We went to Uncle Jim's cabin over this last weekend. It was a great break from life, even though it was just overnight. I finished my summer semester and will get about 2 weeks off before starting again in the fall.

Now onto probably,the best night of our summer. Several months ago we were invited back for a reunion for Thursday Night Hero at BYU University. In 2007 our family was invited to BYU to meet the players and them to honor Kendra and Maliyah. It was a dream for Jake because BYU is his favorite team. And Kendra is a huge fan. So tonight we went back to not only meet the other Thursday Night Hero's but to meet the new team for 2010 season. It was so much better than expected. The players and coaches were amazing with the kids.

Austin was in charge of getting all the players and coaches to sign a BYU football. Jake has a BYU room in the basement. So when Austin would walk up to a player he would tell them, and that his mom isn't a fan but she cheers. He even got some of the players to race him around the field. After some of the players signed the ball they came up with an idea to have Justin and Austin tackle one of the lineman. So J & A run full speed into this huge man, knocking him down and his cellphone went flying out of his hand. I am sure he was just playing along with the boys. I don't think he knew how rough they can be. It was really cute!!

One of the other Thursday Night Hero moms Linda was talking to Kendra about school. Linda asked Kendra when school started. Kendra answered in a excited voice, one week and one day. The summer just flew by!

I put up a lot of new pictures as well.

On one of the pictures you see the boys on the backs of some of the players and Courtney in between them. I was joking with Courtney before I took that picture that she needs to marry a boy like them. She was really embarressed, I didn't say it loud enough for anyone else to hear.

For most of the night Maliyah played on the jumping toys, she had no interest in doing anything else.

All the way home the kids were so excited! Laughing and talking about the night they had. We just want to thank the BYU althetic department for putting this amazing program together.

We just got back from a weekend of fun. We left on Friday and drove 8 hours to Sparks, Nevada. About half way there I realized that we forgot our camera. So the same night we arrived, Jake went to get us a new camera and save the day. :) I never leave home without one.
I was really sick of school and putting everything into it. So I talked Jake into getting some work done in Reno, Nevada since is company has branches there.

Jake went to work Friday. The kids and I headed to my cousin Kirsten's house to visit her family. It was neat to finally meet her family, Justice 2 and Kelsey 5 months. And then that night we went swimming. The Hotel Nugget has a outstanding pool. There is a huge hot tub several cold smaller pools and a swimming pool with a waterfall. We have stayed there before when Courtney, Kendra and Maliyah were small, but this time it was a lot more fun for everyone.

I am originally from Reno, so it was so much fun to show the kids where I used to live. My old childhood home, the parks I use to play at, and the old western town Virginia City where my Grandpa Warren has built and restored homes since the 1950s. Some of the pictures show the incredible craftsmanship of Grandpa Warren, the kids great grandfather. He loves to find old artifacts. Virgina City is the prefect place for him to live. Justin has a fascination with trains, so we took the kids on the train to the gold mines, about a 30 minute ride. And then spent the rest of the day playing with cousins. That night we got together with my uncle Greg and met his new wife Kay. The kids had a great time.

We just arrived home and the kids were excited to play outside with their friends. It was a lot of fun.

Jake realized that he is going to have to travel more. But we hope he can schedule some of his trips so we can all go. After going to Reno to visit family I realized that we need to go and visit Grandpa Warren more often. He is getting older and he has a lot to teach my children. It would be great to have him take my kids on treasure hunts like we did when I was young. I tried to get ahold of the kids great grandma, but couldn't. She is having a lot of health problems, so it would be nice to visit her in the next couple of months. I hope this will be possible. I am so glad my kids have great grandparents that they will remember. They will leave legacies that our family can be proud of.

WOW!! Time has flown by this summer!! The kids have 6 more weeks of freedom before school starts for them. They really have had the best summer. I haven't been able to entertain them as much this summer, but they have done a great job of that themselves. I just uploaded several pictures of family reunions we have gone to this summer. In one picture there are 4 generations, Great Grandparents, Grandparents, Jake and I and then the kids. On my side, the kids still have 3 out of the 4 Great Grandparents still alive. On Jake's side they have all passed on. So it was neat to get that picture with them. It will be a great memory!

In the next week, Courtney will be starting violin lessons. She is very excited!! Jake ordered her violin several months ago. This will be Courtney's last year of elementary school. She is excited for junior high, but the other kids are going to miss her. I was talking to Kendra's about Courtney going to junior high, she said "that there are always rides over to the secondary school", Kendra just thinks she can go visit whenever she wants. What a sweet little girl.

The girls are doing so well!! I am so happy that we haven't had any surgeries or sicknesses since April. Kendra had a fever of 104.2 in June, but that has been it. :) I think this is the longest break we have had in years!! We feel so lucky for the girls.

Jake has been helping the boys learn how to play soccer and got them a soccer goal. They start in the fall. I really enjoy watching the three of them play together. We have such a great family!

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, and fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small doesn't serve the world.” (Marianne Williamson) My favorite quote that has been on my fridge for years. I know it's not exact, but still is very meaningful.

This summer has been one full of memories that the kids will never forget. And it's not because we spent thousands of dollars on trip and toys, it's because the 5 of them have become closer over this summer month. When I talk to other moms they say all their kids do is play video game most of the time in the summer. My kids are just the opposite, they play outside from morning until late night. We have so many kids on our street that they end up playing night games together.

They are also exploring the world around them. I was walking out to head to the grocery store and Courtney was walking up to the car holding a snake with a glove. It was a small snake, but it still scared me. Sometimes it would be a lot of fun to take the kids back to Alabama where Jake spent some of his childhood. Jake tells stories of the places and things he would do in the forest. The desert has some fun wildlife, but it's hard to find them, unless you are a Herrin kiddo. lol

The girls health has been up and down but manageable, they have stay out of the OR and hospital for several months now. They still need blood draws and doctors appointments, but better then staying in the hospital. Kendra's blood work is getting abnormal. So in the next week we will have to make a decision on rather or not a broviac will be in the near future. I sure hope not.

The separation anxiety is starting to not only effect the boys, but Kendra who has a hard time being away from us. I have setup some play dates in hope that she can become more confident and feel safe being away from me.

Melissa a friend and I had taken are kids to Carl's Jr to play. We were talking while the kids were playing. Courtney came over to me and said that Kendra had just used my credit card to buy food. I was very surprised to find out that Carl's Jr took a credit card from a little kid. It made me mad!! I had fed the kids before we went, bought them something there, yet Kendra was still hungry. The kids can eat a lot, but they do play hard and burn calories fast. :)

As you can probably read, we are doing so well. Everyone is so happy and healthy. We have been given a break with the girls health. Everyone needed that!! Hope you all are having a great, safe and happy summer.

Wanted to share a new article that our family is in. They are on the front page of the Deseret News. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700041931/Formerly-conjoined-Herrin-twins-always-connected-to-family.html?pg=2


Thought I would also update about last week. The week was so relaxing, for the most part. We had a great family week. We finally got the front yard to look amazing!! Jake had his 30th Birthday!! Jake and I went out to dinner and to a comedy club. We had a great time!! It's really nice to be married to my best friend! He also had a great Father's Day!! We spent a lot of the time at my parents house celebrating the kids Birthday's and Father's Day.

I will update more when I have time.

The boys just celebrated their 5th Birthday!! We had the boys favorite food, pizza. They got a lot of water toys for the Summer. I can't believe my babies are that old. Their teacher at church asked them what they wanted to be when they grew-up; Austin said, "a soccer player" and Justin said, "a snowplow guy with a big fat belly". His answer came from a conversation I had with both the boys over the winter. After a snowstorm they would set by the window and watch for the snowplow to come by. Justin was dead set that he was going to be a snowplow driver when he grew-up. To deter Justin from that job, I said that they have big bellies and that he wouldn't want one of those. Thought I was pulling a fast one on him. But to my surprise he came up with wanting to be a snowplow guy with a fat belly. What a clever little man he is!! It goes to show that he will find away to be whatever he wants, just like me. I am proud to say that he is a mini me. :) He definitely has my strong will. The Mother's Day answers were even funnier. I will have to share those later.

Kendra and Maliyah have been working hard on their PT and walking. Wow, the strength they have is incredible!! Their "robot legs" are very heavy for them, so their core strength has to be very strong. The girls overall health is getting better. I was finally able to take Kendra off the antibiotics without her running a fever. That was a huge step in the right direction. Maliyah is starting to eat better as well. I hope we will be able to get her off her feeds at night, the goal is before our Disney Cruise. There has been a lot of problems with Maliyah anti-rejection meds. The levels in her blood have been low, but I am working with the doctors to get those back where they are suppose to be.

My summer school isn't going so well. I think my mind is focused too much on the fun of the days and studying isn't a priority to me. It should be since it was very expensive. But I will get things together now and still pass my classes. :)

Jake has the whole next week off of work. We are very excited!! He is also having a HUGE BIRTHDAY on Thursday!! So that will be fun. Nothing too exciting planned, just going to our favorite restaurant and hope someone will offer to take the kids for the night. But that is wishful thinking. For Jake's Birthday I saw that the UFC was coming, so we got tickets to that. That is probably the only sport that I really like.

Courtney has been a help this Summer. She has a knack for finding animals like a nest of baby birds and an injured mole. Courtney is a kid that loves to take care of animals and find them. She wants to be a vet when she grows-up.

Today after school, I picked up the kids like always. We pulled into our street and I could tell there was something crawling across the street. It freaked me out for a moment, but then realized it was a turtle!! That is something that you will never see in Utah. And the turtle has a phone number taped to it. LOL So the owners will be coming later to pick him up. The kids are having fun playing with it. :)