Throat Growth

In March I took Mikayla to the ENT for a routine ear check.  She has to have her ears checked about every six months to make sure everything is ok.  The doctor looked in her throat and asked me if I had seen the growth in her throat.  I had no clue she had a growth in her throat.  The doctor said it may just be something viral, but it may be tonsil tissue too.  He said to keep an eye on it and if it didn't go away soon it would have to be removed.

A couple months later Mikayla came home from school sick with a high fever and a sore throat.  I took her to the urgent care and she tested positive for strep.  The doctor at the urgent care saw the growth and said the growth may be holding the strep bacteria and that's why she has strep.

A couple weeks later after Mikayla finished her antibiotics, I took her back to the ENT and he came to the conclusion that the growth needed to come out.  He said the bigger the growth got, the harder it would be to remove and the more problems she could have.

We decided to try to have the growth removed in the office, to avoid having Mikayla put under anesthesia again and to save money.  Mikayla was afraid of the whole procedure because the doctor said he would need to carterize it off, all Mikayla knew, was that meant he was going to burn it off and she was afraid of what that might entail.

Today she had the growth removed and she did a fantastic job.  The doctor said she did better than 99 percent of adults.  He was amazed at how well she did.

She only had pain for a few days.  The doctor told us to expect a 10 day recovery, but she did great.  When we returned for her post-op appointment he was surprised at how well she did.  The growth was sent off to be tested and it was in fact a viral growth.  He said it was a good thing we removed it, because it had a rather large base so it would have continued to grow.  There is a chance that it could come back, but the doctor is pretty confident he removed all of it.

Volleyball Camp

This week Mikayla attended volleyball camp with all her friends that she attended girls camp with the week before.  Mikayla and Allison were moved up to be with the older girls, based on their volleyball skills, so that made them happy.  Mikayla loves volleyball and had a fun week at camp.  They ended their week of volleyball camp with a pool party at a friends house.  A friend that Mikayla just met at camp.  This group of girls had so much fun together the last two weeks.

Karah, Brooke, Allison and Mikayla

Allison, Mikayla, Karah, Ashlan, Brooke and Jocelyn

Everyone that participated in the week long camp.

Girls Camp

Mikayla got to experience girls camp for the first time this year and she came home with so many stories and experiences to share.  She loved it and she made some new friends.  She went zip lining for the first time, made lots of crafts, learned survival skills, and had lots of fun.  Plus her aunt Teresa was there, and was able to share her magic with Mikayla.  Mikayla and her friends loved the treats Teresa put together for them.

Mikayla had so much fun, she may even have Ashlee convinced to give camp another try again next year.

Meeting at the church for a health check first

After the health check she got her camp shirt and lanyard

Mikayla and her camp group.  Someone at camp sent me this picture during the week, to let me know that Mikayla was doing well.

Karah, Allison and Mikayla.  Karah and Allison are Mikayla's friends from Whitmore and she got to spend the week at camp with them and Brooke, who isn't in this picture.

Ashlee's 8th Grade Trip, Graduation & Party

Ashlee went to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk on May 29th for her 8th grade trip.  Neither John or I were able to attend this field trip with her and I feel kind of bad because she probably won't have field trips in high school for us to chaperon.  Ashlee had this picture on the computer, it's the only one.

 On June 2nd the girls and I attended the graduation for Whitmore Charter School (the girls old school).  Ashlee wanted to see her friends graduate.  It ended up being a rather emotional night for Ashlee. She wanted to be up on stage with them graduating.  She had been with them since 3rd grade and was really close to them.

Mariah and Ashlee

Sarah and Ashlee

Alyssa, Ashlee and Sarah

Alyssa and Ashlee

June 3rd Ashlee graduated from 8th grade.  Her graduating class was very small, 21 out of 26 graduated.  Originally there was only going to be about 14 kids, but some were able to pull through.  Her ceremony was very nice and personal.  Being a smaller school, they were able to do some things that the bigger schools can't do, which helped add that personal touch.

Before the ceremony

Ashlee and Anika

The Ceremony

 Ashlee gave the alumni speech.  Several students have generations that have graduated from Ballico School.  Ashlee was the 4th generation from my family to graduate.  She presented, her Great Grandma Irene, Grandpa Larry, and myself with an alumni mug.

 Ashlee receiving an award for being part of the California Junior Scholarship Federation. She also received an award for her GPA.

 

Part of the ceremony, had a song that played and each graduate presented their parents with a bouquet of flowers.

Mikayla and Ashlee

Hailee and Ashlee

Allison, Ashlee, Alyssa and Mikayla

Some of Ashlee's supporters at her graduation

Ashlee's awards, diploma, and graduation memorabilia

John and Ashlee decided to take a selfie after the ceremony

The story behind the wall mural.  Each year the graduating class comes up with a theme and decorates the wall around the theme.  The wall stays that way until the following year when the next class of 8th graders graduates.  This year the class came up with a theme based on the periodic table of elements.  Ashlee designed the theme.  Each color on the box represents the year that particular student started at Ballico School.  The letters are their intials and the element number is the year they started school there.  To the right it says "Class of 2015" and the surrounding boxes represent trips they have taken as a class (Google, Yosemite, State Capital, Beach, etc.).

 After the ceremony there was a dance from 9-12am for the 8th graders and any former graduate guests they got approval for.  Hailee (my niece who graduated last year) went with Ashlee.  The dance had a Hollywood Theme.

Graduation Party

On June 6th we had a graduation party for Ashlee.  Ashlee wanted to have a party with her close family and friends.  My mom took a few pictures before the party, but I messed up and didn't get any during the party.  It's too hard to be a hostess and a photographer at the same time!

We had a memory jar for people to right a memory about Ashlee on an index card.

Pictures of Ashlee from birth through 8th grade

Congratulations Ashlee we are proud of you and all of your accomplishments.

Last Day of School

We survived another school year.  The years seem to be going by faster and faster.  I must say this school year, after the girls got settled into their new school, things seemed to go smoother.  There wasn't as much homework and projects to do so that was nice.

Today there was an assembly were various awards were given out.  Both girls got awards for having a 4.0 GPA.  They both received shirts for reading over a million words this school year too.  Ashlee got an award for perfect attendance for the trimester, and Mikayla got an award for exhibiting GRIT (perserverance, respect, hard work, etc.,) all school year.

Mikayla receiving an award

Libby's 38th Birthday

This year my birthday fell on the same day as the last day of school and Ashlee's 8th grade graduation.  The night before my birthday, while the girls and I were gone John did a little decorating and got an ice cream pie for us to enjoy.

Mikayla's 2nd Set of Braces

Mikayla has been wearing a retainer for about 2 years now, today she got her seond set of braces.  The first time she had braces put on her top teeth only in second grade.  This time she had braces put on both the top and bottom.  She was in the orthodontist chair for two hours and fifteen minutes getting her braces put on.  She was a champ.  The rest of the day she was in a lot of pain.  Mikayla has a high tollerance for pain, but she is in a lot of pain.  Nothing seems to help the pain.