September - the lost month

As many of you know, I have Crohn's Disease, an inflammatory bowel disease, which is just as "icky" as it sounds. I've been on some great drugs that were keeping things in control, but just before we left for Minnesota in August, my symptoms started getting worse. I just tried to push through, but by the beginning of September, I was in so much pain, I could barely function. My family convinced me to go to the ER on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. I ended up being admitted to the hospital, where I stayed for six days, trying to get the pain under control. I missed Jason's family birthday party at XBOS (a family fun center) while I was in the ER. I missed his actual birthday, too. Even once I came home from the hospital, I was pretty out of it for weeks, hence my title, the lost month. We have a great church family that really stepped in and helped with meals and taking the kids to and from the bus stop. That was the blessing in all this. I am now on some new drugs, hoping they will keep the symptoms under control, so I can put off surgery for a while.

End of Summer

After we got back from Minnesota, we were busy, busy, getting ready for school. We had dentist appointments, school supply shopping (which meant going to multiple stores since I waited until the last minute), meet the teacher event. Somehow it all got done, and Meredith and Jeremy started school on August 31st. Meredith is now a 3rd grader, and Jeremy is a 2nd grader.

August in Minnesota

Every other year we go to Minnesota to visit Brendan's family, spending a week together in Ely. This year we started out our vacation (after 2 days of driving) at the Byrne Elk Farm. Brendan's parents have a great place for kids to play and run. Even though it rained for most of the 2 days we were there, the kids spent most of it outside, running around the elk fields, trying out Brendan's old skateboard and riding on the driveway in the surrey with the fringe on top.After 2 days at the farm, we drove 6 hours north to Ely, where we met up with Brendan's two sisters and brother and their families and his parents at the Garden Lake Resort. We spent a week fishing, swimming in the lake, playing games, basically just hanging out together. Meredith caught the first fish of the week! Here's Meredith with cousin Maddy and the fish!There were 8 kids, ages 3-12. The younger ones had a treasure hunt every day. One day the 2 older girls put on a carnival for the younger kids, with face painting, tattoos, watermelon eating contest and boat rides. Meredith wrote a play for the other kids to act out. They really had a lot of fun. Here's Jeremy and Jason with cousin Helen after a boat ride following a clue.One day, Mindee and Beth (Brendan's sisters) and I went out with a fishing guide. Such a fun, relaxing day. We caught about 10 fish, including my first fish ever! We even stopped on shore for lunch cooked by our guide; he fried up some of the fish we caught in the morning with some potatoes. Delicious!So here's the whole Byrne family: top row: Jim and Eileen Byrne, the parents
next row: Dave Hutchinson, me
next row: Shea Byrne, Beth Hutchinson, Maddy Hutchinson, Jason, Brendan
next row:Bethany Byrne, Alaina Hutchinson, friend Paige, Jeremy, Meredith
at the bottom: the Antons - Dave, Mindee, Helen, Charlie

Grandkids Camp

The kids spent one week in July at "Grandkids Camp." My parents kept all three of them for 5 days and 5 nights, which were filled with all sorts of activities. Jeremy made a quilt.

They each made a string art project and a name plaque, using hammers and nails, and drills.
They each took a turn planning, shopping for, and preparing a meal. There was time for riding scooters, playing ladderball in the backyard and making giant bubbles. They went to a concert in the park. There was even a field trip to the Science Factory in Lancaster, PA. The kids had a great time. Brendan and I enjoyed our evenings alone. Needless to say, Grandma and Grandad were exhausted at the end of the week.

Summer Update

The first half of our summer was filled with small outings to the grandparents' pool, fishing at nearby Lums Pond State Park, a week of Music and Arts camp at church, Vietnamese dinner for Meredith's Gotcha Day, a week of Vacation Bible School at church, and a day at Dutch Wonderland, a kid's amusement park in Lancaster, Pa.

May Update

May was a busy month. We started the month by celebrating Jeremy's birthday with his classmates at Pump It Up. Such fun!

Then there were Mother's Day celebrations at school and home. The kids and Brendan planted a new tree in our yard for me! Towards the end of the month, the kids celebrated the end of school with Field Day games at school.
We ended the month with a quick trip over Memorial Day weekend to Williamsburg, Virginia.

Playing Catch Up

It has been over seven months since I last posted anything on this blog. I get caught up in Facebook and don't think to add the same information to my blog. I'm not sure if anyone actually reads this blog, but for those that do, I'm going to take the next few days/weeks before Christmas to catch you up on the lives of the Byrne family.

One reason I've neglected my blog, is that I've neglected it for so long. How could I possibly put in all that's been going on for the last seven months? Well, a friend on Facebook posted that she is taking these 25 days of Christmas to post random pictures and notes from the last few months on her blog. So I thought I'd do the same thing.

If I have any readers out there, please check back in every so often this month. Hopefully there will be something new.