Halloween Fun

Kianna and her friend, Tory Swiggum, dressed up as twin soccer players.

Trace came too and dressed up as Batman.

We had fun carving pumpkins and eating yummy food.

Big Bad Wolf (Kaylee), Little Red Riding Hood (Hannah Spohn) and Grandma (Katie Shane)

Kaylee and I had fun making her costume. 

Pumpkins

Trick-or-Treat- Girls are soccer players and Trace is a Red Power Ranger

This year due to our crazy sports schedules, we did things a little differently. We had to divide and conquer to get in our fun events. We also added some friends to the mix. We made mummy hot dogs, roasted pumpkin seeds, and cooked dinner inside a pumpkin for another yummy meal. Who says change can't be fun?

Carpenter Farms

Trace and Mommy

Cadie, Amelia, Trace, Eli and Marlie

Mrs. Banks 1st Grade Class

I had the honor of going to Carpenter Farms with Trace's 1st grade class. We learned about how pumpkins grow, played in a corn box, had a hayride, picked our own pumpkin, played on a rope swing and played in a straw maze. Well Trace did at least, I mostly watched... We had a great time!

Big News = Big Change

Our lot

New backyard

Superheroes

Boyson Road Trail

After nearly a year of praying, we have decided to move back "home" to Cedar Rapids. We want to be closer to our families. This past week, Trevor accepted an offer back at Rockwell Collins as the Senior Director of Corporate Strategy. We feel this move has been orchestrated by God, as we did not seek it out. Several e-mails came Trevor's way and God opened the doors. We are choosing to walk through these open doors.

This decision has been a difficult one, as we have spent nearly six years in Michigan. We have made wonderful friends and had many amazing experiences. This too has become our home. I love my job and the kids love their school. It will be very hard to say goodbye.

Trevor will begin his new job on Monday, November 9th. The kids and I plan to remain in Michigan until closer to Christmas Break, or until our house sells, whichever comes first. We have decided to build a house back in Iowa. We have picked out a lot in the new Bowman Meadows subdivision on the edge of Marion and NE Cedar Rapids. The lot is perfect for our family as it is two houses away from a beautiful bike trail and approximately three blocks away from a neighborhood pool. We are in the final stages of nailing down our floor plan, so they can start digging. Our house will hopefully be finished by the beginning of April. In the meantime, my dad and Sue have graciously agreed to let us live in their house while they are in Arizona this winter. We are very blessed!

The kids will attend Isaac Newton Christian Academy once we move. We were back in Iowa last weekend, so they were able to spend the morning in their new classrooms. They each had a very positive experience, which helped ease some of their apprehension. The kids have taken the news quite well. We all are excited to be closer to family, but dread saying goodbye to our friends here. We hope they will visit us. Lots of change is in store for our family. We pray God will continue to give us peace in the days ahead and a smooth transition to Iowa.

Allergy Testing

Three years ago, I noticed that Kianna had a rash around her mouth while eating an apple. I also noticed that it went away as soon as she was finished. At that time, her pediatrician said she could keep eating apples as long as the symptoms never progressed to anything respiratory. Since that time, I have also seen her develop a rash while eating pears and peaches. In January, Kianna broke into hives, got a puffy lip and began breathing heavily after eating a kiwi and/or mango. We have not allowed her to eat these fruits since that time.

At her most recent doctor's visit, her pediatrician felt that we should have an Epi-Pen. I went to purchase an Epi-Pen and found out they cost $470.00. Ouch! I decided that I didn't want to spend the money on something that she may or may not need, so we decided it was time to get her formally tested. 

A couple weeks ago, she met with an allergy doctor and a scratch test was performed on her back. They had me purchase the fruits I was concerned about and basically stuck a tooth pick into each of the fruits and then scratched her back. They checked back in 10-15 minutes to see the results. They tested birch, peaches, pears, plums, mangoes, kiwi and apples. She reacted to all of them with the biggest reactions being to birch, kiwi, plums and peaches and milder reactions to pears, apples and mangoes. Based on the results the doctor ordered that blood tests be performed on these same fruits. The blood test revealed that she reacted the worst to kiwi, apples, peaches and plums in that order. The doctor does not want her to eat any of these fruits for the next year. At that time, he will redo the test and if her levels are lower then that indicates that she may outgrow her allergy. Unfortunately, very little research has been done on fruit allergies, so it is kind of a guessing game. Of the fruits she is allergic to kiwi is the one that can be life threatening, so is the most dangerous. The other fruits typically only 1% of the population have an anaphylactic response, most just continue to have oral symptoms. I will definitely be purchasing an Epi-Pen for peace of mind in regards to kiwi. It is good to have some answers. 

Kianna was very brave with the scratch test and blood work. Until this point in time, she has been very afraid of needles. However, she was amazing and was pretty fearless with these tests. Now that the testing is done, she is very excited to be able to eat mangoes again. She has probably had them everyday since we got the results back. Of the four fruits, apples are the most difficult to avoid.  Honestly, I'm a bit torn on whether to not let her have them since she has been eating them for 3 years without worsening symptoms. One thing is for sure, definitely no kiwi!!!

Detective Day

Trace's 1st grade class got to dress up as detectives. I think we had the cutest one for sure!

NWOYSL Festival Soccer Tournament

The girls both played in a soccer tournament located in Sylvania, Ohio this weekend. Kianna's team struggled through the tournament with a 0-3 record for the weekend. Kianna got to play goalie several times, which she really enjoyed and is hoping to keep working on.

Kaylee's team did amazing and ended up 4-0 for the weekend. They were the U11 Champions. This is the second tournament they have won. Kaylee played very hard and is a really good left side defender. She even had a shot at a goal one time and took some headers for the first time. Her soccer skills are definitely improving. Her team is really fun to watch and really solid in every position!

Camp Friedenswald 2015

Mommy and Kianna

Kianna and Tory Swiggum

Fen Hike

Callie and Kianna

Mahkaylah Fulks and Kianna

Baby Racoon

Dissecting an owl pellet

Our Cabin: Maddie, Ada, Callie, Kianna and Chloe

Chloe and Kianna

Our Silly Girl

Shipshewana

Horse and Buggy Ride

Kianna and the other 3rd graders from LCS, along with their parents and teachers got to go on a three day retreat to Camp Friedenswald in Cassopolis, MI. It is located 2.5 hours west of Adrian. It is a science camp where the kids learn about nature, the food chain, herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. We did a lot of hiking, solved some animal mysteries, made candles, sampled some edible plants, and dissected an owl pellet. In the our free time, we played ping pong together and Kianna played with her friends.

In the evening, we had a bon fire one night where they popped pop corn in a huge kettle and we sang camp songs. We also played Capture the Flag, Capture the Balls, and the Survivor game. There was amazing parent participation. I'm pretty sure the parents had as much fun as the kids, if not more. We played games until us parents could barely walk out of camp on the last day. We were so sore from all the sprinting we had been doing. Proof of our aging bodies...

We shared a cabin with our friends: Ada and Jen Marlatt, Chloe and Amy Grupp, Callie and Christi Anderson and Maddie and Rochelle Hoogeveen. The kids have fun playing cards and being silly together. Camp was an absolute blast!

On our way home, the Marlatt's carpooled with us and we stopped for a yummy lunch in Shipshewana, Indiana. Kianna was really excited to see all the amish people riding around in horse and buggies. We surprised the girls with a horse and buggy ride before heading back to Adrian. It was time well spent with my Nana Bear!