Wow, I have really slacked off. It has been over a month since I posted. Well it means that there is a bunch to write about. Hmm. I should split this into multiple posts. I will have a couple out today for the past month. I back dated the Family reunion one, so if you haven't seen it, it is before this one.
Jess and I celebrated our 10th Wedding anniversary on Wednesday. It has been an amazing journey these past 10 years and I am grateful for all that Jess has done for me. She has given me strength to grow and become a better person. I couldn't have dealt with the situations I have over the past 10 years if it wasn't for her. She is an amazing women, and I am glad that she married me 10 years ago.
We went out to a Japanese restaurant on Friday to celebrate. It was the first time that Jess really had sushi. She liked some of it. It was fun to get out to dinner with out the kids. We are also taking a trip the end of the month to Newport Beach, California for a week. It will be fun and we are looking forward to it. My mother is coming to watch the kids while we are gone.
Sarah also started preschool this month. She goes twice a week for half a day to Meridan Park and another day for 90 minutes to physical therapy at Lilly's school. We are trying to get her into full day kindergarten next year but we are on a waiting list, so it might end up only being half day.
Gus is busy as ever. He runs everywhere he goes. It reminds of characters in video games that don't walk but only run. The weather has warmed up and he has enjoyed spending some time outside in the backyard. If he had his way, he would probably live outside. One of his latest cute things, is that when he is going to bed, and we read him books, he asks for ten books. He knows that it is a lot of books and that is what he wants.
We are grateful for our support and the love that we have been given.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Family Reunion 2013
A couple of months ago we got an email from my brother who said that he had some time before he started his last year of residency, and he wanted to plan a family reunion. We moved the date out by a week so it corresponded to our spring break. The family decided that the Orlando would work well. Everything fell into place and we had a reunion planned.
We all had a great time, even though we have a few bumpy times. We thought we had planned enough time to get to the airport and make the plan, but the stroller got hung up at security (it wouldn't fit in the scanner, and they took 15 minutes to hand check it) and we made it to the gate 2 minutes late. Unfortunately, the next plane to Atlanta was 7 hours later that evening. They were able to get us on the plane. It did turn our flight from arriving just after midnight to arrival the next day. So for the next 6 hours, Gus circled the S terminal in the airport hundreds of time, running the whole way. The rest of the flight was uneventful.
We arrived Sunday morning and got settled. The girls only got a few hours of sleep on the plane so we all took long naps that day. Everyone arrived by late Sunday and we started the fun.
Monday was a day at SeaWorld. There weren't many crowds and we had great fun. The girls loved to feed the sting rays with their hands. Gus loved to see the dolphins jump and said "big mess, agua" when ever there was a big splash. Jess took Sarah and Gus home earlier for naps while I stayed will Lilly. We had a fun day.
Monday night provided excitement as usually. Sarah had been complaining since the plane about her ears and had asked for cotton balls to put in her ear. Unfortunately, when I changed it on Monday evening, we noticed that it had colored fluid on it. From previous experience, we knew that it meant that her ear drum has probably ruptured. Jess took her to a children's hospital and got it confirmed. She got some medicine and started feeling better a day or two later.
We all had a great time, even though we have a few bumpy times. We thought we had planned enough time to get to the airport and make the plan, but the stroller got hung up at security (it wouldn't fit in the scanner, and they took 15 minutes to hand check it) and we made it to the gate 2 minutes late. Unfortunately, the next plane to Atlanta was 7 hours later that evening. They were able to get us on the plane. It did turn our flight from arriving just after midnight to arrival the next day. So for the next 6 hours, Gus circled the S terminal in the airport hundreds of time, running the whole way. The rest of the flight was uneventful.
We arrived Sunday morning and got settled. The girls only got a few hours of sleep on the plane so we all took long naps that day. Everyone arrived by late Sunday and we started the fun.
Monday was a day at SeaWorld. There weren't many crowds and we had great fun. The girls loved to feed the sting rays with their hands. Gus loved to see the dolphins jump and said "big mess, agua" when ever there was a big splash. Jess took Sarah and Gus home earlier for naps while I stayed will Lilly. We had a fun day.
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| Dolphins during Feeding time |
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| Brooklynn, Lilly and others watching the dolphins |
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| Grandpa Butch, Hunter, Kim, Lilly pushing Emma |
We spent Tuesday relaxing as a family and went to the pool together. It was nice to have a relaxing day to get used to the heat of Florida.
Wednesday was our big day at Walt Disney World. We decided to go to the Magic Kingdom. My brother Aaron and his wife did a great job in the park of keeping us moving and hitting the most popular rides first so we didn't have many lines. Jess took Gus back to the Condo in the afternoon for his nap and joined us for dinner and the fireworks. Thursday was spent at the condos in the morning and then headed back to the Magic Kingdom for the afternoon and evening.
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| Lilly excited at a ride |
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| Sarah on the Merry go round |
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| Mom and Gus |
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| Gus having fun |
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| Sarah and Lilly and Belle |
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| Sarah tired at the end of the day |
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| Shannon chilling at the condo |
Friday was a family day. We did some shopping and swimming and enjoying a lot of time together. The week ended too early and we had an early morning flight home on Saturday. It was a great trip and we are grateful to my brother for suggesting it and for all of my family making it happen.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Lilly is 7
It's true. Lilly is Seven. Her birthday was last week, and she had her birthday party on Saturday. We went to paint the town and she had 8 or 9 friends come. It was fun seeing them do their paintings. In fact Kim Barlow who brought her daughter decided that her and her husband and Jess and I need to go back and do gravy boats. I will send pictures when that happens.
Sarah got a fever on Saturday night and her and I were in the ED on Saturday night, as well as on Sunday afternoon. She seems to have done better getting rid of her fever. It will be nice once she is off of all the chemo and we can treat her as a normal kid when she had a fever. Jess and I realized what a warped sense of reality we have. It is no problem just taking our kid to the ED. No stress about it. I think Sarah has been to the ED more than I ever have. It is also tells a lot when you recognize a good portion of the ED staff, and worse when they recognize you and say "you're back?" and worse even still when they remember specific things about the diagnosis, like Sarah's port not working well. Such is the life we are living.
I am leaving with a number of pictures and a video from the birthday party, and one of Jess from a date night at a Korean BBQ place with the Barlows.
Sarah got a fever on Saturday night and her and I were in the ED on Saturday night, as well as on Sunday afternoon. She seems to have done better getting rid of her fever. It will be nice once she is off of all the chemo and we can treat her as a normal kid when she had a fever. Jess and I realized what a warped sense of reality we have. It is no problem just taking our kid to the ED. No stress about it. I think Sarah has been to the ED more than I ever have. It is also tells a lot when you recognize a good portion of the ED staff, and worse when they recognize you and say "you're back?" and worse even still when they remember specific things about the diagnosis, like Sarah's port not working well. Such is the life we are living.
I am leaving with a number of pictures and a video from the birthday party, and one of Jess from a date night at a Korean BBQ place with the Barlows.
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| Lilly painting her penguin |
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| Sarah painting a Butterfly |
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| Jess, the Beautiful hostess |
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| Snack time |
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| Jess at Dinner |
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| The Helicopter outside the ED |
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Skiing update
I haven't put up much lately. So I thought I would dump some pictures of our last two ski trips. Last Saturday, we only stayed on the snow a hour before Sarah broke down. Today she did better.
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| Lilly |
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| Sarah ready to be done |
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| Lilly skiing around poles |
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| One of Sarah's falls |
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| What usually happens on the way home. |
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
March 5th update
Last week was a busy week for me at work. I had some coworkers from Germany in town. I was the one setting up meetings and making sure that we covered all the topics with them. I was also able to take them out with my team to dinner one of the evenings. It was a productive and busy week.
Sarah started on steroids during the week so she was ready to eat anything and everything in her way. This caused Jess some pain as she tried to keep her from breaking down. It is the hardest part of the month for the family. We counted up and we are down to 9 months or so left for Sarah's treatment. Exciting!
I am adding some pictures from tonight of the kids reading books before bed.
Sarah started on steroids during the week so she was ready to eat anything and everything in her way. This caused Jess some pain as she tried to keep her from breaking down. It is the hardest part of the month for the family. We counted up and we are down to 9 months or so left for Sarah's treatment. Exciting!
I am adding some pictures from tonight of the kids reading books before bed.
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| Lilly reading to Sarah at bed |
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| Jess reading to Gus |
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Family Newsletter Q1 2013
When my Father was in Grad school, he started a family newsletter with his family. That newsletter has continued for 30+ years and is a good way for all of the extended family to stay connected. Every family writes an entry every three months and someone compiles it and sends out copies. I thought I would posted our latest version as it contains a decent summary over the past 3 months. For members of the Blackham Extended family, you get to read our post early :)
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Dear Family,
This quarter has been one of change. For the first time as a family, we didn’t travel to Utah for Christmas. It was also the first year in almost 10 years that I didn’t teach skiing. It has been a big shift in our view of the holidays. While we missed spending time with all of you for the Christmas Eve Eve party, we were able to start to build some traditions as our family. It also caused Jess and I to reflect on all the many traditions that we have been part of for so many years. Many we want to keep strong in our family going forward.
Well before I get to much into Christmas, let me take a step back to November. Sarah had a first in November. We had visited the ED for a fever a couple of times over a weekend a week before thanksgiving. On Monday midday, we got a call that Sarah had a blood infection. This caused her to be admitted to make sure they got the fever under control and to make sure the antibiotic they put her on would be one that worked on the bacteria that was in her blood. This experience also let me realize how much our sense of reality is warped. I was at work when Jess called and let me know what the hospital found in the blood cultures. It was almost lunch time. I told Jess that I would meet her at the hospital and stay with Sarah. I finished a meeting that I had scheduled before hopping on a bus. I talked with Jess to see how things were going. I stopped off and had lunch before making my way to the hospital to take over for Jess and transition Sarah from clinic to inpatient, as that is the preferred way to get her admitted. Through this whole process, Jess and I were calm. It is very different from anyone else who would go through the process. Most people would have been very concerned for a child who has an infection of the blood, but for us it was just another admit to the hospital. Luckily, we only had to spend 3 days in the hospital, but had to spend the next 5 days, heading into clinic daily for an IV dose of antibiotic.
Thanksgiving was quiet. We had dinner with some local friends. It has been fun as we have done it multiple years with them. Their tradition is that each family member gets to pick one food that they are thankful for and that becomes their dinner. We provide the traditional side of things and it makes for a great Thanksgiving. I think this year we had ribs and curry in addition to the traditional fare.
My parents and Tonya and Shannon came to visit a couple of days after Thanksgiving. It was nice to have them in town and spend some time with them. We had a crab feast at home that worked out really well. Sarah and I picked some crab up from Pike’s Market and everyone loved it. It was a fun dinner for everyone. It might be a new Thanksgiving tradition for us.
As I said, Christmas was full of new traditions for us as a family. We kept many of the staples that we had in Utah. We got the kids up and they couldn’t see what Santa brought until after breakfast and reading of the Christmas story. We got a Digital Piano as a family, and the girls are looking forward to starting lessons soon. Jess has even been able to pick out a few tunes without having any instruction. She will be a much better pianist that I ever was. I have enjoyed sitting down and playing the right hand of hymns and other things. We don’t have many piano books yet, but hope to increase our library. This was also the first year that we made the kids pick out the gifts that they gave to each other. We gave them a limit and it was good to get them thinking about others. One of our new traditions, was that we lit a fire in the fireplace before we started with the tree and presents. It was nice to have a cozy fire to help set the atmosphere. The presents didn’t take as long as happens when we are at my parents. I am sure it was because we had only had a third of the number of people.
January was a fairly quiet month for us. We are finally settling into a routine with Lilly in school and Sarah on maintenance. Gus has a new obsession. He loves fire trucks and will watch youtube videos about them responding and just listen to the sirens. He also goes crazy when he hears the sirens when he is playing. We love his enthusiasm for life, but have trouble keeping up with his energy.
Lilly is enjoying school. She loves her class and is making lots of friends. She is starting to plan her party and is having trouble cutting her list down to the 10 friends that she can have at her party.
One update for me. I just got called the end of January as the Ward mission leader. It is going to be a busy calling but is has been good to be close with the missionaries and helping to preach the Gospel in the area. There are many people who are excited about learning the Gospel. I hope that I can help the missionaries and the ward to increase missionary efforts in the Ward.
We love you all and wish we were closer, so we could spend more time with you all.
Dear Family,
I like to eat turkey for Thanksgiving especially with the Barlows (editors note: those are our friends). I am doing good in school. I am learning lots of math, which is my favorite subject, and recess too. I like my teachers Ms. Ng and Ms. Kim. They teach me a lot. I like Christmas a lot, especially the presents. I am learning the piano from my babysitter, April. I love you all.
Love,
Lilly
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Dear Family,
This quarter has been one of change. For the first time as a family, we didn’t travel to Utah for Christmas. It was also the first year in almost 10 years that I didn’t teach skiing. It has been a big shift in our view of the holidays. While we missed spending time with all of you for the Christmas Eve Eve party, we were able to start to build some traditions as our family. It also caused Jess and I to reflect on all the many traditions that we have been part of for so many years. Many we want to keep strong in our family going forward.
Well before I get to much into Christmas, let me take a step back to November. Sarah had a first in November. We had visited the ED for a fever a couple of times over a weekend a week before thanksgiving. On Monday midday, we got a call that Sarah had a blood infection. This caused her to be admitted to make sure they got the fever under control and to make sure the antibiotic they put her on would be one that worked on the bacteria that was in her blood. This experience also let me realize how much our sense of reality is warped. I was at work when Jess called and let me know what the hospital found in the blood cultures. It was almost lunch time. I told Jess that I would meet her at the hospital and stay with Sarah. I finished a meeting that I had scheduled before hopping on a bus. I talked with Jess to see how things were going. I stopped off and had lunch before making my way to the hospital to take over for Jess and transition Sarah from clinic to inpatient, as that is the preferred way to get her admitted. Through this whole process, Jess and I were calm. It is very different from anyone else who would go through the process. Most people would have been very concerned for a child who has an infection of the blood, but for us it was just another admit to the hospital. Luckily, we only had to spend 3 days in the hospital, but had to spend the next 5 days, heading into clinic daily for an IV dose of antibiotic.
Thanksgiving was quiet. We had dinner with some local friends. It has been fun as we have done it multiple years with them. Their tradition is that each family member gets to pick one food that they are thankful for and that becomes their dinner. We provide the traditional side of things and it makes for a great Thanksgiving. I think this year we had ribs and curry in addition to the traditional fare.
My parents and Tonya and Shannon came to visit a couple of days after Thanksgiving. It was nice to have them in town and spend some time with them. We had a crab feast at home that worked out really well. Sarah and I picked some crab up from Pike’s Market and everyone loved it. It was a fun dinner for everyone. It might be a new Thanksgiving tradition for us.
As I said, Christmas was full of new traditions for us as a family. We kept many of the staples that we had in Utah. We got the kids up and they couldn’t see what Santa brought until after breakfast and reading of the Christmas story. We got a Digital Piano as a family, and the girls are looking forward to starting lessons soon. Jess has even been able to pick out a few tunes without having any instruction. She will be a much better pianist that I ever was. I have enjoyed sitting down and playing the right hand of hymns and other things. We don’t have many piano books yet, but hope to increase our library. This was also the first year that we made the kids pick out the gifts that they gave to each other. We gave them a limit and it was good to get them thinking about others. One of our new traditions, was that we lit a fire in the fireplace before we started with the tree and presents. It was nice to have a cozy fire to help set the atmosphere. The presents didn’t take as long as happens when we are at my parents. I am sure it was because we had only had a third of the number of people.
January was a fairly quiet month for us. We are finally settling into a routine with Lilly in school and Sarah on maintenance. Gus has a new obsession. He loves fire trucks and will watch youtube videos about them responding and just listen to the sirens. He also goes crazy when he hears the sirens when he is playing. We love his enthusiasm for life, but have trouble keeping up with his energy.
Lilly is enjoying school. She loves her class and is making lots of friends. She is starting to plan her party and is having trouble cutting her list down to the 10 friends that she can have at her party.
One update for me. I just got called the end of January as the Ward mission leader. It is going to be a busy calling but is has been good to be close with the missionaries and helping to preach the Gospel in the area. There are many people who are excited about learning the Gospel. I hope that I can help the missionaries and the ward to increase missionary efforts in the Ward.
We love you all and wish we were closer, so we could spend more time with you all.
Love,
Nathan & Jessica Blackham
Dear Family,
I like to eat turkey for Thanksgiving especially with the Barlows (editors note: those are our friends). I am doing good in school. I am learning lots of math, which is my favorite subject, and recess too. I like my teachers Ms. Ng and Ms. Kim. They teach me a lot. I like Christmas a lot, especially the presents. I am learning the piano from my babysitter, April. I love you all.
Love,
Lilly
Sunday Update
Just wanted to drop a quick update. This week has been nice. Since I was already taking the week off to go to Utah, I stayed at home after canceling our Utah trip. Other than Sarah's RSV and ED visits, the week was mostly a normal week with the kids off of school. As a family, we played at a park and played games. Jess and I were able to get out by ourselves a couple times. On Thursday, we were able to make a trip to Ikea and acquired a new couch for our front room. On Saturday, I was able to take Jess out for dinner. It is nice to be able to spend sometime without the kids. We always enjoy it.
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