Foxpharm

Foxpharm
We are a crazy happy family. We love our three busy boys and our sweet little girl, and we try to play as much as possible.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Kindergarden for Rulon

Rulon was super excited to go to his school today for a one on one meeting with his teacher Mrs. Smiley!  He will be attending Scera park Elementary starting the 1st of September.
Waiting for his turn with Mrs. Smiley.  Mads wanted to give a little moral support so he tagged along.  To be honest he crumpled into a pile of crocodile tears when we tried to leave the house without him!
Rulon and Mrs. Smiley!!
Rulon was pretty excited about the play area just for Kindergarden students.
He and Mads had to test it out.
It was a good morning!

Friday, August 20, 2010

The Future's so Bright...

You gotta wear shades!!

Yup, Mina has her first pair of sunglasses.  Could she be ANY CUTER?!?!
  We spent several hours at Primary Children's this morning.  We owe a huge thank you to Keith for taking care of the boys all day!!  They got ice cream, at the mall and played on the Dinosaur bones and he made them lunch and had them down for naps when we got home.  Um, can I keep him?!?!
  Here's the summary of the appointment:
*Love Dr. Hoffman, very knowledgeable and clear about everything
*Confirmed diagnosis of Aniridia
*Very good prognosis for maintaining good vision due to her healthy retinas, lenses, optic nerves, eye pressure...
*Very good sign that she has not developed Nystagmus (shaky eyes) by this point.  It usually sets in by age 2 months.
*Essential to have her eyes checked every 2 to 3 months (wow) to check for glaucoma or cataracts which are very common with Aniridia.
*Essential to have kidney screenings for the Wilmes tumor every 3 to 6 months at the longest through age 5.
*In the event that she develops the tumor we would be referred to oncology for treatment which could include surgery, medication and/or a form of chemotherapy.
*20% of those with Aniridia develop kidney tumor(s).
*Essential to have "real" genetic testing and gene mapping done for her and not to rely on the free research based testing for which we have already signed up.
*Will be setting up an appt. with Prim Chdrns genetic counselling on Monday after a referral is in place, apparently they are hard to get into, super.
*Sunglasses ARE a good idea for her starting NOW.
*Any kinds of surgical reparations of the irides (plural for iris) are not even on the radar until she is an adult.
*There are contact lenses available that have an iris on them to make her eyes look normal... good to know for when she gets older!!!
*There is a partner of Dr. Hoffman's who comes to Orem twice a month who we can see instead of going to SLC every few months.  Dr. Hoffman said "he is fabulous or he would not be working with me." We are scheduled with him, Dr. Larsen, on Oct. 12th for her next appointment.
*I'm tired.

So that's it in a nutshell, for now.  We are sooooooooooooo blessed to have the priesthood in our home. Mina received a wonderful blessing a while ago promising that her little body will be strong and able to tolerate any tests and procedures that she will have to undergo AND that in a timely manner her body will be healthy and she will have full use of all her faculties. So we just have to learn all we can and follow sound medical advice so we don't drop the ball on our end! Sounds easy! :)

Thanks for all your prayers for our little Mina, she sure is an angel in our home!!!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Bridal Veil Falls

We finally had a really beautiful day following sooo much rain... so we went up to Bridal Veil falls to enjoy the hot sun and COLD water!! Melissa and her kids were the master minds behind the excursion and we are sooo glad they had such a great idea!  Even Mina ventured out with us... well, mostly she just slept with her head snuggled into my chest.
Rulon was the first to brave the cold water.  It was "no big deal mom!"
Mads mostly smeared dirt all over himself and threw rocks.
Chester came up for a little while before heading to Sundance for some biking.
This is a favorite spot for the kids.  They play all kinds of games on that old stump.  This time they were feeding sharks... apparently the sharks eat sticks and rocks, better than eating small children I guess.
Melissa is the cutest pregnant girl ever!! She is such a Wonder Woman with all the things she does with all 4 kids and carrying #5!! I love my sister!!!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Rainy Day FUN!

Chester told the boys they could go for a quick bike ride befpre the grey clouds made good on their threats of rain... well, they did go on a bike ride, and they got SOAKED! The boys loved it like crazy.
A little shelter form the rain in the dugout at Orem High School.
Rulon is pretty good at taking pictures... he took this one of Chester & Mads.
A little clip of the mad biking skills packed in the boys genes:

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Maple Leaf Pancakes!!

This was so much fun. The boys were soooo excited to finally make our own "Canada Pancakes" and for the record Rulon likes grandma Mona's pancakes even better :) Smart kid!!!  THANKS MONA!!!