Along for the Ride: December 2009

The last year for the Carroll Family has been an up and down ride indeed!! We seemed to have survived this year's economy, Griffin's medical "stuff" and life in general. God really blessed us this year and has kept us busy and driven to keep moving forward. So what has everyone been us to???

Let's begin with McKenna~

This is probably the most independent, stubborn, hilarious, determined and beautiful child I know!! She has a spirit and will that sometimes is alot to handle, but she looks up at you with those gorgeous eyes and sweet smile and she melts you...We continue to expand our recipe book with ideas to keep up on her allergies. She is allergic gluten, dairy, soy and pineapple.

She also had her tonsils and adenoids removed in November. They were really swollen for several months and after convincing the pediatrician that it wasn't strep, we were able to see the ENT Dr. that removed Griffin's a few years ago. It completely changed her voice, and I would compare it to the mice in Cinderella...I love it!!

Griffin~

Griffin has been keeping us really busy as well. He started preschool this year, and I am excited to see him learning new things everyday and loving it. We are really blessed to have him go to a private preschool, taught by a dear friend of mine, and have the encouragement and support to challenge him and keep him interested. He just had his Christmas play where he was Joseph, the best Joseph I have seen ;). He was really too cute. He is going to be 5 in a few short weeks, and I am trying to remember when we had a 5 year old...sigh...the time is flying by!

His health issues have kept us going as always. He was hospitalized for the eleventh time in January with another round of pneumonia. We made the decision to change pulmonologists, and we are so grateful we did. His new doctor has done a complete evaluation of him to find what is really causing his lung issues. In the last year he has had a bronchoscopy, endoscopy, upper GI, CT Scan, Swallow tests, monitors placed in his esophagus to test his reflux levels, immunology tests, more allergy tests and I am sure that I am missing some. He now sees GI doctor, immunologist, allergist and pulmonologist. They do have some thoughts as to why he is dealing with everything, but the testing is inconclusive. He has also begun allergy shots for all the environmental factors. He is really allergic to grasses, different trees and dogs, to name a few. Just as with McKenna, he has several food allergies that we work through. Nuts, shrimp, soy, eggs, spinach and cow's milk...but we make it work. However, with all that he is doing much better on a day to day basis and we see improvements in his overall heath.

Tim~

Tim has had a crazy year as well. We decided that the job he had was not meeting the needs of our family and he began job searching. I know...in this economy, really?? But what can I say, I am married to stud and he had two great offers to choose from. It was a tough decision and he was given the opportunity to go back to Edward Jones as a Financial Advisor. He works about 3 minutes from home, and was able to get one of the best assistants in the state. He is really flourishing there, and the mood in our house has really changed as the stress levels are dropping, and that is a good feeling.

As for me~

I am still working part time at our church. It has really helped my graphic design skills as I design the connections and other graphics for service each week. However, my photography business has really taken off, and I have been quite the busy women. I really am amazed at the different clients I get to work with and how they enrich my life as I get to be apart of theirs. I was able to have my website, http://www.saracarrollimages.com/, redone and upgrade most of my equipment. I continue to juggle all of that and being a wife and mother. Sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed, okay alot, but it always works out and God always gives me strength to push forward.

We were able to take a family vaca up to Prescott, Greer and Show Low this summer, and we just got back from the Polar Express Train. That was an adventure the kids will never forget, and the look on their faces were priceless.

Hope you have enjoyed the long update and pictures...