Summer Summary

How can it be the beginning of August already?! Where has the summer gone? I feel like winter drags on endlessly for months and summer flies by in the blink of an eye. What a summer this has been! It has been an unusual one for sure. At the beginning we were able to attend a family reunion with Jake's Wilson family at the end of May. We were able to spend 4 beautiful days in Alta, Wyoming participating in fun activities and being with family. The first time I went to Alta a few years ago I wasn't sure if I liked it there or not. We went in the middle of March one year for spring break and it was still freezing with at least 6 inches of snow on the ground. In my mind spring break is supposed to include sunshine and warm weather. Just give it a few months and by the end of May Alta is so pretty! All the snow is melted, everything has greened up, and the temperature hangs in the mid seventies.

 At the end of the reunion we packed up and head south four hours to Salt Lake City.
We had doctor's appointments for Kason's head. We first went to the helmet facility and had his head scanned. I was feeling pretty confident that we were going to get the okay to keep the helmet off for good. After the scan was complete, the physician was really quiet. My heart sank. I asked if Kason's head had begun to revert back. All he said was, "his numbers did drop some." My heart sank some more. At every visit in the past, this physician was always so positive and optimistic about Kason's head shape. This visit he was quiet and just told us we would have to wait and see what Kason's surgeon, Dr. Siddiqi said. As we drove to Primary Children's Medical Center to meet with Dr. Siddiqi I felt sick. I was sure that we were going to have to keep the helmet on for another 3 months. The wait to see the surgeon felt endless. I was completely on edge. Once we made it back to the room we waited forever more. Finally.... Dr. Siddiqi came in and looked at Kason's numbers. He didn't say a word as he felt Kason's head. He said, "Everything looks great!" *Big sigh of relief* I asked about the numbers of the scan and he told us that he isn't concerned about the numbers as much as he is about the shape of Kason's head and if the soft soft closed up properly. The doctor said Kason's head was one of the best he has seen! *Another big sigh of relief* We were cleared to leave the helmet off for good.  Yay!

Next we were off to a week long Grant Family Reunion at Lake Powell. We left on Tuesday and stayed until Saturday. We had so much fun being with all of Jake's family. We had two houseboats for all of the family and we enjoyed days of swimming, playing, wakeboarding, boating, and relaxing.  Kason loved riding around on the paddle board and riding on the boat. We sure do love Lake Powell.

After the trip to Lake Powell we said goodbye to Jake's parents who were off to Croatia to begin their 3 year mission. We have truly missed them this summer. About the same time, Jake and I took off to Las Vegas for the summer. (see post "Livin' in LV" for our Las Vegas Adventures)

 

On August 15 we moved back to Cedar City! We enjoyed another trip to Lake Powell and a cabin trip. Kason turned 1 year old on August 19. I can't believe that my baby is transitioning into toddler years! He is such a joy to have in our family. He is walking everywhere these days, loves playing with balls, learns new words every week- currently his two favorite words are ba (ball) and bompa (grandpa). We celebrated by having family over for a BBQ and cake. At first Kason wasn't sure what to do with his cake, he made the funniest faces when we set it in front of him.  But after a minute or so he caught on and made a mess!

Here we are to September.  Jake is back in school and enjoying his semester so far. Also, a little side note, September is Craniosynostosis Awareness month! We sure do love our little cranio baby. We are so happy that we are almost to the one year mark of his surgery. He has handled it all like a champ and we couldn't be more proud! We love you Kason!

Last weekend we attended the Great American Stampede Rodeo. Jake and I try to attend one rodeo a year. I don't know why we like them so much, but we do. It was a fun date night and it was fun to have an evening together without the baby.

We had a couple of Jake's siblings visit this past weekend. It was so fun to have visitors and to spend time with some of Jake's family that we don't see as much of. Jake's sister took some new family pictures of us, which turned out so stinking cute! Thanks Rachel! We also attended SUU's homecoming football game. Even though they lost, it was a fun date night.

That wraps up my summer summary. Fall is quickly approaching and I am so excited! Hopefully I can post more frequently!