The Zoo

We had a great trip to the zoo with Aunt Anna and David. The paddle boats and the monkeys were the favorites. And there was always someone to carry around Ben which I loved!

Ben and Amanda

 Jessica posing in a turtle shell.

 Jacob

Joshua and David on the paddle boats. Josh and David are buddies and spent most of the day together. 

Jessica

Joshua and David. David loved the monkeys.

We were so close to the monkeys we could reach out and touch them.

Ben

Josh and Ben

Josh

Nate

Amanda

Nate and Ben

Jessica's Baptism Day

Jessica asked Joshua to baptize her. It was a memorable day for both of them.

Jared performed the confirmation.

 

Congratulations Jessica!

Ben's 3rd Birthday

Ben enjoyed his gluten and casein free cake and kept sneaking bites. It was an accomplishment on my part to make a great tasting cake without wheat or milk. I am so looking forward to adding gluten back into Benjamin's diet. Have I mentioned how much I dislike cooking gluten free?

Ben absolutely loved everyone singing Happy Birthday and blowing out his candles. He jumped the gun and we had to relight them twice! I was so pleased that he understood the idea of birthdays. He has gone through the house singing "happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday" over and over again. Although he hasn't grasped the whole song, the tune is pretty close.

He could hardly wait to open his presents.

His favorite gift was his Buzz pajamas .

We are so thrilled with the progress he has made. A year ago he had limited eye contact and had regressed in language to only two words. The progress seemed so slow day to day, but looking back on it I can now see what a diffrence a year of hard work has made.

Utah

We enjoyed some time at Grandpa and Grandma Pope's cabin near Park City. Building camp fires and roasting hot dogs and marshmallows is a favorite activity.

Of course Jacob spent as much time as possible "building" the fire. What is it about boys and fires?

Everyone seemed to have a good time even without television, internet or cell phone service.

After a day of 4-wheeling and hiking we banished the children to the basement.

 

Back in the valley we spent a day swimming at Seratoga Springs (Thank you Stephanie).

Amanda, Natalie Pope, and Alayna Pope.

 

Jacob was my dare devil. He spent an hour doing twisting flips off the diving board.

The view was absolutely amazing. 

They had some kind of Summer Event at a park near BYU. Nathan was determined to beat this bungie game.

I think it may have beat him.

Amanda and Ben found some shade.

Amanda and Natlie Pope.

Melissa found this amazing park up Provo Canyon. We drove 4 miles through nowhere and found this gorgeous park nestled between the mountains. There was a clear pebble bottomed stream running through it.  It puts the desert landscapes of arizona parks to shame.

Jessica

Joshua

Nathan clowning around again.

Ben found Melissa's magazine and spent some time "reading" it.

Although it wasn't a European Vacation, it was still a really great adventure.

Summer

It inevitably starts in April every year; the unavoidable compulsion to plan a summer escape of any kind. After a glorious winter, the envy of every snowbound friend and relative, it is time for the sweltering heat. The goal is to make it until May before we succumb and turn on the air conditioning. We never seem to make it that long, but we cling to the idea of putting off summer a little longer. As the temperature increases so does my desire to leave for cooler and far more exciting adventures. So every year I plan a glorious vacation. This year's plan was the trip of a lifetime. A European tour followed by a Mediterranean cruise. It sounds amazing doesn't it? I'm sure it will be . . . someday. As always my dream of exotic vacations comes face to face with reality and we end up having a very nice and quiet time visiting family.

This year the vote was for Utah to visit "all the Popes" and enjoy some time 4-wheeling at Grandpa's cabin up near Park City. To add the missing exotic element we planned a side trip to the Grand Canyon. We've lived in Arizona for 14 years and we've been to the Grand Canyon only once, 14 years ago. Rather shameful don't you think?



The views were spectacular, but the drops were terrifying. We kept a tight hold on Ben.

It was quite the challenge getting Nate to control his face long enough for a lovely family picture and when he finally did.....

The other clowns had to act up.

What you can't see is the drop off just to the right of the trees. Obviously Joshua did not inherit my aversion to heights.

He just can't help himself.

The clowning around seemed to be quite contagious that day.

After a long week at girl's camp Amanda was a trooper. She was kind enough to only "cheerfully" complain about the heat and length of our stay.

Jacob seemed to have endless energy.

Benjamin putting on a show.

No trip to the Grand Canyon would be complete without a thorough Geology lecture. The natural consequence of having a scientist for a father. I learned long ago when to make myself scarce and they will too eventually.

It was a lovely visit with great company.

New Supplements

We have discovered some new supplements and started the nightmare of getting the nasty things into an unwilling 2 year old.

Ben has regained his losses in speech progression, but has not progressed any further. Essentially we are back where we were in March: a limited number of 2 word sentences. We noticed an improvement after introducing a stronger probiotic from Klaire labs and after even more endless hours of research we are going to introduce several new supplements in hopes that these will provide his body with the nutrients that will help his brain continue to recover.

Glutamine -- Research has suggested that glutamine levels may be significantly decreased in individuals with autism (Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Volumn 87 Issue 5). Glutamine plays a role in neurotransmision, providing energy to the neurons, metabolism and function of the intestinal mucosa, and glutamine is utilized at a high rate by immune cells and is required for optimal immune system function. 

Silymarin -- Essentially milk thistle;   it is believed to strengthen the cell membranes and limit liver toxins from entering the cells as well as increase ribosomal protein synthesis and thus increase the remarkable regenerative ability of the liver. Many studies have been done but since they are poorly structured it is difficult to accurately gauge the benefits (if any) of silymarin. However, since there are no significant risks it is on the list of supplements.

VSL #3 -- One of the few probiotics supported by clinical double blind placebo controlled studies. Although the studies focused on ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, and IBS, anecdotal research is suggestive of significant gains when used as a biomedical supplement for autism spectrum disorder. It will be the most powerful probiotic we've tried to date.

Cod Liver Oil -- Although we have been giving Ben an Omega 3 6 9 supplement daily, a switch to cod liver oil is likely to benefit him. Cod liver oil is high in readily accessible vitamin A and rich in Omega 3 fatty acids which help reduce inflammation. Vitamin A is a supplement that has shown promise in autism treatment and research has shown we have an abundance of omega 6, which increases inflammation,  in our modern diet and an imbalance of Omega 3 fatty acids.

There are many more supplements I am researching. However, in order to assess the impact of each supplement on behavior and language development it is necessary to introduce new supplements a minimum of one week apart.  So these list will take us at least a month to go through; that's assuming we can get Ben to take any of them.

Let the torture, ahem, adventure begin.

What I Love About Teenagers

Having three teenagers in the house you would think life was miserable. When I would pile young children in and out of the car or corral them in the grocery store, everyone would warn in a tone of dark foreboding, "Just wait until they're teenagers." Well, that time of doom has arrived and I find that teenagers are absolutely wonderful.

What I Love About Teenagers:

1. Built in babysitters. It is an absolute pleasure to go grocery shopping without children  (coming from someone who generally hates grocery shopping). I remember the days when a trip to the dentist was a vacation because I was alone.

2. They are amazingly witty. What fun to always have a reason to laugh. (It does require ignoring the occasional discussion regarding gastrointestinal processes or nose contents).

3. They enjoy watching shows that require intelligence. Although with younger children cartoons are still a frequent request and occurrence, it is an absolute reprieve to watch "Pride and Prejudice" with Amanda and yes, the boys watched too.

4. I have slave labor available on a regular basis.I never have to lift heavy things or take out the garbage.

5. They do their own laundry!!! Enough said.

6. I can actually sit and listen to Sacrament Meeting because there is always some one willing to take the noisy little one out. And yes I am almost absolutely certain they are helping out of the goodness of their hearts and not simply trying to get out of sitting through Sacrament Meeting.