(Drafted February 10th, 2024) I've said this before, but time really does have a way of getting away from me. I always thought that when the kids got older, that I'd somehow have more time. I now laugh at my naiveté.
Zuri is fifteen, a black-belt in karate, on the demo team, and in leadership (CIT). She has her learner's permit, and a boy she talks with non-stop.
River is ten, sassy as ever, my little homebody, and quite the story-teller. Along with creating stories, she loves to read, and can outpace me in reading and comprehension. She's skilled at math, and nearly as outgoing as her sister. Her love of water and swimming is nearly eclipsed by her loathing of hiking. She claims that her "body is not made for hiking." She has left dance behind and taken up karate with her sister, and is currently a blue belt.
Kai is twelve, and getting big enough that lifting him has become a bit of a struggle. He's full-on hit puberty and sports a little mustache. Developmentally, he has pret
ty much remained the same. He has advanced on some interpersonal communication and is mischievous as ever, but he still lacks neck and trunk control.
We have some new devices for Kai to help with his increased weight and size. First off, he will not grow much more, as his growth plates have pretty much closed and in 2023 he had the MAGEC rods taken out and the permanent rods put in. His spine was fused in the same procedure. He also had his salivary glands removed, but that didn't seem to stick, because less than a year later, his drool is nearly what it was pre-surgery. He has a new wheelchair, but it needs some serious adjustments, so we are not as excited about it as we originally thought. Getting an appointment to get it adjusted has been a lesson in patience, though. We've been doing some serious remolding to his room to accommodate a ceiling lift, which goes from his bed into the adjoining bathroom and over the bathtub. We gutted the bathroom, replacing everything except the toilet and the door. There are still some things that we need to finish, but I love the updates. One of these days it will be completely finished.
Our favorite contraption has been the hiking carrier. Joshua and I were hiking the wind caves near Logan and came across a man and his daughter. He was hauling her in a device that allowed him to go through the rocky, single lane trail, and we were completely in awe. We stopped him, full of questions and learned that he just quit his job to make them full-time. We jumped on it and have become beta testers for Huckleberry Hiking. It has literally changed our lives. We can take Kai on trails and places we never thought we'd be able to go. Spring cannot come fast enough so that we can continue our adventures (Kai doesn't do well in the cold).
As always, 2023 brought many adventures for our family. We won the lottery and got backcountry passes to hike the Wave (on our first try!). I know people who have tried for over a decade and still not gotten it. We also hiked Angels Landing with the girls--in the snow. That was an adventure. We went to Glacier National Park, spent more time in St. George. I'm planning on detailing those adventures more, so I won't go into too much detail now.
