My day with JP

On Friday I was able to watch JP all day. I had a blast! We played real hard. I don't know if I wore him out more or he wore me out more. We had a great day of playing, playing with my animals, and going to the park.

Here are some pictures, there are a lot of them!

JP watching The Wiggles

Giving Sandy a kiss
After two hours of playing hard
Still sleeping at my house

After nap, "Oh let me get my hands on you!"
Chico and JP

I was going to draw my mommy a picture,

but I would rather dump the crayons and

put them back in the box!

"Kitty!"

Rolling all over Chico

Posing at the park
"Let me out!"
Getting ready to slide
After a day of playing!

Our birthday!

Grampy and I had a wonderul birthday together. We enjoyed spending time together. My Grampy told us many stories. He talked about being in World War II. He told us all of the different places he had been.

One tradition in my family is that the whosever birthday it is gets to choose dinner. We chose to have a pork roast, carrots, peas, macoroni and cheese, and speciality bread. It was delicious! Afterwards we opened gifts and then had lemon meringue pie.

We had a great birthday. I hope that we are able to spend our next birthday together!

Grampy and Rachael

Evelyn and Grampy

Rachael

Mom and Rachael

Grampy is here!

I'm so excited! My Grampy and Evelyn came into town today. They are on their way back up to New York. They stay in Fort Myers Flordia for the winter. They are staying until Sunday! It is also extra special because we will be spending our birthday together, tomorrow! I will post more later and post pictures soon.

Time

I got to thinking this week about how fast this semster has gone by. I mean it is already April! I have four weeks left of school. It seems like yesterday I started these classes. I also got to thinking about being a kid and the anticipation of school being out for the summer. The day would then come when I could play with my friends all day. We would play outside all day and all evening. The only time we would come in was to eat lunch and dinner. We would do all sorts of things. We rode our bikes, played house, hide and seek, tennis. Of course we would have Kool-Aid sales, what kid doesn't. We would spend the night at each others house staying up late watching movies. The days would fly by. Soon it would be the end of the summer and time to get ready to go back to school. No more playing all day. No more spend the night parties. No more staying up late. It was time to get back to the routine of things. Then school would start and it would seem like an eternity until the following summer.

Now not only do summers go by fast, but also the entire year. It amazes me how fast time goes by. There never seems to be enough time in a day. At the end of a day you are always left wondering where the past 24 hours have gone. That is how I'm feeling with the past four months. Where in the world have they gone?

I have definately enjoyed this semester more than I thought I would. I enjoy going to school. I have met so many neat people in my classes and at the gym. I have learned so much this semester. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend school full time and have the college experience without the stress of working full time. I have been able to focus 100% on school, which is something that I have never been able to do before or wanted to do. I have to say that I have no regrets about going back to school. I am very focused about being in school. I look forward to August when I start my classes for Occupational Therapy.

The Lake

Friday I went to the lake with Kathi's family and Andrea and JP. We had a relaxing time. We spent the morning at the cabin. We went out on the boat in the afternoon. Daniel and Brian went on the Big Mable. I don't know how they lasted so long out there. I couldn't have done it, I am definately southern! After the nice boat ride we went back to the cabin and ordered from Toni's.
We had a nice day.

My sweet angel

Rachael and JP
The girls with their little man
JP and his two aunts
What a handsome man!
Kathi and Dave
Rachael and Andrea
Kathi and JP
Andrea and her boy

Happy Easter

Happy Easter! I hope everyone has a great day!

Multiple Sclerosis

Imagine waking up one morning and not being able to see. Imagine having a conversation with a loved one and not remembering any of it. Imagine not being able to get out of bed because your legs wont allow you to. Imagine being scared to death, not understanding what is happening to your body. These are just some of the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) before medication. Once medication starts there are a whole new list of symptoms. Treatment usually includes an injection, which is very painful. Some days you are fine, then there are those days when it takes everything you have to get out of bed. MS is usually diagnosed between the ages 20-50. There is no cure. Researchers have made many advances in finding a cure, but they aren't quite there yet.

I wanted to write about MS because I know three people, who are close to me, that have MS. One is a friend. The other two are my cousins, they are sisters. Kiley was diagnosed in December of 2003 and Jen in July of 2007. When Jen was diagnosed, my aunt asked the doctor if this was genetic. The doctor responded that it was not to his knowledge. I have so much respect for Kiley and Jen because they are both so strong. They are not letting this horrible disease beat them.

Kiley and Jen walk in the MS walk every year. The MS walk raises money to help find a cure. Here is a link to their websites:

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Walk/NYRWalkEvents?px=1903947&pg=personal&fr_id=8530&s_tafId=41582

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Walk/NYRWalkEvents?team_id=99286&pg=team&fr_id=8530&s_tafId=41582

I have posted pictures below of Jen and her boyfriend Casey, Kiley and her husband Anthony, and their three children: Marina, Ryan, and Gino.

Jen and Casey

Kiley and Anthony
Marina
Ryan
Gino