When Life Hands You Lemons, Make Sure They Are the Sweet California Variety

There is so much to tell that I just can't say it all. We have moved! It has been like living in a whirlwind the past several weeks, but things are starting to feel sort of normal again--whatever that means! The kids love our new house, the friends they have already met in our neighborhood, and especially our backyard. Everyone has been so nice, but we really deeply miss our friends and family back home. We moved so quickly that it feels like we didn't really get a chance to say goodbye the way we would have liked. We are trying to make the best of our new circumstances. For one thing, we are happy to have Daddy come home every night. They are catching up on all the wrestling, tickling, sports, and hugs that they have been behind on the last while. All the kids are flocking to him.

So far we really like it here. It has been an adjustment to see a family of squirrels living in our yard. But, it is entertaining to watch them through the window while we eat breakfast. We have beautiful roses, lovely fruit trees, a basketball court, a pathway for the bikes and scooters, and great neighbors.

Katelyn has met four other girls her age (we haven't even been to church yet), and Brandon met 13 other 11-year old scouts on Wednesday night. He will be the 10th deacon in the ward and will enjoy a great scouting program. There were about 22 men and a couple of women helping us unload the truck and they actually apologized for the low turnout! The park near our house has an incredible playground and walking trail with roses all the way around it, and the local swimming pool has a swim team that Katelyn wants to join. It feels like we were meant to be here, it's just a huge change.
I am hoping that sometime we'll feel like this is home and that we're not just on vacation. At least it's a nice place to live. According to Amanda and her Primary song wisdom, "Home is where the heart is." I think home is wherever our family is. We are all together, and that is what counts.

And just so you know, the lemonade is really good, too.

Where did our summer go?

It has been a very long time since I posted! I was looking forward to having more time during the summer to work on some of those extra things, but in a blink it has almost completely passed by. Here are some of the highlights in looking back.

Brian and Brandon commemorated Brandon's tenth year with diabetes by participating in the Tour de Cure sponsored by the American Diabetes Association. They did great on Lynn's tandem and accomplished their 25 miles in style. Brandon got to wear the red jersey reserved for people with diabetes. On the back it reads, "I ride with diabetes."

Our hero. He puts up with so much. By our calculations he has checked his sugars over 20,000 times, had more than 1500 shots, and 1200 pump site changes. He has had to plan ahead for everything in his life. Things as easy as going to a friend's house or going for a ride on his bike are complicated by this disease. But, he is amazing and just does it. We are so proud of him. Can you believe we have done this for ten years? Remember the little toddler we used to chase around coaxing him to eat? Look at him now!

We also ran into some people we know! Trent and Bekah also participated in this year's race. Bekah was commemorating her 26th year with diabetes. Brent wasn't in our race, but the same day he ran in a half marathon with DeLynn in Idaho commemorating his 23rd year with diabetes. Kevin has had diabetes for 18 years. I'm not sure how long Erin has had diabetes, but she's in the middle of her "marathon" pregnancy with twins. See what we can accomplish! Go Team Wilhelmsen!The very next day we celebrated Katelyn's 9th birthday. Isn't she such a sweet young lady? She is growing up way too fast. In fact, I kept wondering if this wasn't her 14th birthday. She seems way too much like a teenager for only nine. Heaven help us!

Katelyn got her ears pierced for the occasion, got some new clothes, and then Daddy took her and Mommy on a special date to Olive Garden, her favorite restaurant. She had a wonderful day. She finally got her scooter! She has been wanting one for four years! Too bad her Daddy never took that seriously. It took her Grandma and Grandpa Wilhelmsen to finally make all her dreams come true.June was also the Wilhelmsen/Bentley reunion. I would add pictures, but they must be on the other camera and they are with Brian. We spent the Fourth of July with Grandma Genoa and Uncle Arron at the Kaysville parade. It was so fun to see Arron again and laugh at all the funny things Grandma said. The only thing missing was the rest of his family. We really miss those guys!

Isn't Grandma great?

Brandon also got to perform a few times this summer with Pizzicato Strings. Here he is at the Utah Arts Festival performing "The Disney Spectacular." It was really fun and he loved it. He had to memorize 20 pages of violin music.

More to come. Stay tuned.