Runner, so it would be warm for dinner. (It was warm alright, but he said it didn't taste all that great)

Hurrah Pass, elevation 4,780 feet--the highest point of our trip, and the view just on the other side of the pass. This is where we were heading into.

Once again, the boys loved the no-seatbelts on the trail rule! Will had cuddled up to me for some "sugar love" and I couldn't resist taking a picture!!

It seemed like we drove forever to find a camp spot cuz all the spots at the beginning were full, but we finally found the perfect spot for us. The fellas got the campfire going first and then we got camp set up. The campfire was set up in this big opening just behind where our cars were parked--it was pretty cool.

In the meantime, the boys found PLENTY of red dirt around to run, climb, jump, slide, sit in, and dump on themselves! I don't know how many times they climbed this huge hill and slid down it--and every time Jake went down, it was head first! Needless to say, everyone and everything was covered in red dirt by the end of the trip, but they had a great time...and I'm still trying to get the dirt out of their jeans in the laundry!

It was pretty cold at night, and I really froze that first night for some reason. It rained a little and was a bit windy, but thank goodness we had some earplugs!! The next morning we woke up to sunshine and it was absolutely beautiful!

Just like at home, Ben, Will, and I were the early risers that day while Daren and Jake slept in. The boys couldn't wait for their Fruit Loops and juice, and they found the perfect spot far away from camp so we wouldn't disturb anyone else. Not a bad breakfast spot, eh?!

This picture is just so dang cute!! I had just picked up my camera to take a picture of Ben, and Will crawled over to Ben and cuddled up to him so he could get in the picture too.

Will is quite the jokester too, and I loved that he was up on this rock singing away, though I don't remember the song now. What I love in these pictures are his shadows on the rock behind him!

After breakfast and packing up, we were on our way to the Lockhart Basin trail...with Scott and Claire leading the way!

We took a moment to pause for a photo by the Colorado River.

It took a while to figure out where the trail was, becasue the GPS wasn't quite synching up. Nevertheless, we still had fun. I sure felt for Claire because she was trying to navigate in the front car, which I did on the Mojave Trail. You do feel the pressure of having to lead, but Claire did a great job...and she and Scott never knew how many times I messed up while trying to navigate, but we made it!

After going up a difficult trail, what we thought was just a fun side-trip, we stopped for lunch. While everyone else was eating their peanut butter sandwiches, Ben went off on his own to do some reading. This day he chose Where the Wild Things Are. Did you know that book is being made into a movie, coming out later this year? The boys can't wait for it!

Anyway, it turns out that this difficult trail really was the beginnning of the Lockhart Basin trail, so we got to drive it twice!

We thought it would be no problem going up a second time and that it would go by pretty quick, but Scott had an unfortunate mishap. His truck partially slid off (at the exact place I was so nervous about the first time we went up), so we had some fixin' to do. Daren was kinda excited to finally be able to use the wench and know that it works!;) And we had fun sitting on the sidelines watching it all take place. For Scott's benefit, this is a play-by-play of his rescue!!

Another angle of the rock.

cairn /'kern/ noun : a heap of stones piled up as a memorial or a landmark

The boys really got into building their own cairns on this trip. We had plenty of time since going up the difficult part of the trail is slow, so the boys built their cairns. Ben built the ones in photo 1, 2, and 3 (even though Jake is in the 2nd photo), but Jake made up for it with the many cairns he built at the top part while waiting for Scott and Daren to drive up.

Will was just happy to wait at the top without building anything.

Daren got a little stuck at the top, and I had to stop taking pictures so I could run after Will who was already continuing on down the trail.

Scott and Daren spent a fair amount of time getting over the rocks, but they finally made it. If you look close, you can see Jake running in front of Scott's car and Claire walking behind our car in photo 2.

So we made it past the hardest part, twice, and were finally on our way. In photo 1 we are heading towards the rocky opening, and in photo 2 this is what we saw when we got through it.

The beautiful rock formations we saw throughout the trip were some of my favorite things to see. We loved to see what the formations reminded us of. Like I said before, the pictures don't do them justice at all! In photo 2, part of the left side reminds us of a witch.

Photo 3 reminded us of a house...or the Titanic...or a boot. And, as easily seen, photo 4 looks like a pyramid.

At this point of the trip, I was driving because it was mostly easy stuff--flatter roads and such. I get too freaked out if it gets too difficult. So Daren was sitting in the back, trying to calm Ben and Jake down (they were at each other quite a bit on this trip, so for the sake of everyone, and to keep the peace, Daren sat in the middle between Will and Ben). Will fell asleep, and to wake him up, Daren put a swedish fish in his mouth, trying to revive him, and took a picture of him.

What woke him up was stopping to see the old abandoned and completely trashed trailer left in the middle of nowhere. No shooting guns this time, though. This is where we ran across some bikers, heading in the other direction, that I worried all night about. I didn't hear of anyone perishing down there, but it had to have been a long night for them. (Long story, but I just wanted to remember that part of it).

It was getting late and we needed a campspot, so we settled for a very open campground just alongside the trail. Once again, fire was the first priority so we could all cook dinner. He had some helpers. ;)

Once the sun came out from behind the clouds, I got some amazing pictures looking back toward our campground. Scott and Claire weren't posing for me for this picture--they didn't even realize I had zoomed in on them, but it was cute.

These are the pictures I was aiming for. The colors were so incredible during sunset.

We rushed to get the tent up before the sun was gone. I told Daren that one day I'd make a book about all the places we have camped with the tent because I take pictures every time it goes up. It will be a fun book to see someday because we have already camped in some amazing places.

It really was this beautiful of a sunset! We roasted hot dogs for the boys, and then they went to watch a movie in the car. Our dinner was done a bit later.

We brought chips n' salsa, salad, and s'mores, while Scott and Claire provided the yummy hobo dinners and rolls. We had a lantern-light dinner!

This was the morning view of where we camped. It was so beautiful there! It had been a very windy night, and we woke up that morning to the sound of birds trying to perch on top of our tent. You could see the shadows of their feet trying to hold on to something-there was a bar underneath them, but it was inside the tent. It made us all laugh just trying to watch them!

As we got on our way, at one point Jake felt the urge to get out and run through the water when I was out taking pictures of the cars. This was his reaction to realizing he had very wet and very muddy crocs on!

Once again, "Mommy's Car" did not let us down on this trip. I love my car, and I love taking these trips with our family. In talking to others about this trip, or any other road trip we've been on (esp. Route 66), most people say they can't imagine going on a road trip with their whole family like we do. I am so glad we started with these guys when they were young so that they grow up liking it and enjoying it. We have made some unforgettable memories on these type of trips, and the end of each trip leaves us with just one question...where to next?!

At the end of Lockhart Basin Trail was the entrance to Canyonlands, where we finally got to go to the bathroom in a real toilet, and wash our hands with soap and water. Life's little pleasures! Then we headed to see Newspaper Rock (see pic. below). We ate lunch there, and then parted ways with Scott and Claire. We drove back home, stopping in at the Prehistoric Museum in Price, which the boys loved! What a great trip.

But, where to next? Any suggestions?? I'm thinking Oregon sometime. And why why WHY do I have to post so many pictures?! This one has taken me forever to do!! I love the memories from it, but dang it takes me a while!