Annie's Trip to the ER

After having a terrible night (awake and screaming in pain till 3:00 am) we went to get Annie up in the morning and noticed her right knee looked horribly deformed. We sent Molly and Lexie to church with our friends and took Annie to the Emergency Room. They did a quick x-ray which showed that her kneecap had been dislocated. They popped it back into place, gave us a prescription for a knee stabilizing brace, and sent us on our way. What we finally have realized, is that the snapping we've been feeling in her knee for several months, has actually been her kneecap snapping in and out of place every time we've gone to bend her knee.

We tried to get the knee brace on Monday, but since Annie has such skinny legs, they have to custom make one for her. We also need to see the orthopedist about this issue, but won't go until Thursday. Until then we are trying to just keep her knee bent so we don't have to risk another dislocation or more trauma and pain to her knee.

Annie's Going for a Sleep Study

Justin took Annie to the hospital for her over-night sleep study tonight. We've known Annie has sleep apnea for several years now, but never worried about it. But then at our last Aicardi Family Conference a year ago, we heard families tell us how much more alert and responsive their daughters have become after resolving sleep apnea issues. So we decided to finally have Annie tested. We're excited to see if solving her sleep apnea issues can improve her quality of life and help her be more alert and happy during the day with fewer naps at school.

Our Trip to Utah

What a great trip! We were gone for 16 days, 2 of which were spent in the car making the 14 hour drive to and from Omaha. First we visited Justin's parents in Draper. The girls had a lot of fun playing with cousins Addy and Lydia.

With them we went to Snowbird and hiked, rode the tram, the alpine slide, and the zip line. There was also a great playground with adapted swings for Annie! Unfortunately, Justin went way too fast on the alpine slide with Molly and they flipped their sled going around a corner, fell out of the sled, and slid down the track. Next time, no racing, Dad!

This is how Molly "hiked" most of the time.

Annie loved the adapted swing!

Molly was a little frightened after flipping off the sled!

We also went to Thanksgiving Point and saw lots of animals at the petting zoo. Lexie wasn't too sure about the goats.

But Molly loved the pony rides.

Then we headed up to Bountiful to spend time at Jodi's parents' house. The kids played in the kiddie pool and on the slip-n-slide.

Then we went to Zion's National Park for the Oldroyd Family Reunion. Jodi's parents rented a house for all 22 of us to stay in at Zion Ponderosa Resort. We played at the resort, swam, frisbee-golfed, and played lots of games. We also spent a full day in Zion's National Park hiking and sight-seeing.

The pool at the resort was a little chilly for Annie, so she enjoyed hanging out in the shade.

All 22 of us in one house! We had a great time!

We spent one day in Zion's National Park hiking. This one trail was actually handicap accessible, but we aren't sure who determined that. It took 2 people to push Annie and her 80 lb wheelchair up some of the hills! But it was beautiful and we were glad Annie got to experience it.

Justin is the pro-frisbee-golfer!

Fortunately, Annie had a great trip too. She stayed healthy the entire time, except for a few vomiting episodes, but that's pretty normal.

Molly and Lexie loved riding in the bike trailer.

Then we drove back to Bountiful to rest for a day before trekking back to Nebraska. It was a great trip and we loved seeing so many family members! We got home to Omaha at 10:30pm Sunday night to a basement FULL of crickets! We occasionally get a couple in our house, but I guess after being gone for 16 days they multiplied quickly! We (Justin) spent 30 minutes picking all them up and putting them in the toilet. This picture only shows maybe three-quarters of all the crickets we caught. Shocking. Now we're going to call our home warranty company to come out and make sure our house is sealed properly! (I promise to never again post a picture of a toilet).