Six Flags with Sixth Graders

Alyssa's school went to Six Flags a couple of weeks ago, and I went along as a chaperone.

Because of Alyssa's special needs, and the large number of parent volunteers that went, we were a group of two.

We hooked up with a couple of other groups for most of the day.

Alyssa would not go get her picture taken with Tweety Bird and Daffy Duck.

She barely went over with Bugs Bunny.

They rode on the teacup ride.

And the Bucking Bronco ride.

And the Six Shooter swings. Shown in this picture are Alyssa, Alyssa, and Elissa. Yeah, it was fun keeping everyone straight.

The others all rode the recently rebuilt Texas Giant. During that half-hour, though, I sat in the train station with Alyssa laying over on my lap, asleep.

She wouldn't ride any of the big roller coasters or the Superman or Batman, but she did want her picture taken with the Batmobile.

I think I'll set one of my books at Six Flags. That way I can get a season pass, go back over and over again, and call it research.

Easter 2011

Just a quick post to share some pictures of the girls in their 2011 Easter dresses and new shoes. This is Alyssa's first set of heels (1.5") and she's doing quite well with them.

Some Pictures from the Weekend

Here are a few pictures from this weekend.

I had a book signing at Moon's LDS Bookstore in Dallas yesterday. This is my setup, with chocolate macadamia nuts, bookmarks, and paper airplanes that I fold for the kids. It was a great signing, although I didn't sell as many books as last time. Maybe it's because I wore the blue shirt instead of the red one.

Coming up next month, there will be a piece about me in the BYU-Hawaii eNewsletter, and they asked if we had a family picture. It's been a long, long time since we've had our picture made (that's how they say it here in Texas) so this was a good excuse for us to take some.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

One of our favorite books when the girls were young was Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar, about a little bug who ate and ate and grew and grew until he became a beautiful butterfly.

Oops--did I just give away the ending?

Anyway, we've had our own very hungry caterpillar at the house this year--Alyssa. Take a look at this back-to-school photo of her with Anna, from just this past August.

Now compare that to this photo, taken one week ago.

Hmm. Maybe it's not so obvious, since Anna's wearing heels. Pardon me for one moment while I make the girls take another picture.

She's grown at least two inches; maybe even three. In fact, she's grown so much she's taken over a bunch of Anna's clothes.

Yes, our girls are growing up.

Testing, Testing. Is This Thing On?

In case you hadn't noticed based on the bloggy silence, these last few months have been incredibly busy around here, and unfortunately this blog has taken a big hit. I really want to continue posting here, as it's a great way to keep in touch and share with everyone. No promises, but I'm going to give it my best shot.

There are two big changes in my life that have provided a major scarcity in free time.

The first is a change in my work responsibilities. I'm still a software engineer for Onyx Graphics in Utah, working from home. However, rather than just working on whatever the product manager gives me to do, I am the product manager in a way. Each of us driver developers now have a handful of device manufacturers that we are responsible for, both developing the code and managing the relationship.

One of the things this means is more work related travel. I took four work trips in all of 2010. I've already been on three this year, and will likely have some 20 or so by the time 2011 is over.

This is a big change, but on balance I think a very good one. I've long felt that being on-site with our partners returns a big benefit, and now we're going to try this in practice.

The other big change has been the publication of my novel, Bumpy Landings.

My book came out in January, and is doing pretty well. It's taking quite a bit of work to get the word out, but it's been a lot of fun, too. You can read about some of the many things I've been doing, including my launch party, blog tour, and promotional trip to Hawai'i, over on my writing blog.

I'll be doing a book signing at Pioneer Book in Orem, Utah, on Monday, April 4th, from 5:30-7:30. If you're in the area, stop by and say "Hi!"

WARNING! Teen In the House.

Last weekend, our oldest child became a teenager.

The transition came without a lot of fanfare. There was, however, soup.

Only the birthday girl could get a way with asking for soup when it's 100 degrees outside.

There was cake, too.

Lemon cake with lemon icing.

Not quite the candle inferno her parents' birthdays cause, but she's getting there.

And, of course, presents.

Happy Birthday, Anna. We love you.

A Shirt With Magic And Aloha

My blogging friend Crash is collecting fabric for a wonderful Magic Quilt project. The idea is to collect fabric that has a story attached, and make those magical swatches into a quilt. (Click here to find out what the quilts are for and why they are magic.)

This is the shirt and the story I decided to send in:



Given the circumstances, a trip to Hawaii seemed like a very selfish move. My wife was living half a continent away so she could get medical treatment, and my two young girls were finishing their last year of school in Utah before we were to sell the house and move away from our vital support network of family and friends.

Yet given the circumstances, a touch of selfishness was just what I needed. And twentieth high school reunions only come once in a lifetime. So with assurances from both heaven and earth that my loved ones would be well taken care of in my absence, I boarded a plane for Honolulu.

Near the top of my list was the task to find an Aloha shirt or two – a classy one like the kind I’d grown up with. After searching high and low, I found two.

My contribution to the Magic Quilt is one of them.

The months that followed this short, personal vacation were by far the toughest of my life. With any luck the future won’t hold any even remotely that hard.

My wife was sick, and had been for years. We didn’t know what was wrong, other than she had a list of symptoms as long as all of our arms, and the doctors couldn’t find anything in her battery of tests. Headaches, tremors, neuropathy, and brain fog joined fatigue, sensitivity to everyday chemicals, and drastic, unexplained weight loss. The best we could do was find costly, time-consuming band-aids that would slow the symptoms, but solid answers were few and far between.

My role in this adventure was to be Superman. Hold down a job, take care of two small children, help my wife find answers, and keep the family afloat. The only way I could see to do this was to sell our dream home, pay off our six-digit medical debt, and move our family to a Texas where my wife had found some promising treatments.

I wore this shirt as I packed the house, loaded the moving truck, and drove to Texas. I wore it to hundreds of appointments with dozens of different doctors. I wore it while trying desperately to provide two little girls a normal life amidst utterly insane circumstances. I wore it to writing conferences where I tried to find a little bit of normal for myself.

I wore it to the hospital where my wife lay dying of malnutrition, despite bottle after bottle of nutrients being pumped into her veins. I wore this shirt as I pleaded with heaven to spare her life – if not for me, then for our children.

And I wore it when those prayers were answered.

I wore it to the doctor who figured out why my wife couldn’t digest her food, and found the one enzyme that would work for her. I wore it to the doctor who diagnosed our whole family as having Lyme disease.

I wore it as I watched my wife gain dozens of pounds. I wore it as I helped her move home, and later join us on our first family vacation in years.

I wore it until the edges tattered and the seams ripped out and I couldn’t wear it any more.

I wore it until only the magic was left. The magic, and the Aloha.

And now I’m sending it to you, so the magic can help someone else.

God bless you.

Don Carey

Good-bye Summer - Hello, School

We survived summer vacation. Woo!

Actually, Anna had a pretty good summer. Alyssa, on the other hand, contracted a serious case of boredom. She also had the munchies like crazy, and grew over an inch since April. Woah!

The girls both had end-of-summer swim parties for church, but I was only able to make it to the primary activity. I purposefully did not wear my swimsuit so as to encourage Alyssa to have some fun on her own, which she did - kind of. Actually, she just sweet talked other adults into helping her swim around. But I guess that's okay.

In honor of Back To School, we bought Anna an early birthday present - a desk for her to do her homework on. She was almost happy-tears excited.

This morning we had a pretty easy time of things. I've been getting up at 6:15 all summer so I can get in some outside chores and do some writing before I buckle down at the day job. Since the girls are both at schools that start on the same, later schedule, that was plenty early for Anna and I to go for a short run, the girls to get ready, and me get breakfast and lunches made.

We had family scripture study and got a few pictures taken.

Then it was off to the bus stop.

Anna's bus came about 10 minutes late. Alyssa's bus was about 10 minutes after that.

They both survived the first day back, and are looking forward to a great school year!

Alyssa Turns Eleven

Alyssa turned eleven this past Monday. She wanted a "pink train" cake - but not just any pink train. She wanted Rosie, one of the Thomas engine friends.

In the past, I've done some fancy run sugar cakes. This year I copped out an bought a Rosie toy and put it on top.

I would hang my head in shame, but I'm over it now. Alyssa got an extra birthday toy, and I saved a couple hours of work.

Plus, we made her frosting pink with guava. Yum!

She got some more trains, and a some puzzles, and a Yathzee, Jr. game. It's pretty fun.

Happy Birthday, Alyssa!