Ryann Goes to College

Ryann had the chance to become a Michigan State Spartan for three days at the end of June. She attended "Grandparents University" with her Grandma Bogart. While at MSU, she experienced dorm life and attended several classes. Ryann lived in McDonnel Hall while on campus and loved it! She especially loved the cafeteria and having so many things to choose from at meal time. The desserts, chocolate milk and fountain pop were her favorites. The classes she attended were all science related. She learned how ice cream is made (she also got to make some on her own) and had a chance to milk a cow and put her hand in a cow's stomach (she passed on both of these opportunities and instead watched Grandma do them). One night they went to the MSU planetarium and learned a lot about the solar system. This was her favorite class. Ryann absolutely loved the entire experience of being a Spartan. It was fun to hear her talk about all that she did and all that she saw. Thanks Grandma Bogart for giving her such a great experience!!!

Hope's Visit With the Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist

Last week Hope had her appointment with an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist. The doctor did a scope through her nose and down into her airway. After the scope (which our little girl did not like one bit!) the doctor determined that Hope has an immature muscle in her larynx (There is a medical term for this, but I don't remember the exact term.). Because of this, she makes quite a rattling sound when she breathes. Apparently this issue should take care of itself. Hope just needs to keep maturing and getting bigger and stronger. Hope was also diagnosed with Acid Reflux and needs to have Zantac twice a day. Needless to say, we felt really good about how the appointment went and are thrilled to know that there is nothing serious going on with Hope. We have a follow-up appointment with the ENT doctor in August.

Last Day of School

Let the summer begin!! We are done with school for the summer and the Deuel Family is ready. The big plan for the summer is to sell the house. If you know anyone that is looking .... let us know.

Camden is going to continue speech during the summer. He is scheduled for 1/2 hour per week. Even though the picture does not show it, he loved his teacher and is looking forward to next year. His big goals this summer are no diapers and no life jacket.

Ryann shed some tears on her last day of school. She truly loves school and it was hard for her to leave her friends and teacher. Dad forgot to put the memory card back in the camera so we do not have a picture of her and her teacher. Ryann's goals this summer are to ski (she does not know that yet), not be bored, and go to all of her camps (MSU, soccer, and basketball).

Stop by and use the pool. The more swimmers the better.

A Great Report From the Doctor

Last week Hope went to see Dr. Henderson for her 4-month checkup. Things went really well! Dr. Henderson was thrilled to see how well she has grown. She weighs 12 and a half pounds and is 23 inches long. That puts her in the 25th percentile for weight and the 10th percentile for height. Wow!!! What a big girl she is becoming. Hope does need to see an ear, nose and throat specialist on June 14th due to the fact that she is a very loud breather. Originally we thought this was due to congestion or to swollen sinuses, but when she was checked last week, her sinuses and lungs both looked good. Dr. Henderson thought that it might be something in between the two, such as the trachea. He mentioned that sometimes babies born as early as Hope was have some developmental issues with their tracheas. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. The best news of all from the appointment is that Hope has now been given the okay to go out and enjoy the world. This is something we have looking forward to for quite a while now. After being given the news, we took Hope to Clifford Lake for the long weekend to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Deuel and to meet Granny (Hope's great-grandma) for the first time. Hope also got to experience Meijers for the first time yesterday. Camden had fun telling her all about the different things to see in the store. Our family is looking forward to the beginning of summer vacation at the end of next week. It will be great to be home enjoying each other.

Relay For Life

Wow!!! What a weekend! We spent our weekend (or at least most of it) at the Rockford Relay For Life. As a whole, the Relay raised over $315,000. That is an increase of $50,000 over last year's total. Our team, Friends for Life, raised a little over $32,000. Needless to say, it was a very successful Relay and a lot of money was raised to help in the fight against cancer. We are so proud of Brent for the incredible job he does as one of the two co-chairs of this event.

Hope turned 4 months old yesterday and celebrated with us at Relay. She was able to spend a few hours there on Friday and a few hours there on Saturday. What a blessing it was to be able to have her there with us and to walk around the track as a family of five.

Ryann also had a soccer game this weekend. Her team tied, but she scored a goal. She has scored a goal in each of her last four games. We are all pretty excited about the great season she is having.

Our entire family is counting down the days until we are all on summer vacation. Camden has 6 more school days left, Brent has 12 and Ryann has 13. We are definitely looking forward to a summer of family time, friends time, swimming time and warm, sunny weather!

Hope has her four month doctor's appointment on Tuesday. We can't wait to hear what he has to say. She really seems to have grown quite a bit. She has a double chin now and even some rolls on her legs.

Thanks for checking in on us!

Pictures of the Kids

Here are some more recent pictures of Ryann, Camden and Hope.

The Latest Happenings in the Deuel Household

I can't believe that it has been almost a month since our last update. I'm sorry that it has been so long, and we will definitely work on updating more often. I guess as they say, no news is good news.

We recently spent a quiet spring vacation here in Michigan. Although it was very hard to not be in the warm Florida sunshine enjoying the sun and sand with family and friends, it was nice to spend 10 days together as a family. Brent spent much of the week working on our house in order to get it ready to sell. It seems as if we have quickly outgrown our house with the addition of Hope to our family. Even though it will be hard to leave this house that we have called home for over 10 years, we are also excited about the possibility of a new beginning for the 5 of us. As of Sunday, April 16, the "For Sale by Owner" sign is now officially displayed in our yard.

On April 4th, Camden turned 3. We celebrated at Chuck E. Cheese with the Watters, Saur and Lewis families. Camden had a lot of fun eating pizza and playing games. Shannon Ouellette was kind enough to stay with Hope so that the rest of us could go celebrate with the Camden man. Camden continues to enjoy school, and we are already noticing some improvements in his speech.

On April 14th, Ryann turned 8. It is hard to believe that we have an 8-year-old daughter. Ryann celebrated her special day by taking 4 of her friends and Camden to a movie (The Shaggy Dog), McDonalds and Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream. She had a lot of fun, and the day seemed to fly by. Ryann started soccer practice today. Brent and Larry Watters are coaching Ryann and Maddy's team again this spring. Ryann is really looking forward to the season and the fun times that it will bring.

Hope is now about 10 and a half pounds. She has a double chin and a few rolls on her legs. She will be three months old tomorrow. She is smiling up a storm and is starting to "talk" to us. The coos and sounds that she makes are music to our ears. Hope is such a joy to all of us, and we can't wait for all of you to meet her.

Thank you to all of you for your continued thoughts and prayers. We feel so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful families and friends.