Cassidy's Surgery

Just a quick update on my Cassidy. She and I drove down to Primary Children's on Monday. And I just have to note that for the first time I did not get lost trying to get back on the Highway - anyone who knows my sense of direction knows that this is an accomplishment! The real news for this post however is that they have decided to schedule the surgery. (for those that don't know Cassidy has a common chest deformity - well two actually - Pectus Excavatum and Pectus Carinatum) We have known that this was coming for probably 5 or 6 years. I however kept hoping that they would say that they had discovered a new non-invasive pain-free treatment. Well that didn't happen! When we went for her check up about 1 1/2 years ago Dr. Meyers said she wanted to see Cass back when she had a growth spurt and then talk about scheduling. A couple weeks ago Cass was visiting me at work along with several other kids and Barry. Barry was busy weighing and measuring the kids just for fun and he let me know that Cassidy had grown 2 1/2 inches since January. I called Primary's and they said that is considered a growth spurt and that we should bring her back. Dr. Meyers only sees patients two Mondays a month so we had a short wait but Monday the 20th was her day.

I get nervous about traffic and being late so we left early and got there almost 2 hours early only to discover that the Dr. was running late anyway so we still waited for forever to see her. It was kind of funny actually because we went up to her office and let her know we were there - early. We asked if we should find something to do of if we could possibly be seen before our 11:40 appointment. Since it was only about 10 they were like of course we'll see her before then but the Dr. has been in surgery and is running about an hour and 45 minutes behind. The lady behind me pips up and says "but is she running late for all the appointments this morning?" The receptionist looked from me to the lady and back again and says, "well since she is in surgery then yes". I guess the other was just hoping I was disliked or something. We ended up seeing her about 12:30! But we went down and had lunch and stuff and time went a little faster then it could have. Next time we will be sure and bring a book to read!

Any way Dr. Meyers looked at Cass and showed us the pictures from last time. I have been able to see her chest growing deeper but I was surprised to see how much worse it looked then lst time. She explained that since Cass has the most rare form of the defect and that actual bone is involved and not just cartilage that she really needs to have it corrected. She said she wanted it done this year. I was like - oh so sometime before next September? and She just looked at me and said "um, THIS year". I was like oh 2010! So since Cass has 2 weeks off from school in December and my doctor will be gone the 1-9 making it easy for me to be out of the office - the surgery will be the first week of December. We won't know the day until of October and the exact time not until the night before - WOW. They anticipate about 4 hours of surgery and then about 1 week hospital stay. She cannot go to school for at least 2 weeks after that - they said the first 2 months are pretty difficult but then we should see improvement. She will be on activity restriction for 6 months due to the idea that if she is falls on or is hit on the chest her ribs will penetrate her hear or lungs - um that doesn't sound great. So as scary as it is it will be good in the end. Keep her in your prayers come December - she will need all that she can get - (and her mom too!). We'll let you know changes as we get them.

Whoa two posts in less then 24 hours - I am on a roll!

This is a picture of several of the Holman Grandkids when we went to Utah (about a year ago) to see Bryan be given the role of Major in the Army - pretty cool and a pretty cute bunch of kids!

This is Stetson (I believe at State) taking down an opponent - yes he is the one in blue and no the other guy does not look comfortable!
Barry and Amy at the Graduation - Barry w/ Associates and Amy w/ Masters! Congrats you guys!
Barry and I at Graduation - it was so hot already - it was only like 10 am and already almost 100 degrees - Man i love Idaho in the summer. Congrats Barry I love you!

Well for some reason it won't let me load more then 5 pics to this post so there might be more to come but don't hold your breath!

So I suck at Blogging!

Ok so it's been a really long time again! But I swear I will get better at this!@#%$&

I love blogs - meaning other people's blogs - I even look at blogs of people that I don't really know! Its so fun to look at family and friends blogs and see what they have been up to and what the family is doing and I get frustrated when someone doesn't up date their blog - (yeah yeah i know). So I am going to make a goal of updating once a month. I need to get some pictures up but we have been so bad this summer about taking pictures. It seems that both Barry and I always forget to take the camera or if we remember we just don't get it out - not sure what the deal is on that one but like I said I am going to try and do better.

So summer is somehow over already - I have no idea what happened to it! I love summer - I love camping with Barry and the kids, I love the warm weather, I love cooking on the grill, I love my flower garden, I love the sunshine!, really I love pretty much everything about summer and I am so so sad that it is coming to an end. We had some great camp-outs this summer - of course we went to Pack Saddle Lake as always - the kids love that one. We went to Crystal Hot Springs in Utah - fun water slides! We went to Rock Creek Girls Camp where my parents are currently serving their 2nd mission (have I ever mentioned what awesome parents i have?) Generally we go camping over Labor Day but that is still up in the air. And we have one more the 2nd weekend in September back at Rock Creek for a Brown family reunion which I am so excited about. Did I mention that we drove all the kids to Arizona in May for Barry and his sister Amy's Graduation from University of Phoenix - lets just say 7 kids in the suburban without air conditioning = no fun! Ok so the trip was fun but the ride home sucked!

Starting tomorrow the kids will all be back in school again. (Wow the summer went by fast!) Sugar started last Wednesday and Ucon starts tomorrow. Stetson is a Junior this year (holy cow he is getting old - wait what does that say about Barry and I?) He is with us again this year for school and i love that. I'm not sure if Stetson really knows how much I love him and enjoy having him live with us. Not sure how to express that to a teenager. He is a great kid though and even though there are frustrations with being a step-parent to a teenager I really do enjoy having him around. Justin is Freshman this year and is back at Bonneville. We sure enjoyed having him last year. It must be hard to have to figure out which parent you want to live with. I am sure glad that my parents are still married to each other. It was fun to get to know Justin a little better during the last semester last year and I miss having him around - maybe next year?

Cassidy is in 7th grade and in her first year at Jr. High - thats crazy! I can't believe how fast she is growing up (yes i do think that about all of them!) She is really becoming a young woman. I went to a Fireside at the church with her tonight and it was fun to sit with her. Cassidy has an appointment with Dr. Meyers at Primary Children's on September 20th. We will see what they say about her surgery. They said a year and a half ago that when she has a growth spurt they want her back to talk about scheduling and she has grown 21/2 inches since January - so we'll see what they say - (I'll keep that updated for sure!) Hayden is in 6th grade this year and living with us during the school year for the first time. The first week of school has been great and I am super thrilled that he is here with us. I must admit that I have some empathy for Judy over it - (I guess it's a mom thing) but I am so excited for Barry and also super excited to have him here. Hayden is a great kid and I am looking forward to getting to know him even better. Ammon is in the 5th grade this year and I am sad to say is living in Texas with his dad for the next year. It's funny how sometimes the Spirit prompts you to do something that you don't want to do. I miss him everyday. I love that boy so much. Every year I think "Wow I can't believe it's December all ready where did the year go?" and I am super hoping that the same thing happens this year because just after Christmas is when i get to see him again. I love you buddy and miss you! Lets see whos next? Oh yeah Treyton - He is also in the 5th grade and with him Mom in Ucon for the school year. It was fun to have him here during the summer. I love that we got so much time with the 3 littler Holman's this year. I really truly love Barry's children - our children. Rachel is in 3rd grade this year and was super excited to start school. Savannah is also in 3rd grade and its fun to see two of them starting to become friends. This summer we saw more of that then we have in the past so I am happy for that. Kerri is our caboose and is in Kindergarten this year. We decided to have her repeat to help with reading skills - kindergarten is not my favorite grade.

So thats a short update on the kids. What can I tell you about Barry and I? We just celebrated our 3rd anniversary in July. Seems a little crazy to think we have only been married for 3 years and yet we have all these kids - whatever- thats our life! Our three years have been busy, crazy, and don't seem to be slowing down. In 3 years Barry and I have both gotten our Associates Degree's, we are both working full-time, we have 9 kids, oh the stories i could tell!! However I must say that despite any trials and difficulty we have faced I am so glad that I married Barry Holman. I love him so deeply. He is such a good husband and father. He takes great care of our children and myself. I know that I am loved and that is so important. Sometimes I get caught up in the trials of earth life and I forget that this really is such a short time in the eternal realm of things. I hope I am pleasing my Father in Heaven. I hope I am the wife I want to be. I love being a mother and have been amazed at the love I feel for all of our children.

Wow this post is getting a little long so I'll end here - Hopefully i'll post again soon and meet my goal of at least once a month - Thanks to all who look at this and thanks for letting me have a peek at all of your lives through your blogs! Love you - Karin

It's Been A While....

So it's been a very long time since I posted anything and since I am doing this one from work you'll have to wait for pics but there will be some coming......eventually.
Let me see if I can do a quick run down on each of the kids -

Stetson -
Stetson took 3rd at District and 4th at State Wrestling. I had never been to state before and it was really fun to watch. He wrestled hard and "tough" as Barry would say and although it was anxiety provoking to watch and not be able to help I totally enjoyed it. Bryce was an awesome support for Stetson during wrestling and it was almost as much fun to watch him and Barry as it was to watch the wrestling match. He also took 1st at the first free-style tournament and 4th at the big one in Pocatello last weekend. Stetson is also just a few months away from being 16 and that means we will be experiencing dating life through the eyes of a teenager for the first time - that should be interesting - I'll keep you posted on that.

Justin -
Justin has been living with us for the past week. He is here for the last semester of school which hopefully should make his summer here more fun. There really has been zero transition with this change - he has been so easy to live with. Justin is also doing free-style and is pretty awesome at it. Justin took 1st twice at his first tournament and I think 4th at the big Rumble in Pocatello this past weekend. I have heard from several people that the girls at school think Justin is "cute" - so thats should be fun for him.

Cassidy -
Cass turned 12 in December and so has entered into the realm of youngwomanhood. She got to do baptisms for the dead for the first time the other night and really enjoyed that. It has been fun to see her growing up and wanting to experience things like that. My mom was one of my best friends when i was growing up and the one I always wanted to talk to - I hope its the same for Cass and I. Cass is getting ready to graduate from the DARE program and she scary enough she will be in Jr. High next year - where does time go?

Hayden -
Hayden is going to be 12 later this year and so he got to go to the priesthood preview with Barry. It is exciting to think about having another priesthood holder in our family - I was not prepared for the amount of pride I have when I watch the boys pass the sacrament. For the past little while Hayden has had what I consider "surfer-boy" hair. Its fun to see thier different personslities and what they think is "cool". Hayden has officially decided he doesn't enjoy wrestling so it will be intesting to see what his nitch is. I must say he is pretty pro at a rubix cube which is something I have never been able to figure out. You can request any color or combo of colors on any given side and within seconds he will have it.

Ammon -
Ammon is once more back into wrestling this year with free-style. His goal is to stay in long enough to get new shoes! He seems to be enjoying it more this year and has done well in his first couple of matches. This week Ammon was invited over to his friends house to help get rid of a mice infestation in the back yard. Imagine his excitment when he was told to bring a BB gun to get rid of them with - oh yeah- the most fun he's had in a while. He is most definetly all boy! And what is it with these boys and long hair? Ammon's hair now covers his ears and is pretty shaggy but he likes it - whats a mom to do? Whats wrong with a good "missionary" haircut?

Treyton -
Treyton is wrestling also and it has been fun to see him a couple of extra times a week as he has been coming to practice with Barry. Its been good for him and Ammon to be able to work together. Treyton has also had long hair for a while now too but just recently got a haircut - man he looks good. The first time I saw him after he got it I had to look twice to know who he was! Treyton has some pretty serious cleaning skills when you can get him to put them to work and will work with you all day - just a hint to any of you out there who might need some help around the house.

Rachel -
Rachel turned 8 in September and was baptized in January. It was fun to see her all dressed in white and making decisions that will benefit her for eternity. She is one of the sweetest little girls I have ever met. She has loved animals ever since she was a tiny little thing. Rachel is a great little reader and i am continually amazed at how fun it is to see your kids learn new things. Rachel had her four front teeth pulled a couple of years ago and it has taken a long time for them to come back in. She won't be toothless for long though because she only has one empty spot left.

Savannah -
Savannah will be turning 8 in May and can hardly wait to be baptized. I think she has mentioned it at least a dozen times everytime I've seen her for the past several months. She has been planning her birthday party for over a year so it might be interesting to see what happens with that. Savannah is a girly girl who loves clothes, shoes, and shopping - it will be fun when all three little girls are teenager together - can you even imagine?

Kerri -
Kerri is our last kindergartner ever! This year all our kids were officially in school. How crazy is that - our family is growing up. Kerri is a funny little thing and comes up with the most random questions and statements. Lately she has been a little monkey and always wants to be on the cupboard or swinging on doors. She is excited for summer to get here so she can get her bike out and ride again - she lost her training wheels last year and is anxious to see if she can still ride without them.

Barry and I -
Barry and I are still teaching primary together (5 year olds- Kerri's class). I enjoy teaching with him so very much! He is awesome with the kids and they all love him - I was writing that about our primary kids but realized the same is true with our family. I could not ask for a better father for our children. He loves them! He takes good care of our family and is always doing something to make my life easier. A few months ago he put shelves above the new washer and dryer - that has been awesome and just recently he added a big shelf in the bathroom - yeah more room for girl stuff! I have such an awesome husband- I love him so much.
Life is not without challenge of course - lately I have been wondering if we all really agreed to what we experience in this life. I am assured that we did and that because we understood what earth life was really all about we also knew it would all be worth it. Wouldn't you like to meet that person you were in the pre-exsistance? To see, really see, who you are and what you are capable of? I think that would be a super interesting experience. Things are pretty good though I have a good job - one that i enjoy - and a great boss who purchased tickets for his employees and their spouses for an Eagles concert in May. That should be tons of fun expecially since I have never actually been to a concert before. A few up on campus but i'm not sure those count!
Well lunch is over and I need to get back to work - I promise to get pics up soon - well sometime anyway - thanks for reading our blog and caring about our family - hope you all have a great day!

I forgot to mention that we have a dog! The kids and I have been working on Barry for years to get one and he finally gave in. She is a mini pinscher that we adopted from the humane society. Her name is Lizzy and we just love her. The kids are all great about helping and playing with her. They are trying to teach her tricks and fun stuff like that. Stetson thinks she might be part kangaroo because she can jump so high. She is pretty much kennel trained already and potty trained so the hard work was done for us and we just get to enjoy her. She is about 7 months old and the perfect fit for our family - Thanks Barry!

My Cute Family

About the middle of November our sister-in-law Brit took some pics of our family - here is what we are planning on using for our Christmas pic - Man we have cute kids! I'm pretty sure it isn't the easiest thing in the world to get everyone looking at the same time - looking and smiling is appears to be pretty near impossible - oh well it's still cute - I'm a lucky woman!