“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. :)

I can't believe that my baby boys are graduating from preschool. At the ceremony we realized that they will be graduating from high school in 2023. It just seems like such a short time away. Who knew that if you blinked everything could change this quick. It's such a bitter sweet moment for me. I want them to move forward and progress, but their is a big part of me that just wants them to stay little forever. I was on the Amanda Dickson Show and the other lady's on the show were talking about their children getting married and having children. On the way home I realized that it wasn't that far off for Courtney.

Maliyah had her Kidney clinic appointment this last Tuesday. Her liver enzymes are slowly rising, the doctors reassured me that everything was still okay. As a mother I can't help but worry about her health. Maliyah recently had a UTI and the doctors said that they are getting really worried about oral antibiotics even working for Maliyah anymore. So that is starting to be a concern for her. The plan for treatment for Maliyah will be changing if this becomes the case. I really am not worried at this point, but with be even more careful with her health.

Kendra's infection that she had over Christmas that nearly took her life ,is trying to come back. We tried several different times to remove her antibiotics, but the result was an instant fever. So ID is worried that she may need to return back to IV drugs. We all want the IV therapy to be in September, so we can have a fun Summer.

The girls are working very hard at school and making huge strides in their PT and also in their core strength. Their Robot Legs are taking a lot more time then I thought.

I can't wait for the Summer Time!! I am really getting sick of all the projects and homework the kids have. The girls have 5 more days of school. Which seems like it will never get here. I got some great advice from D Wright today. She said, don't over schedule your kids during the Summer because the best creativity comes from boredom. So I thought that was a great thing to take into account with the Summer coming. And it takes a lot less pressure off me to entertain the kids.

At the kids school they have a fitness goal. They are tested on different level of fitness. Courtney came home with a paper that said she had hit the National Goal in fitness. She was very excited about that. She worked very hard to achieve that goal.

I will update pictures later today. Have a great day!! :)

I know your inbox is full. I know you get a lot of emails. Thanks for reading mine! : ) Let me share with you why I send this every day.

Here is a quote from Dave Dravecky, the major league baseball pitcher who lost his pitching arm in his battle with cancer:

"I'll never forget the feeling in the pit of my stomach and in the depths of my heart when I first heard the word 'cancer.' My world ground to a halt. I desperately needed information. I needed encouragement. I needed hope."

Dave's quote reflects my heart in sending you these HopeMinute emails. It is my prayer that they offer you and your child hope and encouragement when you need it most. That they remind you that God is still on the throne, that He loves you more than you can comprehend, that He wants a deep and personal relationship with you, and that He promises to either calm the storm or calm you in the midst of the storm.

Hope is indeed a very powerful medicine. I have seen it work miracles. And wherever there is life, there is hope. Always.

Please join us for the first Annual Faces of Hope Event here in Utah. This Charity has given so much hope to our family.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/92141/hopekids/invite_resources/foh_invite.html

Thanks