Trick and whole lot of Treats

Tonight we had a whole bunch of people to go around the neighborhood with. We were joined by the Smith's, King's, McEntire's, McNeill's, Belote's, Kiser's, Knudsen's and I think that's it. We ended up splitting so that the bigger kids were together and then the smaller kids were together. They all had a blast running door to door, fighting over who would be to the door first and who would ring the doorbell. Many of the neighbors sit on their porch to pass out candy or leave a bucket on the porch so the kids can pick it up. We decided to leave a bowl full of candy while we went out thinking that most of it would be gone by the time we got back. Actually, most of the candy was still there. There were some really honest kids who took only one or two candies.

We hope you had a Happy Halloween!!

Fall Festival

Yesterday afternoon, we joined several hundred people at our church for the Fall Festival. Jay dressed as the Incredible Hulk while Mason wore Jay's dragon/lizard/dinosaur costume from when he was one. Mason had so much fun, he passed out in the stroller. Jay enjoyed playing games, the hayride and getting tons of candy. We saw all sorts of people we knew. Garrett's parents worked the event at the Dead Head shooting game. Chris dressed the part. Jay got a picture with one of his friends Jesse and raced his friend Hannah in the bounce house. Jay won, but he had an advantage since he wasn't wearing a hoop dress. Can't wait until next year. Mason will be able to walk around and enjoy the games.

Mason: PT Evaluation

Each month, we meet with a coordinator from the child development services from our county. She monitors Mason's development and brings us material and ideas that we can try and use with Mason as he develops. We are able to bring in therapists to evaluate Mason at no cost to us whenever we feel it is needed. On Tuesday, Mason had his third evaluation. Mason is doing great right now crawling, pulling up, feeding himself, drinking with a sippy cup himself, and even standing up without holding onto anything. Unfortunately, he has figured out some of these things on his own, but they are really weird and maybe even wrong. He is beginning to form habits that could prevent him from learning to walk sooner. The physical therapist suggested this time, Mason start therapy. He needs to learn to use and bend his knees more as well as learn to shift his weight to begin taking steps. Hopefully, once we start therapy, Mason will catch on quickly.

Just keep us in your thoughts and prayers because it is another appointment added to our weekly (biweekly) routine. School is crazy and really busy this year and I know Garrett's been working a lot, so the added extra appointment in the afternoon can be tough. We will manage and do the best for both of our kids. Some weeks are crazier than others and I look back and wonder how did everything get accomplished..

Thanks for all of your support this last year with Mason. It has greatly been appreciated.