What's Up???

Hello Everybody!!
We are trying to get our trip pictures on the computer to post, but we are having some technical difficulties. Hopefully those will be resolved very soon. Life is falling back into the summer routine since returning from the land of Disney.

Mitch last Wednesday became sick and missed the rest of his hockey camp on Thursday and Friday. We finally took him to the doctor on Monday and they said he had infection in the back of his throat and a sinus infection so he is on antibiotics and seems to be showing improvement. Sadly, he was sick on his birthday Saturday. A bummer to be sick on your 15th birthday. He was also banned to the upstairs of the house when he was running the fever to try and keep him away from Allison. The medications she takes compromises her immune system so she can easily get sick and can not fight off the infections. So far, she is still healthy and doing great.

Thursday John, Allison and Jacob are going fishing with our friend Kevin and his son Nick. I am sure there will be many stories to post after this trip. Both Allison and Jacob are so excited.

While on here I will post a cute Jacob story. He was a little freaked out by the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. The other day he was talking about it and trying to tell me it was real and that he had dreamed about ghosts in it while we were at Disney. I was trying to convince him it was just pretend and not real when he said, "Mom Disneyland is the place where all your dreams come true. If you dream it there it will come true." Disneyland's theme right now is "Place of a Million Dreams," and they talk about your dreams coming true there. I then tried to tell him only good dreams not scary ones, but he was quick to point out it doesn't say that only good dreams come true! How do I fight that literal logic???? He is amazing how he puts things together sometimes.

Hope all is well with everyone and you are enjoying the warm summer days.

Great Doctor's Appointment

Allison had a great Dr. appt. today in Portland. He could find no evidence of active arthritis going on and from how she has been feeling it looks like the medication is working for her. We now are going to try to wean her off the prednisone. She is currently taking 20 mg daily and we want to try and get her down to 10 mg before her next appt. in September. Since she isn't having any joint pain or swelling we are also going to try weaning her down from the Aleve she is currently taking to give her stomach a break, if she will tolerate it. She is still taking Methotrexate and we will up her dose a bit this next week and then hold and see how it works for her until the next appt.

We will have to monitor Allison closely and watch for warning signs like break through fevers, rashes, morning stiffness and joint pain. If those begin to occur we will have to back off the tapering of her medications. It is a guess and check game with her medication right now.

At the conference we learned that 50% of Systemic JRA kids out grow this disease during the first year. Dr. Kingsbury said his experience is usually 2/3 's out grow the disease in 2 years. Our hope and prayer is that Allison would be one of those. Right now we are cautiously optimistic about her out come and how she is doing.

We so appreciate your good thoughts and prayers during the last 6 months. They have helped to get us to where we are today. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we see how Allison's body tolerates tapering from these medications that have helped to make her feel so good.

Leslie

**Allison was also thrilled because she did not have to have bloodwork today. Dr. Kingsbury wrote standing orders for her to have her bloodwork done at our local doctor's office which Allison feels most comfortable with. A blessing for her.

Home

We made it home Saturday evening and have been trying to get back into the swing of things here at home and back into a routine.  Banzai ( our dog) was thrilled upon our return, but I think he is missing all the attention he got from Allie and Kayla.  They did a great job caring for our animals and home while we were away.  We came home to a sparkling clean pool! Thanks so much girls.  

John went back to work on Monday and Mitch started hockey camp in Eugene for the week so we are making trips down and back to get him each day.  Not fun for us being in the car but he seems to be enjoying it I guess.  He was walking a little slow and stiff legged this morning and wanting Advil.  :)

We are working on organizing photos so we hope to post some very soon.  Today we head to Portland for an appointment with Dr. Kingsbury Allison's Pediatric Rheumatologist.  We are anxious to see what he says about her progress.  She is complaining of a foot "cramping" or "locking up" it has now done it several times we are hoping it is a kid thing and not a jra thing.  

We will post how her doctor visit goes tonight or tomorrow and I am sure Allison will want to post when we get some pictures up here.  :)

Leslie

Headin' Home

Hi All:
I am writing a quick post for Allison. She will write more details later. Yesterday was our last day in Disney. We spent most of the day doing those last rides and things we hadn't done, shopping and riding one more time on some favorite rides. By 11:00 we were all exhausted. Yesterday was Disneyland's 53rd birthday so it was fun to be there for the excitement.

We are packing up and getting ready to head up I-5 we are planning two long days of driving so we can get home on Saturday and have Sunday to unpack, cleanup and rest a bit before John heads back to work on Monday and Mitch starts hockey camp.

Allie and Kayla have been house sitting for us and it sounds like things have been going great. Banzai I am sure will be spoiled when we get home. It has been nice having them take care of the house and animals so we don't have to worry about them. Thanks girls!!!

Well, gotta run and finish up my last minute jobs before we head out. We are hoping for less excitement on the way home than we had coming. Oh, and we will post pictures once we get home. We forgot to bring the camera cord.
Allison will write later with her account of what has been going on. :)

Leslie

Disneyland/California Adventure

We went to California Adventure and had lots of fun. Some of the many things we did was California Screamin, The Tower of Terror, Soarin' California, Toy Story Mania and Maliboomer.
The Maliboomer you get into seats and then you go up 1000 feet really fast in the air and then you come back down. When you start to come back down you feel like you are flying in the air because your bottom comes off the seat. The Tower of Terror is a ride where you go into an elevator and there are a few rows of seats and you sit in the seats and they take you up to the top and then they drop the elevator down and then it goes up and down fast. When I did it my feet came a couple feet off the ground because we were going so fast. Toy Story Mania is a brand new ride where you sit in cars and you go around and you have a shooter gun and you play different games. Our whole family really liked this game.

We saw some shows there: Aladdin, The Muppets, Golden Dreams and two parades. Golden Dreams was a short movie with Whoopie Goldberg in it where she would explain about how California was started and all the different things that happened in the forming of the state.

We also went on a ride called the gondolas. You get into gondolas and it is on a ferris wheel and the gondolas slide me and Jacob thought it was really fun but Mitch got scared.

One of my favorite rides in Disneyland was Splash Mt. My whole family really liked the Winnie the Pooh ride and we went on it lots of times. We went on the Finding Nemo Submarine ride really late at night. We had to wait in a very long line and I almost fell asleep in line, but it was worth it. We met Pluto and saw Cruella Devil but didn't get her autograph because her smile was very frightening.

We have one more day in Disneyland an lots to do. I can't wait to get home and back into our house. I hope I am able to remember Disneyland this time. Last time I forgot everything about it.
Allison

First Day of Disneyland

Yesterday was our first day at Disneyland. In the morning, we had the conference and then after that we came back to the trailer, had lunch and a nap, and then went to Disneyland. It was a fun conference, I liked it. Next year's will be in Houston, Texas. We may go.

The first thing we did when we got to Disneyland was we saw Goofy and got his autograph. Then we went on Star Tours, which is a Star Wars ride where you sit in seats like you're in a space ship and they move the seats so it feels like you are actually in space moving around. My favorite part was the light speed where you go really fast and it actually felt like I was going to fall out of my seat.

The next ride we went on Space Mountain. Then we went on the Autotopia where we got to drive cars. It was kind of hard, you were on a rail but you had to turn the car and if you didn't turn the car it would turn itself but it would make it really bumpy, and I had to drive. Then we went on the Matterhorn and then went to Toon Town. While we were at Toon Town we went to Mickey's house and got his autograph. We also went on the Roger Rabbit ride. Ever since I went on the ride, I've been wanting to see the movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Then we went on the train and headed over to New Orlean's Square and went on the Haunted Mansion. Jacob got super scared and hid in my dad's shirt the whole time! I got a little scared too, but it was still fun. After that we went on Pirates of the Carribean and the Winnie the Pooh ride. We also did Indiana Jones and Thunder Mountain Railroad. The line for the Indiana Jones ride was super long and it felt like we had to wait for hours. Once we finally got inside, we had to wait in another long line to get to it. One of the reasons it took so long is that they have a thing called a fast pass where you can come back during a specific time and lots of people were doing that. And they get to go to the front of the line. Once we finally got up there, the ride was really fun. We got to one part where Indiana Jones was hanging there trying to get into the temple and then the big huge rock started rolling towards us and then it looked like it would roll on top of us but then we went under it. We also went on the Jungle Cruise. It was really cool. The animals were fake, but the guy who did it acted really funny and made it look like it was real. That was our day at Disneyland. I had a lot of fun and I can't wait until we go again today.

Allison

The Conference

Today was the first day of the JRA conference.We have to check in at 8:45.They also give you breakfast from 7:30 to 8:45.Then we are seperated into age groups.I am in the ten year olds goup.We played lots of fun games like colors, would you rather, and truth or dare.I didn't play truth or dare because i don't like that game that much.We also did crafts.I made a lei and i colored a surf board.After that we got to go swimming but i couldn't because we didn't know we were going swimming so i didn't bring a swimsuit with me there i left it in the trailor.So i sat and watched them swim.It wasn't that fun.At twelve we met with our family to have lunch.My family didn't want to go all the back to the trailor so we went to red robin.It was really yummy.

After lunch we went back with our groups.First my group went and did yoga.It was kinda wierd but relaxing.Then we went ant played with some paint.We then did some more games and crafts.The teenagers who have JRA came and we asked them questions.One girl said she was diagnosed with JRA one year after she was diagnosed with cancer.I thought that that must be a lot to handle.At the end we got to go and see some little sea creatures.I got to touch a shark.And that was the day.Later that night we got to go to a place called Boomers.It is a place where we can play lots of fun games and go on a couple rides.It was lots of fun.

Allison

We Made It

We finilly made it.We are at disneyland.I am so happy but we can't go to disneyland and go on rides till the conference ends.Witch will be sunday so we will go to disneyland on either sunday or monday there for five days.My family is very happy that we made it.

I puked five times this morning it was really grose.My stomach still hurts a little but i don't think i will puke agian for a while.I have been craving mcdonalds the whole day and i havent eaten any thing all day except a couple ritz.

I can't believe we finilly made it.

Allison

Worst Fever Ever

Allison woke at 5am with a 105.6 fever. She wanted me to title this entry "Worst Fever Ever" because it is her highest recorded fever. She threw up at 8am and then again at 8:40 am. We have a call into Dr. Kingsbury and are waiting to hear from him. We aren't sure if this is because of a flare, tapering the prednisone or maybe a bug she has picked up somewhere.

We are in Pismo beach and were planning on leaving early this morning to head to our campsite in Anehiem. But now, we are waiting for things to settle down for Allison before hitting the road and hopefully hear from the doc. The conference starts this afternoon/evening with activities hopefully we will be able to make it there.

Your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated and we will keep you posted on how Allison is doing today.
Leslie

Road Trip!

Yesterday we went on a hike through the woods and I got a lot of good pictures. Then we also went to a tree that people can drive their cars through, but we couldn't drive through because we have our trailer and our car was too big. The also had two tree houses right next to the big tree and we also went inside those. One of them had a second story. They were really cool! After that we went and drove down the coast. My mom and dad decided that we should drive until 8 and then look for a place to stay the night. When it got time to find a place to stay, we couldn't find one. After a while we found one but it was very crowded and we didn't know if we would stay. We had to drive by all of the trailers to see if there were any spots available. There we a couple of spots we could have stayed at, but the place was too crowded so we decided to find a new one. It was hard to leave because there were so many trailers and it was hard to turn around, so we had to unhitch the trailer and then we finally got out. We kept on looking for places to stay but we couldn't find one. We ended up spending the night on the side of the road. It wasn't that much fun, but it was free!

Today we woke up and drove for a little bit and then when we were driving by a beach we saw lots of sea lions and I got some good pictures. We got down to San Francisco and got to the Golden Gate bridge and were about to go across but decided to eat lunch first. While we were eating lunch, a park ranger drove by and we asked him where the best place was to get some pictures of the bridge and he told us that it probably wouldn't be smart to go into San Francisco with the trailer because of the traffic. So we ended up taking a different route and not going over the bridge and into San Francisco. But at least we got to see it. Then after a while we started to run out of gas so we went into a little town that was kind of scary, looking for gas. But when ever we found a gas station, they didn't have diesel so we had to look for a different one. It was really scary because we were almost out of gas and we were kind of lost. But then we finally found a gas station with diesel. Then we had to try to find our way back to hwy. 101. We then drove to about 7:30 and started to look for a place to camp. It was a little hard getting into the camp site with the trailer, but we made it work.

When we get home, I'll put some pictures on here of our trip. I can't wait until Disneyland. It's going to be lots of fun!

Allison

The bear

Hi I forgot to say in my other post that we saw a bear at our camp site.It was a huge black bear.At this campsite peaple see lots of bears come and catch fish by the water.I wonder if we will see any more.Today we are going to be driving about 5 to 6 hours then stop and camp for a night.

Allison

First day of our trip

Today was our first day of our disneyland trip.We left at 10:35 and drove till 5:45.It took us a while to leave because we still had stuff to do to get ready and mitch woke up late.We decided to stop and camp in the red woods.We are at a very nice camp site.It has a beautiful view of a lake where peaple can go fishing.We had dinner then played a board game.We also got to roast marshmellows.They were really yummy. I have started reading the first Harry Potter book and I love it. I am half way done with it.Today has been a fun first day and i can't wait for tommorrow.I will write every day and tell you what i do the notes won't be that long because right now mostly what we are doing each day is driving.

Thanks for reading
Allison

Trip Delay

If you are checking in here thinking you want to see how our trip is going so far, I'm sorry, we haven't left yet. We are planning on updating the blog on our trip that was suppose to begin yesterday (Saturday).  Well, we ran into some issues.  I developed a UTI and spent 1/2 the day Saturday at Urgent Care and getting meds. and the rest of the day in bed.  Jacob has been running a fever for the last 6 days, we keep thinking it will go away, but it isn't.  Early thing morning he began to throw up.  He has thrown up twice now.  John is now at Urgent Care with him.  We are giving them some good business this weekend.  

Both Allison and Mitch are thinking we aren't even going to make it to Disneyland.  Our hope if things go well for Jacob is to leave later today or early Monday at the latest.  I'm not sure what it is with us and trips and getting sick.  They seem to go hand in hand.  At least this time we are sick before we leave the comforts of home.  

Luckily we also have allowed  extra time on the way down so that we could camp and take our time.  We don't have to be at the jra conference until Thursday so we are still doing OK.  

Your positive thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated.  Hopefully very soon, we will be hitting the road.  

Leslie

Almost Disneyland

It is almost saturday and that means disneyland time.I can't wait it will be so exciting.I was thinking of saving my money to buy a ipod but then my aunts husband gave me his old one because he didn't want it no more.It holds more songs than Mitch's does.It can hold movies,music,t.v shows,games,music videos and photos.Now i have something fun to do on the way down there.I also have work from school that i never got to finish while i was gone so i made packets of the papers so i could work on them.My mom and dad are thinking of buying me a digatal camera so i can take pictures of disneyland.Cause last time when i went i didn't take much pictures and i was 5 so i don't remember.

My dad is bringing his laptop so i can write on my blog about what we are doing.I hope you all have a great summer.I know i will.

Allison

Safety Camp

Last week i went to safety camp.It is a day camp that kids can go to have fun and learn safety.Kenzie Smith did it too she was in my group.Our group was the orange group.Mitch and Grady were two of our leaders.It went from Monday to Thursday.

Monday we played lots of games outside like tag or car lot.Then each group made their own picture in a square outside with chalk .My group won the prize for most chalk used.Well because we used up the whole square and made a monkey because our group name was the orange monkeys.We also learned about water safety, life jacket safety and another one i forgot witch one. Then we got to go swimming at the community pool.

Tuesday we did the same stuff exept we learned new safety stuff and we didn't do the chalk thing.

Wendsday we went on a field trip to OHSU to go rock climbing.It was lots of fun.We also went to the gym and played dodge ball,basketball and tennis.The wall I climbed on rock climbing was hard because it was really bumby so i only got up the wall a little bit.When we were done with that we got subway sandwiches they were really yummy.After that we went to otter beach to go swimming.I spent most the time in the whirl pool.It was fun.

Thursday we did the same stuff learned some safety tips.Did the firefighter challenge and the police challenge.Those were fun.Then at four we had the graduation.Each group had to do a skit about what we learned.My group did a skit on the police challenge.I thought we did really well.

That was my week at safety camp.I can't wait till next summer so I can do it again.

Allison