How we spent Veteran's Day

We started the day off by Addison and M'Liss going to grandma Carla's house with Marni and her bunch. While we were there the mechanic called and said our van was ready. Since we live in Mesa and the mechanic is in Peoria (about an hour drive away from Mesa and 15 min. from mom's house), my dad was kind enough to take me over to pick it up. While I was driving back to my mom's house the van kept doing this jerking thing. I thought maybe it needs gas, so I fill her up. Well it still does it so I call the mechanic and he says bring it back and we'll look at it. Well they look at it and cannot figure out what is wrong. Since they fixed the problem we took it in for it created a new problem because that is how cars are. So After two hours of dealing with car troubles my dad comes back and picks me up and we leave the van there again. He says let me think on it for awhile. Now we have to hurry back to mom's house to get back home to go to the Dr.'s in east Mesa by 3:15. It is now 2:30. We make it back to my house by 3:05(thanks to Marni's great driving). We jump in our other van and take off for the 20 min. drive to the Dr.'s. We make it close enough.
Now for the Dr's. Addison was diagnosed last October with Eosinophillic Esophagitus. Which is severe food allergies. It is where her body attacks itself with toxins trying to get rid of the allergens in her body. It makes sores in her esophagus and she also has sores in her colon. She also was diagnosed with IBS, so she is in a lot of pain most of the time. Her diet is rice and any rice products- rice milk and rice ice cream, rice noodles and rice crackers. She can also eat cooked broccoli and green beans and salad. She can have apples, grapes and bananas. She can also eat meat sparingly. So basically she doesn't eat much. She had many tests and procedures last year along with being on a the very strict diet. But she is still having problems. She has already missed a ton of school. So the Dr. wants to do more testing (which Addison is against) and x-rays to see what her colon looks like when she doesn't feel good. Along with going back to the Allergist for more testing. We are hopeful that as we take another look at all her health issues she will be able to have a better year in 2009 than she did in 2008.
So our day wasn't quite like we hoped but we are looking forward to Thanksgiving weekend and spending time together as a family and with our extended family. We are so grateful to all those Veteran's and people in the Military now who are dedicated to protecting and serving the country we live in and the freedom we enjoy.