Preschool Graduation

After two years of preschool, Brielle has officially graduated!  Her program was this month and they performed some really cute songs and received a portfolio of the activities they did and art projects they made.  Brielle was really excited to look through that and have two preschool binders just like Emma had.  It's kind of sad to see them grow up and weird to think they will be starting Kindergarten in the fall. How time flies!

Brielle's Dance Recital

It was Brielle's first dance recital!  She danced to "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast (hence the tray of food she is posing with).  She also danced to "Teddy Bear" from Elvis (the boy in her class was Elvis and his grandma made him an amazing costume!)  Brielle loved getting her hair and makeup done.  She was looking forward to getting flowers after the recital and I think she enjoyed the experience until the last day.  They had performed at a dress rehearsal, an evening recital and an afternoon recital.  She was tired and didn't want to stay for the final number.  We talked her into staying, but as I went up to get her from the stage, she kept moving away from me and started to look nervous that no one had picked her up yet.  When I finally reached her, she was scared & frustrated and told me she didn't want to do dance again.  So, I guess this will was her first and only dance recital!

More of May

Mother's Day! I talked my girls into taking pictures with me since it was Mother's day and you can see they turned out a little silly.  However, I look at their beautiful faces and I feel so much gratitude for the chance I have to be their mom.  I keep praying they will turn out okay with all of the mistakes I make!  It is a tricky task....this relationship with daughters.  I know my relationship with my mom was tough at times because I was the only girl.  We have a great relationship now, but we had our share of fighting when I was a teenager.  I fully expect to have drama with my daughters!  Right now I will just enjoy these days we have fun together!

My hero...Dr William Hutson

I love this man! I get teary-eyed just looking at this picture of him. No, I am not talking about Nick (although I am in love with him). I'm talking about the man in the middle of us. Dr William Hutson (aka Fabio)--the man who said to me "there is no way in h***, I'm going to let a thirty year old stud die of liver failure"! When I first met Dr Hutson, he was approaching me in Nick's hospital room after Nick's liver biopsy/internal bleeding started.  He explained the biopsy of Nick's liver showed so much inflammation (hence the internal bleeding) that he needed a liver transplant. This moment was huge to me. Not only was I watching doctor's rush into the room because Nick's blood pressure and heart rate was dropping and they were running him to the ICU, but Dr Hutson is telling me Nick needs a liver transplant.  Until that moment, I still had hope that they could figure out what was going on with his liver and give him a special medication to make it better instead of putting him through major surgery.  Suddenly, my hope was smashed. That was a Wednesday. On Thursday, doctor's were telling me the next 6-12 hours were crucial because Nick had lost a lot of blood and they weren't sure about his brain function. On Friday, came the above statement from Dr Hutson as he explained Nick was being put on the Liver Transplant list as a Status One, which meant he was first to receive the next liver available in the surrounding five states. Dr Hutson was the one who called me the next morning (16 hours later) and told me that they had a liver for Nick. Dr Hutson was the one that managed his medication and liver function numbers after his transplant.  Dr Hutson was the main one we saw when Nick went in for follow up appointments after being released the hospital.  He would walk into the exam room and give Nick a wet willie! He would put his arm around me and ask how I was doing. He would cuss like crazy, but it was never offensive to me...it just made him personable and sincere. He was encouraging and funny.  He was extremely smart and humble.
Fast forward three years.  Nick received a letter inviting him to join the University of Utah's celebration of the first 100 transplants.  So we invited Nick's parents to come down with us to eat dinner and listen to their presentation.  We didn't realize until about halfway through their program that not only was this a celebration of their program's first 100 liver transplants, but also a goodbye/thank-you program for Dr Hutson.  He was leaving the U to move back east to be closer to his daughter. I almost burst out in tears! He got choked up himself when he got up to speak about leaving the U.  He had been there since 2006, he had started the liver transplant program as the lone hepatologist, and he personally knew each one of the 102 liver recipients. He knew each one of their stories. He had been the only hepatologist on-call for these liver recipients every day for at least 2-3 years.  But now he needed to be close to his daughter.  After the presentation there was a big line to go and talk with him. Nick had a follow-up appointment scheduled for two weeks away, but Dr Hutson was going to be gone by then. So, we went and said our good-bye's.  I really did get teary-eyed. I will miss seeing him and hearing about him.  This amazing doctor saved my husband's life and he will be missed tremendously.

Fieldtrips

The last field trip for Brielle this year was to the Ogden Nature Center.  The excitement started of early as we walked in and immediately saw three turkeys walking around the gift shop. When the kids tried to get near them, they would gobble like crazy and the kids thought it was hilarious! First, the kids made binoculars so they could spot the birds around the Nature Center. Then, we walked around the trails, went to some lookout points and also went through the "mouse hole". It was a lot of walking for the kids, but they thought it was fun. I think we'll have to go back this summer!
Emma's field trip this spring was to the Environmental Center. Nick was one of the lucky parents that got to go! (They honestly had to have a drawing in Emma's class to see which six of the 19 parents would get to go--we were on pins and needles all day!) Anyway, Nick traveled on the bus with them first thing in the morning. When they reached the Environmental Center, they divided into groups and Nick was in charge of five 2nd graders. They did four rotations that included a treasure hunt, archery, a hike and looking at things through a magnifying glass.  There was one mishap when Emma ran into a tree during the hike which Nick said was kind of funny, but he didn't tell Emma that.  She was just so excited that Nick got to go with them and I know he had a fun time helping them with their activities!