What is Going on Around Here

The past month has been so very busy.  I kept wanting to write a blog post but there just wasn't time.  We celebrated Kyle's graduation on May 19th.  We are so very proud of him.  I was afraid I would cry quite a bit as it was such an emotional day, but I did better than expected and only shed a few tears.  Mostly it was just a very happy day of celebration. 

We have been busy planting garden the past week or so.  Hopefully all the rain has not hurt it too much. We would still like to get a pumpkin patch planted for Kaleb and hopefully we can get that done as soon as it drys up a little.   Kaleb loves gardening.  It is one thing we do together as a family and all enjoy.  As I sat weeding the flower bed the other day I thought to myself what great therapy gardening is, and cheaper than a therapist also!  Here Kenton and Kaleb are planting sweet corn.

The last couple weeks we have also enjoyed the return of our humming birds.  I love to sit outside in the evening and watch them come to the feeder.  We have also had cardinals, blue birds, blue jays and gold finches that we have enjoyed watching.

My favorite part of this time of year is the blooming of our iris.  They are such a pretty flower.

We have so many blooming right now that you can go and walk through the garden path and you are just hit with the beautiful fragrance from them.  All of our iris come from Rainbow Iris Farm that is owned by Kenton's sister and her family.





We have tried hard to not let all the rain this past week get us down.  As soon as the sun comes out we put on our boots and head outside.

Kaleb turns 3 on this Sunday, June 2nd.  It is hard to believe it has been three years.  He is excited for his party that we have been planning.  

After Kaleb's birthday I hope to starting focusing on getting ready for the new baby.  He will be here in 9 weeks or so!  Oh my!  So much yet to do.  I am tired most all of the time and uncomfortable but very happy.  Feeling so blessed right now.  

Kaleb's First Time Fishing

What a beautiful Sunday it was today.  The boys and I were outside almost the entire day.  This evening we went down to the pond for Kaleb's first time fishing.  He got a fishing pole from his Aunt Krystal and Uncle Kenny and has been wanting so bad to get to use it.  Fishing has always been a big thing for my boys.  It was actually Kyle's idea to go.  He has always enjoyed to fish.

     Kenton is such a great daddy.  Here he and Kaleb are reeling the fish in.

Here is the big boy with his pole.                

And here he is with his first catch!  Kaleb was so excited!  

       Here Kyle is with his first catch about 14 years ago when Kenton took him fishing for the first time.

We found this photo of Kenton with his dad .  This picture and the one above already decorate a shelf in our home.  I can't wait to add Kaleb's photo.

Hope everyone had a beautiful Sunday!  Kaleb had no nap today so he was asleep by 8:00 pm.  Highly unusual for him.   I'm off to bed too!

Random Inspiration

Unfortunately we caught the bad respiratory virus that has been going around.  Kyle had it for two weeks before he got to feeling better.  Kaleb had it a little over a week.  I am now into the 5th or 6th day of it.  It has honestly been the sickest that I have ever been.  That and the fact that Spring is taking her own sweet time getting here has really got me down lately but I am still finding inspiration here and there.  I am especially excited that spring is coming and I should soon be feeling better.   I thought I would share some of what is inspiring me lately.  

Photography:  I can't hardly wait for warmer weather to get back outside to do some photography.  I love the outdoor light and natural settings.  I am hoping to upgrade my camera here soon, at least before our new little baby comes.  I was looking back through some older pictures and found this one of Kaleb.  I love how it looks in black and white.  I am thinking of making it into a canvas.  Although I don't have a designated laundry room I hope to some day and think that a canvas of this shot would look so sweet there.

I have been finding lots of inspiration off of Pinterest also.  I love that sight.  For me it is like shopping without spending any money.  Some things I am loving lately are of course all about Spring.  We had a lilac bush that Kenton's Gram gave us when we got married but it died a few years ago.  I am hoping to replace it with a couple more this year.  I won't have blooms to enjoy but I hope to get some off of friends or relatives to pretty up our table.  I love the beautiful smell of lilacs.

Source: yourcozyhome.blogspot.com via Marilyn on Pinterest

I also found these rainboots on Pinterest.  There is no way I would pay that much for rainboots but you gotta love how cheerful they are.  These just seem to go on a happy gardener!  If you would like to follow my Pinterest boards here is the link http://pinterest.com/johnkd/.

Source: softsurroundings.com via Marilyn on Pinterest

I signed up for The Art of Spring by Junelle.  I love her art classes and her photography of the baby lambs beats all others.  Since I have been sick I haven't got to participate much with the class but the good thing is I will have access for a year so there will be plenty of time.

Junelle

Source: christytomlinson.typepad.com via Ellen-Mary on Pinterest

At home I have been enjoying decorating Kaleb's room.  As a baby he did not have a room of his own.  Our house is small and we had to put the crib up in our room.  I take heart in the fact that my Grandparents raised nine children in a house smaller than mine.  After Jessica moved away to college it took me a while to get to converting her room to his.  Anyway, Kenton and I plugged along with repainting walls and cleaning the carpet last fall.  Slowly the room is coming together.  We purchased him a big boy bed this past weekend and he was super excited to get it.  Kenton, myself and Grandma Johnson have all had a part in decorating it.  I have a few more things I want to add to it but will be sure to post some more pictures of it in the future.   Kaleb's room is my favorite room in our house right now.

The next few weeks things will start getting pretty busy.  I am so excited and ready for it.  We have lots of outdoor projects planned along with Kyle's graduation in May.  Hopefully this Easter weekend will be a nice one.  I would love to hear what is inspiring you right now.  Leave a comment if you like and let me know.

Bonus Baby

       I have been absent from my blog for quite a while now.  I haven't posted much on facebook lately either.  I had a good reason.  I honestly haven't felt up to it.  Most of you know by now, but some of you out there might not, that we are expecting another baby!  Our bonus baby if you will.  I planned everyone of my other three children, even little Kaleb.  He was our joyous celebration of life after Kyle's transplant.  This baby surprised us.  Last fall was a whirlwind and passed us by so quickly.  I was so busy taking care of Kyle when he in the hospital and was sick.  When things finally settled down around Thanksgiving,  imagine our surprise when we found out that we were having another baby!  We were shocked.  Well, at least I was!  I quickly got used to the idea though.   We are all so excited for our Bonus Baby (as someone at work called him) to be a part of our family.  I am 19 weeks and our little guy is due here August 3rd.  It has been a rough pregnancy.  I have been sick and extremely tired ( thus the lack of blog posts) but everything is going good otherwise.  I had an amniocentesis last week and the results so far have came back all good.  And we found out that we are having another boy!  I am already looking forward to my little boys playing together, continued camp outs, fishing and playing outdoors!  Little ones are such joys.  With Kaleb around it is never a dull moment.  The other night we told him he was going to get a little brother.  His response, "Well..........I would like a new cat!"  We are so excited for all of the fun we will undoubtedly have with another little guy around!  I hope to post more soon!

Love Does

   Many of you know that why I have been absent from the blog for so long.  For those of you that don't our son, Kyle, became sick back in the end of September and we spent most of the month of October in and out of the hospital.  Since Kyle's heart transplant almost four years ago he has done very well, and despite being immunosuppressed due to the anti rejection medications, he has been very healthy.  We have honestly bragged about how well he has done.  This illness reminded us how even though he has been so healthy, we must always remember how easily that can change.  It has been a pretty tough past few weeks but we are cautiously hopeful that things are finally getting better.
  I happened to have started reading a new book that had been recommended to me about the time Kyle got sick.  Love Does  by Bob Goff.  It is such an amazing book that I am reading it for the second time.  Bob is a gifted writer, someone who really gets life and his book is a little about some of the things he believes, stories and how he has lived his life.  Bob believes that love is not just a thought or feeling.  He believes it takes action.  It is a book about hope, inspiration and faith.  As we start this month of Thanksgiving I am so grateful for all of the LOVE we have in our lives.  In the last month we experienced so much of it.
  Love does......is my husband taking care of our little Kaleb as I stayed with Kyle in the hospital, driving 2 hours late a night to check on Kyle and bring us clothes and then coming down and driving us to St. Louis because he thought I was too tired to drive.
It is Kyle's gramma who helped with Kaleb, brought Kyle snacks when she visited him in the hospital and had home cooked meals for us when we got home.
  Love is the grandparents who came to sit with Kyle and I in the hospital.  It is the aunts and cousins who came to visit, the cousins who saved us one night by doing our laundry and bringing it back to the hospital late that night, prayed over Kyle and continued to ask their families and church to pray for him.
  Love is the high school coach who drove 2 1/2 hours on a school night to visit with Kyle in the hospital and talk football with him. Love is his teammates who sent a card and let him know how much they missed him.
  Love is my friends who left one Friday after work, drove 600 miles when we were transferred to St. Louis, even though they don't like city driving, brought Kyle and I stuff, and then gave my husband a ride back home.
 Love is the church members who donated gas money for us to get back and forth several times a week for labs.
  Love is Kyle's classmates, friends, and our family friends who visited him in the hospital and at home, and sent him cards and gifts.
  Love is the guidance counselor who made a special point to text Kyle while he was in the hospital to let him know he was accepted to the college he wants to go to next year.
  Love is the little town continues that to prays for him.
  Love is the nurses and doctors who have worked so hard to help Kyle get better.
  Love is the special nurse who Kyle liked so much.  This nurse brought Kyle movies to watch and video games to play and even stayed over one night after his shift was done as he was willing to play a video game with Kyle.
  Love is the cafeteria woman who for 17 years I have seen almost every time that Kyle has been in the hospital. As she rings up what you have bought, she always ask " how is it going?", if it isn't going well she tells you she will pray for your child and if things are going good, she tells you, "Praise God!"  Her little gesture has always meant so much to me.  This time I told her.
  Love is all of you who have messaged me or called me letting me know that you cared.
  One thing is for sure.  We know that we are loved.  As we start this month of Thanksgiving I want you to know that I am so thankful for all of you.

Apple Picking

 I wanted to take Kaleb  to an orchard this fall for some apple picking, fun and yes, photo opportunities.  We got so lucky this weekend as our neighbors asked Kenton to do their chores while they were away at a wedding.  They had a baby calf to bottle feed.  This was great for us as we have our babies in the spring and have missed not having evening chores to do.

Our neighbors have a beautiful farm and while Kenton finished up the rest of the chores Kaleb played in their sandbox.

Our neighbors told us while we were there that we could pick some apples if we wanted.  They have a beautiful grove of fruit trees that I absolutely loved.  Kenton and I planted some a few years back and I hope to someday have an orchard as pretty as this one.

Kaleb couldn't wait to climb the ladder and start picking!

We had so much fun and collected a basket of goodness to bring home!

They had pear trees also.  This is probably the only portrait photo I got the entire night.  Kaleb is a busy boy who loves to work.  He was up and down the ladder quickly.

        Under the trees they had this gorgeous wheel barrel.  Again another absolute love for me.  I am going to have to look for one in the future.

 Before we left we played on their tire swing. A great way to end a fun evening!

 Fall is finally here in full SWING and the photographer in me couldn't be more excited!

Transplant Games 2012

One of the things on my life list was to attend the Transplant Games of America.  They are held every two years and although Kyle was eligible in 2010 he did not feel ready yet to go.  This  year though he was ready and excited to participate.  Twenty-five Iowans participated in the games, twenty one recipients and 4 living donors. 

I had planned months ahead that we would go to this year's games.  As the time got closer we got more anxious about going.  Kenton and I do not take a lot of vacations.  It is hard to when you farm and you have to find someone to look after things and do the daily chores for you.  We had been having a run of bad luck for a few months also.  Between vehicles breaking down, the oven and microwave dying, and the week before we were robbed and all of Kenton's tools were stolen we even more anxious about going.  I know we were also a little anxious about all the emotions the games would bring back up for us.  Kyle has been doing so well.  I hated to be reminded or think back to where we had once been.   But I knew in my heart we must go and we are so glad we did.  It was a life changing experience for all of us.  We met amazing people and heard amazing stories.  This was real competition also.  These people are wonderful and talented athletes.  They really inspired me to get back into shape.  

  Team Iowa is a great bunch of people.  They welcomed Kyle and our family like we had been with them for a long time.  Most of them we had only met a week before the games but we quickly became friends.

Here is Team Iowa right before the opening ceremonies.  You can see Kyle forth from the left in the back row.  

The opening ceremonies were held in a big arena.  All of the teams paraded out, similar as what they do in the Olympics.  You can see Kyle here third back on the right end.

Photo courtesy of Patti Demers

I shed a few tears during the opening ceremonies but the most was when the families of donors came out.  They received a standing ovation. There were many emotional times for me at the games but the biggest one that I will remember is right before the opening ceremonies our team leader (whose little boy had a heart transplant as an infant) met up with his donor's mom right before the opening ceremony.  They have known each other for some time now.  The donor mom lost her little baby boy when he was just an infant.  She made the brave decision to donate his organs. Donor mom hugged our team leader and gave her little guy a kiss on the forehead.  I heard later that she greeted him at the finish line and gave him a hug then when he completed his race.  She also sang the national anthem at the opening ceremonies.  What an amazing and beautiful woman.

Photo courtesty of  Patti Demers

Although there was lots of emotional stuff there was lots of fun and competition also.  Each team had a team pin made and team members traded with other teams.  Here is the collection that Kyle came home with.

 We borrowed this sign from Team Philadelphia so we could get a quick picture of Kyle with it.

Kyle's first sport he participated in was Table Tennis or as we called it in my day, Ping Pong.  The tables were actually left from the US Open the previous week and were used to hold the Olympic trials on.  Most of the sports were held at Grand Valley State University.

Here is Kaleb cheering Kyle on in between watching Dora.  At one time I had to quiet him down as he kept yelling "Go Kyle!" so much I was worried he would distract Kyle.

Kyle won the Bronze Medal in his age group for Table Tennis.  Little brother was very excited and Kyle gave the medal to him to put on before he even got to put it on himself.

Kaleb really liked that medal!

Then we were on to basketball.  It was three on three half court.  We had enough guys playing that we had to have two teams, Iowa Team White and Iowa Team Black.  Kyle was on Team Black.

Our first round gave was with Team Texas.  They were BIG guys.  I was a little worried about how Kyle would do.  I didn't want him getting hurt.  He did wonderful though and hung right in there with them.
Team Texas beat us though so we were bumped down to the recreation division.  Our next game matched us up with the other Team Iowa.

Team Black lost that game also but what a great experience.  Team Iowa White moved on to win the gold in the recreation devison.  We we so excited for them. 

Kyle had a great time and can't wait to go back in two years.

Myself, I took so much home from these games. The people we met there were amazing people.  The were REAL people, both the recipients we met as well as the living donors and donor families.  Many of them told us how GOD has been present in their lives through their transplant experience.

 I visited with a lady from Kansas City who lost here son back in 1993.  She has gone to the games for years.  When one of her teams members needed a new kidney and it was looking hopeless her son stepped up to the plate and he was a match.  Through his donation experience he met his wife and now has a family.

 Kenton talked with a man who told him he was in Vietnam and was exposed to agent orange.  Because of it he could not have children and later because of agent orange his heart failed and he needed a heart transplant.  He was divorced, no children and alone and had to spend 10 months in the hospital.  When Kenton told me this story my mouth dropped.  How did he continue to have the will to survive for so long? Kenton said someone asked him that and he said it was because of his faith that he was able to survive.

 One lady from our team had a heart transplant.  She recently found out her kidneys are failing due to all of the anti-rejection medication.  She will need a kidney transplant.  She was still there competing and told me she actually walks 5-6 miles a day.  There are no excuses for not exercising people.  It is a choice we make.

 I also met Troy Lewis who has written a book about his experience with his kidney transplant and how it saved both his life and his brother's life. You can read more about his experience on his site.

And then there were the donor remembrance quilts that were displayed.  When I had a few moments to myself I stopped by to look at a few of them.  One block in particular caught my eye.  It was in remembrance of a 13 year old boy who had been through two kidney transplants and at the age of 13 then died.  It stated that he fulfilled his wish and was able to donate his heart.

What I loved most about these games is that these people are strong people.  Many of them had suffered like Kyle had.  They fought and survived and are living their lives to the fullest.

On our way home we stopped at Lake Michigan in South Haven.  It was one of the things I wanted to see while we were out there.

  We didn't stay long, but long enough for a little play time in the water with our little guy.  I won't lie.  It wasn't easy taking a toddler on a eleven hour drive.  He is a very busy boy and we were constantly trying to keep him reigned in, but I knew we had to take him.  He is our joy and celebration from all that we went through with Kyle's transplant.  Our transplant experience brought us to have another child.

I couldn't imagine going to the games without him.

I know this was a long post and I am sorry for that.  The Transplant Games are just something I am so passionate about now.  We are planning on going again in two years.  We would love to take some of you with us!

You can hear more about Team Iowa and the games on this television spot they did.

television spot Channel 13