10 years and 7 months - welcome FALL 🍁

Happy 10 years and 7 months. You are now closer to 11 than 10 and Dee Dee is like WHOA! 

I'm writing your blog a little late this month because we've been in NC... but more on that next month. 😃 

We started the month with FALL! We're all so excited for some cooler temps. We were all tired of so much HEAT but we're going to miss later daylight hours (well me and you and Pops will). 😂 

You love exploring and adventuring on our land. You wake up early... like 6:30am to go outside and hunt. You love all things hunting and trapping and skinning. 😆 

You've trapped squirrels and possums and raccoons and armadillos. 

The wall at the creek flooded. SO sad but we feel certain 😂 that it's fixed this time. We pray. You helped with the rocks because that's how you are! You think you can do anything Pops and your Daddy can do. And... most of the time you can. You are super strong and are really good with helping. I love it. 

You drive the golf cart a lot with me. This was the first time you took it (for a short distance) alone. You are really good at driving it and a tad bit over-confident. LOL 

You would hunt all day long if you could 😉 

 You love to drive every chance you can...

Truett loves the golf cart as much as you do! ❤️ 

You play with Truett more than Bennett and Thomason but when you do... y'all wrestle! Big time! ♥️ 

Pesky little things. LOL 

I love that you still ask for me to ride the golf cart with you... 💛 

Truett thought it was hilarious that you were running over B! 😆 

You can pout when you don't get what you want... 

You ride your scooter REALLY well! You love to jump the cracks in the driveway. LOL 

I'm not sure you've put any out yet... but we went to Ace and Monroe and you really wanted some feed for deer. You want to shoot a deer with your bow. 

Driving in the pasture! 

It makes my heart happy when you ask to take a picture. I know you do it for me and that's sweet. 💛 We were at Ace in Social Circle... 

Looking at a book about hunting dates. SO cute... 

You love to go to Waffle House with your Mama! ❤️ 

I love to watch y'all play! 🙌 

Y'all are the best send-off crew! SQUIRREL 😂 

And the best welcome home crew! 

Your sweet Mama is so good to put so much effort into homeschooling you two. You won't realize until you are older just how much time and work and love is put into it... but I am SO grateful she's so devoted to y'all - even when you don't do what you're supposed to do always. ❤️  Y'all made homemade candles. You gave me yours. I love it! 

This Grandparent's Day was SO special. I cried. Your sweet Mama made us Hawkin's hash. It was SO yummy. She worked so hard on a Sunday morning AND made this book for us. It was the sweetest and had such a labor of love. She told me that you really, really were into making it for us. 💛 I love that so much and will cherish it forever. 

Y'all did such a great job! 

This is just one of the pages! I love your real BIG smiles! 

I'm forever grateful we go to the same church and I can watch you grow with your friends and in the Lord. We pray every single day for your relationship with the Lord. That you still stand strong in your faith and be a powerful man of God. We're praying for your attitude too. You can be a little stubborn and hard headed and selfish at times. We all have things to work on... so I'm just praying that the Lord will show you how to act. ❤️ 

We played the longest game ever of U-dog but had so much fun! We all won ONE game. 

We capped off an amazing Grandparent's Day with Butter'd Udder. YUM! 😋 

You always want to try anything Pops and your Dad are doing. Pops had been pressure washing. 

We took you two to a Wednesday night kids service at church. They have those once a month. 

We were SUPER excited that Thomason spent the night with y'all and went to church with us. It was "wear your favorite team shirt" day and since we aren't really into sports - we wore TEAM ASPEN shirts. It was so fun! It was fun to have people ask us about them. We're still new to church but are making friends. 

They had hot dogs and bouncy houses! You played with Truett most of the time. SO sweet. 

You've been cutting our grass (backyard) and we pay you $10. It's been a fun way for you to make some money and great for Pops not to have to worry about it! You do a great job! 

I love to see you get your bow out. You aren't "into" much advice 😂 from Pops but you keep plugging away at it. I hope you get a deer this year. 

Your Dad was cleaning the roof and you had to get up there! You did a great job. 

Working on tanning a chipmunk... 

Y'all are starting basketball in October!!! We can't wait to watch you. 

Slowly but surely burning that stump away! 

You love Truett and he thinks you're pretty cool too! 💜 

You had clinic this month. It was your annual visit which meant bloodwork and a CT scan and bone density and all the things. This is what I posted on your "Aspen's Journey with CF" Facebook page: 

Can I get a hallelujah? Praise the Lord!

Aspen had clinic yesterday. He goes every 3 months or more if he’s been sick.

This was his annual visit so it included a bone density and a CT scan along with his normal blood work and throat swabbing and weight/height, lung function test (PFT’s) and all the things.

This might be the first visit in a LONG time that all the boxes were checked and no “concerns” given.

Aspen gained a couple of pounds from his June visit It was just this time last year that they were discussing a feeding tube. He’s in the 22% percentile and they “prefer” that he gain more weight but he’s not in the “discuss a feeding tube zone” any longer. His BMI is 15% but he’s looking good and we are grateful to be in double digits! He’s almost 4’ 10” and gaining on me quickly.

His CT scan was unchanged since last year which is HUGE!!! He has minimal scarring on his lungs - grateful.

His PFT’s are UP! They’ve been in the upper 90’s but this time he blew a 105!!!

105 on his 10 1/2 birthday. What a praise!

And guess what???

He’s starting the process to lower his treatments and see how he responds! The goal is to eventually be able to spend less time hooked to a vest and breathing treatments since Trikafta is working well for his body.

We are SUPER grateful for your prayers and support. It’s because of people like YOU that this is possible. Thank you.

Go Team Aspen! 

We continue to pray for our CF friends that aren’t eligible for Trikafta or another effective treatment.

I couldn't be more grateful of how the Lord has had His hand on you. You are doing SO well and we give the Lord praise! I'm proud of YOU! You can take a wad of pills at the same time and don't complain. SO many people love you and pray for you. 💜 

Pops took you fishing at Scott's. You've really been wanting to go! I told you to tell Pop's that you did SO well at clinic that he needed to take you. hahaha! It worked. ❤️ Y'all had a lot of fun. 

Hooray! You caught one! 🐟 

Your hair is a little cray! 😂 

You've been asking me to take you to get your hair cut. I think that's the cutest. We tried a new place in Monroe. She did it better than anyone else has. 

You are looking so much older and changing so stinking fast!!! I miss the "little guy" in you but I also am proud of the older guy 😉 that you are becoming. You are determined and love a good challenge. You are competitive and willing to give most things a try. You are athletic and good at most anything you touch. You are strong and know what you want. You can be a little "pest" but you usually just like to have fun and cross the line. 😂 You love adventures and SAY you want to go on a road trip but still ask how much longer every 30 minutes. 😆 

You are my bopsie in so many ways and I love it. You are fun and mostly sweet with a tad bit of salty and I couldn't love you more. 

Happy 10 years and 7 months sweet boy! October has already started off to be a fun-filled, adventure-filled month. You all are off school for FIVE weeks since you did school most of the summer. HOW fun is that??? I can't wait to see what adventures you make. I know we are going apple picking! I am praying for a healthy, happy, fun-filled month. WOO HOO! 🎉 

I love you to the moon and back and back again! SO much.