Recurrent Parotitis of Childhood

We took Ty to the infectious disease doctor yesterday at Primary Children’s to see more about what’s causing her lymph nodes and saliva glands to become infected every 4-6 wks. After a couple hours of being there, we found out she has Recurrent Parotitis of Childhood. It’s rare syndrome that causes swelling, pain, and fever in the saliva glands. What’s happening is her parotid saliva gland doesn’t function properly which causes saliva to not move through it and it backs up and causes infection. Where this happens as frequently as it does, the infection is now going into her lymph nodes when she has a flare-up. She had her right parotid gland removed last year and since then has only had 1 flare-up on that side; however the left side has had about 5 infections since then. The Dr we saw is referring us back to the ENT to remove the left parotid gland, she feels that it will reduce or completely eliminate the problems.. I am pretty sure he will be on board b/c we had talked to him about this previously, if the left continued to be a problem he would remove it. He just wanted to make sure something else wasn’t causing the problems first. He is in India doing cleft palette reconstructions on little Indian kids for the next 3 wks, but I left a message to have him call me when he returns so we can set up a plan.



I can’t tell you the sense of relief I feel finally having a diagnosis. I look forward to speaking to our Dr when he returns and getting it all taken care of. Thank you God!



Thank you for all your love, support, and prayers as Ty goes through all this. It means so much to us!

Ty Updates

On the 30th of November, I took Ty down to the UofU to meet with 2 doctors who specialize in autoimmune diseases. We were with them for over an hour, going over medical history and what not. They said that she has alot of the symptoms of Sjogren's Syndrome but that we would need to get lab work and an eye test done to confirm. When that appointment was over, we headed to Primary Children's to get the lab work done. 6 vials! Sheesh!

A couple of days later we went to the eye doctor to have a Schirmer's test done. It is a little strip of paper that measures your tear production. Well, that was normal... she filled up the little strip just fine. Only thing we learned from that visit was that she has a cataract in her right eye, but she wont need to do anything about it for another 50-60 years.

Last week the PA for the Immunology department called and said all her lab work came back normal. She does not have any autoimmune diseases or immune deficencies. Well, that's great... but what is causing all this? She didnt know and said to follow up with our ENT.

I had planned on calling Dr Muntz this week to see what else he is thinking... but ends up I have to call him today b/c my little girl came home from school yesterday with a big lump on the left side of her neck. Almost 2 months to the date of her last lymph node infection. Of course by the time I knew about it yesterday it was too late and the office was closed so I have to call this morning.

She is miserable... neither of us slept last night. She was just screaming in pain... can't chew anything so had a problem with her Tylenol. We were up for hours until I got her into the tub to help relax her and then to bed... 2 hrs before my alarm went off for the day.

I am frustrated... I am tired... I am sick of seeing my daughter go through this. I trust that God has a plan for her... that this will someday make sense, but me and my impatient nature want answers... or atleast comfort. Its hard to be a mom and see your child like this and not be able to do anything.

Drew-ism!

On Friday, Drew and I were driving around, running errands. We were on our way to pick up Ty from a play date with her girlfriend and Drew said, “Where are we going next?” and I replied, “Where we go every Friday, the Genesis Project”. He looked at me with a thoughtful look and says, “Ya know, we go there a lot. I bet God thinks it’s a waste of gas!” It took all I had NOT to burst out laughing. “No, buddy… I’m sure that God likes when we go to church… it’s not a waste of gas”. Then yesterday after church, Drew says, “Are you going to bible study tomorrow?” so my reply was “Are you sure God wouldn’t think that was a waste of gas?” and we both just laughed and laughed. Too funny.

A Giving Story

Next Saturday, we are giving the homeless and less fortunate a chance to come in and shower, get new clothes, get haircuts, and have a warm meal. Yesterday, Ty and I went to hand out invitations with my sister throughout Grant and 12th st, to the houses and apartments.

It was a chilly day and we were bundled up. We started at the apartment buildings and went door to do and personally invited those who answered to come and left the fliers in the doors for those who didn’t. We were just about done with the apartment complex when we knocked on a door and a little girl and her mom answered. We invited them to come, gave them the flier, and started to walk away. She asked us for more information so we went back and talked to her a little more. She told me that her daughter can't go outside b/c she doesn’t have a coat and it's too cold out. Next thing I know, my daughter takes her coat off and hands it to the little girl. She told her that she has another one at home, so she could have that one. The little girl snuggled up inside of it and the mom got tears in her eyes. She kept asking us “are you sure?” and we kept saying yes. I gave the mom a hug and we walked on.

Poor Ty was standing there in a beanie and gloves with a T-Shirt on, but luckily I had another one of my coats in the car so we made due until we were done… but I can’t tell you how proud I was of her. My 9 yr old was filled with the Spirit and became selfless and caring to someone less fortunate, just as Jesus would do.

We talked about it in the car on the way home and she said that she knew the little girl needed it more than she did… and even though it was dirty, it was warm. She said she hopes that family goes to our event next week because they need some help. She gets it… she realizes that not everyone has what we have and she is willing to share her things with others. What an amazing feeling!

Good news!

The ENT nurse called me yesterday. She said that the pathology report shows a benign reactive lymph node, but no signs of cancer. Phew! No cancer!

When the doctor called back and I asked him what that means he said there was lymph node swelling due to infection. The culture report he got back yesterday morning showed that nothing grew in 6 days from the cultures they took. However when they called back last night, something did show up as Gram Positive Cocci. They are going to continue to test on it to figure out what kind of infection it is and to see what medication it is susceptible to.

I asked him where do we go from here… no cancer, but we really don’t have any answers. He said he is going to get us in with the Immunology department to be tested for Auto Immune Diseases. Something is causing the reoccurring infections and they are the next step to finding out what it is.

Thanks for everyone’s prayers and support. Praise God!

Surgery Update

Ty had surgery on Tuesday. She did very well with little bleeding. They did an open biopsy on the left and a needle biopsy on the right. They were able to get alot of samples that they sent off to pathology and to be cultured.

The Dr just called... no final report yet on the biopsy, but no organisms growing from culture so far. They will call me when they know more. Honestly, I was hoping something would grow so we can know what’s causing the reoccurring infection. She is a little sore when she sneezes or coughs, but is doing good overall. She went back to school yesterday.

Keep praying for some kind of answer!

Swollen Again, Update

The doctor called me last night. He said there is some concern regarding Ty’s MRI results. There is a cluster of lymph nodes that are enlarged back deep behind her saliva gland on the left side. He said that is pushing her saliva gland and that is causing the infection. He said we would skip all the scary words that that radiologist wrote on the report and we will schedule an open biopsy to remove the lymph nodes as well as the lymph glands. I guess where it is, is deep under the facial and shoulder nerve. She is going to have an incision on her neckline but when it’s all done and healed it will blend into the crease. I asked him if the problem on the right side was all lymph nodes or did her saliva gland look diseased when he took it out. He said that there was definitely scar tissue on the right parotid gland and he removed the lymph nodes that were around that then. I guess I have a lot of questions for him. What is causing the enlarged lymph nodes/glands? Why is she constantly having infections? What can we do to prevent this in the future? I know they are testing for cancer, but if that isn’t it, what could this be? They have her on a very strong dose of antibiotics for now and they are going to call me today to schedule her surgery. Hopefully its something we can do pretty quick… the waiting is the worst part. I get very anxious not knowing. If they give me a diagnosis I can deal with it…making plans to do whatever is needed. The sitting around in wonder is the hard part for me.

Swollen Again...

On Monday afternoon at 4:11 (Yes, I know the exact time b/c the Drs office closes at 4pm and I realized that I just barely missed them) my daughter calls me from her dad’s house saying that her neck is swollen on BOTH sides and she is in a lot of pain.

Freaking great. I hung up and wanted to cry. I hate to see my little girl in pain. I hate the agony that she goes through. Just makes me feel so helpless as a mother.

She came home later that evening and I gave her Tylenol, got her in the tub, got her some sour candy to suck on and eventually got her off to bed… She didn’t sleep well that night. Nor did I. I could hear her whimpering from her bedroom. At 430am she came in to ask if she could get in the tub to see if that would help her feel better. At 6am I went in her room to wake her up, gave her some Tylenol, wrote a note to the school saying that she would need Tylenol at lunch. I had the Dr write a note at the beginning of the year saying she could have some when she had a saliva gland infection. If we stay on the Tylenol, she does ok… if she missed a dose after 4hrs its all down hill and takes a lot to get her feeling better again.

I got a call around 1130 with her crying. She said the school lost her Tylenol. They have the note but cant find the medicine. I had to go get her, brought her home to give her Tylenol and she took a nap on the couch when I finished out my day working from home. We went to get more Tylenol to give the school a new box, which they are now guarding with their lives. LOL

I spoke with the nurse at PCMC Tuesday morning as well. I explained what was going on and what the Dr said to do when this happened next. After some calling around, she found us an 8pm appointment at the hospital to go in and get an MRI done. He wanted the scan while her neck was swollen so he can see exactly what is going on. Not only in her saliva glands, but in her lymph nodes as he feels that this could be more than what we originally thought.

Today is Thursday… and I am waiting on them to call in a prescription of antibiotics, waiting for the results of the MRI, praying for an answer. She is doing better today; the swelling is still there but no worse than yesterday. She is smiling a bit more. She can’t really eat a lot b/c she can’t get her mouth open and that frustrates her but she knows she is going to be ok. We trust the doctor to make the right decisions and to care for her, but even more so we trust that the Lord is going to take care of her. In the car this morning she says “Mom, can we pray that God makes me feel just a little better?”. That’s my sweet girl.

Thankful for grandparents

I am so thankful for my family… my mom and Rob who are amazing parents and grandparents. They give so much to our family and love everyone equally, regardless if you are their own child or not. My mother in law is a wonderful woman. She is going through a lot right now with putting my FIL in a nursing home, but she is so strong. She has jumped into our lives full force. She loves my kids as if they were Bryan’s own. I am also thankful for Nate’s parents. Nate lives with them so when he has the kids they get to stay with their grandparents, which they think is so cool. They help out so much, picking the kids up from daycare and what not. Each of them play such a role in my children's lives and I am so thankful for them.

When I was born, one grandma had already passed away. I was so close with my mom’s parents when I was little. We went to their house instead of daycare. They volunteered at school and were just amazing people. My Nannie died when I was 10 and my grandpa died a few years later. I wasn’t very close with my Gido, my dad’s dad, as he lived in Chicago but he did come out for my wedding to Nate and then passed away shortly after.

I pray that my kids get to experience a lot of their life having their wonderful grandparents around. Love to you all!

Swine Boy

Last Thursday, I came down with a cold. Sneezing, runny nose, headache… that type of thing. Friday night, Ty is the same way. Saturday we laid around for the most of the day… By Saturday afternoon Ty was feeling better and Bryan took the kids over to his mom’s and I stayed home and slept. Sunday I was feeling better, just not 100%. Ty was coughing, but that was it for her. Sunday night, Drew came in and said his head hurt. Monday morning, he had a snotty nose and was coughing too. During this whole time, no one had a fever and everything I read said that you cant have the Swine Flu if you don’t have a fever so Bryan and I made the decision to just treat symptoms and if anyone had a fever (him included) we were off to the doctor. Monday night, Bryan comes home and has a headache and is congested. So now we have a house of sickies, although by then Ty and I were doing so much better.

Tuesday morning Drew was still snotty and coughing, but no fever so I gave him some cold medicine and sent him to school. That afternoon I went to get him from daycare and he was laying on the couch moaning. They said they didn’t call me b/c they knew I would be there soon, but that he was not feeling well. Of course not, he was burning up! I had them get me a thermometer and he was 102.5. His eyes were red and tearing and he was pale. Before I even got out of the daycare building I was already on the phone with the Dr’s office. They didn’t have any appointments but walk-ins started in 30 mins so we ran home to change and went over there.

When we came in, there were two people ahead of us. A boy younger than Drew with a mask on and a teenage girl with a mask on. All were coughing with teary red eyes. The doctor saw us pretty quickly. She talked to us, checked him out, and said “Yup, he’s got the Swine Flu”. She said that they aren’t doing the test b/c there is a 70% false negative and it’s a cost that the clinic has to eat b/c insurance doesn’t pay for it. She mentioned that people she knows are showing up negative when she knows are positive, like a little boy who has 3 little brothers at home who are positive. She said that the main thing to do is treat the symptoms… cold medicine, Tylenol, Motrin, etc. She said that there is a shortage of kids Tamiflu but due to his seizure problems, she recommends we call around and find it b/c we cant let his fever get too high so he has a seizure. She said that once his fever is gone and he doesn’t need any fever reducing medicine for 24 hrs he can go back to school.

We stopped at Walgreen’s on the way home. People looked at him all funny b/c he had a mask on. The pharmacy said they didn’t have any kids Tamiflu but they checked in their system and they had it in SLC and Bryan was in SLC visiting Taylor so I paid for it there and had them call it in there and Bryan grabbed it on his way home.

I gave Drew his Tylenol around 630 and got him in his PJs and off to bed… I went back in at 930 like the pharmacist said to do and switched it for Motrin and gave him the Tamiflu but when I went to wake him up, I noticed he was drenched in sweat. His fever broke already! I got him changed and took his temperature, normal. Hmmm weird.

The next morning he was up before I was…. Just playing in his room. I took his temp, normal. I stayed home with him yesterday and he every time I took his temp it was normal. He didn’t need any Tylenol or Motrin yesterday, just kept giving him cold medicine for his snotty nose and cough and his Tamiflu. The doctor told me if he was 24 hrs without a fever he could go back to school… so when he was 30 hrs past fever this morning at 6, I got him ready for daycare/school and off he went. He is going to have a lingering cough for a while. Some people who had it said theirs stayed up to a month… so we will deal with that. I am just glad we got on top of this as quickly as we did and he made a speedy recovery!

As for me and my house... we will serve the Lord

One thing I want to start out by saying is the Genesis Project hardly ever asks for money. If they do, it’s for someone specific who needs a bill paid or food for their table, but not b/c the church needs it. With that being said, we are going through a season of change where the building isn’t big enough and the city wants the land for other things. We have been in talks for months now about the Gold’s Gym on 12th street. It would be a better fit, more exposure; still in Ogden… the list of reasons why this would be a good move for us seems to be endless. The pastors have some things in the works and wanted to let the core group of “members” (and I use that term loosely b/c we don’t keep track of membership) to know what is going on and ask for help and I was one of those people they invited to meet with last week.

Without going into a lot of detail, we were all sent home to pray about what amount we could give weekly to help us get to our goal. There is no set amount they are asking for; they want us to give what we can. So after this meeting, I went home and I talked Ty about it and we prayed and she said “Mom, let’s give them my allowance for this month”.

So she wrote up a note that says “Pastor Matt… here is my allowance for you to use for the new church. Love Ty Erwin”.

She stuck it in an envelope and took it with us on Friday night to worship. When she saw Pastor Matt, she ran up front to give it to him.

On Sunday, we were at church with my sister, Heather, and it was time for Offering. Normally one of the leaders (not the pastor) gets up, tells a story, says a prayer, and passes around the bucket. This time, Pastor Matt got up and told a story about how on Friday night a little girl (who was in the congregation this morning and is now hiding on her mom’s lap) came up to him with an envelop. He went on to say that when he first opened it, $10 fell out. Then he read the letter and got tears in his eyes. He said he was overwhelmed with pride for this little girl to help out our church. As we are sitting there, I am crying b/c I am so proud of her as well.

I believe that everything we do is b/c it’s in God’s plan. If it’s not His Will, it won’t happen. If we are meant to move into this new building, its b/c he wants us there. I just feel so blessed to have an amazing place to worship. Somewhere I feel the spirit and I walk out feeling so much better about life. This is a place my kids beg to go every week. Ogden is definitely a better place for having the Genesis Project and the amazing pastoral team it does. If you haven’t been and are searching for more out of life, stop by. You won’t regret it! www.genesisutah.com

Our 1st Anniversary

Yesterday was Bryan and my 1st anniversary. It’s amazing to me that a year has gone by already… time flies when you are having fun! Bryan is an amazing man. He is loving and kind. He stepped up and has become (another) dad to my children. He treats them as if they were his own. He does homework with them, takes them to their games, lets them paint his finger nails, what a guy! He fits in perfectly with my family… he can be as obnoxious and silly as they are! He is not only my husband, he is my friend. He is such a source of support to me. He loves me unconditionally. In the whole time we have been together I think we have gotten into a disagreement once. We talk a lot… about everything and I think that is a big part as to why we get along so well. We have great communication. We understand what is important to each other and respect that. I am so blessed to be married to this man.

This weekend we had a great time with the family… It was the start of the change of weekends for Taylor. He will now be with us when my kids are home, which will be good all around. Bryan went to get him on Friday from SLC and they came home and surprised me by going to Friday night worship with us at the GP. It was such a blessing to have them there. Saturday was crazy busy with soccer games, hair cuts, trips to SLC, and the Weber State Football. On Sunday, the kids got up early and made us breakfast. We had French toast, eggs, bacon, and pears. They made us an Anniversary card that is now hanging on the fridge. I made Bryan a card and got him some cologne. He got me a card (which I cried when I read) a Darius Rucker CD, and a beautiful diamond heart necklace. After that Ty and I went to church then we had Drew’s birthday party at my mom’s and then we took the kids to Kobe Japanese Restaurant for dinner. They got a kick out of the guy cooking in front of us. It was a great weekend and a celebration of not just Bryan and my marriage; it was a celebration of us being a family.

I love you honey. Thanks for an amazing year :)

Oatmeal or Hot Milk?

Last weekend Bryan and I went to Moab to celebrate his birthday and our early-anniversary. We had won a 2 night stay and a sunset jet boat tour and dinner when we were down for Raft for the Cure in their silent auction so we had to take advantage of that before October.

We had a great time together... went to dinner at my friend Randy's resteraunt, went to the Hole in the Rock house/giftshop/zoo, and went on a really fun jet boat tour through Canyonlands.

Saturday morning, we went to breakfast. I wasnt really hungry so I ordered oatmeal, coffee, and a side of sausage. The girl who took my order wasnt from here, had a Russian accent. She just kept repeating to me what sounded like "Hot meal". Uh, sure... oatmeal is hot... maybe they call it "hot meal" where she is from. Then I asked her for some brown sugar and her eyes get all big and she says "You want brown sugar for your hot meal?" Uh, yes please. She told me she wasnt sure if she could do that but would ask.

Little while later she comes back with my coffee and lays down a glass of (hot) milk and a bowl of brown sugar and walks away. I look at Bryan and said "I normally have cold milk with my oatmeal, but ok"... and we wait for the rest of the food. Out comes his meal and my sausage and she walks away.

Then it hits me... she thought I said "HOT MILK" when I said "OATMEAL" and I start laughing hysterically. I call her back over and say "I need some OATTTT MEAL to go with my brown sugar" and she points at my hot milk and says "Hot Milk"... "no, OOOOAAATT Meal". Then you could see the light turn out "Oh! You want OOOOOOAAAAT MEAAAAAL". She starts laughing... rewrites it on the bill and goes and gets me a huge bowl of oatmeal.

Bryan says from now on, oatmeal is now going to be referred as "Hot Milk" at our house!

All About Ty

Wednesday night, Ty tried out for a competition basketball team in West Haven. This team is called the Utah Heat and its coached by Eliot Reynolds, former WSU women's coach. You could tell all week she was excited and nervous. When the coach had all the kids gather around him, he introduced himself and asked who was nervous and Ty's hand shot up! He told her to not be nervous, just go out and have fun. He split the 4th grade girls and boys off into a group of their own while all the older kids went with other coaches.

Ty worked her butt off! She was focused, didnt screw around, and had fun while she was out there. She was so funny... she made a basket during one of her drills and it was when the coach wasnt looking so she ran right up and told him she made it!

She was so happy to have the support she did... Bryan, Drew, Aunt Heather, and I were there cheering her on.

We got word last night that she made the team. Practices start in 2 weeks and the season runs through Dec. Yay for Ty!

Yesterday we went back to PCMC to meet with her ENT. First a resident came in to talk to her, see what was going on, etc. It was a different one from who we saw a couple weeks ago. He kinda looked at her, joked with her, and then said he had to get "the boss".

Dr Muntz came in and we talked. He said it could be 1 of 2 things... that the saliva gland (the little bit thats left) is still working and b/c there isnt enough of it, its causing infection. The other thing is that it could be lymph nodes and not the gland. He is confused b/c where she swelled up was in 2 places and it is evidence of both things, gland and nodes.

A couple months back when Ty was in a car accident she had to have an MRI done. He wants to get a copy of that to see if he can see that area of her head/neck to determine whats going on in there without surgery. If it doesnt show what he wants, then we will go back down there and get another MRI with contrast done. Depending on the results, she may have to have another saliva gland surgery to remove the remaining gland. If its the lymph nodes, he said that they could be upset still from the surgery and he would like to just treat her with antibiotics 2-3 more times before surgically removing them.

Ty told me last night that she trusts Dr Muntz and whatever he says we need to do, we will do. I agree with her 100%. He shared with me that he is frustrated b/c he fully expected the surgery in Feb to take care of this problem. He doesnt want her quality of life to deteriorate b/c of this. He doesnt want her to miss school anymore... especially where this last flare up lasted her almost a week in pain, 5 days is a long time to miss if school was in session so he said that we need to move quickly and really think about whats going to be best in the long run.

My job today is to track down the MRI and get it off to him so I can call him next week and see what our next steps are. Keep her in your prayers!

Erwin-Williams Updates

I have been terrible about blogging lately… I have been busy at work, busy at nights, there just hasn’t been time!

Here are a couple of updates:

The Raptors are almost done with their season… it’s been fun. I love the people we sit around, they are family to us. We got our seats again for next year, but that wont change that fact that some tears will be shed at the last game. I want to blame it only on Ty, but sometimes I get weepy too! LOL

Bryan and I are going on our first “alone” vacation. Everywhere we have been has been with kids… and this weekend we are going to Vegas for a soccer tournament; however no kids will be staying with us. I am so excited!!!

Next weekend we are going to Moab, again just the two of us! Yay! His birthday is September 11 and I have a gift certificate for a hotel that has to be used before the end of the year so we are going to spend the weekend in Moab and do a sunset jet boat tour with cowboy dinner. Moab is one of my fav places and I am excited to hang out there with my honey and celebrate his birthday and our anniversary. We are coming up on our year … and it’s been an amazing year. Parts of me feel like it’s been so much longer than that b/c we just fit together so well. It’s been a great ride and I look forward for many (well… 19!!) more years to come!

The following weekend (our actual anniversary) we have all the kids so I am thinking we will take them out to dinner and celebrate being a family. Taylor has been on opposite weekends this whole time so rarely did the kids get to be together. Starting this month he will be switched so everytime we have him, it will be when my kids are home. They need that... how can they be siblings if they never see each other?

The kids started school last week… they both are enjoying it. Ty has her first little crush and he likes her back… Drew is following some girl around the playground, “but I don’t like her mom, she’s a girl”. LOL- here we go! (


Ty was asked last week to try out for a competitive basketball team that is going to be coached by a former WSU women’s coach. The tryouts are tonight… she is a little nervous but very excited. She loves basketball!! Good luck sis!

and the wait continues...

I ended up taking Ty down to PCMC yesterday. I couldnt get a hold of her dr and ended up having them page the resident on call. I didnt know what else to do and was at my wits end.

The Dr I spoke with was very nice... said that was odd for her to swell up and wanted her to be seen but the ENT dr's werent in clinic. He told me to bring her down to the ER and we'd meet him there.

On the way down our regular Dr's nurse called me and said he called her and told her some different things to do and I told her that we were already heading down there and we were meeting with the resident. She called the Dr back and he said that was a good idea. Right when I got off the phone with her, the resident called back and said he spoke with Dr Muntz and he wanted us to meet the resident in the clinic so we didnt have the wait or the expense. Sounds good to me!

Within 5 minutes of us getting there the Dr came in... looked at her, had her do some facial excersises, etc. He said that the little bit (less than 25%) they had to leave due to where is sat with the nerves didnt shrivel up and die, but instead is trying to work and now has an infection. He wants her on meds for 10 days and then back to see the surgeon in 2 wks and we will see then what he wants to do.

The whole thing is odd... I still dont ever hear of this and of course it's my daughter who has the problem... so I guess nothing should suprise me. I am wondering if he is going to want to go back in and remove the remainder of the gland, but I guess we will cross that bridge when we get there.

Huh?

I got a phone call on Saturday morning that started out "Mom, my lump is back on my neck."

This was a call from my 9 yr old who was spending the weekend at her dad's. Immediatly I think she means the left saliva gland has an infection b/c 6 months ago we had the right gland removed. I start rattling off things she needs to do, warm compress... tylenol, decongestant, etc. "Mom, did you hear me? My lump is back... how can I have a lump where there is no gland???" HUH??? Oh, she meant on the right side. Uh, well... I dont know. I told her to keep doing those things and I'd look at it when she got home Sunday night and if needed, I'll call the Dr on Monday morning.

I didnt hear back from them all weekend and honestly I forgot about it. When I went to pick her up last night, she was so swollen. She said the swelling was getting worse but nothing was coming out through the duct (although I am not sure if she has a duct anymore). We drew a line around it so I would know if its getting bigger or not, gave her some medicine, and but her to bed... only to hear her moaning all night. Poor thing.

This morning she woke up and had a hissy fit from hell. She did this "I'm in pain and your not helping" dance around the kitchen. I felt terrible... all I could do was give her more Tylenol and pray.

I am going to call the ENT at Primary Children's first thing this morning... this doesnt make sense to me. Did they not get all the gland during surgery? Does it grow back? What can we do?

Keep little Ty in your prayers... I hate to see her like this and I know she is so frustrated b/c she thought she didnt have to deal with it anymore.

What a great weekend!

I got a 4 day weekend for my birthday… Ok, I got one day off for my birthday, one day off for Independence Day, and then my normal weekend; however we celebrated all weekend long. I will have to update this when I get home to post some pictures of our fun.

Thursday, my 31st birthday:
My mother-in-law had surgery to repair her broken arm. We spent a lot of the day at the hospital. Things went well and hopefully she is on the mend. The kids went with Nate so Bryan and I went to dinner at Iggy’s with my parents and then shopping after.

Friday:
I went to get pampered. I got my nails done and a very cute pedicure. Bryan waited at home for the window tinters and Comcast to come. Then we went to Layton to get his ears gauged, or the start of his ears being gauged. No worries… they are going to be tiny, although last night he told Ty when they are done she can put his fist through them. Not sure if she believes him or not! LOL!

Then we went to SLC to stay in a hotel for the night. The room we had was beautiful (Thanks Liesl!) and my parents got a room too. We started our evening in the hotel bar and the bartender gave us some yummy appetizers on the house. Then a quick walk down to PF Chang’s where we met my friends and then to the piano bar. Thanks to Blake and Heather for the TrueBlood Season 1 and to Jenn for the gift certificate for a massage!

Saturday, July 4th:
We got home from SLC about 10am and forgot about the North Ogden Parade. We couldn’t get home so had to park at Blake’s and Bryan hopped the fence and walked home to get our chairs so we could head up to Snow Basin. It’s a family tradition. A BBQ and the Kap Brothers. It ended up being a very nice time.

My MIL’s birthday is the 4th so we went to their house for a BBQ dinner and chocolate cake shots. Yum! We ended up staying over at my BIL’s house that night ( there were A LOT of chocolate cake shots going on).

Sunday:
I dropped Wrigley-pigley off to get her hair cut. Boy, did she need it. She is a new dog now. I went to church for the first time in 3 weeks. I had a great time in CA and in Moab, but I really missed going to worship. It was a beautiful way to spend my morning. When I got home, Bryan took me to the movies. We saw “ My Sister’s Keeper”. I read the book, Jodie Picolut is one of my favorite authors. The movie was good… but very sad. I think anything cancer related hits me hard. Seeing those bald chemo heads reminded me so much of what my mom went through the past year. By the end of the movie, I had tears streaming down my face however I was not as bad as the hysterical lady in front of us who was snorting and gagging and all sorts of worked up. After the movie, Bryan and I went to TGIFridays for dinner.

At 7pm we met Nate to get the kids and stopped at Zeppe’s. The kids had a great weekend. They spend a lot of time with their aunts/uncles/cousins.

They start Vacation Bible School tonight at Elim Lutheran and they are looking forward to it. We have another week-long home stand at the Raptors starting tomorrow and I think we may go to Park City on Sunday. Summer is busy in the Erwin-Williams household, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Moab 2009

We just got home from what will be my first of three Moab trips this year. We went to Moab to do the Raft for the Cure event. It was a full day of rafting down the Colorado then a BBQ back on Main street with a silent auction and a concert. We had a blast!


I decided to take the family on a Hummer Tour up Hell's Revenge so I bought my parents their tickets for Mother's/Father's day this year. They all loved it!!





I dont have the rafting pictures yet (they were on a disposable camera). My mom was interviewed for their video so as soon as I find it, I'll try to link it. We had a great trip. Drew wanted to move there so he could live by the dinosaur prints. This will for sure make this an annual outing!

Take me out to the ballgame...

Last night was the opening game for the 2009 season of the Ogden Raptors. This will be our 3rd year of being season ticket holders. There is nothing quite like kicking back at the ball park, beer in hand, with a bunch of fun people sitting around you. In addition to the folks in our row and the row in front of us that we know, my sister and her boys and my friend Blake have all joined us this year. Section E is the place to be!!

Last night they called Drew’s name to run the bases with Oggie. He was so stinkin’ excited! He told me he was going to have super sonic fast feet and was going to beat him! Although Drew missed 1st and 2nd base and almost tripped Oggie over 3rd, he made it home first and got an Ogden Raptors hat that he wore all night.

They ended up losing to Orem, but fun was still had by all.