Cameron

For those who may not know, my oldest daughter Kira can't bear children. Once she realized it would be a long shot for to have a child, her and her wonderful husband Justin put their name in to adopt a child. Much sooner than any of us thought, they were the proud parents of a beautiful little boy. 

Evan has been a source of great joy in our lives. When Evan was about a year old it became obvious that something was wrong. He had developed just like any other child but not long after he started crawling his development slowed and before long he was regressing. Kira was understandably alarmed and took him to get checked out. They ran poor Evan through a battery of tests and finally there was only one test left. Evan tested positive for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). This was a devastating diagnosis. 

To explain SMA in very simple terms, Evan is missing the genes that code the SMN protein that is necessary to keep the myelin layer protecting the nerves in our bodies healthy. The myelin is somewhat similar to the insulation protecting the electrical wires on the electrical cords for our numerous appliances. Without the missing genes he has no SMN proteins and without those proteins the healthy myelin that he was born with breaks down and without the myelin the nerve eventually dies. As the nerves die then his brain is no longer able to properly activate the muscles in his body. For this reason SMA children are born healthy and normal but gradually get weaker and weaker until they can no longer support their bodies. They eventually develop scoliosis which prevents the lungs from operating properly and most people with SMA eventually die from pneumonia.

Not all SMA kids are the same however. Most of us actually have some back up genes in our DNA that can also express the SMN protein. If a child with SMA has lots of these back up genes they will grow normally and learn to walk and then as a young child or even a teenager they begin to lose strength and the ability to walk. This is called type III SMA and they can often live to their 50's. I don't think any of us knew it at the type but Uncle Nick probably had type III SMA. If you are unlucky and have little or no back up genes then you probably won't live to see your first birthday. That is called type I SMA. Evan has a dozen or so back up genes and has type II SMA. Type II SMA children typically live to their twenties but with modern techniques and some pretty cool new drugs they may live to their fifties. 

Kira and Justin have been amazing with Evan. He receives the best care and treatment available and Kira is at the front of the line with every new treatment that is announced. She also spends hours a day giving him the proper physical therapy that will keep him strong and flexible as long as possible. Evan is now five years old and in all that time I have never even once heard either of them complain about their sons disability. They are just grateful to have him in their lives. 

Kira and Justin were then blessed with another little boy through adoption. Landon (Landon Arlen by the way after me and my dad) is about the most rambunctious boy out there. That kid is an animal and very full of life. It won't be long before Landon is lifting Evan and giving Kira a much needed break. 

Recently Kira and Justin submitted their names again for adoption and as before we didn't really expect a response any time soon but a couple of weeks ago they got a call. It was a joyous call for Kira but a very difficult one for me and I suspect a difficult one for Justin as well but I hesitate to put words in his mouth. It turns out that a very young couple had just delivered a little boy with Downs Syndrome. They had planned to keep the child but at the last minute they decided that they just wouldn't be able to give the little boy every thing he needed to have the life he deserved. They went through the list  of prospective parents and selected Kira and Justin as their first choice of parents for their little boy.

I won't go through the long list of miracles that led Kira and Justin to say yes but let me say that for Kira there was no decision, she wanted that little boy the moment she learned of him. For Justin it took a day or two of fervent prayer before he was satisfied that this little child should be his son. For me (although no one was asking) this was a very difficult time. Easily my greatest fear of all fears was that I would be asked to raise a mentally handicapped child. I am so grateful that I was never called to bear that burden and to me it seemed so unfair that my daughter who already had so much extra work in her life with Evan would now be asked to bear an additional burden with her third son. It seemed miraculous to me that for her it wasn't a burden but a joyous occasion and even a blessing. I still don't understand it but that is how she see's it and in my eyes my Kira is no less than an Angel. I have no doubt in my mind that her mansion in Heaven has been built and is just waiting for her and her husband to come and take their rightful place. 

Even though I don't understand how my sweet Kira could accept this huge responsibility so easily I am fully convinced that it is what they should do and that little Cameron will bring them a lot of joy. I am proud to call him my grandson, I love him with all my heart and I know he will bring joy into my life as well. Kira, you amaze me.

----------trivia----------

When at rest one third of the energy produced by our bodies 
is used to keep our cells from exploding.

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Ramping Down for St George

The next topic I would like to talk about is my training for the upcoming St George Marathon. As you may recall, Alan Bird has me hooked on the Ragnar Relay which I have thoroughly enjoyed. In this last race Alan scheduled me to run a seven mile leg which had me quite worried but in the end I managed to run it just fine. I think that seven mile run inspired me to go for the marathon. I've always wanted to run a marathon but I've just never gotten around to it. Now I was already running seven miles so I had a good head start. I convinced five of my kids to apply with me so we submitted our names and hoped for the best. I know these following pictures are not nearly as interesting to you as they are to me but I'm posting them anyway because they tell a fascinating story.  

Just one week after the Ragnar and after I had already put my name in for the St George I was out for a six mile run in the Canyon. I love running in the Canyon. I just got to the bridge (my favorite spot in the Canyon) when I fell and broke my toe. You can see my ten mile pace up to mile three and my twenty minute pace on the way home. It was very painful.

It was June 9 before I could run again. I was worried the entire time that I would fall behind in my training schedule for the marathon. I am not as young as I used to be and I knew it would be hard for me to play catch up but June 9 fell right on my schedule. That was the week I was supposed to start with a three mile Saturday run and that is what I did. My training had now officially begun. 

For the first several weeks the Saturday runs increased by one mile each week. I was careful not to plan any routes into the canyon. I didn't want to take any chances about getting hurt again. I had actually fallen several times in the canyon and I really wanted to run this race. What a bummer it would be if I did all this  training and then couldn't run. It would kill me. 

I'm up to five miles now and I'm having to get a bit creative to find new runs. I really hate just running out and then back the same way. I like to see new territory. It is one of the things I love about running. I get to see mother nature up close. The cool thing about this summer was that with Alex's homecoming and Sarahs wedding I got to run with at least some of my kids just about every week. 

Sarah was with me on this run. You can see that we stopped in at Desiree's house on the way home. 

I didn't get charts from all of my runs but you may notice that this run is in Utah. Alycia, Sam, Sarah and I dropped water bottles off at mile six, left one car at the end and then drove up to some park in Provo Canyon. What a beautiful run that was. Perhaps my favorite. You may also notice the time we started. 6:16AM. A necessity in Utah. We had to beat the heat. I might also point out that ten miles was by far my personal best. In fact every Saturday from now on would be a new record for me. I'd never run this far in one stint ever in my entire life. It is a bit scary but very satisfying.

I had always imagined how fun it would be run along the beach enjoying the cool ocean breeze. NOT!!! It is nine miles to the beach at which point I am already completely exhausted and then to run in the sand made me think I was running in mud. Even running on the hard wet sand about killed my legs. It was definitely fun to run into the water at the end but never again was I going to run in the sand. Uggh...

This is the way to run along the beach, on a side walk. What a beautiful run. I think I had Ben with me on this run. Can you believe I am now up to fourteen miles. It is like I'm in a dream, I can't believe that it is actually me doing this. It kind of feels like a miracle. In fact, technically speaking, this was my first half marathon. 

This was the day after Sarah's wedding and it was one of my more fun runs because Ben, Justin and Alycia ran with me. Of course Justin and Ben ran ahead and Alycia and I came in a while later but it was a very fun morning. Unfortunately we didn't get left quite as early as we'd planned and poor Alycia got fried. Probably one of her worst sunburns. It was rather hot and therefor one of my slower runs but still fun. The water sure felt good afterwards.

 For some reason the schedule I was following had me run 16 miles three weeks in a row. I loved the run so much that I decided to do it again. I ran a bit faster this week.

 Today was the ward picnic so I decided to join them at Torrey Pines beach. I drove ahead and stashed water along the way then headed out. I got there in time to see everyone and then called Lisa to come and pick me up. Notice we're up to eighteen miles now.

 This was the big one that I had been dreading all along. Ben was down and even though he didn't really want to run Mission Bay again he was convinced because they have bathrooms and water fountains all along the path. Notice our 5:30 start time. It was 90° by the time we finished the run. Pat actually met up with Ben for the last four miles and even after running sixteen miles Ben about ran him into the ground. I came in only a few minutes after Ben which really confused me until I learned he had stopped for a potty break along the way. Notice my rather impressive time for a twenty mile run. I'm no longer scared of this marathon. I'm thinking I can do this. I'm not fast but hey, I just ran twenty miles. I have now run six half marathons. One a week. Not bad eh?

OK, I know this isn't too impressive after my twenty miles but I just wanted to include it to show how much faster I am than I was before. Since today was only five miles (who could imagine that I would ever say ONLY five miles?) I decided to see how fast I could go. I am rather proud of myself (is it wrong to be proud of oneself?) that I can run five miles at a nine minute pace.

So we are now ramping down so there are no more big runs. This Saturday is only nine miles and next Saturday is only five. I'm getting excited. Wish me luck.

----------trivia-----------

One of the reasons dehydration is so bad in our society is because we often mask the pain with pain killers. The head aches and other effects of dehydration would normally drive us to drink more but now we just pop a Tylenol.

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Everyone Arrives.

What a wonderful Christmas this was. I have had so much fun with my kids that I couldn't bear taking even just a few minutes to blog. I could write a book about the last three weeks but instead of posting a discourse so long that no one reads it I will take it just a day or two at a time.

Sarah was the first of the kids to arrive home and she flew into Long Beach on December 14. She had a look of shell shock on her face when we picked her up at the airport. This was a rough semester for her and the last month before finals was especially difficult. She worked hard and did well in all of her classes so we are all quite happy. I don't think anyone has been more grateful for a break that she was. She deserved the break and enjoyed in thoroughly.

We can't go to Long Beach and not drop in and say hi to Ben and Sharley so from the airport we went and picked them up and had Ben show us his new favorite taco place. It really was good and just talking about it I want to go and eat a couple.

Sarah was thrilled to see some of her friends.

The next person to arrive was Grandma Shaw. She flew in on Saturday, December 17. I don't remember too much exciting happening until the next week Wednesday, December 21 when Kira, Justin and their boys arrived. We never had a boring moment after that. Kira and Justins Christmas present to us was a trip to Disneyland and the best day for that just happened to be the next day. It probably wasn't the best idea for Kira and Justin since they didn't even have a chance to recover from their trip. The next morning we got up early and headed for Disneyland. It was a blast.

Our tree this year was beautiful. We got it at Costco and it was way cheaper than anywhere else. It was probably the fullest and most beautiful tree we've ever had. Next year however I think we're going artificial.

Grandma came with us and since we didn't want her to slow us down too much nor did we want to kill her we rented a wheel chair for her. I'm not sure where she is in this picture but Sarah decided to take a break. Do you notice how we're all bundled up? It was a very cold day.

Mom and Sarah on the caterpillar ride.

Here's my girls.

Me and my baby. How quickly they grow up. It seems like just yesterday I was holding her in my arms and now she is a real woman. 

Evan loved the merry go round.

So did Evan's daddy.

Disneyland is very wheel chair friendly. Many of their rides have special cars designed just for wheel chairs. Evan was able to stay in his chair for many of the rides. Here we are in "It's a small world".

This ride was for old times sake. Before we even moved to San Diego we took the kids to Disneyland. Kira and Brandon were barely tall enough to go on the rides but Ben was still too small. I really wanted to go on Space Mountain but Kira was way too scared. I eventually convinced her that it wasn't all that bad and so we left Ben with Grandma, Lisa went with Brandon and Kira and I went together. As soon as the car started moving Kira started screaming and never stopped until well after the ride was over. I think it was a good ten years before she ever went on another roller coaster. Here we are going on Space Mountain again. Not much has changed though. She still screamed from the beginning to the end. An interesting side story is how Brandon reacted with Lisa. They were in the front car and half way through the ride, in a calm and very serious tone, Brandon says to Lisa, "I think, we're going to die."

Come on Mom, why aren't you on a horse?

Alice in Wonderland is really a freaky story.

Here is Evan coming out of "It's a small world". Does that kid look happy or what?

Hey, there's a four generation picture.

 Did I mention that it was a rather cold day?

If you expand this picture you might notice snow flakes. While it was a cold day it wasn't that cold. They actually had a snow blower that blew out fake snow. It was little soap bubbles. Ben swears that they taste like  cotton candy but what little I could get in my mouth, I'm not convinced. Ben and Sharley actually bought pizza and we met up with them in Down Town Disney for dinner. It was good to see them.

 He looks like he's the King of the World doesn't he?

Let me tell you what a cool son-in-law I have. The boys (and Grandma) were great the entire day but come ten o'clock and they were getting pretty tuckered out. Justin insisted that Lisa and I stay with Kira while he took everyone else home. It was a lot of fun hanging out with Kira and we realized that this is the first time we've been alone with Kira since Brandon was born. Sarah likes to point out how it stinks being the youngest but I guess being the oldest also has it's down side. It really was special that we could just play with our eldest child. Thank you Justin.

Coincidentally Alycia came home for her friends wedding last September and she pointed out then that it was the first time that she's ever been home alone with Lisa and I. That was fun too. I love a large family and I wouldn't trade it for anything but I never realized how special it can be to spend time with just one child. I've spent one-on-one time with all of my kids but until Sarah was alone I don't think we've ever done two-on-one with any of the kids. It really is a lot of fun.

--------------------trivia--------------------

Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the world.

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Graduations

Fred Leavitt graduating from the
University of Alberta

Today if you will indulge me I'm going to take a moment to brag. Saturday we threw a party for our kids. Not only have we had five of our children graduate in the last month but now all six have graduated from High School, all six have started college, and including spouses we have three graduate degree's and eight bachelors degree's. The only remaining two include one on a mission and a freshman. I think they deserved the big party. Just to summarize:

Fred Leavitt graduating from the
University of California San Diego

Justin - Bachelors in Neuroscience
           - DDS in Dentistry
Kira   - Bachelors in Music Performance
          - Masters in Music Performance (Oboe)
Brandon - Bachelors in Bio Chemistry
                - JD Law
Serene - Bachelors in English 
          - minor in Editing
Benjamin - Bachelors in International Business
         - minor in Spanish
Sharley - Bachelors of Fine Arts in photography
Trevor - Bachelors in Political Science 
            - minor in Jazz Guitar
            - now attending BYU Law

Lisa Shaw graduating from
M E Lazerte High School

                                                               Alycia - Bachelors in Social Science Composite Teaching
  -minor History Teaching
 Alex - High School
          - now on a mission in Chili
Sarah - High School
           - now attending UVU




So the party we had wasn't much of a party and the kids had to do most of the work themselves but it is always fun to just have some friends come by, visit and eat lots of food. When my kids are at home it is always like a party.

Justin Palmer graduating from the
University of Florida (Dentistry)

Sadly the party is now over and everyone but Grandma have left. Trevor and Alycia pulled out and headed for Salt Lake at about 8:00. Brandon and Serene pulled out at about 8:30 and headed for Texas and we drove Justin and Kira to the airport at about 10:00. Right now it is very quiet around here.



We got back to the house and just plopped onto the couch and have hardly moved since. We've eaten a few left overs and I think we will be eating left overs for at least a week.

Kira Palmer (Leavitt) graduating from
Brigham Young University

Now we need to start getting ready to take Sarah up to UVU. She's going to start school the end of June and I'm really not looking forward to it. Some one once said that to have kids is to decide "... to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” That is how I feel. 

Kira Palmer (Leavitt) graduating from the
University of Florida

Just for fun I grabbed some pictures of some of the graduations. I've also got some pictures from the weekend. 

----------trivia----------

42% of college graduates will never read another book.

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Brandon Leavitt graduating from
Brigham Young University

Brandon Leavitt graduating from
Pepperdine School of Law

Benjamin Leavitt graduating from the
California State University Fullerton

Sharley Leavitt (Cotter) graduating from
California State University Long Beach

Trevor Crowley graduating from the
University of Utah

Alycia Crowley (Leavitt) graduating from the
University of Utah

Alex Leavitt graduating from
Westview High School

Sarah Leavitt graduating from
Westview High School

Ben found a real cool "Woody" pinata.
The thing was huge and we had a lot of fun with him.

Brandons birthday was last week so we
celebrated it while everyone was here.

Evan and Landon love Woody.
The girls were not as impressed.

The tables were all pretty.

Serene made some little cupcakes
that looked like graduation hats.

We had ping pong

The cousins are always glad to get together.

The little kids all took a turn trying to beat up Woody.

Sydney hates to see anyone get hurt and she was not happy about trying to hit Woody.
We all told her he was full of candy so she did try but it was only half hearted.

When the little kids failed the big kids took a turn.
You may notice that one of Woody's legs is about to fall off.

Justin finally managed to remove Woody from his head.

Frank is about to whack the new Pinata.

Evan brought the Pinata back to life.

I really felt left out on this one. Chandler is giving Sarah a back rub.
Sarah is giving Tyler a back rub. Mackenzie is giving Brandon a
hand rub.

back: Fred, Brandon, Hayley, Landon, Justin, Ben, Trevor
middle: Serene, Lisa, Sarah, Sharley, Alycia
front: Sydney, Kira, Evan

Landon flying high

Playing Lips after things have settled down.