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

 

 

   

Family Photos for 2013

FINALLY!!  Got the family photos done for 2013.  It was a huge push this year because Courtney, Kendra and Maliyah will be getting braces at the end of this year beginning of next.  So I really needed to get them done.  Last family pictures without braces for at least 18 months.

                                                    Justin Erron Jeffrey Herrin is 7 years old.

                                                     Kendra Deene Herrin 11 years old

                                                      Maliyah Mae Herrin 11 years old

                                                       Courtney Reiley Herrin 13 years old

                                                                  Maliyah and Kendra

                                                                             The boys

                                                                  Austin 7 years old

This school year is S  L  O  W  L  Y coming to an end.  The kids have had a great year.  We are ready for a Summer to begin.


Jake has lost 30 pounds since the beginning of the year.  He looks great!!

The girls have their next surgery on May 20th.  So please keep them in your prayers.

Have a great day everyone.

Love,

The Herrin's

HAPPY 11TH BIRTHDAY KENDRA AND MALIYAH

I can't believe Kendra and Maliyah are 11 years old!!  It blows my mind!  What they have been through, what we have all been though these 11 years has been beyond difficult.  But not once did we throw in the towel and say that "we cant do this anymore".  The trials that we have to endure were so trying at times.  We are grateful to have so many people around us that support and love us.  It really is a miracle!!

I think I've said this before, but that okay, I'll say it again.  Kendra and Maliyah's odds were so against them from the time they were conceived.  The doctors told me several times that they wouldn't make it through the pregnancy and if they did they would die shortly after.  I wasn't going to be the one to play God, I was going to do whatever it took to give them the best chance and to help them through whatever it was they would face.  I could of never imagined what would of come out of all of it...

Kendra and Maliyah are so HAPPY!!  They have so many people that love them so much.  Their smiles light up a room.  They have taught me so much about being who I need to.  And taking one day at a time.  It took them years to recover from their separation surgery, and it takes them sometimes weeks to recover from other surgeries and sicknesses. They take everything in stride and they move forward.  Now onto the lighter things. :)

At our house we try and do Birthday weekends, especially since we have two sets of twins.  We want them all to feel special and they each have their own idea on how that can happen.  Kendra wanted to go to her favorite Mexican restaurant, Lorena's and Maliyah really wanted to go and get custard at Nelsen's.  And that turned into shopping and going to the pet store etc.  Just having fun and making memories. :)  My favorite thing to do.

As I have written in the past there is never a dull moment at our house and going to eat at a restaurant isn't dull either.  The kids were all having a good time talking and laughing, but by the end of the meal I could tell Maliyah wasn't feeling very well.  I left the table to take Justin to the the bathroom and when I came back all heck and broke loose.  Maliyah had throw-up in the middle of the restaurant, all over her plate in the to-go box.  It was horrible.  I felt so bad for her and everyone else that was eating around us.  We apologized gave a big tip and left quickly.  I was so worried the next stop on her birthday would be the emergency room for dehydration, but she got better when her friend showed up to watch movies and have a sleepover.

Things are just the way they should be right now.  Everyone is healthy and happy (after a week of ear infections).  We do have ups and downs everyday.  But things are going so well.  

Thanks for the countless emails and Facebook posts and messages we have received wishing the girls a Happy Birthday.  You helped make their day very special.

Love,
The Herrin's


   

It's Been Awhile

I FOUND IT!

Time sure has flown by...  Okay maybe not 100% true.  It's been really crazy since the girls had surgery on the 26th of November.  Of course Kendra got another infection and wasn't doing very well.  And Maliyah bounced right back.  It has been a VERY stressful month.

 Courtney turned 13 on October 29th.  I'm sure she's going to be a very good teenager.  Other than the moodiness with everyone at our house.  She's getting really good grades. She is taller than I am now, no surprise there.  Courtney is really into SIMMS and plays it all the time, unless she is at the mall with her friends.  We had turned off her cellphone that we got her last year,  but just about a month ago realized it was better for her to have one.  She's with her friends a lot more.  The rule is no texting boys,  we forgot to add no facebooking boys.  LOL!!  I need to cover all the bases.

 We smashed cake on Courtney face!

 Courtney as the dead bride!  Her makeup was really fun to do.

 Courtney and her friend Grace!

  Kendra is doing well now.  She is taking a lot of steps without assistance on her prosthetic, that means without her walker, crutches or anyone holding on to her.  She's really into make-up, in this picture she is putting on eye shadow and eyeliner.  Her hair is getting so long.

Maliyah as a bee for Halloween.  She is doing really great.  Her kidney is working well, even with all the HUGE problems with it this month.

Justin loves the game Mind Crafts and putting videos on youtube.  He and Austin have the best teacher Ms. Lee.  Justin loves her and she's so good with him.  He's starting to like school and it's not to big of a deal to get him to do his homework anymore.  I just hope it continues.

Austin loves playing outside with his friends.  He is the opposite of Justin.



Have a great day!

Love The Herrin's

PS.  I found the post!!

Smoke Detector and Cold

I'm not sure where my other post went.  But I will keep looking for it.

It has been so very cold here lately, it's about 8 degrees when I drop the kids off at school.  Sometimes down to 2 degrees.  And with a thick inversion to add to it, making Austin's asthma act up.

Well onto our really funny lives.

Jake and I a couple of months ago were talking to the kids about fire and what to do if we ever had one.  We even joked about setting off the smoke detectors one night to test them.  Man, the jokes are always on us.
\
So last week at about 2:30 am the smoke detector went off, Jake and I both shot out of bed.  It was so loud and Jake ran downstairs to get the boys and Courtney out, but to his surprise they were already on their way up the stairs.  Jake ran to Courtney's room and woke her up.  Jake was already assessing the problem.  Well I was upstairs.  Holy Cow!! Courtney was so asleep she thought Jake said she need to get ready for school, so he found her in the bathroom putting on her make-up.  The joke around our house now is, Courtney has to have her make-up on even in a dangerous situation.  LOL.  Took us along time to fall back asleep, so we let the kids sleep in.  What a night that was.  We found out later that the negative temperatures at night was causing people's smoke detectors to go off.  The next night they did the same thing.  We needed 3 new ones.  It was a great adventure.

I know I have written about Justin being a hard kiddo and a huge challenge.  It comes and goes, but we have been working really hard on him eating.  Normally we wouldn't make him, because he would just throw-up whatever I MADE him eat.  Well I was getting so sick of making a dinner and having him and then others not want to eat it.  So I made a rule you either eat dinner, or you can have a nice breakfast tomorrow. That was really hard for me because Kendra and Maliyah have a hard time gaining weight.  But I need my sanity!  So the rule is staying put.  The best part, Justin ate a piece of corn and is actually trying things, even if they are just little, it's huge progress.

Jake has lost 20 pounds and is working really hard at the gym.  We started going at night together.  It's been really nice.

Kendra is still fighting an infection from her last surgery in November.  This is her second one.  It's really tough on Kendra.  I wish she didn't have to worry about this stuff.

Thanks for reading and all the emails checking up on our family.  It's greatly appreciated.
Have a great day!

Love,
The Herrin's

Mixed emotions

Well after everything and waiting for awhile.  The doctors came back to tell us, it would be to risky to do the surgery that we have been waiting for.  Mixed emotions, nothing is a sure thing in medicine and especially surgery.  I realized that along time ago.  But still hard to hear there is nothing surgically the doctors can do for Kendra and Maliyah now.  We do have the best doctors in the world that we work with and they have the best interest of the girls in mind.

But then I look back at everything they/we have gone through, and I can take this.  It's a little bump in the road and we have a lot to be grateful for.  I'm just so glad to be able to but that off our list of things to do, and work with the medicine that they have said to try.

The girls are doing better now than they have for years.  They are the most healthy.

I have been really busy since the kids got back in school, volunteeingr for organ donation stuff, volunteering at the kids school and hopefully some other volunteer opportunities that will be coming my way.  School for me is on hold(it already started).  If everything turns out just right, I will be putting together a bike ride to raise awareness for organ donation in April.  I'm very excited for that!  Make sure and talk to your loved ones about there wishes, everyone can donate their organs.  Look into it! :)  That's my plug.

Justin and Austin just had their first belt test.  They passed, and are high white belts.

Courtney is about to be a teenager.  HOLY COW!!  I still can't believe it.

 Have a great day!

The Herrin's

The Summer is Coming to a Close

Still can't believe summer is almost over.  Only about 2 weeks left.  Sometimes it's sad to think all the freedom is done and over with, but then we have such a tight schedule when school starts.  I just want a happy medium.  :)

Courtney 12

Courtney is really obsessed with making cakes and decorating them.  So we have appeased her in getting anything that she would need.  She is getting really good at it.   But the clean-up is really, well hmmmmm. Enough sad. :)  She is starting dance camp this next week and will be gone until Friday.  Should be fun!  Courtney also has a good friend Zanna that is moving to Georgia.  She is really upset about that.  Also all three girls have another friend Brooke that is moving to Indiana and there has been a lot of tears from it.  We told Courtney she could visit Zanna, but she's doesn't want to fly alone.  But Brooke will be back to visit family a lot.  So they are glad about that. 

 Maliyah 10

Kendra 10

Kendra is having such a lazy/healthy summer, well until today.  But its been since the beginning of June that she's been in the hospital, so we'll take that.  Maliyah just got sick this last week as well.  I'm so glad they had both gone this long without sickness.  Makes me so happy!! I hope there bodies will be rested enough for the testing that is coming up.  Maliyah's kidney is really holding strong.  She even is being more responsible for her medicine's.  She made signs, she has one on her door and the other on her head board to remind her to take it everyday.  She's even doing great with drinking her water.  She has to have 50-60ozs a day, everyday.  She understands that is what her kidney needs to function at its best.  And she wants to stay healthy.  One of the things that will help them stay healthy is exercise, so they want to start taking gymnastics.  Their friend Lacey has been showing them how to do back hand springs.  So Maliyah especially is excited to start that.  And the girls upper body strength is incredible.

 Austin's go-cart accident

Austin 7

So the boys are taking karate still, to my surprise.  And moving up slowly.  Austin has his red and blue strip, and Justin has his blue strip.  They are going 4 days a week.  And I can see a difference in how responsible they are, well some days anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkrzPLvuDe8

Justin 7 playing with his legos

Jake is playing basketball most afternoons. 

I run  1 1/2 to 2 miles a day.  And I feel really great.  I'm also obsessed with making smoothies, Summer is the best time to make them too.  All the fresh produce.  YUMMY!!

Enjoy the rest of your Summer, if you have any left. ;)

Love,
The Herrin's