Simmons Retreat

From spending the 4th of July in Idaho we headed through Ogden Canyon into the prettiest little valley to spend a few days with the Simmons family. It was quite the joy. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Pineview Resevoir and the mountains. It was so green and lovely. We went swimming the first day in the lake and then as we were driving back to the condo there was a huge rain storm. It made for a great time.

We ended up sharing a room with Mike and Kim at this little bed and breakfast called the Jackson Fork Inn. It had a loft area where Mike, Kim, and Jer stayed while we stayed on the lower floor. We left the puppy with my brother and his family in Idaho where he relentlessly followed their dog Chaco around. It was a nice break for us. It was a great time. I sure cannot wait for the next Simmons/Bailey slumber party.

Mission Call/Wilson Reunion

My awesome parents decided a year ago that they wanted to go on a mission. As it took some time to get things in order, they finally were able to submit their papers this spring and received their call the first weekend of July. Luckily, most of us were going home for the 4th so they decided to wait until we all were there to open the call. It was so fun to see them open their call and see what an awesome example they are to all of us.

They were called to the California Fresno Mission. They went into the MTC on July 30th and then out to California one week later. They have been serving for two months now and I am so proud of them and their decision to be missionaries. We sure love our missionaries!

Of course we spent the 4th in Rupert. Small town celebrations are the best! My family usually watches the parade in front of Wilson's Theatre (appropriate, right?) just off the square. Here is a picture I stole from Lynnette's blog.

Memorial Day

We went to the graves at the Sugar House Cemetery where Jeff's grandparents and dad are buried. It is always a treat to go there and hear the stories of his family members whom I have not met.

Cousins

Bensen had two cousins born this year. One on each side of the family and he loves both of them.

Sick

In March I went back to finish out the school year. It seems within the next few months Bensen was sick more than not. It made it hard to keep going to work knowing he was home/at his cousins sick. But it ended. I just wanted to document that it happened. He had a cold for a month then he got hands-foot-mouth and the poor thing was miserable. Jeff also got hands-foot-mouth and he claims he has never felt more sick in his life so I can only imagine how bad it was for Bensen. We are still grateful for Kim and Lisa for helping us by taking throughout the week. It was definitely easier knowing he was with family instead of daycare. And he had a blast spending time with his cousins!

Ride along

In June we went to Idaho to visit. Jeff has always wanted to go with my brother-in-law Ken on a police ride-along and this trip finally presented an opportunity for him to go. I'll let him share the details, but I went to pick him up at 10 and ended up waiting around for 2 hours as he was sitting in my brother-in-law's truck while he and the other police officers in the area were staking out a house. Apparently, some guy had killed someone and they went to find him at the house. He never showed so they finally shut the operation down. Guy called the police department and said he was going to turn himself in and to meet him at the police station. He never showed and went on another killing spree. Luckily, Jeff was safe with me by the time any of that stuff went down. Oh the exciting life of a police officer. I think in the end it convinced Jeff that is not the occupation for him and I am very happy with that conclusion. At least he got a great picture of the beautiful golf course in the canyon before all of the excitement ensued.

Hoosier Optometrist?

In April we made a trip to Indiana. Jeff had an interview with IU and my sister and her family live there so I decided that we all needed to visit them.

We were thrilled to find out a few weeks later that Jeff was accepted to the optometry program at IU.

And he was so excited that someday he would get one of these:

A few days later we received a package in the mail from Lynnette and her family with this great outfit included.

Indiana here we come!

Bensen's Blessing

Bensen was blessed March 4th. It was a lovely day and we enjoyed having our family visit for the day. Bensen's sweater was Jeff's when he was a little one and his mom gave it to us a few weeks prior. We liked it and decided it would be perfect for his blessing day. I think it turned out great!

4 Generations

So it's been a long time since we've (I've) blogged and there is a lot that we have missed. So I think I will just do the highlights for now and then start back up from more recent things. These pictures are from a trip to Idaho over New Years. Bensen only has one great-grandparent alive and we got to see her this weekend. 4 generations: Bensen, me, my mom: Grandma Wilson, and her mom: Great-Grandma Lowder.

These two handsome guys snuggling.

Lila needs a sibling!

As many of you know, I have finally been accepted into Optometry school at Indiana University! We are very happy and excited for our new adventure, but that is for a different post.

For the past 2 years, I have been fortunate to work at Sugarhouse Vision clinic where I have learned all there is to know about the world of optometry. I have been able to work closely with the doctors to help me get a good feel for the profession but the person that has pretty much taught me everything I know is my office manager, Quinn. I can honestly say that any success I have in the first few months of school will be thanks to him and all that he has taught me. Also, down the road after graduation when I operate my own clinic, I will be able to utilize many important skills and lessons that he taught me as well. (He doesn't know our blog address, so don't think that I'm writing this to suck up)

Shortly after I started at Sugarhouse Vision, Quinn and his wife Kristi were blessed to have a little baby girl, Lila. Unfortunately from day 1, she had many complications and obvious special needs. This caught them completely off guard as there were no indications that there was anything wrong with her during development. It seemed that every week, they discovered something else wrong with Lila- cataracts, missing corpus callosum, hypotonia, seizures, and constant infections. Over the course of about a year, they were given a few different diagnosis and sent to various specialists. But it wasn't until Kristi google-searched all of Lila's conditions and came across a condition called Vici Syndrome. This is such a rare condition that none of the doctors even knew what it was but decided to look into it. After having their neurologist read some studies about VS, he was able to confidently and correctly diagnose Lila as the 20th documented case in the world. Although this was a relief to finally know what they were working with, it was also a death sentence for Lila as the average age of kids with VS is about 2-4 years.

Fast forward to today and because of Lila, the amount of VS research has more than doubled. Geneticists in England were able to use Lila's DNA to exactly locate the genes responsible for her condition as well as shed light on other fundamental complications of the disease. Most importantly for Quinn and Kristi though, because of Lila, families effected by VS are now able to have healthy children of their own through In Vitro. Thanks to research performed on her DNA, geneticists are able to identify which eggs carry the recessive gene and exclude those from the fertilized pool.

That brings me to the point of this post. Despite the mountain of medical bills that have incurred over Lila's lifetime, Quinn and Kristi feel it is time to move ahead with their family and perform In Vitro. In an effort to lessen the blow of the cost that awaits them, I have set up an online fundraiser in their behalf. In all honesty, I feel that this is the least I can do for Quinn to repay him for all he has done for me the past 2 years.

I'm not posting this in an effort to pander for donations, but to get the word out about. I mean, if you'd like to donate, great- but if you can't please talk to people about this cause and try to spread the word!