The Girls 1st Time at Multnomah Falls

Nyah and Emma

Damon and Jeremy were NOT impressed and were a little mad that we were not hurrying to the Ranch.

Christian's 18th Birthday!

My nephew Christian (Melody's brother Jim's son) turned 18. Holy Cow!!! Where did the time go???

Melody's dad in a wig with Will (Jim's son).

Ashley (Melody's sister Joni's daughter with Riley (Melody's sister Melissa's daughter) with the girls.

Will, Jeremy, Zach and Damon.

The kids hanging out.

Christian's birthday cake.

Aunt Melissa with Nyah.

Uncle Jim with Emma.

Jim and Eric. Don't ask!!!!! Strange boys!

Nyah learning how to play football.

Uncle Jim teaching the girls how to play football.

Emma caught the ball.

Jesse (Jim's son) brought his girl friend to the party. Brave boy!!! Not sure if she broke up with him after meeting all of us. :)

Cousins, Cousins and More Cousins!

We have had a lot of family time this summer. Since Jeremy is down, the boys have had to be creative. They decided to set up targets in our back yard and shoot bb guns at them. This is Zach (Melody's sister -Melissa's son).

Damon (Eric's sister Angela's son).

Jeremy.

Damon and Emma digging in the dirt.

Jesse (Melody's brother Jim's son) with Nyah.

Ethan (Melody's sister Joni's son) and the girls. If you click on the picture you will see just how dirty they got.

ADORABLE GIRLS!!!

Ok! I just had to post these cute pictures of the girls.
Emma!

Nyah!

Jeremy's Surgery Scheduled!

As you know, Jeremy tore out his ACL and broke his knee bone. He went to the doctor on this day and was told that he will not be able to play aggressive sports again. (Or until he is over 21 and his body stops growing). This is a devastating blow to a 15 year old athlete. We scheduled his surgery for after our coast trip. The date was August 7.

Tryin Out the Bikes!!!

Nyah gets her new bike. She is soooo excited!

I wish that I could adequately explain the differences in the girls. They are both the sweetest and cutest things you have ever seen. They are however, very different. Emma is less willing to try and Nyah is a "I do it." kind of girl. It is no different in riding the bikes. Nyah could not wait to try out her new bike. She was so excited.

Emma on the other hand did not want to try. She went behind a pole and refused to come over.

As she saw us working with Nyah, she came a little closer and at least watched.

Finally, she got on her bike. I don't think she likes the arm thing very well. It is too tight and her arm gets stuck from sweat in the prosthetic cup. We finally took out the insert part and put some tissue at the bottom of the cup. She was more willing to try with that.

In the mean time, Nyah is now riding independently, in a straight line up and down the side walk.

We took turns working with Emma. She has trouble with putting the breaks on. Nyah's bike does not have breaks so it is easier for her to turn the peddles. Emma's bike is a bit of a challenge for her. We will keep trying.

Top of Emma's prosthetic piece.

SUCCESS!!!

Working on success. :)

Emma's Prosthetic Bike Piece

Emma was given a prosthetic attachment for her bike. Shriners and insurance pays for it. Believe it or not... this little piece cost $1,700.00. I do believe there is something seriously wrong with our medical system.!!!! It is Dora and goes with her Dora bike.

This attachment should help her when steering her bike. This picture is of her in the office at the prosthetic building.

This man owns the business. He has a prosthetic leg and says that coming to work is like going to Santa's work shop. They get to play all day trying to find things to help children. Very fun!

Nyah was so eager to be on the bike too that we often had to break them up from fighting.

After attaching the piece to the bike, we went outside for Emma to try it out on the side walk. She was not all that into it. She saw a cat sitting on the sidewalk and wanted to play with it instead.

Thus... Nyah had her chance. She jumped on the bike and Mr. Thompson decided to try the bike out on her since Emma was not interested. Grrrr.