What an amazing Summer

Everyone had such a great Summer!  We are so sad to see it go, but excited to get the next school year started and out of the way. 

Kendra and Maliyah last surgery went better than we could of hoped for.  The girls are also going to have an update on Oprah's new show called "Where are they now", on August 18th @8:00pm mountain time on OWN.  The girls are growing up so fast and are so beautiful, out going and funny.

It's a struggle to get Kendra and Maliyah to get on their prosthetic legs and use them.  Its easier and faster for them to crawl around.  So it gets frustrating at times reminding them.  They are getting so much more brave as time goes on.  We went 4 wheeling up in the mountains with my brother Seth, his wife Brandy and their two kids Braxton and Skylar.  My kids were so nervous just thinking about it and whined driving up to the spot.  But after a couple of time,  Each one of them took off and rode the 4 wheelers alone, of course with a helmet, they were still nervous but did great.


I had my family reunion in July in Moab Utah for the weekend.  It was incredible!!  There were about 60 people from my fathers side that went.  We did a sunset hummer ride that was so VERY scary.  They are military grade hummers that drive on slick rock.  We were going up and down large hills at about a 40% grade.  Kendra, Maliyah and Justin were crying.  So at one of the stops I took them out of the hummer and talked to them.  I was originally setting with Kendra and Maliyah, Jake was setting with the boys in the back.  So Jake and I changed places and they all did much better.  And even said that was the best time.  That all happened on Friday. 

The next day was Saturday and we got up early to get on the river.  We were going to be going down the Colorado River, stopping having lunch and then continuing down the river.  This one I was the most nervous about, but turn out to be so much fun.  We jumped out of the boat and swam down the river a lot of the time.  We had water fights with the other boats.  And the thing I was most proud of was Kendra and Maliyah getting out of the boat and swimming around with us.  They struggle a lot with new things, and are always scared. I ended up get an ear infection from this part of the vacation.

Before the hummer ride on Friday, My sister Heidi, her daughter Hailey, Myself, Jake and Austin wanted to hike up to Delicate arches in 102 degree heat.  Holy Cow what were we thinking?!?!?  But we can't drive all the way to Moab without doing this 3.2 mile hike.  And arches national park is beautiful.  About half a mile into the hike we heard someone calling our names, turned around and it was Courtney with my other sister Megan. They caught up to us.  I was so excited to see them.  We hiked for what seemed like forever with sand in our shoes.  Right before we got to Delicate Arch there is a drop off/ cliff like area that you have to carefully walking around.  My sister Megan is scared to death of heights.  So I told her to grab my arm and I would help her around this part.  So she did.  We were able to walk all the way up and touch this amazing part of history.  I'm just sad my brother Seth wasn't with us.  My parents Jeff and Janet took my other children swimming at their hotel.

What makes all of these experiences even better, is because my sisters and brothers have been estranged from each others for years.  We could hardly be in the same room together and our family get together's were also one family at a time with my parents.  No one had patients for each other or time for each other.  It was very sad.  I never realized how much I missed them until we start hangout with each other and talking to each other more.  We missed out on a lot with each other over the years.  It's very sad!!  But I'm just grateful we are able to reconnect after all those years.  And still have a great time.  My Brother Seth still teasing me like crazy!  It's a welcome change in all of our lives.  Moral of the story NEVER be to busy for family, you will regret it later.  But it's never to late to reconnect with each other.  I finally feel like I have a strong family bond again with My parents, brothers and sisters.  It's amazing!!

As the last school year ended I was thinking seriously about putting all the twins in separate classes.  I always put them in the same because it was easier for me to keep up with everything they had going on.  Austin is responsible and would tell me if there was something they needed to do like projects and stuff. And Kendra was also the one that let me know about those things too.  Justin and Maliyah aren't to excited about things like that, so they try and get away with whatever they can.  So it came down to just telling them about being separated which I was dreading.  Justin and Austin took it great, no problem at all.  But Kendra and Maliyah cried like crazy!!  They were going to be in different classes, it was just to much for them.  They are in 6th grade anyway, so I really don't care.  So they are going to be in the same class again.  And their cousin Braxton got into their school, so he will be in their class too. :) 

And Courtney has a boyfriend.  It's really interesting.  He's a good kid.  They go to the same school and he just recently moved onto our street. Which makes for some interesting things LOL.  Courtney had been sleeping until 2:30 in the afternoon earlier this Summer, and it was making me nervous.  I wasn't sure if she was coming down with something or what.  I looked at her phone and she was staying up until 5:30am texting friends.  So Jake and I decided to just take her phone at night and charge it by us.  She was okay with that.  Teenagers are so hard to figure out sometimes.  We have a pretty good relationship with Courtney and she tells me everything (I Hope), at least that what she says. :)  Courtney is 2 inches taller than me and beautiful.  She wants to start modeling and has been offered a couple of jobs, but not sure what we are going to do.

Kendra and Maliyah are going to an Endocrinologist in November.  We are looking into getting growth hormone for them.  It would help them a lot. I was a little shocked when I post something about this on Facebook to the MANY negative comment and nasty Facebook messages I received.  I really wished people would understand that growth hormone used correctly (not just for height) is very beneficial for them.  Maliyah was on steroids for a while and it saved her life.  Many of the hormones that are used are very beneficial, but for those people that abuse them gives them a bad name.  It really irritates me!

Jake and I are still going strong keeping our crazy, funny family moving in the right direction.  We are still going to the gym, Jake goes 3 times a week and I go 4+ times a week.  We love it most of the time. :)  I did a yard sell this last weekend with my mom and sister Megan and Brother Seth that was a lot of fun.  We are planning on doing it again this Saturday. 

We are all doing so great and we are so blessed with everything we have.  All the kids are healthy and strong, we could be more happy about that.  And they are thriving!! 

Thanks for reading.  Have a great Day!!

Love,

The Herrins